thread: 2006-08-27 : Kerflufflizing
On 2006-08-31, Valamir wrote:
I'm a firm believer that post-publication criticism should happen in public and not in private...for many reasons:
1) Public criticism is targeted at all artistic endeavors Movies, books, music all undergo public criticism...much of it completely valueless but they're forced to face the fire. Why should RPGs be different? Its your art...its out there...just like an actor facing those opening night critics on the theatre page the next morning, you have to face the music. To not do so seems me to lessen it as a legitimate art form.
2) INTELLIGENT public criticism is much more of a rarity in all things. If we can uphold critical standards of intelligent constructive criticism for our art form, how much better will we be for it. Intelligent criticism of the sort people on this blog et.al. are capable of is exactly the sort of criticism that SHOULD be going on in public. To show all those morons with flame throwers what a real critique looks like.
3) Part of the purpose of the community we've built, Forge based or post-diaspora, is to help aspiring designers. What better way to help aspiring designers than to critically analyse design in public. And not just playtest drafts where "oh, yeah, I still have time to fix that" is an option...but final drafts where "oh, rats, how'd that get through" is often the hard cold truth. Learning lessons from what could have been done better is a valuable experience. Those of us with finished products shouldn't shirk our "obligation" (obligation if we believe in what the community is doing) to subject ourselves or our peers to tough public criticism with no other reason needed than to serve as a data point for those who'll follow.
4) It keeps us honest. A never ending love-fest of mutual admiration is no more healthy an environment than one of hostile abuse. If we can't handle the criticism of the people we love and respect and admire...we really shouldn't be artists. And "the money thing" is exactly where the rubber hits the road. If good intelligent criticism causes me to lose sales, its not "shame on you" for costing me money. Its "shame on me" for not doing a better job. And as far as the worry about the criticism being wrong...well of course that's a risk...but really who better to get it right more reliably...than us. All false humility aside...who better...really? Who is more qualified to honestly and accurately judge a new novel RPG than the Forge and Post-Diaspora community of designers? We have an obligation to do it, and to do it in public.
5) It maintains our credibility. If none of us are ever heard to harshly criticize one of our fellows' designs in public...how much credibility does our praise have? A "thumbs up" carries alot more weight when people know it doesn't come easily and automatically. They know it doesn't when they've seen us give a number of "thumbs down" too.
Over on the Forge there are a number of threads about Agon—talking about potential flaws in the game, potential fixes, etc (many of them involving me). It's all public and John is handling it like a champ. Where he disagrees with the criticism he lays out why. Where he agrees he hasn't been afraid to say "you know that could have been done better, what about this...".
Sure there are some who will be pissed off that they paid money for Agon and hey, it might need some alterations. Sure there are those who will continue to suggest that Forge designers charge money for games that are really betas. Fuck those people. That's just ignorance and nonsense and I'm certainly not going to live in fear of them or give them any credence at all. I bought Agon...I love it. There are parts I don't love (or don't love yet). So what. IMO the kind of critical analysis of Agon taking place on the Forge is exactly the kind of critical analysis that SHOULD be taking place in public...for all the above reasons.
Maybe that costs a few sales in the short run. But in the long run between helping us design better games, and solidifying our credibility as a community I bet it enhances sales.
Curly wrote above "My only proposal to make essential criticism happen, is to tell those currently biting their tongues that they need not do so. Good faith dissent isn't disloyalty."
ditto.
