Dev Harassment is concerning

[Larirawiel]

Well this thread certainly took a turn!

While I don't disagree with the original post- most game devs are overworked and working crunch times is insane for them- the right for people to voice their displeasure is there.

True. But this is a management problem and not the fault of the devs. So blame the SQEX management for this situation.



Cheers

[Insertusernamehere]

Well this thread certainly took a turn!

While I don't disagree with the original post- most game devs are overworked and working crunch times is insane for them- the right for people to voice their displeasure is there. However, voicing it in a a way that isn't precisely like how you're attacking people, OP, is the way to go about it. I worked retail for 13 years, and while I could usually let stuff roll off my back, there were some days where that just didn't happen, things said from the smallest things where I got personally attacked never really ended well. People have their breaking points, and calling devs names or being hurtful, like your wonderful examples, OP, isn't how we should be conducting ourselves.

The devs are working on a fix. Yoshida has said as much (at about 3am JST, even) and despite their corporate overlords, they do want to make players happy. I don't know if their fix will make everyone happy, but I know they'll try.

tl;dr don't be like OP in their subsequent posts after the first, they're giving a great example of what not to do with the devs.

IMO you shouldn't bring you work zone comfort problems and complaint to costumers.
It is something you should discuss with your superior, if your job problematic you can always look for new one but you should not drag your costumers to your work zone drama just because you are not happy.
If you are having problem with costumers they can always add additional security to get you out of trouble when it is necessary.

Also in a IT company software developer does not collect feed back, feed back analysis team (also a part of costumer service) can do it.. they can separate reasonable request from non reasonable request and brings to lead & development table for discussion.
This is how my company handles it developers does not have time for feedback reading or reading random things on forum.

Basically you can't actually reach developers even if you want unless they are willing to communicate with you (very unlikely).

[Packetdancer]

Basically you can't actually reach developers even if you want unless they are willing to communicate with you (very unlikely).

You would be surprised how many individual developers will read the forums about the games they work on, whether or not they actively post there. It's sometimes useful to get a sense of what players like and don't like.

(Admittedly, you would probably not be surprised by how many individual developers eventually stop reading the forums about the games they work on.)

There is a game-related product which I work on (hardware, since these days I work in embedded systems rather than at a game company directly) where I actively hang out on the forums for it and basically pretend to be just another poster. (Much to the continued amusement of the project lead.) But seeing stuff there does give me an idea for what things might need to be tweaked, and also has let me give folks tech support (under the guise of just being an experienced user of said gaming product). But I've also seen people who have a bug (or want a feature) to post nuclear meltdown threads demanding it and threatening that "the dev team better listen to their users or else", and I promise you that when I encounter those... well, like I said, you probably wouldn't be surprised how many individual developers eventually stop reading the forums.

(I always go back, eventually, but...)

This may be less relevant for FFXIV than some, given the potential language barrier, but I'd still be surprised if the number of folks on the team who read these forums -- even if they just silently lurk -- was zero.

[Insertusernamehere]

You would be surprised how many individual developers will read the forums about the games they work on, whether or not they actively post there. It's sometimes useful to get a sense of what players like and don't like.

(Admittedly, you would probably not be surprised by how many individual developers eventually stop reading the forums about the games they work on.)

There is a game-related product which I work on (hardware, since these days I work in embedded systems rather than at a game company directly) where I actively hang out on the forums for it and basically pretend to be just another poster. (Much to the continued amusement of the project lead.) But seeing stuff there does give me an idea for what things might need to be tweaked, and also has let me give folks tech support (under the guise of just being an experienced user of said gaming product). But I've also seen people who have a bug (or want a feature) to post nuclear meltdown threads demanding it and threatening that "the dev team better listen to their users or else", and I promise you that when I encounter those... well, like I said, you probably wouldn't be surprised how many individual developers eventually stop reading the forums.

(I always go back, eventually, but...)

This may be less relevant for FFXIV than some, given the potential language barrier, but I'd still be surprised if the number of folks on the team who read these forums -- even if they just silently lurk -- was zero.

If it is true I am surprised tbh.. I am developer (not a game developer sadly) my self but I don't read any kind of feed back unless it is coming from lead dev's room. If they are doing it kudos to them for their passionate work.

[Packetdancer]

If it is true I am surprised tbh.. I am developer (not a game developer sadly) my self but I don't read any kind of feed back unless it is coming from lead dev's room. If they are doing it kudos to them for their passionate work.

I mean, it varies from developer to developer; I have friends at places like Adobe who work on things like Photoshop or Illustrator and hang out on the help forums. I think it's more common with game developers, admittedly, because it's a career that folks generally get into -- and stay in -- for passion; they're almost always gamers themselves and so want to make games. (Lord knows most don't stay in the field for the pay, which is generally Not Great compared to other tech fields.) And that can often mean wanting to see what your fellow gamers are saying about the game you work on. (Plus, I mean, if it's a big enough game, even if you aren't reading the official forums for your game -- if applicable -- the only way you can entirely avoid people's opinions about it would be to avoid all gaming news sites, Twitter, gaming subreddits, etc. If you're a gamer yourself, you probably participate in those things anyway, even if only for other games you play...)

But that's sort of tangential to the discussion.

[Insertusernamehere]

I mean, it varies from developer to developer; I have friends at places like Adobe who work on things like Photoshop or Illustrator and hang out on the help forums. I think it's more common with game developers, admittedly, because it's a career that folks generally get into -- and stay in -- for passion; they're almost always gamers themselves and so want to make games. (Lord knows most don't stay in the field for the pay, which is generally Not Great compared to other tech fields.) And that can often mean wanting to see what your fellow gamers are saying about the game you work on. (Plus, I mean, if it's a big enough game, even if you aren't reading the official forums for your game -- if applicable -- the only way you can entirely avoid people's opinions about it would be to avoid all gaming news sites, Twitter, gaming subreddits, etc. If you're a gamer yourself, you probably participate in those things anyway, even if only for other games you play...)

But that's sort of tangential to the discussion.

I am not sure how SE handling this. From my job perspective, it doesn't matter if a user's feed back good or bad.. it is lead developer (and company representative) decides what to do, so I don't see any point reading any feedback.. we do whatever lead tell us to do nothing more, nothing less..

But I imagine it is different in game development, so probably SE doing things differently.

[Atelier-Bagur]

Its already been stated earlier by a poster but lets stop with the unneccesary tl;dr trying to justify terrible behavior.

Are you personally attacking the devs and sending death threats when your providing feedback? Then stop.

If not then its A-Ok to point out your thoughts no matter what.

[Kaoru_Nagisa]

I hope you realize that your valid point (the devs do not deserve death threats or anything of the sort) is buried under the fact you're a one man clown show and hold valid critique and criticism on the same pedestal as sending a knife to the devs and threatening to harm them or their families.

My dude, you help absolutely no one by going off on unhinged rants against perfectly polite posters.

This thread is a trainwreck.

[Kozh]

In all seriousness, where do people get to see the death threats? Never seen one in Twitter, reddit, nor the Forum. Perhaps in PF? I haven't checked there.

Also, maybe because I watch angryJoe, so I don't feel anyone is overly harsh with the devs. I mean, no one is saying "devs, you f****king troglodytes, you better fix this shit asap or I'll *insert violent threats here*".

Dunno, just me.

[SturmChurro]

In all seriousness, where do people get to see the death threats? Never seen one in Twitter, reddit, nor the Forum. Perhaps in PF? I haven't checked there.

They do get death threats, it's just not very common. The problem is any and all criticism then gets thrown out the window, because of these threats by a few people.