On a scale of 1 to 5-- Do you feel SE listens to their western players? State why.

[Naunet]

I'd give it a 2/5.

They're too stubborn on too many things, and often when they "listen" to us, they either misinterpret requests (not sure if it's a language barrier issue or what) or try and do something a "new" way that ends up just being more convoluted and annoying than it should have been.

[Chiramu]

Why do you think that a thread specifying that someone is disappointed in something is garbage?

Further, why do you think a thread that details the reason for lost business is garbage?

Both of these are incredibly useful information for the developers. To ignore them would be a mistake.

FFXIV has "over 6 million players" need to keep the tinfoil hats on to stop naysayers.

[Kaurie]

FFXIV has "over 6 million players" need to keep the tinfoil hats on to stop naysayers.

McDonalds has sold over 245 billion burgers, but they still print out surveys to collect feedback from people, and still go out of there way to appease those who are disappointed.

Saying things like "tinfoil hats" and "naysayers" degrades the quality of your argument, by the way.

As an aside, FFXIV has sold over 5 million accounts the last I saw (believable to 6 million now), but has well under 6 million players. The most recent census estimates there are 700,000 characters - where players is even less than that due to one player having multiple characters.

[KitingGenbu]

McDonalds has sold over 245 billion burgers, but they still print out surveys to collect feedback from people, and still go out of there way to appease those who are disappointed.

Saying things like "tinfoil hats" and "naysayers" degrades the quality of your argument, by the way.

As an aside, FFXIV has sold over 5 million accounts the last I saw (believable to 6 million now), but has well under 6 million players. The most recent census estimates there are 700,000 characters - where players is even less than that due to one player having multiple characters.

You know what's odd about those numbers? Dont they count before ARR? But they say the game has only been around for 3 years (yeah I know ARR has been around for 3, but they dont say FFXIV:ARR, just FFXIV). I guess 6 million accounts in 3 years sounds better than 6 million accounts in 5-6 years?

[WoooBlaaa]

I wouldn't know, I'm too afraid to post feedback because I'm afraid of getting banned.

[PandAlt]

I wouldn't know, I'm too afraid to post feedback because I'm afraid of getting banned.

Hey it happened to me, I don't blame you, I have learned my lesson to trust me. Just try to be as bland as you can with any feedback and if people want you to get specific RUN FOR THEM THAR HILLS!

[Laerune]

Wait? They ban you for giving feedback on the forums?

[FunkyBunch]

Why do you think that a thread specifying that someone is disappointed in something is garbage?

Further, why do you think a thread that details the reason for lost business is garbage?

Both of these are incredibly useful information for the developers. To ignore them would be a mistake.

Point 1-Because it's about everything all of the time, in multiple places with multiple threads. And 95% of the time there's not even a coherent argument about it. It's just whining.

Point 2-Because in every instance I've seen, the player didn't actually quit, they just wanted attention and to flame bait.

Also, It's not useful information if it's things you can't fix.******* This is what people don't seem to understand.
SE is not going to completely re-write the game from the ground up, again because one guy in Cleveland thinks the 1-Tank,1-Healer,2-DPS meta is stupid.

When half of your feedback is from 10-20 grumpy players who are literally unhappy about everything, it's not useful information.
I work in data and customer feedback/quality assurance, I recognize when feedback is about wanting something fixed or is just an unhappy person and their feedback has nothing to do with the product.
Which is the problem I was alluding to. The majority of feedback I have seen is useless feedback, and even when there is legitimate feedback it is lost in the noise with the angry people being angry at "insert new feature/event" here. You can't fix problems for those people no matter how much you want to.

[FunkyBunch]

You know what's odd about those numbers? Dont they count before ARR? But they say the game has only been around for 3 years (yeah I know ARR has been around for 3, but they dont say FFXIV:ARR, just FFXIV). I guess 6 million accounts in 3 years sounds better than 6 million accounts in 5-6 years?

The census counts based on certain achievements earned so it is gathered only for post ARR content.
Further, you could guestimate how many active players there are by the trophies at least on PS4.
Less than a third of players have finished the ARR MSQ. I'm assuming that probably translates similarly to PC.
Without trophies for Heavensward though, the less than a third of players at end game is inevitably lower.

[Mature]

4/5

They definitely do but they cannot pleased everyone. There's got to be a balance.but the answer is yes we had certain adjustments in game thanks to our requests.