Lively
District 13
- Joined
- Jun 25, 2013
- Messages
- 2,830
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I've been on these forums for a fair amount of time, and you've probably seen me around. As some of may know I am a writer. I've also been an active contributor on multiple writing communities. Because of this, I take criticism very seriously. On a few different thread on these forums, I've seen some horrible criticism and horrible reactions to criticism. So I thought I would take some time and make a guide to criticism.
Here are the most important things to remember when writing criticism:
Thank you for your time,
-Lively
Here are the most important things to remember when writing criticism:
- Be respectful.
- Don't be a jerk. You don't have to be nice, but don't be a complete dork.
- Do not attack the creator of the content.
- Respect other people's opinions.
- Don't be disheartened if you get negative feedback.
- Pay particular attention to people who have significant experience in what your content deals with.
- If you have no positive feedback to say, say it anyways. We want people to improve, not to butter their ego. Pointing out flaws in an idea can show them what they did wrong. If you say that everything is perfect, then they will think that everything is perfect, even if there are flaws. But remember, be respectful.
- Note: People who are being critiqued, do not expect people to only give positive feedback that is not negative whatsoever. This can severely hurt you because you aren't willing to listen to feedback, even when it's constructive.
- Make sure your feedback is constructive in nature. Saying, "This map sucks," or "this is the worst idea I've ever seen," is not constructive criticism. Constructive criticism means that you want to help make the content better. It can be both positive and negative. If you want to post that you don't like a map or idea, give a reason why or a way to make it better.
- I'm going to elaborate on insulting the creator of the map, idea, or thread. Pretend the thread just popped out of the aether, fully formed. Don't even think about the person who created it, except in an abstract sense. Talk about what is actually in the thread that does or doesn't work, and go from there. Tell the OP, "This needs work, the idea's fine except X." Don't say, "You're a terrible person. Why did you make this?" Other no-no phrases to avoid are: "You're only making this map because you want VIP," "All of these tips are useless, you're an idiot for posting these," or "I just posted this idea. You're a thief for taking my idea."
- Note: On my last example, unless they literally copy and pasted your thread, it is unlikely that they are stealing your idea.
- Avoid dog piling on a very problematic thread. If twenty people have already said it's terrible, you don't need to drop in just to let people know that you think it's terrible too. If you have real criticism for it, that's fine. But you don't need to talk just to make yourself heard.
- Don't post things like, "The problems with this thread should be obvious." If they were obvious to the creator, they wouldn't have made them. If you say something like that, you may as well not have posted. All you've accomplished is to obliquely call the author an idiot for not having seen the flaws. Keep in mind that a lot of people haven't been here long. They've played a fair number of games and read a few threads, but they haven't seen the ins and the outs of the community. They haven't had a chance to see the mechanics of how the forums work. What's obvious to you is probably not obvious to a new user.
- As a person taking criticism, do not tell people to stop replying to your thread, unless they are harassing you. If they are harassing you, contact a staff member immediately. If they aren't harassing you, asking them to stop replying makes you seem petty, juvenile, and unable to take feedback.
Thank you for your time,
-Lively
