Disco Elysium creative lead Robert Kurvitz was quietly fired from ZA/UM in late 2021, files lawsuit against them

[Rahdulan]

I wonder how long before the game pops up in Humble Choice if more business-focused side has taken charge now.

 

[Atlet]

https://www.thegamer.com/disco-elysium-is-more-than-its-auteur-creators/

"Kurvitz and Rostov, but especially the former, are often placed on a pedestal by fans of Disco Elysium. (...) But Disco Elysium was a collective effort, and as current ZA/UM employees are explaining, countless more developers who worked on Disco Elysium are still at the studio than those who were let go. They’re just probably not the ones you’ve heard of – but is their contribution worth any less because of that?"

 

[jackofshadows]

>countless

 

[Sordid MCA/Prosper Hybryd]

>countless

Kurvitz must have read some books, watched some movies and played some games himself before he started working on Disco Elysium. Arguably, the authors of all those books, movies and games are also some kind of co-authors of Kurvitz, because they influenced his development as an artist. And these authors were in turn inspired by other authors. Besides, Kurvitz had teachers in school and kindergarten. Arguably, all of them are the authors of Disco Elysium just as much, if not more, than Kurvitz!

 

[Rieser]

https://www.thegamer.com/disco-elysium-is-more-than-its-auteur-creators/

"but is their contribution worth any less because of that?"

Yes.

Especially given they're apparently "countless", thus not considered as equals individually even by the moron posing the question.

 

[coldaqua]

Robert Kurvitz and Aleksander Rostov have released a press statement concerning the ZA/UM situation:

We are Robert Kurvitz and Aleksander Rostov — the game director and art director of Disco Elysium. Our stake in the game exists in the form of minority shareholdings in an Estonian company called Zaum Studio OÜ, which owns everything related to the game. The majority of this company’s shares were initially held by Margus Linnamäe, an Estonian businessman and investor who provided the initial capital. In 2021, Linnamäe was bought out by another minority shareholder, an Estonian company Tütreke OÜ. Tütreke OÜ is a vehicle for two Estonian businessmen — Ilmar Kompus and Tõnis Haavel.

As minority shareholders our rights are limited. As long as Linnamäe remained the majority shareholder, we were confident that the company’s financials were in order and that all shareholders were being treated equally. The same can not be said for Kompus and Haavel. As soon as they became majority shareholders, we were quickly excluded from daily operations, our employment was terminated and our access to the company’s information was shut off. Our firing came weeks after we started asking for documents and financial data, which is still being kept from us.

We have now learned that Tütreke OÜ must have obtained control over Zaum Studio OÜ by fraud. We believe the money used by Tütreke OÜ to buy the majority stake was taken illegally from Zaum Studio OÜ itself, money that belonged to the studio and all shareholders but was used for the benefit of one. Money that should have gone towards making the sequel. We believe that these actions — which in our view, and the view of our lawyers, amount to criminal wrongdoing punishable by up to three years imprisonment — were perpetrated by Ilmar Kompus and Tõnis Haavel with support from Kaur Kender, another minority shareholder. This is hardly surprising given that Tõnis Haavel, who we believe to be the ringleader, has been convicted for defrauding investors on a different matter in 2007 [https://www.riigiteataja.ee/kohtulahendid/fail.html?fid=303963621].

We are now in the process of reviewing our legal options. Both civil claims and criminal charges are on the table — in Estonia and the United Kingdom.

Needless to say, it has been a very difficult time for us. After five years of gruelling work we released Disco Elysium, a game beloved by millions. As our reward, we were summarily fired and cut off from our life’s work — the world of Elysium. The company we built has been looted, while our own earnings are insufficient even to cover legal fees.

Until now, we’ve refrained from speaking out. This has been entirely voluntary, out of consideration for the people still working at ZA/UM — and for our own mental health. But given the severity of our suspicions — and the seriousness of the evidence we have — we think it’s time people knew what has transpired at the company.

