Return To Monkey Island Creator Discontinues Blog Updates Following Online Abuse

Such a shame. I don’t see why people feel the need to act like this towards devs.

Oh dear, that isn’t good for the developers. I am sorry for them and hope things get better for everybody there. Hope everyone agrees with me here.

@nessisonett I don’t either.

If the haters don't want to play the new game they can just not buy it. Feel like Gilbert should of kept his blogged and told the nob heads to piss off

@nessisonett mainly because the Internet gave a voice to the most radical self-entitled nerds who love to nitpick and insult other people as it would make them seem “superior” or some kind of bull like that

Well done people. It's always the minority that spoil it for the rest if us.

You cannot please gamers so just make the game you want to make, comments be damned. This is a lesson so many devs and publishers should learn.

@Strictlystyles you can’t please everyone in the world. There will always be some people complaining.

It's ok to express your distaste for the art style, but there's no reason to go beyond that and insult people personally. These are some legendary game designers, returning to one of the most beloved game franchises of all time. This should be a time of celebration!

I hope these idiots were in the minority. This is clearly a passion project & we're lucky at all that games like these see the light of day. I would have loved to read Ron Gilbert's blog on bringing this new entry together. Some of the hardcore fans are the worst, thinking it's their right to have it done their way.

@anoyonmus gamers are more fickle than “most people in the world” if you make a game based on what gamers want rather than the game you want to make, you usually end up failing, with a few exceptions.

Sharing production content pre-release is always going to invite trolls and sad sacks to share their bilge. Can't expect to publicise something on the internet and not receive trash for it. At least they're using it to their advantage in terms that it's an easy story to boost the profile of the game.

I think its fine to criticise the art direction but everything needs to be in perspective... people who want to delay the game to redo all the art are just pure idiots. attacking ron gilbert for this is just an idiot move... sorry for my wording but in this case the internet is just too much

The art style for this game is fantastic, hmph.

Pathetic. I'd imagine most fans of Monkey Island are well into their 30's now. To act like this (regardless of age) is just so sad.

Also, I love the art style. Great to see things evolve rather than stay the same.

@Strictlystyles true ig

I would never feel the need to harass the creator, but the game does look like crap imo

JEEZ I know that people hate the art style but I didn’t know they hate it THAT much!

This is why I kinda think comment sections need to largely go the way of the dodo (and I’m fully aware of where I’m writing this). They’re appropriate for some things, but not every place of information needs to allow anonymous commentary by the public. I’m sure there are plenty of corporate advertising teams out there that insist on maximizing “audience engagement”, but if it’s going to result in the whole affair being stopped (or even just unhealthy levels of stress for those producing the content) then what’s the point?

People absolutely should behave better, but us saying what ought to be so is not going to make it so. This will never stop, outside of a post-scarcity utopia where everyone is content enough not to project their lack of fulfillment on to trivial matters. And even then I’m not so sure. Just get rid of comment sections. And Twitter while we’re at it.

P.S. Yes, all my best to the Monkey Island team. I’ve never even played the games and I’m still excited to try this new one.

I was a bit sceptical about the art style after seeing stills earlier this year, but when this newest trailer came out, seeing it in motion made me love it. It's a given that this sort of art style won't be for everyone, and it's ok to give constructive criticism sometimes if said in a respectful manner, but the comments left on Ron Gilbert's personal blog had crossed the line way too much. A new game in their favourite series gets announced, and these people just attack and berate the creator in the most entitled way possible. I hope Ron gets to know that so many people are excited for this new release, and that shutting down everything is just letting the small group of haters win. Though with these sorts of things, mental health is most important of all, so he should do what's best for him.

He's still on Twitter. For now.
I hope you join me in dropping by to show him some love. I believe the world has more good people than bad. It doesn't always feel this way because the bad ones are just so darned loud, whereas good people just walk around being good without fanfare.

Twitter is the internet equivalent of wandering into a dark alley at 3.00am while donning some fashion house suit and handbag. Don't feign surprise when the salivating junkies come to prey.

I've only had a Twitter account for a day several years ago, and that was merely so I could engage live with an audience during a pre-recorded television appearance, and some of the comments were absolutely revolting.

Frankly, I don't know why anybody bothers indulging such a toxic platform, much less companies/professionals.

I also dislike the art style, but I would never insult him or attack him personally. These people have some serious mental problems.

