Taking criticism...

[Technocrat]

So, I've put out a few games on the interwebs thus far (Latest: Nancy the Happy Whore. Go and buy the Summerbatch! /advert), and while reception to them has usually been generally positive thanks to rigorous testing, there are occasionally comments here and there about things that are, doubtless, better done in other games and by other people. However, for a long time, I find myself having a great deal of difficulty taking criticism of things I make. There's certainly a difference between constructive critique and "this sucks", but I always find myself getting a knot in my gut and a spinning head. It usually manifests thereafter in never visiting that website/forum again.

While I'm sure this will improve over time as I get better at things or release more, it'd be extremely difficult to get "practice" at taking criticism without releasing a whole lot of games in quick succession, does anyone get such a reaction from themselves about this kind of thing? Anyone have any tactics for handling it?

[Darth Mandarb]

I think it's actually pretty normal to get upset by negative critique (even if it's constructive criticism).  You spent a lot of time creating something and you want everybody to like/enjoy it so you're disappointed if/when they don't.

However, for me, I find it unrealistic to expect all positive critique.

I've spent my entire life (since I can remember) drawing, creating, etc. and my entire professional career has been in a creative field.  The point is that I'm very used to criticism of my work and I've received my fair share of negative remarks.  I can honestly say it's not something you ever really get "used" to ... but it doesn't really sting as much as it used to.  Honestly; good constructive criticism (even negative, as long as constructive) is, to my mind, the best way to improve on something and to learn and move forward!

Having said that if somebody makes a comment like, "this sucks" or "what a waste of my time" ... something like that.  I just ignore it.  If they can't take the time to offer up the why of what they've said then I assume it's just a troll looking for attention and I don't feed trolls.

[Ghost]

I know that feeling. "What, they call that cheap, simple graphics? Do they know how hard it is to make a cool walkcycle? Aaaargh, IGNORANTS!" 

I am happy about any crits I get, though, and usually after reading some, I let it settle for a day. If I take offense at something chances are good that a valid point is adressed, and no matter how harsh/blunt someone writes, I can use the crit and improve. So I read the crit again, trying to see only the fact, and then check if I can make some use of it.

I prefer criticism from people who know about game making and AGS, I have to admit. I also find it easier to accept crits from people who I consider "more skilled / talented / experienced" than me.

And what's really important in my opinion: Through the internet you reach such a lot of people that you are *bound* to get every possible reaction, from cheerful cheers to devastating flames. Many things can be subject to criticism, but I like to think that as long as I am happy with my game, I did something really really right.

[Igor Hardy]

For me it's difficult dealing with criticism of my work too, and consequently it's difficult for me to write strong criticism of another person's game when I expect the author will actually read it and could feel crushed by it. Especially when it's someone I value for other stuff.

But I also notice in interviews how many creators delude themselves about what they managed to actually convey or achieve in their work (particularly the somewhat successful ones). Or how desperately defensive they often tend to get, if someone simply doesn't like what they've done. I don't want to be like that (though I properly still am atm), so I'm trying to be open to criticism as much as possible.

[Nix]

I dont think it matters if your work is genuinely good or bad. The fact is you pour your heart and soul and many hard hours/days/months/years into making your work of art but it only takes another person minutes to deconstruct and pick to pieces which can be incredibly soul destroying! I work in ux and i regularly have people coming back to me all the time saying, i dont like this, change this, blah blah but at of the day you just have to appreciate that people will always have different opinions and many people will think you have made a right decision and a some wont! As others have said, I take criticism from my peers and people who have more experience than me much more to heart than idiots who have no appreciation for where you have come from to achieve what you are putting in front of people.

And dont forget - people are much more eager to actively write about something to complain about it than if they think something is good!

Im sure i will cry if anyone says anything bad about my game when it is released, it has become a little piece of my personality and i will be personally insulted when someone hates on it! but thats life

[KodiakBehr]

I definitely go through this.  I've abandoned entire projects on the basis of a few critical words from a stranger.  Heck, I was so ashamed of my first game I wouldn't show my face for months.  And god only knows how I'm going to feel if anyone who actually pays for a game I've developed isn't absolutely satisfied with their purchase!

But people like yourself keep putting out titles, despite this criticism, which is proof in of itself that while these comments make you feel like crap in the moment, the pride in yourself and the joy of sharing your art usually wins out in the long run. 

[Ali]

I think it affects people at all levels of success. At least that's the sense I get from Tim Minchin's Song for Phil Daost (Though I understand now he's even more massively successful he regrets the song's lingering presence):
[embed=425,349]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Onjdw_FXyw&feature=related[/embed]
Edit: I keep forgetting you can embed video now. The future is here!

