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[Terra]

I have reached out to Noogy here on NeoGAF to say thanks for Dust - An Elysian Tail.
Such a nice fellow!

 

[Mocca-Bear]

Did it a couple of times, haven't for a while though which is a pitty.

Will do so again thanks to this thread

 

[Shin Kojima]

I emailed Harmonix once to thank them for getting me to play actual guitar as a result of me enjoying their games.
They emailed back too, saying they had shared my email around the office.

 

[daydream]

I definitely give feedback to (indie) devs that post on GAF. Not sure if I'll do it on Twitter, though (only made an account recently).

 

[solidsnakeiv]

I personally thanked the Mass Effect Bioware team for what I think is the greatest sci-fi gaming series ever created.

 

[RoboPlato]

I do sometimes if members of the team are active on Twitter.

 

[Kade]

Like every human, they deserve words of encouragement and appreciation when they do cool things, too.

At the minimum I try to send a "wow, your game is awesome!" tweet directly to the people behind the game (not the studio/publisher account). I gave up on Twitter though so I don't have a way to send nice words to people anymore.

 

[Terra_Ex]

For smaller indie devs without the PR buffer layer to separate them from the masses, yeah if I particularly enjoy a game I might drop them a message. A positive message of thanks & support (when deserved) here and there can brighten someone's day in the sea of negativity that is the net.

 

[Palehorse]

I have recently sent a message of appreciation to both InXile and Larian for their efforts on Wasteland 2 and Divinity : Original Sin respectively.

I have enjoyed their updates on progress on the games and also really like the love and effort and that goes into making their games, so I sent them each a message to let them know.

First time I've done that in years, felt good.

In both cases I received a reply thanking me so I can confirm that they do read what we send.

 

[w00zey]

no. I buy games.

 

[MightyHedgehog]

In the 80s and into the early 90s, yeah. Real handwritten letters, too. Once everything got big, as in corporate-owned and controlled by mid-90s, not so much. Any letters I did send around that time were generally returned or never seen again.

 

[Rickenslacker]

I probably should, not just with developers but others with output I've appreciated as well.

 

[Dahaka]

Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons.

Wrote the devs a few lines after this beautiful game ended.

 

[javac]

Send love letters to Kamiya every now and then.

 

[King Mac of Furry Frog]

I tend to not be as impressed these days. Playing Mass Effect made me realize how much they dumbed down the sequel. Haven't played 3, but I'll assume it's not the same as one.

There are some games I've enjoyed like Rogue Legacy and Risk of Rain looks fun.

 

[KillerDark]

That's a good idea OP and something this industry needs more of.

 

[Sky Chief]

I reached out to Mm to tell them how much I liked Tearaway. They were very appreciative.

 

[old]

I thanked them with my money when I bought the game. If it was an especially good game then I'll thank them again when I buy the sequel (or whatever their next release is).

 

[Frodo]

I did send a few tweets to Kamiya to thank for TW101 because I did have an amazing time with the game. Also because he deals with so much trolling and people bitter because of Bayonetta 2 on Twitter that I think that a tweet saying thank you would be nice to read.

I usually only tweet if I have a nice thing to say. I definitely won't tweet anything bad to anyone, unless it is EA (the publisher and NOT the developers under their belt) .

 

[Nymphae]

I'm really glad to see so many of you have taken the time to thank developers!

Also I'm a little disheartened that this sentiment seems to be popular:

Yes, I give them 60 bucks for their time and effort.

no. I buy games.

If buying the game isn't enough, fuck it.

I get this, but sales aren't enough imo. Often there are really fantastic games that simply don't sell well, I think in these cases words of thanks are very appreciated and deserved. And what about games that sell really well, but are hot garbage? BF4 comes to mind, I remember seeing some report about how they were surprised about the kickback with regards to the bugs and everything, because sales were so good! I mean the devs clearly aren't (completely) stupid, and I'm sure they know there were a lot of disappointed people out there, but sales do not always mean the product was worthwhile or praiseworthy.

And also, I simply think it's just a really nice thing to do that takes almost no time. It makes you and the dev feel good, so I say why not thank someone for something you really enjoyed, in addition to supporting them with your dollars? There's not much excuse other than laziness.

Did it a couple of times, haven't for a while though which is a pitty.

Will do so again thanks to this thread

Awesome, glad the thread did some good!

 

[Tyrant Rave]

I said something nice to JP on here and he responded with a Valentine card of Wolverine... That's about as far as I've gone lol.

Would love to send a tweet to Kamiya thanking him but he gets more than enough attention on Twitter to make up for it.

 

[rvy]

I tweet Kamiya once or twice every 3 months or so. I always thank him. He always responds, which is cool.
I don't care about other developers though and Mikami doesn't seem to understand English.

 

[ComputerMKII]

If buying the game isn't enough, fuck it.

This

 

[dude2o]

I jerk off Dennaton Games all the time.

 

[impetuous_silly]

Only through Nintendo's surveys.

 

[Mr.Squirrel]

Why in the hell would I do that?

 

[Empty]

i often do on twitter if they're a small indie studio where i feel they'll maybe appreciate it. like futurlab or the fullbright co.

 

[Beardz]

I did back in the day. I wrote some letters to Koei when they were cool, and actually made some sketches and recommendations to make a new strategy game.

 

[Nymphae]

Why in the hell would I do that?

I really hope this is a joke post. You don't see any value in thanking people for something you enjoyed? Do you not appreciate being thanked for things?

 

[FunkyPajamas]

I have, in the past, but not nearly as often as I would want. Perhaps I should start doing this again.

