
Valve Software dreams of analyzing your brainwaves to tailor in-game rewards - Tomte
https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2019/03/valve-software-dreams-of-analyzing-your-brainwaves-to-tailor-in-game-rewards/
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avinium
I read this on Ars earlier today, and I couldn't help feeling so...uneasy
about the current state of the gaming industry.

Financially speaking, Fortnite (and its F2P antecedents) have found a business
model that's clearly superior to the traditional "boxed release" models (for
want of a better description). They've hit upon a formula that makes them some
serious cheese, no two ways about it.

But I have to wonder - to what end? Does this actually create a better
experience? At some point aren't you just taking your users for suckers,
finding more and more ways to squeeze every last dollar out of them?

What happened to the Valve of Half Life, Portal and TF2? What happened to the
dedicated band of creatives who just wanted to make awesome games that
entertained people? When did they decide "Fuck it, let's throw all that away
and just make as much money as possible?"

And now they're suggesting plugging into your brain to find even _more_ ways
to stamp out the childlike joy that we all used to have?

I know it's hard to turn away a billion dollar company. But is this kind of
success _really_ what they wanted to build when they started? Do they honestly
feel they've made the world a more fun place?

To some extent, it has me questioning capitalism's role in the fabric of
society. I mean, clearly it is an efficient use of resources - players
wouldn't be paying money if they didn't value the experience in some form or
another. But that doesn't mean they're enjoying it. Slots players surely
aren't having "fun" when they're pumping thousands of dollars through the
casinos, but they still do it.

Very meandering rant, I know. But I don't think I'm the only one who feels
this way.

