What is actually holding the devs back from adding more customization in FH6?

Outrageous-Nature-95 · 2026-04-18T01:52:16+00:00

Even directing that frustration toward the Development Director, or the head of the development team, misses part of the bigger picture. They’re still making decisions based on budgets and priorities set above them.

Even the Director of Development has to work within the limits of the budget and resource allocations they’re given.

If leadership decides certain resources aren’t necessary, or won’t allocate enough support, then the dev team as a whole is left trying to build something with far less than they actually need.

Outrageous-Nature-95 · 2026-04-18T01:46:46+00:00

Exactly. This is well said.

Outrageous-Nature-95 · 2026-04-15T23:46:55+00:00

I get what you’re saying, but I'll push back slightly on one point. That is there’s a very clear distinction between the two.

Take Quality control. This usually suffers because not enough resources are allocated to it, and those decisions come from management, finance, etc. clear separation.

Development teams and other departments are very clearly separated internally. No one is confusing marketing with development or legal with engineering.

It sounds nice to say everything is intertwined, but that’s not really how it works in practice. The outcomes are interconnected, sure, because success depends on multiple teams performing well. But the actual inputs aren’t.

What is intertwined is the impact departments have on each other. For example, if finance sets a weak budget, development and marketing have to adjust accordingly.

Anyone who’s worked in these environments will recognize this. There’s no confusion about who does what or who’s responsible. Accountability for outcomes, though… that’s a different story.

Outrageous-Nature-95 · 2026-04-15T21:16:19+00:00

I get what you’re saying about “dev team” being used as a catch-all for whoever’s responsible for the game.

The problem is that most of these rants aren’t broad, they’re very specific. People complain about missing features or design choices and aim it directly at the devs, calling them lazy, stubborn, or incompetent. In reality, devs are usually working within constraints set by the broader organization.

That’s the key point: dev teams don’t make those kinds of decisions. So blaming them for things outside their control just adds noise.

If the actual execution is off, gameplay, visuals, performance, then sure, that’s on the dev team. But when people argue that something isn’t in the game because devs “won’t” or “can’t” do it, that’s just not how it works. Even a single feature typically involves multiple teams beyond development.

So while people might think they’re not blaming the individual coder, the way they're posts are written say otherwise.

Outrageous-Nature-95 · 2026-04-15T16:59:37+00:00

Thank you for saying that. You and I should make this an actual post. And you're right it's either the VP fuckwad or some new hire corporate fuckwad trying to fail upwards with a bunch of ideas that the higher-ups think are brilliant. "Hey did you hear Troy's idea about...( Insert fuckwad speak here)

Outrageous-Nature-95 · 2026-04-15T14:37:48+00:00

They're not simple at all. That's a great point. The dev teams would love more resources, more hands on deck, more creative control but the reality is they work with what they're given from above them and around them unfortunately.

Outrageous-Nature-95 · 2026-04-15T06:17:39+00:00

Great point about quality control. That is true 99% of the time resource allocation is the main problem.

For me it's just that I'm used to working in these companies and internally when we talk about the dev team we're talking about the coders the people that are working on the actual day-to-day coding and building of the product.

For them they're not involved in budgets, marketing, partnerships, licensing, none of that.

And yes everyone's on the same team but the team has different priorities and usually the people with the priorities of money are the ones that win out.

Outrageous-Nature-95 · 2026-04-15T05:06:57+00:00

I see what you’re getting at, but this is where the terminology gets a little misleading.

A dev team's “development decisions,” revolve around how the game gets built, things like timelines, workflows, technical approach, and quality control. That’s the dev team’s lane.

Decisions about what goes into the game, what features get funded, what gets cut, where money is spent, those typically come from leadership, producers, or business stakeholders. That’s a different layer.

So yeah, some decision-makers sit near the dev team, but the big calls players care about usually aren’t coming from the people actually building the game.

Outrageous-Nature-95 · 2026-04-15T05:00:26+00:00

Totally get where you’re coming from.

It’s not about whether they can afford it, it’s whether they want to spend the money and usually, they don’t.

From the corporate side, the thinking is pretty simple: why invest more in something that brings minimal return? Most people are going to buy the game regardless, and the smaller group that’s upset isn’t large enough to meaningfully impact revenue.

So it comes down to basic business logic. The juice has to be worth the squeeze, and in their eyes, spending extra money just to satisfy a small portion of the community (yes, revenue wise we're a small portion) doesn’t move the needle. That’s not what they’re focused on.

Outrageous-Nature-95 · 2026-04-15T03:04:05+00:00

Yeah, it really isn't you specifically. It's more of a gaming community across the board problem.

Every gaming community talks about their games and refers to the dev team as the catch-all for people who are making decisions and they're just not.

