Criticism is good. Most of us are here to make art, and want to become better at art. Improving is a hard path, and without criticism, that's a long, solo journey.
One of my earliest SRB2 community memories involved me walking into #srb2fun IRC channel for the first time.
I remember posting something or other I made, being told "this isn't very good," and rather than asking "why is that? what can I do to improve it?" I went "let's see you do it better yourself."
I was promptly laughed at (rightfully so), and that stuck in my memory ever after. "Wait, that's not a justified response to criticism?"
Over time, even if the community could be a bit of a wild west at times, I really came to value the idea that I could cook up a creation, show it to the community, and easily find people to give me feedback: Real feedback which looked at what I was making and told me how I could succeed better at my goal next time.
This is an extremely important part of the SRB2 community to me, and I'd hate to see it ever die. Regardless, as the community has grown -- and seriously, this community has skyrocketed in size -- I do think that some of that subcultural knowledge has become lost over time. Platforms like Discord haven't helped. As I say that, I immediately think of how often I see people bitch in private discords until they tire themselves out, and then fail to actually give any feedback to the author.
So here are some of my thoughts everyone could stand to mull over regarding how to give criticism, and how to receive criticism.
One last thought from me. When the subject of criticism is brought up, people usually talk about "the sandwich method."
Feel free to discuss! If anything smart I hadn't thought of comes to mind as a result of this thread, I might add it in there for the future.
One of my earliest SRB2 community memories involved me walking into #srb2fun IRC channel for the first time.
I remember posting something or other I made, being told "this isn't very good," and rather than asking "why is that? what can I do to improve it?" I went "let's see you do it better yourself."
I was promptly laughed at (rightfully so), and that stuck in my memory ever after. "Wait, that's not a justified response to criticism?"
Over time, even if the community could be a bit of a wild west at times, I really came to value the idea that I could cook up a creation, show it to the community, and easily find people to give me feedback: Real feedback which looked at what I was making and told me how I could succeed better at my goal next time.
This is an extremely important part of the SRB2 community to me, and I'd hate to see it ever die. Regardless, as the community has grown -- and seriously, this community has skyrocketed in size -- I do think that some of that subcultural knowledge has become lost over time. Platforms like Discord haven't helped. As I say that, I immediately think of how often I see people bitch in private discords until they tire themselves out, and then fail to actually give any feedback to the author.
So here are some of my thoughts everyone could stand to mull over regarding how to give criticism, and how to receive criticism.
How to give effective criticism
The best criticism, the actual cream of the crop as far as criticism goes, can be summarized in a few ways:
- Understand what the actual goal of the author is.
What was the author actually attempting to make? Not all mods are the same. A mod designed to be played with a specific character cannot be fairly critiqued by how it plays as Tails. A slow-paced puzzle level cannot be effectively critiqued with the same measuring stick as a speedy platforming level.
- Point out a specific problem; a way they failed at that goal.
Where did they go wrong? Are the character's movement skills stiff or oversensitive? Is their jump height too low? Are they missing an important capability? Were the level's enemy placements obnoxious? Is it too narrow? Too wide? Too punishing? Does it fail to properly expand on otherwise cool gimmicks?
- Give suggestions on how to fix the specific problem, but don't sweat it if you can't think of any.
Solutions are not always easy and criticism without a solution is still valid, but one of the purposes of criticism is that you have two minds on the problem instead of just one.
- Be aware of the difference between kneejerk reactions and fully formed thoughts.
When things don't work exactly as we're used to, an initial experience can be annoying. The new player experience may be important data to share in and of itself, so don't hesitate. But at the same time, keep in mind that a new player perspective is substantially different from a familiarized player perspective.
- Be honest, do not sugarcoat things or pretend they're better than they are to spare the author's feelings.
Everyone makes the choice to log onto the internet each day. If they're not in the right state of mind to read genuine criticism, they can simply not. It's not your responsibility to look out for their mental health.
- Be honest, do not use hyperbole to exaggerate how bad things are.
"Oh god, this hurts my eyes!" Does it really? Are we talking Kodachrome Void, or are you just overreacting to some sloppy anti-aliasing? If your criticism exaggerates issues, it's no longer genuine, and the author can't be blamed for getting annoyed. "How big of a problem actually is this?" is a valuable question an author can ask themselves when deciding what changes to invest time into. If as a critic you're not being honest, that muddies the water and makes it harder for them to get a proper takeaway. Don't take your bad day out on someone else's work.
- Understand the difference between a player's preference and objective fact, and how much preferences matter or not.
