Re: Why is everyone mad at the Pizza Tower pirate?

I'm not sure what you mean by "where he stands" in relation to the Pizza Tower developer. Do you mean that you have to know information about the developer personally in order to consider buying their products? I don't really see much merit behind that, because you're obviously not going to be able to know much about developers of certain games, also considering that there are teams of sometimes hundreds of developers, as well as the producers. Even if it were a solo indie developer, knowing the personality behind the game that you're playing hardly matters, unless you have some sort of political / social alignment that is barring you from purchasing a product that you otherwise would have enjoyed.

Can't really say for myself, as I haven't played Pizza Tower, but a lot of people would disagree with your point about it being generic and not having a lot to bring to the platformer genre. From what I've seen, the game has really tight platforming, slick controls, and excellent level design -- all of which are hallmarks of a great platforming game.

Again, I'm unsure as to why you knowing details about the developer is so important. You saying that he has "wisely" decided to keep himself anonymous, and how that impacts your so-called "powerful wallet vote" really doesn't make sense to me.

I don't know about you, but I like to pay for a game on merit and gameplay before I consider looking at the developer. The developers of the game have almost no impact on what I buy, and even if they did, they'd have to do something pretty abhorrent for me to want to not purchase their game.

You make a pretty compelling argument when it comes to the 2 hour window for Steam games. i agree that 2 hours can sometimes not feel like enough to be a worthwhile trial period. I also agree that more games should strive to have free demos of their games available. It only benefits the consumers and has little to no impact on the developer in terms of creating said demo (because the content for the game has been created anyway).

Getting into your argument about Toby Fox, I feel like you're a little bit misinformed when it comes to his work. Toby Fox has most definitely put more than "a few months" of development time into his games. Considering the amount of work that goes into planning, writing, programming, and composing as a sole developer for a large project, it really goes without saying that the amount of time between releases is warranted. I feel like you're conflating the period between game releases with laziness, and that Toby is just resting on a pile of money. I do agree that he did see massive success from Undertale, but that doesn't mean that he has any reason to just shaft his user base when creating Deltarune.

Taking his time and not rushing out a project is not something I would call "insidious" or "grifter" behavior. Your argument really begins to fall apart when you consider that Toby Fox has released Deltarune Chapter 1 & 2 for free, which means a period of almost 8 years (from Undertale's release to Deltarune Chapter 1 & 2 being developed and released) where he has not received any direct monetary compensation for his development time.

You really have something against Toby Fox. I really don't see a reason to hate him this much. He's just a guy who is working on a project he's passionate about, and cultivating a community of people who appreciate his work. If you don't like it, then don't buy the official release of Deltarune or Undertale when those come out. I really don't know what else to say at this point.

A very well put reply. Though you have misinterpreted by feelings towards the Pizza Tower dev. In all honesty, I'd like to know where he stands before I make a final judgement on his work. Pizza Tower, in my opinion,is a pretty generic platformer with nothing new to bring to that massive genre. The dev has (wisely) decided to keep all details about himself a secret, but that makes it harder to trust him with my powerful wallet vote.

Steam's 2 hour window can be unfair sometimes, as it often takes longer to sample certain games. I do commend Valve for having it there as a substitute for demos, that devs now hate for some reason, still it would be nice to actually get free demos every now and then before you pay up.

Tobby Fox is a fine example of an indie grifter, who works on games for a few months to continue his endless vacation. It is my belief that we should be more cautious of indie devs going forward, because they may turn out like him. I donnot know how people can say that piracy is completely amoral, when the modern videogame industry is so insidious.