Free Gift: An Idiots Guide to Constructive Criticism

December 31, 1969, 7:00 pm by

LOL This whole thing is hilarious... This User vrs Staff.

December 31, 1969, 7:00 pm by

I had no idea what this was about. Oops!

December 31, 1969, 7:00 pm by

Lol and how many of you going "omg so unprofessional!!!" still took the free item?

December 31, 1969, 7:00 pm by

Quote by Qii

TARGETING NOT ALLOWED....unless we do it

This.

This behaviour is absolutely disgusting and unprofessional. Subeta, don't expect to receive another donation from me.

December 31, 1969, 7:00 pm by

So I’m guessing this is the staff’s mature response to several people, myself included. You probably expected everyone to be all ‘omg that’s me told.’ But to be honest all you have shown me is that you are as unprofessional as I was saying. Which I’m glad many people have said already in response to this gift.

So yes, I posted a thread in B+C because I was upset I had received what I considered to be incredibly unprofessional mail from a staff member. Once someone pointed out itcould be considered targeting as you could find out artists on SubetaLodge/HQ I took my post down barely five minutes after it went up just to be safe within the rules. I did not take it down because I was ‘taken down a peg’ as users seem to think on the thread. Indeed, when I posted it to be locked I didn’t even check back until the next day because I had received comments/mails from multiple users in SUPPORT of what I had said. Here’s a quote from a mail someone sent me:

Quote

“I just wanted to let you know to not feel like it&;s just you staff are being assholes to for giving feedback.</p>
<p>I&;ve been fighting with several staffers for the better part of a week now because they don&;t like me to give feedback (good or bad lol because either way I&;m being selfish apparently) that hurts their fragile egos.</p>
<p>I honestly thought the free gift was a jab at me, because XXXX is one of the main ones who&;s been up my ass.”

Etc. I still stand by what I said as yes what I posted could be taken as hurtful but…so what? It is an artists job to make art for the site, I don’t have to like it and I certainly don’t have to critique it either. I think this is something people get so worked up over without realising it’s not something we have to do. If she had ASKED for it to be crititqued and I said ‘oh it’s rubbish’ then yes that is me being extremely rude and unhelpful. But I’m not REQUIRED to critique, I’m allowed to just think something isn’t nice. Without being targeted by a staff member. When I received the mail my first thought was “What the…seriously?”

So think I’m a bitch if you want, my friends and people who have seen me around know otherwise. Oh and place your bets now on what fake reason I’ll be frozen for in a weeks time.

THANK YOU to the users who mailed me and those who have posted here in support of what is clearly behaviour you would not expect from staff members.

December 31, 1969, 7:00 pm by

This is ridiculous.

December 31, 1969, 7:00 pm by

Just on the subject of targeting, to be fair to the staff, the only reason I was able to find the source of this item's reference was from the comments here; I doubt I'd have had found it if some of the users hadn't mentioned the specific board it was from.

December 31, 1969, 7:00 pm by

Stay classy, Subeta.

Good to know proffessionalism is a high priority here, and everything.

December 31, 1969, 7:00 pm by

Yes, both sides handled this poorly, but all the sarcastic/mean comments towards the staff(and the sit itself) only serve to exacerbate the situation, and show why we need an item like this in the first place. Come on, you guys.

December 31, 1969, 7:00 pm by

The shade of it all.

December 31, 1969, 7:00 pm by

Really, guys? Really? Because passive-aggressive gifts are clearly the right response.

December 31, 1969, 7:00 pm by

ffffft stay classy, subeta. Your professionalism is an inspiration to us all.

December 31, 1969, 7:00 pm by

Just wow. Badly phrased crit from a user should not spiral into this. But this... oh wait this is subeta. Professionalism is left at the log in screen.

December 31, 1969, 7:00 pm by

@ Orchipea

Last thing. I agree with you completely. ^^

December 31, 1969, 7:00 pm by

Well, in all honesty, I felt the initial critique didn't follow the definition of constructive at all, and I would have personally been offended if it had been said to me. Those were in no way GOOD points made. :(

All in all, BOTH SIDES were in the wrong, which is what I felt in the first place. I tried to imagine both point of views, and I honestly didn't think the staff letter was threatening, though I understand the awkward part. This wouldn't have blown up further though if the thread hadn't been created.