We remain eternally thankful to all the fans of Disco Elysium, who have offered us invaluable moral support. We still believe in games, we still believe in ourselves — and we still believe in you. Millions of RPG fans have proven that games like Disco Elysium have a mass audience. This is a truly wonderous thing. No one can take that from us.

We also believe in what Harrier du Bois calls “the law”. It’s not perfect, but it’s there to protect those who create from those who take. And so it will.

Robert Kurvitz — game director
Aleksander Rostov — art director

Source.

 

[DJOGamer PT]

our own earnings are insufficient even to cover legal fees.

Set up a PayPal/Google Pay account, spread the word throughout the parts of the net where DE fans congregate, by the end of the day they should have enough money to pay lawyers, bribe juries, hire hitmen and still have enough pocket change to rent hookers...

Also, curious to see what will be the reaction to this from all those shills that defended their dismissal

 

[Sòren]

Robert Kurvitz and Aleksander Rostov have released a press statement concerning the ZA/UM situation:

Our firing came weeks after we started asking for documents and financial data, which is still being kept from us.

We have now learned that Tütreke OÜ must have obtained control over Zaum Studio OÜ by fraud. We believe the money used by Tütreke OÜ to buy the majority stake was taken illegally from Zaum Studio OÜ itself, money that belonged to the studio and all shareholders but was used for the benefit of one. Money that should have gone towards making the sequel.

Source.

they believe that certain investors used the company's own money to buy more assets of the very same company?


the idea is so sick that it's very likely.

 

[Grauken]

Robert Kurvitz and Aleksander Rostov have released a press statement concerning the ZA/UM situation:

Our firing came weeks after we started asking for documents and financial data, which is still being kept from us.

We have now learned that Tütreke OÜ must have obtained control over Zaum Studio OÜ by fraud. We believe the money used by Tütreke OÜ to buy the majority stake was taken illegally from Zaum Studio OÜ itself, money that belonged to the studio and all shareholders but was used for the benefit of one. Money that should have gone towards making the sequel.

Source.

they believe that certain investors used the company's own money to buy more assets of the very same company?


the idea is so sick that it's very likely.

actually not uncommon, buy a company with debt that you then put on the books of the company you bought

though the way its described here sounds actually criminal, usually it's just in bad taste

 

[rusty_shackleford]

sounds more like they may be getting taken for a ride by their lawyers

 

[Fredward]

Assuming it's true their brains have to be entirely wrinkle free if they thought they could get away with something like this. Criminal capitalist shenanigans on the people who wrote Disco Elysium? Hello? Did you play the game?

Even if nothing comes out of this there's no way anything out of the studio doesn't get torn apart.

 

[Morgoth]

Fraud in Estonia: The Fourth Wall of Revachol.

 

[Infinitron]

ZA/UM responds: https://www.gamesindustry.biz/disco...ms-former-employees-were-fired-for-misconduct

Disco Elysium studio ZA/UM confirms former employees were fired for misconduct​

Studio confirms instances of a toxic workplace environment, verbal abuse, gender discrimination from dismissed employees

Disco Elysium studio ZA/UM has confirmed an Estonian press report of mismanagement and misconduct among former senior employees to GamesIndustry.biz.

The reports follow news that three key members of ZA/UM – Disco Elysium designer Robert Kurvitz, writer Helen Hindpere, and art director Aleksander Rostov – had been dismissed from the company last year.

In an exclusive statement, ZA/UM detailed some of the reasons behind recent dismissals, but did not name any specific individuals.

The studio said the dismissed employees had limited to no engagement in their responsibilities and work, created a toxic work environment, demonstrated misconduct towards other employees including verbal abuse and gender discrimination, and attempted to illegally sell ZA/UM's intellectual property. More details are specified by the studio in the full statement below.

ZA/UM also confirmed that legal filings related to the former team are pending, but did not divulge further. Last month, Kurvitz filed a suit against ZA/UM via his company Telomer, to "obtain and review documents," though no additional details were given.