Certain areas of the internet can be a cowardly and anti-social place sometimes.

I'm buying the game.

The game's art is kind of bad, I hope the creator discuss with the fans about the game rather than demanding the fans like every decision he made.

Of course attacking him personally isn't good, but this is internet, I don't think you can find 100% free toxic discussion, just ignore the toxic fans and discuss thing with the normal fans.

I will buy this game just to support the devs (also it looks very cool)

@Pigeon are you saying he deserves the personal insults and hate thrown @ him?

All I know is gamers suck and are so self entitled its sickening

@Silly_G I actually deleted my twitter account after 9 to 11 years of active use and 5k plus followers back in 2020 because the increasing toxicity and gutter poor moderation. Not necessarily for any of this directed at me either. I've actually recently even taken a long break from facebook for the same reason & removed myself off from majority of WhatsApp groups. There's something about the internet when the person is not front of you and you also can't hear them (no sensory input) via say a phonecall that make too many ppl act inappropriately.

@Pigeon All the new Pokemon games look way less appealing than this though.

@nessisonett It’s because that’s all they have. They thrive off this nastiness.

This sucks to hear. I'm certainly no stranger to giving games a piece of my mind either as I'm sure people here know, but I always (try to) stay respectful to the people behind these games. And if you can't show that respect to people you need to keep your mouth shut, plain and simple.

@Pigeon Why is it so hard for people (seemingly like yourself) to come to terms with the simple fact they can like what they like? If you don’t like the art style then sound, good for you. Personally I think it looks great. If I didn’t I wouldn’t be a condescending ***** though.

Sounds like Wind Waker all over again… 🙄

Wahhh the internet is being mean!!!

No way, really? People probably shouldn't get involved in art forms (or any type of social media) if they can't handle criticism on the ol interwebs.

Kind of funny it was called grumpy gamer...did he expect people to spam him with unicorns and butterflies?

Absolutely appalling. My mom taught me to keep my mouth shut if I didn't have anything nice to say. While this is not always possible, in this case, I think it was the right call to turn comments off. Especially if someone is being personally attacked, even verbally.

Literally the only thing potentially wrong with the art style is the Link's Awakening eyes he has. Which is a look Guybrush has had in both the original two games and also when he was made young at the end of Curse. This would be a relatively easy fix if they do decide to change it but I do think this reaction is reminiscent of when people saw Wind Waker for the first time.

It's definitely a Wind Waker situation rather than a Sonic movie reaction so I hope they stick to their guns. But either way I'm sure Rex will do what he thinks is best.

Actually I'm pretty sure this was my reaction when I saw Curse's art style for the first time. And that game turned out fantastic. Really it's that beautiful box art of the original games that's to blame for all this. It all goes back to Steve Purcell... damn him

Classic degenerate animals.

One of my most anticipated games this year. Art style is different than what I expected, but looks great. It is what the original creator of the series chose as well.

People are free to not like it, not buy the game and comment on that. Getting to the point to harass the developers though just shows how small of a brain they have in their heads.

Yeah I barely use social media because of this. I just want to make art. I try not to care if people don't like it (just as I'm not keen on the art style for this game) - personal tastes are just that and you can't please everyone. I just make what I like and hope some others will to.

Sadly, I've increasingly found over the years that inviting a dialogue about your work online as it develops leads to some people kissing your butt, complementing your every move, and making you out to be some kind of god, while simultaneously others send you death threats, insult you on truly personal levels and wish harm on your family. I'd argue that in the long run, neither is helpful, and both is damaging to your mental health.

I feel very sorry for him obviously feeling he's somehow letting people down who've supported him before and perhaps damaging his legacy or something. For the record, whilst I really think the art style is inadvised I'll still happily buy the game and enjoy it because I know the genre is fun and he has a very long track record of making great games with great writing, and I just want to support him and the series as a whole.

@Pigeon Can you tell us please how much the art style you imagine should have been used would have roughly cost and how much this art style did cost?

I can understand these things. Those hard-core fans deserve to be hit with the LeChucken Pox, or the Pirate Plague, as it was called in Tales of Monkey Island!

Idiots! I don’t mind the graphic style. It looks a bit like Guacamelee and that’s great in my book 👍🏻

The Lucasfilm fandom is bleak nowadays.
They are getting tons of flak over the new Star Wars films (and sometimes, the shows), and now Return to Monkey Island is getting just as much flak.

