If surveys were the solution we'd all make 10/10 games with no negative reviews whatsoever. And if listening to players blindly was the solution, we'd all be doing that to tremendous results - but the most popular games out there are almost all known for tense dynamics between players and devs. - ThreadSky

ramiismail.com • 12 hours ago

If surveys were the solution we'd all make 10/10 games with no negative reviews whatsoever. And if listening to players blindly was the solution, we'd all be doing that to tremendous results - but the most popular games out there are almost all known for tense dynamics between players and devs.

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unabridgedgamer.bsky.social•11 hours ago

And some of the most renowned additions to games were met with intense hostility. People forget THE RAGE at Mass Effect 3’s multiplayer mode that was “tacked-on” even though it’s still played over a decade later!

vaaasm.com•2 hours ago

fully agree!

katdiedagain.bsky.social•11 hours ago

Gamers don’t know what they want. And then they scream at the top of their lungs when designers go “No, I’m not getting rid of all the flowers on the map just because some of them add a little visual noise.” They’re like dogs begging for boiling water on the stove. No idea what they’re asking for.

mikerousseau.bsky.social•11 hours ago

I think gamers know what they want, generally, but have zero clue as to what they actually need. Our job is to figure that out and give it to them.

litemechanist.bsky.social•8 hours ago

The way I think about it, is that gamers know what problems they have, and they often articulate those problems by giving solutions. It's our job to understand that core problem and then find the best way to solve it.

olivia.fluffie.st•6 hours ago

One of my best friends has an awful habit of asking for help with whats knows as xy problems; (i.e., they have an issue x, realized y might be part of a solution, then asks for help with y without mentioning x so you don't know what the *actual* problem is.)

katdiedagain.bsky.social•2 hours ago

That’s an interesting way to ask for help!

olivia.fluffie.st•2 hours ago

its not just them! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/XY_problem

mikerousseau.bsky.social•2 hours ago

Sometimes, the problem they identify isn't the actual problem. "We need bigger maps" was something I drilled down to "crossing midline gives severe penalties." Small maps weren't the issue. The malus needed adjusting.

mikerousseau.bsky.social•2 hours ago

But to your point: if a player tells you something is wrong, they're right. If they tell you how to fix it, they're wrong.

katdiedagain.bsky.social•2 hours ago

Such a good clarification!

jasonmehmel.bsky.social•10 hours ago

"It’s not the job of the artist to give the audience what the audience wants. If the audience knew what they needed, then they wouldn’t be the audience. They would be the artists. It is the job of artists to give the audience what they need."

-Alan Moore

kimera.world•7 hours ago

it's odd to make takeaways about nobody wanting romance from this. surely it's obvious that when filling out a survey about your idealised game interests, you're going to have different priorities to what may manifest when playing? nobody would say they love gacha games but they're clearly popular

kimera.world•7 hours ago

there's also a level of bias where people see romance as a low brow thing to focus on in a story, so obviously they'll pick the stuff they see as more interesting and grand, and then actually end up gravitating to it when it comes time to engage with games in the real world

datagoblin.bsky.social•6 hours ago

"if i asked gamers what they want, they'd've said faster dodge rolls" - hidetaka miyazaki

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