this post was submitted on 23 Sep 2023
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LOL
(emphasis theirs)
I don't believe that in the slightest. While yes, they did do that quite a while before the change took place, it was hosted there as an easy way to track changes to the ToS. I bet it was more of a "Any changes we make will stand out a lot more", not realizing that any big change they make was going to stand out regardless (this whole thing being an example).
I mean come on, they could've at least tried with a better lie. I would've gone "Eh, maybe" if they'd said something like "Our legal team suggested that we keep it hosted in a central location, on our website". But really, "not enough people looked at it"?? What a joke.
To be honest, in the face of how dumb that lie would be and how I have come to view stats-based decision-making (where companies favour decisions they can point to some KPI for because it makes them seem scientifically grounded over ones made "just" with human reasoning), I'll invoke Hanlon's Razor and say:
I absolutely think it's possible some middle-manager looked at the view stats and decided they'd look better if they cut some chaff, never mind just what that chaff may be. Protests - if issued ar all - went unheard or unheeded, and the change went through because the numbers told them to make it.
It's awful optics, in any case, but I'm willing to concede it may be dumb coincidence paired with dumb decisions, probably made by someone wholly uninvolved with the pricing change decision, rather than actual dumb malice.
(Doesn't excuse the rest of their bullshit, of course)
I definitely wouldn't completely discount that as a possibility for sure, but Unity sure is bad at damage control (as are most companies that make dumb decisions like this) - even if this is true, it would've been better to just not mention it, as it could only ever just douse fuel onto the already out-of-control PR fire that has erupted due to all of this.
No dispute on that front, it's a dumb move to excuse a dumb move with a dumb excuse at a dumb time where nobody will believe that it was genuinely just dumb instead of malicious. And who knows, I might be totally wrong too.
My giving them this much credit is really just out of (possibly misplaced) idealistic desire to find alternate explanations before jumping right to accusations of malice. I'm not even entirety sure I believe it myself, to be honest.