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So a thread on game criticism here and yes, Sonic Omens is something I'll cite here: I still feel that fan content should be criticised very differently from official content. Taking into account limitations, budgets, the sizes of teams, etc.
I think it's very different when you have paid money from a product made from a corporation, from what it is when fans are devoting days upon days to just making a passion project. For one, those fans never necessarily asked for that feedback or reviews.
Sure you can say "it's the internet, it works that way" but that's a complacent attitude and complacency lands you face first into a brick wall of limitation. The point is, when it comes to critiquing fan content, I generally feel that flaws and areas for improvement...
...should factor in differently. Sonic Omens is a tremendous achievement, and we've got people nitpicking the voice acting because of slight accents and whatnot. The animations aren't perfect. Guys, you're holding this fan game to a higher standard than the real deal, wtf.
Sure, I might acknowledge that but it's not necessarily going to factor into an overall grade. Now people have a tendency to say "Criticism is important for people to improve" and sure, but when it's asked for. You gotta read the room.
Looking at Sonic Omens, looking at the entire project, how it runs, how it plays, the presentation...blood sweat and tears, hours upon hours went into making this and we are able to play it for free. Small nitpicks become superfluous in the grand scheme of things.
Imagine you've put all that time and work in and you've got people on the internet saying "Oh it's a mess" "It's a mixed bag" "The characters sound weird" "The facial expressions are off". Holy fuck. Fuck you dude. Fuck you to the moon and back.
Unless they asked, get fucked. And yeah you can say "Criticism helps people improved" but that is making the assumption that these folks are going to make more for you. You need to understand that there is a point where creators draw a line and say "We're done".
At that point, those "precious criticisms that will help them improve" are completely needless. Because it's done. It's out. We shouldn't take for granted that they'll make more for us.
The fact is, I'm working on my own Sonic fangame. It won't be as good as Omens. It's more of an experiment just so I can say "I can do it". I don't want to release it publicly now. It's gonna get ripped apart.
I'd rather just play the Sonic game for myself knowing it's my little slice of Sonic for my own, do the best I can with it, and encourage people to just make their own fan games. In wake of the scathing criticisms levelled at Omens, I DO NOT want to release my own fan game.
And as for the Patreon shit, Fan projects having patreon pages alongside the project is nothing new and totally legal. As long as the game itself isn't monetized or sold, it is completely legal.
And god, just, fuck them for wanting to recoup some of the costs that were probably spent on contracting animators, musicians, artists, getting assets, etc. A lot of money will have gone into this. People will have been paid for their work on the project.
Funding a passion project, or accepting donations is NOT ILLEGAL. You'd be surprised at the AMOUNT of unlicensed content there is on YouTube. These folks bitching and moaning about intellectual property have all probably pirated movies at some stage.
Sonic Omens is an outstanding achievement. As an aspiring fan creator I feel discouraged by the completely unwarranted backlash towards it. Go play Sonic Omens. https://gamejolt.com/games/SonicOmens/469351
Also "Sega should hire you" isn't quite the endearing comment you guys probably think it is. It's kind for sure. But misguided. Sega operate on Havok. It's a completely different framework. Just enjoy fan games. Support fan creators. If you've ever bought anything on Etsy
you don't get to moan now, just because it has attention. Also fuck me, Sega's a giant corporation that halfassed their 25th anniversary game that people paid for. Go with the underdog. Thread over.