I agree that even devastating criticism can be useful, though it's easier to dismiss when it comes from ill-informed strangers than from people you respect. I do believe that overly negative feedback (or 'hating' as I understand you kids call it) is probably no more damaging to creativity than overly positive feedback.

But overly positive feedback feels much, much nicer!

[Shane 'ProgZmax' Stevens]

Sometimes you just have to roll with the punches, take what's coming to you, then get back in the ring and serve up some of your own.

If you're honest with yourself you can usually tell right away if the criticism has any validity or if it's just a person being a nitpicky dickface, and there are a lot of dickfaces on the internet.  Why?  Because there are no consequences for telling someone something is shit; nobody can go up to their face and push it in, no real fear factor holding people who are naturally slimy back.  So you're going to get more shitheads on the internet than you'd run into in person as a matter of course.

Also, just because someone has valid criticism doesn't mean you should give into their demands.  There is such a thing as artistic and design vision, and if you intended for a puzzle to be extremely difficult or something of that nature then you have every right to stick to your guns and tell them that's just the way it is.  Of course, they also have the right not to play or like your game, but so many people these days confuse matters of opinion/taste with 'this game is broken, fix it now!' that it's worth mentioning.  I don't think you should have to sacrifice a specific design vision on the altar of status quo as long as you're well prepared for any backlash you'll receive for 'breaking the rules' or being different.

That said, don't hide behind vision when there's something critically wrong with your game, like crashes or unintended deadends or other consequences.  Most aspects of a game fall under individual taste, but gameplay flaws like a character who walks 1 pixel at a time across a 1024x760 backdrop is going to bother people unless you have a believable reason for inconveniencing the player, and even then some people will simply quit the game and delete it.

Criticism can be a very helpful thing in improving your work, so try to avoid the eagerness to dismiss it all like hate mail but also consider whether or not it's valid for you.

[Grundislav]

I appreciate criticism, but would also find myself feeling upset when I would read negative things about my games.  However, I've tried to turn this around and think about it this way: universal acclaim is impossible, there's always going to be someone who doesn't like what you do.  So rather than get upset or offended by someone's criticism, use it as a positive, let it keep you grounded and realize that no matter what you do, nobody is always 100% going to love your stuff.  That fact really helps keep egos in check, and it also helps you realize that you don't need to kill yourself to please everyone.  Just make something you're happy with, and hopefully other people will be happy with it too!

[kconan]

Lots of folks release games that don't get attention, and in-turn they rarely get reviews from critics.  I think the fact that people found your games worthy of critique (not including "Ur game sux" style critics) is a good thing.  And obviously reviews are very subjective, and so I wouldn't even take a major critique to heart unless a variety of critics point out the same flaw in your game.

If you take a particularly nasty and unfair critique to heart, then challenge the critic and ask to see what they have created.  Some good quotes on taking criticism here: http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/tag/criticism

[veryweirdguy]

then challenge the critic and ask to see what they have created.

I call foul! You don't need to have created something to be able to rationally critique someone else's work. I have never made a feature length movie, but I could write 2000 words on why Transformers is garbage.

I've found that in general, people take criticism to heart much more than positive comments - so much so that it apparently takes something like 14 positive remarks to make up for 1 negative one (in people's minds.) Those are difficult odds to beat, even if your work is a masterpiece.

That said, I'd prefer any feedback to being ignored. I've had several projects (from comics to animation to games) with little to no attention given to them, and to release your hard work into the wild with no return is difficult.

[kconan]

"...then challenge the critic and ask to see what they have created"

I call foul! You don't need to have created something to be able to rationally critique someone else's work. I have never made a feature length movie, but I could write 2000 words on why Transformers is garbage.

You should have quoted the whole thing because it matters here.  I said a "particularly nasty and unfair" critique.  Are you unfair in your review of "Transformers"?

If someone is nasty, lets say they get personal, and gives an unfair critique then I say its fair game to call out the critic on what they have created.

[veryweirdguy]

I still disagree! It never matters what they have created. An unfair criticism is unfair regardless of their body of work - what would you do if, say, you felt Steven Spielberg gave you an unfair criticism?

It's okay to disregard or ignore criticism if you feel it is careless and not thought out, but being able to tell valid criticism from invalid criticism is a skill in itself, and getting personal against the critic doesn't help with this.

[Tabata]

You don't need to be able to sing, draw (or whatever) ...  to recognize, that the rhythm, perspective (or whatever) is wrong.
In that case you are just not able to give the solution to correct it.

Naturally opinions from insiders or people you admire will weight heavier to you.
But statements from people not being able to create a story/game/song doesn't make their opinion (if argumented) less worthy.
They only need to be able to see/play/hear and explain their opinion.

