HOWTO: Provide Feedback to Others

HOWTO: Provide Feedback to Others

Postby qreeves » 08 Feb 2013, 08:38

In the past, we have had a very open and collaborative community, which has been great for development up to a certain point. As raised in a previous thread, there seems to be some confusion over what is considered helpful for those working on a new map or other piece of content, and it has caused a bit of friction for some people. I'd like to clarify some best practices here, and give you all some tips on how to provide effective feedback (like I do every day).

Firstly, and the most important thing of all, do not create your own version of their content without their express blessing. This is not a matter of licensing, I know the licenses we employ let you create derivatives; but please, not only are you robbing this person of the learning experience they should be getting by doing it themselves, but you are more than likely hurting their feelings in the process.

If you want to remix something or contribute to the game, I have provided a list of approved items that are up for grabs. The maps in this list are generally older pieces, for which the author likely doesn't have time for anymore. As Red Eclipse moves forward, the standard of quality is getting higher. This is an excellent thing to be achieving, but it means we often need to take a critical look at our older work to see if it is still up to scratch. The remix of "deadsimple" by Ulukai is awesome, and I am looking forward to further remixes.

On the specific subject of remixing a map, it has been suggested I implement some standards to ensure a clear line of progression between authors. Basically, this means when you remix a map, add your name to the ”mapauthor”, and maybe even remix the name of the map (eg. ”Keystone 2000”, "Nova II", "Deck 18"). Make sure you put yourself in the license information (txt) if a specific one exists already or needs to apply.

When people are posting their content, they are looking for feedback (or, a review). You should be asking these things yourself when doing so:
  • Does it look any good? What suggestions could be made to improve the quality?
  • Maps: How does it play (in each mode it was intended for)? How would you improve the flow or design?
  • Does it fit with everything else? How could it be better tailored to look cohesive?
  • Is everything up to scratch? Are all the configurations that are necessary present? Are all filenames lowercase?
  • Is there a license present? Is the author aware of their options in this regard?
  • Could the author benefit from being directed to another thread or wiki page containing helpful info? Could you start one yourself to fill a void?
  • Overall, what steps would you take to fix or improve it?
Then, outline all this to the author. Be blunt, but not rude, they are more than likely looking for good critical feedback in order to improve their content to the point where it can get included in Red Eclipse. If you know how, tell them exactly how to fix it themselves, rather than doing it for them. Nobody gets anything out of you hijacking their content/thread, and it only serves to confuse everyone else. If you want to demonstrate something on a working copy, take a screenshot and post that, explaining what you did and how.

If the content has been revised a few times and you think it should be included in the game, make sure they are aware of the submission process, and encourage them to do so if they haven't already. I can't read minds, and unless I provide a review of the first post, I don't really keep track of all the pieces of content floating around. The submission process lets me know the author "done" and that it is time for me to take a good look at it. I don't include everything on the first attempt, and if something needs fixing the ticket will be reassigned back to the author until it is updated. Submissions left unresolved after some time will be removed.

Please don't be offended if I don't include your content in the game, it probably just means that it is not suitable or fitting with the "grand vision", or simply that you need some more experience before you're capable of producing the kind of content that we require. It really isn't helpful when someone cracks the shits and declares they will fork and make their own game, building a community is different to building a game, and both are required to be successful.

More often than not, my job includes more than just making decisions and writing blobs of code. My job here is everything you could possibly require doing on a project of this scale. This includes encouraging you, and helping you better yourself. I'm not above taking someone who is willing to give it a try aside and helping them myself, but you need to understand that I stretch myself thin as it is. Treat me with the proper respect and be patient, and you will find yourself rewarded in kind.

Finally, I want to thank everyone for the help and encouragement they have given others so far. We are in a golden age of Red Eclipse development now, because of the effort we have all put into making this place not just a community, but a home. I hope this article helps all of us make that even more true in the future. Happy hacking.
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Re: HOWTO: Provide Feedback to Others

Postby ballist1c » 08 Feb 2013, 16:10

Thanks for this awesome article!

I know here and in my past mapping experiences elsewhere I have been a harsh critic. Don't be offended by this. This is only because I would like to be critiqued harshly myself.

I also like a rating, too; 1-10 works fine for me most of the time.
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Re: HOWTO: Provide Feedback to Others

Postby raiden » 08 Apr 2013, 18:48

A good article, which I overread until now. I have nothing to add, exceptly ballistics advice of a rating from 1-10 is a good idea. It would be nice, if this could be a standart routine for reviews in the future, because this helps the author to eveluate his work, seen from an outer perspective (besides the real review).
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Re: HOWTO: Provide Feedback to Others

Postby Zema » 08 Apr 2013, 23:21

I am currently designing a map, and a major concern for me is that my work will be taken and revamped/remixed wherein the work will effectively be credited will be given to the user whoever cleans it up. This factor alone is making me cautious to put serious time into a map. I know that you said the original creator must give expressed blessing, but even if I were to allow them, they would effectively take the credit for the map -- unless of course you mean, that by adding their name to the 'map author' it is actually just an additional name i.e. 'created by (original creator) & (revamper)', in which case, I wouldn't mind so much.

Regarding the map, I do not have some stary eyed fantasy of it being included in the SVN, because assuming that is quite unrealistic.

I guess what I'm -trying- to get at here is that if I submit a map to the forum via. topic and allow another user to edit it, how will I know that the original credit will remain if others decide to revamp that revamp somewhere along the line and so forth. Perhaps an 'original author' field could clear up some confusion, followed by a 'recent author' (perhaps a list of map contributors) or something along those lines. That way maps can be changed via. community effort and moderated accordingly while those who want to create entirely new maps won't be intimidated by the fact that their maps can be hijacked and their original credit lost.
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Re: HOWTO: Provide Feedback to Others

Postby Evropi » 09 Apr 2013, 00:04

Zema {l Wrote}:I guess what I'm -trying- to get at here is that if I submit a map to the forum via. topic and allow another user to edit it, how will I know that the original credit will remain if others decide to revamp that revamp somewhere along the line and so forth. Perhaps an 'original author' field could clear up some confusion, followed by a 'recent author' (perhaps a list of map contributors) or something along those lines. That way maps can be changed via. community effort and moderated accordingly while those who want to create entirely new maps won't be intimidated by the fact that their maps can be hijacked and their original credit lost.

Though it is not a necessary precondition of CC licenses to clearly mark who is the original author and who remixed something - as that can introduce lots of legal uncertainty, something like that wouldn't be so bad.

Anyway, the license terms make it so that you name cannot ever be removed from something you added to, created or otherwise contributed to. Removing them would be a breach of the license terms and it would not happen here, where copyright concerns are taken very seriously.
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Re: HOWTO: Provide Feedback to Others

Postby qreeves » 09 Apr 2013, 04:41

Evropi {l Wrote}:Anyway, the license terms make it so that you name cannot ever be removed from something you added to, created or otherwise contributed to. Removing them would be a breach of the license terms and it would not happen here, where copyright concerns are taken very seriously.

+1
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Re: HOWTO: Provide Feedback to Others

Postby tempris » 12 Jun 2013, 08:28

qreeves {l Wrote}:It really isn't helpful when someone cracks the shits and declares they will fork and make their own game,


But if you we're to fork, use Red Eclipse. But only do so if you've got an artist for your models. Or else it's just a Red Eclipse copy like Iron Fist. :( speaking of which I though that comment was hilarious considering the situation.
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