It has come to my attention recently that some people have been taking a really hard stance against developers who want to gauge interest for a Linux port. I want to talk about it for a bit.
Note: This is an editorial, so this means these are my personal thoughts. Not agreeing (with me or anyone else who comments) is not an excuse for insults. Please be respectful in the comments.
I should note as well: I don't want to come across like some old know-it-all fart here, but I think this needs to be said.
There may be a large amount of games available for Linux now, but we aren’t even close when it comes to the amount or quality of those on Windows. I seriously don’t think we are at a stage where we can afford to turn away any developer yet. We’ve seen ports delayed in the past due to the attitudes of some people, and I don’t ever want that to happen again.
There’s also the financial aspect, it may be profitable for bigger titles getting ported by the likes of Feral with a lot of experience, but it’s often rather costly for developers to bring titles to Linux when they don’t know the system (time = money and all that). It’s easy to forget, so this is a simple call for calm.
When a developer comes along and responds to the inevitable “will this come to Linux?” email, Twitter or forum post, do remember you’re speaking to another human.
I’ve seen people claim things like “the developer wants us to beg” (and sometimes much more colourful language has been used), but that’s a truly terrible attitude to take and it has been annoying me more and more. It’s not begging if you’re showing a developer that their game is interesting to another potential audience.
We are a smaller community, so such remarks will be a lot louder to developers—especially when it’s an indie developer. You’re often talking to a one or two person setup probably working from home.
If you were a game developer and someone came along to ask for a port to another platform, how would you feel when your reply asking to see interest was met with such outright hostility? It’s idiotic, unhelpful and, to be honest, it’s yet another reason the Linux gaming community has been called Toxic in the past.
Be the Linux community I know and love, be helpful to developers, get in on beta testing when you can (I’ve seen plenty of developers give out free keys for this too!) and appreciate the good games we get. We are a smaller market in most people’s eyes, so let’s not turn away anything that could help us grow even a little.
The fact is, I’ve seen multiple games only come to Linux because Linux fans showed actual interest in it. One such example is Nightside, which I discovered on Steam. After a quick chat with the developer, I was able to convince them to do a Linux build and after a short test they then decided to support a Linux build. There’s many such examples like this, but due to the amount of games I cover that’s one I could quickly pull up (without having to sift through hundreds of articles).
I implore you to think about what you’re saying. Is it making the Linux community sound like entitled and self-important morons or are you being helpful? Be smart, be understanding and keep be awesome. Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
Note: This is an editorial, so this means these are my personal thoughts. Not agreeing (with me or anyone else who comments) is not an excuse for insults. Please be respectful in the comments.
I should note as well: I don't want to come across like some old know-it-all fart here, but I think this needs to be said.
There may be a large amount of games available for Linux now, but we aren’t even close when it comes to the amount or quality of those on Windows. I seriously don’t think we are at a stage where we can afford to turn away any developer yet. We’ve seen ports delayed in the past due to the attitudes of some people, and I don’t ever want that to happen again.
There’s also the financial aspect, it may be profitable for bigger titles getting ported by the likes of Feral with a lot of experience, but it’s often rather costly for developers to bring titles to Linux when they don’t know the system (time = money and all that). It’s easy to forget, so this is a simple call for calm.
When a developer comes along and responds to the inevitable “will this come to Linux?” email, Twitter or forum post, do remember you’re speaking to another human.
I’ve seen people claim things like “the developer wants us to beg” (and sometimes much more colourful language has been used), but that’s a truly terrible attitude to take and it has been annoying me more and more. It’s not begging if you’re showing a developer that their game is interesting to another potential audience.
We are a smaller community, so such remarks will be a lot louder to developers—especially when it’s an indie developer. You’re often talking to a one or two person setup probably working from home.
If you were a game developer and someone came along to ask for a port to another platform, how would you feel when your reply asking to see interest was met with such outright hostility? It’s idiotic, unhelpful and, to be honest, it’s yet another reason the Linux gaming community has been called Toxic in the past.
Be the Linux community I know and love, be helpful to developers, get in on beta testing when you can (I’ve seen plenty of developers give out free keys for this too!) and appreciate the good games we get. We are a smaller market in most people’s eyes, so let’s not turn away anything that could help us grow even a little.
The fact is, I’ve seen multiple games only come to Linux because Linux fans showed actual interest in it. One such example is Nightside, which I discovered on Steam. After a quick chat with the developer, I was able to convince them to do a Linux build and after a short test they then decided to support a Linux build. There’s many such examples like this, but due to the amount of games I cover that’s one I could quickly pull up (without having to sift through hundreds of articles).
I implore you to think about what you’re saying. Is it making the Linux community sound like entitled and self-important morons or are you being helpful? Be smart, be understanding and keep be awesome. Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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The comments on this article are closed.
Mountain Man Dec 7, 2016
Quoting: liamdaweI think you're looking at it the wrong way. Outright saying a developer is begging is just small-minded and reeks of a self-important attitude.Dude, I'm trying to apologize... look at my last paragraph from the above post:
'Perhaps I've become a bit cynical when developers ask about "interest" in a Linux port because it's a pointless query, in my opinion, and that cynicism may have recently gotten the best of me. Thank you for your timely and pointed editorial.'
