Does the timeline even work? I don't remember the specifics, but I'd thought Suicide Squad was already failing before the SBI Detected kerfuffle really took off.
I could be wrong, but they seemed like two distinct things to me.
People are overblowing the SBI stuff, imo. The development has been reported to have been a wreck for several years, a couple years ago there was this emergency stop of what was going to be a total GAAS game that was walked back later. Screenshots of the UI and weapons were a total mess. They likely had to stop and start over development so many times that even Harley Quinn's nerfed ass compared to previous Arkham games probably was not a deliberate choice but developers in a rush. Yeah SBI probably mucked with the story some but it's just the rotten cherry on a dogshit sundae. Hyper-focusing on SBI detracts from the other problems, like how this whole thing boils down to companies wanting their own Fortnite and their own Call of Duty and they keep burning existing IPs like effigies trying and failing.
I will admit that occasionally, it is as simple as developers taking shortcuts due to time/cost. Particularly in the visual department.
However, there are also a lot of clearly deliberate examples of extra effort being spent on creating ugly and "diverse" characters too. Or changing things in dialogue, story, and gameplay, just to cater to ideological sentiments.
Frankly, the DEI/SBI stuff is mostly a solid indicator if a game's going to be trash, because a studio that turns to that is clearly looking for "gimmie bucks" in place of sales based on quality.
I'm not denying that SBI serves as a decent canary in the coal mine, a red flag that there is deeper rot with the game. There hasn't been a single thing associated with changes they have made to improving a game.
Does the timeline even work? I don't remember the specifics, but I'd thought Suicide Squad was already failing before the SBI Detected kerfuffle really took off.
I could be wrong, but they seemed like two distinct things to me.
People are overblowing the SBI stuff, imo. The development has been reported to have been a wreck for several years, a couple years ago there was this emergency stop of what was going to be a total GAAS game that was walked back later. Screenshots of the UI and weapons were a total mess. They likely had to stop and start over development so many times that even Harley Quinn's nerfed ass compared to previous Arkham games probably was not a deliberate choice but developers in a rush. Yeah SBI probably mucked with the story some but it's just the rotten cherry on a dogshit sundae. Hyper-focusing on SBI detracts from the other problems, like how this whole thing boils down to companies wanting their own Fortnite and their own Call of Duty and they keep burning existing IPs like effigies trying and failing.
I will admit that occasionally, it is as simple as developers taking shortcuts due to time/cost. Particularly in the visual department.
However, there are also a lot of clearly deliberate examples of extra effort being spent on creating ugly and "diverse" characters too. Or changing things in dialogue, story, and gameplay, just to cater to ideological sentiments.
Frankly, the DEI/SBI stuff is mostly a solid indicator if a game's going to be trash, because a studio that turns to that is clearly looking for "gimmie bucks" in place of sales based on quality.
I'm not denying that SBI serves as a decent canary in the coal mine, a red flag that there is deeper rot with the game. There hasn't been a single thing associated with changes they have made to improving a game.