What devs see is “all those other devs are too lazy to make a good game”.
What players mean is “all those other games are full of micro transactions and sell missing content and features as dlc”, which is not the same thing.
What players want to be addressed is the bad influence investors have on the products. Publishers aren’t interested in publishing good games, they only care about money.
Devs don’t go about making a game only for the money. Most of them would rather do it the same way Larian does it, focus on quality and provide a good gaming experience, but their hands are tied.
So the message gamers try to get out goes to the wrong recipients, and it’s obviously being taken the wrong way.
Pretty obvious and epic communication fail.
I don’t think it’s a “dupe”. The same community can have different rules or expectations or culture in different places, and eventually, people will settle down where they feel comfortable. For some, that’s the most populated place, for others, the one that aligns best with their own interests and vibe.
Personally, I’d rather not get invested in the .ml place, considering who’s running the instance.
It’s making it so easy.