In other words, you generally regard critics as stupid people who need to be told this? That it's hard to make a game? That I can't open a pouch of powder marked "Game", put it in a bowl, add water, and 2 minutes later, it's ready?

But in the OP you said "I further doubt that anyone other than certain administrators influenced the making of this game." (or something like that). I really don't think that's true, based on interviews where devs have discussed what feedback they had and what they learnt from such feedback. How exactly they came to certain decisions is definitely uncertain, but without constructive criticism what would they have to sound off of? Like you said, this is a business, and if there is something which has really made quite a negative impact (let's say, the conversation wheel and the zooming in on potato faces in Oblivion), why would you not want to hear about that so that you could improve the next time around?

edited because my text went tiny for some reason

It may be a result of frustration or disappointment or things like that. Maybe the game didn't meet their expectations or isn't meeting their needs for stability, player involvement, or that mysterious and oft-employed nebulous term "Immersion."

Or, simply as the kids like to say, hating because being inflammatory on the Internet is equivalent to cool.

Skyrim is spectacular, and no, I can't make a better game by myself, but it's important to understand that Bethesda is a fairly large developer. However, I could EASILY come up with better game mechanics than the ones in Skyrim, which are unbalanced to say the least.

No you couldn't. Otherwise you wouldn't be here, you'd be somewhere nice and cozy enjoying the fruits of your labor. Furthermore, the millions that you made off of it would motivate you into making a sequel!

The idea that just because you cannot do something, like develop a game, means that you cannot have a valid opinion or criticism is stupid at best.

Have you ever looked at a building and said it was ugly? Have you ever walked into a buildng and decided it's layout was horrible? Ever walked into a room and decided the lighting was bad? Can you design a building? I can. Architecture is what I went to school for and got my degree in. But I'm not going to tell you that just because you're not an Architect, you can't have a valid opinion about a building. I know better than that.

If you use or experience something, that's all it really takes to form a valid opinion. That could be about a work of art, a building or even a video game. It doesn't matter if you could make better yourself.

Bethesda is a very smart company, gave us an incomplete product, which occurred at low cost and we fill their pockets (beocuse we are very intelignets consumers)!
They can make a game many times better (and more expensive), just not in their interest.

No, but they can and have (assuming these are the same people that designed previous TES games which had the mechanics some of us are craving for and miss), yet choose not to for the sake of sales... doesn't help that the game is a broken product. That's just unethical.

Disagreed. You can make an opinion and it does have value (to Bethesda so they know what the community wants) but when criticizing the quality of it's art, code, etc. your opinion will be invalid providing your lack of knowledge in the general subject.

That's true too. I was just thinking of criticism in terms of content, but people like those PS3 players that couldn't even play their games because of bugs shouldn't be told that they can't complain just because they couldn't have made the game themselves. If I bought a car that didn't run (or stopped running after the first few miles) you'd better believe I'd be complaining to the manufacturers. I'm not talking about the little glitches even, but that big save file bug really can't be overlooked imo.

As an actual game production student heading into the game industry (which I've worked in before) I'll say this...

I won't ever say I can, or will, outdo someone else's IP if I am given a chance to work on it, re~boot it, or what have you.

What I will say is that I will try to do my best at what I do, and that's make games. I will look at what has been made before me and what has been made around me and try to find what I believe (and what hopefully my fan base will believe) works well and what doesn't work well.

"The customer is always right" is just a silly cliche. In truth, the customer is quite often a total idiot.

I did say "if I botch it, or screw up." If the customer recognizes this, idiot or not, they're right.

I hope people realize that even if they made a game....they would still get hate comments on their forum. I'd love to see their faces so actually this is a good idea.

"Waaa I though I made the perfect game for everyone...!" No you made the perfect game for you. Don't be surprised that not everyone loves it.


You can't make everyone completely happy.

This is very true.

Just because I, as the developer, liked a mechanic doesn't mean that the customer will. That's kind of an important factor to a developer.

Can I make a better game?

Probably not. I have no training in making games.

Can I come up with some good ideas? Probably.

This, If I had the resources, I could make a kick ass game.

Yes I can make a better game. Give me five years, a team of ten dozen, a game engine to work with, several million dollars of budget and I'll make the best TES game you'll ever see.

Otherwise I'm making epic mods and not sharing them with anybody

Except when your superior hears that and then you are fired. If you were honest to people about how stupid they are nobody would use the services your job provides.

It's like those psychiatrists who have to call kids special and prescribe them ritalin instead of telling their parents they can't raise their broken condem accident properly. Harsh, but they can lose a license if they tell the truth.

the only problems I have with it are:

A ) Lack of x64, I want to use my 8GB of RAM and the x64 instruction set so that it runs better, not be stuck running it in x86 mode
B ) Shadows, seriously, oblivion had better shadows, if at all possible, have a major patch that changes how shadows work, allow for multiple shadows, have it so torches can cast shadows, and unlink the shadow quality to the shadow distance
C ) Why isn't there support for DX10/11, that would greatly improve performance

I'd settle for enough in donations to keep a $300 a month roof over my head and food in my belly. But I'll probably share my stuff for free like I always do. I guess if I were really that good I'd be working for a game company by now! Something about lacking quest content methinks. =P

Can I make a better game? No. Though that's a problem the next several years of my life are dedicated to correcting...

Can I dream up or design a better game? Yes.

Does not compute. To say that if you could possibly do something, you already would've done it makes no sense. The only way it makes sense is if everything that is going to happen has already happened.

Could I design a game? Nope.

Could I load up the CK for FO3, Oblivion and FNV and fix simple bugs that were never fixed by Beth/Obsidian?
Yes.

Did the mod community fix numerous minor and major bugs for FO3, Oblivion and FNV that were never fixed by Beth/Obsidian?
Yes.

Will this obvious pattern repeat itself for Skyrim?
You tell me.

Especially when they are actually right. Reminds me of that Ocean Strategy PR guy not too long ago. That last bit of comment is off topic so I won't reply, safe to say they have their own very profitable reasons for doing what they do. It's not to always satisfy the "customer" I think.

I could not make a better game but a game that functions for a 100% of people and not keeping a secret by withholding ps3 review copies is mandatory.