Criticism is a huge topic when it comes to creative mediums and an especially large concern of mine, and therefore I should spend some time exploring this topic. Critics and reviewers will be a part of my everyday life as a creative whether I like it or not, and I should do my best to present myself and learn from them. My public profile is one of the main hubs for critics and reviewers to find and critique my work. It can be accessed from here and from there, critics and reviewers will be able to access my itch.io, GitHub and my blog from that site.
One of the most important aspects of responding to critiques is to identify whether a response is a critique or a personal review. A personal review would be a response to one of my creative projects which contain their opinion on whether they enjoyed or disliked the game giving feedback on features that they personally liked or disliked. Critiques are responses that give objective feedback on a creative piece that is useful and actionable for the creator. Proper critiques give reasoning behind certain feedback or identify problems which the creator can work upon or think about.
As you can see from above the user review was short, negative and left nothing actionable for the creator to improve upon.
A good website for reading a critical analysis of games is critical-distance.com, it is important to read critical reviews to learn about what other games might be doing wrong or right. This will give me an idea of how to develop my own game and what to avoid when creating my own game. I also wanted to start writing critical reviews, this will help me think critically about games and allow me to reach out and interact with more developers. I will write these critiques on my blog and hopefully be able to reach out to the developers in order to hopefully assist them with their game through feedback. As a matter of fact, I have already written a review on a small indie game called Giraffes Volleyball Championship 2016, the review explores the mechanics of the game and how they might reinforce its ‘game feel’.
An example of a critique written by aggrodrago about the new Zelda game, Breath of the Wild. This is an example that critiques explore reasons why they dislike or like something, and why the game might cause it.
One of the biggest challenges for me as a developer is to disconnect myself emotionally from a critique of one of my creative works. After spending so much time working on a project to hear negative critiques or reviews would dishearten me on continuing work, or it could have me disliking the person who gave the negative critique, or I might end up having ‘selective hearing’ and only listening to the positive reviews. Instead, I should be reading and absorbing critiques to allow me to improve on my creative medium and how I can improve on the project being critiqued. I have written down a number of steps to follow to handle criticism:
- Pause and breathe
- Consider the suggestions mentioned in the criticisms before responding.
- You are not always right so consider the critiques mentioned
- Take a moment to calm your emotions
- Don’t take it personally
- Ask questions
Hopefully following these steps will allow me to receive critiques in a more meaningful and constructive way. Another concept mentioned in the CIU lecture was the fact of reaching out to critics to assess your project and respond to it. This is something I surprisingly have not yet considered but definitely will, I always imagined that I would only receive critiques from people who reach out and find and play my games. However, this is a more proactive approach to receiving feedback on my game and identifying problems and improving. Additionally, because I am reaching out to be critiqued I would be more emotionally ready to receive negative critiques from critics. This is a useful skill/habit to get into as a developer as it will help me improve my games.
Critics and reviewers will be a major part of my career as a games developer, there will constantly be critiques and reviews of my game. It is important for me to be able to identify the difference between a critique and a review as a review is something that is more of a personal preference of the reviewer and often not as useful/actionable. Reading or writing critiques can help me improve my games by identifying what to do and what not to do when developing a game. Finally, it is important to be able to receive critiques in a positive and constructive manner in order to improve upon them. Therefore critiques and reviews will become a large aspect of my life as a games developer and I should learn how to take a more proactive role in them.
Bibliography
Long, D. (2016) Game Review – Giraffes Volleyball Championship 2016. Retrieved 20th April 2017, from: https://larryldong.wordpress.com/2016/10/28/game-review-giraffes-volleyball-championship-2016/
Breath of the Wild’s Quiet Guidance and the Lessons of the Great Plateau (2017) Retrieved 20th April 2017, from: https://eliterev.wordpress.com/2017/03/16/breath-of-the-wilds-quiet-guidance-and-the-lessons-of-the-great-plateau/
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