Insane Difficulty: Hack Haters - Insane Difficulty

After reading some of the more negative comments found online towards my highly personalized modification of FF6 (RotDS), I've realized that a lot of people must think that these mods are supposed to be made juuust for them. If these people judged artwork, or basically anything else the same way as they do these highly customized fan-made mods, things would be...shittier.

Nevermind the fact that these mods are free to try and play. Disappointment aside, there should be no need to publicly hate on something that is free imo - if you take a free sample at the store, or some nice old lady bakes you a pie of her favorite recipe, and it isn't that good to you...would you feel the need to tell them that? No, because you're not an asshole! I mean, unless they wanted some brutally honest feedback.

The moment you create and in turn release a large hack, there will instantly be some haters and/or wannabe critics that come with it, no matter how good your hack may be. Just look online and you can most likely find some people judging the fuck out of your work. This is true of course with most things in life. But the main reason you most likely started your hack in the first place, was for yourself to enjoy right? Not them. If this is not true for your case than please disregard this whole topic, I understand some hacks are created specifically with the public in mind.

With RotDS, I originally didn't think it would become as popular as it has, thus attracting many more of these kind of folk. I try not to let it get to me because, once again, I created the hack around things that appeal to me, that I would like to add to my own goddamn hack. It's stated clearly in the readme. Releasing it to the public is just something that was decided once it started to receive a lot more development time and attention, as others did show interest and would like to play it as well, which I was stoked about and happy to oblige.

While I do respect others' opinions for the most part, It does piss me off a bit when I see these hack critics talking down on my project while at the same time calling themselves fans of the ROM-hacking scene. You won't see me going around talking shit about Pony Fantasy 6 because I don't happen to like My Little Pony... I can still respect the work that went into it, and keep my damn mouth shut. Not every hack out there is going to be a perfect sequel or re-imagining of the original.

Here's a good example of what I'm talking about, some of the comments:
http://www.rpgcodex....i-nattak.95153/

And that ladies and gents concludes my rant for the new year!

It's a shame this happens, but it is to be expected, like you already said.

I'd like to say "don't let this get to you", but it will. However, hopefully, it will get to you less and less over time.

I still have to try out your mod, but I've already seen and read a lot to know what it's about, and personally, this is something I would definitely enjoy to try.

In the end, as you may already know, people who give you constructive criticism, whether or not they like your work, are the ones worth listening to. Hell, even some of those asshole might actually have some brains, and could be worth reading their poorly expressed opinions, on another scope of course.

But yeah, I agree. People who are unnecessarily offensive and/or confrontational suck. But such is life, and we'll see those people till the end of time.

My modding career was born out of criticism for other hacks. I saw what they did that I liked, obviously, or else I just would have ignored them outright, but then the things I wish they'd done better. And so, rather than bitching about it, I just made my own.

With blackjack. And hookers.

Long story short, if you want something made just for you, your ass had better be willing to make it yourself. The golden rule for modding, if not art in general, is to make the game *you* want to play. Stay true to your own vision and nobody else's because it is only that way that a good mod is ever going to be made. If you're not willing to put forth the effort, though... you're just going to have to settle for what's out there already.

I get the feeling they really don't like crossovers. They are complaining about a horse because it's a horse, and they don't like horses.

Yep. Constructive criticism is good, but that wasn't constructive. And people wonder why people end up not making hacks.

Btb had already said what I was going to mention. Make the game that you want to play. After all, you're the one putting the work into it.

I know some people are sick of me saying this, but non-modders underestimate the amount of time and work of a project by at least 1000x. They don't understand the late nights of deciding on balance changes, rewriting fights, fixing bugs, etc. It's easy to criticize things when you produce nothing of value. That's why we see so many more critics than we do people who actually produce things.

That being said, I understand why people would criticize in the first place. Not everything that comes out is going to be to everyone's liking. I've seen my share of critiques ranging from "not my taste" to completely unreasonable requests, but players often have good ideas of things you can add/improve. You don't have to listen to all/any of them, just weed out everything that's unreasonable and/or unconstructive.

As for that topic on the other board, none of the posts (except maybe parts of the last one) were constructive in any way. Just ignore them.

Lockirby2, on 13 January 2016 - 05:23 PM, said:

What kind of dumb shit doesn't like silly crossovers, yet decides to play a game full of them?

Kjata, on 13 January 2016 - 07:50 PM, said:

The typical internet user.

I want to reserve my option (yeah, "rights" is not the right word, I assure you) to say whatever I want about anything, because it is hard to walk around and make everyone happy and I see little reason to hide my thoughts just to save someone from some minor heartache.

That being said, pure bashing and ridiculous demands just to cater to one person is ridiculous. Learn to criticize. x]

Poopheads gonna poop.

When I read posts like those that blatantly hate things because they can, I just think it's full of 8-12 year olds. Then I realize I'm being nice and giving them some leeway since I know most are probably over 30. There's soooo many hacks out there that are super horrid that deserve criticism (KKK brothers, it exists), yet they rip on something that obviously took an undetermined amount of hours to just release. When I first went through 1.0 on this hack, I could tell just by playing that it took a long time.

