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this post was submitted on 03 Jul 2023
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I wouldn't lump this in with the whole "enshitification" issue.
This is the end result of gamers not placing any value on the content they consume. People want free content, regardless of quality, over anything else.
So, as you would expect, what you are seeing is free content, regardless of quality, being created en masse.
We used to make build guides for Diablo 2 for free and it worked well. I'd say this is more a sign of everyone trying to monetize everything.
It really is though. Remember back when we just had gamefaqs guides? Or actual game wikis that weren't plastered with ads?
It's especially apparent in the japanese gamersphere. There used to be great (grassroots) wikis for basically every Japanese game, now they're all run by e.g. game8 and their clones.
Enshittification really does mean something quite specific and is not just a word meaning “things aren’t very good anymore.”
If you haven’t read Cory Doctorow’s essay that coined the term, definitely do. It’s a modern classic.
It seems to be the combination of two things: Diablo is now truly a mass market product, not just a gamer’s delight. Games now make more money than movies. The audience to be reached is enormous and attracts the eye of infotainment professionals, and no longer just people who are really into the game and decide to maybe try a guide. These people start with the cheap content machine first and Diablo is just the topic du jour. after a while they will be on to something else.
All this points at the second topic, which is the way paid creator video platforms have evolved. There’s now significant commercial opportunity and competition is fierce. No longer does the deeper guide win but rather the one that games the algo most, appeals to the broadest audience most, and has the most production value (money) behind it.
I suspect there is actually more high quality game guide content than ever, but you aren’t going to find it with just a “Diablo” search because there is an enormous pile of cheap crap on top of it.
I mean I would argue it's related, the reason behind it is $$$. Corporate interests have homogenized content and de-normalized diversity and community.
People who use to just post their excel sheets and research on some bb forum for free somewhere starting getting paid by icy veins or maxroll. Overtime they establish a monopoly on the content and can do whatever the hell they want.
Why make a platform that depends on the community and you get the ad views when you can adopt a business strategy that also gets you youtube and social media views while eliminating your competition.
And the youtube trend is just people trying to emulate the handful of people who managed to make it big off the twitch/youtube bag.
Maybe your expectation that people should do all that work to free is unrealistic and just a sign of your own entitlement issues?
Rofl, it's a hobby, you do it for fun, you shouldn't need to get paid. I also play tennis as a hobby and I love to talk to people about it without charging them money believe it or not. The fetishization with internet fame, views, and money is making gaming weird.
I mean back when I was more into gaming I would contribute. I didn't expect money, I just did it because it was fun. I feel like there's a big disconnect between the current generation and my generation that wrote 300 page guides on gamefaqs for the hell of it rofl.
It's a video game, it's meant to be fun. If you don't enjoy writing guides then don't write them but don't cry that no one wants to pay you for it.
Only crying I'm seeing is people upset that the quality of their free content isn't up to their personal standards.