 

[WanderingWind]

Spiderweb. Their RPGs got us through some very, very dark times. I got all emotional playing Avernum one day and sent them a "Thanks for being awesome" E-Mail. I got a response, which was nice.

 

[Massive Duck. C.M.]

I saw Nagoshi at TGS and was like, "ey dog, Ryu ga Gotoku is great. Keep it up stromie."

Never hurts to give the devs some love, especially since they don't see a whole lot of that money we slap down on games.

Also helps to balance out the "kill yourself" tweets and emails

 

[jiiikoo]

I haven't had the urge to do so in awhile. But if one day I get the urge, I'd probably do it.

 

[kick51]

With comic book creators, yes. I go to cons and thank them in person.

I do this with comic book artists too! I read a lot of indie stuff, so I usually get a good response from them.

I also do it a bit with indie musicians, but the results of that are more mixed. brooklyn based artists seem a more reluctant with the responses lol

 

[Mr. Poolman]

A year after the release of Mass Effect 3 I wrote to Bioware thanking them for all the hours of fun I had with the trilogy.
They responded me.

There is no shame on being nice.

 

[rvy]

I saw Nagoshi at TGS and was like, "ey dog, Ryu ga Gotoku is great. Keep it up stromie."

Never hurts to give the devs some love, especially since they don't see a whole lot of that money we slap down on games.

Also helps to balance out the "kill yourself" tweets and emails

You should have told him to force SEGA to release the game overseas or bad things were going to happen to his underwear.

You had one chance.

 

[-PXG-]

Yes, of course. Most devs are happy that people buy and play their games. Friendly messages and such are a nice bonus.

Being an artist and aspiring dev, I do thank them. A lot of gamers have no clue as to how hard and stressful it is to make a game. So, I do thank them for their effort and dedication. I'm also brutally honest and will tell them if something sucks too.

 

[Ahasverus]

When I'm in Madrid later this year I'll bring some candy and let it at MercurySteam's reception with an appreciative letter. I wish I could do that for lots of studios, sadly they are the only ones I'll be near to soon.

 

[lewisgone]

I think I remember doing so once but cannot for the life of me remember what game it was. I should do that more though, especially for indie games or games I invest way more hours into than most players probably have (something like say, Awesomenauts, which I enjoyed a lot).

I also always seriously fill out those Nintendo surveys. This christmas I had about 5 club Nintendo codes to put in but it took me about 30 minutes since I couldn't bring myself to just write a quick "I enjoyed it" or whatever. Even though what I write will most likely never be read/taken seriously/acted upon.

 

[Tankallex]

I have a few times. The most recent time was to Yager for making such a great game with Spec Ops: The Line.

 

[Broken Joystick]

Tweeted the dev of SteamWorld Dig plenty of times and praised the game, he's always happy to respond and is just a delight, which got me talking to more developers and thanking them for games. I imagine there's a lot of negativity in the industry so they must appreciate the little things. Never written anything to a big dev though.

 

[Arla]

I thanked XSEED, Taka, and hatsuu for Senran Kagura. I got fav and reply, so it was good to know they saw it. Liking Japanese games it's kinda hard to get in contact with a dev like Monolith Soft and say how much you love Xenoblade. Twitter makes it easier to reach out to some devs, which is cool. Honestly though, they got my money and I recommend them to my friends. I don't feel the need to thank them all the time.

 

[Snuggles]

Why in the hell would I do that?

Sometimes normal human beings find satisfaction in showing appreciation of another normal human being's work. It can be a positive thing for both parties. Pretty weird, huh?

It's not hard to understand, it's basic human interaction. Yeah, I go to my job to get paid, but I appreciate positive feedback regardless.

 

[FaintColt388301]

I wanted to with Media Molecule after Tearaway. That game was pure magic

 

[Nerokis]

I wouldn't equate purchasing a game with sending a thank you letter/email/whatever. You're certainly supporting the developer/publisher, and I'm sure it's much appreciated, but in return you're getting a product you'll hopefully derive much enjoyment from. You're making a trade. Taking the time to send a message of appreciation, to go out of your way to directly tell a developer what you thought about their game and how it affected you, is a different act, and one I would imagine isn't done nearly enough in comparison to all the trolling and useless negativity swirling about out there.

I don't think I've ever done it myself. I've sent emails with feedback, I've posted on forums showing love for a game, but I don't think I've ever made a conscious effort to personally show my appreciation for a developer's work. I'll begin doing that.

 

[FaintColt388301]

Sometimes normal human beings find satisfaction in showing appreciation of another normal human being's work. It can be a positive thing for both parties. Pretty weird, huh?

Replies like this are pretty troubling. Yeah, I go to my job to get paid, but I appreciate positive feedback regardless.

Exactly. Yeah, the people are doing what they are doing for the money but sometimes people do the job so well that they deserve extra acknowledgement that isn't just monetary. Going out of your way to thank somebody is good way to show that they are valued.

 

[Zincalloy]

I do all the time! Mostly over twitter. If it had been so easy to do this when I was growing up I would have done it all the time as a kid too.

Dat avatar. I'm getting a Nariko wig for my wife today.

 

[Neuromancer]

Every once in a while, especially to developers with smaller teams. I like to think they appreciate it.

 

[foxuzamaki]

Ive said it to sakurai atleast twice now.

 

[tassletine]

Yes. One of the best things about the dedicated message boards on the WiiU is that you can get tips from the developers and talk to them individually (if they are there). I thanked a couple of the Two Tribes developers and it felt great to communicate with them directly.