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[Deleted member 1235]

'Reach out' is a really really weird Americanism that has become massively prevalent in business in the last year or two. Sorry for the weird observation, I think I only ever mailed an app dev once over seething I paid for with a specific question.

 

[LuchaShaq]

I did to the cook serve delicious guy because he was nice enough to let me get a Mac download in addition to my original PC download so my gf could try it without stealing my desktop.

Considering she went on to buy iPad version and I also bought android version, and I bought another of his games I consider it to have paid off for him. He had a super nice post about Ryan Davis as well.


Ma ybe some others on twitter

 

[Raptomex]

Tarn Adams (creator of Dwarf Fortress) is maybe the only developer I really want to thank. The game is free and he doesn't advertise. DF is his life's work and he lives on donations.

 

[Wibblewozzer]

I know for sure I emailed Sucker Punch and got a nice written Rey back. I believe that was before Sly 2 had been announced and they had been quiet for awhile.

I also emailed the developers of Urban Space Squirrel on Xbox Live Indie Games and had an exchange with them. They were very appreciative.

And of course I've said nice things to those that I've seen on GAF that I've played and enjoyed their games (Feep, Noogy, and Chubigans all come to mind. Oh, and Trunks. Just bought another copy of Love now that it's on Steam!).

 

[Ranger X]

I thank them by buying their great games at launch. As simple as that.

 

[FYC]

On twitter, I thanked Kamiya for his work on DMC and complimented Johnny Yong Bosch on his voice acting for Nero in DMC4. Kamiya replied with a and JYB said thanks. It was nice.

 

[ShockingAlberto]

I once thanked Kamiya and showed him my W101 thread and he could not have cared less.

 

[Demicore]

YES YES and YES.

Especially small devs.

With modders it's 100% of the time when I find their mods enjoyable, because they do it for free. I also donate when I'm able.

 

[Camp Lo]

Again though, when you have this perception, are you thinking this with regards to the publisher? (In which case you're most likely correct), or with regards to the team that worked on the game? For example, I'm sure the composer would love to know that you adored their soundtrack.

Yeah, you're right. I always correlate developers = publishers by default. In any case, no I never thought to reach out, I just buy whatever game they make next.

 

[iosefe]

i've praised FuturLab on twitter a couple times. I REALLY enjoy their games, so simple, and so fun.

 

[jmdajr]

$$$

 

[Feep]

That's the only appreciation they want

Speak for yourself. I love getting E-mails from happy customers, and it's worth a lot more than $3.50 to me.

 

[doctorblurg]

I sent Edmund Mcmillen a message about how great I thought super meat boy and his other games were. That's about all I've done

 

[The_Monk]

I could have guessed The Monk was one of the good ones who does this haha, good job fellow GAFfer!



God damn, that's next level appreciation in today's day and age lol.

Hehe, thank you! Considering that only "less than good" experience I mentioned earlier the others were pretty smooth and I tend to keep doing it.

 

[R0ckman]

I send my thanks to Kamiya occasionally. He needs something good out of the hoards of shit tweets he goes through daily.

 

[Nymphae]

Speak for yourself. I love getting E-mails from happy customers, and it's worth a lot more than $3.50 to me.

This right here people.

 

[oni_saru]

i like to tweet them and say how much i love their work. twitter is the best for that!

 

[Seance]

Is Durante a developer?

 

[Converse]

I've expressed my appreciation to some indie developers on Miiverse (Gaijin Games, KnapNok, etc.) and have been surprised and happy by the response. Makes for a really communal feeling -- the first time I paused a game for a spell and was able to exchange a few words with one the game's creators before popping back in was a fantastic experience.

 

[Doctor_Thomas]

I sent an email to Naughty Dog after Uncharted came out and got a reply, now I mostly use Twitter (last comment to a developer was favourited by said developer). I dunno, I feel people like to be told they're doing a good job, I know I do, and if I enjoy the game, I like the developers to know that there's at least one person who bought and enjoyed the game. Twitter makes telling devs they're doing a good job easy. On that note, big fan of the FuturLab and Honeyslug guys, absolutely lovely people.

