Not really. As the devs themselves have stated, one of the reasons was that Chinese players don’t have access to most of the established feedback channels like the official discord server and social media accounts so their only option to reliably get the devs‘ attention is through Steam reviews. If I remember correctly, they are (have been?) working on improving communication, for example through an ingame feedback form.
But there is definitely a cultural difference as well.
That said, it’s not like everyone in the west online is nice, but in western culture it has gotten MUCH better.
It wasn’t too long ago that every english speaking person in a video game chat was absolutely horrible. But today I encounter much more people online genuinely trying to be nice a constructive. Especially in games from studios that care.
And you can leave a negative review, and still be respectful. That isn’t what the majority are doing.
I hope that improves. China has a lack of truly wholesome devs that are also as successful as some western indies. Instead it is a hellscape of companies arguably worse than EA, Activision and Ubisoft.
Chinese players don’t have access to most of the established feedback channels like the official discord server and social media accounts so their only option to reliably get the devs‘ attention is through Steam reviews.
But there is definitely a cultural difference as well.
I think these two things might be related. When all you’ve got is a hammer, everything is going to look like a nail. The devs can add all the in-game alternative contact methods they want, if Chinese players are only familiar with using the hammer and that is the only option available to them, that’s what they’re going to use. They’re not going to suddenly try something ad-hoc like finding a feedback button buried somewhere in the game, when the nail is standing tall right there, just begging to be hit with their hammer. They’ve been trained to use the hammer, they’re going to use it first, immediately, and liberally, and the idea of using or even considering an alternative will probably never occur to most of them.
Not really. As the devs themselves have stated, one of the reasons was that Chinese players don’t have access to most of the established feedback channels like the official discord server and social media accounts so their only option to reliably get the devs‘ attention is through Steam reviews. If I remember correctly, they are (have been?) working on improving communication, for example through an ingame feedback form.
That’s good.
But there is definitely a cultural difference as well.
That said, it’s not like everyone in the west online is nice, but in western culture it has gotten MUCH better.
It wasn’t too long ago that every english speaking person in a video game chat was absolutely horrible. But today I encounter much more people online genuinely trying to be nice a constructive. Especially in games from studios that care.
And you can leave a negative review, and still be respectful. That isn’t what the majority are doing.
I hope that improves. China has a lack of truly wholesome devs that are also as successful as some western indies. Instead it is a hellscape of companies arguably worse than EA, Activision and Ubisoft.
I think these two things might be related. When all you’ve got is a hammer, everything is going to look like a nail. The devs can add all the in-game alternative contact methods they want, if Chinese players are only familiar with using the hammer and that is the only option available to them, that’s what they’re going to use. They’re not going to suddenly try something ad-hoc like finding a feedback button buried somewhere in the game, when the nail is standing tall right there, just begging to be hit with their hammer. They’ve been trained to use the hammer, they’re going to use it first, immediately, and liberally, and the idea of using or even considering an alternative will probably never occur to most of them.