>>3857501
it's not baffling anon
gamedev is art
game creators need to express themselves freely
when each decision goes through 10 manager types it stops being expression
they literally look at metrics and say "x research says gamers want this"
they also judge each dialogue line on how "politically correct it is" and if it is [approved] to include it
gameplay goes through an equivalent process
that's not how you make art
imagine if Picasso, instead of drawing what he wanted, drew what others told him the audience wanted him to draw
indie devs have much less or even no manager types, so they are free to do what they want, so the games are more authentic
also explains why in the past games were better, cause they industry was more niche
take a popular game of the past like BG
most of the stuff that is in there would never have made it if it was made today
it would have been judged "too weird" yet that's what gave it its charm
even DnD itself got streamlined and lost its charm
ADnD is shit, it's unbalanced, it makes no sense, it has the weird negative numbers, it's a fucking mess
yet it's 10 times better than today's slop cause it was more authentic
