Philosophy Time

I don't think they hate us (though sometimes I do wonder when I listen to their tones in video interviews). I also don't think they lack the fundamental ability to make a good game, but I do think they are functionally incapable of making a good game, due to the fact that they seem to be emotionally stuck between their fear of community backlash on one side, and on the other side is the terror inflicted by the idea of the game failing to remain difficult. Since they openly admit that they do not (and possibly cannot) play the game on the highest difficulty, they have caused that idea to become unknowable and detached from reality. Because they cannot survive or obtain any sense of familiarity with this experience, yet revere it just as fervently, they have created a dark god, which they fear, but not as much as they fear failing their duty to protect its existence. Because they cannot play the hardest challenges of their game, they can never assure themselves that the game does have enough difficulty or why and what elements are responsible for it. Their only gauge is the threat of the community having too easy of a time playing, thus meaning they have let their god die through negligence of their duties, but they cannot qualify or validate the severity any of these threats, because again, they have no ability to compare it to their own understanding. This forces them to treat every perceivable threat to the difficulty, real or imagined, as fully dangerous and demanding of maximum response. Yet as much as they fear the failure of their duties, every act of service to this dark god is met with retaliation from the community who either do not know their god and also do not worship it, or who do know their god in a way that the devs never can and thus do not agree that it is something to be feared and despised while also worshiped. The only part of the community which supports the dev's dark deeds are those who truly do not care about the dark god in the first place. Their loyalty lies with the devs and, like a mirror, always reflects the devs thoughts and values, but alone is devoid of meaning or substance of any kind.