SE introduced the forums as a way for players to give constructive feedback regarding the situation of the game, considering that on release the game has definately been a huge disaster in meeting people's expectations (including my own)- hence why it is F2P and why we are in Beta stage 3.
However, I agree that game forums tend to be full of just complaints with no real solution to a problem that someone perceives as being a huge issue. It is human nature I guess to complain and demand change for something you don't like, and being the wide range of diverse personalities that we are there will be agreement and disagreement (which often ends up quite heated).
I don't see the forums as necessarily a bad thing, but do get annoyed by the "this is sh*t- change it now!" threads that constantly pop up where no-one can agree on a compromise or offer some kind of intellectual discussion... mud slinging tends to follow :(
It's a double edged sword, and I agree with Brucey that once they start charging and the people simply hanging around because it is free (and it evens out so that the constant complainers just leave because it is not good enough in their eyes) then maybe it will settle down a bit. Complaint brings change, and SE wants to know what the playerbase wants changed... doesn't mean we will all necessarily agree with it though. But I would rather the forums are here than not.
