Treading Dangerous Ground

[Biggs]

I think it's the exact opposite. Polls are about what people want, which is subjective (emotion). The underlying reasons (facts) as to why the people want what they want remains completely hidden in these polls.

I should have clarrified. Polling takes the lengthy responses that ussually contain emotions out of the equation while getting at the root of WHAT players want. I am not arguing that what people want is subjective, it is. My point, and the point of the OP, is that I dont want just the official forum community being the basis for large scale desicions that effect everyone. If you want 5% percent (again, made up number) determining what the rest of us will get, then by all means, thats what you want. To each his own man, I just don't think thats for me. This incident with the merger and his reaction to it though is what I used as an example to highlight my concern for what could happen in the future.

If a dev was to get on here and ask if people would like a Dragon mount (for example), and everyone was then to post a response explaining why they would or would not like one, you would probably get a very vast ranging list of responses on both sides. Take the same question and put it in a poll that just says WOUlD YOU LIKE A DRAGON MOUNT? CHECK YES OR CHECK NO. The results would be the same without them having to read 600 different reasons for WHY we want or dont want one. Its faster, more efficient, and typically more people respond to a poll instead of post a response, so they get a much better idea of what the community wants as whole.