I know nothing about Ooblets. What's with the hate?

[Windwalker]

Why are people so upset with the developers? What's the history of this game and whatever the exclusivity was that's making people so angry?

[Sunsetter]

1. Devs signed an exclusivity deal with Epic.
2. Devs knew how much people hate ESG and their deals
3. Devs put out a dismissive and derisive explanation of why they did it, calling those who dont like EGS "weird"

You're welcome OP.

[Mercurial Obscurial]

Originally posted by Excellion:

If nothing else, i reserve my scorn for the subset of "double dipping developers" who explicitly promised Steam Keys as part of a Patreon, Kickstarter or other funding campaign and then reneged on that promise just so they could accept Sweeney's exclusivity cash.

Correct me if I'm wrong, and I mean that genuinely, but didn't that happen with Ooblets?

[rustedwyvern]

Rough timeline of events,

-Game announced for development to be released on Steam, listed on Steam.
-Game gathers interest from people after said announcement and listing on steam.
-Developer release a sudden and unwisely worded statement that they will be Epic Games Exclusive and going with an early access model.
-People were confused about the shift in tone of developers, from generic cute public posts to sudden public toxicity against all gamers.
-When people asked for clarification on future Steam releases, devs rebuked them with insults.
-Devs and internet went on an insult spree, both sides were complicit in toxic exchange.
-Discord exchange was a mess, but due to how discord works, can't really prove things were completely false as there's no backup record once a message has been erased.
-Devs claimed innocence once things got out of hand, blaming toxic gamers started everything.

This was a game that people were interested in, because it was announced to be on Steam, and then listed on Steam for people to keep an eye on.
Epic was a poor competitor at the time because its systems were all poor outside of running Fortnite. The store was a mess, the checkout wasn't good, EGS wasn't a good service.

Everyone understood the need to have financial security, just didn't expect the developers to suddenly turn 180 with their public attitude and posts such poorly worded statements once they got money.

It was unnecessarily instigated by the developers, the mess was of their own doing, with a job they hated, for a consumer base they despise (really odd choice of making video games when you dislike games and gamers).

[Random Asshole]

More than anything, this is a case study on why you need actual, trained PR people and can't just make official business communications in the same tone you'd use to ****post on Twitter.

[Mick]

Originally posted by rustedwyvern:

Rough timeline of events,

-Game announced for development to be released on Steam, listed on Steam.
-Game gathers interest from people after said announcement and listing on steam.
-Developer release a sudden and unwisely worded statement that they will be Epic Games Exclusive and going with an early access model.
-People were confused about the shift in tone of developers, from generic cute public posts to sudden public toxicity against all gamers.
-When people asked for clarification on future Steam releases, devs rebuked them with insults.
-Devs and internet went on an insult spree, both sides were complicit in toxic exchange.
-Discord exchange was a mess, but due to how discord works, can't really prove things were completely false as there's no backup record once a message has been erased.
-Devs claimed innocence once things got out of hand, blaming toxic gamers started everything.

This was a game that people were interested in, because it was announced to be on Steam, and then listed on Steam for people to keep an eye on.
Epic was a poor competitor at the time because its systems were all poor outside of running Fortnite. The store was a mess, the checkout wasn't good, EGS wasn't a good service.

Everyone understood the need to have financial security, just didn't expect the developers to suddenly turn 180 with their public attitude and posts such poorly worded statements once they got money.

It was unnecessarily instigated by the developers, the mess was of their own doing, with a job they hated, for a consumer base they despise (really odd choice of making video games when you dislike games and gamers).

It was wild, they started on the offensive immediately, and then acted surprised when people responded poorly to it.

Imagine you are at a restaurant, and the waiter comes back and says "I apologize, we cannot make that dish at this time, would you like to order something else?" Well that sucks, but it is how it is.

But at Cafe Ooblets, you get "We cannot make that dish right now, and if that bothers you, you're a toxic manbaby. Order something else or leave."

[Saucy Wiggles]

TLDR;

• Devs had a patreon / steam storefront page
  
• Delayed the game release by signing EGS deal, that was 4 years ago now
  
• Made, among other posts, a big essay with some pretty rude remarks about their potential consumer base, including people who had been funding them.
  
• Game releases on Steam just days after Epic lays off nearly 20% of their company, over 800 people.

[amok]

Originally posted by Barbas:

Is the game good though?

the people who have played it, and care more about games than the stores that sell them, are giving the game good reviews

[Namadu]

Originally posted by Mercurial Obscurial:

Originally posted by Excellion:

If nothing else, i reserve my scorn for the subset of "double dipping developers" who explicitly promised Steam Keys as part of a Patreon, Kickstarter or other funding campaign and then reneged on that promise just so they could accept Sweeney's exclusivity cash.

Correct me if I'm wrong, and I mean that genuinely, but didn't that happen with Ooblets?

