Last week Ars Technica ran an interesting article discussing ways that PC gamers can make their voices heard to game studios when they're upset about decisions those studios have made. I'm not sure why they narrowed in specifically on PC gamers, since I think their advice would work equally well with respect to console releases or even customer/company interactions that have nothing to do with gaming whatsoever. Perhaps it's because the majority of what they touched on was regarding anonymity within internet communities that led them to keep their focus on PC players– I'm not sure.
At any rate the advice was really good: touching on the common refrains of "I'll boycott you!" or "I'll pirate your game!" when customers are irate about changes or problems they dislike, the article had spokespeople at various companies explaining that those comments are usually the surest way to get studios to cover their ears and ignore the fanbase. I think that's pretty good wisdom for anything in life, personally.
The article also highlights the very salient point that a lot of customers seem to miss: vote with your wallets. If a game studio has done something you disapprove of, actually refrain from purchasing said game instead of frothing in the comments section of a fan site that you intend to boycott it, only to end up playing the game anyway:
PC gamers make a lot of noise online, but the amount of concrete action pales in comparison. By spending less time organizing public boycotts and more time simply buying good games, by choosing not to fly the Jolly Roger and changing the discussion to things publishers can do to earn your money, by organizing in a real way and criticizing productively, you can make things better for PC gaming.
In the end the article brings up a lot of good, concrete advice for how PC gamers can better engage studios when those studios do something they disapprove of, and reward studios when they do something they enjoy. I definitely think there's something to be improved upon in terms of how people act online when they're upset about something, so hopefully there's wisdom here that aggregate online communities can take to heart.
You may also be interested in:
Beware the oncoming onslaught of Satanic videogames
Gamer to Australia's Atkinson: a challenger appears!
Free content patch: invasive advertising in video games
Are we getting meaner?
Apologist says Ubisoft's DRM "isn't that bad"
Comments for new visitors are moderated and will not appear immediately. There's no need to submit more than once. If you've commented in the past, ensuring you use the same name and email as before will keep your comment out of moderation. After you submit, you'll have five minutes to edit your post for typos or content.
Allowed HTML tags: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <strike> <strong>
This is a Gravatar-enabled site. To get your own globally-recognized-avatar, register at gravatar.com.