Making addons, the good, the bad, the ugly

[Lt_Damage 0]

This post is in response to what I have read from a minority of people in this thread.

When you create something and release it to the public you immediately take ownership of that addon, not just its good feedback, but also its bad feedback / bug reporting. I cannot under any circumstances believe a team as serious about addon making as BAS is not prepared for the "business" side of it, which is dealing with idiots and the processing of bug reports.

I think in future there will need to be a "nothing but praise for the new addon" thread and a proper "bug reporting thread"

Because when you download an addon, and something goes wrong, regardless of how much time / money / effort a team like BAS puts in, regardless of how informative their readme is, you are going to get people reporting the errors they encounter, and you have to be prepared for that mentally even though after all your hard work, all your dedication and sacrifice, all you really want is acknowledgement and praise. And don't get me wrong, I understand its heartbreaking hearing bug reports after 100's of hours of work.

Whether a team is paid for their work is irrelevant, unfortunately when you make something you take ownership for it.

Also if you WERE being paid for it and the people downloading your addons were customers, would you say a failure for them to understand how your addon works is a failure on their part, or yours?

I think the answer is easy, it is your responsibility to deliver your work in a way that is easy to understand for all levels of computer literacy. Failing that you must be ready for the consequences which is a lot of stupid people asking questions. Since you aren't being paid you are totally correct, you have no obligation to do anything. The support you provide is free and appreciated.

This is not a dig at BAS, its also for the benefit of those who did not take the time to read the readme for the latest BAS release. You have taken precious time from them that they could be using to further improve the addon, or provide real support for undocumented bugs.

@BAS: I think you should look at the bug reports as a positive thing, appreciate when players take the time to test your product and inform you of ways to improve it. They could simply just say nothing and you would never know it had areas that could be improved. Players posting the bugs does not create the bugs, they were there to begin with upon release and thanks to players who take the time you are aware of them. All that can be said about that is for players to be CLEAR and informative and NOT rude and criticising.

The time money and effort you put into these works is astounding and you should be respected and rightly so, however I do not think it justifies the attitude directed towards players on some occasions by some team members.

Regards,

[Guest]

You could only find those sorts of comments in that thread LT? It happens in just about every thread I've ever seen. Personally I'm just going to ignore it from now on, and hopefully the mods will deal with it in the fashion they said they will. Oh and I also won't bother in future to reply to people who haven't read the read-me....it's a waste of time

You should have seen some of the comments we got when we released our demo mod last year...sheesh!

[Lt_Damage 0]

I know it happens with many other threads however that was an example and I think it applies to all addon developers and the players that use them.

[VXR 9]

I had a idea for the BAS webpage for a bug report page and i told Deadmeat about it and he also thinks its great, so soon there will be something on the bas page to report bugs.

[colonel_klink 0]

Just an idea. Perhaps it would be better then for the addon makers to post the addon.. beta or final. Let the players download the addon, and then sit back while the bug reports come in. Then after a week or two respond to those bug reports. This would save a lot of consternation and time on the addon maker's part to let him/her concentrate on further addon making and let the community test the addon.

I know from experience that quite often the addon maker will answer the same questions time and time again. Put the onus on the player initially to read the readme and then report the bugs. If the player cannot take the time to read the instructions and note the listed bugs then that is the player's problem not the addon makers. After all if I buy software and not be bothered to read the manual who's fault? Mine? or the Software developer?

In my observations most bugs happen to new initiatives in addon making. Even after exhaustive testing by mod beta testing the player will often find others. That is expected. A while ago I responded to negative criticism and pretty near gave up model making, but the supportive emails i received far out weighed the negative so I continued. I guess it is human nature to say this or that isn't right etc, and it is equally human nature for the addon maker to respond negatively.

What Vixer suggests is a good idea. Our Falklands mod has one but it seems the official forums has become the main center for feedback good or negative.

Just the thoughts of an OFP grand dad who makes addons for pleasure.. not profit.

[Ex-RoNiN 0]

I thought I said to drop this topic?

My take on this is simple - any mudslinging on this forum will be punished. Mudslinging in the Addons+Mods forums will be punished with 60hr PR's or upwards.

I thought I was hallucinating yesterday, seeing respected addon makers and community members dissing each other in pure kindergarten fashion

Be warned