Comment by generalk | Hacker News Reader

Comment by generalk | Hacker News Reader

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"continue to blame the customer?" He's never said that folks were wrong, or blamed anyone for anything. Seems to me like he just wanted folks to not be shitty.

Take, for example, this comment by someone calling themselves _Proud Retro Fascist_:

  > Nice attempt at silencing critics. The game will fail because it is 
  > objectively hideous and you will only have yourself to blame.
  >
  > Inthe end all you will have achieved is killing off Monkey Island once more. 
  > This time permanently.
  >
  > All you had to do was make a game with an art style that appeals to 
  > everyone, whatever it might be. Instead, you opted for the most repugnant, 
  > revolting and hideous TRASH art style that anybody has ever bared witness to 
  > in a video game. You must be out of your mind.
  >
  > All said, try hiring good artists next time... if there is a next time, that 
  > is.
  >
  > RIP MONKEY ISLAND

I wouldn't blame anyone for being upset after receiving this kind of vile commentary "Objectively hideous;" "repugnant, revolting and hideous TRASH art style." There's nothing constructive or even reasonable there, it's purely nastiness for nastiness' sake.

Stay strong, Ron Gilbert, don't let the assholes get you down.

Yeah, that's a very harsh comment. Nonetheless, there is something to be learnt here:

If anything, the comments of the fans show that this artstyle alienates many of the fans. So, if for example the artstyle would've been showed at the very start of the development, then the developers could've listened to the fans and changed it. But everyone's in a tough spot now because development is nearly finished (game is planned for this year) and it would be too late to change course.

As such, Ron Gilbert can only do one thing: Buckle up, release the game and let it be played by those who are not alienated by the artstyle. Maybe it will charm new fans even more; maybe not. Who knows. However, it certainly is an artstyle that is not "universal". E.g. AAA developers usually refine their main character so much that he appeals more or less universally, they want someone who is liked by everyone. They don't want a main character that is only liked by 50% of the target audience. BUT! This comes with the caveat that these games might be overoptimized for the mainstream and thus being somehow boring. That's why I love what the artists and Ron Gilbert did, even though I am torn on the style myself.

Btw. I myself was even more alienated by the artstyle of Broken Age (so much that I never played it) and that was a game where I even invested money in. However, I never could've thrown words at Tim Schafer. And neither on Ron Gilbert, for that matter.

The lead artist of Return to Monkey Island worked for Double Fine previously, so it shouldn't be a surprise that if you didn't like art style that Double Fine made a "house style" you likely wouldn't be interested in what an alumni of that art style is trying to innovate at a follow up studio.

> If anything, the comments of the fans show that this artstyle alienates many of the fans.

Vocal fans are a sampling bias. Don't forget that volume in terms of loudness of complaint does not equal volume in terms of number of complainers. It may not be that "many" fans in number just because they have been that loud/obnoxious.

Interesting, I absolutely loved the art style of Broken Age, it's original and distinctive in a way few games are. I guess you're right about that optimizing for the main stream tends to create relatively boring art. And it's also why I like the new art style too

> All you had to do was make a game with an art style that appeals to everyone, whatever it might be

It beggars belief that someone could write this sincerely and not realize how absurd it is. "All you had to do was make something perfect."

I understood it differently, to mean: "All you had to do was make a game with an art style that does not get in the way [of enjoying the game], whatever it might be."

I think this interpretation makes sense, since the original game is primarily story-driven.

Holding up the complaints of someone called "_Proud Retro Fascist_" shouldn't invalidate legitimate criticism just because a broke clock it right twice a day...

> Take, for example, this comment by someone calling themselves Proud Retro Fascist: [...]

For what it's worth, the person called themselves like this in jest: apparently in an earlier comment, someone referred to people skeptical of the new design as "retro fascists." Not sure if that was supposed to be sarcastic as well, since the comment has been deleted.

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