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[nenjin]

That's mostly what I'm talking about. I completely accept criticism, but only if it is presented calmly and constructively. Just saying "this sucks" or "I don't like this" isn't okay.

Well, actually, it IS ok. They have an opinion. It coming in a format you don't like doesn't make their opinion any less personal or valid.

What you SHOULD do is respond to posts like that saying "WHAT didn't you like? WHAT sucks?" That shows a willingness to accept their criticism.

Because you know full well that well-reasoned, thoughtful, polite critiques are rare and at one end of the spectrum entirely. If that's your standard, you're going to be locking/deleting an awful lot of posts.

Get used to the idea of people saying "this sucks/I don't like it." Because being used to it means you're not going to do the typical knee-jerk reaction, which is to lock/delete something that doesn't meet your standard of feedback.

Let me put it another way. When we have a hundred thousand dollar client call us on the phone freaking out about our software, throwing explicatives out and borderline personally attacking us...what we DON'T do is say "Sir, we only take polite criticism." Being a game developer is no different. Those people are your clients, and regardless of how much it sucks to have them flip out on you or treat you with less respect than you think you deserve....they are the people you're serving and their feedback, even the shitty feedback is meaningful.

[GlyphGryph]

See, now, most people saying "this sucks" or "I don't like this" think it IS ok. And preventing people from doing so makes you look like a dick.

The best thing you can do, really, is to encourage a culture that you want to support. Especially in the early days, make some appearances. Say the sort of things you expect from the board, and let posters live up to those expectations. Have a couple subforums (like a rant or complaints forum) if it becomes a problem - rather than banning the user, simply move their threads there or lock them. Users who have learned what is and is not acceptable, even the hard way, are still valuable users. Even on bay12 with its light moderation rules, we've lost some well-liked people to bans - your methodology seems like it would potentially make that a regular occurrence.

Have clear expectations for your posters, and try to work with the community to enforce the rules needed to make it a good community rather than handing down edicts from above and going to the ban button as a first step.

[nenjin]

And yeah: post deletion. Don't do it unless it's absolutely necessary. It's makes you look disingenuous or like you have no ability to take criticism when you try to hide it from people. Only delete illegal, racist or NSFW content.

[Sowelu]

I'd say that rules against creation of duplicate threads could go a long way here.  Ten people saying "This part of X sucks" and being loud and noisy and obnoxious?  At least make them all join one big thread instead of cluttering the place up.

Also, like GlyphGryph said, subforums are your friends.  Do you want forums primarily to detect tech support issues?  Create a "general discussion" forum and a "tech support" forum, then never read the general discussion one.  Maybe create a "suggestions" forum, and only skim thread titles.

[kaijyuu]

The problem I see here is that you might come across a yahtzee style post completely tearing a game to shreds, but also leaving some constructive criticism behind, and you might ban that person for posting it.

Yahtzee's an interesting example. He pretty much proves that vitriol filled criticism does not invalidate said criticism, since he always gives good reasons why he doesn't like something. It's just that he tends to top off his 100% valid, constructive criticism with "...and that's why the developers are pants on head retarded." Now, his vitriol serves 0 practical purpose when it comes to feedback, so it's not a good idea to follow his example to the letter when talking on forums/etc, but if you cut out all the vitriol and just look at his examples and explanations, it works great as an example of constructive criticism. The only exceptions are his few slip ups of not doing the research on the game he's reviewing.


I'd still ban anyone giving Yahtzee style reviews, but solely because the same points can be made without the personal attacks (humorous intent or no). Being sardonic is great; being a jackass is not.

[Leafsnail]

Yahtzee's reviews are primarily for entertainment purposes.  The vitriol is there so he can make more jokes.  It's a whole different kettle of fish to actually seriously insult people in reviews.

[nenjin]

It's a whole different kettle of fish to actually seriously insulting people in reviews.

Well, when you say of someone's game something like "but I find myself wishing I'd scrapped my balls against a rusty cheese grater for a solid hour, that would have been preferable to the time I spent on this festering pile of shit" it's hard a) for that to not be personal or seen as an extension of what you think of the person who made it...

And b) it's why I'll never really consider Yahtzee a reviewer. He lets trying to be funny and clever get in the way of conveying information. His pieces are him ripping into something he finds bad, quirky or worthy of fapping (metaphorically) about. He's like an RPS article that never gets away from the silliness in the opening graph.

If Yahtzee were just an average forum goer writing like he talks...whether or not what he says would count as real feedback would depend on the forum owner's tolerance for someone using their personal space as place to grandstand. Developers don't want vagueness or generalities in their feedback, they want it specific and in great volume. And they don't want to have to sort through a bunch of extraneous verbage and hyperbole to find it.

[Cheeetar]

I'd think you should be more worried about whether people will be interested enough in your game to actually use your forums at this point, rather than worry about people posting mean stuff.

[kaijyuu]

Hahaha, yeah. Getting any feedback AT ALL is something you should consider a blessing, at least until you're well known enough to have a "fanbase" of some sort.