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@cthos@mastodon.cthos.dev Yeah. Thinking about this more, too, there's probably some element of what information achievements expose and who it is exposed to. I'm not mad about developers having some statistics to infer how players experienced the game as a general rule, but that comes from a context where we're discussing games as creative, interactive forms of expression. Like, yes, that is detailed information, but if it's exposed to the publisher/developer only and mainly consists of that kind of stuff, I'm fine with it.

That doesn't mean that's universal, though; I'm sure social stigma and shame play into it. For instance, people who own an assload of hentai games may not feel as comfortable having statistics collected about that; it may feel (somewhat ironically, I suppose) invasive or be a sensitive, judgement filled topic for them.

Even getting on to that, though, the kind of statistics collected online aren't like, that great, all things considered. For example, I don't really want a toothpaste manufacturer to know what underwear I buy (but inversely, I probably don't care too much if my underwear maker knows what toothpaste I use). I'm sure the degree to which the data is considered personal and abusable vs. how important it could be in someone else's hands is a factor. By collecting achievement statistics, a developer could potentially maybe improve a game in the future. We're talking very lengthy creative works, here, that, you know, we might not be willing or able to give verbal feedback to. And if someone knows I played Dragon Age, for instance, it's not like... a big deal? At this time? So the risk is rather low and the potential reward (better Dragon Age games!) is relatively high.

On the other hand, my toothpaste vendor knowing what kind of underwear I buy... that's not really high quality information all on its own, I suspect (which is probably why they try and build profiles from as much data as possible, but I digress). It doesn't tell you that I liked it or that it's a good fit or if I had a specific purpose for it. it DOES feel highly violating that they might be parsing and using that information and it could certainly be used against me, as it gives insight as to what my body is or what I would like it to be, amongst other things. There's also not really much good to be wrung out of it, so to speak: if I buy the same bra brand, that's pretty much all they know. It's a common story that a lot of people buy the wrong bra size so you can't really say, "this is a good fit for her". You can try to infer about how long it lasts, or how my anatomy is shaped, but even then, they're not going to use that to build a better bra, are they? "Does your bra fit well? Did it last a long time?" are two quick questions with quick answers that summarize the experience pretty well. I don't need the toothpaste guy getting a profile with that info and the bra maker could ask me.

So: scope, risk, reward, etc.