Post by Fleur on Oct 24, 2018 23:45:26 GMT
You're coming back from a stressful day. You've had a giant pile of work dumped on you out of nowhere, and it sucks. So you do what any person would do to cope: You go on Reddit to browse cool designs to relax. You have your bag of preferred snack next to you, a blanket over your feet and the ideal music playlist humming soft tunes into your ear.
And then you see this. And it completely breaks your relaxation. It's another pile of stress. Precisely, it's a design that makes you squirm in physical pain when you see it.
It's a post from some u/LilyBlossomTheAwesome who thinks that blue needs burn in standard to help improve Standard Teferi Control's bad matchups.
Your first instinct might be to yell obscenities at this designer. Who the fuck is the Lily person posting that card? Why do they think self-inserts are a good idea? Why is a burn spell in blue? Why is Lightning Bolt being used as a balance point? Why? Why?
No. Stop.
Although it might be easier to roast the design (and maybe the designer too), don't. Instead, try doing something a little bit more constructive. There's no cut-and-dry way to do this, but below are a few do's and don'ts that allow you to offer good feedback. This is in order of importance from what I consider most to least important when it comes to things to do.
Do be specific.
This one's pretty straightforward. The designer probably doesn't even know why their card is bad. After all, no one wants to create a bad design. So just saying a design is "bad" will get them nowhere, and in fact might just discourage the designer. However, if an explanation is provided, this provides a clear direction to go in. This clear direction will allow that person to make better designs and in turn, help other people.
Bad: Lily, your design is bad.
Okay: Lily, your design is bad because it breaks the color pie.
Better: Lily, your design is bad because it breaks the color pie by giving blue damage to creatures and players, a tool that goes against blue's weaknesses.
Do use precedent.
Some things are not necessarily common sense. For instance, an individual who came from Alpha likely does not know much about proper precedent and might think that the Moxen are okay in power level. Of course, that's not true. But that person might not know if they are not provided with a good explanation. Oftentimes this explanation will consist of precedent in the form of canon cards to back up a point.
Having said that, precedent should be used well. ThatDamnPipsqueak has an excellent article on how to use canon cards to assess power level in a positive way. You can find it here: magicseteditor.boards.net/post/7390/thread
Okay: Lily, your design is too strong for Standard because it's too efficient.
Better: Lily, your design is too strong because it's too efficient. For a comparison, see cards like Shock. Also consider the fact that Lightning Bolt has not been in standard for a long time.
Having said that though, not everything is made for standard, so...
Do ask for context.
Standard is thankfully, not the only way to play MTG. Some designs may be made for commander, others might be made for modern, and yet others might be made for high powered, pimped up cubes that are supposed to simulate the Vintage Experience(TM). That's why when in doubt, asking for context can help to give better feedback. Alternatively, give feedback from multiple perspectives - limited, draft, standard, modern.
And last, but not least...
If possible, do offer alternative courses of action.
This is not necessary, but it can help if someone doesn't know where to start. Sure, they know that they need to lower their power level, and that's quite great, especially if they've been given some juicy precedent. It's even better to give an example of what you might have done instead so that they can have an idea of a way to do things right.
Now for a list of don'ts.
Don't insult the designer or assume anything about them.
This is very important. Attacking the designer directly results in them going on the defensive and can mean your feedback is not taken seriously or properly, even if you mean well. As well, attacking the designer just isn't a cool thing to do. Just like how someone can want to bake well and end up making a shit cake, someone can want to design well and make a bad design. Assume that the designer you're talking to wants to make the best possible design, just like almost anyone else would.
Specific examples of things that would fall into this category (note that this list is by no means comprehensive)
- God, this is such an awful design. What a dumbass.
- I'm pretty sure you're making this just so you can push <deck>.
- Did you even use your brain while making this?
- I bet you did this just so you could feel that "hahahaha teehee I'm so clever" feeling.
Don't be vague.
This goes hand-in-hand with what I said earlier, but it bears repeating. Being vague doesn't allow for growth, creates questions that can't be answered easily by the designer and is just not very helpful. Basically, you shouldn't be vague because then the designer you're critiquing misses out on all the benefits of being specific.
