Raph Koster discusses the nature of feedback......

Here is what I consider a great blog entry from Raph Koster about critical feedback from the playerbase. I think it's a very good read, and falls in the line with the idea that critical feedback is much more valuable to a developer than praise.

On getting criticism......

Tell me what you think.

I agree with a lot of it, from the standpoint of a creative professional.

***EDIT*** Actually from the standpoint of anyone receiving feedback about their work. Some good lessons in there.

You're preaching to the choir.

I freaking <3 Raph...brilliant man.

Good post there.

Nice article that, cheers for posting it.

Excellent post.

Good but incomplete.

This is the age of social media and feedback in the form of venting. There is no more artistic freedom. There is just "I want it a certain way and if it's not done that way then you are all cretins".
People have forgotten how to express themselves with words and not insults, because it's not hard to "criticize" something today. You don't need to write letters. You don't need to wait for a gaming convention. You can simply go to a gaming forum and vent. And that is what most people seem to do.

Good feedback is gold.

But no, feedback in the form of "you are braindead imbeciles" is not coming for someone who likes or even wanted to like the game. It's not coming from a rational consumer that respects the developers and their efforts but from a consumer who's either enthralled by the anonymity that Internet provides or simply, from someone who's more than likely to react in the same way to every single thing they don't agree with regardless of what the majority thinks, both in the game and in real life

Or, simply put, there are people who care about the game and criticize what they consider wrong and then there are people who simply love to tear things down. And they will continue to do so ad infinitum, because that is their favorite pastime.

I enjoy reading his blog regularly.

good one, Raph the man BioWare should hire him..

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