Speaking to Estonian newspaper Estonian Ekspress (translated by Google), ZA/UM CEO Ilmar Kompus said the studio suffered from a "toxic environment," and accused Disco Elysium designer Robert Kurvitz and minority shareholder Saandar Taal of "humiliating colleagues and intending to steal IP."

Taal is a former director of ZA/UM UK LTD. He resigned in March 2021.

Kompus accused Kurvitz and Taal of "belittling women and co-workers," claims that echo those made by GamesIndustry.biz's own sources.

"They treated their co-workers very badly," Kompus told the Ekspress. "Despite talking to them repeatedly, things did not improve. Therefore, the company was forced to fire them. Robert [Kurvitz] is said to have been known for belittling women and co-workers in the past, but this was previously unknown to the company. It would be very short-sighted of a growing international company to tolerate such behaviour."

One source that spoke to GamesIndustry.biz, who asked to remain anonymous, described the situation as "not black and white," and said that long-term staff were reluctant to speak out about Kurvitz’ behaviour because they respected him, and felt like they owed him for their positions. Our source claimed staff hired later on did not have a clear picture of the situation and felt uncomfortable speaking out on behalf of others.


"The work was organised in such a way that the goal did not seem to be to make games, but rather to make people quarrel with each other," Luiga told the outlet.

Kompus also claimed that Kurvitz and Taal had discussed wanting to take control of the company's intellectual property – including Disco Elysium – which he described as "delusions of grandeur."

"They went to sell themselves secretly and in violation of existing contracts to other well-known large game industry companies, but no one was interested," Kompus said. "That might have made them angry."

Kompus added that their dismissal was demanded and carried out by Kaur Kender, executive producer on Disco Elysium and their direct manager at the time.

Kender was placed on a leave of absence on medical grounds in late August according to Kompus, which was verified by our own sources.

Sources that spoke to the Ekspress described a clash of two visions between the business team of ZA/UM led by Kompus, and the creative team formerly headed by Robert Kurvitz, which considered profit "secondary."

This was corroborated by our sources, one of which described the situation as "CEO corporate scheming on one side, a toxic auteur on the other."

ZA/UM said in its statement to GamesIndustry.biz that "The rumour that our decision to terminate the contracts of these individuals was taken for financial gain is entirely unfounded and does not in any way reflect the facts."

Speaking to the Ekspress, Martin Luiga, co-founder of the recently dissolved ZA/UM cultural association and editor of the Disco Elysium novel, said he was "driven to drink by the unnatural work arrangement" at the studio.

"The work was organised in such a way that the goal did not seem to be to make games, but rather to make people quarrel with each other," Luiga told the outlet.

Management shuffles are still ongoing. GamesIndustry.biz learned that Private Division co-founder Ed Tomaszewski was appointed as ZA/UM's new president this week, though the studio did not confirm this appointment in its statement.

The full statement given to GamesIndustry.biz can be read below:

"ZA/UM Studio today released a statement to address recent team dismissals that have sparked litigation and media coverage: Our recent dismissal of a few members of the ZA/UM Studio team has led to legal filings and inaccurate news coverage. While we are confident that ZA/UM will prevail in court once all the facts are heard, we believe it is necessary to address baseless claims and falsehoods, if only to rightly defend ZA/UM and protect our employees.

"While active litigation limits what we can share publicly, we believe additional information will provide a more accurate picture given our former employees have neglected to mention key facts to reporters, on blogs, and in other public platforms. For clarity and accuracy, we are sharing the reasons for the justified firings of some former ZA/UM Studio team members:

● Limited to no engagement in their responsibilities and work – including not working at all for almost two years while still being paid by the studio – and forcing colleagues to compensate for their lack of effort.
● Creating a toxic work environment that is antithetical to the ZA/UM culture and team productivity.
● Misconduct in interacting with other colleagues that includes verbal abuse and gender discrimination.
● Attempts to illegally sell to other gaming companies ZA/UM’s intellectual property with the aim of undermining the rest of the team.

