Custom Story suggestions/comments/general constructive criticism

[Anxt]

Again, I agree that quality custom stories will have all of the things mentioned and not have flickering walls, bad sounds, bad transitions between bases, etc., but don't tell people they suck because they wanted to share what they have done with the community. If you don't like their story, tell them specifically how they can improve it if they want criticism. I cannot stress enough that the majority of people do this for fun, and you can really spoil the fun of making the custom story if you overly criticize or tell someone "don't submit unless you do all of these things."

If you feel you are seeing too many custom stories like this, well, only play ones that have screenshots showing you what is to come, or videos, or just generally well-laid out posts on this forum that suggests the person knows what they are doing.

I agree that in order for a custom story to truly be good, everything needs to work, there needs to be a good number of monsters, not too many or too few, and so on. But don't tell people their maps are "unprofessional" or "crap" just because they didn't put many hours of their free time into it. Be respectful. Some people have never tried making custom maps for games, and there is definitely a learning curve.

I know my posts have been long in this thread, but all I ask is that people show respect for others' work, as you would want it shown for yours. It is obvious that there are issues with some custom stories. Calling it crap doesn't fix it, nor does it encourage anyone to make their own or continue making them. We all like to have custom stories to play, and there are going to be some good and some bad, but if you put too much pressure on people to make it amazing, then fewer people will want to do it, and you may end up missing out on one that could have been the best out there if they had just stuck with it, but didn't because of overly-harsh criticisms or "requirements."

It's a hobby. Treat it as such. Don't insult someone's artwork because it has a few smudges.

Not trying to sound like a jerk, and I'm not accusing anyone else of being one, just be mindful that everything on this forum is merely text, and what might have been joking in the writer's eyes may come off as insulting to the reader.