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Nice, I always wondered what the graffities where saying. That Russian bots attempt at demoralization was also entertaining.

jesus , thanks man i try this one tonight after work ... great focking job

@rbwadle I completely understand what you're saying. Half of my family currently lives in Ukraine, and I was born there myself. It is my homeland, and I love Ukraine. But I do not associate Ukraine with its government, which led the country into war. Just as I don’t associate Russia and its citizens with its leadership and political decisions.

A tremendous amount of effort has been invested on both sides to incite hatred toward each other — but that doesn’t work on me. For me, Ukraine and Russia are one: my family and friends live in both countries.

At one point, when I was already living in Russia, I returned to my hometown in Ukraine and studied at a local Ukrainian school. Back then, the teaching was still entirely in Russian, and Ukrainian was taught as a separate subject. I’ll never forget how my Ukrainian language teacher humiliated me in front of the whole class simply because I lived in Russia. That was back in the 1990s, long before the war. The hostility toward Russians began long ago, and sadly, for many years it has been instilled in the minds of young people.

Even now, I can’t understand the hatred directed at ordinary Russian people who never made political decisions — people who genuinely love Stalker. Russians had no power to stop these political events, just as Ukrainians couldn’t stop the events unfolding in their own country. It simply wasn’t possible.

GSC made the right call by not deliberately fueling hatred in the game. They didn't introduce a stereotypically “evil” Russian faction, nor did they include the kind of Russophobic content many were expecting. I suspect part of the reason is that Russian players make up a significant share of the game’s revenue — because there are a great many Russian fans of Stalker.

However, I believe it was a mistake to “neuter” the game out of hatred for Russians, removing parts of what gave the game its identity. Ukraine, like Russia, was part of the Soviet Union. The atmosphere of Stalker is rooted in post-Soviet decay — in its language, its symbolism, its cultural texture. The Soviet Union is not the same as modern Russia — and that distinction is crucial.

The Soviet Union is part of Ukraine’s own past. Erasing your history, pretending it never happened, is a poor decision — and history shows that such erasure never leads to anything good.

I sincerely hope this war ends as soon as possible, that people stop dying, and that hatred disappears. Because there is no real difference between Russians and Ukrainians.

That's the democracy you fight for, pathetic.

Russian localization of textures were deleted - due to reports
Soviet symbolics were removed - due to reports
This mod still going strong
Ironic

Games and mods should NOT be have any sort of politics, if you don't like it - don't play it.

@Zoich, for the record, I do not believe in removing any mod unless it is broken or malicious. Even so, I would not expect any Ukrainian to emotionally differentiate between the Russian State and the Russian People while living in constant fear. If my home was attacked by a bordering nation, I would be the first one lining up to march in and take out their leadership as well as anyone else who tried to impede me by force.
Your core point is a valid one. That being said, I was fully expecting GSC to go even farther and have one of the main threat factions in the game be some alternate universe version of the Russian Federation. I believe they showed more restraint than what most other studios would have exhibited.
In time, the wounds will heal and the discourse will soften, but until then I humbly request patience and empathy with your neighbor and to help ease their fear and anxiety in whatever way you can that doesn't make you a target within your own country.

Borahkreth, you've probably seen many similar comments — and there's a good reason for that. The truth is, what I'm saying resonates with a lot of people who feel the same way.
Decommunization in Stalker.? Seriously?
Cut out Soviet symbols, erase the Russian language and textures from a game set in the post-Soviet zone — and what's left of Stalker’s atmosphere?
Nothing. Just a parody of what fans have always loved — and what they'll now have to fix themselves.
And believe me, they will.
Because no one will care about the developers' resentment toward their own history.