A touchy subject I encountered
by Tatjana · in General Discussion · 11/19/2005 (1:26 pm) · 28 replies
I have finished a beautiful project, very amazing. The sad issue is that there was a comment saying that the project looked "ready made". Obviously this person doesn't know of the extensive work that is required. I had to explain just about every step I took, including the years of coding that I possess, as well as understanding how to work with Torque.
Touchy subject here. How do I handle this type of comment? I am writing this on the forum because I'm just wondering if this could be a social write-off that I will be encountering until I have a name to back me.
How do I handle this with grace? I love Torque and my project has been my life for a while.
Thanks for any suggestions.
Touchy subject here. How do I handle this type of comment? I am writing this on the forum because I'm just wondering if this could be a social write-off that I will be encountering until I have a name to back me.
How do I handle this with grace? I love Torque and my project has been my life for a while.
Thanks for any suggestions.
About the author
#22
And then there's some people just LOVE crapping on other people's efforts, and there's not much you can do for them. They've got their own views on what constitutes quality (it must be like Halo 2!), and anything that doesn't measure up to their narrow definition (It wasn't enough like Halo 2!) gets slammed for whatever justification they can make.
You just have to learn to roll with it. I've had a game that was blasted by one magazine (I think it got a 3 out of 10) one year, only to have the same magazine refer to it as a classic the following year when the sequel was released (and the original game had gone on to sell a million copies).
As Todd said, the best revenge is success. Just keep going. Take what you can from the criticism, as that's how you are going to improve. Be professional in all your dealings. Don't respond heatedly to criticism - that only makes you look unprofessional. In fact, dealing with your critics in a respectful, courteous manner will often shut them up and sometimes even win them over to your side in the long run.
11/21/2005 (8:22 am)
Especially with finished products - you are going to have to learn to take some really extreme criticism. Sometimes you have to take it with a small Siberian Salt Mine. Sometimes there are tiny little elements of truth in there that need to be pulled out. If someone just totally doesn't "get it," you maybe have to dig into their comment to see why they don't get it. So don't dismiss criticism outright - but don't let it get to you. And then there's some people just LOVE crapping on other people's efforts, and there's not much you can do for them. They've got their own views on what constitutes quality (it must be like Halo 2!), and anything that doesn't measure up to their narrow definition (It wasn't enough like Halo 2!) gets slammed for whatever justification they can make.
You just have to learn to roll with it. I've had a game that was blasted by one magazine (I think it got a 3 out of 10) one year, only to have the same magazine refer to it as a classic the following year when the sequel was released (and the original game had gone on to sell a million copies).
As Todd said, the best revenge is success. Just keep going. Take what you can from the criticism, as that's how you are going to improve. Be professional in all your dealings. Don't respond heatedly to criticism - that only makes you look unprofessional. In fact, dealing with your critics in a respectful, courteous manner will often shut them up and sometimes even win them over to your side in the long run.
#23
Recently, one of my new recruits made a few comments (including changing engines) that really angered me.
Instead of telling him to kick rocks, I explained the ENTIRE process of creating an MMO type game, the work involved and the milestones we had completed.
That was the end of that.
But he was a newbie dev at heart.
On the other hand, "the customer is always right".
It may not always be true, but just remember your target market.
11/21/2005 (3:57 pm)
Most gamers don't understand the work involved in making a game.Recently, one of my new recruits made a few comments (including changing engines) that really angered me.
Instead of telling him to kick rocks, I explained the ENTIRE process of creating an MMO type game, the work involved and the milestones we had completed.
That was the end of that.
But he was a newbie dev at heart.
On the other hand, "the customer is always right".
It may not always be true, but just remember your target market.
#24
11/21/2005 (4:49 pm)
Jay, did you ever mention to the magazine that they gave your game a bad score then reffered to it as a classic?, kinda like politics.
