Sucker for punishment Dean ‘Rocket’ Hall has taken yet again to Reddit to answer harder, more pointed questions about DayZ and, inevitably, The War Z. One Redditor took the chance to find out exactly what Hall means when he pleads with gamers to “behave like rational consumers”. Not only did he receive a characteristically frank reply from Hall, but the developer also opened up about the on the personal pain DayZ’s nominal similarity to The War Z has caused him.
“I need to be clearer about what I mean,” said Rocket. “I don’t blame consumers individually for the decisions they are making – but I do challenge them to consider the impact of their decisions.” If gamers pay out for games which underdeliver, Hall appears to suggest, they can only expect to put up with similar or worse treatment from developers in the future.
Not for the first time, Rocket pointed the finger at certain quarters of the gaming media, which he deems guilty of publishing “dubious claims” from developers without due interrogation.
“There are many media who were saying how great [The War Z] was [when] they ‘played’ in pre-alpha, only to say something completely different a few months later about how terrible the game was,” he said. “I think that’s the absolute worst.”
Confusion between DayZ and The War Z has been such that Hall has faced accusations of unethical behavior from his own family.
“I am angry about the WarZ. I’m very angry. I’m quite hurt personally because anyone can see how similar the words are, and while the average gamer knows the difference individual people don’t. I’ve had family members/close friends mistake the difference and confront me about what they believed was unethical behavior they thought I was making,” said Hall.
“I really don’t think anyone can understand just quite how exasperated that can make you feel when you’ve gambled everything on something, put your whole self and reputation on the line. So it hasn’t made my life very pleasant and I disagree entirely with the conduct and how consumers have been treated.”
Valve investigated The War Z after its makers were accused of false advertising in December, and the game was removed from Steam in short order.