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Horror and Cats

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Discussion

ago

The Ethics of Covering “Leaks”

Recently, supposed leaks on a Resident Evil 1 remake have come out and people in my corner of the internet have been all over it. I personally won’t be doing anything on it until Capcom comes out with news straight from the horses mouth.

I think covering leaks is a cheap clickbait technique, personally. There is no proof anything mentioned is true aside from “insiders” on Reddit saying it is. Also, everything mentioned is complete common sense assumptions on what a remake would have in it.

Like I said, acting like you’ve got “news” on something leaked feels cheap to me, but I’m open to having my mind changed.

What do you think?

Created at 10:54pm, 22nd May, 2024. Page last updated at 11:08am, 23rd May, 2024.

Trizrizzle 5/22/2024, 11:32:26 PM

100% agree, there's no guarantee anything that leaks if real or final and I'd much prefer to see the polished content devs or owners put the effort into a proper announcement.

Horror and Cats 5/22/2024, 11:40:16 PM

Trizrizzle

Exactly. Let devs drop info in line with what they have planned. Making a big deal about leaks will potentially sour reception of actual announcements if things don’t end up being the same.

CelestialFlea 5/23/2024, 12:08:16 AM

Yeah, I hate leaks. As it can be potentially damaging to a games launch or development. The GTA6 Leaks being the most obvious example, because people who know nothing about the development of games all saw the leaks and formed an opinion about the graphics looking just the same as GTAV.

I think dataminers should also be put in this category because for the most part, they're deconstructing game files to find code and features for content that isn't yet released or isn't intended for public use or visibility.

Sometimes leaks can be a good thing yes, IF and I stress IF it's done for the right reasons. For example, to expose malicious or deceitful behavior by developers that needs to be brought to attention. But sadly most just aren't responsible with leaks and want only views.

Horror and Cats 5/23/2024, 12:11:10 AM

CelestialFlea

Totally feel the same on your last point as kind of a whistle blower leak.

Also I didn't think about datamining but I agree with you there too!

CelestialFlea 5/23/2024, 12:20:40 AM

Horror and Cats

I don't think all dataminers are bad either though (hence I said for the most part), sometimes they do so to help make 3rd party tools for games that might need very specific data or for Wiki pages on games that have A LOT of loot/items.

As long as their intent is helpful and to give players a better experience, I don't have a problem with those kinda data miners.

Makster 5/23/2024, 5:41:07 AM

I don't mind leaks so much. It's almost a peek behind the curtain or looking glass and can build hype (almost like guerilla style marketing). Understandable when it is an illegal and confirmed leak like Grand Theft Auto VI's case where the leaker was fully prosecuted.

Otherwise I find leaks to be similar to fan theories - it's just a bit of fun. The issue I foresee is when the leak or theory becomes too commonplace and the developer cannot meet expectation - I can only think of No Man Sky at this moment but this was encouraged by the developer not managing expectations on release which made for a disappointing launch

Lanah Tyra 5/23/2024, 9:33:40 AM

I don't like leaks and will avoid any articles which cover leaks. Either because they have been acquired by illegal methods or because someone who had early access to the information couldn't keep their mouth shut. For creators it's a privilege to be invited to pre-release stuff, someone taking advantage of this and slipping information in hopes of higher engagement is just not okay. And we all know what is the problem with the people getting such information via hacking into systems.

Data mining is an interesting one... Yes it can be used in a helpful way by building fan database or like FFXIV has mods and addons which even though might be helpful are against the T&C of the game. I've seen it being used by creators in a good way, such as showcasing all new weapons added on day one so people can have a look and decide which one they want to get... but it's against T&C still and also not fair on creators who might spend weeks farming out all that stuff and then would like to showcase them without the help of 3rd party software and actually showing off their hard work? And there are also data minders who would show items which are not even announced yet but they found them already in the game client... (which is straight away leak then so we are back to the previous point)

So while leaks are a pretty much black and white, right or not question, data mining is a very grey area and for example I know how developers disapprove certain mods or turn a blind eye over damage meters as long as they are not used to harass others, I would love to hear what they think when it's used to showcase content which is available in the game just takes a long time farming out. I feel like if companies made such showcase videos (or gave influencers access who could then make these for them) we wouldn't have a need to use mods for such content and then it would be one less grey area to deal with.

Horror and Cats 5/23/2024, 11:08:08 AM

Lanah Tyra

Sounds like we’re pretty much on the same page. I can see the point in the data mining about making guides helpful, but I’m a rule follower so you’ll not see me supporting going against T&C lol.