Santa Monica dev is mad at the press

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It appears that he drank HHG's kool-aid. Being critical is hate, racism, xenophobia, misogyny.

God forbid opinions exist.

@Gue1 said:

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It appears that he drank HHG's kool-aid. Being critical is hate, racism, xenophobia, misogyny.

Well Dean, you could learn from this. Sometimes you got to focus more on the game portion rather than the production values.

Also Dean, sending out review copies does not mean you are guaranteed a good review. Stop sending out review copies, and all those pesky reviewers will have to rush out and buy the game ( and automatically dock 2 points from the review because they had to spend their own money).

OMG the reviewers were such a bully. -_-

lol. Media is mean to us!

The fans buy it like they're programmed by Sony to do it. So you have nothing to worry about. All this does is give the media something to work with and make the story worse.

"We paid for those scores!"

If there is anything I'm learning, or rather, reinforcing with my time at school, it's that the media isn't and never should be beholden to anybody but the reader.

Tough shit, Dean. Credibility is the lifeblood of journalism, and they shouldn't tell people the order is good just to spare your feelings.

This is downright disgusting attitude.

First of all, 6/10 isn't consider shit. Or it shouldn't be. It's 6. It's over 5, which technically should be the average, but instead, gaming industry thinks everything under 6 is a fail. Shit, this ain't college. Grow up.

Secondly, stop looking at scores. Industry should look at the reviews and take in what they could improve upon. That only happens if they read the fucking reviews, not the scores.

Third, there is no fucking conspiracy going on here. In fact, I was just horrified that Santa Monica's God of War 3 was praised as much as it was despite being more of a 6 hour movie than an actual engaging action-adventure like its predecessor with legit good level design and puzzles. If anything, the gaming criticism has matured enough to look past most of the flair.

Fourth, "I just don't think we should buy ads or send them games (for review)." Are you fucking serious. Like. Seriously? Wow. I don't even know where to begin with this corrupt as **** statement.

This man represents everything wrong with the gaming industry. So far I have actually been hoping that The Order do well, mostly for its developers' sake, but if it's developers are going to be such shitheads about it, I think a rude awakening may be in the cards.

Being a critic is not journalism.

Uh I think that's being a bit unfair to the dude. You work on a project for a few years, a bunch of people have their jobs on the line because of this project, and there is a pride one naturally takes in their own work. Getting shat on by other people isn't necessarily an easy thing to accept, so his reaction is human.

I think the statement itself is bullshit as much as the next guy, but let's not act like we'd all be cool and chill if we were in the same situation.

I always thought they bought ads to sell their game, not out of good will.

A bad game got bad scores, deal with it. I get that some reviews might have been a bit over the top (as always) but for the most part they all seem consensual: the game was meh at best.

Also this. Critics =/= Journalism. Also "gaming journalism" =/= journalism, considering the vast lack of anything resembling journalists in most of the gaming media.

"Why should we send them free stuff if they don't help us with marketing?" is actually kind of a fair question. I suppose the answer is to stop sending the review sites free stuff.

@jg4xchamp: I understand being distraught, but I wouldn't start questions the critics who reviewed my work if this happened, I would look at what the most common complaints were, and maybe could I work on not repeating them with my next work.

Yes, it's a human emotional response, but it is also not very professional.

I've spent the last ten years trying to get published. I've been rejected more times than I can count. Eventually I got an agent and she loved the book. But she couldn't find a publisher who agreed with her. So that was a whole new set of rejections. I take what they say and I grow and try to move on in a positive way.

If you create any work of art or product I think feedback is your number one concern. If you are a mature adult than you can take negative feedback for what it is and try and decipher which is constructive criticism and use it to get better, to learn, to grow.

The thing you should NEVER do is go after the critics. You'll lose every time. You get FREE press when they review your art. This is why you send a copy. You risk getting a negative review but you also get exposure and you're gambling on maybe they love it and it's a win win for you, the artist.

Complaining only makes them looks spoiled and immature. Even if I'm not cool and chill about it I do that shit in private. I don't tweet and make an ass of myself on social media. Yes it hurts but that's part of the game. If you can't take it then find another profession.

If you cant control your emotions for the three seconds it would take for any intelligent adult to realize nothing good will come out of crying and threatning to take the ball home, then you should probably shut down your Twitter account.

It is in this industry. Its the only one where the people delivering news and generating written content, interviews, etc... are EXACTLY the same who eventually review and score the shit they were promoting a few months back.

You dont see this shit anywere else.

Well said. Its an emotional reaction to what many of these hard working people put their heart and hours into. I mean look at the way some people HERE react to low review scores, and their paycheck isn't riding on it.

Yeah okay Chaz, I see through your lies, you'd be all about defending the waifus in your video game. "they just can't see depth and complexity of the characters I have created that transcend the standards of video games, clearly these game reviewers only like big breasted bimbos". I see through your remarks chaz.

Well you're an angel.

I honestly can't believe all the things famous people say on twitter. Silence is golden, truer now more than ever. I embarrass myself anonymously, like a decent person.

lol right?

Nah.

@jg4xchamp: Nah bro, I'm speaking as a writer trying to get published. You finish that novel, you put in so much effort, you send it out, and no one gives a ****, most people don't even care enough to actually tell you that they're rejecting you or why they are rejecting you. When I got the criticism, I didn't throw a hissy fit and say my work was great and the agents just weren't getting it, they were fools for not getting it, I counted my losses, figured out where I had gone wrong, took their feedback into account inasmuch as it didn't impugn upon the stories I want to tell and how I want to tel them, and moved on to my next work. That's how things work. You can be a bitch about people not appreciating what you have done, and yes, it's a fair response when you put in as much of yourself into this stuff as you have to, but at least don't make a fool of yourself in public, on social media. You're entitled to having whatever opinion you want, but opinions come with a caveat, the caveat being broadcasting of said opinions. There is a time and place for each. Otherwise, if he has his opinion on the critics which he is expressing, I've an opinion on his opinion which I too am perfectly justified in expressing.

