Thanks for sending this in, Anon. Itâs not rude at all and Iâm happy to chat about this! This is an important issue among the indie developer community, regardless of genre. Iâll start with a scenario.
Say you open a restaurant that serves specialized cuisine. You only serve dishes with noodles or pasta. You have other ingredients to create your different recipes, but the aforementioned is what you sell.
Person A who eats at the restaurant says, âThis is delicious! I totally love it here!â and shares the place with their friends. Youâre over the moon from that positive feedback and people are enjoying the restaurant.
Then person B comes. They review the menu and when you approach for their order they ask, âHi, can I order a burger?â
Youâre rightfully confused. The restaurant only serves pasta and ramen.
âPardon me, but we only serve noodle-based dishes here. Did you want more time with the menu?â
âOh, I read the menu. I see you have ground beef used in some of your dishes. So, Iâd like a burger.â
âSorry but, we only serve pasta and ramen.â
âYou have the ground beef, right? Why canât I have a burger?â
Exasperated, person B tells you how insensitive you are that youâve clearly never considered selling burgers since your restaurant has ground beef. They of course say this loud enough that everyone is watching now, and itâs become a commotion.
So what do you do? You were never selling burgers. Itâs a noodle-based restaurant. What solution works, and whoâs wrong? You for using ground beef in a few of your recipes? Or person B who approached for the item theyâd like at this specialized establishment?
Now imagine, person C steps in to break up the commotion, but they say, âFrom tomorrow on, sell burgers. Itâll be good for business.â
Mind you, your restaurantâs kitchen was constructed optimally to serve pasta and ramen. Youâd have to invest at a hefty price to meet this demand.
Now, what If I tell you thereâs a massive burger-joint beside your mom-and-pop noodle restaurant. What then?
Perhaps this was a crude analogy, but I think it puts into perspective how indie developers can feel. You wouldnât waltz into a pasta restaurant and order a burger because they carry ground beef, would you? Iâd hope not.
Following that logic, I believe developers should craft stories they love with characters they want to make. Itâs destructive for anyone to receive constant, unsolicited criticism. I donât understand this notion people have that creators arenât people who feel pain and discouragement when others are blatantly malicious to us.
Perhaps you consider your feedback constructive, or have zero ill-intention and believe youâre giving useful feedback to a creative. After all, if you release your work to the public you MUST accept criticism, right?
Hmm, not quite.
People donât grow from endless criticism. We donât fault children for struggling and berate them. We understand they grow from encouragement. Yet, after becoming adults this magically shifts? Weâre meant to absorb negativity and malicious intent because suddenly thatâs the only way to grow?
I hope that sounds as silly to you as it always has me.
Thereâs a difference between something that isnât for you and a product thatâs objectively bad.
Thereâs so much behaviour in these circles devs donât talk about. Like being torn down at every opportunity when a player doesnât receive the exact experience they desired, or being badgered non-stop by them until the creator submits and makes adjustments. Things like being ridiculed by developer peers and distancing yourself from all online communication for some peace. Itâs terrifying.
I donât know how to explain to people that criticism can be constructive, yet itâs okay for creatives to reject it? Generally, when a creator has a problem, theyâve already considered the available options and deemed them unfeasible for specific reasons.
It sucks seeing fellow creators quit or disappear because theyâve been so discouraged that theyâd rather never create again.
The reality is when you create something it wonât be for everyone, but that doesnât instantly make it bad. Creators shouldnât change their characters or foundational world-building to suit different preferences. Asking them to do so, and being upset when they donât, is rude.
Creators shouldnât be flamed for putting their foot down about matters like this. Yes, some feedback is valid even if we reject it. Weâre not perfect, and itâs destructive to us mentally and physically trying to craft something to every playerâs preference at once.
If you like a creativeâs work and want to see more in the future, put faith in them and respect that they craft their works with love the way they want to.
Iâm okay, Anon. End of the day, I appreciate that Iâve created a character people care about. Nothing beats that inspiring feeling.
This was a lengthy post, but I hope it sheds some light on the situation from a developer perspective. It hurts watching my peers suffer, burnout, and stop creating from the damaging experiences Iâve shared in this post.
Much love,
Riri
baratheonpilled
romaincrisis
amandla
s-u-f-j-a-n-s-t-e-v-e-n-s
