Read this article and thought of KSP

[paleorob]

Every time there is a new update something is changed (hence an update). Some subset of the players will not like the various changes that occur. This happens after every update. Sometimes things get heated. I read this article today about game development and criticism and thought to myself, "Yes, this kind of reminds me of KSP-fandom's reaction to updates," but also made me think, "Thank goodness KSP players aren't this rude, mean, or violent!" Anyway I thought it might be of general interest so I'm posting it here.

Be aware, there is some foul language used in some of the quotes. Forewarned is forearmed.

The War on Creatives

[regex]

Link doesn't work because of forum censoring.

[SkyRender]

tl;dr version of that article: It's very easy for the excessive and utterly absurd threats of violence, sexual abuse, stalking, etc. to make life a living hell for game designers just because they make small tweaks to account for balance issues and the like. And yeah, that can be an issue. Especially the overzealous sorts who make very authentic-sounding threats or otherwise grief the developers by demonstrating they have information that they should not. Squad hasn't suffered from the worst of the lot on that, at least. Hopefully they never will...

[KerbMav]

If people would invest this amount of "dedication" and energy in "pointing out" what todays governments call "equality", "justice", "security" ...

[Levelord]

I've actually encountered the opposite, when trying to point out some game flaws that the developers missed, the community drowns out the post with a "It's just alpha" ad nauseum...

So I'm supposed to wait until the game is completed, where SQUAD is no longer in a position to change the game, and then point out the flaw that they were unaware of. The logic these people live by confounds me.

[Ki11aWi11]

KSP does require a degree of intelligence to play successfully, it's a bit more than trial and error. To line up an interplanetary transfer you do need to understand some quite complex concepts that are central to rocket science. This increased intelligence of the player base when compared to other games could correlate to a lower level of immaturity in the community.

[annallia]

I've actually encountered the opposite, when trying to point out some game flaws that the developers missed, the community drowns out the post with a "It's just alpha" ad nauseum...

So I'm supposed to wait until the game is completed, where SQUAD is no longer in a position to change the game, and then point out the flaw that they were unaware of. The logic these people live by confounds me.

I would say that depends on the flaws. Most of the time when I see a "flaw" in the game being pointed out and it gets drowned out by this is an alpha release it is because that "flaw" is not actually a flaw in the game, but rather a feature that is missing.

[Levelord]

I would say that depends on the flaws. Most of the time when I see a "flaw" in the game being pointed out and it gets drowned out by this is an alpha release it is because that "flaw" is not actually a flaw in the game, but rather a feature that is missing.

There's nothing wrong with informing SQUAD that a potential issue exists. If it's a flaw it's up for SQUAD to decide, and not the hordes of gamers that attempt to censor a critique of the game because they perceive it as a threat to their self image.

[annallia]

I agree with you, but there is a difference between a flaw and something that hasn't been implemented yet. All I was saying was that the vast majority of the time where I see a flurry of "It's in alpha" responses to a perceived flaw it comes from something that hasn't been implemented yet, not a flaw in the existing game.

[Spyritdragon]

KSP does require a degree of intelligence to play successfully, it's a bit more than trial and error. To line up an interplanetary transfer you do need to understand some quite complex concepts that are central to rocket science. This increased intelligence of the player base when compared to other games could correlate to a lower level of immaturity in the community.

I am horribly immature at times . There's also plenty of craziness abound here. Only most of the time, here, we focus it in a good way.

Because science and rockets are awesome ^-^

[Arran]

There's nothing wrong with informing SQUAD that a potential issue exists. If it's a flaw it's up for SQUAD to decide, and not the hordes of gamers that attempt to censor a critique of the game because they perceive it as a threat to their self image.

If Squad thinks you have a case in your informative post, they take notice, if some fanboi flames you for it, just ignore it.

On the other hand, some people suggest features as flaws, and some "suggestions" like Multiplayer have been beaten too death by now, popping them up on regulair basis while its on the What not too Suggest list, over and over again.