#25
What helped me with commentary like this was when I only learned to start stepping back from the emotion after hundreds of rounds of online debate with various hotheads on trivial things; usually I would present an idea that challenges commonly held views, is fairly sophisticated, and (usually) not totally refined to a slick, academic, irrefutable form. What these guys would do then is say in so many words "this idea is too crazy and you are stupid to have ever thought of it." Assuming it wasn't ignored. Or if I presented a feeling or hunch the reply would be something like "man up kid, this is the real cynical world, not fantasy-land." The thing is, debate for most people comes in the form of reusing pre-concieved arguments and then feeling good about it, not in making any heartfelt exploration of positives and negatives.
In general, the better I did at presenting the original idea, the more distressed and upset they would get at seeing something they couldn't deal with, which made it easier to ignore them. I think the same goes here; the better you make and present your product, the stupider the critics will sound. It's not just the social write-off aspect but your own confidence in your work that makes it easier to deal with little people that would try to lower you to their level.
11/21/2005 (5:03 pm)
Mindfulness is the key to filtering out the depressing aspect of this guy's comment(that it doesn't look like you did any work) and keeping the useful part(the work you did do should be presented in a way that consistently implies ownership).What helped me with commentary like this was when I only learned to start stepping back from the emotion after hundreds of rounds of online debate with various hotheads on trivial things; usually I would present an idea that challenges commonly held views, is fairly sophisticated, and (usually) not totally refined to a slick, academic, irrefutable form. What these guys would do then is say in so many words "this idea is too crazy and you are stupid to have ever thought of it." Assuming it wasn't ignored. Or if I presented a feeling or hunch the reply would be something like "man up kid, this is the real cynical world, not fantasy-land." The thing is, debate for most people comes in the form of reusing pre-concieved arguments and then feeling good about it, not in making any heartfelt exploration of positives and negatives.
In general, the better I did at presenting the original idea, the more distressed and upset they would get at seeing something they couldn't deal with, which made it easier to ignore them. I think the same goes here; the better you make and present your product, the stupider the critics will sound. It's not just the social write-off aspect but your own confidence in your work that makes it easier to deal with little people that would try to lower you to their level.
#26
11/21/2005 (7:53 pm)
BrokeAss Games - the customer is an asshole. :P
#27
Nope, we learned you just don't argue with the magazines. Well, usually. There's ways of doing it, but saying "I told you so" wouldn't have helped anyone.
After all, they want to stand by their scores - that's their integrity at stake, right? But by the same token, it was an embarassment to them. So I imagine they just wanted people to forget about the old score (and pretty much everyone DID), rather than draw attention to it. And you really don't want to hack off the magazines.
11/21/2005 (10:22 pm)
@Ben:Nope, we learned you just don't argue with the magazines. Well, usually. There's ways of doing it, but saying "I told you so" wouldn't have helped anyone.
After all, they want to stand by their scores - that's their integrity at stake, right? But by the same token, it was an embarassment to them. So I imagine they just wanted people to forget about the old score (and pretty much everyone DID), rather than draw attention to it. And you really don't want to hack off the magazines.
#28
Turn up at the commentee's door and say "Are you the kid who said... on somesite.com?"... Just kidding.
If you have a link to a demo, I'm sure you'll get some sensible, constructive comments from the people here.
11/22/2005 (8:09 am)
I say take a leaf from Jay & Silent bob's book in Jay & Silent bob strike back... :-)Turn up at the commentee's door and say "Are you the kid who said... on somesite.com?"... Just kidding.
If you have a link to a demo, I'm sure you'll get some sensible, constructive comments from the people here.
Torque Owner Tatjana
I wasn't angry, but was struck. I needed to measure myself to where I needed to be if to encounter statement like these in the future. I will be working more face to face with people.
I can try to legitimize myself in technical terms, but as said in this thread, it's about the finished product. I needed to know how to back my products if ever challenged again in ways the general public will understand.
Wish you all a very prosperous life! :- )
~Tatjana