The Buddy System

Although I have been rather quiet on the boards lately, I have still been active in other ways. I wanted to share a little bit in the hopes that it spreads and helps others.

For the past few months I have been in close communication with a member from the excellent community that we have here in the RPG Maker forums. It started out as just a little bit of advice here and there, but before long we developed into a mutually respected friendship that tests one another's games. We have both been very honest with our thoughts on how the other persons game is progressing. We both give constructive criticism and in the end we both remember that it is the other persons game and it should be developed as they see fit. 

I have been tied up with other things that has kept me away from working too heavily on my game, so I have largely been doing testing for them. This has actually helped me a lot more than one would think because by finding errors in someone else's game, it allows me to bring awareness to not only them, but myself as well. This in turn helps me pay careful attention to things like this in my game.

So I encourage you, make a friend, do some testing, provide positive and constructive feedback and enjoy your time here.

It certainly is good when you have people that are able to provide genuine constructive feedback. Too many people say crap things like 'that sucks' which is clearly no help to anyone. Why does it suck ? what do you think would improve it? etc are simple things that can really help the developer improve their skillset.

I agree with Dekita.   Ignoring how blunt feedback like "It sucks" is hurtful, it also contains no information, aside from "The player hates this game".   I'd rather have factual statements of what I did right and not, and what I need to improve.  Such as "You need to set perspective in the tileset so the party passes behind the lamp."  Or "Decent maps, but too much open space" Or "The floor looks too empty"    Or "Battles not interesting with only 1 party member."

Especially if the friend is familiar with RPG Maker and knows enough about how it works to say exactly what needs fixing in your game.

I've also heard that teaching others is one of the best ways to learn.  Or, in this case, helping fix bugs in someone else's game helps you fix them in yours as well, even if they aren't offering helpful feedback.

I had a friend who helped playtest my IGMC game and he pointed out a lot of things, constructively, which improved my little game immensely.  And I've incorporated that feedback into my current project.  So it helps me going forward as well.

Great advice! It is definitely helpful to make relationships and contacts here. If nothing else knowing there are people that support you and "get" what you are doing is motivation to continue! Glad you found a helpful partner!

If someone is familiar with RPG maker an not able to provide constructive feedback, I would simply ask them - how they would feel if such vague feedback was given to them. Chances are, unless they are completely blindsided, they would realize how unhelpful their 'advice' was and hopefully, it woul make them elaborate on their thoughts and ultimately, provide genuine constructive feedback, as opposed to downright negative feedback.

I mean, one would think most peoplr are able to tell the difference, but unfortunately not...

The best things are when said people give NEGATIVE feedback, then they ream you for getting hurt. 9(Well Excuse me for not having a heart that's made of stone?)

They say things like "You shouldn't ask for feedback if you can't take it."

As scathing as feedback was on my first project, at least they TOLD ME WHAT I COULD DO TO FIX IT. And for that I'm grateful. Well, MOT of the feedback was constructive.

I have always strongly believed in constructive feedback. I agree wholeheartedly that empty comments are pointless. These could range the gambit of simply stating, "I didn't like it" or "Your game sucks". While the 1st one isn't negative and implies a personal opinion, it still does not help the developer. It leaves them wondering "what" they did not like, "why" they did not like it and "how" would they improve it. Of course the 2nd comment is not only empty but also damaging.

It is great to see everyone on board with this. I look forward to other people doing the same. 

I treat feedback just like a review, except I can be much more technical when giving a fellow game developer feedback.

The goal in any event is to provide as much information as possible, so fellow developers can fix what's wrong, or when giving reviews, giving fellow players a detailed description of what you did and didn't like and why.   

Even as a player, I totally ignore short reviews like "It sucks"  They give me nothing helpful.  Now, if they say "The game feels slapped together, has crappy maps, atrocious grammar, unbalanced battles and a cliche story" that's equally harsh but at least provides helpful reasons WHY they feel the game was bad.

As for harshness, there's no need for it.  If I want my feedback to be heard and perhaps acted on, I can say the precisely same thing in a way that is NOT harsh, and have a much higher chance my feedback will be heard.  And, it dovetails nicely with the Golden Rule.   I'd hate to get really nasty feedback on a game I worked hard on, but would definitely accept advice on what I needed to improve, because I am just starting out as an RPG Maker developer.  After all, I started in March of this year, and it would be incredibly arrogant of me to assume I don't have a ton to learn. 

So, the harsh but somewhat useful review could be rephrased as "The spelling and grammar errors in the game make the text hard to follow, and the battles need to be re-balanced since they are too easy in some parts, far too hard in others.  Also, the maps need polish, and the story could use some improvement."   Same exact comments, but said without beating someone over the head with it.

Aaah, people who are doing first class impressions of donkey's butts.   

Those are times I'd be tempted to respond "Do you talk this way to your real life friends?  Or are you confusing the medium---a computer---with the content---people?"  Computers have no feelings, but the people behind them on message boards, game developers, etc, do.

Maybe it's because they can't see the actual person in front of them that they associate the content on the computer screen as if were produced by the computer.  People do act similarly when driving cars, for example.

I tend to view feed-back as something that should be delivered in the best interest of the person it is delivered to.

That usually means that you also have to take into account the psychology of the person you're talking to.

A criticism can be 100% apt, but still lead to the person you're talking to doubling down and rejecting it if you don't consider their feelings, and if that happens, what was really the point of giving feed-back at all?

Always give feed-back by saying something positive before, and after, the negative bit. Focus on how change will improve the product, rather than focusing on how what's wrong with it will doom it.

As for having a buddy -

Certainly. Any creative endeavor where improvement is sought after, is best done with other people. You don't get good at martial arts without sparring, and you don't get good at game-development without feed-back. And with what I said above in mind, people you're comfortable and friendly with will probably be better at giving you feed-back (some exceptions though).

EDIT :

It's important to remember that communication is a two-way street though. Some people really are very defensive, and can't handle criticism no matter how it's leveled at them. If you find yourself going on the defense whenever somebody labels criticism at you, maybe you should consider that it isn't that everyone are necessarily rude, but that you're angling everything in a negative way because you can't handle being told something negative.

In either case, I think most people have experienced being on both sides of the spectrum.

Being told you're doing something wrong is never going to feel good. However, people who're genuinely looking to get better at stuff will value correction. People who're just looking for affirmation will blow up in the face of anyone who says anything that doesn't amount to roses and cherry.