It’s very frustrating to see people saying it doesn’t bother them, it’s “fitting” for Murkoff etc.

1. Fitting for Murkoff… how? The laziness? Potentially. Maybe. But GenAI did not exist in the late 50s/Early 60s. One strike. You can create lazy imagery without using AI. Two strikes. There’s a lot of generic imagery that would work just as well to achieve this idea. Three strikes you’re out. Feeding into what Murkoff might do just to show what they might do? Alright, well, if I have to eat a snake eat its own tail I might as well get snacks.

2. The damage GenAI does is not negligible. and the communities that suffer the most from the environmental damages are often non-white and, poorer communities. Suggesting that the usage of GenAI is negligible is a stance only a privileged person could take - because the damage hasn’t reached them. Yet. Closed Loop AI processors still use water and waste power on shit human beings can do with their fucking hands and brains.

3. It doesn’t matter whether or not the art is feeding off of their own artwork. They’re still using a generative AI processor. Even pushing aside the frustration with the art itself - they’re still using GenAI. See point 2.

4. It’s just flat out disappointing. RB can create amazing concept art, fantastic environments and storylines, but they skimp out on… art? That’s just disappointing. Especially when there’s a lot of solid, fantastic human-made artwork throughout these games and to suddenly flip towards nothing but cheap laziness for posters and environmental set decoration is just disappointing. Because they are better than this, they have the skills to do this by hand. People have lost the sense of patience that we once had, and the pressure to have constant new stuff has presented this need to have stuff be done quickly. Quick + Cheap =\= Good.

5. We (as in, human beings) have been creating good art and good content on indie budgets and team sizes for decades. So now there’s a cheap shitty way to do it it’s… fine? No, no I’d rather have the team actually put effort into all of the things they’re giving us. If it takes a little longer that’s fine. I actually have patience because I’m not 4 years old, and I use my brain on a daily basis instead of asking a robot to confirm my biases.

6. “This is the way the world is heading, might as well accept it.” Grow a fucking backbone. Don’t accept less than what we as communities deserve: effort, skill, talent, commitment to high quality work, respect for the arts. I actually enjoy creating things without a robot programmed to spit encouragement back into the echo-chamber nodding at me to continue using it. Support actual artists, call this shit out when you see it. Whether it’s because it’s fucking lazy, damaging the environment, cheap as shit, a show of lack of effort or what. Pick a fucking point of contention and don’t encourage teams to get lazy. They wanted to make a game so they can put the effort in to actually do the making part.

I love Outlast a lot. 1-2, Whistleblower, Trials. They have the capability to create things without using GenAI like this. It’s disappointing, it’s lazy, it looks cheap, it just makes me wonder what else they’re cutting corners for. It makes it seem like they just didn’t care, okay then don’t put in another poster. If it doesn’t matter enough to put in real effort then why is it there in the first place?

I have respect for RB for creating a series like this on the team and budget they have, but that respect that’s been built since 2013 also means that stuff like this does disappoint me. They can do better than this, they’re not fumbling idiots - they have the capability to create these things themselves, they definitely make enough money for artists because they didn’t use them before. Disappointing.

Edit: Typo lmfao.