Seth Killian had some interesting things to say about the difference between fan feedback and developer thoughts in some recent posts he made. Killian also went on to explain a bit of how the Suggestion Box on Capcom-Unity works. Do you really look in the Suggestion Box on Capcom-Unity?
Svensson: We look at it with great frequency and many of its suggestions are discussed at very high levels.
Seth Killian: Yes, we look at it, but as has been pointed out here, it's not always easy to provide feedback regarding specific suggestions:
Real sample suggestion: "Add Strider to MvC3!"
As has been mentioned, the release characters for the game are fixed, so timing and a number of other factors make this inviable. The thing I don't think people consider is that even if we DID say, "Okay, we will do it," we still wouldn't SAY we were doing it. At least not yet.
This is to say there's often a long burn period between the time a suggestion gets made, and the time we're able to act on it and tell you about it. It's sometimes the case that we can't use even good suggestions for a variety of internal or business reasons, but we really do look and implement a number of things. As I recall, there are suggestions in there that are being acted upon AT THIS VERY MINUTE, although we're not telling you which ones just yet. Not teasing so much as making it clear that yes, we look and listen, though it's sometimes a looong time til we can let you know.
Shouldn't fans stay fans and developers stay developers, in regards to fan feedback? — Taj
Seth Killian: Just as with any subject in life, there are plenty of opinions. It's up to you (and to us) to figure out for yourselves which are the good ones, and which ones aren't so good. If you follow bad advice, you can definitely get yourself in trouble, so we definitely don't *blindly* follow community suggestions. We treat them as suggestions, then decide for ourselves whether they are good/practical/etc.
I think the easiest way to think of it is as if the community were a voice at the dev discussion table. When everyone is sitting around and bouncing ideas off one another, the community ideas are in there alongside all the others. Community is not the only voice, and it doesn't always get its way, but it's a fantastic person to have at the table with you — full of interesting ideas, even if they aren't always practical/don't fit the project/etc.
Beyond that, I got my start in this business as a loudmouth fan, so I'm definitely partial to the idea that loudmouth fans are sometimes right about things and should be listened to. :) There are definitely some hard realities that fans never seem to acknowledge, but in general I think they are a great source for ideas. You also don't have to be a pro to know what you're talking about, but it helps. Conversely, pros can sometimes look at things from a very narrow perspective, while other players might have a fantastic idea or an elegant solution to a problem.
I work very hard to make sure the fans are heard at the highest levels of the company. That doesn't mean every idea will become a reality, but I do think we've had a fairly strong correlation of successful games with the franchises that are listening most to their fans, so I think we'll keep at it :)
(So he's saying Mega Man X, Gambit, and Frank West will be DLC but we need to wait? Interesting...)
Fans :
We want mc2 on psn/xbl and online with bonus .
Fans : We want MVC3
Fans : We want SF3 PSN/XBL .
Fans : We dont want ssf4 to be dlc based , release a disc . DLCs are evil
Fans : We want more sf3 chars as dlc for ssf4 . Dlcs are good
If that's not listening , go cry over at namco's for a change , and see if it works
For some reason hearing him talking about Strider like that, using him as the example made me loose all hope for Hiryu's possibility of being a DLC, thou he isn't confirming or denying anything. Damn! i want that freaking Ninja to be on the game.
Either way this quote is very important
"You also don't have to be a pro to know what you're talking about"
I think everyone wants this in SSF4AE, everyone wants Alex and please include him in
@Mr_Clack
Proof of this paid DLC you speak of...I've never heard of this Paid DLC....oh wait because they haven't announced if they are charging for characters(for all we know Shuma and Jill might be for those who only bought the Collectors) or if Megman is a DLC character weather or not you'll have to pay(because some DLCs are free)
@Kurow
It's mainly these Q&A sessions that Catalyst post, if you go on the boards you'll see alot of clear yes or no answers from him
And what has Namco done so terribly wrong again?
