Responding to Negativity
Mar 20, 2018 12:35:32 GMT -6
via mobile
cecil-kain, Astaroth, and 16 more like this
Post by XombieMike on Mar 20, 2018 12:35:32 GMT -6
Greetings, IGA’s Army of the Night! Today is the 20th of March, just past IGA’s 50th birthday which was celebrated in a way that he personally deeply appreciated. I feel that we in the community are approaching an interesting time in the pre-release history of Bloodstained. For many of us, the places we gather online related to the game are done in the spirit of retaining that magical feeling shared between us during the live Kickstarter three years ago. Nothing can quite replace the feeling of; pushing for stretch goals, checking comments by refreshing the page constantly, multiple updates in a month, spreading awareness of the game, creating heaps of fan art to unlock backer achievements, and proving to IGA and the world that we want his success. However much of that magic still exists here and in other places thanks to new fans and your continued engagement.
The fan ran Facebook Group is gaining 30-40+ members each week. Discord has well over 400 people online at any given time and we see new people as 505 Games encourages it growth. The forums have always slowly gained new people even without a push to do so. As I have watched these places grow from nothing over the past few years I have seen interest wax and wane, and now I believe we may be on the verge of seeing a surge of new members everywhere and many voices both positive and negative. We will hear many comments that will be hopeful, complementary, constructive and unfortunately destructive. As always, my contribution to IGA’s legacy will be my desire to connect fans together and promote a friendly and helpful community. With more people come more opportunities to cultivate the desired culture we wish to achieve. A new playable backer slice is on the horizon. An update discussing the release window expectations is around the corner. The idea that everyone will have the same opinions is silly and frankly unwanted. The team is known for listening and responsibly responding to the public. Shader votes for the background and characters, modifications for Vepar, lighting, Mana’s involvement in art, and platform visibility are all examples of constructive conversations that have directly resulted from the team listening to everyone.
To prepare us all for a possible surge, I’d like to put the thought of responding to negativity fresh in our minds. There are two key filters we should run our thoughts through. Am I being friendly? Am I being helpful?
It’s that simple, but let’s also talk about what provokes comments that don’t pass those filters.
Trolls: Don’t feed the trolls, but don’t remain silent. Responding to a troll derails us into destructive territory. Trolls are immune to flames. In fact they thrive off aggressive and passive aggressive attention. Instead: Deflect! For every negative comment that makes you want to argue in a non-constructive way, ignore the comment and progress the conversation in a constructive direction. Privately notify a mod if a troll breaks a rule. If they are skirting the rules, just ignore them and deflect / re-rail the conversation.
Concerned fan: We must not run fans off just because they have an opinion that is unpopular. Do not join in on a chorus of other fans to tell someone with a concern that which others have already told them. If you have something you can add to their conversation of concern that hasn’t been said already and progresses the conversation, please feel encouraged to do so. If you agree with others, like their comment. If you agree with the concerned person, like their comment. Add anything that is new and refrain from just repeating a chain of the same thing. There is no better way to be helpful than to point a fellow fan with a concern to a certain forum post, Kickstarter update, Discord quote, FAQ post or something that is already blessed with an official response. People that do that are what makes this community so helpful! Please don’t do it in a way that makes you sound exhausted from doing it 1000 times as if they should know this already. You are the more informed fan, but don’t act superior as that will run people off quickly. I understand quick answers. We all have things to do and a quick response is fine, just please be friendly.
The Faithless: There are some who are not fans who you have an opportunity to make a fan of. They often sound like “another MN9”, talk about delays, or say that they don’t like the game for some various and legitimate reasons. In the end Bloodstained will speak for itself and the Faithless are those who only believe what they can see. Be happy they even know about our game. If you see their comment as a vote against Bloodstained, I hope you add a completely unrelated comment talking about why you are excited and hopeful for the game. Negativity naturally is louder and more common than positivity (or at least satisfaction). That is why your effort here is important. In the place you see a Faithless, let the world know there are those have faith that IGA will deliver the best game possible even if it’s not perfect or right for everyone. It’s right for you, and your positive comment in the same place weighs heavier because as I’ve explained, positivity is less natural on the internet.
