Games put a lot of effort into teaching you how they work, but it's just enough to get you comfortable in the driver's seat. This is your gas, your brake, your clutch. Here's what you need to operate this thing. But under the hood? The belts and tanks and pumps and the very appropriate engine? You don't need to worry about those. It's not even your car.
Nobody expects players to have developer-level knowledge about games. But because games don't dwell on this stuff, because as a player you only get a driver's view, and because most studios rarely explain these elements – shoutout to the blogs, threads, and GDC talks that do – there are a lot of misconceptions about how games are made. As a result, a lot of people who love games set themselves up for disappointment or frustration with skewed expectations or assumptions.
