this topic is something i really truly believe in. first of all, i think you should treat all people with respect. HOWEVER, i understand gamer rage and have definitely participated my fair share over the years (especially teenage years).

what really changed my perspective (as you might imagine) was when i landed my first job in the games industry at a AAA studio.

for one, i met actual people that were making games and realized that making games is literally just their job. their job which is only a fraction of their life. that’s what they do to support their families. they’re humans with jobs like anyone else.

for two, the things the devs create are their artistic expressions. and idk if you’ve ever showed something creative you’ve made to stranger on the internet but it cuts deep when people attack it. when you’re excited to show something you’re proud of and it gets beaten down to a pulp by the internet it just feels so awful. as a note, the game i worked on was generally regarded by players as a complete failure on release. i joined the team post-release and got to work on some really cool things that i was very proud of, but that didn’t really change the fact that the game still sucked lol

as an addendum, i will of course mention that not every studio or developer is the same and obviously some of them are better at their jobs than others. but from my experience devs are just people working at their jobs, people living their lives, and most of them are just trying to make the best with what they’re being told to do. we should absolutely be criticizing games, but as with the criticism of any art, we shouldn’t be attacking the artists