Dev Corner Rules

Welcome to the Dev Corner! Here you can post your ideas for future features and updates to the site. Since the purpose of the dev corner is to provide helpful feedback and brainstorm ideas with the game's developer, please keep in mind that there are special guidelines for engagement that help to make this space as useful as it can be.

Note: Please keep in mind that I will not be responding to every post (for a variety of reasons ranging from time/energy constraints to avoiding spoilers), but I may step in to say something on a thread from time to time. Whether or not I comment is unrelated to how much I do or don't like an idea, just as to whether I feel like I have important information to give out.


General Guidelines

Before suggesting something or responding to posts, please read over these guidelines so that your posts can be as helpful as possible.

1. Look for previous discussions
   Before suggesting something, try to do a brief scan through the forum to see what conversations may already have been held on the subject. There is a pinned development plan at the top of the forum that will contain lists of planned features. There is also a pinned thread in bug reports that has a list of planned QOL and bug fixes.
   
   Duplicate threads will be locked and redirected to existing ones. (If you do post a duplicate thread, don't worry about it too much. We know that it's easy to miss things, especially as the number of posts gets bigger.)
   
   
2. Understand how the game and its features work
   In order for your feedback to be most useful, you will want to have a good understanding of how the feature in question works before posting your ideas. If you are new, the help forum might be a better place to start.
   
   
3. Include potential solutions when giving feedback
   Simply saying that you do or don't like something isn't helpful feedback because it doesn't give us somewhere to start. Instead of just posting whether you do or don't like something, be sure to explain the specifics of both why you feel that way and what some potential solutions would be to make it better.
   
   
4. Know that this is a single-dev side project
   Pixel Cat's End is a project created and maintained by just one person, and they also work a full-time job outside of this. This means that the workflow and development pace/process will be different from games that are run by a full team of developers.
   
   There will be a lot of things that have to be tabled because of time and resources. Especially during beta, the core focus will be on implementing the core features - completely new features or major overhauls outside the current development plan will almost certainly be tabled until after beta.
   
   That said, you are welcome and encouraged to suggest longterm goals and ideas! Just remember to be patient and know that these kinds of things will be very far off.
   
   
5. Despite that, features don't need to compete
   While it's okay to have preferences, please don't shoot down entire ideas just because you'd rather have something else instead. For example, having new edgy black clothes doesn't have to take away from having cute fuzzy pink clothes. We can have both! It will just take a little time.
   
   
6. Suggestions must be on gameplay only
   Threads about staff, rules, or moderation will be immediately removed.
   
   
7. Please don't speak for the developer
   There are certain kinds of feedback that users aren't well-equipped to be able to judge and should be left up to the developer to comment on. Below is a short list of feedback types that fall under this category and are not helpful when they come from the userbase.
   
   Implications for moderation/behavior: We don't want to take away features that would benefit the majority of the playerbase because a few users could use them to cause problems. We will moderate or remove troublesome players and can build in safeguards to accommodate this.
   
   "That would be too difficult / too hard to code / too much work / cause too much lag": Nobody but Squid knows how the site's back-end infrastructure is built and what their art workflow and capabilities are, so they are the only one who should be the judge of this. Really though, the sky's the limit when it comes to suggestions. Sometimes suggestions for really big and probably unrealistic ideas can be fun to think about or spawn ideas for more realistic versions.
   
   Debating the developer's values or vision: It's really easy for users to argue about whether or not something is within the developer's vision for the game, but doing so isn't necessarily helpful because only Squid knows exactly what that vision is. It's okay for users to see the game in different ways and discuss the game's broad atmosphere and focus, but getting into the semantics of whether or not the developer would agree with an idea isn't something that's particularly useful for them to read.
   
   Remember that ultimately the point of this forum is that it is useful for the developer to look through from time to time to get ideas for changes and features. Trying to speak on their behalf can derail conversations and is less useful than speaking to your own personal thoughts and feelings. They want to hear what you think, not what you think they think!
   
   
8. Expect and accept changes
   With early game development, it’s likely that things will be overhauled, updated, or altered throughout the course of the game. Please know going into the site that art and features will almost certainly be altered and updated, and leaving old parts of the game is usually not possible.
   

Conversation and Feedback Etiquette

In order to make sure everyone feels welcome and has their thoughts and opinions respected here, please keep the below guidelines in mind when responding to the suggestions of others.

Threads that have elicited strong emotions and heated debate may be temporarily or permanently locked to give everyone some time to cool down. This does not mean that the suggestions within them can't happen, it just means that the conversation has run its course for the time being.

The guidelines in this section are specifically designed to help decrease the chance of arguments and increase the feeling that everyone is invited to have their own opinions, no matter where they're coming from and what their own interests in games are.

1. Anticipate disagreement and unfinished business
   We are unlikely to find uniform agreement on any single thread or topic, nor do all problems have one single solution. Threads and suggestions are an invitation to further discussion, brainstorm a number of potential ideas, and investigate a variety of potential costs and benefits.
   
   It's helpful if we acknowledge from the start that others will have opinions that are different from us and we are unlikely to come to a single consensus. We all like different kinds of games and have different thoughts on what we like to see, and that is okay.
   
   
2. Don't suppress voices
   Don't suppress marginal or unpopular opinions or ideas. Building a welcoming and respectful environment does not mean building a lack of disagreement or a single shared point of view.
   
   It is very easy for those who feel most comfortable speaking up to dominate the conversation and for more introverted individuals to stay quiet. It's good to be mindful of this to make sure that new players or players with less "popularly accepted" opinions get a turn to share their thoughts as well.
   
   
3. Listen to learn, not to respond
   Listen to what others are saying with the intent to understand them rather than to respond to them. If someone is saying something that we disagree with, we should listen even harder so that we can try to understand the perspective they are sharing.
   
   It's easy to read someone's post and spend the entire time thinking about what we want to say in response to every sentence, but it is more helpful to read what they're saying with the intent to understand where they're coming from. Try responding to ideas you disagree with by sharing your own feelings without trying to change how the other user feels about things.
   
   
4. Speak from your own experience
   Try using "I" statements when voicing your thoughts to avoid assuming that everyone reading the thread or playing the game feels the same way as you. We all want different things from a game, and that's a good thing! It's what makes it so that there are so many different kinds of games out there for us to play.
   
   Similarly, referring to things as if they are objectively good or bad comes with the assumption that everyone else also likes or dislikes those things.
   
   There is no one right or wrong way for a game to be, and for every opinion, there are going to be others who feel the opposite. It's best if we don't speak for others and only speak for ourselves and our own feelings and values. Responding to posts as if everyone feels the same way as us can be alienating to users who don't.
   
   
5. It's okay to step away
   If you feel yourself getting frustrated or upset with someone else's post, please take a moment to step away from the thread. You can come back later after taking some time away from the idea, or, if you've already said what you wanted to say, you can agree to disagree and leave the thread for other people to comment on.
   

These guidelines have been significantly revised to make them easier to read and understand!

Happy brainstorming, everyone!