- Sep 22, 2014
- 39
- 38
Good Feedback - something every good mapper wants, every beginner needs, and everybody should be able to give.
Before I start off, a very important note regarding the TAKING of feedback:
Now back to giving feedback
When I partake in impromptu’s or game days I often see comments like this fly by;
"Not really liking the spawn/main base areas”
“This is dumb, I don’t like it”
"I hate the look of this room”
… and all of those make me sad!
Someone might have actually put a lot of time and effort into making that map. They even want so far as to seek out feedback from other people they don’t even know, and thereby made themselves vulnerable to the most relentless stranger on the internet. Only to discover that their entire feedback log is full of comments that will only discourage that person from ever touching Hammer again.
This is (of-course) not what we want, and nobody wants to receive unhelpful comments like this, ever.
Feedback exists to make people better.
When you give feedback think about this: Will what I’m saying/writing help the mapper make his map better? If not; how can I alter my feedback to help that person grow?
Always be constructive, not destructive. Being destructive doesn’t make anyone better (and makes you look like an …).
Having an opinion is perfectly fine, but beware that everyone has the right to have another opinion. Don’t enforce yours. Saying once that you don’t like death pits is fine. But don’t come back every feedback session and repeat the same opinion over and over again. The mapper is aware of your opinion, and might have a death pith fetish, let them be. Every bit of opinionated feedback is useful, as long as it stays constructive towards a better map, no single opinion is law.
When you give opinionated feedback please identify that you are talking personal preference whilst giving feedback. For instance say: “I don’t like this death pit, maybe remove it? Keep in mind I generally dislike death pits.”
Suggestions are great, but beware of your tone. Please tell the mapper how you would fix similar problems/do something a different way, but (again) don’t expect your way to be the only way.
Giving constructive suggestions is the great way of giving feedback*, since you’re actually helping the creator become a better mapper. Sharing experience and resources is the best thing that a great community like TF2maps.net can do.
Don’t forget that the person you’re giving feedback is human. We all have feelings and a prone to make mistakes. If you are out to hurt someone’s feelings I suggest you go to a room in your house that has a mirror and take a good look at what you’ve become in that shiny piece of human engineering.
Don’t judge an Alpha staged map by its dev textures. Don’t judge a Beta staged map by its lack of optimization. Don’t start yelling about the poor spawn times of a “_a1” map. This might seem obvious but I’ve seen it happen.
Keep in mind the version that a map is at. Be a bit forgiving depending on the stage a map is at. Please by all means make the mapper aware of bugged doors and broken spawns, however don’t rip the poor person’s hart out, it’s only at _a2. We should all be perfectly capable to understand how much work goes into making a map work, and there is no need to ruin a mapper’s day by constantly reminding them of that one thing they forgot to do.
Finally don’t forget to be a bit forgiving towards new mappers. We all started at the bottom, don’t be an ass.
Thanks for reading if you have any constructive feedback please tell me!
Midas
*** Great tips I got from the comments below ***
1. Don't forget that that person gave that feedback for a reason, there might be (perceived) honesty in their cruel feedback.
2. Written feedback is great, however don't forget to download and check the demos TF2maps.net provides. You can learn a lot more (especially where you have balance issues) from looking at what players do than to listening what they say.
Before I start off, a very important note regarding the TAKING of feedback:
You should NEVER take feedback personally. EVER.
Now back to giving feedback
When I partake in impromptu’s or game days I often see comments like this fly by;
"Not really liking the spawn/main base areas”
“This is dumb, I don’t like it”
"I hate the look of this room”
… and all of those make me sad!
Someone might have actually put a lot of time and effort into making that map. They even want so far as to seek out feedback from other people they don’t even know, and thereby made themselves vulnerable to the most relentless stranger on the internet. Only to discover that their entire feedback log is full of comments that will only discourage that person from ever touching Hammer again.
This is (of-course) not what we want, and nobody wants to receive unhelpful comments like this, ever.
Constructive feedback
Feedback exists to make people better.
When you give feedback think about this: Will what I’m saying/writing help the mapper make his map better? If not; how can I alter my feedback to help that person grow?
Always be constructive, not destructive. Being destructive doesn’t make anyone better (and makes you look like an …).
Opinions
Having an opinion is perfectly fine, but beware that everyone has the right to have another opinion. Don’t enforce yours. Saying once that you don’t like death pits is fine. But don’t come back every feedback session and repeat the same opinion over and over again. The mapper is aware of your opinion, and might have a death pith fetish, let them be. Every bit of opinionated feedback is useful, as long as it stays constructive towards a better map, no single opinion is law.
When you give opinionated feedback please identify that you are talking personal preference whilst giving feedback. For instance say: “I don’t like this death pit, maybe remove it? Keep in mind I generally dislike death pits.”
Suggestions
Suggestions are great, but beware of your tone. Please tell the mapper how you would fix similar problems/do something a different way, but (again) don’t expect your way to be the only way.
Giving constructive suggestions is the great way of giving feedback*, since you’re actually helping the creator become a better mapper. Sharing experience and resources is the best thing that a great community like TF2maps.net can do.
Did you know a PERSON is behind this map?
Don’t forget that the person you’re giving feedback is human. We all have feelings and a prone to make mistakes. If you are out to hurt someone’s feelings I suggest you go to a room in your house that has a mirror and take a good look at what you’ve become in that shiny piece of human engineering.
Don’t forget, it's only _a1
Don’t judge an Alpha staged map by its dev textures. Don’t judge a Beta staged map by its lack of optimization. Don’t start yelling about the poor spawn times of a “_a1” map. This might seem obvious but I’ve seen it happen.
Keep in mind the version that a map is at. Be a bit forgiving depending on the stage a map is at. Please by all means make the mapper aware of bugged doors and broken spawns, however don’t rip the poor person’s hart out, it’s only at _a2. We should all be perfectly capable to understand how much work goes into making a map work, and there is no need to ruin a mapper’s day by constantly reminding them of that one thing they forgot to do.
Finally don’t forget to be a bit forgiving towards new mappers. We all started at the bottom, don’t be an ass.
Thanks for reading if you have any constructive feedback please tell me!
Midas
*** Great tips I got from the comments below ***
1. Don't forget that that person gave that feedback for a reason, there might be (perceived) honesty in their cruel feedback.
2. Written feedback is great, however don't forget to download and check the demos TF2maps.net provides. You can learn a lot more (especially where you have balance issues) from looking at what players do than to listening what they say.
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