"ZA/UM cannot and will not tolerate egregious misconduct, even from individuals who, along with the broader team, have contributed to a game that we are exceptionally proud of and that continues to capture imaginations across the globe. In addition to creativity and innovation, ZA/UM also stands for professionalism, kindness, decency, and fairness, which we expect from all our employees. It would be shortsighted to accept anything less, as we need team players for the highly collaborative process that is creating games.

"The rumour that our decision to terminate the contracts of these individuals was taken for financial gain is entirely unfounded and does not in any way reflect the facts. It was a decision that had to be taken for the wellbeing of the collective. Further, ZA/UM denies any claim of financial malfeasance or fraud that is being held against us. The vast majority of profits from Disco Elysium have been invested back into the studio in order to fund our next projects, which are currently in development.

"We will not let the actions and comments of a vocal few distract from the important work of the studio. ZA/UM has tripled in size from a year ago to nearly 100 employees while retaining the vast majority of the team that worked on Disco Elysium. We have built a passionate and creative team of staggering talent that continues to combine storytelling, art, and technology in our efforts to elevate video games and redefine genres. We are excited to forge on doing this with all the love and brilliance in our hearts and minds. We have so much more to show you."

 

[Sordid MCA/Prosper Hybryd]

"In addition to creativity and innovation, ZA/UM also stands for professionalism, kindness, decency, and fairness, which we expect from all our employees. It would be shortsighted to accept anything less, as we need team players for the highly collaborative process that is creating games."

Oh boy. It is so mortifying to read texts written in the corporate lingo.

 

[Grauken]

"In addition to creativity and innovation, ZA/UM also stands for professionalism, kindness, decency, and fairness, which we expect from all our employees. It would be shortsighted to accept anything less, as we need team players for the highly collaborative process that is creating games."

Oh boy. It is so mortifying to read texts written in the corporate lingo.

you sound toxic, please go to the next detoxification chamber

 

[rusty_shackleford]

*demands more jews in eastern europe*
*gets more jews in eastern europe*

 

[Napalm]

This latest exchange actually started from a longer article by Estonian newspaper Eesti Ekspress.
Lawful Good people can buy the original Estonian language article here: https://ekspress.delfi.ee/artikkel/...aima-arvutimangu-disco-elysiumi-tegijad-tulli
For everyone else some dude put it through translator and put it up here: https://pastebin.com/CKKZZafT

Hijacking, secret shareholders and harassment: what divided the creators of Estonia's most successful computer game "Disco Elysium"?

"I was driven to drinking by the unnatural work arrangement. The work was organized in such a way that the goal did not seem to be to make games, but rather to make people quarrel with each other. I've heard that my direct boss at the time had a nervous breakdown later and also had to leave his job."

Screenwriter Martin Luiga, who took part in the writing of "Disco Elysium" in 2015-2016 and last summer, admits this to Ekspress. It was from his recent social media post that the world learned about the sacking of the original creative team of Estonia's most famous video game.

Robert Kurvitz, who came up with "Disco Elysium", was pushed away last November along with another screenwriter, Helen Hindpere. Artistic director Alexander Rostov left in January.

In Disco Elysium, players must solve a murder mystery in the fictional city of Revachol, set in a dark and brutal world. But what happened between its creators is a much more complicated mystery.

A fight for millions of euros is happening. "Disco Elysium" is Estonia's most successful cultural project of recent times. Even rally ace Ott Tänak does not earn as much as the ZA/UM group that created the game. A few years ago, the value of this business was estimated at 65 million euros.

The above mentioned dismissals and departures await resolution in the UK Employment Tribunal next year. In addition, at the end of November, a trial will begin in Tallinn, where Kurvitz, as a small shareholder of the studio, wants access to the company's information. Several more lawsuits are pending.

***

"Disco Elysium" is a "world creation" started by Robert Kurvitz, Martin Luiga, Argo Tuuliku and Kaspar Kalvet.

