Exclusive early access to 1.0 for streamers feels like discrimination (OCDs, autists, chronic anxiety victims, loners, etc...)

[Boblogg Ravarge]

I have ADHD, Type-B Personality Disorder (including but not limited to Borderline Personality Disorder, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, Perverse Narcissistic Personality Disorder (to a lesser degree), numerous autistic traits, etc...), Hyperhidrosis, Depression, Chronic Anxiety and Light Agoraphobia. (In doubt, look them up, they're all pretty damn handicapping, even worse mashed up together, resulting in a completely non-solvable or economically harmful / undesirable employee).

 

Thus, these conditions, when mixed together result in me, at 35 years old, being told by my family doctor, that I might as well make peace with the very real possibility that I may never be able to keep a steady job, much less a career. They also make it very difficult for me to be in social situations, which generate a high degree of fatigue and stress after a relatively short amount of time.

 

I'm also recipient of "Social Aid". Which is a form of last resort we have here in Quebec, Canada for unemployed people. I receive money from the government to survive and since I'm medically unfit for work due to a Severe Work Constraint justified by the aforementioned diagnostics and conditions. My financial situation is always precarious at best, even with the Severe Work Constraint added money.

 

The underlying issue here is, I'm FAR from being the only one in this situation, even those who ARE able to transcend their conditions so that they're more socially functional, can actually work, rebuild their social circles (post-depression or post-COVID), make friends again and work towards keeping and nurturing these friendships.

 

The financial and administrative necessities alone to be an active and recognized streamer are something must of us could never possibly hope to attain. Being able to maintain a high presence on social media, as well as buy and maintain high quality streaming and gaming equipment and a presentable environment to film / stream in is not something I am physically or mentally capable of doing.

 

Under these conditions, I believe not having the possibility to access 7 Days to Die 1.0 at the same time as streamers feels like discrimination for people with severe mental health issues, especially those who don't fit into the mold of the current gaming industry's landscape.

 

We can't be social bees. I simply do not have that emotional and mental resilience or patience. To be frank, most of us play games for either game-play or story and usually dislike multiplayer because we don't like humans in general and literally avoid social contact as a whole. To us, the pleasure of gaming does not reside in competition AT ALL.

 

It's all about total immersion in our own bubble, or sometimes, and to a very limited degree and in small doses, cooperation with very close friends in multiplayer. (When it doesn't result in fights, arguments, misunderstandings or them playing / building in a way that's incompatible to yours or feels annoying to you).

 

After 2316,7+ hours played, I reckon I've got something close to a master's degree or doctorate on this game and have EVERY right to play at the same time, if not BEFORE a bunch of strangers who think they're cool because they have the budget for working webcams, donor or dev funded PC builds and a following on Twitch or other social media, and whose opinion aren't interesting to me.

 

I wish to make my own opinion on whether or not the update is satisfying. I would also very much prefer for those strangers not to spoil me the pleasure or surprise of discovering the changes in 1.0, which I have been actively looking for for the past 12 years.

 

As a long time (likely ever since Alpha 2 or 3 at the very least) and devoted follower of The Fun Pimps, I believe I have very much earned that right, by seniority of nothing else! XD

 

[Beelzybub]

You've waited 10 years and can't wait 3 more days?

[BFT2020]

Give me a break.  Waiting 3 additional days is not discrimination.

 

While I am sorry you have to deal with those issues, that doesn't mean you accessing the game the same day as the streamers (rather than the general public) is not a right based on your issues or seniority.

 

I'm legally blind without my specialty made contacts, but you don't see me demanding that TFP release the game to me earlier.

 

As for not being spoiled by the new things released in 1.0, don't watch any streamers or videos.  Pretty simple.

[SylenThunder]

This topic has been beaten to death over several years. You making another thread isn't going to make them stop doing something that works from a marketing perspective, and that the majority enjoys.

 

It also doesn't change when you would be getting access to the game.

[meganoth]

What many never seem to be able to comprehend is that streamers work in the same area as games journalists. They may not be employees, don't work 9 to 5, don't have a publishing house to "hide" their names behind an equalizing magazine title. And they (i.e. streamers) are mostly without any training or schooling in the job, at best they are skillful amateurs, at worst self-aggrandizing show-offs. You see I don't really like them. But to many players they fullfil exactly the same role as that games journalist. And therefore they fullfil the role as a marketing outlet for TFP. TFP even makes sure all the streamers they employ are the real deal by accepting only streamers with a minimum "influence" or reach.

 

Now if you protest the streamers gaining access to a game 3 days earlier why don't you protest when all the other games let games journalists test their games weeks and months before release? It is the same thing, just 10 times worse.

 

 

[Boblogg Ravarge]

That's what I thought the advance period they had was, not just 3 days. I was misled to believe some streamers had actual access to some form of early access experimental beta of 1.0 (whatever it's called). Something closer to the tune of several weeks if not months.

 

This caused the initial frustration and feeling of being treated unfairly. I admitted about the same text posted as a thread on Steam that I was wrong, several of my ideas were misconceptions, misunderstanding and I had lacked sufficient information. (Being drunk AND on a huge OCD / ADHD / Borderline Personality dopamine high didn't help).