Sometimes, something simply might not be your taste. Other times, it might be crap by any stretch of the imagination. Don't conflate the two! If you don't like anime, is that relevant when you're reviewing CL_ReimuHakurei-v2.pk3? It might just not be your cup of tea. But at the same time, it doesn't hurt to share your preferences as long as you understand others might not share them and aren't obligated to design around yours.
- Finally, remember that the point of criticism is to communicate something to the author.
Do you critique your friends' work civilly because you like them and want them to get better? Good!
Do you then roast a stranger's work like a reaction YouTuber because you're trying to look cool/funny to your friends or get "clout"? You may be practicing a fringe form of nepotism! Throw the stranger the same bone you'd throw your friends.
Criticism's primary purpose is to help the author improve at their craft. If you're more focused on anyone else's reaction, you may be missing the point and may not be giving effective criticism in the first place.
- Understand what the actual goal of the author is.
What was the author actually attempting to make? Not all mods are the same. A mod designed to be played with a specific character cannot be fairly critiqued by how it plays as Tails. A slow-paced puzzle level cannot be effectively critiqued with the same measuring stick as a speedy platforming level.
- Point out a specific problem; a way they failed at that goal.
Where did they go wrong? Are the character's movement skills stiff or oversensitive? Is their jump height too low? Are they missing an important capability? Were the level's enemy placements obnoxious? Is it too narrow? Too wide? Too punishing? Does it fail to properly expand on otherwise cool gimmicks?
- Give suggestions on how to fix the specific problem, but don't sweat it if you can't think of any.
Solutions are not always easy and criticism without a solution is still valid, but one of the purposes of criticism is that you have two minds on the problem instead of just one.
- Be aware of the difference between kneejerk reactions and fully formed thoughts.
When things don't work exactly as we're used to, an initial experience can be annoying. The new player experience may be important data to share in and of itself, so don't hesitate. But at the same time, keep in mind that a new player perspective is substantially different from a familiarized player perspective.
- Be honest, do not sugarcoat things or pretend they're better than they are to spare the author's feelings.
Everyone makes the choice to log onto the internet each day. If they're not in the right state of mind to read genuine criticism, they can simply not. It's not your responsibility to look out for their mental health.
- Be honest, do not use hyperbole to exaggerate how bad things are.
"Oh god, this hurts my eyes!" Does it really? Are we talking Kodachrome Void, or are you just overreacting to some sloppy anti-aliasing? If your criticism exaggerates issues, it's no longer genuine, and the author can't be blamed for getting annoyed. "How big of a problem actually is this?" is a valuable question an author can ask themselves when deciding what changes to invest time into. If as a critic you're not being honest, that muddies the water and makes it harder for them to get a proper takeaway. Don't take your bad day out on someone else's work.
- Understand the difference between a player's preference and objective fact, and how much preferences matter or not.
Sometimes, something simply might not be your taste. Other times, it might be crap by any stretch of the imagination. Don't conflate the two! If you don't like anime, is that relevant when you're reviewing CL_ReimuHakurei-v2.pk3? It might just not be your cup of tea. But at the same time, it doesn't hurt to share your preferences as long as you understand others might not share them and aren't obligated to design around yours.
- Finally, remember that the point of criticism is to communicate something to the author.
Do you critique your friends' work civilly because you like them and want them to get better? Good!
Do you then roast a stranger's work like a reaction YouTuber because you're trying to look cool/funny to your friends or get "clout"? You may be practicing a fringe form of nepotism! Throw the stranger the same bone you'd throw your friends.
Criticism's primary purpose is to help the author improve at their craft. If you're more focused on anyone else's reaction, you may be missing the point and may not be giving effective criticism in the first place.
How to gracefully receive criticism
Criticism should at least *resemble* the above. But whether it does a lot or only a little bit, here's some things to keep in mind as you engage with it.
- Criticism doesn't need to wait for you to solicit it. By posting your work in this public space, you open the doors for people to express their feelings about it.
Unsolicited criticism is not against the rules. In fact, I would encourage everyone to give reviews of other people's work whenever they have feelings on it. If your thoughts begin and end as nothing more than complaining on a random discord, that doesn't help the author fix anything.
- When someone tells you your work is bad, unfun, and needs heavy work, this is not usually a personal attack, and you shouldn't be primed to take it as such.
You are owed a certain amount of respect as a human being, but your work stands for itself. When someone picks apart your work and exposes all the flaws you didn't know existed, don't assume that this is their way of calling you stupid. Game design is not easy, and there's a lot of variables to pay attention to. Anyone smart understands this when they're giving criticism in the first place.
- Get your feelings in order. Criticism can sometimes be hard to stomach, but it's important and fair for people to give it to you.