Honestly, it's about time the press start raising concern before a game's release. How many times have we seen months, if not years, of praise and hype from preview articles only for the final review to reveal the game's crap?

Correct. All evidence suggests you're a sentient bread :P

The low review scores are fine. What's kind of dumb is how publications like GS are dedicating entire extra non-review segments to harping on about its length, limited interactivity, etc.. Stuff they already covered in their reviews but still feel they haven't made a big enough deal about it. As if this were the very first game in existence to pull this crap. Just eyeroll-worthy.

@Bread_or_Decide : You have the right attitude towards rejections. I wish you the best of luck for your book :)

At TC : Sure, the devs are disappointed. They spent years making this game, poured a lot of their time and money into it. It's natural they are angry at the poor scores the game is getting. But whining on social media is not right. It makes them turn out to be poor sports.

You know this reminds me of the 18 year olds in basic that would sit around on Sunday morning and talk about how they will handle being in combat. When you are completely detached, its real easy to say "I would do this.....". And we all see ourselves making the right/wise/heroic choices.

I think the example is completely different when it's on a smaller scale and just your own job on the line.

It's a completely different thing when the bets are bigger, the stage is bigger, and you have someone else besides your own job on the line. Again I don't think he handled it very well, and I certainly don't like the notion that game devs think critics should be more chill when they get review copies. But to completely act like a person isn't allowed a hissy fit, because "omg i would never do this, in my completely unrelateable scenario" is completely disingenuous.

Well, I'm betting that his statements aren't going to make things better.

Especially the review copies part. People are already distrustful of a lot of the shit that goes on behind the scenes. Way to get people on your side, bud.

@cainetao11: Except I'm not looking at it from a detached perspective. Look at my last post in this thread. I've personally been through this process, I know it works, and I know how I would respond because I have already responded that way. Criticism comes when you create any form of artistic work. Grow a spine and learn to take it, at least for the sake of public appearances if nothing else.

@jg4xchamp: Again, I'm not saying the person is not entitled to be disappointed or to throw a hissy fit or whatever, he'd be a fucking robot if he could take all this criticism in stride, I'm saying don't do it in public. Again, there's a time and place to broadcast your opinions- he feels disappointed, understandable, it's a very appropriate and natural reaction, what is not appropriate or natural is taking to Twitter to bash critics or your audience though. ****, take this as motivation, make your next game with the intent of being so good, the critics will have no choice but to shut up. There are loads of constructive ways of dealing with this situation, regardless of emotional responses. What he is doing is not one of them.

So glad I didn't buy this game. With the attitude that buying advertising should mean better scores, they can certainly **** all the way off.

I'm not seeing how the sentiment is invalid over being pedantic about terms. Either one needs their readers to trust what they say.

@Shewgenja: Just SharePlay it dude. That's what I am doing xD

Already read it. I was a struggling actor for years. And received some accolades and big auditions off of them. And got rejected. Nobody is saying he couldn't have handled it better. But I am not going to jump on him for sharing that he thinks its a better game than its being received as. What I do question is the ads and review copy statement. And just because we have been through the "rejection" process doesn't mean you and I aren't detached from this. Neither of us knows what it was like to work as member of that team, together with others sacrificing time with loved ones in order to do this. I can tell you from organized sports and the military things are more intense when you "bleed and sweat" with others.

@cainetao11: The review copy and ads statement is what I am taking issue with.

Maybe he should read the reviews to know why the game is considered mediocre at best by critics.

Well stated. People should embrace negative criticism and in a creative medium like video games, should not expect all of the feedback to be positive.

I haven't ever attempted to get a piece of fiction published, but there are thousands upon thousands of people attempting to do the same and there are only a handful of publishers, relatively speaking. It's almost impossible to just write a novel and get it published. I think the best approach would be to start out by writing a whole bunch of short stories. They are easier to write, easier to read, and a whole lot easier to adjust based upon feedback. If you can get a short story published, that at least establishes a relationship with a publisher and opens the door to getting them to consider a larger work like a novel.

@TheGuardian03: Skyrim on PS3 was perfectly playable for the first 20, 30 hours, it was only when the save file grew large that it would crash. I don't know if you realize this, but most gaming websites will not dedicate more than 30 hours to a video game (especially if t can be functionally finished before then, which Skyrim can be), especially not in a crowded holiday season when there are tons of other games to get to as well. Also, every review pointed out that Skyrim was buggy and glitchy, but they also ensured to point out that it didn't detract from the experience, which, frankly, it does not.

Hmm. I missed the first tweet (somehow lol).

That slight hint of connection between paying ads, sending review copies and expecting good scores....not great news indeed....

@PurpleMan5000: That's what I ended up doing! I've got a few published stories by now, and if nothing else, they give me some street cred for when I approach an agent or a publisher again.

Yeah that was one of those really stupid things we humans do when we are emotional.

Should have signed a fatter check. MS have conditioned the media to wanting large sums of cash rather than small.

This.

If anybody at RaD or SSM is disappointed at the review scores, i'd simply ask them:

"How did you expect a game with extremely inclosed, linear levels with limited interaction, intrusive cutscenes every 60 seconds, shootouts with no lateral, vertical or mobile elements, simplistic AI with "peek a boo" tactics, unexplained plot points and sequel bait ending would be received?"