Open letter to disgruntled puzzlers
(The following could be inserted into any puzzle blog, especially ones that get feisty)
Dear solver,
Tonight’s puzzle was created by an unpaid amateur puzzler maker. They volunteered their time and effort and put together what they believed to be a good puzzle. The powers that be selected¹ this puzzle. You, the solver, have been given the opportunity to view this puzzle and attempt to solve it for free. You are under no obligation to purchase anything, nor to compensate the author in any way.
If tonight’s puzzle did not thrill you, we truly apologize for the inconvenience. Please note, spewing forth harsh word directed at the author will not refund the time you invested in attempting to solve this puzzle, nor will it garner you any “in store credit”, bonus Tanga Points, nor any other form of reimbursement. Such spewing is simply mean and unnecessary.
- Tanga Management²
¹ Any qualms with the “selection process” are not the fault of the author.
² Ghost written on behalf of Tanga Management. Should they not approve of this message, I authorize them to delete and repost with necessary corrections.
All I am going to say on this is that the problems people had were not with the hard puzzle or the author, but with very insensitive people. The only people who thought it was too salty had already solved. Congratulations for that.
Again, colorblind people don't get treated like this, why should people with hearing loss?
ummm, yeah, my school blocked access to youtube...
I think you summed it up very nicely!
note to self: bookmark this page.
Well put, Spamwise.
As the puzzle editor, I should really be the target of complaints, not the authors.
No one was targeting the author. The issue was people's idea of "salt".
[6] Fair enough. In the specific puzzle blog that lead to the writing of the letter, the ill will was not directed at the author.
However, some of the underlying themes remain. The puzzles on this site are free. Let's not get too critical of people we'll likely never actually meet. We're here to have some fun; to "entertain ourselves", if you will.
Also keep in mind that one man's salt is another man's distraction. (What may seem obvious to one who has solved a puzzle might seem baffling or even lead down the wrong path for someone yet to have their "aha".)
[I know that, technically, I'm mixing singular and plural pronouns, but I prefer a gender neutral term over the numerically accurate one {which is odd, given my fondness for math}. Oh well, to each his own. {Ok, now I'm just being difficult}] :)
Spamwise, I applaud your efforts here. Too often I see comments about how "terrible" a puzzle was. That's just unnecessary and downright nasty.
As a puzzle author, though, I don't want to discourage truly constructive criticism.
I have benefited from thoughtful constructive criticism both of my own puzzles and of others.
I welcome anything which helps me improve.
[9] Agreed. As a fellow published puzzler (though not recently... [cough cough]) I truly enjoy the comments on my puzzles. Sure, it's fun to get kudos and warm fuzzies, but of equal value are the thoughtful comments from the "mostly liked" or "might have liked if" crowds. I try my best to test my puzzles, but when there are ambiguities or, dare I say, errors, it helps to have them pointed out, so I can aim to improve in the future. (I had a minor grammatical error in one puzzle brought to my attention, I happened to be around, and I was able to upload a corrected image. There was another case where part of my background image caused one poor puzzler to go on a treacherous wild goose chase. I think they eventually got to the right place, but it was important for that to be brought to my attention.) Absolute silence would be nearly as hurtful as irate nastiness... well, maybe not nearly, but still, it's nice to get feedback.
Although I've only had a few puzzles published, of course I enjoy the compliments. But I too want to know if there is something I could have done better, or differently. If you don't like something I've done, I can take it, so long as you give me a suggestion for something different.
I have a group of people who do a test run on mine before I submit them, but even then I appreciate the insight of fellow puzzlers.
And while I certainly can't promise to make EVERY change I am offered, I can promise I will think about them carefully when working on my next one.
It looks like this thread needs to be bumped!
:-)