Author Topic: Reactions to the IGN Review (Split from Where Have You Seen Diaspora Mentioned?)  (Read 12474 times)

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Offline newman

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Re: Reactions to the IGN Review (Split from Where Have You Seen Diaspora Mentioned?)
The whole "flying under the radar" thing is now over though.

Is it? The fact we're out doesn't change the fact we're making a free but unlicensed game. We still plan on making several releases and it would be a shame if we were prevented in doing so by something silly that's in nobody's best interest.

Anyway, question answered: no, we don't have a dedicated PR person, but we could use someone to deal with our website.
« Last Edit: November 01, 2012, 04:44:18 pm by newman »
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Re: Reactions to the IGN Review (Split from Where Have You Seen Diaspora Mentioned?)
I was a little annoyed by the review, though it was decent under the circumstances. The real problem was that he (or she?) was rating and judging the game on the standards of a professional/'for profit' game on top of completely failing to understand the development/release/content structure and plan of the game.

Doesn't have multiplayer? Well, sure, it flat-out says so because it's still in a closed beta stage, and it's just R1. A shot campaign? Again, it's the first release and something of a proof of concept/very well-made trial run, not a full, published game that's made for profit.

Clunky controls? Look, maybe if he could point to a game at all similar with a significantly better control scheme it would be a fair criticism, but it's like he's complaining that a Viper combat simulator isn't as simple as Call of Duty--there's room for improvement, sure, but when nobody in a comparable field does any better and you're a fan-made, completely free and zero-pay first release game mod, it comes off to me as a complete ignorance to the context and game he's reviewing.

Difficulty--in some ways fair, but he glosses over the whole option of choosing different difficulties, mission recommendations, and the main-hall tips.

He apparently didn't even know that the multiplayer is still in development, and instead expressed disappointment that there didn't seem to be anyone playing it online or any servers up and running.

He explains how BSG fans have been waiting for so many years for a half-decent BSG game, and how finally Diaspora has become that game--and then criticizes it in ways that clearly demonstrate he didn't even bother to learn any of the (even basic) facets of the genre (even when included in the main FAQ...) before or after playing the game. He points out no comparisons of any kinds of similar games (that clearly have never been pulled off after so man years for BSG, as he says) to base his criticisms in the realm of fairness and realism.

In terms of basic journalism, it's very sloppy to write a professional review of an indy project and not even bother to do any research on either it or the context of it all, and his ignorance shows rather significantly. Maybe I'm being too harsh here, but I was taught (and did) better in my high school journalism class alone, and this is a mainstream gaming news site.
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Offline karajorma

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Re: Reactions to the IGN Review (Split from Where Have You Seen Diaspora Mentioned?)
To be honest, I'm really not upset with the review at all. There are some sloppy mistakes but I'm actually quite proud of the fact that we're being compared against commercial releases. That really says something about our desired level of quality and that although R1 did have flaws it was good enough that reviewers don't bat an eyelid at the idea of comparing a fan-made game against something made by a professional studio.

Most of the team feel that the criticisms the reviewer made are actually fair ones in that light. Hell, almost all of them have been flagged as something we want to improve.

Doesn't have multiplayer? Well, sure, it flat-out says so because it's still in a closed beta stage, and it's just R1.


Yes but the lack of standalone servers did have a detrimental effect on multiplayer. People couldn't just drop by and see that games were being played, so they quickly formed the opinion that multiplayer is dead. That's not true of course, we're in open beta. But without standalones running, it doesn't seem that way. Getting the standalone (and multi in general) up to scratch is my priority at the moment.

Quote
A shot campaign? Again, it's the first release and something of a proof of concept/very well-made trial run, not a full, published game that's made for profit.


R1 was designed as something we could push out the door very quickly so that we could grab some interest before the show ended. Hell, if you look at the dev blog estimate thread you can see how wrong we got that. :D

So yeah, it is short. Had I known it would take 4 years to develop, I'd have suggested we go with a longer campaign.

Quote
Clunky controls? Look, maybe if he could point to a game at all similar with a significantly better control scheme it would be a fair criticism, but it's like he's complaining that a Viper combat simulator isn't as simple as Call of Duty--there's room for improvement, sure, but when nobody in a comparable field does any better and you're a fan-made, completely free and zero-pay first release game mod, it comes off to me as a complete ignorance to the context and game he's reviewing.


Again this is something we changed almost immediately after release. Diaspora released using a very FS2-style control config. We immediately patched this after release to use something WASD based instead since that actually removes some of the burden from us when it comes to learning how to play the game.


I tend to agree somewhat with your other points to an extent though.
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