Once again, it's a spiral of aggression, and I think everyone needed to take a step back. Also, there is a contradiction in the bullying argument. Customers/Users do indeed have a position of power over staff, as stated by several other users in this thread. It balances things out. Yes, the staff member has the ability to do something like post a notice, but the user can make threads, and as we've seen, is just as powerful. In this situation, the abuse of power that truly could have been made, is if the staff had frozen her account, or something of the like. Thankfully, it did not.

I like that you have a good standpoint regardless of our different turnouts. I honestly don't think a side should be taken at all, and I know it may seem I'm on the side of the staff, I'm not. Both were WRONG. Neither side did the grown up thing. However, I don't think it's right to expect the staff to be any less human that the user in the course of making a mistake. That is what upsets me about this. :(

December 31, 1969, 7:00 pm by

So, I read the thread that this book was aimed at. I feel the OP was in the wrong and posted their opinion in a rude manner. I also feel it's been rather blown out of proportion, and this is now in fact breaking the very rule that we are expected to obey, regarding targeting. But, being the total hypocrite that I am, I took the free book AND read it to my pet ^^

December 31, 1969, 7:00 pm by

The Subeta staff are hardly ever capable of realizing when they have stepped over the line. If they realize they have, their usual response is either dripping with sarcasm, or throw free things at people and hope all is forgiven.

The staff had no right to do it. If they were going to do it, they should have waited for it to go down a few pages before even putting it up here.

But, Subeta was never known for tact. They are more known for throwing fits when called out on things.

December 31, 1969, 7:00 pm by

@ RoseDragonfire I agree and yet I don't. I feel it as cyber bullying because the staff are in a position of power while this user ISN'T. Instead of being mature and adult like you would expect staff to be they went "I see your ante and raise you DOUBLE, because we CAN". The user may have overreacted by making the post they did.

I honestly feel the artist had overreacted first, however. The user didn't just say "oh its crap" they said they didn't like it and GAVE A GOOD EXPLANATION for not liking it (technically they followed correct criticism just might have picked ONE harsh word wrong). There was no call for contacting this user AT. ALL.(Imho). It set a mood of awkward defensiveness.

Think of it as if it happened to you? You posted a critique on a thread DEDICATED to critique and then suddenly a GM is contacting you acting like you had no business critiquing their art... in a critique thread... on a topic dedicated to that specific set in question. :| I dunno about you but I'd feel seriously THREATENED by the gesture and they responded accordingly. They tried deleting it after calming down but then people just re-posted it anyway.

To me, I see it as they're capable of seeing when they may have overreacted but staff aren't?

December 31, 1969, 7:00 pm by

I'll agree that the timing of this is a smack in the face to the user who posted the thread, and when they have already been put in their place enough to delete the contents of their post, it seems like overkill. The overall message is a good one, but probably not handled correctly. I know that in the anonimity of the Internet it is really easy to overlook the fact that the people you are communicating with have feelings, and we need to be considerate of that EVERY TIME we post something. And this is something that both staff and all users should think about before they hit the button that sends their thoughts into the world.

December 31, 1969, 7:00 pm by

You know, this wouldn't have been considering targeting if the thread had been deleted instead of locked, or if human curiosity wasn't an issue. While I agree that this was NOT handled appropriately by staff, I am still in the belief that the particular person that started this, regardless of being a paid user, could have taken this better as well in the first place.

I don't agree with Nuru that the staff are cyber bullies. From what I gather, it looks like someone was fed up with being the victim of cyber bullies for so long. No HUMAN, staff included, can take large amounts of unhelpful, and down right cruel, criticisms. You can only ignore hurtful things for so long. I'm sorry, but if the user, or any user that has said things similar in the past, says those things that had been said, there was NO WAY to see that as something other than meaning to be hurtful.

The things that were said, and "I don't like it" are not the same things at all. Even an unhelpful "I don't like it" would have been MUCH better. People should remember that the staff is human, and since the particular staff in question is an artist, I imagine that nothing hurts more that to have users on YOUR site ridicule something you've worked very hard to present to them.

