Behind the Sim 01 - Prepare for Criticism

Hello there, Meinos Kaen here!

As I previously mentioned, I wanted to start making some posts that could help people start their own projects, be it as a game, a fanfiction or anything else. Of course, some posts will be more videogame-specific or writing-oriented, but I wanted to start with a very important truth which you should keep in mind before getting into any kind of creative endeavor whatsoever...

You WILL Be Criticized.

It's mathematically certain. No, seriously.

We're more than 7 Billion people on this planet, each one differing in upbringing, social life, beliefs, intellect, education, skills, talents, instincts, etc... These are all things that contribute to form our tastes. Just like you won't find two persons with two identical sets of handprints, you won't find two persons with two identical sets of tastes.

Even people who like the same things like them in different ways, or for different reasons or for the same reasons but weigh each reason differently. The combinations are endless.

So I'm not exaggerating when I say that it's inevitable that some people will not like what you make, or parts of it. Some will even share that dislike with you.

Now, here's the important part: that's a good thing.

Criticism is important because it offers you another point of view. You're only one person and as such you only have your own POV. So it's important to talk to other people, show them your work and take their criticism to heart, consider it seriously if for only a moment.

That doesn't mean that people criticizing you are always right. First of all, some people's criticism boils down to 'this suck, you suck' which isn't only dickish, it's also useless.

Good criticism is the one that goes 'I think you did this wrong and I would have done this differently' or 'this is usually done this way' or 'I don't understand why you did X this way'. Good criticism is criticism that asks you question or makes you ask yourself questions. It makes you think and challenges your mind to find answers to those questions and that's how you grow as an artist: by answering questions.

We'll get back to questions in a future post. What I want you to take away from this is: I know that the thought of people not liking what you do can be scary but it's going to happen. You have to think of it as an opportunity for growth and also to notice when you make mistakes.

It's happened to me with JPDE. A very big mistake was corrected because someone told me that he literally dropped the game upon witnessing it. Sure, it hurt hearing that but for only a moment because then I immediately realized 'holy shit, this guy is right'. That moment of hurt left place to gratefulness and the game was all the better for it.

The worst thing you can do is turtle up and ask people to leave you alone because hearing bad things said about what you do upsets you. Or, on the other extreme, lash out at people criticizing you because hearing bad things said about what you do angers you.

So prepare for criticism, think of it as an opportunity and always keep an open mind. Nothing is perfect, so there's always room for improvement.

- Meinos Kaen