It can be called Kurvitz's life's work. He developed environments related to the game for over 20 years. It all started with his science fiction novel "A Sacred and Terrible Smell", which, to the disappointment of the author, was not well received by readers when it was published in 2013. People no longer sit with their noses in books.

However, they do play video games. That's how Kurvitz's group moved into that field. The right step. With "Disco Elysium" they pretty much won the lottery.

It was named Game of the Year by PC Gamer magazine. TIME chose it as one of the best PC games of the decade. It won Best Debut Game, Best Game Score and Best Screenplay at the Games BAFTA. And so on.

There are nearly 80 characters in the game, whose stories contain more than one and a half million words. It can be played in English, Chinese, Spanish, Korean, Polish, Portuguese, French, German and Russian. It can be said that it is one of the most read Estonian literary works.

Most importantly, this game makes millions. The makers of "Disco Elysium" do not go begging to wealthy entrepreneurs. No, they make bulky turnover and profit themselves. They could live not only like the king's cats, but like kings themselves.

"Disco Elysium" has sold more than three million copies. The sales revenue of the ZA/UM group has been around 15 million euros for the third year. Last year, Zaum Studio allocated more than four million euros as dividends.

***

However, the substantial amount of money was not what made the group happy. The current conflict has been described to Ekspress as a clash of two visions. The business managers of the ZA/UM group led by Ilmar Kompus want to do business. However, the creative core led by Robert Kurvitz wants to make era-defining games, profit was secondary for them.

Luiga tweeted that "the money people came in". He added two photos to the tweet. One of them was the writer-businessman Kaur Kender, hardened by the affairs of the 1990s, around whom Kurvitz and his friends gathered at the beginning of the last decade. Together, they created a controversial website called nihilist. Later they moved to England, where they started developing "Disco Elysium". Kender was the first owner of the studio with the entrepreneur Margus Linnamäe, who financed the production of the game.

The latest news is that Kender has also been shown the door. "Kender tells people that he has been on forced medical leave since the end of August, I see no reason to doubt his words," notes Luiga.

Therefore, only Tõnis Haavel remains from the original core team. It was his photo that Luiga added next to Kender's in his tweet.

***

The banker Tõnis Haavel, named the most stylish man in Estonia years ago in Stiil magazine, helped crooks steal from the business elite before the great recession. Entrepreneurs were convinced that buying land near Baku was foolproof. Afterwards, however, they searched for their "investments" like for wind across the field.

Haavel received a suspended prison sentence and an order to compensate the damage, which was estimated at 11.1 million euros. With the money it went how it usually goes. "Haavel says that he is not a resident of Estonia, he lives in Latvia. So what, that he drives around in a brand new BMW X5 and lives in a beach house in Pirita," said Kersti Kracht at the time, whose savings disappeared into the land purchase scam.

Haavel had his bankruptcy proceedings started in Latvia and also moved to England. Not to exile, but to create "Disco Elysium". He became the game's executive producer, just like Kender.

Margus Linnamäe left ZA/UM a year and a half ago. Control and management passed to Ilmar Kompus.

***

According to some people, the real leader of the company (and hidden shareholder) is Tõnis Haavel, who uses the name Denis Havel inside the international company. So that employees and business partners would not find out about his past.

The Duo Kompus-Haavel/Havel decides who to hire, which projects to finance, etc. In addition, they pay management fees to their affiliated companies, for which there is no shareholders' decision. They control the game creation rights, which means that no one can make new games in the world of Elysium without their permission.

Haavel denies such allegations. "I am a producer at the subsidiary company in the UK jurisdiction. One employee out of nearly 90. I have a number of direct subordinates, so yes, I do work in a managerial position. I am not a partner however" he explains.

He adds that he did not change his name. "My name is Tõnis Haavel, like my parents gave me. As the Estonian proverb says, "the name does not spoil the man". Denis has been my nickname for a long time. It's easier to pronounce, write, etc. in multinational teams."

