How to Complain to a Developer

I won't argue against Enen's point - it's a valid one; after all, nobody said it would be easy. However, I have to wonder if developers have made it purposefully hard to do because of how much negativity it generates. As they say, it's the bad news that
gets posted, whereas positive feedback and praise is very minimal. With all of the harsh remarks developers find directed at them online, going so far as death-threats or threats against their families, I'm not altogether too surprised. By making it difficult
or obscure, it forces most people, to just give up. Most people with negative feedback will not go digging deep enough to find where they need to go to complain - most of the time, they'll just complain to the generic support site or public forum (which is
why we get so much flak here). However, those with constructive (read: not necessarily positive) criticisms/concerns regarding the game or those of us who have a real vested interest in it are likely to dig deeper to find the right resource(s) and get through
to the developers - and those are the people that the developers are willing to listen to.

If all else fails, you could always use snail mail. I hear that still works.

 

I agree with @GG to a point. I truly believe that they do, in fact, purposely make it that difficult to communicate and file complaints. I disagree with the reasoning (even if it is, in fact, true).

If it is true that they do so in order to keep people from raging and 'quell the rioting' (per se) then it is only contributing to a vicious cycle IMO. Yes, it's ridiculous to receive actual death threats over a game. Words can't even describe how ludicrous
I find that. But, the problem is, how much of that negativity would exist... how much escalation would be averted if they would just make a standardized, easy to use
and find format that would allow people to give feedback and report bugs?

Add a simple automated response like; 'Thank you for your feedback. Please understand that we may not be able to respond to, or address all issues, but we appreciate you taking the time to let us know about your experience and we will be working to help
fix some of the most prevalent and widely complained about issues.' At least this would be something and it may just keep some people who would become frustrated enough to start raging... from becoming frustrated enough to get that way to begin with...

 

@GG, I am not saying offering feedback isn't valid, and I do disagree that the majority of developers and publishers don't want it and to a point don't need it.

Developers have tight deadlines and very tight budgets if the has to sift through all the feedback they receive in letters, email, tweets, etc, they would never reach and end goal let a lone focus on the project in hand.

@blues point, the only way to do it would be to build something into a game and allows offering feedback in a structured way, like you already suggested.

However this would also take time and money, and when profit is the under riding factor feedback isn't on the radar.

If you have 5 million people buying a game, and 10k (maybe even 100K) of people complain its not enough to warrent any action. (unless it has been planned for like gun balancing)

 

Now, granted, this thread is called "how to complain to a developer" but there was an interesting event that happened recently that I think is somewhat relevant. A poster by the name of KIFANATIC over on the official KI website and forums was just rewarded
for his dedication to the game as a fan. You see, he had more posts over on their forums than anybody else (well over 5,000) and it got to the point that the community rallied together to ask if they could give him a new forum title. Instead, what he got was
a brand new Xbox One. You see, despite being a fan of the game, he openly admitted to never having played it because he didn't have an Xbox One - he simply loved the original games and wanted to continue contributing to the community however he could. So,
as of today, he shared with me and the rest of the KI community the letter he received in the mail from both MS and the KI dev team thanking him for his support.

I'm telling you this because many of you seem to think that the developers/publishers don't care and while that may often be the case, I assure you that even though it may not seem like it, they very often do.

Source

 

See GG you see it as the devs and MS being nice to a gamer but I think most see it as cheap positive press for them. People and companies don't often do things without getting something in return.

 

Does it really matter why they do it so long as it's favorable towards us as consumers?

 

To me it matters. And that instance doesn't favor me or you at all.

 

@GG your point was if you complain or offer feedback it would influence what is being produced, and while KI and MS offered a nice gesture, it didn't influence the game in anyway, what it did do is give them favour over its community, great cheap adverting.

Developers don't care that incident benefited them much more than anyone else.

 

I don't see how they really benefit from it all that much though (they do, just not very much). They give away an entire console and game, which will be about $300 and $60 or so, respectively, so that's money out of their pocket. Furthermore, it only helps
1 individual. Most of the people on those forums already have an XB1 and already play the game, so it's not likely that they're going to go out and buy another 1 as a result of this. You're right, it is a nice gesture, but I don't think it helps them as much
as you think it does.

 

First of all @GG, if you've ever looked into advertising, you know how expensive it can be. Next, you're not thinking it through completely if you think "It's not helping them that much". They did a kind thing, sure... but in that act, reached out to a lot
of people who otherwise would see no positive in these companies. That's positive PR and it goes further than most may think. Word of mouth. You've proven that with your post, since that act has reached these forums.

 

@GG you don't think its help the much, however your so impressed you have posted it on here, how much would they have had to pay you to think they cared about their users? The answer one little gesture, cheap PR. Assuming the rest of the community think
like you, amazingly cheap PR.

 

Developers care about their fans; anyone would be crazy to think that they wouldn't. Sure, they want money, because they're a business, but they need the fans first.

 

I would think you're crazy for thinking everything is sunshine and roses. We just have different outlooks on things.

 

Of course - I think the glass is half full and you think the glass is half empty. Of those 2 ideologies, there's only 1 that has a positive outlook on life.

 

And the other has real life experience