Posted September 15, 2016
Gilozard: It might be funny to some. But 'some of our customers might laugh' doesn't mean it's a good idea. What you call 'good old-fashioned fun' other people might call 'insulting', 'false advertising', 'mean', etc. Not everyone is you.
Game development is extremely lawyer-heavy, and distribution needs way more lawyers than development. Contract lawyers (employee contracts, contractor contracts, engine and any 3rd party library licenses, art and music rights), copyright lawyers, patent lawyers (software patents mostly), all those trademarks, lots and lots and lots of international lawyers. Did you really not know this?
Just because some people might not find it funny isn't a reason to not do it. You can't please every person every time and if you limit yourself to only doing things where you think everyone will agree with your decision, or everyone will laugh at your joke, or everyone will appreciate whatever it is - you will lose, and you will lose every single time because it isn't possible to have everyone agree with everything you do, and that's just life. Game development is extremely lawyer-heavy, and distribution needs way more lawyers than development. Contract lawyers (employee contracts, contractor contracts, engine and any 3rd party library licenses, art and music rights), copyright lawyers, patent lawyers (software patents mostly), all those trademarks, lots and lots and lots of international lawyers. Did you really not know this?
Sure, you want to avoid making disastrous decisions that have a large negative impact, that goes without saying, but a publicity stunt here or there, or a joke that not everyone gets or finds funny isn't going to destroy your business and in fact is likely to grow your business because some people are alive inside and appreciate a good laugh every now and then.
Here is another example of GOG's good sense of humour, although this one is not of a prank/hoax nature but just some good ole fun:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pc6zIAq2J7A
Here are some other prime examples of a company having a damn funny sense of humour that is over the top. These are very old 3Dfx TV commercials which are absolutely hilarious as hell:
1) 3Dfx commercial #1
2) 3Dfx commercial #2
3) 3Dfx commercial #3
The 3rd one is my favourite. LOL That shit is pure hilarious. I'd love to see GOG make funny shit like that and if it offended someone or whatever then to hell with them. :)