Too late. He already got it from a bundle.

Good, good! Let the hate flow through you!

Too bad Steam already pulled the game, they should've left it up a little longer for lulz and drama.

While this has all been very amusing, the sad part is that he's in his 40's according to the thread he made at the time. This was not a game made by an aspiring teen programmer. :P

While there are more idiot devs like him there are also good ones. The ORION Dino Beatdown (also called Dino Horde and Prelude) developer took all of the negative reviews and turned his game into something pretty decent. So not all indie devs are crybabies with tantrums. ^^

You sure about that? I've seen a recent thread on the Steam forums claiming that he was in his 40's, but it was actually a parody account that posted that and not the real dev.

Oh? Then I'm not sure. :p

Same goes for a lot of people here.

And any other online community.

Ehhh It just looks like an unfinished game. Maybe it would've been ok with some more polish. Not that I don't understand the developer's frustration. Criticizing games is easy. Developing games on the other hand; even a well-polished Tetris clone, is a colossal amount of work. Still though. I'm surprised this developer couldn't see that his work needs more finishing before release.

It's actually not too big a deal. He made a video about my game The Moon Sliver and didn't like it. I said he could have at least put a link to the game in his video description. You know, just as a common courtesy, in case a few out of his vitriol-laden viewers actually wanted to check it out. And he just fluffed me off. I believe his exact words were "Yeah. Didn't though."

Maybe "asshole" is a bit of a strong word, but it's a surprisingly sore spot for me. Yeah, it's all well and good to go on about "that's what comes from charging money for something" and "you need a thick skin to be a game developer," but at the end of the day, no matter how prepared you are it's incredibly disheartening for someone with that much power and clout to treat your hard work like a joke, and you like an inconsequential piece of garbage. And for thousands of that person's peons to all be trying to out-hyperbole each other about what sort of horrible diseases your game inflicted upon them. Especially since that most draining, frustrating part of being an indie developer is already trying to convince people that you're more than an inconsequential piece of garbage.

The store page is extremely clear about what the game is, precisely because I didn't want to deal with people who hate "walking simulators" purchasing it and hating it simply because they aren't in tune with the sort of experience it's supposed to provide. You know, live and let live.

I've been told basically "your first 10 games are going to suck, so get them out of the way". Powering through all the vitriol is part of the equation as I see it. You just have to have enough confidence to carry on. Easier said than done, I realize. Look at any famous prolific developer's game credits and you see this in action. Romero did tons of games prior to even Commander Keen.

But yeah, with any creative work, you hang yourself out there. And, as I said above, it's easier to consume or criticize than create. The 1% rule.

Edmund Mcmillen used to have a rant up titled "teh internets", but it's apparently down. He counter-criticizes internet culture and people trolling developers. It's too bad it's not still up. It was pretty apt for any developer or creative person who's undergone excessive criticism.

Right, I understand that. But when a random stranger does it, it's just like "yeah, well fuck you, what have you done with your life?" When it's actually someone who...well, "matters," if you know what I mean--one of those big names that you've been hearing about for years, who suddenly notices you and treats you like a nobody--it's a different story. At least for me (and as many of you are well aware, I'm perhaps not the most emotionally stable of human beings).

This particular guy is a "big name"? I'm just finding saying that triggers some "euphemism alert bell" in my head.

Some douchey developer who throws hissy fits when an unfinished game gets correspondingly criticized criticizes your game. That's about the time I'd throw up my "this all makes sense" verdict. At least your game states what it intends to be be directly and actually looks "finished", despite not being my personal cup of tea.

This is how I look at it, having met many famous band members, game developers, and a few actors. At the end of the day, they're just people. So long as they're not wielding any influence in some stupid zero-sum-game tactic, if I'm unfairly criticized, I just write it and them off. If they are abusing influence, and you can maintain being professional (again, easier said than done), they come off looking ridiculous. After all, what they say reflects them more than you.

I think there's a slight misunderstanding here. I'm talking about Jim Sterling, not the developer in question.

Indeed. That wasn't clear from your above message. (EDIT : read the entire transcript, and mistook this developer being the one to criticize you and realize it's Jim Sterling you had mentioned in your original post. My mistake for not reading the entire backlog prior).

But, back to my point, it sounds like this guy caught backlash he at least in part deserved. Not that I support anything from Jim Sterling at all. That guy is his own brand of douche. If you release a game that's pretty obviously unpolished, you can expect to be criticized on that front.

In short, I can understand both sides of the equation.

Oh, don't get me wrong, the dev is FAR from blameless in this situation.