 

You know when you get this weird completely illogical extreme urge to eat some randomly specific thing at a super random time and get super angry when you can't get it?

 

Imagine that disappointment, that anger and multiply it by 5, 10, 20, 50 or 100, that's how literally every little contradiction, disappointment or failure feels to a Perverse Narcissist.

 

i.e : The stupidest, most trivial and illogical things are taken as a "personal insult" or "intolerable injustice", you get into huge fights over dumb stuff (because of ignorance, impulsivity or you didn't let the person finish talking) and realize (too late) you acted like a moron once the damage is already done.

 

So again, forgive me if I wrote antagonistic things. I've received several pertinent, kind and well meaning replies, whether they agreed with me or not, the important thing is, some people were polite and diplomatic, which was all I had asked for : Support, information, compassion, reassurance...

Edited June 5 by Boblogg Ravarge (see edit history)

[Riamus]

Streamers only get access 3 days prior to release to everyone else.  There are a variety of reasons for this.  Here are probably the 2 main ones.

 

• Streamers act as advertising/marketing for the game so more people see the game and any new features in order to drum up interest and potentially sales.  This isn't really any different from magazines getting early copies in order to review and publicize the game ahead of time.  That's something that is fading out today as online access to information is far easier than in the past when you only had information from magazines or limited internet information.  These days, marketing often tends to be social media, including streamers, as it's a fast way to get the information out before release.
• Streamers test out the game and find any bugs that may have been missed so those bugs can hopefully be fixed before everyone else gets the game on Monday.  There will still be bugs but this tends to catch some of the more obvious bugs so players don't need to deal with as many game breaking bugs.  In-house QA is great for catching some things but developers know how they expect people to do things and that's how they test things out.  When the public (including streamers) get ahold of it, they do things the developers aren't thinking about and so usually find bugs the developers never saw before simply because they play the game differently.

This topic comes up each release.  The thing is that even if streamers didn't get early access, the release to everyone else would still be on the same Monday.  It doesn't delay anything for us.  In addition, if someone wants to have that early access, they have the option to become a streamer and develop a following so they can be accepted as a streamer for this game and many others.  Because people have the option, even if it's not something most people will actually want to do, there isn't any discrimination at all.  Everyone can become a streamer if they want to.  No one is excluded.  Yes, TFP requires a certain level of "influence" from streamers to be accepted and this does exclude those who aren't at that level, but all streamers can work at reaching that level if they want to, so it still isn't discrimination.

[meganoth]

9 hours ago, Boblogg Ravarge said:

That's what I thought the advance period they had was, not just 3 days. I was misled to believe some streamers had actual access to some form of early access experimental beta of 1.0 (whatever it's called). Something closer to the tune of several weeks if not months.

 

This caused the initial frustration and feeling of being treated unfairly. I admitted about the same text posted as a thread on Steam that I was wrong, several of my ideas were misconceptions, misunderstanding and I had lacked sufficient information. (Being drunk AND on a huge OCD / ADHD / Borderline Personality dopamine high didn't help).

 

You know when you get this weird completely illogical extreme urge to eat some randomly specific thing at a super random time and get super angry when you can't get it?

 

Imagine that disappointment, that anger and multiply it by 5, 10, 20, 50 or 100, that's how literally every little contradiction, disappointment or failure feels to a Perverse Narcissist.

 

i.e : The stupidest, most trivial and illogical things are taken as a "personal insult" or "intolerable injustice", you get into huge fights over dumb stuff (because of ignorance, impulsivity or you didn't let the person finish talking) and realize (too late) you acted like a moron once the damage is already done.

 

So again, forgive me if I wrote antagonistic things. I've received several pertinent, kind and well meaning replies, whether they agreed with me or not, the important thing is, some people were polite and diplomatic, which was all I had asked for : Support, information, compassion, reassurance...

 

Understandable. A period of weeks or months pre-access for streamers would probably have irked me as well.

 

 

[Boblogg Ravarge]

Thanks for your understanding. Again, forgive my initial outburst.

 

The thread on Steam has also been locked by moderators.

 

It was degenerating into a flaming, bullying and condescension contest on who would dismiss my "perceived", yet *very real* suffering in the most hateful way and / or attempt to reduce my actual mental and / or psycho-emotional conditions as mere vagaries of a mind affected by something much closer to Munchausen Syndrome or Hypochondriac Syndrome. >_>

[BFT2020]

12 hours ago, Boblogg Ravarge said:

It was degenerating into a flaming, bullying and condescension contest on who would dismiss my "perceived", yet *very real* suffering in the most hateful way and / or attempt to reduce my actual mental and / or psycho-emotional conditions as mere vagaries of a mind affected by something much closer to Munchausen Syndrome or Hypochondriac Syndrome. >_>

 

That happens.  Nothing much you can do about that.  Some people think that all disabilities are easily to see and visible, and that somehow makes them an expert to judge others.

 

I had an ex-Marine tell me that I was lying when I mentioned that my eye disorder kept me from enlisting back in the 1990s - his expertise was that he knew people serving in the military while wearing glasses - not realizing that there are more to eye disorders than simply fixing them with glasses.

 

Note their ignorance, try to explain the concept of hidden disabilities; but realize some people are so "righteous" that nothing you can say to them will change their minds.