The Constructive: Don’t view constructive criticism as an attack that must be defended against. Let people have their opinion and guide them to the best way to let their voice be heard. I would advocate that a thread on the forum with a poll on their idea to help quantify to the official staff will serve as the best way to be heard. In other cases, you may suggest they contact 505 Games or ArtPlay directly as we are fortunate to have those lines of communication. Forum messages are a great way to do this, or a PM on Discord also works well for 505 Games.
I hope this effort leads to us all being more conscious about keeping our fandom helpful and friendly as we continue to grow, continue a game development, and reveal more that will polarize opinions.
The fan ran Facebook Group is gaining 30-40+ members each week. Discord has well over 400 people online at any given time and we see new people as 505 Games encourages it growth. The forums have always slowly gained new people even without a push to do so. As I have watched these places grow from nothing over the past few years I have seen interest wax and wane, and now I believe we may be on the verge of seeing a surge of new members everywhere and many voices both positive and negative. We will hear many comments that will be hopeful, complementary, constructive and unfortunately destructive. As always, my contribution to IGA’s legacy will be my desire to connect fans together and promote a friendly and helpful community. With more people come more opportunities to cultivate the desired culture we wish to achieve. A new playable backer slice is on the horizon. An update discussing the release window expectations is around the corner. The idea that everyone will have the same opinions is silly and frankly unwanted. The team is known for listening and responsibly responding to the public. Shader votes for the background and characters, modifications for Vepar, lighting, Mana’s involvement in art, and platform visibility are all examples of constructive conversations that have directly resulted from the team listening to everyone.
To prepare us all for a possible surge, I’d like to put the thought of responding to negativity fresh in our minds. There are two key filters we should run our thoughts through. Am I being friendly? Am I being helpful?
It’s that simple, but let’s also talk about what provokes comments that don’t pass those filters.
Trolls: Don’t feed the trolls, but don’t remain silent. Responding to a troll derails us into destructive territory. Trolls are immune to flames. In fact they thrive off aggressive and passive aggressive attention. Instead: Deflect! For every negative comment that makes you want to argue in a non-constructive way, ignore the comment and progress the conversation in a constructive direction. Privately notify a mod if a troll breaks a rule. If they are skirting the rules, just ignore them and deflect / re-rail the conversation.
Concerned fan: We must not run fans off just because they have an opinion that is unpopular. Do not join in on a chorus of other fans to tell someone with a concern that which others have already told them. If you have something you can add to their conversation of concern that hasn’t been said already and progresses the conversation, please feel encouraged to do so. If you agree with others, like their comment. If you agree with the concerned person, like their comment. Add anything that is new and refrain from just repeating a chain of the same thing. There is no better way to be helpful than to point a fellow fan with a concern to a certain forum post, Kickstarter update, Discord quote, FAQ post or something that is already blessed with an official response. People that do that are what makes this community so helpful! Please don’t do it in a way that makes you sound exhausted from doing it 1000 times as if they should know this already. You are the more informed fan, but don’t act superior as that will run people off quickly. I understand quick answers. We all have things to do and a quick response is fine, just please be friendly.
The Faithless: There are some who are not fans who you have an opportunity to make a fan of. They often sound like “another MN9”, talk about delays, or say that they don’t like the game for some various and legitimate reasons. In the end Bloodstained will speak for itself and the Faithless are those who only believe what they can see. Be happy they even know about our game. If you see their comment as a vote against Bloodstained, I hope you add a completely unrelated comment talking about why you are excited and hopeful for the game. Negativity naturally is louder and more common than positivity (or at least satisfaction). That is why your effort here is important. In the place you see a Faithless, let the world know there are those have faith that IGA will deliver the best game possible even if it’s not perfect or right for everyone. It’s right for you, and your positive comment in the same place weighs heavier because as I’ve explained, positivity is less natural on the internet.
The Constructive: Don’t view constructive criticism as an attack that must be defended against. Let people have their opinion and guide them to the best way to let their voice be heard. I would advocate that a thread on the forum with a poll on their idea to help quantify to the official staff will serve as the best way to be heard. In other cases, you may suggest they contact 505 Games or ArtPlay directly as we are fortunate to have those lines of communication. Forum messages are a great way to do this, or a PM on Discord also works well for 505 Games.
I hope this effort leads to us all being more conscious about keeping our fandom helpful and friendly as we continue to grow, continue a game development, and reveal more that will polarize opinions.
