Another horrible preview - no one RTFM

[bjg]

The "Space Game Junkie" had made a preview video, and it's horrible again for the same reason the eXplorminate one was horrible - no one reads any documentation before doing those previews (some purposely - it's called a "cold look").
First he started with Orthin (people think they are Psilons, but they aren't). Than he couldn't colonize Arid and decided only Ice are colonizable. Found a beautiful Ocean with Derelict, but didn't try to colonize it, just kept hitting "next turn" till the Habitat Domes where researched (at least he's got a "Queue Research" feature, but that was the only thing he's got). Don't think he realized that you can build more than one building of the kind. Didn't understand trade pool mechanics. Definitely didn't understand ship's mechanics (kept looking for "better engines" in research).
The sad thing is that the "Space Game Junkie" had a (good) interview with you a while ago. I think I've learned about your game from them.
These literally dumb previews aren't your fault (you already have a guide, and in-game documentation is mostly sufficient), but they seem like your problem.

[Arioch]

There's nothing that can be done about it one way or the other, so there's no use in fretting about it.

As a player it irritates me when youtubers know less than I do about a game they're demonstrating, but as a game developer it's useful to watch players making mistakes, because it tells us where there needs to be more helpful hints.

I've only had time to watch a few of the videos out there. It's honestly a bit surreal.

[Ashbery76]

The guys pretty terrible at all these 4x games he plays on his channel.Why he gets these free keys I will never know.

[bjg]

There's nothing that can be done about it one way or the other...

Isn't Iceberg suppose to do some active PR (and know how to do it)? The least they could do is to (politely) point to those "mistakes" in YouTube comments, but nobody is doing even that (I don't do it myself because Google requires to upgrade to a full G+ profile even if you have a Gmail one).

[gamchristie]

The "Space Game Junkie" had made a preview video, and it's horrible again

bjg, did Brian Rubin make a new video or are you referring to his preview of eight months ago? His work is not my cup of tea so I don't follow him.

DasTactic has a recent series https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JoMd7yDorXg that I think is a fair representation of the game, and he likes what he sees so far though he acknowledges it is a work in progress.

Arioch, you may not be able to respond to every ill informed previews/reviews, but those of us that support SiS can. I suggest that rather than attacking the previewer we would be most effective to respond with facts in a dispassionate and professional manner so that we draw folks into trying the game or giving it a second look. Let's catch flies with honey

I've been waiting for a game like this for years, so I'm happy to play a small part in spreading the word and being an ambassador.

[Arioch]

Most of these YouTubers were given free keys by the publisher, so I think that we're just happy that they actually previewed the game. I don't think it's appropriate for the developers or publisher to complain about the content of the previews, because it seems like sour grapes.

If you guys would like to post factual corrections, that's great, but I would suggest that you follow gamchristie's advice and try to be good ambassadors for the game, and post helpful corrections rather than angry condemnations.

But reasonable viewers don't read YouTube comments anyway.

[bjg]

DasTactic has a recent series https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JoMd7yDorXg that I think is a fair representation of the game, and he likes what he sees so far though he acknowledges it is a work in progress.

I've watched the "part 0" and half of the "part 1", it was nice till he started complaining that there isn't much choice in the research - somehow he didn't know that the right panel can lead to a lot of choices and long term decisions.
Also the funny thing is that SiS isn't that much a "work in progress" as some people hope. Some images will be added, some minor mechanics added/fixed - a lot of finishing/polishing, but no principal changes (as far as I understand).

[Veneke]

Personally I blame tooltips. It's becoming increasingly common that everything and the menu screen has a tooltip on it detailing precisely what it does. It's reached a point where we've done away with the traditional manual in favour of learning how a game works as you're playing it. When you meet a game then that doesn't offer tooltips on every button (like an awful lot of early access titles, including SiS) then things are going to be missed or misunderstood.

I was one of the folk to get a free key for showing the game on youtube, and I think at the end of 18 episodes and a "review" I manage a fair job of covering everything in the game without too many misunderstandings or unanswered questions. That said I - and probably anyone else you watch - would appreciate a comment or message directing them as to what was missed. Nobody benefits from a dissatisfied audience after all.

[SirDamnALot]

Personally I blame tooltips. It's becoming increasingly common that everything and the menu screen has a tooltip on it detailing precisely what it does. It's reached a point where we've done away with the traditional manual in favour of learning how a game works as you're playing it.

Well that is not really a bad thing, is it?
A GUI that happily communicates what everything means and what every button does is not doing a bad job.
What you do with the given information is the "gameplay skill" of the player. Being obtuse is a rather niche appeal, but can be the topic of a game (like "Please, Don’t Touch Anything" or "Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes" )

[Arioch]

The relative lack of documentation is a characteristic of beta/early access software; it's a duplication of effort to do a lot of documentation and info tooltips when the game's systems are still changing. We'll have more in-game documentation by release time.

[Veneke]

Well that is not really a bad thing, is it?

Oh there's nothing wrong with tooltips at all. They're actually quite handy. The difficulty is that we've come to expect them, and when a game doesn't provide them (like SiS for the reason Arioch just outlined) the more detailed elements of a game can get missed or misunderstood. Which is more or less why the "cold look" approach to in-development titles is problematic, and can be even more troublesome for youtubers who may be under a bit of time pressure to record, edit, and upload. The net effect of which is an inaccurate representation of the game in videos and reviews.

[Devildogff]

... horrible again for the same reason the eXplorminate one was horrible - no one reads any documentation before doing those previews (some purposely - it's called a "cold look")....

Quite the critic. First, I'd suggest you try playing a game that you haven't played much before while you narrate. It's harder than you think. Second, not everyone is a Stars in Shadow expert like you, so congrats! Third, sometimes people just want to see a little gameplay, regardless of how good or bad it is, to see if it's something that they want to buy.

Try not to be so judgemental.

[bjg]

I'd suggest you try playing a game that you haven't played much before while you narrate.

That is exactly the problem. Why show something you are very bad at (yet)?

Try not to be so judgemental.

Sure, and the emperor's new clothes is so beautiful!