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(+3)

When I first got the steam response, I cried for a long time. Each comment I got just really hurt.

This is going to sound really nerdy but I once played a game that had a game designer in it as a character. He said:

"You don't need a knife to kill a game developer, you just need to tell them their game sucks."


I think that is absolutely true to some degree. At the same time, after getting all those steam reviews and crying a whole lot, and almost quitting game dev... I eventually kinda just picked up my keyboard and tablet pen and kept making stuff.

I think now after those experiences, I'm absolutely floored when anyone says anything nice about anything I make. It blows my mind every single time.


I can't say I am immune to being told my game sucks or that mean comments don't hurt my feelings, but I still want to make games even if people think I suck. 


I think part of the reason people got angry is that the game made them feel uncomfortable to wield power like that. No one wants to be the bad and I think that made people lash out. 

That's kinda why I'm really shocked my most recent game didn't solicit another huge group of people who think I suck and am a terrible person and scum.


I really thought I was absolutely doomed and I just don't get it. 


(Also I wanted to say one more time, thank you for being all "grrr" about that guy. I don't want to wreck anyone's careers or life but it was nice to see someone care. 

When my steam stuff first came out I had a perfect 100% negative rating for a long time and it was really hard feeling like no one cared so thank you.)

(+1)

I'm so sorry you had to go through all that, I don't think you deserved any of it regardless of whether people liked the game or not. And I'm so glad you decided to keep making games.

You know, I made a youtube account once, i wanted to post game guides to help other people who were getting into the same game i liked, so i posted my first video... and all i got were mean comment telling me it sucked, that i understood nothing and that i should never try to make a guide again. It crushed me. I've never tried making another guide again, because I had put so much effort into that video, got all the footage myself, and I thought it was good. I can't imagine how it must have felt when all the negative reviews for your game you put so much effort into started coming in, and the strength it took to keep creating.

I'm no game dev (yet!) but this gave me the impression that Steam is a more hostile site for this kind of small indie games... what with achievement hunters only downloading short free games they dont care about for easy achievements and then leaving bad reviews and all that. And I think due to how many big AAA titles are on Steam, ppl expect big long polished games by big studios, and everything else they see as "trash"... that doesn't mean it's true though. I think every small indie game has value. And I found much value in your games. Some people will never understand, but many others will.

And, no need to thank me, honestly when I reply things like that to someone being a jerk it's mostly with the hope it will make them reconsider their attitude. Being a small indie gamedev who enjoys telling other small indie gamedevs that their games suck is... not going to help him in the long run, so it's best if he reconsiders that attitude early on. Tbh if i didnt like a small indie game i just wouldn't leave a comment, I wouldn't tell the dev that "it sucks", because they put effort into it. I just dislike jerks who dont care about others' feelings at all. So... sorry if my reply to that guy seemed too hostile, but I'm not going to lie, I'd do it again, that's just how I am...

I'm sorry you didn't have anyone who stood up for you at first, you deserve to have people on your side who will defend you and your games, because you didn't do anything wrong to begin with. I know what it's like when it feels like nobody's on your side and I don't want anyone to have to feel that way.

And uh idk how to end this reply but, thanks for letting me know some extra info about the choices you made during development in other replies! It was very interesting! I also played a few games that iirc I saw you recommend, like Madotsuki's closet and Everything is going to be ok (that one made me cry! i loved it), so even tho u didnt recommend them to me directly, thanks for the recs anyway! :3