jorb wrote:As of this morning's harvest of five fresh pages of unread threads, I will from here on only read threads when their titles inspire me to do so.
sabinati wrote:you don't actually get LP from the forum you know
GamePolitics.com wrote: Jeff Vogel, the lone proprietor of Spiderweb Software, offers some sage advice to other developers: never read your own forums. He backs up this rule with three reasons why it's not a good idea. Spider web Software makes the excellent Geneforge, Avernum, and Exile series of indie role-playing games for PC and Mac.
His first rule is "It's Not Productive To Read How Much People Hate You." A self-explanatory rule, but he offers a quote from a hater to back it up.
The second rule is "It's Not Going To Be Helpful." Vogel says that, beyond finding out about bugs in your game, the forum is a maelstrom of bad ideas - even from well intentioned users. "Forums contain a cacophony of people telling you to do diametrically opposite things, very loudly, often for bad reasons," says Vogel.
The final reason is "You Might Get Suckered Into Getting Angry." That might make Vogel sound pretty thin-skinned, but the media loves to see a developer have a public melt-down - particularly against its own fan base. Jerks do not get work. "Snapping angrily at your customers never, ever leads to good results," says Vogel.
In closing Vogel says that, for developers that do want close relationships with customers, he wishes them well, but warns them that once their "grace period" with forum goers is over it can get ugly. He also says in closing that he loves his customers.
Garath wrote:and if you dont want feedback, why have alpha or beta testing?
Jeff Vogel wrote:Of course, it is still very important for designers to get lots of good, constructive criticism. That is why I have built up an elite cadre of awesome beta testers and interested friends, and I listen to them very closely. And, I must point out, many of those testers were recruited from my forums. You just need to choose carefully the people you ask for advice.
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