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@neptune22222 The article has many false statements introduced on purpose to sustain a global false hypothesis. It is sad to find this retrograde view still has some supporters nowadays.

@pedromj

Really? I'm not familiar with the games in question. I'd be interested in your critique.

I found the general theme of trying to raise awareness to fascism and authoritarian militarism with the art of games failing because of the pressure for games to make money seemed plausible.

@neptune22222 At first, the hypothesis seems plausible, but the lack of references to scientific studies and its over-reliance on retrograde misconceptions about the interrelation of art+culture and industry behind videogames is what makes it weak at most.

@pedromj

I'm not too much of a social game player, plus since Debian/Ubuntu has been my daily driver for ~25 years, my ability to appreciate these games is limited.

I love games, but I don't play most of them because the game industry doesn't make games that run on freedom respecting operating systems.

I love Rimworld. There are some games that are compiled to run on Linux.

I think good art is influenced by the desire to make money, sell subscriptions. Does making a game massively multiplayer add to the artistic statement? I'm not sure.

If I had an artistic statement to make, which I think would probably relate to inequality and lack of democracy, I'm not sure making a game massively multiplayer would be important. Maybe part of my implementation would include the ability to federate game servers, possibly including the Fediverse. My game about inequality, totalitarianism, and lack of democracy wouldn't have a goal of making money...

I took the piece to be a vague opinion piece. I don't think it was trying to make any scientific claims.

@neptune22222 References are not exclusive for scientific writings. Anyway, I like your view on the game you would do. Circa 2000, there were several FLOSS game servers with all the features we find today in massive online games. Some were adapted for RPGs. Probably their code can be found in today's platforms. BTW, without considering their openness, the amount of games totally playable in Linux today is impressive.

@pedromj

I am so grateful to Valve that the M$Windows emulator (wine) works so well, due to the fact that Steam supports Linux and their work on the proton wrapper of wine and their production of the Linux-based steamdeck.

I believe Valve is actually created and led by some really good folks that love games and gameplayers.

@neptune22222 I am too. I actually own a Steam Deck. Additionally, Valve is recognized to have an open work ecosystem, where people have freedom to promote and organize projects without too much management intromission---as long as something is profitable, comprehensively.