If the criticism makes you want to cry, or if you feel a lump in your throat, or if you want to hit something, these are all standard human reactions to disappointment. Log out, take a walk, pet a dog. Come back to it when you feel more resolute. Don't lash out at someone for not enjoying what you created. As long as they're being civil, your composure is not their responsibility.
- You are not by any means obligated to give an ear to people who disrespect you as a person, but harsh criticism is not disrespect. If you're actually just being flamed, report the post so staff can have a look at it.
Obviously, criticism like anything else, needs to conform to the SRB2 Message Board rules.
- Someone does not need to be a subject matter expert to give good criticism.
Even a casual can tell if your character is hard to control, or if your level needs more checkpoints, or if your boss is unfair. They might not be able to tell you exactly why something is bad if they don't have the hands on experience, but it still can be useful data. Don't ever dismiss criticism just because the person is not an artist themselves.
- If someone struggled with something, their experience may or may not be worth giving much weight. But they are never wrong.
If someone doesn't know where to go in your map, you don't get to tell them "git gud." You can dismiss it as an outlier -- which it may be -- but at the end of the day they DID struggle, and that's a fact you may want to pay attention to if enough people are reporting the same kinds of issues.
- Not all criticism will be perfect. Humans often suck at communication and at understanding each other. Don't wholly discard someone's words just because they missed the mark here and there.
Remember all the times you've missed the mark. If someone gives you a criticism that's just dumb, wrong, or even bites a little, it's not always worth nitpicking. Sometimes it's fine to ignore it. De-escalation is a good tactic if things are a little tense. Don't expect a level of perfect conversational navigation from others that you don't always deliver on yourself.
- Criticism doesn't need to wait for you to solicit it. By posting your work in this public space, you open the doors for people to express their feelings about it.
Unsolicited criticism is not against the rules. In fact, I would encourage everyone to give reviews of other people's work whenever they have feelings on it. If your thoughts begin and end as nothing more than complaining on a random discord, that doesn't help the author fix anything.
- When someone tells you your work is bad, unfun, and needs heavy work, this is not usually a personal attack, and you shouldn't be primed to take it as such.
You are owed a certain amount of respect as a human being, but your work stands for itself. When someone picks apart your work and exposes all the flaws you didn't know existed, don't assume that this is their way of calling you stupid. Game design is not easy, and there's a lot of variables to pay attention to. Anyone smart understands this when they're giving criticism in the first place.
- Get your feelings in order. Criticism can sometimes be hard to stomach, but it's important and fair for people to give it to you.
If the criticism makes you want to cry, or if you feel a lump in your throat, or if you want to hit something, these are all standard human reactions to disappointment. Log out, take a walk, pet a dog. Come back to it when you feel more resolute. Don't lash out at someone for not enjoying what you created. As long as they're being civil, your composure is not their responsibility.
- You are not by any means obligated to give an ear to people who disrespect you as a person, but harsh criticism is not disrespect. If you're actually just being flamed, report the post so staff can have a look at it.
Obviously, criticism like anything else, needs to conform to the SRB2 Message Board rules.
- Someone does not need to be a subject matter expert to give good criticism.
Even a casual can tell if your character is hard to control, or if your level needs more checkpoints, or if your boss is unfair. They might not be able to tell you exactly why something is bad if they don't have the hands on experience, but it still can be useful data. Don't ever dismiss criticism just because the person is not an artist themselves.
- If someone struggled with something, their experience may or may not be worth giving much weight. But they are never wrong.
If someone doesn't know where to go in your map, you don't get to tell them "git gud." You can dismiss it as an outlier -- which it may be -- but at the end of the day they DID struggle, and that's a fact you may want to pay attention to if enough people are reporting the same kinds of issues.
- Not all criticism will be perfect. Humans often suck at communication and at understanding each other. Don't wholly discard someone's words just because they missed the mark here and there.
Remember all the times you've missed the mark. If someone gives you a criticism that's just dumb, wrong, or even bites a little, it's not always worth nitpicking. Sometimes it's fine to ignore it. De-escalation is a good tactic if things are a little tense. Don't expect a level of perfect conversational navigation from others that you don't always deliver on yourself.
One last thought from me. When the subject of criticism is brought up, people usually talk about "the sandwich method."
I'm personally not a big fan of this methodology. Sure, it's good to give credit where credit is due and to not be a pile of negativity all the time. But the point of criticism is to focus on the bad and how it can be good in the future. We aren't dogs; we don't need our pills in a spoonful of peanut butter as a rule. There's nothing wrong with talking about what you love about something -- and please, don't hold back! It's super motivating for authors to know people are enjoying their work. But you don't need to force yourself to say something positive to earn the right to point out the problems.
Feel free to discuss! If anything smart I hadn't thought of comes to mind as a result of this thread, I might add it in there for the future.
