In a small company noone would try to label you “l5” or “l6” and probably an actual human would make your comp decision. You take the byzantine incentive structure away and people just try to do a good job.

A normal full time job including holiday is only ~140 hours a month. Assuming you believe their user stats too that would be pretty grim. You probably shouldn’t though.

11 billion engagement hours a month! Does anyone seriously believe that lol. And still not profitable! What do they need, ever human beings every waking hour to spin a profit!?

Didn’t knights of the old republic have farkle in too? It’s a good game, and I guess just unfamiliar enough to bolt into a fantasy setting.

God help the partners of patient gamers (the ones that aren’t gamers themselves)

That’s his whole schtick though, I bet 90% of people end up with the “good” ending and it rings hollow and everything just feels like his chickens coming home to roost. I really into the Arthur morgan/Joel from last of us type: sympathetic but ultimately shitty character getting what they deserve and it feels fair but still sad. Fucking brilliant story telling in both cases.

P.s. I totally agree that the gunfights are almost always immersion breaking.

Some of your examples of harmony involve fourth wall breaking, which is interesting because I had always thought of the harmony between game and story as about immersion You’re right though, being seen as a player for what you are trying to do is the essence of harmony. That is if you’re trying to immerse, being wrenched out of it is bad, but if you’re taking the piss, the world should take the piss right back. Hard for a game to do both, but I had vivid memories or baldurs gate 1+2 characters talking to their “omnipreseent authority figure” that walked that line perfectly.

Yeah, the main story could have been so great if it had more non murder ways to progress. Or made your murders fewer so as to feel as impactful as the deaths of characters around you were. I it’s defence though it has brilliant moments where they’d really woven the game mechanics into the story. Mega points for minigames and the mission where you get drunk.