Other suggestions (flaws) are on the "todo" list or just not feasable to do, or maybe an idear for an later Expansion/DLC pack..

But i agree that some fans can be reactng a tat zealous on some people..

I've playing KSP since 0.13 and seen the forums chance alot when the huge influx of Steam players came to the game, it became alot harsher, still compared too other gameforums i visit this one is still one of the nicer and gentler and mature forums in general, with the occasional HighHorsed one posting..

I just tend too ignore those..

[SpaceHole]

the-internets-war-against-creatives

The link is not working but i already can tell that i dislike something like this. I really hate this mentality it reminds me of the new microsoft.

Yes it happens that people dont like change but that doesnt automatically indicate that every change is good and everyone who dislikes a certain change is close-minded or "conservative".

For example - Windows 8 is awful for desktops - the new interface is nice maybe even great for touch but it is actually a bad innovation for desktops since they actually lose productivity.

Also in games patches actually can break certain aspects of the game that were the reason why at least some people had fun with it. So i dont see why does people should not be able to voice their opinion? Also there actually are patches in games that made the game worse. Just because something is new doesnt mean its a good thing - it also doesnt mean that its a bad thing.

Edited August 20, 2013 by SpaceHole

[paleorob]

The link is not working but i already can tell that i dislike something like this. I really hate this mentality

Actually, I almost didn't read the article (my friend had posted it on Facebook) because I had the same reaction. "Some group of people think that they are so important that every little thing they do should be protected and that anyone disagreeing with them is 'persecuting' them." I went ahead and read it anyway and it isn't what I was expecting (mostly) and I found it worth my time.

I agree with you about not all changes being good. The article deals mostly with how people react to minor changes, for the most part.

[Levelord]

If Squad thinks you have a case in your informative post, they take notice, if some fanboi flames you for it, just ignore it.

On the other hand, some people suggest features as flaws, and some "suggestions" like Multiplayer have been beaten too death by now, popping them up on regulair basis while its on the What not too Suggest list, over and over again.

Other suggestions (flaws) are on the "todo" list or just not feasable to do, or maybe an idear for an later Expansion/DLC pack..

But i agree that some fans can be reactng a tat zealous on some people..

I've playing KSP since 0.13 and seen the forums chance alot when the huge influx of Steam players came to the game, it became alot harsher, still compared too other gameforums i visit this one is still one of the nicer and gentler and mature forums in general, with the occasional HighHorsed one posting..

I just tend too ignore those..

The things like suggesting multiplayer and such are easily disarmed by linking them to the thread stickied suggestion forums, where SQUAD listed all the things they are already planning to do and other features that they are definitely not going to do. It's usually the end of the discussion for them when it's linked.

I'm referring to more undocumented issues like the more recent SAS changes for example, where the SAS didn't keep track of the last key hold. Which was what prompted the devs to patch to 21.1, and they later admitted that it was an overlooked, unintentional bug. It's lucky that the topic was seen at all because of the extremist fans flooding the posts and trying to make it as hard as possible for SQUAD to sort through the relevant information. It really works to the detriment to the game because it means that SQUAD often has to work in isolation from feedback because they simply can't see them.

That said, the KSP community is still better than any other gaming community, but it's also probably because there's a large percentage of older players that's interested in rocketry and exploration residing here.

[Beeman]

I don't know what forums you're lookin' at but when everyone downloaded .21, it was pretty clear that a LOT of people were having issues while a lot of other people were enjoying it just fine(me being part of the latter group). There were people complaining about it, people loving it and people confused on how it should actually be working because of this. I don't recall seeing people flooding their complaint threads with zealous dismissal. What I do remember is C7 acknowledging the problems within a couple days and talking about a quickfix...which came shortly after.

Of all the game-related forums I've been a part of, this is the most civil and relaxed I've seen. People are always willing to offer up opinions on things to support or refuse suggestions, ideas, designs and so on without being too closed-minded or getting angry about them. It's just good stuff.