You know the feeling. You log in to your HS account and click on Control Panel and your heart leaps with joy! There it is- notification of a new post in your customs thread! With baited breath you click on the post to see what kudos and expressions of amazement are waiting for you at the bottom of your thread.
While we may not live for feedback on our customs, everyone gets excited when they see that there is a comment in their customs thread awaiting their viewing. Sometimes it is the pleasant surprise of a helpful comment, sometimes it is an awesome encouragement, sometimes it is the less than exciting spotlight shined on a glaring weakness we were oblivious to in our unit. But there is always reason to appreciate a comment- if nothing else it puts your thread toward the top of the list where it is more likely to be viewed rather than stuck on page 12 between a thread for My Pretty Pony Customs and a thread debating the need of introducing a custom unit faction based on characters from the book The Wonky Donkey.
There are different ways to respond to feedback on your custom units that will either build your reputation in the community (even if your customs aren’t the greatest) or or do much to ruin it (even if you have decent customs). Let’s talk about some of those. And keep in mind these are my opinions, but they are based on two things- experience in this community and experience in life as someone who’s job is knowing how to respond to people (I am a pastor). That doesn’t make me an expert (just ask the people in my congregation
), but it does help give me some insight. Beyond that, it really just boils down to common courtesy.
Read the Comment
This may seem like a silly thing to say, but I do mean read the comment, not merely look at the words that have been typed. Sometimes in our excitement over getting a comment, especially if there is more than one waiting for us, we kind of just view them if they seem inconsequential or less praising of our work. Keep in mind the person who wrote the comment obviously didn’t think it inconsequential or they wouldn’t have written it. Take your time to really read each comment to glean from it what you can. Someone who doesn’t have time to really pay attention to each comment is someone who probably doesn’t have time to improve and refine their unit.
Give the Benefit of the Doubt
I have a friend who has a unique personality. He is the type who is very blunt and matter of fact and has no idea whatsoever how to say things with tact. People who don’t know him can find him coarse, rude, and unpleasant. Those of us who know him know a person who will drop whatever he is doing to help someone who needs it, someone who will give whatever time he needs to in order to make sure those around him succeed, someone who genuinely cares for other people. When we take him aside and explain how he just hurt someone with what he said he is genuinely sorry and will do whatever he needs to make amends. When he says something mouth-droppingly shocking, we give him the benefit of the doubt. We know his intent isn’t to hurt or offend. Transfer that to a medium in which tone of voice and body language cannot inform interpretation of words and you are just asking for trouble- that medium being text on a page.
If you get a comment that seems especially snarky keep in mind you are reading words on a page, not listening to person talk. That means that you have no aids in interpreting attitude and we usually interpret those comments in the context of our own personality and experience.
My sister and I love debating philosophical subjects, my wife sees us as arguing and getting heated over meaningless things. She comes from a family where heated discussion meant one thing- you were mad at the other person. I come from a family where heated discussion means you are thoroughly enjoying the discussion and there is no anger involved, but my wife interprets through her experience (and responds to us with rolling eyes).
Keep this in mind when reading someone’s negative and seemingly snarky comment. Give them the benefit of the doubt that they are not being snarky or negative but are actually trying to give meaningful and helpful advice.
Give Heed to the Comment
No customs creator creates perfect units off the bat (although
@
dok
and
@
Scytale
probably come pretty close). We all need input from the community; whether positive or negative, it is the pathway to improvement. If someone leaves detailed feedback about a unit, even if it is negative, truly sincerely think about it. If you really want to make your unit the best you can you WILL pay attention to every bit advice you get. The true sign of someone who is just looking for attention and recognition is that they will rarely pay any heed to negative input or show any willingness to change something based on that input. This doesn’t mean you can’t defend why you are going in a certain direction and continue in that direction if you really feel your direction makes the most sense (it is your custom after all), just don’t dismiss advice out of hand because you don’t like it.
If the person took the time to post analytical feedback, trust me, they aren’t simply doing it to be mean. It takes too much time and thought to analyze, formulate, and post a response just for the sake of being mean. The person may have an actual point, regardless of how they say it, that may lead to an improved unit.
Respond to the Feedback
This is the one that really gets to me the most. When a ‘scaper goes through the extreme trouble of really looking at your unit and theoryscaping with it and formulating results and then formulating and posting a response, acknowledge it! Even if you don’t act on the advice, acknowledge that you read the post!
Two things about this…
One, it is just common courtesy. To allow someone to go through the effort of trying to help you and then you roll over it like it doesn’t even matter is just rude, plain and simple. This doesn’t mean you have to respond with a lengthy reply. Even a simple, “Hey thanks for the encouraging words!” or “Thanks for taking the time to look and comment on my work” goes a long way. It tells the commenter that you at least took the time to read their post.
Two, it encourages more feedback. If you want to make sure people quit commenting on your units, ignore their posts. Considering again the time it takes to formulate feedback on a unit, people will put their efforts where they feel those efforts are appreciated and listened to. If you don’t even acknowledge feedback, chances are that person will be hesitant to keep on investing time in your units.
Even if your reply is to defend your direction on a unit (which is totally acceptable), it at least tells the person you actually read the post and considered it.
Also, do not respond in kind. What I mean is, if someone seems especially snarky, you don’t gain anything by being snarky back. If you think the commenter is actually just being mean, thank them for taking the time to comment and move on. One thing I have discovered is that online arguments are rarely resolved. They eventually just fizzle out accomplishing nothing other taking time and attention away from the intent of whatever thread devolved into the argument. When you spend time in your thread arguing you are also potentially dissuading people from breaking into the argument to post anything helpful for your unit development. It is really just non-productive and potentially harmful to your reputation to respond to snark with snark.
So, if you get few comments on your units it may have more to do with your Response Etiquette than the quality of your customs. If you show yourself to be grateful for and open to feedback, people will feel more inclined to offer that feedback.