(Long Read, but good!) How to get game developers to respond to you

[roadman]

https://www.polygon.com/2020/2/7/211...ow-to-be-heard

[PhillyPhanatic14]

Good points. Certainly is tough to always keep in mind the human side of things when a game that generates so much money shows so little progress year after year after year.

I like the point about sharing positive feedback. Definitely important to celebrate the good in a game when we see it and let the devs know about it.

[roadman]

Quote: Originally Posted by PhillyPhanatic14

Good points. Certainly is tough to always keep in mind the human side of things when a game that generates so much money shows so little progress year after year after year. I like the point about sharing positive feedback. Definitely important to celebrate the good in a game when we see it and let the devs know about it.

Especially when the decision makers are sitting in their ivory towers and the blame is misdirected. ie, you listen to your bosses to get a paycheck for you and your family.

[PhillyPhanatic14]

Quote: Originally Posted by roadman

Especially when the decision makers are sitting in their ivory towers and the blame is misdirected. ie, you listen to your bosses to get a paycheck for you and your family.

Yeah I think we all know that Madden (and pretty much all videogames) would have very different resource allocation if the developers were the ones in charge. It would have been incredible to see what kind of game Rex could've made for us if he was allowed to make those decisions and redirect the profits right back into the game.

[bcruise]

This article hits on a lot of very good points, but there's one more I want to add that's only lightly brushed on. Positive feedback is mentioned as a good motivator for developers or anyone in general, but I believe it serves another very important (if not obvious) purpose - to let the developers know they're doing something right and not change it (possibly for the worse). If a large majority of feedback to a dev is negative - i.e. what they're doing wrong - how are they supposed to know what they got right?

I want to say a whole lot more on this too as it relates to social media today, but I fear that it will take the thread off-topic.

[ChaseB]

Quote: Originally Posted by bcruise

This article hits on a lot of very good points, but there's one more I want to add that's only lightly brushed on. Positive feedback is mentioned as a good motivator for developers or anyone in general, but I believe it serves another very important (if not obvious) purpose - to let the developers know they're doing something right and not change it (possibly for the worse). If a large majority of feedback to a dev is negative - i.e. what they're doing wrong - how are they supposed to know what they got right? I want to say a whole lot more on this too as it relates to social media today, but I fear that it will take the thread off-topic.

I think I'm going to write an article on this Polygon piece later this week so you perhaps may get a chance yet.

[JayhawkerStL]

These are the paragraphs folks here will intentionally ignore.

Quote:

Developers also have to consider whether a reported problem is a real issue in the game, or an issue with perception. Sometimes, people talk up a problem, but the data shows that the thing is working fine for the vast majority of people; adjusting it may risk something else going wrong with the game’s balance. So now you have to fix the perception of something being broken among some folks in the fan base, instead of the thing itself.

And this.

Quote:

You’re going to disagree with some implemented features, or some elements of your favorite games will not work well for you. Maybe that’s because you’re not the target audience of this particular bit of the game, or the developer had to consider its economy or monetization model for a variety of other reasons. Successful modern online games serve a large audience, often made up of hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of people. It is likely that you will encounter parts of the game that do not suit you but might work really well for other types of players, and many of them might not be obvious or visible to you. There are many reasons for why developers have to serve a multitude of different players. But the main reason is that communities stand on multiple legs of engagement to be healthy, from a more casual fan base through beginners and newcomers right up to the hardcore audience. We need to maintain a balance for all of them, which is why not every solution or design decision will make sense to you.

[underdog13]

Quote: Originally Posted by ChaseB

I think I'm going to write an article on this Polygon piece later this week so you perhaps may get a chance yet.

Loved the part of this article where it talked about statistics and player misconception.