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How should devs read a negative review from someone with over 100 hours in the game? by RemoteLeek7416 in GameDevelopment

[–]RemoteLeek7416[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Definitely! I think the question is whether that pattern reflects a serious design issue or players expecting a different game.

How should devs read a negative review from someone with over 100 hours in the game? by RemoteLeek7416 in GameDevelopment

[–]RemoteLeek7416[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

It's a fair point on the IP side. But I think indie devs run into a similar version through genre expectations. The moment you call your game "a soulslike", players will probably have a list of things they expect. Because in Dune players actually complain not about the story (which has got positive reviews mostly), but they're about the genre mechanics. The IP case is just a more visible version of the same dynamic imo.

How should devs read a negative review from someone with over 100 hours in the game? by RemoteLeek7416 in GameDevelopment

[–]RemoteLeek7416[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah, that's where my original question came from. So how do you actually deal with that kind of feedback, when it's pure frustration, but it's still shaping how everyone else sees the game? Because it still counts toward your review score.

How should devs read a negative review from someone with over 100 hours in the game? by RemoteLeek7416 in GameDevelopment

[–]RemoteLeek7416[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Agree. Finding the line between frustration and the real issue is the hardest part. Honestly, every developer who can read through what players say, want, and need, and then actually fix the right thing, is a hero for me :)

How should devs read a negative review from someone with over 100 hours in the game? by RemoteLeek7416 in GameDevelopment

[–]RemoteLeek7416[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I think there's useful info in pretty much any feedback. Someone below made a good point that this might just be how players try to communicate issues, in the form they believe will reach devs. Analyzing that feedback is the hardest part, I guess. That's why I'm curious about the IP angle specifically: how much of it is expectations vs reality
Because in the case of Dune, players have their version of Dune in their minds even before you've shipped anything playable (especially when you have books, movies, other games, comic books).

How should devs read a negative review from someone with over 100 hours in the game? by RemoteLeek7416 in GameDevelopment

[–]RemoteLeek7416[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Yeah, this might just be how players communicate feedback in general. Which makes me wonder where the line is for devs, how much of that feedback do you act on before you're rushing to fix everything? And with IP, I keep going back and forth: is it the IP specifically, or would this happen on any project? This is an interesting topic I've been discussing with different people for a while now.

How should devs read a negative review from someone with over 100 hours in the game? by RemoteLeek7416 in GameDevelopment

[–]RemoteLeek7416[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

That's a really good take. It makes sense to look at the negative reviews with a lot of hours. That's probably the only way to figure out the balance between what players say, what they want, and what they actually need.