Reddit is a hellhole for developers. Players there often deliberately play power games – claims the former communications lead of Riot Games.
No matter which game it is: Each has its own forum on Reddit, a so-called “subreddit.” The latest topics, exciting developments, but also criticism of the games are discussed here. But for game developers, Reddit is something to be avoided if one wants good feedback – at least that’s what a former Riot employee claims.
Who is speaking? Ryan Rigney, who worked from 2018 to 2020 as the global PR head of League of Legends, previously worked for 3 years at Riot Games in PR and as a writer. In addition to his work on LoL, he also worked on PUBG and Apex Legends – he began his career as a gaming journalist from 2006 to 2014 (via linkedin).
Some users may still know him as “Riot_Cactopus”, as he was very popular in the League of Legends subreddit for years. In a conversation with Inven Global, he now spoke about the dark sides of Reddit.
“On Reddit, it’s about power and domination”
What was said? Rigney has little good to say about Reddit. He believes that discussions in a game’s subreddit are no longer conducted for the pure purpose of discussion or to exchange views. Almost always there is a certain agenda behind a few players to push developers to implement a very specific change in the game:
In 2021, we can move away from the idea that discussions in video game subreddits only represent pure player opinions. Reddit is not about discussions – it’s about power and domination. Only one opinion can win, and it is represented by the comment that receives the most upvotes. Our brains have a strong bias when it comes to “socially validated” ideas.
This means Rigney: When we see that an opinion has received a lot of support from other people, we are also more inclined to accept that opinion as a fact or correct.
With Reddit, many people have understood this dynamic: When an opinion gets a lot of upvotes, it influences many others to agree with that opinion. If you express an opinion about a game on Reddit and it gets a lot of attention, you will see it subsequently in other places on the internet.
It should be noted that in the subreddit, often only a small part of the community is involved – and often quite a vocal one. Even if only a fraction of the community is represented on Reddit, it can seem like everything in a game is currently negative.
Because almost all Reddit users understand this dynamic, it also means that the game subreddits have changed to focus on influencing the development of the games instead of discussing them. That is simply a fact, and no one who regularly uses Reddit would disagree.
Reddit drives developers into depression
However, Reddit can also have real consequences for developers, as Rigney has experienced. Since Reddit often brings only the worst to light, it influences developers who regularly browse Reddit.
You see them working and can watch as the enthusiasm slowly fades from their eyes. I lived next to an ‘environment artist’ who worked on ‘The Last of Us Part II’ and a certain part of the subreddit had dedicated itself to tearing the game apart when it came out. It was crazy because many people believed it was a great game, but my neighbor couldn’t see that bright side. He became depressed. He thought the masses hated this thing to which he had dedicated years of his life. Ultimately, he left the gaming industry.
When confronted with such incidents, the discussion leaders on Reddit often become defensive, Rigney explains further. One can simply claim that it is only about honest feedback.
[…] They then say things like: ‘I just believe that the progression system should be better, am I not allowed to say that? That’s feedback! Players should be able to give their feedback to the developers!’ You simply can’t get these people to look at the bigger picture so that they would have to admit they are part of a subjugation ritual.
According to Rigney, it also does not help to continue discussing because that would only lead to dead ends where developers can only lose.
One of the top comments [under this interview] will be by a guy saying that all of this [on Reddit] is legitimate feedback, due to X, Y, and Z. The best way to maintain power is simply to act as if the power does not exist.
Despite all this, Rigney does not believe that Reddit is inherently bad.
It’s a fun website. It’s fun to see which comment under a news story gets the most upvotes. I use Reddit every day.
But developers would do well to use other platforms to engage with the community. Currently, Discord serves this purpose well for many developers, as it is always a ‘snapshot’. There, one speaks with individual players and receives various opinions without any opinion being particularly highlighted.
It’s always worth going where the players are. But for this daily interaction, I believe developers should be much more selective.
What do you think of this view? Do you agree that developers shouldn’t give too much on Reddit? Or is Reddit just feedback that developers should consider?
Sometimes developers also yield to the demands of players – and just play their game themselves, like with New World.