So yes, the staff in particular blew up a little, and yes the user in question was one of, likely, many. In the end, a line was made, and I think all should know by now that you shouldn't cross it. Both sides have efficiently blown up, and I think it should likely be left alone now. I seriously hope people don't pester the user, since they are human too. However, I seriously hope people don't do as some have been doing, and attack the staff. I really don't see why staff should have to act like robots. We are all human, and as such, can get hurt. We are all human, and as such, should have our moments to blow off steam. I am NOT AGAINST the user or the staff, and I think that's where my place should be. Because I am human too.

( Anyway, I hope no one thinks that this entire speech was meant to entice anger in anyone. I really don't hate any of you. I just wanted to show why I disagreed with some of the made opinions before myself. I love you all, and I hope you have great and wonderful days.) ^^

December 31, 1969, 7:00 pm by

While I appreciate the free book, realizing the meaning of this I can't help but wonder heavily about the maturity of the staff to be attacking someone so publicly - enough clearly people who knew had a laugh at the persons expense and those who didn't went looking to have a laugh at them as well.

This is why I have serous trust issues with you guys, it isn't like you don't get shitty criticism daily. You should be able to ignore it by now instead of exploding at a specific person doing it. You should be better than that.

Cyber bullying is a real issue in this world these days and one should hope the staff of a GAME wouldn't stoop to it.

December 31, 1969, 7:00 pm by

Isn't it a bit unprofessional to target a paying customer (GA user) like this? Wasn't this site created to get away from terrible customer service?

December 31, 1969, 7:00 pm by

TARGETING NOT ALLOWED....unless we do it

December 31, 1969, 7:00 pm by

If users are saying 'I think this sucks!' it might hurt the artist's/programmer's/mod's/whatever's feelings and won't help their personal growth, but as a site that's supported by users, surely it's valuable to you if you know when people don't like something?

I mean, yeah, it's better if they can be constructive and help features improve, and they shouldn't be whiny/rude. But sometimes 'I don't like this' is all there is to say - and you should listen when people say it, because they're the people you're trying to sell stuff to.

December 31, 1969, 7:00 pm by

User makes targetting topic: THIS IS AGAINST THE RULES. Staff makes targetting news post including targetting item so everyone sees it ... completly fine.

December 31, 1969, 7:00 pm by

omg subeta you're so sassy

December 31, 1969, 7:00 pm by

woah.. that was unexpected. but ok thanks anyway.

December 31, 1969, 7:00 pm by

Now that I've read the thread, targeting via free gifts is okay? Pathetic.

December 31, 1969, 7:00 pm by

And I still love this item.

December 31, 1969, 7:00 pm by

Ah , I see . But the result is constructive free book

December 31, 1969, 7:00 pm by

I don't know what this was in reaction to, but I feel for you. As someone who does a LOT of art because I enjoy it, I feel heartbroken when criticism is given that has no purpose other than to bring me down. Especially since the majority of my art is in good spirited gifts. I can only imagine how heartbreaking it is when people don't appreciate the hard work you put into this site. I'm sorry for that, and I couldn't appreciate everything you do more than I do now. I love you guys. <3

December 31, 1969, 7:00 pm by

LOL :) Thank you for the gift!!

December 31, 1969, 7:00 pm by

Kind of agree with LilyValentine. I didn't read through the entire thread in question, but I don't feel like this is a response in good spirit.

December 31, 1969, 7:00 pm by

I love you Subeta(ians?)! ❤

December 31, 1969, 7:00 pm by

....have I missed something? o_o

Anyway, thanks for the free book!

December 31, 1969, 7:00 pm by

I'm pretty sure that the incident in question happened in the B&C. The user in question is usually pretty respectable (from what I've seen), so I'll chalk it off to a bad day or something.

December 31, 1969, 7:00 pm by

well i do enjoy books

December 31, 1969, 7:00 pm by

Ahaha. I know those feelings, staff. I know them.

December 31, 1969, 7:00 pm by

Loved it the first time round, still loving it! Thanks guys!

December 31, 1969, 7:00 pm by

LOL. Jesus. And for once I'm fairly certain I know what this is in reference too :P and jeez, /some/ people are taking this a little seriously, lighten up guys!

December 31, 1969, 7:00 pm by

/runs to site feedback forum

December 31, 1969, 7:00 pm by

browses the forums to find what juicy gossip I missed

December 31, 1969, 7:00 pm by

There are SO many users here who could benefit from actually reading this book...if only that was possible. Big thumbs up for the hint though Subeta! ^_^

December 31, 1969, 7:00 pm by