Congratulations, Lucasfilm fans, you are now worse than the Sonic fandom.
The hellstorm over The Rise of Skywalker seems quaint by comparison. And The Rise of Skywalker was about the only recent Star Wars content I actually hated. (except for Babu Frik, who is the GOAT in that movie)

I'm not super stoked on the art style, but I wouldn't go out and insult the developers for it, that's just sad. I'm excited to play a new Monkey Island game

I never played the original game but this one looks cool I don't think the death threats and personal abuse is necessary if you don't like it then don't play it the devs don't deserve this.

The internet gets what the internet deserves

@Grail_Quest Agreed. I don't like it when people say we shouldn't be negative about things because of the hard work of the people involved, but there's no excuse for being rude or impolite to anyone.

The internet is so full of hate these days it feels like…

I watched the new Obi-Wan Kenobi show, and watched it and immensely enjoyed it (it’s exactly what I was hoping for) and went to Reddit and other media sites to see what others thought. Scores and scores and scores of comments on articles and Reddit posts decrying how lazy and awful the show was, lazy writing, lazy acting, lazy cinematography. It made me so sad; it’s apparent people put love and genuine care into producing the show. Is it perfect? No, but it was pretty darn enjoyable.

Same for this game; so much hate for something that is being made with love and care. Why? Why the sudden turn to hatred in the internet? This is not what the internet was made for. Some things deserve anger and hatred, but people making media for people to enjoy is not one of them. Unless someone is getting hurt in the process, or a company is forcing bad practices like crunch on their employees, just let people enjoy things. Wait until it comes out, and if you don’t like the art style - don’t buy it!

It’s one thing to share an opinion; “well I don’t like the art style so I’ll pass, but maybe have a filter option for an older art style closer to the original games?” But to outright personally attack another human is downright evil.

Sad days are these, and this is why we can’t have nice things

Some are trying to paint it as if Ron is playing the victim here.
He's not really.
He's just informing us honestly that he's shutting down the site because people are being brutally negative.
And that the negativity has a predictably negative impact on his enthusiasm for sharing.

I've never followed the Monkey Island franchise; what is it people were upset about?

It's ridiculous how childish people are getting over the art direction of all things. It's fine if you don't like the art, but that doesn't give you the right to bug the creators over it!

It's 100% fine for people to not like something about a game and even comment about it along with their reasoning but the way some gamers do this on the internet is just ridiculous. Too much vitriol and hyperbole with a hefty dose of 'my opinion means more than yours, creator of game series' from these armchair developers/finance 'experts'

@SteamEngenius This is completely different from being able to 'handle criticism' - no-one should expect to receive tons of comments on their own website filled with anger, personal attacks and entitlement based on something as small as a game's art direction whether they're on the internet or not.

Why such hate for an artistic decision , if you don’t like it don’t buy it but let the artists do their work, social media are one of the worst inventions of this century .

The internet has really turned fandom toxic almost everywhere. Everyone is so entitled and demanding that they be pleased. No one can just not like something. They feel like they have to weaponize their displeasure because what they want is by far the most important thing in the world

massive victim mentality. yes the internet is rude, but it always has been.... and no, he didnt deserve that but that's what it is today...

It's the same sentiment that happens with any beloved IP, especially if it spans a generation. SW immediately comes to mind with the trilogies. So much hate and backlash by the "fans" from the original franchise. No creative freedom for the creators to do new things and push ideas.

@stiligFox Isn't it nuts that a person can't share their own positive feelings about something related to Star Wars without being told that their opinion is wrong?

As others have already commented, there is so much toxicity on the internet. What's worse is that a lot of those entitled people spew such vile things and then get upset that the dev/director/whoever "can't handle criticism." Which puts those creators in a lose-lose situation. It's honestly rather clever on the part of the entitled. Edit: this way they never have to take accountability for their own actions or opinions.

Long time reader of Nintendolife and I never rarely post comments these days but I felt the need to. Of the Mini Direct I lost it when this was announced. Was stoked to see a new Monkey Island game on my fav console. I love the Monkey Island games and introduced my daughter to it, she loves them too. Will be there on launch day hanging with Guybrush Threepwood "Mighty Pirate".

