Developers should listen to their fans

The difference between Portal's success and Sonic's failure hinges on one thing: listening to fans. Why is it so hard for studios to communicate with a fan base who is so willing to talk?

[roblef]

Maybe not just "listening to fans," but more along the lines of being responsive to the overwhelming majority of your fanbase when THEY ALL SAY THE SAME THING.

[Pushagree]

The problem is that gamers only think they know what they want and change their minds on a whim.

Here is a classic example.

Last gen:We are tired of sequels. Bring some new ips out.
This gen:We are tired of new ips and want old sequels back.

[morkendo23]

Developers should listen to their fans

NO SHIT!! we would'nt have crapy ass games if they did.

[IaMs12]

They read what we say and the HEAR us but they don't actually listen. Very few i've seen or noticed that actually do something what the community asks for or wants.

I realize we as a community on the internet probably are not the majority who buy your game but
we take our time though to come to sites and give devs feedback, in which we dont have to do, we choose too. We are the ones who actually care developers.

[I_Guts_I]

Ya your so right! that worked so well with MW2! /sarcasm

[Nakerman]

I'm sure the Sonic fans wanted the Werehog, didn't they?...

[LouisGarcia]

Seems legit.

[smashcrashbash]

You mean the whiny people that NEVER stop crying no matter what you do? The same fans that told Insomniac to change Resistance and then cried more when they did and cried again when they changed it back? The same people who have no idea what they really want at all? Yeah, right.

[lorianguy]

Well, they're the people with the cash, so the developers don't really have a choice.

[Zentrix]

I don't know about that smash, not every fanbase is out of touch with what will really make a game better. Socom 4 for instance was a really bad game because the developers decided it would be best to make the franchise more fast pace like call of duty, instead of sticking to what them unique, which the fans constantly asked for.

[smashcrashbash]

So you really believe that if they had done otherwise that people would have been satisfied completely? That no one would find another reason to complain or gripe? You have much more faith in this gen's gamers then I do i'll give you that

[Berserk]

Have you played that SHIT? You are comparing it to Cod? lol

[lorianguy]

As much as I like(d) Sonic, Sega have (metaphorically) killed him with the releases of the recent games. I used to enjoy the classic side-scroller and thought Heroes was a good move, but the hover board games were awful, and it just got worse from there :(

Generations is a promising title though.

[MySwordIsHeavenly]

If you haven't played Generations, PLEASE do. It's fantastic! The 3D is some of the best available also.

[lorianguy]

Well if it's as good as you say it is then I'll quite happily play it :)

Hopefully it will help Sonic get back onto my good side after his many more disappointing games.

Anyway, I'm going to town tomorrow so I'll pick it up then. Thanks!

[gigreen]

The reason why so many subpar games are released is because people buy them. They might complain, but still open their wallets, so why should publishers listen?

Fans need to understand that their wallets speak louder than bitching on the internet.

[bozebo]

Return policies are a bit crappy though...

[soundslike]

Listening to fans isn't always the way to go. People don't know what they want but they know it when they see it

[Sharingan_no_Kakashi]

No they shouldn't.

Well I guess it all depends. If it's a video game as a service (mainly mp stuff) then yea. If it's a video game as an art (like flower/journey) then no.

[AtomicGerbil]

I think developers should pay attention to what fans don't want more than what they do want.

[SageHonor]

Developers should do what they want.

[SnipeySnake]

*cough*SE*cough*

[ZippyZapper]

Strange seeing all their games on the Xbox this gen.

[Tonester925]

I think developers should listen to the Fans and not the crybabies. I mean, we make sure they get paid and have a job to go to, a house to live in, food to eat, and a car to drive. I would listen to my fans.

And DISAGREE with the fans while developing the game. Not surprise us when the game comes out with something we didn't ask for. "Well its my game and I want it this way" <~~ Go ahead, we will see how long that mindset lasts lol

[TronEOL]

This is much too rough to say every developer should listen to their fans. Because they may all be a fan of the same game/series, but all have different opinions on how the game/series should be, or evolve.

And usually, gamers can be very jaded in the sense of wanting it to cater specifically to them, and only them, without really thinking about anyone else who may want to hop into the game without knowing too much about it.

And like many others have already said, we change our mind far too often.

Just let the developer make their game they have envisioned and stay out of it. That's my opinion. If they're a good developer, they'll be able to make a good game. All they need is their brain, and influence from other game developers.

[manman6]

I don't think developer should completely listen to their. There are many different opinion out there that no matter what you do you going to piss off someone. So as a developer they should look at what fans are saying about the game but only change the game if they truly believe if it is a problem.

[Kran]

Wanna know why the developers dont talk to the community? Because they think they know best of course. Well... those that dont speak to the community that is.

[TXIDarkAvenger]

...

[Xi]

i disagree. I think fans need to realize they fell in love with the game that the developers produced without all thier feedback to begin with and sometimes they need to just let the developers make the game they want instead of making minimal changes to core gameplay so that don't piss off their hardcore fanbase.