[crummybowley]

Yes, but analytics is also used to trick folks into buying a paper back full of shit.

A good product, that does what it advertises, does not need analytics. But a bad product, that somebody desperately wants to make successful, or at least successful enough to sell to a PE and exit, needs analytics.

[andrewingram]

The problem is that when making a product you're often wrong, what you think is a good product is often a bad product, or it's a nearly good product with a couple of fatal flaws that can only be seen in hindsight. S

While some people have an uncanny sense of vision, and seem hit on the right ingredients more often than seems fair, but most companies aren't led by this kind of person.

You need things that tell you when and how to course-correct, this is what analytics gives you. Now, of course, this needs to be balanced against privacy concerns. I push back on things that track literally everything (the tools that record every click and cursor movement are fascinating, but undeniably creep), and I try to avoid sending any PII to 3rd-parties. The amount of stuff Google Analytics phones home about by default is also pretty troubling.

I'm on board with basically every privacy-based criticism of tracking, but I don't buy this argument that only bad products benefit from it.

[niDistinct]

> the tools that record every click and cursor movement are fascinating, but undeniably creep

That may not be so for a game developer who wants to modify gameplay that is heavy or reliant on things like particular mouse cursor movement and mouse click usage. Especially if a meticulous gameplay goal is the objective.