(Photo: Capcom)

Charles Randall has been programming for a long time, and has worked on huge projects that have shaped our current modern gaming culture. Assassin's Creed, Knights of the Old Republic, MDK 2, Splinter Cell... This guy has been around the block, and he recently opened up on Twitter ('opened up' is an understatement) about developers aren't more open and candid with the gaming community about the projects they're working on.

The gist? Whenever developers make an effort to be more transparent, gamers inevitably flood their public social feeds with ignorance and toxicity.

The other day a friend commented to me "I wish game developers were more candid about development." He was surprised when I said we are. — Charles Randall (@charlesrandall) September 24, 2017

"The caveat," Charles continued, "is that we're only candid with other industry people. Because gamer culture is so toxic that being candid in public is dangerous. Forums and comment sections are full of dunning-kruger specialists who are just waiting for any reason to descend on actual developers. See any thread where some dumbass comments how 'easy' it would be to, say, add multiplayer or change engines. Any dev who talks candidly about the difficulty of something like that just triggers a wave of people questioning their entire resumé."

He goes on to point out that the "wave of questioning" mentioned above typically comes in the form of hatred and harassment. The idea is that developers are basically playing Russian Roulette every time they open their mouths to candidly discuss achievements, challenges, or compromises in their field of work. There is a very good chance that someone who has no idea what they're talking about -- be it an absolute layman or, worse, a gaming or tech writer like myself -- will latch on to the comments and spin them in such a way as to demonize the developers for being dishonest or "anti-consumer."

Charles also points out that YouTube personalities, or "influencers," can also play a huge role in the spreading of misinformation and toxic opinions based on misunderstanding.