I think SE wouldn't really bother to care what the silent playerbase thinks if they don't speak. It calls back to that one infamous slide they had explaining their goals with developing ARR. They want and will respond to criticism that is seen. If you think something is fine, just share your opinion about that. Yes, It's undeniable that something like the forums is just a small part of the community but it's really strange that people are trying to dismiss that the opinions here on the forums aren't significant when it has been shown otherwise.
Again, with the male Viera thing. The forums has a big thread about it, and SE responded about the situation in the live letter. Same with the AST changes. Same with anything they've responded to. You can't even say if the majority even does want it or not because there's no good way of telling. All we have going for is the feedback that is seen. That's simply how it is.
This won't change until they actually do give out surveys to everyone.
Sorry, but that's still not convincing me. I like to have a choice on what I can spend lilies on like how Scholar has a choice to where it can spend their Aetherflow on.