 

[LCGeek]

Yes but some developers or people in the industry I know and they tend to pass it on up or around.

In the case of those I don't know I just simply leave feedback when and where possible. Wish more companies would do surveys.

 

[dreamfall]

Thank God for Durante everytime I get the chance!

Other devs, sometimes. I think I'd emailed Starbreeze directly for being so faithful to The Darkness graphic novel- and just to express some gratitude.

We should do it more often. I think that usually I associate a development team with a single person who conducts interviews and such, so it's harder to reach out. I think I'll strive to do so more often- I also posted on the Mafia 2 community board about being excited about the car customization. Little blurbs of thankfulness.

 

[Duxxy3]

You don't call the cable company every month to thank them, you just send a check.

Why would games be special?

 

[ugh_the_boot]

I wrote to Ken Levine and thanked him for the original Bioshock and his amazing vision in creating a universe I have always wanted in a game (underwater utopia).

 

[Currygan]

I met Jon Hare in 2003, shook hands and told him he was and still is one of the very few true masters of gaming and one of my personal idols. He was very nice and very humble. Great bloke, it seemed

 

[Arkadios]

The amount of aversion in this thread for saying thank you to someone for creating something you liked is... baffling. To even suggest that the only reason people who work their asses off to get good jobs as concept artists, animation artists, composers, scrip writing, sound designers, etc etc. is simply for the green that you pay, and not to actually hear about your enjoyment of the game, or perhaps the part they specifically worked on / helped create, is such an insulting concept. Who on earth would try to simplify liking/appreciation of a product, directly to the revenue.

You love the art direction in a game? Try thanking whoever was a part of that team. You love the soundtrack? Thank the composer. It's really not that hard a concept.

Quoting again for quality. Some assumptions in this thread are mind-boggling.

 

[Raptomex]

Developers who treat games as an art form deserve thanks. Developers only in it for the money deserve no support.

 

[TheSpoiler]

On Twitter I do, all the time. In fact, I just sent one over to TKoei for Toukiden. They even replied!

Hell, most companies usually do. Show'em you like the games so you get more good ones.

 

[soxinthebox]

Rarely but I did send Jonathan Blow a belated thanks a few months ago for Braid since I really enjoyed it when it was released.

My thinking being, it's nice hearing positive things about your work sometimes even if really late

 

[Massive Duck. C.M.]

You don't call the cable company every month to thank them, you just send a check.

Why would games be special?

The cable company writes, directs, casts, builds sets for, and stars in all of the tv shows now huh

 

[tmarques]

Over 10 years ago I came accross Jane Jensen's email address and sent her a message. She wrote back and was super sweet. And it wasn't a generic "ok thanks" either, she had actually read my message. Amazing lady (now where's Moebius, woman?).

 

[LastNac]

Walked up to Kurt Margenau(ND) at E3 and told him thanks for creating some of my favorite gameplay moments of all time.

Told Evan Wells and Christophe Balestra I thought UC3 was the best in the series. They agreed.

Hope I get to thank Amy Hennig in person one day too.

Awesome people who do awesome jobs.

 

[OneMrBean]

As a indie dev, the nice comments are the ones that keep me going. Buying my commercial games is of course the big way to support me financially. But to keep me sane, to keep morale up, and for me to stop thinking I'm worthless, all it takes is a dumb little thank you on twitter or a tiny e-mail with a positive thought and a smiley to get me going again. Stuff like that gets me out of bed, gets me working, and overall allows me to believe in myself, that what I'm doing with my life is worth it because it's affecting someone in a positive way.

And then there are the really big thank yous - the fan arts, the lengthy e-mails, the fan videos, the heartfelt deep comments buried on a forum somewhere about how one of my games helped someone cope with the loss of a loved one and move on... That stuff doesn't happen as often, but it does. And it touches me, much as I had touched the player. And it's at those moments that I know for a fact that what I'm doing is worth it.

