Why do bad developers tend to use Reddit as a forum?

NagilumSadow

Why do bad developers tend to use Reddit as a forum?

There is an interesting phenomenon I have noticed: Often what I would dub generally as a "bad developer" will tend to rely more on Reddit than others (ie Daybreak, etc), while beloved developers (ie Eleon Game Studios, etc) tend to facilitate and communicate through their own forum or other non-reddit venues?

Is it because the less than desirable developers need the subtle behavior modification concomitant with Reddit?

xLoveless1102

I am actually not into Reddit, for me its much better to gather more information from player's feedback of one's game thru its official forum page. I mean, what would be the purpose of the having a forum section for your game if it would only go to waste. Taking into consideration the things and/or feedback of player's of the your game is one way to make it more successful.

NagilumSadow

xLoveless1102 said:

I am actually not into Reddit, for me its much better to gather more information from player's feedback of one's game thru its official forum page. I mean, what would be the purpose of the having a forum section for your game if it would only go to waste. Taking into consideration the things and/or feedback of player's of the your game is one way to make it more successful.

Your approach seems perfectly logical to me, which is why the words and actions of some developers are so perplexing. 

I could be totally wrong, but there is a theory I am kicking around: When a highly undesirable, or catastrophic, change(s) is made to an MMO or multiplayer, after a time only the games "white knights" remain to upvote comments, which presents a false face of stability.

This brief summary of the theory has logical holes, but, too, I think there is a truism there.

“The truth is a precious commodity. That's why I use it so sparingly.” ~ Mark Twain

SEANMCAD

NagilumSadow said:

xLoveless1102 said:

I am actually not into Reddit, for me its much better to gather more information from player's feedback of one's game thru its official forum page. I mean, what would be the purpose of the having a forum section for your game if it would only go to waste. Taking into consideration the things and/or feedback of player's of the your game is one way to make it more successful.

Your approach seems perfectly logical to me, which is why the words and actions of some developers are so perplexing. 

I could be totally wrong, but there is a theory I am kicking around: When a highly undesirable, or catastrophic, change(s) is made to an MMO or multiplayer, after a time only the games "white knights" remain to upvote comments, which presents a false face of stability.

This brief summary of the theory has logical holes, but, too, I think there is a truism there.

“The truth is a precious commodity. That's why I use it so sparingly.” ~ Mark Twain

I think before you spend a great deal of time and energy on the 'why' you might want to consider the fact that 2 developers does not make an overall trend.

it could very well just be an isolated case

diving into it as you are is what I call 'theory crafting'. thinking of possible answers to a question that may or may not be based on reality in the first place

NagilumSadow

SEANMCAD said:

NagilumSadow said:

xLoveless1102 said:

I am actually not into Reddit, for me its much better to gather more information from player's feedback of one's game thru its official forum page. I mean, what would be the purpose of the having a forum section for your game if it would only go to waste. Taking into consideration the things and/or feedback of player's of the your game is one way to make it more successful.

Your approach seems perfectly logical to me, which is why the words and actions of some developers are so perplexing. 

I could be totally wrong, but there is a theory I am kicking around: When a highly undesirable, or catastrophic, change(s) is made to an MMO or multiplayer, after a time only the games "white knights" remain to upvote comments, which presents a false face of stability.

This brief summary of the theory has logical holes, but, too, I think there is a truism there.

“The truth is a precious commodity. That's why I use it so sparingly.” ~ Mark Twain

I think before you spend a great deal of time and energy on the 'why' you might want to consider the fact that 2 developers does not make an overall trend.

it could very well just be an isolated case

diving into it as you are is what I call 'theory crafting'. thinking of possible answers to a question that may or may not be based on reality in the first place

Those were two 'placeholder' examples of many.  However, I consider Reddit a perfect example of behavior modification.  Heidegger spoke of similar patterns that dissolve the 'I' in favor of pattern, structure, and strata -- too bad he couldn't cure himself.

Two samples represent poor statistics, but I have already taken that into consideration.  I was just trying to get away with listing two examples without fleshing out all of the verbosity. lol

SEANMCAD

NagilumSadow said:

SEANMCAD said:

NagilumSadow said:

xLoveless1102 said:

I am actually not into Reddit, for me its much better to gather more information from player's feedback of one's game thru its official forum page. I mean, what would be the purpose of the having a forum section for your game if it would only go to waste. Taking into consideration the things and/or feedback of player's of the your game is one way to make it more successful.

Your approach seems perfectly logical to me, which is why the words and actions of some developers are so perplexing. 

