You've caught us. We're a secret cabal of maple syrup barons that exists solely to prop up pro-CCP narratives.

I'm not going to name names if that's what you mean; you asked me how I knew, not to try and convince you of its truth.

And a secret blend of herbs and spices.

CDP is different from many public companies in that the big CDP execs (and relative/s) were also the big shareholders.
I think this needs to be considered here. Direct threat of getting fired is probably rather low due to that. Indirect threat due to shareholder pressure may still be an issue though - see also https://www.gog.com/forum/general/cd_projekt_investors_calling_to_kick_out_cdpr_executives

Shareholders: https://www.cdprojekt.com/en/investors/shareholders/
Board: https://www.cdprojekt.com/en/capital-group/board-of-directors/


Edit: And that 'seven-figure job' isnt so much if compared with the value of 4% .. 13% shares of the whole company.

Guaranteed that 90% of the people on this board who say they are ""interested"" in Devotion don't give a shit about some obscure low-budget Taiwanese horror game and they are just here to shitpost about China because they got bored of 4chan. That weirdo with the Winnie the Pooh avatar a good example.

I'm less interested in it because this version is censored but I still bought it. Shameful display, China.

As has been discussed in the boycott thread, if Chinese gamers/CCP don't like it, then at most the game should not be offered for sale in China. Chinese gamers have no business deciding what games are sold outside of their country and there can be no justification for the game being pulled worldwide that way that it was.

They are obviously lying, because they were most likely threatened by the CCP or a large and powerful Chinese investor, but they can't admit that, so they have to fabricate a cover story. No evidence of these ethereal 'messages from many gamers' has ever been presented. It hasn't achieved much, except annoying customers - I'm sure most people who want the game have bought it already from Red Candle's Store (myself included).

Unfortunately, what may be 'common business sense' to GOG is unethical to me and unacceptable. Common business sense does not justify unethical behavior and I do not buy into the view that we should give corporations a free pass to engage in unethical behavior, as long as it is in their business interests. Hence the boycott.

Please show us some evidence of these thousands of messages then. As mentioned previously, even if they exist, it would at most justify pulling the game from release in China.

Well, that's a very convenient cop-out. Sorry, but if you are going to make a claim like that, then you need to be able to back it up, or you shouldn't be making it.

I shouldn't need to given that they've already been referenced in this thread.

Sorry, but if you are going to make a claim like that, then you need to be able to back it up, or you shouldn't be making it.

It's usually difficult to impossible to prove a negative. You're the one who is making a positive claim that there is evidence of 'messages from many gamers', therefore imo the onus should be on you to back that up.

Are you referring to this thread that was linked? I haven't seen that before, but I'm reading it now.

All I see there is a handful of posts by annoyed Chinese users on GOG's Weibo account. Nothing that suggests anything like the sort of numbers that would rival the 9000+ votes on the Devotion wishlist request. In addition, the OP there seems to agree that "The right thing to do now is still to release the game outside of China.". I agree 100%.

You specifically made the claim that nothing had been presented, even though it demonstrably had. It would be like you saying "There has never been any evidence that water is wet". Asking you to back up the claim that there is no evidence is not asking you to prove a negative, but rather the assertion you made.

Given the population of China and the fervent nationalism it's not really hard to imagine that 9000+ people sent GOG angry messages after the weibo post went viral.

The right thing to do is to release the game outside of China, but I imagine GOG is scared of "hurting the feelings of the Chinese people" and getting banned in China.

I don't think GOG are liars but I never said they're not cowards.

I'm one of those unfortunate 10 percenters who played the dev's previous game Detention (which was slated for a gog release and was collateral damage from the Devotion fiasco) and it was legitimately great. And I don't say this slightly. It's one of the best point&clicks ever made, it had an actually good story that made clever use of the medium (it was remade as a movie some time ago, but there's no way the same story could work as a movie, at least not as well). Take it from me: It's a damn shame that these games aren't here and I don't really mind the "M-Muh Chyna"-mouthbreathers causing a ruckus about it. If anything, there should be more of a ruckus from normie gamers as well.

This is utter nonsense, as is your analogy. So, if someone knocks on my door and claims they saw a unicorn at the local park, the onus would somehow be on me to prove that unicorns don't exist, or I have no right to be skeptical?

The 'water is wet' analogy is completely flawed. Water is obviously wet, by the definition of the word 'wet'. I am not making a nonsensical claim that something is not true that is obviously true by definition. That is a highly disingenuous analogy.

You are right that 'something has been presented' (assuming we are referring to the Weibo thread); however, the evidence there is so weak it could hardly be considered as such. Certainly, the handful of posts shown there does not support the claim of a huge backlash by Chinese gamers, that would in any way justify the unfortunate knee-jerk reaction that GOG made.

Therefore, I believe my statement that "no evidence has been presented that supports these claims of 'messages from many gamers'" is valid (unless you have another example)?

Edit: Also, let's not forget, this all started with GOG's claim initially that their actions were justified as a result of 'messages from many gamers'. Therefore, if the burden of proof lies on anybody, I would argue that burden is on GOG to provide evidence of those messages (which they have not done). And that is besides the fact that, if private messages from Chinese gamers were sent to GOG, then GOG are the only ones who can prove that one way or the other, unless I break the law and hack into their systems. Personally, I find their continued silence on the matter quiet damning.

I thought we were talking about evidence (i.e. the real world), not your personal imaginings?

I have played Detention as well (although not yet Devotion) and I agree it is a very good, well-made and unique game that is certainly worth playing. Perhaps Crosmando should consider actually trying one of Red Candle's games, before making assumptions?

Sorry but to demand something that is impossible to obtain is a dishonest debate technique.

Suppose that T4T's statement is true. How would he be able to gather proof? What would constitute "enough proof" for you? Printing out the entirety of all the messages exchanged in the Internet that day and delivering them to your doorstep? What you're asking for is far beyond any person's (and all or almost all governments's) reach independent of whether or not he's right. Conflating his inability to provide that impossible evidence with a conclusion that therefore he is wrong is a fallacy.

Meanwhile T4T's request for you is sensible. Aren't there those many messages of "gamers" requesting the game not be released somewhere? Why, just pull a few screenshots to prove they exist and are not a blatant pathetic lie. The fact that no one anywhere managed to find them surely must make you wonder, doesn't it?


Edit: right, that Weibo post exists. But I don't see anything to indicate a huge backlash there... a handful of posts goes a long way to be presented as "many gamers". Definitely hard to believe it got over 9000 angry replies in just a matter of 6-8 hours.