Disclaimer: This post is entirely about the Kinda Funny videos. I'm in no way defending Dangen from any other accusations.
Because lying here would be rather stupid considering Kinda Funny will immediately get word of this via their fans and will immediately rebut it if it's false.
More generally, reading through their rebuttal seems entirely pointless if we're going to assume they're lying through their teeth the whole time. I think it makes more sense, in order to get the whole picture, to assume a degree of truthfulness on both parts
except when accouts contradict each other. This isn't one of these cases (the devs do not contest, that I know, the fact that Dangen was notified late by Kinda Funny) so I don't see the need to believe they're lying. But yeah, the most important part is that shifting the blame to Kinda Funny would be a monumentally stupid move that will blow up in their faces immediately if it's false.
This is a good time to point out that the accounts
of the business side of things from both parties, for the most part, do not directly contradict each other. I think both of them are telling the truth here, and most inconsistencies seem to come from different perspectives and miscommunication.
But the screencapped conversation clearly says "if you can" in the very first sentence?
I think we're blowing things up out of proportion here and quickly approaching "bitch eating crackers" halo effect.
- Dangen provides a service to developers for a fee. Developers are their clients. The power dynamics here are, I think, being grossly exaggerated. You only need to see how the DE dev talks to them and how they have to take it without retorting.
- The video they asked is of them saying "I'm X, I make games because Y. Thanks for playing", with Y being a couple of words. They didn't ask to film Gone with the Wind. And in the same conversation they asked, they told them they could deliver it the next day. While certainly inconvenient, I don't see it as unreasonable. In game dev and advertising, sometimes things like these happen; it's just how it is.
Telling Kinda Funny to fuck off with their request would be actively harmful to developers, because it means they get less exposure. This is the entire reason developers can do it "if they can"; if they don't record themselves, they obviously don't get to appear in Kinda Funny's video. Again, unless explicitly noted otherwise, assumption of nefarious retaliation against devs seems kind of unfounded unless you already think Dangen is out to get the devs.
