Curious to get a read from the community on this topic.
Usually when I want to record a hack (especially an in-progress or recently completed project, dead/old complete projects I’ll play if I feel like it), I contact the creator to ensure they’re 1) cool with it and 2) don’t have anything new coming that would render my feedback useless. Additionally, I like to ask because some folks don’t want the attention a video brings to their work, and I want to respect those wishes.
I’ve found from conversations with fellow creators that this isn’t always the case, and that their work will get showcased on YouTube or Twitch without being contacted directly ahead of time. I find it strange because I try to be diligent about talking to creators first if I’m going to play/share feedback through video and find working with them helps sharpen my ability to provide meaningful feedback and highlight their work.
As a project creator, I usually appreciate courtesy communications because I like to be involved and share any notes that may help the LPer or view the videos to make any fixes that they call out - it’s helpful for me and getting a heads up is nice. It was also nice when I was in dev and could pass along a patch with more new content that needed testing, versus a potentially stale release in my public thread. Now that VQ is done, I’ve cared a lot less, but I like to follow along and comment occasionally when I can.
In the old days, the vibe I got from viewing the LPs is that creators and folks who LP’d hacks were usually in contact, but as the community grows and inevitably becomes less close knit, those connections don’t exist as they once did. Maybe this is a natural evolution?
IDK it’s been on my mind and I wanted to get a read for how much people care about this stuff - not trying to advocate for or against it, merely noting an observation I’ve seen.
just ask first is like the universal rule when it comes to anything
it’s common courtesy, and I’ve never understood why it’s such a foreign idea to some.
also respect someone if they say no or if they ask for you to stop.
Why would you post a project unless you want some amount of attention, the problem is if you get too much attention you get flooded DMs and lots of negative criticism which some can’t handle so if you have an audience like Mangs does it’s good and responsible to ask because it has an effect on the creator.
If you don’t have a large enough audience to flood DMs and they haven’t just said in their topic DO NOT LP MY HACK just go right ahead, what’s the harm. There have to be times where asking isn’t needed
From a “this is a passion project” standpoint, I always like to be asked first before people are gonna do stuff with Avenir and, so far, that courtesy has been given by the people who have played through Avenir on YouTube.
On the flip side, from a game developer standpoint, if I’ve published a game and made it playable to people, I can’t really control what they’re gonna do with it. As much as I’d love to filter and make sure the game is being represented well, I acknowledge that if this were an actual published indie game or something that Snek and I made, it wouldn’t be fair for us to be like that.
Look at how people get angry when game developers try to censor people streaming their games. It comes across as ridiculous. I definitely see that standpoint. The question becomes, do I see Avenir as a fun little passion project with a friend or a legitimate game? Seems ridiculous to call a ROM Hack a legitimate game, but nonetheless, it’s something I go back and forth on.
Yeah I think the biggest difference here is that as a fan community, it’s a lot smaller and pretty much all of it is contained to a forum where you can contact people.
For indie stuff, you’re making a purchase from a company like you would for any major studio IP. It’s a bit different than a little passion project IMO. There’s def a deserved additionally layer of scrutiny if the person playing it purchased it vs. downloaded from your thread.
I’m gonna go with option 3. I like knowing when people are playing my work. I don’t care how many people play it, though for me, more is better. More feedback, more learning to improve my craft. I don’t make games just for them to die in darkness. I don’t put years of my life into making something just for myself. I want people to play and enjoy them.
That’s what a game is. It’s an expression of creativity for the world to enjoy.
Just from a dev point of view, if the thing’s unfinished I’d prefer to be notified first so I can let the LPer know about any upcoming changes, or that they can contact me about major bugs before stuff goes live. That’s common courtesy, I think, and isn’t an uncommon condition of allowing access to beta versions.
Once it’s finished and properly QA’d, though, it’s out there in the world IMO, and the expectation is that it’s finished and not expecting further feedback. (though of course there’s something to be said of “proper QA” and major studio releases but that is a different topic entirely)
I’ve always been of the stance that if its public, its public. Anyone can play it, anyone can showcase it. If someone were to want to showcase my work I would appreciate it if I was notified in case theres a better version not yet released for them to play but I wouldn’t be tilted if I wasn’t notified.
I really appreciate it when my hack gets showcased, whether be it let’s plays or streams. I don’t really care if I’m asked beforehand, I mean, I put my hack up on the internet, anyone can play or record it how they want. However, I still prefer being asked first because I like to provide in-development versions or other goodies to the streamer/let’s player that might make their content more interesting, I’ve done so before for a stream.
I don’t mind people making LP’s without asking. Actually, I feel like any type of showcase can help my stuff reach more people, so I’m happy whenever I see a new video about my hack.
That said, I’d appreciate if I was messaged first, that way I can answer questions that the LPer has, like “Hey, X feature is actually broken” and stuff like that.
I’m considering trying to make my own fangame for sometime since I’ve played several other Fire Emblem fangames like Vision Quest, and when that actually happens, I would like to be asked first if they could show my fangame, but that’s gonna be a long while since I’m still coming up with ideas for it.
Personally, I don’t have qualms if the person showcasing it alerts me that they are or did. Probably because the only one of mine that’s been seriously showcased was very bad, but it was a hilarious video because of it. I really only care that they give me credit. I think the only one of mine that I’d want to know ahead of time was FE: Bio HW; only because I would want to make sure to watch the video. Maybe it’s weird to some, but I might just be a bit more lax than others on it.
