About the Countdown -- From Our Creative Director


Admin

Recommended Posts

While I do agree, the countdown without detsils on what it meant was wrong, the news of that day is astounding.

 The game took so long because theyre all coders and 2d artists, not 3d animators. Plus, have you noticed for such a small dev team, the amount of platforms this indie game will exist on is huge: pc/mac, Xbox 1,  and Ps4! So instead of being angry its taking so long, be glad we finally have a release date, THIS year. Im honestly proud one of my favourite games is leaving early access.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 134
  • Created
  • Last Reply

I've been quietly observing this thread since the countdown appeared and I must say I was on that Hype train speeding through the days waiting to arrive at the station on May the 4th. When the announcement of the release date was revealed I was disappointed, but only for a split second though, like everybody I can't wait for the game to release, but sometimes it's good to be patient. Maybe the devs are just looking to iron out all the kinks and had to push the date back from May the 4th to August to be able to release a smooth and stable cross-platform experience for everyone.

As for the fans of the game who flipped on this countdown come-down by posting negative ratings and reviews on steam and so forth, I am actually more disappointed in that behaviour. To act like a petulant 3 year old is unacceptable and immature. Like a child throwing a tantrum a week before Christmas because it wants to open all the presents now. I would have expected better from such long-term fans of the game. Or Fans of a game in development in general.

Kicking and screaming isn't going to bring that date any closer. Just show love and eager anticipation for the full release of a great game. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, UpUrBeaver said:

As for the fans of the game who flipped on this countdown come-down by posting negative ratings and reviews on steam and so forth, I am actually more disappointed in that behaviour. To act like a petulant 3 year old is unacceptable and immature. Like a child throwing a tantrum a week before Christmas because it wants to open all the presents now. I would have expected better from such long-term fans of the game. Or Fans of a game in development in general.

Or fans of new, high quality games in general.   Wonder what lessons other game developers are taking away after watching this?

  • Communicate less with purchasers because fans are less likely to trash developers who communicate only via announcements and patch notes.
  • If you do EA, charge a lot (35-50 $US) to limit the early adopters to folks with the deepest interest in your project.
  • Don't sell on Steam since there's a "which game developer can we burn to the ground this week?" culture, with a whole bunch of trolls who haven't even bought the game standing by to eagerly fan the flames.
  • Don't make high quality games.  Since even the highest quality games get systematically trashed on Steam for the amusement of the trolls, don't bother.  Make some superficially interesting but shallow games as cheaply as possible, sell what you can and move on. 

For myself, I no longer credit Steam ratings at all.  I always assume they are being manipulated or trolled for someone's amusement.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The countdown has been a reminder that good things come to those who wait.

@UpUrBeaver I like your temper tantrum kid's analogy, it describes the internet pretty well! If this is all you live for, you may have issues. Lol! As much as I love this game there are other things in life 

Phew, that's enough "Reflective Rusty" for one day :S

Sam

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Look, I said that the recent ratings would go back up to very positive very quickly.  The steam ratings were going to dip, but I was confident, and apparently rightly so, that it would blow over and improve.  Why?  Because, while Ruruwawa makes a good point about griefers and trolls on Steam, ultimately their power is limited.  Individually they have no influence and as a mob the members themselves will eventually burn through their rage and then be more rational.  The reason the game's ratings were destined to go back up is because the game is good.  Quality survives the whims of the mob because the members of a mob born of momentary rage are usually decent people who get swept up into the event and then end up repenting acting out of blind emotion.

I argued against using the steam reviews as a weapon to attack the game people enjoyed because it was the only way to attack the company.  I even argued uncharacteristically strenuously with folks about it.  I always said that venting frustration flavored with a bit of rage was a legitimate course of action in the forums.  ...And I have *never* acted like a shill for Hinterlands.  I haven't been around here long and I'm certainly not an important member.  What I am is an honest consumer, so I was dismayed by the way it panned out, but I'm heartened that the community has rebounded, even some of the lost sheep have returned to the fold, and we're all essentially singing kumbaya again.  I just wish the community was larger here and on steam, but I also like the fact that it's friendly and generally even the odd flame or two never burns very hot or very long.

As for Raph, I don't know him.  I've never interacted with him.  I wouldn't recognize him on the street and have never seen his facebook page.  I take his apology as sincere and believe his mea culpa for the same reason I would anyone else's.  Everyone should be allowed to live past a mistake now and then.  Yeah, take some heat for a while.  It's part of life.  ...But then come back to the fold, learn from your lesson, and get back in the saddle.  There's a long ride ahead.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

@Rusty_Old_F250 indeed

@Ruruwawa You make an excellent point. It's almost like Devs can't win either way, too much or too little info, they still get trolled.

More so on Steam than any other platform. I most of the time go by the ratings on Xbox (as I have found them to be more relevant for the majority of games, and also because I play most things on xbox).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 5/15/2017 at 2:33 PM, UpUrBeaver said:

It's almost like Devs can't win either way, too much or too little info, they still get trolled.

Such is the risk you take when you communicate with any large group of people - the general rule of thumb is that you cannot EVER please everyone. It's impossible.
The trick is to manage your community in such a way that your communication is as clear as possible to avoid confusion, and to make decisions that benefit the community majority. You will always have a minority who will complain and scream blue murder.

The only thing you can control, really, is what information you give out, so if you keep that information to a high standard then you are doing fine. In the meantime, batten down the hatches and ride out the whingers (but don't entirely ignore them, because you may miss some important concerns).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.