Nah - as far as I’ve found, there was never a promise that supporters would get game keys of any sort. In all the outrage, folks were getting things mixed up with other big Epic and/or crowdfunding controversies.

The closest thing I’ve found to a promise was “the plan is to release on Steam first and other platforms afterward”, but I don’t consider that a promise - just a statement of current plans, which of course changed. And of course, nothing about keys.

[Namadu]

Originally posted by HopperUK:

It's complicated. The devs mishandled their decision to take Epic exclusivity, and the fanbase then turned against them and acted in a completely unacceptable way. Nobody covered themselves in glory and it's probably best we all put it behind us.

Even with this, saying “the fanbase” isn’t totally accurate. There were some Patreon supporters who were unhappy, of course, some for different reasons than others, and they were offered refunds.

Outside of that, though, there were a *lot* of folks who came out of the woodworks to basically raid their Discord server and subreddit. It was an explosion of angry activity, and I imagine it was hard to tell who had genuine concerns or who was just part of the mob. (Or anywhere in between.)

And of course, it was 4 years ago. I’ve seen nothing but kindness from the same two developers toward their community, both before and after the whole kerfuffle… and yes, this extends to people who have negative things to say about the game, from what I’ve seen. (Given that they aren’t obviously just trying to raise a stink or breaking the community rules, of course.)

[Mercurial Obscurial]

Originally posted by Namadu:

Nah - as far as I’ve found, there was never a promise that supporters would get game keys of any sort. In all the outrage, folks were getting things mixed up with other big Epic and/or crowdfunding controversies.

Fair enough. With all the misinformation, erroneous second-hand information from people with good intentions, etc., it can be difficult to know who/what to trust. And yes, before it gets linked to me, I've read the article from PC Invasion that's been making the rounds in different threads.

I don't think the developers are inherently bad people and I think they made the choice they felt they had to to ensure their game got made. That said, I don't think it's unfair for people to have been/be upset and discuss past events as long as they are doing so in a responsible way. As a consumer, and one who has had a different developer raise interest for a game on Steam and then it end up on the Epic Game Store instead, I'd want to know about what happened.

[DCid]

And in the end every indie developer who took the EGS deal are now crawling back to Steam because Epic is bleeding money and has given up on indies.

Everyone knew Epic was going to lose this fight in the long run.

Hate to say we told you so.

[Aunt Jemima]

Originally posted by Saucy Wiggles:

• Game releases on Steam just days after Epic lays off nearly 20% of their company, over 800 people.

Not sure how this is relevant to Ooblets lol

Originally posted by DCid:

And in the end every indie developer who took the EGS deal are now crawling back to Steam because Epic is bleeding money and has given up on indies.

This isn't a new development; almost every game comes to other platforms at the end of its Epic exclusivity

[Namadu]

Originally posted by Mercurial Obscurial:

Originally posted by Namadu:

Nah - as far as I’ve found, there was never a promise that supporters would get game keys of any sort. In all the outrage, folks were getting things mixed up with other big Epic and/or crowdfunding controversies.

Fair enough. With all the misinformation, erroneous second-hand information from people with good intentions, etc., it can be difficult to know who/what to trust. And yes, before it gets linked to me, I've read the article from PC Invasion that's been making the rounds in different threads.

I don't think the developers are inherently bad people and I think they made the choice they felt they had to to ensure their game got made. That said, I don't think it's unfair for people to have been/be upset and discuss past events as long as they are doing so in a responsible way. As a consumer, and one who has had a different developer raise interest for a game on Steam and then it end up on the Epic Game Store instead, I'd want to know about what happened.

I appreciate you not just immediately acting on emotions alone! There’s… definitely a lot of that around here. I’m definitely not innocent - while I didn’t at first think anything they said or did had warranted *that* much outrage and coverage, when someone then told me they broke their Kickstarter promise, I believed them, and that made me join the whole “raah Ooblets devs terrible!” train.

But not for too long, luckily. Sure, one of them said some pretty inciting things I wouldn’t have said, and it makes sense that some folks would be upset, whether from that or from the changed plans. But to say that the devs are terrible people, or that they mocked or hugely mistreated their own community, or whatever else… that’d require a lot more evidence that I just haven’t seen.

The whole thing is such a rabbit hole. I’m not sure which I’ve spent more time on: researching/thinking about the whole controversy thing, or actually playing Ooblets. I have spent hundreds of hours on both though! And one of them has been a lot more enjoyable and productive than the other… though the other has definitely helped me form my current views on mob mentality, dogpiling, and cancel culture, at least, so there’s that?

[Victoria Raverna]

This was what started the backlash against them. If they didn't post something like this, maybe it was not going to be a big deal.

https://ooblets.com/2019/07/we-did-the-thing/

[Carambar]

Just passing by; thanks everyone for the comments.

This Eisberg individual especially, is making me very uncomfortable and nervous, judging by some of their other posts in different discussions. Something dsnt seem right.

Definitely a pass. Take care y'all and stay stronk !