***

Ekspress has seen a letter where Ilmar Kompus presents Denis Havel as a partner in both Estonian and British companies. Not directly, but through legal bodies.

Kompus and Haavel are not just acquaintances. Käthlin Haavel, the mother of Tõnis' two children, and Kompus' wife are sisters.

The men used to be business partners. Their company once owned half of Solaris Shopping Center. Currently, their company is called KOHA Capital - KO, which stands for Kopmus and HA for Haavel. When Haavel got into legal trouble due to the land purchase scam in Baku, the company was entirely registered to the name of Kompus.

Haavel seemed impecunious. But his creditors and opponents had their doubts. For example, in the British business register, one of the shareholders of Zaum UK Ltd is Yessirnosir Ltd, owned by Anu Reiman. She is known as Haavel's wife and sailing companion. Their racing boat is called "Yes Sir No Sir".

An Ekspress source claims that Haavel receives income through Reiman: the British company Disco Elysium UK pays tens of thousands of euros to Reiman's Estonian company Stuudio 38 every month.

"I am not married. The owner of Yessirnosir Ltd is a dear person to me," Haavel rejects the allegations. "I get paid for my work from the UK company I work for. Compared to Estonian wages, it is hefty, but not as hefty as you claim. I can't get paid from elsewhere, my employment contract wouldn't allow it."

Last year, Studio 38 earned 210,000 euros from "artistic creative activities", but the annual report does not reveal from which country and in which field exactly.

Haavel reiterates that he is not among the owners of the ZA/UM group, even though Kompus claimed so. "I don't know how to comment on Mr. Kompus' claims. There are no companies or parts of them under my control."

Now Kompus tells Ekspress that Haavel works as a producer in the company and "does his work in an exemplary manner." He has no stake in the company."

***

Ilmar Kompus' current version of the reasons for the quarrel is seriously shocking: Kurvitz's crew violated all the rules of the game. "Unfortunately, I have to talk about individuals whose reasons for dismissal were non-participation in the work of the studio, creating a toxic environment, humiliating colleagues, intending to steal IP," he explains.

"Robert and Sander Taal (another minority shareholder - EE) were very important people in making the original game of Disco Elysium. But far from the only important people. Unfortunately, they themselves did not want to consider others. The conflics arose because they were being paid by Disco Elysium UK Ltd from 2020, but they did not do any work, and what little they did was not up to standard. They treated their co-workers very badly. Despite talking to them repeatedly, things did not improve. Therefore, the company was forced to fire them. Robert is said to have been known for belittling women and co-workers in the past, but this was previously unknown to the company. It would be very short-sighted of a growing international company to tolerate such behavior."

According to Kompus, it turns out that they had also done other activities against the company, sowed chaos, manipulated, wanted to steal the company's property. "Obviously, delusions of grandeur. They went to sell themselves secretly and in violation of existing contracts to other well-known large game industry companies, but no one was interested. That might have made them angry. Their dismissal was demanded and carried out by their direct manager, Kaur Kender. For now, Kender has also been removed from the company's work. Unfortunately, he has challenges in his private life that prevent him from doing work that meets the requirements."

Neither Robert Kurvitz nor his company's lawyer answered Ekspress' questions.

***

Disco Elysium was so successful that there were talks of a sequel. In February of this year, a contract was signed with Amazon to produce a TV series. Back in August, ERR (Estonian Public Broadcasting) announced that ZA/UM is making preparations for their next project.

For now the development of "Disco Elysium 2" is suspended. "As far as I know, the sequel has been shelved," confirms Martin Luiga. The translation of "A Sacred and Terrible Smell" has also been ruled out.

Key personnel of the original creative team were kicked out.

The worldwide rights to "Disco Elysium" are held by Kompus (and Haavel/Haveli), who are in no hurry. There have been claims within the company that they're using an "oxygen-tactic". Soon the creators cut off from money will run out of "financial oxygen" and they will all come back humbly begging. Then they can be offered a "fair" price for their small stake, not too different from zero.

