We need a community rep that interacts with the community

[JunseiKei]

No, we don't. I wouldn't ever subject someone to some of the utter BS that is found on these forums and be the face to take that abuse from unruly users.

Also, we do have community reps. They've wisely hidden away.

[KaivaC]

No, we don't. I wouldn't ever subject someone to some of the utter BS that is found on these forums and be the face to take that abuse from unruly users.

Also, we do have community reps. They've wisely hidden away.

So we do have them. Okay, that's good then. That leads me to my next question, which is: are they allowed to bring direct feedback to the devs? Doesn't seem like it to me, but I'm open to having my mind changed on that. I have to reiterate, because I know how these forums tend to go, I am not suggesting that each and every little issue should be addressed and forwarded. That would be next to impossible because anything and everything in this game can become a subject of annoyance to somebody. But at the very least, feedback on something that a huge chunk of the community has an issue about: surely that could at least warrant being forwarded to the devs.

Or maybe that does happen anyway and the feedback is either ignored, doesn't make it to the dev team, or is misinterpreted?

[Cidel]

So we do have them. Okay, that's good then. That leads me to my next question, which is: are they allowed to bring direct feedback to the devs? Doesn't seem like it to me, but I'm open to having my mind changed on that. I have to reiterate, because I know how these forums tend to go, I am not suggesting that each and every little issue should be addressed and forwarded. That would be next to impossible because anything and everything in this game can become a subject of annoyance to somebody. But at the very least, feedback on something that a huge chunk of the community has an issue about: surely that could at least warrant being forwarded to the devs.

Or maybe that does happen anyway and the feedback is either ignored, doesn't make it to the dev team, or is misinterpreted?

They in all likelihood do relay (sensible) feedback with a lot of player-backing. They just don't usually tell us that they do.

I still remember when there was a lot of debate on whether or not the HW primal mounts could (or should) be traded-in for with all the excess totems we were getting. There was no official word from anyone on whether or not it would be a thing until not long after, the next patch (or was it a hotfix?...)came and "surprise! 99 totems for Bismark and Ravana mounts!"

[Aylis]

So we do have them. Okay, that's good then. That leads me to my next question, which is: are they allowed to bring direct feedback to the devs? Doesn't seem like it to me, but I'm open to having my mind changed on that. I have to reiterate, because I know how these forums tend to go, I am not suggesting that each and every little issue should be addressed and forwarded. That would be next to impossible because anything and everything in this game can become a subject of annoyance to somebody. But at the very least, feedback on something that a huge chunk of the community has an issue about: surely that could at least warrant being forwarded to the devs.

Or maybe that does happen anyway and the feedback is either ignored, doesn't make it to the dev team, or is misinterpreted?

I think they're allowed but I feel a lot of it just gets ignored and the devs listen more to the raw data on how content is being done. What seems to be working, what doesn't and decisions are based on that. I feel its due to cultural reasoning. Honor and respect your elders, always respect the chain of command and don't speak unless spoken to unless you have a higher rank in the chain.

I say that because a while back I remember watching a "making of" video from Team Ninja. In one segment I clearly remember lower ranked staff member handing a list of suggestions he thought of to help the game to the lead dev in his office. The lead dev thanked him for his efforts and suggestions and the lower staff member left the office. The lead dev didn't read anything in the five seconds it took for him to place the suggestions list in the trash can.

I believe any community rep is held to that same standard even if they're from outside Japan. As in "keep the forums clean, go on the streams and say what we tell you to say. We pay you to do this so just do this and don't get out of line. Going outside your role is forbidden". Given that a lot of youtube videos exist from people saying that working in Japan isn't exactly peaches and cream. I don't doubt for a minute that community reps are kept on a very short leash in the company food chain.

[Iscah]

It is ironic that be trying to avoid some certain questions or to kick the can down the road, the devs only ensure that they will be asked again.

I've asked before - is this perhaps (yet again) a cultural difference? If a Japanese person asks someone a question and gets a polite non-answer like the devs tend to give, do they take that as a sign that they should not ask again?

[Noodle_Trinidad]

No, we don't. I wouldn't ever subject someone to some of the utter BS that is found on these forums and be the face to take that abuse from unruly users.

Also, we do have community reps. They've wisely hidden away.

No we do need them. For a community that is always praising how the Devs and such interact with the community its does make you wonder where we're even seeing this given FFXIV really does provide the generic corporate connection. "Here have this info from the Dev Team and here we acknowledged this bug" is the extent of Dev/Rep interaction we tend to get. You know who does Community Reps/Dev interaction pretty well? Warframe and its devs. Sure they know they'll not always have the praise of the players but they understand that for the better its always good to see how your community is receiving said content. Hell when it comes to Devs and Community Reps I really don't know a good chunk of XIV's team outside of Yoshida, Soken and Koji. While on Warframe's side a game I don't keep up as often as XIV I tend to know Devs that don't do the Livestream and the Community Reps outside of DE Rebecca and DE Megan. Devs and Community Reps that hide away from their community and don't acknowledge and communicate with them, or even seem as they don't play the game, will never be able to properly convey feedback from the community as large and further create the vision of a corporate wall.

Hell with the BLU debacle lets take a different between the two games with a similar case in Warframe.
- In Warframe's case they announced an update to the Damage system dubbed 3.0 and released said info on what the changes will bring allowing for the community at large to properly theorycraft and work out their builds. A day after the info is given, even without the straight numbers, players found out that the upcoming changes given to them by the devs would only gimp most if not all the weapons and frames in the game while not acknowledging the issue the change was going to bring. Forums and other outlets including the Devs and Community Rep Leader's twitter get slammed for the total failure the changes would have actually brought on them. You know what they did? They didn't hide, they acknowledged the fan's concerns and actual feedback and went back on the changes, though at the cost of pushing back a new Warframe. Sure the community was a tad disappointed at the delay of the Frame but overall felt better off knowing the current system was going to get gimped while not acknowledging the issue at hand.
Now let's take BLU.
- Square Enix announces BLU as the new Job to the excitement of many players while giving us the info of the job being Limited. This put a cautious wall for many players such as myself but did promise to talk about the new system on the next day during the 4.5 Live Letter. 4.5 Live Letter comes around and to the dismay of many the class looked like it was going to be gimped and worthless given the info given to them and as such many players took the forums and other outlets to give their concerns about what the class will be and its possible shortcomings. Weeks go by without nary a response from the Community Reps or the Devs at hand. Class comes out and turns out "Hey its content that'll a week at best" and forums/outlets alike start noticing what has happened. Only response from Devs/Community Reps: We know about EXP bug please don't do this but we won't ban you. Also Ifrit is bugged.

Do we not see an issue with this when a good portion of the community and the Community Reps and/or Devs dont respond? Why are we going to keep calling such a team close to the community when they only respond when needed like any other game owned by a massive corporation? The Community Reps and Devs need to stop hiding and properly talk it out with the community. Players respond better when their Reps and Devs actually look like they play the game and understand their issues when they even at the very least acknowledge the problems the community perceives and do something to address this concern even if it means sticking to what they want. Square Enix needs to step it up cause FFXIV is one of the oddest cases ive seen when it comes to Dev/Rep praise cause its just like any other Generic Corporate game.