If Capcom decided to give their fanbase the middlefinger they'd suffer too, let's not confuse a few butthurt consumers with not having their favorites in a few select titles to never releasing classic titles.
Namco has only sucked at providing US fans with new Tales games but then again if you're that much of a fan then you'd import them instead of waiting and whining.
It's better to be a capcom fan than a square enix fan, people have been asking for a ff7 remake for a long time and square has just brushed it off, capcom goes to fans and they listen to us. In my opinion, If we did not have unity we might not have gotten mvsc3 as fast as we did
lol Namco does a lot wrong. Sure they have my favorite series (Soul calibur) but they can really f*ck things up when deciding what suggestions are valid and which ones aren't. SC:BD from SC IV had me screaming "do you even read the f*ckin boards?!?!?!?"
I trust Capcom, despite there being some "WTF" decisions with SF4. I just hope they listen to the hate on Thor. More time is needed, but I've heard nothing but bad things back by rational reasons such as his command throw range being laughably bad.
You guys are too much...this guy probably gave you the most insightful answers regarding how capcom performs the very difficult balancing act of releasing a successful (read: profitable) product which paves the way for future products to be green lit all the while doing their damndest to keep the die hards excited. He pretty much laid it out without bullsh-ting or dodging the question. That is called respecting your audience and not underestimating their intelligence. I, for one, respect the insight. Oh, keep this in mind at all times: If not for capcom doing their best to satisfy the casual and the killer simultaneously, sf4 would have been a blip on the very wide video game radar, mvc3 would be nothing but a good idea and sf3 online would be the embarassment of a fired employee who made the mistake of mentioning it to his bosses out loud. Bottom line, our ideas need to mesh with both the satisfaction of the core and the enjoyment of the "temp", or it's left on the table. I don't think they're batting 1000, but I'm happy with what they've got right.
Fix PS3 input delay when the AE patch/DLC comes out: http://www.capcom-unity.com/street_fi...
[This isn't referring to online lag..]
@CBX
Actually it came quite fast , considering it's thanks to the success of MVC2 on psn/xbl .
Anyway yeah others nailed it when it comes to namco .
When was the last time namco listened to feedback , even concerning balances ? They keep the same broken sc character since the beginning of the serie .
And only considered some changes with future tekken titles because of the backlash from dissapointed fans
At the risk of sounding like fanboy, I'll throw a cent or two on the subject
I think Capcom is just one of those companies that have "fans" that think they are obliged to so much. When things don't go right for them, Capcom is all they know who to blame. These people don't HAVE to address jack sh*t, but whenever they do they are called liars or subjected to more "capcom doesn't listen to fans" bs. These people don't just announce titles and make things up as they go along. THEY HAVE PLANS!!! Which means any suggestions by fans from announcement to release already have a slim window of being implemented, whether they are awesome suggestions or not. Take MvC3 for instance. People say all they care about is money, but do you honestly think they don't see the repercussions of not adding fan favorites like Strider, etc. They won't just NOT add characters that will guarantee sales. If they say they can't do it, THEY CAN'T!! Nothing to gain from lying about that.
On top of everything else though, fact is they will never please everyone. I'll admit that I've wanted things outta franchises that weren't or won't be implemented. But specifically on the fighting game front, nearly everything released and planned to be releases has in fact been catered to fans. It's damn easy to take somethings for granted, considering how things COULD be. Say, people like Seth or Sven never talking to any of us, ever.
The community comments has to be taken to heart if the project is going to be successful in the long run (especially in a competitive game). The developers determine what is practical and effective, the people who are spending their money say I want this or I want that. It just happens that those suggestions end up good or not so good for a myriad of reasons.
Kind of like the relationship between a web developer and his client. There are different views that MADE SF4 successful, each one plays its part. If it becomes one-sided, it loses a valuable piece of the puzzle.
There's the developer side, business side, and client side in general.
Interesting insight. I've got to say, despite there flaws, Capcom doesn't leave it's fans hanging. Often.