5 réponses à ce sujet

[David Gaider]

PurebredCorn wrote...

Gaider just apologized to brushyourteeth for his flippant remark. Just a heads up.

And I'll point out that my post on that thread was on page two, after numerous other posts talking about the re-use of the trope, and not directly to the OP. I can see she saw it that way and took it personally, so hey-- not my intention to come across as insensitive.

I suppose I do, sometimes-- some insensitivity is required for devs to post here, you know. Either that or a lack of a soul. Take your pick.

[David Gaider]

addiction21 wrote...
If they are no longer doing what you like then there is someone else out in the world doing that. Let the creators of the world do their thing.

While I get what you're saying, I'll politely disagree. To an extent, yes-- if someone doesn't like the kind of games we're making now or the stories we're writing, even if they used to, there comes a point where they should move on to something that they do like.

We have not and do not, however, subscribe to the "suck it up and like it" attitude. If we did, we wouldn't engage fans at all. We wouldn't do things like make the EC for ME3-- which, yes, came after defending our creation. We will do that, after all, as these games are our creation. My point is that they also belong to the fans. We invited them to have a personal investment in what we make. It would be just as presumptuous for us to ignore that when it's convenient for us as it would be for fans to ignore our ownership when it's convenient for them. Ideally we'll walk a line between making what we desire and listening as much as we can-- to ALL opinions politely offered here.

Modifié par David Gaider, 29 septembre 2012 - 06:46 .

[David Gaider]

Grizzly46 wrote...
For example: In ME1 a lot of people (not me) complained about the Mako missions (not the mako itself), but in ME2, everything Mako was gone, and this is not the only instance of over-reaction.

Be careful in assuming that any change which is something that's been complained about on the forums has been changed only because it's been complained about on the forums. That's seldom the case. If there were developers who hated the Mako missions as much as some fans, they'd be able to discern the reasons for their dislike very well.

It's actually pretty seldom that a change will be made based on an opinion that not a single member of the development team personally holds. Devs don't always agree with each other, but if we made decisions based only on what we thoght other people wanted, I agree that would be a pretty crappy way to go about things.

[David Gaider]

addiction21 wrote...
I never said anything about likeing it But there is a way to deal with it. In a rational and reasonable manner.

Fans tend to get touchy when the subject of entitlement comes up-- possibly because when it's brought up in a negative connotation they interpret that to apply to everything they do. Which it may, but that really depends on the behavior of the individual. It's one thing to feel entitled to express concern or an opinion regarding something you like a lot and feel invested in. It's another thing to feel that investment means you're entitled to dictate how it should be made to your personal preference. Like many things which are generally good, it can be taken too far.

Personally, I wish I was more inclined to respond more often to the thoughtful, polite posts. I tend to think that posting something that says "that's a good idea!" and nothing further will come across as banal or disengenous-- and tend to be more drawn to posts that demand response, or require crowd control. I can say that thoughtful posts are more effective at persuading the opinion of a dev that happens to read them, even if we don't generally comment as we probably should.

You'd think that would just make sense to people, but the prevailing opinion seems to be that being loud and abrasive will-- if not change someone's mind-- get you what you want. I'm not sure I've ever met a dev who said "that fan was so rude and obnoxious-- I now want to make the game they're demanding in order to make them happy" but some people seem to think that's how it works. Perhaps there is a perception that, on the few occasions that an outcry has met with results those results came about solely because of the outcry, and thus reinforced the mindset? Which is too bad.

Personally I'm certain that all the devs here appreciate those posters who go out of their way to elevate the level of discourse on the forums. Indeed, we've had conversations about particular posters who have impressed us (and will even pay special attention when they post). So one should not fear that their reasonable posts are going completely unheeded... even if it's always possible some might get lost amid the general rumblings of the threads. We cannot, after all, read everything.

Modifié par David Gaider, 29 septembre 2012 - 07:15 .

[David Gaider]

Grizzly46 wrote...
I'm sorry, but I refuse to think you don't care one iota about what the fans say - you ask for the fans opinions; you added the EV to ME3; and most importantly, the parachuting enemies in DA2 were gone in Legacy. Don't tell me that was just because the Bioware people thought those 'features' sucked, and you ask for opinions for shts n' giggles.

You are people like the rest of us, and the fact that there are a few of the staff posting here makes me think there are a lot more just reading the forums. Therefore, any critizism against you has to have an impact of some kind on you, for better or worse. Frankly, I pity you since you have gotten so much crap thrown at you, and often because of the wrong reasons.

Where did I say we don't care at all? I just said that one should not assume that the only reason something is changed between games is because fans complained about it or requested it. We developers have opinions on our games as well-- some things we like, some things we hate. There is rarely consensus... but unlike a modding team we must be professionals and realize that, at some point, a direction has to be chosen if we're ever going to get the game out the door. So until that happens we will argue and champion our various desires like any fan might (and with far more personally at stake than it being our hobby).

The opinions of fans can (and sometimes has) changed the opinion of a developer-- that's the real possibility offered to you guys with regards to affecting development-- but, failing that, I can't recall anything that was implemented in a game solely because fans complained/wanted it but nobody on the dev team agreed with that opinion. Doesn't happen.

Modifié par David Gaider, 29 septembre 2012 - 07:44 .