@Pigeon Lol... Uhh... Pokemon games, especially Arc and the recent remakes... they don't look good man, lol. I love them. Either way, no excuse to harass devs.

More than anything this proves the Internet and social media have ruined they way people behave. Before they'd keep their opinions to themselves. Now they think everybody wants to know.

Developing a videogame is a form of art... you have to accept you'll have positive and negative response. Reacting to this extreme over what is clearly a very small minority seems to me its not the only issue.

Also, you can disable comments without disabling the entire website...? Not sure what they're trying to achieve here.

And that tweet... are they claiming negative feedback will result in a bad game because the devs will be less motivated? What kind of a response/defence is that supposed to be?!

No excuse for some of those comments received... but sorry, the response is equally poor in my view.

That's before we even bring in the overwhelming majority that obviously want to know more about the game?! The Internet will always have trolls. Ignore them, and get on with promoting your game to the people that care about it - which I daresay is a LOT of people !

@KillerBOB fantastic art style! and I'm a fan since roughly 30 years! it's spot on and I'm so looking forward to this!

but it's art, no use to argue about it...

Let me preface this by saying that the changes to the Sonic the Hedgehog design were definitely an improvement, but this is exactly what I was afraid we'd start to see more of when everyone's whining led to an actual change. Now the notion is out there. "If we don't like it, let's be horrible until we make them change it!"

Why are gamers so crazy? It’s just a game. It’s not heart surgery and no matter how much you enjoy it no one owes you anything. It seems to be impossible for people to be decent. People handing out death threats and violence like that’s normal. It’s not. It’s absolutely not. Stop. Just Stop.

And why is anyone excusing this behavior?

@nocdaes sharing development progress is a nice service for fans. it's not mandatory. why would he spent his free time on something, if in the end he needs more time to delete hate comments because they were really lowest level, insulting and shouldn't be read by younger fans. disabling the comments would shift the problem elsewhere. and I assume the idea behind the blog was to have some exchange on the development progress with the fans, which would not be possible with disabled comments and would kill the whole purpose of the blog...

I hated the art style, but there's no need to attack Ron Gilbert and his team, he is still talented.

Plus, it's Monkey Island, Monkey Island is like a pizza, even when it's bad, it's good, I can ignore the terrible art style if the puzzles are fun, the story is interesting, the jokes are funny and the soundtrack is good to hear.

@nocdaes The tweet about the impact of negative feedback is how it affects morale - it's not that it'll intentionally be made worse, but these attacks and vitriol can affect how people perform in the workplace which can theoretically lead the game itself being impacted.

I also can't agree with the idea that walking away and saying that you don't want to share things anymore due to the abuse you're receiving is in any way just as bad as the attacks being made.

You gotta separate the art from the artist. If you don't like the style that's fine. Personally attacking the creator accomplishes nothing. People do seem to get completely outraged over minor things though. Must provide them with some kind of dopamine rush or something.

@SteamEngenius

I know what you're saying, but a lot of people do have trouble with criticism. I can't imagine how many beautiful things we've missed out on because of fear of the backlash.

An artist can be amazing artist, yet have no ability to handle internet rage, and it does feel a -little- unfair to expect them to, even if the internet isn't really ever going to change.

@Pak-Man Yeah also feeds into itself, if someone's throwing stones and being cheered on for it, other people are going to do it too.

It just becomes an unrelenting mob repeating the same crap even long after whoever it's targeted towards get the message.

The Sonic movie was a good example of how criticism is important, if the people who made it just claimed "Cry some more" or "Haters gonna hate" or "You are just complaining because it's different", and released the movie with that hellspawn that was Ugly Sonic, the movie would likely have failed and no sequel becoming the highest-grossing movie based on a videogame of all time.

Complain about the product, avoid insulting the people who make it.

@SonOfVon what has he done previously to deserve this?

I wasn't really interested in Monkey Island before. I didn't grew up with it and and I've never been interested in point and clicks (outside of some licenced pc point and clicks that I never finished when I was little). So probably my opinion isn't really informed.

But... what's wrong with the artstyle? Genuenlly, I just can't see the issue. That is "too simple" I guess? Like, is it that bad to make as big of a fuss? I just don't get it.

As a game developer (Or anyone in any other creative field) it's important to remember that for every jerk throwing empty insults at you there are 100 people looking forward to what your creating. You should never shut things down and ruin the fun for people who actually care over the actions of an obnoxious minority.

