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Do you ever reach out to developers to thank them?

i pay them with money as appreciation for their outstanding products
now if i ever got the chance to meet the devs from Platinum, From, or Namco Bandai
yes i would thank them personally
 

kogasu

Member
Hmm, I'm happy to pay for a game new to support developers but I guess I never thought about personally thanking them through email or Twitter. Ohh now I feel kind of bad. I know if I ever saw a random developer of one of my favorite games in person I'd probably shower them with praise, thanks and my unworthiness though. I guess I feel that if I thanked them through the internet, it would just kind of get drowned in the many other messages they may get a day and it wouldn't really matter but ehh what the hell, I may start doing it now anyway..
 

ZeroX03

Banned
Talked to one of the devs at Sumo Digital a little bit over how great All Stars Transformed was. Other than that I usually just tweet at devs who make good games thanking them for their work.
 

Paganmoon

Member
Never did until sometime late January, after seeing the low scores, and, well pretty large amount of shit that was being thrown on Contrast, I did mail the devs and thank them for the game. So they knew there are people out there who really enjoyed the game and want them to make more.
 

Vibranium

Banned
Occasionally, yeah. Usually when devs post on GAF.

I like to be friendly and inviting first and foremost, and then maybe kindly putting in a few suggestions about how to improve a game/future game. Doesn't mean they have to listen to me of course haha.
 

sephiroth7x

Member
Only once so far. I thanked the head of Revolution Charles Cecil for making Broken Sword 5. He replied and so felt validated for it.

However, some of the bigger companies, I know my thanks will get lost in the system and never happen so don't bother. I have tried to tweet sometimes though.
 

Ishan

Junior Member
No did I reach out to toyota to tell them you made a good car? If i like it im happy i paid for it its expected. If I love the fuck out of it then maybe. They dont deserve our adulation unless we feel its something expectional. And thats true across any industry. And this is what needs to change about the gaming industry. It needs to become more of a solid business rather than a clusterfuck between art programming and new ppl just trying to get into things and hence half selling their talents for 1/5 price...
 
No did I reach out to toyota to tell them you made a good car? If i like it im happy i paid for it its expected. If I love the fuck out of it then maybe. They dont deserve our adulation unless we feel its something expectional. And thats true across any industry. And this is what needs to change about the gaming industry. It needs to become more of a solid business rather than a clusterfuck between art programming and new ppl just trying to get into things and hence half selling their talents for 1/5 price...

Isn't that what we're talking about? An exceptional experience worthy of out of the ordinary thanks?
 

Marvel

could never
Since I don't use twitter or email, if a dev is in a thread here at GAF and made a game I loved sure I thank them or say what a great job they did. But usually I just buy their game and the DLC.
 
Buying a game doesn't mean you liked it or appreciated it. We have all bought games we haven't exactly loved.

I've been happy to write devs in the past about how much I've enjoyed their games. Usually it is games that otherwise went unnoticed by the general public.
 
I once had to write a research paper for a university course and the topic was anything-goes. I decided to write it on the validity of video games as an art form. I went around looking for a game that would have interesting social features and ran across Journey (before it came out). I was so enthralled reading about it and even seeing a little gameplay footage, that I wrote a letter to thatgamecompany thanking them for making the game.

They were happy and responded sincerely =) I would be lying though if I secretly didn't wish that they would ship me a ps3 to play it - I still haven't played Journey ;-; ..
 

Nymphae

Banned
I'm really surprised at a) how many of you have contacted devs and sent your thanks, and b) how many of you have said you will think about doing more of this in the future. I'm really glad the thread seems to have inspired a bit of positivity.

However, some of the bigger companies, I know my thanks will get lost in the system and never happen so don't bother. I have tried to tweet sometimes though.

I know what you mean, but I think it's worth it to try anyway. It takes so little time and it can really make someone's day. Maybe don't send a tweet to EA, perhaps write an email to the community manager or something, telling them what the game meant to you etc., drop names if you know specific composers or level designers, whatever. You never know if the email will get passed along, and either way you'll feel good for doing it.
 
I buy thier game, i can use micro transactions if i feel they deserve it and i like thier facebook page. that should be enough.
 

Sethista

Member
I did it once, for the devs of Spec ops: the line.

They deserved a whole lot more appreciation and money than they got.
 

El-Suave

Member
Occasionally I compliment somebody on their previous game(s) when they present their latest product on the Playstation blog. I only do that for indie type games and developers though, there's no need to thank some community guy from Ubisoft for Assassin's Creed or games of that size. For commenting on those games there's GAF.
 

Nymphae

Banned
I buy thier game, i can use micro transactions if i feel they deserve it and i like thier facebook page. that should be enough.

This sentiment is honestly baffling to me. I do not understand this at all. Are you people never thanked for anything you do? Because it feels pretty good, and it encourages you to continue doing good work. Sometimes the money alone doesn't say "thank you this really affected me and I'm glad you made this". I'm not saying to thank every dev for every game you've ever liked, but when something really resonates with you, don't you feel like saying that to the person who created it?

If you were a creative person selling their wares somewhere (painting, music, whatever), would you be happy with people simply coming up to you and purchasing your art and walking away? I mean yeah, you're making the money you asked for, but as this dev in the thread said:

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

If I was selling art at a booth or something, it would mean so much more to me than the dollars the art sold for, if someone simply took a few minutes to talk about why they liked something or how it meant something to them.

I think creative types tend to do the work not primarily for the money, but for the work itself and to have an impact on someone. It's always nice to hear how your work has effected people.
 

Dantis

Member
I'll sometimes tweet at devs telling them how much I like their game. I think it's actually pretty worthwhile if it's just a short, pleasant message.
 

Rozart

Member
I've written to a few developers congratulating them on their games and the only response I ever received was from Gabe Newell.
qx9vjuy.jpg

I love Kamiya.

That's lovely. I know the developers all very busy people and all that but it really warms my heart to see them take the time to respond to their fans.

If there was an easy way to do it, and I KNEW FOR SURE they would read what I had to say...sure
.

I concur. I don't have twitter so it makes it even harder for me to reach out to them.
 

zorbsie

Member
I do this all the time on twitter. I've got some responses and I got to admit it feels nice to know they got the message. Most recent was to Twisted Pixel for Lococycle. I feel like they got lumped into the XB1 hate too much and wanted to send some positive vibes their way. Never got a reply, hopefully the vibes got there. :)
 
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