According to Kompus, things are different. "Immediately after being fired, partners Robert and Sander began legal proceedings to challenge their dismissal," he says. "The company sees no reason or content in the lawsuits."

Business is sometimes brutal. Much more brutal than some rough video game.

 

[S.torch]

"Professionalism"

Screw them. Nothing has damaged this hobby and all creative fields in general more than the so-called "professionals", shills and drones without any genuine appreciation and attachment to the medium. We must remember that we are talking about videogames: A medium entirely by outcast for outcast. It didn't need any professionalism to grow, it doesn't need it now. What's more, it could do with fewer idiots who are so full of themselves.

I still think exactly the same thing I thought last page: If the creators of this game made it while all high on alcohol, and it had such amazing writing and art, hell, what these guys could achieve further down the line is beyond reality. Certainly beyond any "professional" jerk.

And this whole victimhood doesn't hold. Nothing hurts the games more than this whole situation they created. Every minute that is wasted trying to resolve this is minutes spent not moving forward for more games, polishing and improving the sequel. If they cared as much about games as they say they do, then they wouldn't have removed their creators, giving way to this whole situation that will be nothing more than a delay to what the fans and creatives want.

But perhaps the funniest part is that people accused of fucking fraud want to talk about responsibility and all that bullshit. Corporate retards in a nutshell.

 

[rusty_shackleford]

Unprofessional adult-children have done more damage to video games than publishers like EA could have ever hoped to have done.

 

[Drunken Irishman]

Disco Elysium captures what it was like to live in Eastern Europe in 1990's and 2000's. It has a familiarity with poverty that is unlike anything else. I know these people that the game portrays, these drunks and drug addicts... they even wear the same Adidas track suits. Clearly Robert Kurvitz is writing from experience.

These new corporate social justice warriors will never understand the human experience this way, they will not be able to write characters like this. Kurvitz writes from experience with sympathy: the person living in misery still has hopes and dreams and intellectual interests.

Those dreams and interests may be dumb from the perspective of well adjusted middle class people, and especially those that are active in social justice. For them, these people are like exhibits in a zoo.... they know they should feel feelings concerning them, like revulsion and pity. But they will never understand them. Immediately they will either resort to moralising (do this to help yourself) or blaming. And woe to the poor who are of the wrong gender, race and sexuality.

Apparently, Disco Elysium really was a lighting in a bottle.

 

[S.torch]

Unprofessional adult-children have done more damage to video games than publishers like EA could have ever hoped to have done.

The corporates you're simping for are full allied to the adult-children you're complaining about.

 

[Fredward]

Why don't you ever hear wholesome stories about brilliant yet kind auteurs? What is it about suckling on the teat of cuntery that fosters excellence? And should I be more of an asshole?

 

[Dadd]

It's more that other people are cunts who only understand the language of cuntery if you want to get them to do their jobs less shittily and shit less on your creation, and you need to tolerate them because you don't have the time and/or means to do everything yourself.

 

[agentorange]

Why don't you ever hear wholesome stories about brilliant yet kind auteurs? What is it about suckling on the teat of cuntery that fosters excellence? And should I be more of an asshole?

you do hear about kind auteurs (people like david lynch), but stories about people being kind dont make headlines. you hear far more about "cuntish" auteurs because people usually spread these stories about them being cunts to the media in an effort to discredit the person, often followed by trying to steal their work/avoid paying them, etc. note the exact same thing happening now with Mick Gordon and the Doom soundtrack, where the people at ID tried to slander him as being "unprofessional" in order to steal his work, abuse it, and not pay him for it. people are always ready to gobble up stories about artists being unruly and unreliable while being perfectly fine with corporations "professionally" engaging in outright immoral and evil behavior.

 

[mondblut]

- Capitalist con artists stole the means of production from hard-working artists!
- But think of toxic belittlement of women!

This commie trainwreck is far more exciting than the game itself.