CRYSTALGATE'S PROFILE

If you make the enemies stronger, the game becomes harder for both good and bad players. However, if you add a complicated character building system, that can make the game harder for bad players who builds weak characters, while it makes the game easier for good players who builds powerful characters.

Out of all those options, I prefer problem solving. It's problem solving that gives the fights variations and that gives my brain something to do all the time. Roughly, problem solving means that the player has to use tactics that depends on the enemies and what they are doing, not solely on what the character are good at. The reason this is so great is because the player generally only changes his/her character setup between dungeons while enemies can change from battle to battle, therefore enemy based tactics leads to more variance than character based tactics.

Preparation is also fun, but it's very limiting by itself. You spend some time setting the characters up, but when you're done, it's back to using the same string of commands over and over. In fact, being better prepared than the creator expected can sometimes decrease the aspect of problem solving as the player can just smash trough the problems rather than solving them. Still, I do definitely enjoy trying to optimize my characters.

I don't think complexity necessarily adds difficulty as much as it widens the gap between the players. A good example of that is Final Fantasy VIII and it's junction system. Some players complain that they can only damage the enemies properly by summoning over and over, which is certainly aggravating due to their long animations. Other players instead find that the enemies provides almost no resistance whatsoever as they are killed quickly while dealing next to no damage in return. Frankly, I don't think high level of complexity adds that much.

When it comes to reflexes and coordination, I prefer an all or nothing deal. Either make a fully action based such as Kingdom Hearts or don't have it at all. I don't like it added to traditional RPG battles,such as the case with the Legend of Dragoon addition system. To me it's like saying "we can't figure out how to make the enemies require attention, so instead we make your own attacks require attention".

author=Crystalgate
If someone complains about something being to hard, I suggest that the creator tells how one can beat that challenge. It's even better if he/she can record a video of him-/herself beating that challenge. That way it's easier to see if the challenge really is to hard or if the player is just playing poorly. However, stick to skills and resources the player can be expected to have.

I just realized how bad it sounded when I posted that. The creator should go and post a video just to prove someone wrong? That sounds like a rather hostile environment.

The advantage of posting a video isn't so much to prove something than it is to sort things out.

Let's say we have a boss who attacks with magic and summons minions who uses physical attacks. Let's also say that the boss is status immune while the minions aren't and that you can only use one defensive buff. Now, assuming you have the necessary tools for it, one tactic would be to choose to buff magic defense and status the minions. That way you mitigate all attacks. Now, as simple as it sounds, chance is a lot of people will overlook that possibility. If they see it demonstrated, with some luck they go "right, I need to take a more throughout look at my skillset the next time" and hopefully they will think more the next boss battle. I don't think there's many players who are to dumb to make that sort of thinking, rather I suspect we are just to used to some conventions, such as status effects sucking, to try out some strategies. If so, then a wake up call can do wonders.

On the other hand, if the video shows that the creator is fighting the boss at considerable higher level than the players, or the strategy used is one the player can't realistically have figured out (the boss is weak to silence while there has already been eight bosses before that one, all completely status immune) then we'll know for sure that it's the fight that the problem and we can easier clarify for the creator where the problem lays.

You won't necessarily need a video though, often just posting the strategy and recommended levels will be enough.

I believe that's the best way to handle a situation where the player thinks a game is to hard and the creator don't, put it to test.

author=supremewarrior
I meant if your game was a piece of crap and someone reviewed it anyway.

On the notion of non helpful feedback I already stated that if a group of people is telling you the same thing then it goes to show that there is a flaw and that is helpful feedback, but what I am saying is that some people seem to let their pride blind their judgement and do not see the flaws in their own games.

OK that clarifies things.

However, it's not for sure that if many people tells the same thing, it's an actual flaw. This goes especially if they say that the game is to hard.

author=supremewarrior
You know it always points back to this statement whenever there is such a debate on this issue, but you need to understand that when you are putting your own work out there for the public no one is forced to play it, they are doing so on their own free will.

Writing a review for your game is a privilege think about it, why should anyone review YOUR game? They don't need to but if they decide to do so by putting their own time and effort into it then you should be grateful. A review is a privilege in the amateur game making world don't forget that and don't take it for granted

Nobody needs to give me a birthday present. Nevertheless, if someone gives me a turd on my birthday, I'm not going to be grateful.

A review written by someone who doesn't know what he's talking about or a hater is not a privilege, regardless of how much he didn't have to write the review.

Also, when someone posts criticism, they are usually trying to affect the game maker's decision. Here's the deal, you can do the same thing with reviews. In other words, it's fully possible to write a review for a selfish reason. This is very likely to actually be the case if the review is written by a hater or a fanboy.

Finally, if you post a low score review and that way bring down the average score, it may affect someone's decision to play the game negatively. Now, if the reviewer raises some good points that other people are likely to not like as well, then that's fair and the creator also gets some usable information out of it. This however isn't the case if the reviewer has an ulterior motive for writing the review.