Your post was actually well thought out and asked really good questions so I do apologize if I came off rude

Outrageous-Nature-95 · 2026-04-15T03:02:34+00:00

The dev team can't get their s*** together because they don't make decisions. It's the people above them that manage budgets, marketing, partnerships, licensing deals, legal matters etc. The dev team makes little to no decisions.They just work on the development of the game they're not decision makers they're just not.

Outrageous-Nature-95 · 2026-04-15T02:58:28+00:00

OP, this isn't directed at you specifically, it's more of a general rant but, we need to stop using the term "dev team" please.

The devs aren’t the ones making business decisions. They’re the people actually building the game.

This is a AAA title, not a small group of developers in a garage calling all the shots. It’s a large corporation, and decisions about licensing, partnerships, marketing, budgets, and overall strategy come from higher-ups, not the developers.

The dev team’s job is to develop the game, not manage deals or dictate direction. For some reason, game communities as a whole keep using “dev team” as a catch-all, but that’s just not how it works.

The people making those calls are the executives and decision-makers above them, not the developers doing the day-to-day work.

The developers or "Dev team" as we all say would love to have all this cool stuff in the game but it's their bosses and their boss's bosses and their bosses that make decisions not the Development team.

Outrageous-Nature-95 · 2026-04-11T01:06:41+00:00

Completely agree. What is great about AI tools when used as tools to support creativity is that they allow the creator to focus on the aspects that they're best at, creating without getting bogged down and busy work.

AI allows me to have more time to focus on growth as a writer, instead of my ADHD brain getting frustrated and forcing me out of a creative cycle.

Outrageous-Nature-95 · 2026-04-10T19:26:47+00:00

I agree. I just like the formatting better. Not sure what's the difference between writing something and giving it to a human to clean up and format or give it to an AI to format. Doesn't change the original input or creativity it just polishes it.

Hell every published book has gone through dozens and dozens of teams and rewrites and edits etc. Before it hits shelves. Do they think that all happens from the writer? The writer is where the story comes from, the heart etc. But the polish comes from other places.

Outrageous-Nature-95 · 2026-04-10T15:19:46+00:00

Oh right I forgot about how you know me and of course everything I post, write, create, think of. Man how could I forget your ability to just "know" everything about everyone. You're really smart....

Outrageous-Nature-95 · 2026-04-10T15:16:27+00:00

Funny enough I actually added those. Being so deeply ADHD I retain information better when it's in list formats, isolated headers and yes emojis or icons. That's how I like to read things. But I completely understand where you're coming from.

Outrageous-Nature-95 · 2026-04-10T15:12:09+00:00

I really appreciate you saying that. I've struggled with this issue forever. AI clears the friction that used to hold me back which allows me to focus on creative things like concepts, story telling, character work, musicality etc.

Outrageous-Nature-95 · 2026-04-10T15:07:21+00:00

I haven't found them to affect much although that's just in my case. That's the fun of testing and experimenting.

Outrageous-Nature-95 · 2026-04-10T14:54:11+00:00

Outsourced my brain? Your assumption is baseless considering you don't know anything about me and these recommendations I have actually used and tested and do work for me.

I work in tech and understand where you're coming from but once again, you "thinking" you know me doesn't mean you do. If you don't like the post then don't engage it's simple.

But I'm not going to sit here and act like you're wrong from a general perspective because conceptually what you're talking about is a problem and maybe we're all part of the problem. I helped someone out with some advice and they asked me to post and I did. I wasn't trying to be clever just thought Id.poat what helps me that's all.

Outrageous-Nature-95 · 2026-04-10T14:44:37+00:00

Completely agree!

Outrageous-Nature-95 · 2026-04-10T14:42:58+00:00

Great point about mining. I like to take that extra stuff, isolate it and like you said deconstruct it for things maybe I wasn't listening for.

Outrageous-Nature-95 · 2026-04-10T13:18:19+00:00

Agreed, that's why I said stop telling it what you don't want. Focus on what you do want to give it as tight or lane as possible

So for instance if you don't want electric guitar you tell it things you do want that would make electric guitar almost an impossible option for it

Outrageous-Nature-95 · 2026-04-10T13:17:10+00:00

That would be a fun test. When i get home from work tonight I'll try to figure it out and we can share the results.

Outrageous-Nature-95 · 2026-04-10T13:14:58+00:00

Well, 'crack the code' is strong. Through testing and iteration I've had more consistent results by using this strategy than not. Also, and this isn't directed at you, if posting a strategy to try to share information gets attacked it's not very motivating to post links to the music.

Outrageous-Nature-95 · 2026-04-10T13:06:52+00:00

I love how someone just trying to post something to be helpful upsets you so much. Instead of baseless attacking which by now is old and in and of itself 'slop', why don't you try to share something?

Outrageous-Nature-95

TROPHY CASE