Not to forget that some aspects are simply a matter of taste and you need to accept, that you can't "catch" everyone with your beloved creations.

If you get critics to something (for yourself) perfect you put a lot of work and heart in - it hurts. But hold in mind (for real critics, not those statements “everything is shit” and such) that there are people who care about it and take the time to give feedback â€" even if their opinion is hard to digest sometimes â€" it'll give you the chance to think about it and see other points of views.
I think to be ignored is much more harder to handle because you not even know if nobody takes it worth for a reply, if noone regognized it so far or if they don't want to hurt you by telling that it is really bad in their opinion - It's like to be left alone without knowing why

[abstauber]

If it weren't for criticism, I bet we would be all feeling like little Michelangelos here, just because our drawings went to our parent's fridge

What usually happens here is: if it's good you get praise, if it sucks you get no response at all, so you can learn for yourself that there's "room for improvement". So I'd be actually glad if someones adds criticism to my work, otherwise I'd never improve.
Just go ahead and enter a few competitions here - that will help you dealing with criticism (like getting positive reactions and still loose ) Or even better: show your work to your real life friends and see what happens then - now that's criticism on a whole different and crushing level

[kconan]

I still disagree! It never matters what they have created. An unfair criticism is unfair regardless of their body of work - what would you do if, say, you felt Steven Spielberg gave you an unfair criticism?

It's okay to disregard or ignore criticism if you feel it is careless and not thought out, but being able to tell valid criticism from invalid criticism is a skill in itself, and getting personal against the critic doesn't help with this.

Lets not stray from what I originally said, which is "particulary nasty and unfair" critiques.  So you want me to create a ridiculous scenario where Steven Spielberg gives this kind of critique to me?  Spielberg says the main character in my story is an idiot and a criminal, and that I wrote him like that because I'm also an idiot-criminal.  So there is the nasty part.  And then Spielberg goes on to say that nobody but classically trained writers should even pick up a pen.  And there we have the unfair part.

I'm not going on the defense, but offense.  So I get furious, staring straight in his eye and fire back, "Oh yeah, what about that one movie..." and then I remember that he is Steven Spielberg.  Pick Uwe Boll or Tyler Perry because I've got nothing on Spielberg.

[Igor Hardy]

Why would anyone care what Spielberg has to tell about writing? And on an indie production to boot. He's perhaps one the corniest of Hollywood directors. He's a great visual storyteller, but his taste in stories is god awful, not to mention he never writes his screenplays himself.

I agree with others that it'd be silly to get embarrassed and feeling guilty when criticized by celebrities or more successful people than yourself. It's just as bad as dismissing critique when you already have a crowd that praises your work. Only the strength of arguments should matter.

[kconan]

  Ah, there we go.  The critic in the example has been critiqued.

  Fortunately, I haven't seen the kind of criticism I'm talking about on this board or in my dealings with members off the board.  The IMDB forums (if they are still around) would be a good example of what I'm talking about.  There were alot of personal attacks with no depth or nuance to reviews of actors and movies.

[veryweirdguy]

It's true, personal attacks do no good. That's what I'm saying - making it personal against your critic, questioning their work, is no better than their unfair attack on you. Judge the criticism based on its own merits!

If you think someone is talking out their ass, just ignore them. Whenever I see high profile creators lash back at unfair criticism on Twitter or whatever, it just seems petty and pathetic.

I'm not even sure responding to criticism vocally does any good. Listen to it, be honest with yourself, accept the parts that make sense and move forward.

[Snarky]

I still disagree! It never matters what they have created. An unfair criticism is unfair regardless of their body of work - what would you do if, say, you felt Steven Spielberg gave you an unfair criticism?

It's okay to disregard or ignore criticism if you feel it is careless and not thought out, but being able to tell valid criticism from invalid criticism is a skill in itself, and getting personal against the critic doesn't help with this.

Lets not stray from what I originally said, which is "particulary nasty and unfair" critiques.

It doesn't matter whether the criticism is nasty and unfair. If you want to get back at a critic (usually a pointless exercise in any case), challenging them by asking what they've created is a bad way to go about it because 1) it's based on a fundamentally flawed premise: that you have to be able to create in order to be able to evaluate; and 2) it invariably comes off as defensive whining.

If the criticism is flawed, that's what you should go after in your response (if you feel compelled to make one). Attack the criticism, not (primarily) the critic. For example:

http://www.salon.com/2012/07/05/thank_you_for_killing_my_novel/
http://blog.lareviewofbooks.org/post/12467824780/my-disappointment-critic
http://www.actclassy.com/2012/04/a-review-of-rex-reeds-review-of-the-cabin-in-the-woods/ (a third-party response to an utterly inaccurate film review)