 

[curiouscharles]

i never have, but this is a phenomenal idea.

i generally ask waiters to thank the kitchen staff / chefs for a good meal, and thank retailers for good service - why not my fav devs?

 

[DICKS AHOY]

I've sent admittedly kinda gush-y posts to individual people like Kamiya or David Wise if they show up on forums or image boards I frequent occasionally, but I never actively try to reach a company to thank them. Seems more like something that'd be easier on twitter, and I gave up on that ages ago now.

 

[DarkChronic]

I've done it a few times. Most recently Ken Levine/IG for Bioshock, Tim Schafer/DF for Broken Age, and the Cardboard Computer guys for Kentucky Route Zero.

 

[DoktorEvil]

No, I want to but I really don't know how to directly.

Short of snail mail or email, I never know if these guys actually receive anything we send them.

 

[LookAtMeGo]

I took this management training course the hotel I work had me take and they went over these statistics about how 8 or 9 out out of 10 people who have a bad experience tell a large number of people about that bad experience while only like 2 or 3 people out of 10 will tell even less people about a positive experience they had. Apparently its human nature to express negative feelings vocally more than positive ones. But I'm with you. People in general should express their gratitude a bit more often.

 

[Einbroch]

No, but I really want to email someone in Hiro Isono's (Secret of Mana artist) family and thank him for making the artwork that got me into gaming in the first place.

 

[OverdriveOtaku]

If I really like the game and a key person on the dev team has twitter, sure. If someone busted their ass working hard on a piece of something I enjoyed, I do want them to know that it's appreciated.

 

[Arcayne]

No, but doing so usually crosses my mind after finishing a great game. I just didn't/don't know the appropriate way to express my gratitude to the devs. I Think I'll add "tweet/email thanks to dev" on my to-do list this week, thanks OP.

 

[Disaster Nebraska]

I send emails to indie devs. I figure bigger companies aren't even going to read 'em. I thanked the OlliOlli dev and they replied back about a day later. Was nice. That's how PC gaming was back in the 80s and 90s when I grew up. Kinda miss those days.

 

[akidnamededdy]

I've told Kamiya he does an awesome job a couple times via Twitter and he always responded, thankfully without asking me if I eat shit.

 

[batfax]

I think the only point I've ever been in an easy position to do so was with Sumo Digital. Since S0L makes pretty regular rounds on various forums (including GAF), I've said a few words of thanks when I've had the chance. Otherwise my thanks is just given by buying the games.

 

[Aquamarine]

On occasion I've sent my regards directly to the studios that receive them.

For example, I've told Reggie to his face what a fantastic job Nintendo has done with 1st-party games and I've gone on about the extraordinarily high-quality localizations at Nintendo of America....or I've told staff members at Tokyo EAD that their Mario games are absolutely top-notch.

But in general I don't tend to send anonymous messages...if I like something I either tell them over the phone or in person...I feel that's more meaningful.

 

[JimmyRustler]

I never have but if I ever meet Mikami I'll make sure to bow before him for giving me RE1 and RE4 - which will most certainly be weird because I'm probably 3 heads taller than him.

 

[Eclectic Jabber Monkey]

Yeah GAF get your shit together. We should really focus all of our hate towards EA and thank every dev who's not with EA.

Not everything EA has done is bad, I thank Visceral for making Dead Space 1 and 2, though don't like whomever made the decision to dude-bro DS3. And make you buy the DLC to get the complete ending of the game.

I was thinking of thanking Vince from Respawn on twitter for info during the Titanfall beta, he was very forthcoming with info and seems pretty honest in what he saying. Refreshing to seem someone, especially someone of his standing in the company communicating so well and openly with his customers.

 

[thesolidshark]

If it's a game I especially like, yes.

And while I understand that not all developers would like a very open channel of communication between them and fans, I appreciate the ones that do in some way.

 

[SegaShack]

If I met the people involved in the Genesis Sonic games, Pokemon Red/Blue, or Zelda (Miyamoto), I would love to thank them.

 

[DryvBy]

I contacted Tim Schafer for making my favorite game, Grim Fandango. Was a cool few minutes chatting with him.