13pm
Water Chip? Been There, Done That
Games Radar posted an interview with Bethesda's community manager Matt Grandstaff. They talk about fans' feedback and, of course, there are some bits about feedback on Fallout 3.
<blockquote>GR: Do developers really listen to gamers? Or should gamers stick to gaming and leave developing to developers?
Matt: The folks at our office definitely listen to what the fans have to say. On any given day, you'll even see devs actively participating in discussion within our own forums or commenting on our blog. Additionally, I spend a lot of my time informing guys of any feedback, good and bad, that I feel the developers should be aware of.
GR: Have ideas generated within the community - on your own forums, for example - ever made it into your games?
Matt: Definitely. With Fallout 3, we ran a community contest allowing one fan's 'perk' to be included in the game. In another instance, this past summer I saw a huge demand for modding tools for Star Trek: Legacy and talked to some of our producers on that game about it. We had guys here volunteer to put together scripting tools during their free time so we could release them for the community to use. Beyond that we obviously get an awful lot from people on the forums when they actually get to play our games and provide feedback on that experience. That’s always important for us as we look to what we want to do in our future games.
GR: Does community feedback genuinely help to make better games? Has the industry as a whole benefited from the rise of communities?
Matt: I believe it does. With online gaming communities being as vocal as they are, developers can't help but be cognisant of what people think they're doing right vs. what they're doing wrong. I think our team learned quite a bit from feedback we've received from Oblivion, and folks will see how we've responded in Fallout 3 and in future games. The feedback we get in all its forms from the community only furthers our ability to understand what worked and what didn’t work so that we can do better next time.
GR: How are ideas/suggestions offered within the community relayed to the rest of the team for consideration? Do you have dedicated meetings for that kind of thing?
Matt: Generally I pass on these ideas either face to face with individuals at the office, or simply send an email over to the appropriate person. For instance, we've had some recent discussions about the Pip-boy 3000 diary Istvan Pely wrote for our Fallout 3 website. When I see interesting feedback about the Pip-boy, I try to loop in Istvan so he knows what folks are thinking. </blockquote>Link: Games Radar: Are Developers Ever Listening?.
<blockquote>GR: Do developers really listen to gamers? Or should gamers stick to gaming and leave developing to developers?
Matt: The folks at our office definitely listen to what the fans have to say. On any given day, you'll even see devs actively participating in discussion within our own forums or commenting on our blog. Additionally, I spend a lot of my time informing guys of any feedback, good and bad, that I feel the developers should be aware of.
GR: Have ideas generated within the community - on your own forums, for example - ever made it into your games?
Matt: Definitely. With Fallout 3, we ran a community contest allowing one fan's 'perk' to be included in the game. In another instance, this past summer I saw a huge demand for modding tools for Star Trek: Legacy and talked to some of our producers on that game about it. We had guys here volunteer to put together scripting tools during their free time so we could release them for the community to use. Beyond that we obviously get an awful lot from people on the forums when they actually get to play our games and provide feedback on that experience. That’s always important for us as we look to what we want to do in our future games.
GR: Does community feedback genuinely help to make better games? Has the industry as a whole benefited from the rise of communities?
Matt: I believe it does. With online gaming communities being as vocal as they are, developers can't help but be cognisant of what people think they're doing right vs. what they're doing wrong. I think our team learned quite a bit from feedback we've received from Oblivion, and folks will see how we've responded in Fallout 3 and in future games. The feedback we get in all its forms from the community only furthers our ability to understand what worked and what didn’t work so that we can do better next time.
GR: How are ideas/suggestions offered within the community relayed to the rest of the team for consideration? Do you have dedicated meetings for that kind of thing?
Matt: Generally I pass on these ideas either face to face with individuals at the office, or simply send an email over to the appropriate person. For instance, we've had some recent discussions about the Pip-boy 3000 diary Istvan Pely wrote for our Fallout 3 website. When I see interesting feedback about the Pip-boy, I try to loop in Istvan so he knows what folks are thinking. </blockquote>Link: Games Radar: Are Developers Ever Listening?.