You've gotten me to think. You can stop beating me over the head now. :D
3 Likes, Who?
wintermute Dec 7, 2016
Quoting: liamdaweA developer asking if there's interest, is essentially asking "how much interest".
That's part of the problem though. What the developer wants is data, what the developer is asking for is anecdotes.
4 Likes, Who?
edddeduck_feral Dec 7, 2016
There is a massive difference between:
1. Linux install base
2. Linux users who game
3. Linux users who game and have have hardware suitable to your title
4. Linux users who game, have hardware suitable and like the genre/type of game you're making
Asking and seeing what the community like in forums certainly helps as it gives you an idea of how popular the game would be among a smaller community, also helps get a feel for how hard it might be to get the news out to the Linux gaming crowd. Word of mouth is powerful in smaller communities as often it's hard to get the word out about your games, the response to enquires also helps you judge how many people will be excited and post about your game if you do release.
For example Feral are fairly well known in Linux gaming circles yet I still see loads of posts like "Oh Warhammer is out on Linux I never knew" or "Feral they make Linux games? Oh that's interesting". For an indie developer/publisher I'm sure it's even harder to get enough of a word of mouth about releases given we still have people not know about our releases and some of them are fairly high profile.
Simply put it's not about begging or asking for metrics but getting a feel of the community by looking at how they react to your questions and posts compared to similar posts and questions in the same forums. This helps build up a picture that allows people to make a decision.
1. Linux install base
2. Linux users who game
3. Linux users who game and have have hardware suitable to your title
4. Linux users who game, have hardware suitable and like the genre/type of game you're making
Asking and seeing what the community like in forums certainly helps as it gives you an idea of how popular the game would be among a smaller community, also helps get a feel for how hard it might be to get the news out to the Linux gaming crowd. Word of mouth is powerful in smaller communities as often it's hard to get the word out about your games, the response to enquires also helps you judge how many people will be excited and post about your game if you do release.
For example Feral are fairly well known in Linux gaming circles yet I still see loads of posts like "Oh Warhammer is out on Linux I never knew" or "Feral they make Linux games? Oh that's interesting". For an indie developer/publisher I'm sure it's even harder to get enough of a word of mouth about releases given we still have people not know about our releases and some of them are fairly high profile.
Simply put it's not about begging or asking for metrics but getting a feel of the community by looking at how they react to your questions and posts compared to similar posts and questions in the same forums. This helps build up a picture that allows people to make a decision.
10 Likes, Who?
edddeduck_feral Dec 7, 2016
Quoting: elbuglionethat's reason way you rock, guys...
I just finish Life is Strange and i have to say, you are the best game developers in the Linux world.
Thanks :D You're too kind.
Last edited by edddeduck_feral on 7 December 2016 at 3:39 pm UTC
2 Likes, Who?
Pompesdesky Dec 7, 2016
Quoting: edddeduckferalAsking and seeing what the community like in forums certainly helps as it gives you an idea of how popular the game would be among a smaller community, also helps get a feel for how hard it might be to get the news out to the Linux gaming crowd. Word of mouth is powerful in smaller communities as often it's hard to get the word out about your games, the response to enquires also helps you judge how many people will be excited and post about your game if you do release.
Did Feral note how often the word "Dirt3" comes up in the comments on this site ? Certainly is a sign that this community likes it a lot ^^
0 Likes
edddeduck_feral Dec 7, 2016
Quoting: PompesdeskyDid Feral note how often the word "Dirt3" comes up in the comments on this site ? Certainly is a sign that this community likes it a lot ^^
Yes, we note many things in these forums and other similar places :)
2 Likes, Who?
elbuglione Dec 7, 2016
Quoting: edddeduckferalQuoting: PompesdeskyDid Feral note how often the word "Dirt3" comes up in the comments on this site ? Certainly is a sign that this community likes it a lot ^^
Yes, we note many things in these forums and other similar places :)
Did you note how much we need a SquareEnix JRPG on Linux???
just for say... a Mythical Unreal Engine 4 Remake game like:
1 Likes, Who?
QuoteIt has come to my attention recently that some people have been taking a really hard stance against developers who want to gauge interest for a Linux port.
Can you link some examples? I'm not actively reading the Steam forums, so maybe I'm out of the loop?
The discussion in the comments here also seems to go all over the place, touching various issues.
0 Likes
Quoting: iskaputtI don't want to start a witch hunt, so no, sorry.QuoteIt has come to my attention recently that some people have been taking a really hard stance against developers who want to gauge interest for a Linux port.
Can you link some examples? I'm not actively reading the Steam forums, so maybe I'm out of the loop?
The discussion in the comments here also seems to go all over the place, touching various issues.
0 Likes
Quoting: Mountain ManNah... you just pick your platform and then play the games that are available for it. There's no reason to feel like you're "missing out" just because every single game is not available on your platform of choice.
But Metroid Prime looks sooo good...
I'm actually considering looking around for a Wii/WiiU just so I can play Metroid Prime and a couple nice Zelda games.
There's just some games that are so good at what they do there's just no replacement.
1 Likes, Who?
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