Sounds to me like the Hueninks are believers in the infinite growth on a finite planet paradigm as is pretty much every other business leader at this point thanks to
neoliberalism, the ideology that underpins the entire global economy. It's not capitalism, per se; it's not natural; it's nothing it purports to be; yet it is. Most people think of it as "just the way things are" and "there is no alternative." Well, it may be just the way things are now (and since 1980), but the "no alternative" part came straight from the lips of Margaret Thatcher.
As long as we're speculating, I'd sincerely question the "they want to help us get there" part if TFP hadn't already been headed in the same direction as Behavior. I despise the turn TFP's business model has taken. I could get behind the old school business model on display through A21. I can't get behind this one. I'm sure they don't care. Why would they care? But the change in business model has little to do with the game itself
at this point. Were TFP and Behavior to charge extra for bandits, story, etc., that would be a phenomenally horrible decision that would cost them more in community goodwill than its worth financially, imo, but they've both said those features will go ahead as planned, presumably at no extra charge. They'll be added, then Behavior will take a more active role d(as has been said), I suspect, in turning 7DTD into a MTX nightmare replete with in-game store as opposed to an out of game store.
That's just the direction I see it headed in logically because that's the underpinning logic of Neoliberalism. Fortunately, there's more to human beings than logic or reason, however. We also possess the qualities of common sense, creativity, ethics, intuition and memory. Hopefully, those will play a part going forward as well, but considering
Urizen rules the socioeconomic order of the day, I wouldn't count on it.
I'm sorry you feel used, but don't imagine you speak for all console players in always assuming the worst of TFP. Neoliberalism is the logic behind everything they've done on the business end. I wouldn't take it personally myself. Taking it personally leads to emotionality which leads to reactivity as opposed to response. All the character assasination of the Hueninks and accusations of illegality on the part of a portion of the community is unwarranted, imo. They've obviously done nothing illegal. Whether some things the industry at large is doing should be illegal or not is an open question the public has yet to determine. The Stop Killing Games testimony that recently took place in Europe may help determine what is considered illegal and/or "anti-consumer" on the part of the video game industry in the future. That, however, doesn't even touch on predatory business models ripped straight out of the playbook of the FTP mobile gambling/gaming space, but only the preservation of online video games.
This is bigger than TFP or Behavior or the 7DTD community, iow. It's part and parcel of how the games industry, as every other, operates today and, from a
spiritual perspective, they "
operate according to their own logic and motivations," quite apart from the motivations of the people who serve them -- artists, level designers, computer programmers, etc. in the case of the games industry. That's why I pay no attention to those who blame "the devs" for everything patently unhealthy about the industry. It's a worldview and paradigm that's in question.
