In hindsight downgrade controversies were incredibly toxic. Not just because game optimization is a very real thing, not just because most things are shown at events like e3 without any malicious intent, not just because they provide a reference point for what the game is aiming to be. If anything, it's because of the amount of hate directed at developers and publishers.
It's important to remember that at game conventions, streams, anything involving a hands off demo etc. we're being shown a product that's literally not complete. And with that, given the toxicity that a title can receive if it actually looks like a WIP, one that has to look finalized. As things are not finished, things are also not set in stone. This varies ofc depending on the project being talked about and how long before release their first demonstration is vs. the actual product.
That means various things, from game developers getting a portion of a level to have what they intend to be the visual polish that the final project will have to multiple things in the gameplay having to be scripted and controlled which results in a level of polish that may or may not be present in the full game for various reasons, a mountain of which tends to come before "muhaha we evil devs have tricked the gamers into thinking this game will be good." That can even extend to the fact that a lot of the time, the person on stage is miming and isn't actually controlling anything beyond the character's position or that say, if they shoot an npc, they will always die the exact same way.
For examples of this I'd like to pull some excerpts from the following article:
kotaku.com
Two final points I'd like to make is that, for all that toxicity, which can and has included threats being sent to developers, downgrade controversies are incredibly reductive when it comes to the actual discussion. It often includes taking an incredibly specific asset/set of assets looking different as evidence that EVERYTHING looks worse, or that they LIED TO US, AND BETRAYED US, AND, AND, AND THIS SPECIFIC DEV ON TWITTER KICKED MY DOG #DOWNGRADEGATE 😡
It honestly, after a generation of amazing looking games receiving these controversies, is tiring, and embarrassing. Especially since, consider the following, it's kinda ridiculous to get so angry whenever one of the best looking games of all time at release doesn't look as good as it did at a showcase, or trailer, for plenty of reasons. That being performance, art direction changes, renderer changes, asset changes, game design changes, etc. One of the most embarrassing examples being the spiderman puddlegate controversy
I feel that now that we're in a new console generation, and that the information about how and why some things happen is readily available, we should take care not to engage with "they downgraded the game." And yes, there are times where it's appropriate to speak up about deception if it's actually revealed that there was some intent to deceive players about what the game would be. As the largest gaming forum, and one where multiple people who work in the gaming industry frequently post here. I feel that we can do better. We can do better than looking at a puddle, or posting a screencap of a youtube video, to justify spearheading toxicity directed at developers.
It's important to remember that at game conventions, streams, anything involving a hands off demo etc. we're being shown a product that's literally not complete. And with that, given the toxicity that a title can receive if it actually looks like a WIP, one that has to look finalized. As things are not finished, things are also not set in stone. This varies ofc depending on the project being talked about and how long before release their first demonstration is vs. the actual product.
That means various things, from game developers getting a portion of a level to have what they intend to be the visual polish that the final project will have to multiple things in the gameplay having to be scripted and controlled which results in a level of polish that may or may not be present in the full game for various reasons, a mountain of which tends to come before "muhaha we evil devs have tricked the gamers into thinking this game will be good." That can even extend to the fact that a lot of the time, the person on stage is miming and isn't actually controlling anything beyond the character's position or that say, if they shoot an npc, they will always die the exact same way.
For examples of this I'd like to pull some excerpts from the following article:
The Real Stories Behind E3’s Glossy Game Demos
You only get one chance to make a first impression, and for many games, that happens at E3. The annual mega show is nearly upon us, and developers are spending days and nights putting together flashy demos to convince us to open our wallets. What’s real? What’s fake? Maybe both? I asked some...
kotaku.com
Two final points I'd like to make is that, for all that toxicity, which can and has included threats being sent to developers, downgrade controversies are incredibly reductive when it comes to the actual discussion. It often includes taking an incredibly specific asset/set of assets looking different as evidence that EVERYTHING looks worse, or that they LIED TO US, AND BETRAYED US, AND, AND, AND THIS SPECIFIC DEV ON TWITTER KICKED MY DOG #DOWNGRADEGATE 😡
It honestly, after a generation of amazing looking games receiving these controversies, is tiring, and embarrassing. Especially since, consider the following, it's kinda ridiculous to get so angry whenever one of the best looking games of all time at release doesn't look as good as it did at a showcase, or trailer, for plenty of reasons. That being performance, art direction changes, renderer changes, asset changes, game design changes, etc. One of the most embarrassing examples being the spiderman puddlegate controversy
I feel that now that we're in a new console generation, and that the information about how and why some things happen is readily available, we should take care not to engage with "they downgraded the game." And yes, there are times where it's appropriate to speak up about deception if it's actually revealed that there was some intent to deceive players about what the game would be. As the largest gaming forum, and one where multiple people who work in the gaming industry frequently post here. I feel that we can do better. We can do better than looking at a puddle, or posting a screencap of a youtube video, to justify spearheading toxicity directed at developers.
