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Listening to customer feedback doesn’t mean implementing features they want. It means understanding the issues they’re having within the context of what you’re

Listening to customer feedback doesn’t mean implementing features they want. It means understanding the issues they’re having within the context of what you’re making. For example all the soulslike games have been heavily patched after release based on player feedback, the most obvious recent case being the tutorial entrance in Elden Ring.

jncfhnb 3y ago
What did they change about the elden ring tutorial?
- meheleventyone 3y ago
  In the beta most players missed it or avoided it so they added a bunch of signposting and at launch that was still the case so they added a fourth wall breaking on screen prompt explaining that it was the tutorial.
  - jncfhnb 3y ago
    Hilarious
nottorp 3y ago
When you're talking about indie vs AAA game, you're generally talking about the overall design, not random bug fixes or very minor usability improvements like your tutorial entrance. In the case of soulsbornes, it's death as a game mechanic and adding a bit more difficulty [1]. [1] ... although they mostly have the most fair difficulty i've seen in video games.
- meheleventyone 3y ago
  Sure let’s shift the goalposts. When you’re making a product you generally want to know you’ll get a return on your investment. Understanding the market viability of a game idea is important to a company like From Software. Including Demon Souls where they underestimated how successful it would be IIRC but still cared about the potential because they (plus probably a large amount from Sony as the publisher) were spending several million dollars to make it! My example of the tutorial is just refuting your point using your example by showing that the mentioned genre studios do listen to customer feedback. Another one would be the beta they ran for the game in the first place.
  - nottorp 3y ago
    > When you’re making a product Well, I'm pretty sure the games I enjoy and the spirit they were developed in is not compatible to just viewing them as a 'product'. So we're really talking about different things here.
    - meheleventyone 3y ago
      Name a few and let’s find out! The entire games industry outside of some niche outsider stuff is very commercially driven, including indie games. When I think outside the commercial spheres its developers like increpare I think of… not From Software.
      - nottorp 3y ago
        Aren't we on the usefulness of customer feedback and focus groups and whatever subthread here? Not on indie vs commercial any more.

jncfhnb 3y ago

What did they change about the elden ring tutorial?

meheleventyone 3y ago
In the beta most players missed it or avoided it so they added a bunch of signposting and at launch that was still the case so they added a fourth wall breaking on screen prompt explaining that it was the tutorial.
- jncfhnb 3y ago
  Hilarious

nottorp 3y ago

When you're talking about indie vs AAA game, you're generally talking about the overall design, not random bug fixes or very minor usability improvements like your tutorial entrance. In the case of soulsbornes, it's death as a game mechanic and adding a bit more difficulty [1]. [1] ... although they mostly have the most fair difficulty i've seen in video games.

meheleventyone 3y ago
Sure let’s shift the goalposts. When you’re making a product you generally want to know you’ll get a return on your investment. Understanding the market viability of a game idea is important to a company like From Software. Including Demon Souls where they underestimated how successful it would be IIRC but still cared about the potential because they (plus probably a large amount from Sony as the publisher) were spending several million dollars to make it! My example of the tutorial is just refuting your point using your example by showing that the mentioned genre studios do listen to customer feedback. Another one would be the beta they ran for the game in the first place.
- nottorp 3y ago
  > When you’re making a product Well, I'm pretty sure the games I enjoy and the spirit they were developed in is not compatible to just viewing them as a 'product'. So we're really talking about different things here.
  - meheleventyone 3y ago
    Name a few and let’s find out! The entire games industry outside of some niche outsider stuff is very commercially driven, including indie games. When I think outside the commercial spheres its developers like increpare I think of… not From Software.
    - nottorp 3y ago
      Aren't we on the usefulness of customer feedback and focus groups and whatever subthread here? Not on indie vs commercial any more.