Most of the time print minimums exist because there's a cost for the printer to run the job at all, regardless of size, and that minimum is the lowest amount of products that doesn't sound insane per item. I used to work for a printshop and we had no minimums, but if you only wanted 1 business card, that business card was going to cost like $50+. You could buy 150 for cents more than that because all you were paying for was the setup and the job happening at all. The paper and ink cost wasn't even a factor at that size.
I'm like this. I'd rather talk to someone about things than look them up. It's ok if people don't have time for it, but people who snarkily tell you to "just Google it" are just being rude and missing the point. Obviously I could just Google it, but I'd rather talk to someone about it. That's why I asked.
I share your sadness, but also avoid games that do this. There are many many games out there that aren't doing this and never would. Reward those developers with your time and money.
Corpos are incapable of learning the right lessons. I wouldn't be surprised if the take away from this at Sony was to eliminate internal voices that were against the decision so it's easier to pull off next time.
I don't have any specific recommendations but I'm from the Pacific Northwest and it's really interesting to me to see a post like this. Are you from there too?