Constructive Criticism

Community
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I’m sure for the forums this is nothing to be concerning as a whole, but, it’s a topic I feel should be discussed and does impact Boards in general. You ever get when you build something and someone just comments ‘I didn’t like that’ or ‘that was terrible’ or anything like that. To where they only briefly say the don’t like something you’ve done? Everyone gets it, I mean it’s true we can’t satisfy others as a whole but at least we’re trying to do so to the best we can.

People who post that could be trolls or don’t actually like what you’ve done, with the internet, it’s bound to happen. But when I don’t like something someone made, at least I’ll have the decency to create Constructive Criticism.

Constructive Criticism is probably underrated, it means in basic terms if you don’t like something, at least you won’t just say ‘THIS SUCKS’ but instead you’ll explain it in a calm, collective manor. Example: ‘This is a good Moc and I enjoy how you built the arms. If I may, next time can you add a little more detail to the chest? Seems lacking to be honest.’

The reason why we do this is two reasons. 1. It’s calm and expresses that we aren’t here to cause a fight. And 2. It helps, we always get those times where we make a bad choice, or a choice that could’ve been improved on, and that’s the beauty of Constructive Criticism is to help one-another in the future of what they’re doing so they can continue doing what they love, rather then hate themselves for something they put love and care towards.

I’m sure everyone’s got this down, however I felt like it was a good topic to discuss about. What are your thoughts? How do you explain something you’re not to fond of? Again this is just a reminder, not saying this happened here, but it’s happened on other sites and it’s just a thing to keep in mind.

Sincerely - Just some dude sitting in a chair who will probably go back to watching pointless videos… OH LOOK, KITTENS, THEY’RE SO CUTE!

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I usually sound like a jerk when I try to criticize, but I still try anyway.

But I mostly sound like a broken record around here, with MOCs at least. It’s always like “LATERAL BICEP MOVEMENT. GET ON MAH LEVEL, MAYUNG”

But uh, yeah, if I see something that I think would make the MOC look better, I try to let someone know.

Same with videos, or anything really. Anything I feel I know enough about.

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Uh, no thanks, I don’t want Mayonnaise… wait what? Anyways yeah I mean it’s sometimes hard not to make it sound aggravating and someone is bound to take even the simplest things as YOU’RE A BULLY!

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As an artist I personally despise compliments. Not because I feel the opinion isn’t worth noting, but because I get nothing from a compliment. I strive to better myself in all my endeavors, be it through drawings or running our YouTube channel, and because of that I’m often overly critical of myself.

Which to me, is a good thing.

Because the moment I settle and think “well it’s good enough” is the moment that I stop evolving and growing my techniques and abilities. When I point out the negatives, it’s to reinforce the positives. Show that while something is good, it can be made better. And sometimes something truly great can be made by simply pushing the boundaries of what you think you can do.

But, it is important to note the positives as well. How can one be constructive if they never truly understand what they did right versus what they did wrong? If you only see the negatives then that’s all you’ll ever see, and you’ll never be able to build on the things that work.

And this is where a lot of people seem to misunderstand. Especially when it comes to the MOCing community. You cant expect amazing things out of someone who’s never taken MOCing seriously before, and sure, there are some people with natural abilities to learn and adapt to new things amazingly fast, but there are also those who struggle with new concepts and it’s important to understand patience and practice actual guidance when it comes to these people.

If you word your critique in a way that only focuses on the negatives rather than the positives then the person whom you are critiquing will only see these as complaints and be at a loss for how to fix them. This will either make then insecure about their work and cause them to give up, or it will make them feel defensive and shut out any real guidance your critique may have.

Positives and Negatives. It’s important to balance the two if we really want to see people produce amazing works. When critiquing you should always give a decent amount of both. A MOCist or artist will get nothing out of “Wow that’s really cool! 10/10” aside from personal gratification. But they also wont get anything out of what could be considered nothing but insults.

People put time and effort into their work, and when commenting you should give them the courtesy of creating a well written response.

But that’s my two cents on constructive criticism XP

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Let it never be said that you aren’t thorough when you have something to say.

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This. This right here.

So many times over on MOCpages I’ve posted a MOC that I wanted actual critique on, because it was, you know, my SELF-MOC, and most people said pretty much what you said.

Thank you, for summing up what I’ve been thinking.

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I actually made a MOC a while back and made a video for it, now, it is private due to the unhelpful comments. It was a MOC of an Exo-Suit that wasn’t THE Exo-Suit, but everyone pointed out saying it was an Exo-Suit at all. The MOC was just something big I pulled together and was the 8th try for it, but apparently people were to stubborn to know I have feelings so they commented with hate.

It bothers me to this day how someone can make something, and it’s art in their way, and someone else has the feeling to burn it. If it’s not hurting anyone, it’s not hurting you, so there’s no reason to hurt them back. That is why even if I dislike a MOC I’ll either say ‘good job,’ or ‘cool but this could’ve been done better,’ or nothing at all because no one is forcing me to comment.

I know those examples weren’t the most well written, but hey, at least it’s better then ‘THIS SUCKS’ or ‘THIS MADE ME VOMIT’ or ‘FIRST’… Seriously, first comments are annoying. Anyways, I understand where you’re coming from as sometimes I ask people for advice or what can I do better, especially on my YouTube channel, and they don’t really have much to say.

Then again, I’m not gonna force anyone to say something, if they can’t think of anything, then they… can’t… think of anything… CONFUSED, YOU SHOULD BE! LoLz. So I completely see where you’re coming from.

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I do think that board members should all read @IllustriousVar’s amazing speech again. Pretty good pointers in it :wink:

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I think there is an art to constructive criticism. Being polite about things you dislike but still telling the truth; that you don’t like it, and why

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Here’s how I comment on any MOC I like, but don’t think is amazing:
1: General positive statement, if your feelings overall are positive for it.
2: Mention a more detailed part of what you like.
3: Say the specific problems you have with the model so the person can improve that issue (color scheme, proportions, textures, etc). Be nice about it, and tell them ho they can improve rather than just stating you don’t like it.
End: Make a general statement that is positive and makes the person feel happy to read it.
Example:
Awesome job! The build is really unique and looks great, but I feel like the color scheme could be better if you had less and distributed them better. My general rule of thumb for MOCs is that you can have a primary color (biggest part of the scheme), a secondary, less prominent color, and metallic. That way, it balances out nicely. I don’t always do it, but it tends to look good when I do. Overall, keep up the great work!

When you don’t like the MOC, be sure to find something you do like about it to mention. If not, make sure you don’t use overly harsh words (I hate it), but rather more neutral ones (not your best work/ needs improvement). Only I almost always end with something positive, whether it’s “great job” or “keep trying!” I feel like that’s a good way to make constructive criticism.

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I should mention that, I could probably sit here and completely criticize someone’s MOC, but I’m not the designer/artist, and the person who built the MOC doesn’t HAVE to change a thing if they’re happy with it. My Klix MOC is a female with a Rahkshi head, I get comments over that, but I generally don’t care because that’s what I wanted the MOC to have.

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