“Mom, no! I want to play with that!” screams my 3 year old niece. The joyous mood of Christmas morning shifts on a dime as my sister-in-law removes the recently unwrapped gift from her daughter's hands.

“No sweetheart, this is Fisher Price, we don’t play with this type of toy,” my SIL responds.

She’s anal retentive when it comes to toys - everything should be fair trade this, and sustainably farmed that. Although I don’t particularly agree with this mindset, I do know it’s sourced in what she feels is best for her child.

“Don’t worry dear, there’s other toys.”

This meager attempt at consolation does nothing but incite more rage in my niece - and with good reason - she was given something, played with it, only to have ripped away from her for a reason which doesn’t compute.

I think many us are feeling like my niece. The half block was loved - providing useful and fun possibilities for base design, it had become a staple for building. Not because of their original purpose, but for what that purpose transformed into.

And Garry ripped them away with a glib “we can make that possible again by adding, you know, shelves” and, “You don’t need these blocks, no-one used them for what they were for, so let’s just cut the fat and get shit tight as fuck.”

I don’t particularly agree with this. A shift in purpose does not equate to a lack of purpose.

Putting aside the fact that removing one block (which fulfils multiple purposes) only to replace it with several individual items seems like the opposite of ‘cutting the fat’ - removing such an intricate part of the game with no valid replacements is just asking for mass upset.

That being said, I still love you Garry.

In life, we don’t pick our parents; in Rust, we don’t pick our developers. While raising kids, parents have to make tough decisions. ‘Right’ or ‘wrong’ has no bearing on the intention: what’s best for the child and family.

Whether we agree with his actions or not, Garry is doing what he thinks is best for the game. It’s ultimately his call to make, not ours. In the end, I trust he will continue making this game a great one.