Now, don’t let me rain on anyone’s parade here. But...I feel like some are giving this guy too much credit. Maybe it’s the cynic in me but I think he’s doing it as much for the notoriety as he is for the “love” he has for the game and a genuine desire to see it get better. I think it’s more stunt than actual protest.
Furthermore, he basically copied the last protest, a Beluga blocking the slot using hacks. But at least that protest, using hacks to tank the station weapons, was related to the issue, hacking. Can we get a little more creative please?
He’s wasting the time of other players that paid money to play the game even in its current state. In Open if they choose. In effect, as much as I hate to say it, he is technically griefing in the strictest definition of the word as it applies to this game. Yeah others can just log to solo or PG. But they shouldn’t have to be a part of or a victim of his protest if they don’t want to be.
Ultimately this accomplishes nothing. They’ve gotten the message. An open letter signed by a lot of important “community” representatives. A petition. Dozens of posts here and on Reddit. Threats of legal action and “death threats”. Lmao.
FDev’s incomptence is an ongoing issue, does this guy really think his protest is going to lead to a sudden and real change in culture and leadership at FDev? (Which is what really needs to happen imo). Like they see his protest, all the lead devs look at each other around a conference table, and Braben says “We need to git gud.” Suddenly it’s montage time, with some cool inspirational rock music playing while FDev works tirelessly until the game is fixed and they emerge from the ordeal as a much wiser and better at supporting and developing this game. “Thanks station blocking hacker Beluga guy for helping us realize the error of our ways!” High fives all around. Gankers and carebears hug in the streets. It’s a new era in Elite!
It’s all a bit silly. Yeah, we want a fun, bug free game full of meaningful gameplay and compelling mechanics that work, but this protest rings rather hollow to me.