Specific examples of vagueness:
- oml that's so broken
- lmao blue burn LUL xD
- Lily pls you're making me lose brain cells D:
This concludes my (somewhat not serious) article on proper feedback. I'll go over it again later, but right now I have a calculus quiz to prepare for. Until next time, may you feed people good feedback. And of course, feedback (hopefully good feedback) is welcome here.
And then you see this. And it completely breaks your relaxation. It's another pile of stress. Precisely, it's a design that makes you squirm in physical pain when you see it.
It's a post from some u/LilyBlossomTheAwesome who thinks that blue needs burn in standard to help improve Standard Teferi Control's bad matchups.
Your first instinct might be to yell obscenities at this designer. Who the fuck is the Lily person posting that card? Why do they think self-inserts are a good idea? Why is a burn spell in blue? Why is Lightning Bolt being used as a balance point? Why? Why?
No. Stop.
Although it might be easier to roast the design (and maybe the designer too), don't. Instead, try doing something a little bit more constructive. There's no cut-and-dry way to do this, but below are a few do's and don'ts that allow you to offer good feedback. This is in order of importance from what I consider most to least important when it comes to things to do.
Do be specific.
This one's pretty straightforward. The designer probably doesn't even know why their card is bad. After all, no one wants to create a bad design. So just saying a design is "bad" will get them nowhere, and in fact might just discourage the designer. However, if an explanation is provided, this provides a clear direction to go in. This clear direction will allow that person to make better designs and in turn, help other people.
Bad: Lily, your design is bad.
Okay: Lily, your design is bad because it breaks the color pie.
Better: Lily, your design is bad because it breaks the color pie by giving blue damage to creatures and players, a tool that goes against blue's weaknesses.
Do use precedent.
Some things are not necessarily common sense. For instance, an individual who came from Alpha likely does not know much about proper precedent and might think that the Moxen are okay in power level. Of course, that's not true. But that person might not know if they are not provided with a good explanation. Oftentimes this explanation will consist of precedent in the form of canon cards to back up a point.
Having said that, precedent should be used well. ThatDamnPipsqueak has an excellent article on how to use canon cards to assess power level in a positive way. You can find it here: magicseteditor.boards.net/post/7390/thread
Okay: Lily, your design is too strong for Standard because it's too efficient.
Better: Lily, your design is too strong because it's too efficient. For a comparison, see cards like Shock. Also consider the fact that Lightning Bolt has not been in standard for a long time.
Having said that though, not everything is made for standard, so...
Do ask for context.
Standard is thankfully, not the only way to play MTG. Some designs may be made for commander, others might be made for modern, and yet others might be made for high powered, pimped up cubes that are supposed to simulate the Vintage Experience(TM). That's why when in doubt, asking for context can help to give better feedback. Alternatively, give feedback from multiple perspectives - limited, draft, standard, modern.
And last, but not least...
If possible, do offer alternative courses of action.
This is not necessary, but it can help if someone doesn't know where to start. Sure, they know that they need to lower their power level, and that's quite great, especially if they've been given some juicy precedent. It's even better to give an example of what you might have done instead so that they can have an idea of a way to do things right.
Now for a list of don'ts.
Don't insult the designer or assume anything about them.
This is very important. Attacking the designer directly results in them going on the defensive and can mean your feedback is not taken seriously or properly, even if you mean well. As well, attacking the designer just isn't a cool thing to do. Just like how someone can want to bake well and end up making a shit cake, someone can want to design well and make a bad design. Assume that the designer you're talking to wants to make the best possible design, just like almost anyone else would.
Specific examples of things that would fall into this category (note that this list is by no means comprehensive)
- God, this is such an awful design. What a dumbass.
- I'm pretty sure you're making this just so you can push <deck>.
- Did you even use your brain while making this?
- I bet you did this just so you could feel that "hahahaha teehee I'm so clever" feeling.
Don't be vague.
This goes hand-in-hand with what I said earlier, but it bears repeating. Being vague doesn't allow for growth, creates questions that can't be answered easily by the designer and is just not very helpful. Basically, you shouldn't be vague because then the designer you're critiquing misses out on all the benefits of being specific.
Specific examples of vagueness:
- oml that's so broken
- lmao blue burn LUL xD
- Lily pls you're making me lose brain cells D:
This concludes my (somewhat not serious) article on proper feedback. I'll go over it again later, but right now I have a calculus quiz to prepare for. Until next time, may you feed people good feedback. And of course, feedback (hopefully good feedback) is welcome here.