Everyone was ripping on the visuals and custom sprites from that forum. Not one mentioned anything else the hack has to offer. The new game + aspect was enough to get me excited on this hack. I'm with Gi, this makes me sad too. I'm a musician so I know just as well when something you poured your heart into gets ripped. Then again, it is the internet and you can find people that hate adorable puppies on it somehow. Just like hack haters, they have no heart.

Constructive criticism is fine. Even outright bashing has merit because (unless it's of the "LOL this mod is shit" variety) you're at least figuring out what about your mod people don't like. And even if it *is* just pure, baseless bashing, then you're learning what kind of person that your mod doesn't appeal to.

For example, the only outright pure "LOL this is shit" criticism I have ever seen for Brave New World all came from places that I consider to be outright cesspools of the internet where that sort of speech is standard faire. And what that tells me is that there's nobody I *want* the mod to appeal to who doesn't have at least something nice to say about it.

BTB, on 14 January 2016 - 08:10 AM, said:

Hear, hear.

RPGCodex? I haven't visited that trash heap since my high school days (the 90s and early 00s).
Seems like the more things change the more they stay the same. I wouldn't figure that anyone even bothered with an outdated website style like they have, but meh. Funny obvious broken link is funny.

The 'community' has always been that bad. Think a combination of 4chan, SomethingAwful, NeoGAF, and a smattering of reddit trash on top of it. Since nearly every game has RPG-lite mechanics (if not more) then having dedicated 'RPG Only' gaming websites has faded almost completely.

For RPG reviews/news I usually would go to RPGFan or perhaps RPGnet.

After the blatant overzealous dictator-style bullshit I had to deal with on the RomHacking Dot Net site, I've been trying to find somewhere that is equal to or better than those forums. I've had good luck with GameHacking but it seems the majority of the romhacking community seems split among multiple sites/forums. Little cohesion and every prince/princess is in another castle.

I'm not sure where to go from here but I do know I'll have fun along the way.
As they say, haters gonna hate, so let em rot.

Played through various versions of RotDS and it is a fantastic bit of work. Not *exactly* my cup of tea since Shadow had to be removed due to technical reasons; BUT it is quite awesome in just about every other way

the 'net is what it is, everyone has a (mostly) anonymous platform to talk shit about whatever the hell they feel- and almost always without any actual understanding whatsoever of what they're talking about. Drawing from personal experience, I had a good laugh at all the "articles" that sprung up last year when I did that punchout thing, the journalistic integrity when making bold assumptions about my lifestyle and character were... cute, to say the least.

Just take it in stride, rotds is, and will continue to be, Awesome.

Jackimus, on 16 January 2016 - 06:46 PM, said:

I almost want to see some examples of those articles now. Certain internet articles tend to sound fine unless you know a lot about the subject they're talking about (in this case the subject is yourself), which is when you realize just how misinformed they really are.

I always use the same name while on the internet to avoid being completely anonymous (well, there are other practical reasons as well), except in the rare cases when I use my real name. That way I actually have some incentive to not spout idiocy or act like a douche. Regardless of whether I'm showing my face or my real name, I still feel like this is something of an identity for me.

Also, welcome Denton. You won't find any "dictator style" anything here. Even if Archael (the site owner) started to act like a dictator, we'd probably find a way to ban him.

Lockirby2, on 16 January 2016 - 08:15 PM, said:

This is one of the least moderated forums I've ever been a part of, and it's mostly because the community rarely needs an adult to step in and send someone to their room for the night. Very occasionally one of us needs to actually do something about a conflict that's gotten out of hand, but for the most part everyone here is pretty cool.

Second the greetings as well, hope you enjoy your stay.

While I am fortunate enough to have not experienced this personally, I do understand the hurt feelings when receiving ignorant criticism of a project one has poured lots of energy into. I'll acknowledge whatever feelings are there.

Somehow, I'm recalling the drama around the release of Metroid Redesign: Axiel Edition. I'd bet the creator has experienced similar feelings.

RotDS is what led me to registering at ID so I have a favorable bias towards it. Tried it because I heard about the changed music; stayed because i enjoyed tackling and overcoming the challenges. I'm grateful that you have been receptive to feedback (and fixing actual broken stuff) and encourage staying true to your vision even when some disagree with changes you make.

Ultimately, constructive criticism will benefit a modder far more than complete silence or outright negativity.
I'm glad that these forums encourage open and honest discussion without the 'my website my rules gtfo' admin mentality of other places. That is a relief.
I've posted my Thornwood Terrors mod and hope to get some constructive feedback on it

Emmy, on 13 January 2016 - 07:47 PM, said:

This is so true it is beyond words. I spent hours yesterday just thinking about how to assign different weapon types to different characters fully knowing that it might change at any time. Anyone can do a quick stat change on an editor but to make something in depth, personalized, unique is difficult and time consuming.

With regards to the topic I would say I look at it from a modders perspective so even though I haven't played RotDS I have immense respect for it. I have followed the FFVI modding scene for a while and so I have known that this has been in development for quite some time. Also anyone who follows the modding scene knows that for a mod even to get finished is an accomplishment in itself. I know for a fact this is would be very much worth playing without even playing it because I know how much work has gone into it.

There are always going to be critics but even when they get on your nerves you can know you have a lot of fans and support out there. As BTB said as long as you like it in the end thats all that matters anyway.

Synchysi and I have been working on BNW since 2011, and I know Dancing Mad is even older than that. So, yeah... lots of work, indeed.