I could be totally wrong, but there is a theory I am kicking around: When a highly undesirable, or catastrophic, change(s) is made to an MMO or multiplayer, after a time only the games "white knights" remain to upvote comments, which presents a false face of stability.

This brief summary of the theory has logical holes, but, too, I think there is a truism there.

“The truth is a precious commodity. That's why I use it so sparingly.” ~ Mark Twain

I think before you spend a great deal of time and energy on the 'why' you might want to consider the fact that 2 developers does not make an overall trend.

it could very well just be an isolated case

diving into it as you are is what I call 'theory crafting'. thinking of possible answers to a question that may or may not be based on reality in the first place

Those were two 'placeholder' examples of many. ....

I very seriously doubt it.

Could be but unlikely

Kootur

NagilumSadow said:

Why do bad developers tend to use Reddit as a forum?

There is an interesting phenomenon I have noticed: Often what I would dub generally as a "bad developer" will tend to rely more on Reddit than others (ie Daybreak, etc), while beloved developers (ie Eleon Game Studios, etc) tend to facilitate and communicate through their own forum or other non-reddit venues?

Is it because the less than desirable developers need the subtle behavior modification concomitant with Reddit?

Reddit has turned into a cancer of a site. It's sort of like neogaf as it seems to attract the most sensitive basement dwellers of the web. 

Reddit used to actually be a not bad site and then they started censoring and adding algorithms to change the way things were posted up.

Pynda

NagilumSadow said:

Is it because the less than desirable developers need the subtle behavior modification concomitant with Reddit?

I'll answer your question if you tell me what what 'concomitant' means first.

Grunty

Pynda said:

NagilumSadow said:

Is it because the less than desirable developers need the subtle behavior modification concomitant with Reddit?

I'll answer your question if you tell me what what 'concomitant' means first.

You, at least made me look it up.  I was about to post the definition when I went back and read the thread. I then decided not to be a side note for someone trying to come up with a university paper on psychology.

MaxBacon

Because Reddit is the place for bad people, I mean, hmmm

I actually think the more you stay away as a developer from Reddit the better, game sub-communities are generally known for salt, really a lot of salt, when it comes to game drama, Reddit will be there.

But some subs do control that and can turn the place into a constant stream of feedback that in that aspect is better at it than what we usually see in forums.

anemo

This is like asking:  "Why are devs that invest less in their game, less liked"?

cameltosis

NagilumSadow said:

Why do bad developers tend to use Reddit as a forum?

There is an interesting phenomenon I have noticed: Often what I would dub generally as a "bad developer" will tend to rely more on Reddit than others (ie Daybreak, etc), while beloved developers (ie Eleon Game Studios, etc) tend to facilitate and communicate through their own forum or other non-reddit venues?

Is it because the less than desirable developers need the subtle behavior modification concomitant with Reddit?

I imagine there are numerous reasons for not bothering with official forums and relying on what is freely available. However, in regards to your perception, I would give the following reason:


Bad developers lack vision


Building a game is extremely difficult to do well. To deliver a truly epic game, the person/people in charge need to be able to visualise all the different components of the game and how they all fit together. This requires a lot of talent, from understanding maths and statistics through to human psychology. Good developers have the vision to be able to comprehend all these moving parts and pull them together into something other humans will enjoy. 

Bad devs lack vision. Often, they have a single good feature or idea - a new world to explore, or a new way to doing combat, or a new way to revolutionise crafting - but they lack the vision to take that one idea and mesh it well with all the other associated gameplay elements. 


How does this relate to social media and forums? A good dev will also have a vision for how they want to engage with their customers, a vision that hopefully includes protection of their customers as well as dedicated channels for discussions / feedback etc. Public forums cannot provide them with what they need, so they create their own. 

A bad dev, again, lacks that vision. So, rather than creating optimum channels for communicating with their customers, they instead just look around for what is already popular and use that. 


To dumb it down to simple quotes:

Good Dev - "build it and they will come"
Bad Dev - "I must find out where my people are going, so I may lead them"

JordanCook43

I think they try to go where there are higher numbers of people.

alicejones

Interesting point! I think it may also be tied to how developers engage with communities. Subreddits can offer quick feedback and a more informal space for troubleshooting, while larger studios prefer structured forums for more serious discussions. I'm sure that user story prioritization https://dworkz.com/article/six-ways-how-to-prioritize-user-stories-in-ui-ux-design/ could be better in structured environments, where feedback is clearer!