I see nasty comments about the stuff I make fairly frequently, but I make it a point to make sure I don't allow those comments to suck the fun out of what I do.

@SonOfVon Illuminate me. How did he insult the gamers a bunch of times?

How appropriate. You fight like a cow.

They should really just ignore it. Don’t let the haters get the better of you.

I hate a particular game too but you don't see me attacking the dev for it. Some time people seem to forget that these people had families to feed and house bills to pay.

@nessisonett No one does, really.

This is the second time in about a week that I've read the word "anymore" used incorrectly on this site. Come on, Ollie, get it together.

People being people. We can be kind and...we can be cruel.

If people don’t like it, don’t buy it. Why are some people so cruel and unthinking nowadays, just thinking that the world owes them everything and if they don’t get it, just comment bile until you get what you want. Some people are so vicious these days.

In my opinion if an artist has a bunch of irritated hate-fans, double down on what they hate. Including art styles or functions. I'm interested in Monkey Island now but for the wrong reasons, being interested because other people hate it feels wrong to me.

All this hatred for expressionist cubism is pretty classless on its own, but getting angry because a game you didn't make doesn't look the way you want it to? That's called narcissism.

On the bright side, people that act like that got disappointed and upset. Hope it keeps happening for them on every aspect of their lives.

I feel sad for him if People attacked him harsh and personally.

To the Style itself:
It is a really strange one and divisive, i personally am disliking it and i will skip the Game as a whole, even if i grew up with the originals and played every one of the Series.
Imo even the 3D ones have a better Style.
The Animations itself are also made in a awkward Way.

He choosed to make Art like Picasso, but many just prefer da Vinci.

Though it may seem a little over the top, the reaction was expected, the game is a classic and they do this to it? You can’t deny the looks bad visually, a poor choice art style wise.

@locky-mavo
I don't think the reaction was expected. Not by the developers at least. They were excited to show the game.
And it's perfectly possible to deny that the game looks bad, as this is just an opinion.

The art style is not for me. My decision to purchase is effected by the aesthetic of the game. Plain and simple.
Can i still direct my pure hatred of tweening animation to no particular person?
Save it for an Angela Anaconda reboot. (Please don’t)

The entitlement on display is breathtaking. I'm a Doctor Who and Star Trek fan, so I've seen this sort of vitriol for years in online spaces.

Two turning points for this kind of behaviour gaining credence as an effective method of change were fans getting the design of Movie Sonic changed (ultimately a good decision) and the hobbling of The Rise of Skywalker to accede with rabid fan demands (which made a poor movie for everyone involved).

If these fans knew what was best, they would be making their own films, games, and TV series. But they know they will never create anything, and fear that things will outgrow them, so they stay in their pit of despair and try to drag everyone else into it.

@Flashlink99 it's also people who feel really invested in certain franchises, so if it doesn't live up to their expectations, they think they know better how it should turn out. Entitlement i think has just as much to do with it.

Not a point & click game fan, but i wish them the best & hope it does well w the community after all is said & done.

@BrandyBongos agreed. People argued for over a decade for video games as art. People ought to accept it as such, but instead think since it's an interactive medium, they should have input, for whatever reason. We need the game that artists/developers want to make. No censorship, or cancellation, or anything of the sort, IMHO. I wish they could make them in a bubble, & we not know anything about them until finished. Then, it may be different. I realize that's not possible in the age of social media, tho, sadly.

@twztid13 Exactly, entitlement is the root of the fans’ nastiness. This shouldn’t be that way. We can all disagree with certain aspects of a game, movie, show etc. but people forgot to have a moderate discussion with each other. Modern society suffers from a severe case of AVGNitis, when everything not on par with the greatest games ever made becomes s**t instantly and every developer out there is Fred Fuchs in disguise

@Pigeon Can you come to terms with the fact that some people like the design? What I'm getting from your comment is that he deserves the personal attacks?

@SonOfVon Are you going to expound on this or just continue to be vague?

The art looks bad and out of line with the rest of the series. I wish they would have went with a classic pixel look like they did with Thimbleweed Park, or the hand painted look of Monkey Island 3. Oh well.

@Jey887 More likely well into their 40s, which makes it all the sadder. Grow up people and get a life.