The secret to getting feedback on your posts

edited in General
(I feel like we need to sticky something like this somewhere, or incorporate it into our FAQ, or something to that effect, it's a much too common a topic that keeps coming up over and over)

If you already do the stuff below, this probably doesn't apply to you. If you don't, please do! :)

TL;DR:
1. Include screenshots (embed it so it's visible immediately) (bonus: animated gif)
2. Include videos (again, embed it if you can so people can see it immediately and not have to click through)
3. Be brief.
4. Have a (easily) playable build. Easy means not having to go through steps to play it. Web builds often good. Otherwise:
5. Have as many different playable versions as possible. (itch.io is a good way to do this!)

People have limited time, as much as this forum is full of awesome people ready to help you, you need to still stand out among everyone else who is also competing for people's time. So a post with wall of text with links out isn't going to be the one to catch people's attention.

Feel free to suggest and chop and edit. Tried to keep this brief.

Comments

  • Yay! Here's some more tips I've picked up:

    If videos are difficult to record or edit together (it's not trivial to do a good job), you might also have good success with some very short videos or nice GIFs. The idea is to give ppl a good idea of your game before they play it, so they know if they will likely be able to give feedback. They don't want to watch a 5 minute video about your prototype, but they would like a good idea of what it's all about.

    Ask questions that's you'd like answers to. Try and be as specific as possible, but include one open-ended optional last question. Asking questions means you get the feedback you want, shows that you are looking for feedback, and actually makes it easier for someone trying to give you feedback.

    Accept all feedback, as graciously as possible. If people give you feedback you didn't ask for, realise that they probably think it's worth pointing out. At the same time, if you show you are good at accepting feedback, you might find that you get more, because ppl know they don't have to tip-toe around your emotional connection to the project. Remember, ppl give feedback and point out things they don't like because they want you to improve :)

    Use itch.io - this should be a point by itself, itch.io is great ;)
  • I find the way this forum embeds pictures and videos a bit intrusive, everything is scaled at full width of the page and there seems no way to scale down images into comfortable viewing sizes. Would be nice if admins could install a plugin for this board or apply an update that gives the ability to scale images and videos...
  • @critic I think the reason images are scaled to the width of the posts (not the page) is so that if fits neatly on mobile which is a major requirement of the theme. Giving members the ability to custom scale images would mess that up.
  • edited
    I use forums regularly, all of them allow image scaling, it's been a standard for nearly a decade now and most of them have mobile fronts too that don't seem to have any issues with the feature. It really is a rudimentary feature in 2016.
    Thanked by 1Zaphire
  • edited
    @critic These forums are run by volunteers, so if you want to see a feature implemented you're more than welcome to volunteer your help and get it implemented!
    Thanked by 2Tuism Fengol
  • I was hoping there was a generic update that can be applied...
  • I had trouble embedding a GIF in my shishkaboom post. Hsting from Imgur using a direct link... What's the procedure for this?
  • edited
    Testing :

    image

    Just copy the URL for the image and past it between two "img" tags. Put another way, you can right click on an image and "copy image location" and then when writing your message click the "image" button in the editing field and paste the URL. Should just work.
    Thanked by 2Fengol BenJets
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