Some people seem to be interested in Google Stadia as a platform.
Can people not see how unwise it would be to allow a Big Data company to track your every decision and move on a computer game? Consider just how much logging Google would manage with access like that. Of course, super duper hardware available on a "cloud" (i.e. somebody else's computer) might be a nice service, but I strongly believe it is a terrible direction for gaming to take. It moves people away from ownership and eventually into a system where nobody has anything and has to rent everything they need all the time. There won't be a second-hand market.
I sincerely hope people do as much as they can to retain their Freedom and where possible buy direct from developers and run games on a Free platform, one which isn't filled with anonymity destroying spyware.
On a related note, some big games were found to ship with logging software (Redshell):
https://www.wired.co.uk/article/red-shell-game-tracking-gdprCan we rest assured that there will be nothing of that sort in Baldur's Gate III?
The main learnings Google might get from me playing on Stadia are:
1. I'm pretty lame at most games I play.
2. The Internet is not reliable enough for Stadia outside the Silicon Valley bubble.
The biggest problem with mass gathering of data in the modern world is not that it is being done, but that it is frequently done without permission, that it drives marketing from companies that do not explain why they think you might be interested ( i.e. they do not reflect on the data they have gathered from you ), and that their analysis of data is frequently wrong, because it can only show corellation, not causation.
I'm not disagreeing that privacy is important, just that most people are prepared to give up privacy for convenience and utility; usually right up to the moment where something really bad happens to them because they are careless with their data.
Personally, I do use Linux most of the time ( your Free platform ), including gaming. But, like almost every Linux user, I do not read all the source code looking for bad behaviour, nor compile it myself, so I have no more certainty about Linux as an OS than any other.
The only real way to move towards better practices in the digital world is through legislation with proper enforcement. As long as companies like Facebook, Amazon, Google et al. are allowed to mis-use their products and services for other purposes, I'm sure they will continue to do so.
