I think it's time we start seeing some data in regards to the changes being made.

[DrWho2010]

it's most likely in their best interest to not give everything away, not even a morsel other than what they deem necessary via media interviews, live letters, etc. give people an ilm, they'll take a yalm lol

[Krotoan]

Quit the game.


Tell me up front so I'm not wasting my time hoping for a better tomorrow.

OK.. so what incentive does the company have then to do this?

[Theodric]

it's most likely in their best interest to not give everything away, not even a morsel other than what they deem necessary via media interviews, live letters, etc. give people an ilm, they'll take a yalm lol

WoW's decline arguably coincided with the development team growing distant and refusing to engage with its player base as well as showing contempt towards their customers and thinking they themselves knew best at every turn.

OK.. so what incentive does the company have then to do this?

Continued relevance and good will. The relationship between a business and a customer is one built on good faith and mutual respect, after all. Yet for whatever reason many people give video game companies a free pass for things they would never allow other types of companies to get away with.

Then many gamers wonder why we end up with concepts such as loot boxes...or entire features being removed/changed.

[Krotoan]

Continued relevance and good will. The relationship between a business and a customer is one built on good faith and mutual respect, after all. Yet for whatever reason many people give video game companies a free pass for things they would never allow other types of companies to get away with.

Then many gamers wonder why we end up with concepts such as loot boxes...or entire features being removed/changed.

I have experienced again and again that a small amount of data without relevant context, experience, and perspective is usually more harmful than no data. People take numbers and create the narrative they wish.

I think the company has far less reason to provide us with their metrics or reason to make their information available for every armchair developer to pick apart and theorize with than not. .


It would be NICE... but as someone who works in a field where numbers are important but only as useful as the experience of the person processing them, I don't think this will ever happen.

They have plenty of goodwill as far as the front they present and the actions they take to provide what people visibly demand, but as to why they seemingly deny common problems the playerbase has or going AGAINST what possibly is "common sense".... while I bet there are mistakes a plenty there.. I don't think we can help with MORE outside coaching. We are already plenty vocal enough and giving people ammo to be even more obstinate about it (and likely blindly ignoring other metrics) is probably not what they want/need. People already do this with metrics other games make available, hardheadedly sticking to that one metric they think proves their point when it's very obvious that there's much more to the problem.


As to lootboxes or other supposed "consumer hostile" practices.. we get what the market accepts. As far as rallying against those people need to think less about being vocal and more about actively NOT participating in those things. We are where we are because people do the thing. Asking a company NOT to do the thing when people are willing to do the thing misses a pretty big part of why a company is a company and not a charity.

[HisShadowX]

This thread isn't about any one particular issue, though a simple look at the front page of general discussion as of the time of this post will show that there's mixed reactions to a number of proposed additions and changes being made to the game.

Now, I'll start by saying that I have been playing this game for almost a decade and have never been sent a survey asking my opinion on pretty much anything related to game. I've certainly spoken up about what I'd like to see added or changed though such was never framed as a demand.

I find myself increasingly curious about something. Who, exactly, is being asked for their opinions in regards to changes and additions to the game and what numbers are we looking at to justify them?

I believe this is information that could be revealed during a Live Letter. After all, there's ample time spent detailing that additional MSQ's are arriving in a new patch and showcasing merchandise so I don't doubt that a slide could be squeezed in somewhere to give some insight into what sort of data they're drawing upon.

Assuming this happened, I'm curious as to what sort of data other players would want to see put forward and explained. So have at it!

In the spirit of avoiding influencing the debate, I'll keep my own specific thoughts to myself for the time being in favour of posting them later.

I don't think that will happen because the changes in the game most people are happy with. The only people who are upset are the hardcore minority. If they put out a survey, chances are the majority that would respond are the people who thought FFXIV 1.0 was a good game. Right now its not helping they bulit a game for you people Stranger of Final Fantasy which is meant to be a hard as nails Dark souls game and yeah no one bought it except you people. We are seeing they are starting to address Dark Knights thankfully and healers will be getting better at healing.

One thing Yoshi P supports that you people support (BDSM Hardcore Minority) is the fact he wants healers to do less healing and more DPS but the Healer DPS push for Endwalker is getting people who as a majority paying for the game pissed as we got DPS Healers out mainly Sages running around often refusing to heal. Thankfully 6.1 will be the first patch to address this and Healers will get increased healing which is great!

[kaynide]

Double edged sword;

The problem comes that it can lead to tension between the player base when they tell the players what they're thinking about doing and that gets misunderstood as a promise for future content. Star Citizen is a great example of this and how they've had to change their way of communicating with the player base because exactly this.

Moreover, it just makes more muck for the devs as we can see on this very forum... people complain about EVERYTHING: "Give us our own servers! OMG these OCE servers suck! Give us MOAR housing! Camping for Housing SUCKS! OMG housing lotto system sucks!"

IMO, the less people know about what's going on behind the scenes, the better. That said, I would like some means of them at least acknowledging certain large scale requests, and for them to comment specifics..sort of like a Director's/Behind the Scenes commentary like you get on DvDs.

As in "Yeah, there were a LOT of requests for a Necromancer, Berserker, a Chemist and even to make Thief a full job pre Shadowbringers. We decided we aren't going to do this, but to acknowledge this we added three bosses and a small quest in Crystarium with specifically those jobs. Playful trolling!"

All that said, I do agree it would be nice to be able to give feedback in a multiple choice format.

[Deceptus]

I tried bringing this up 2 years ago. Not much came of it then.

IMO, the less people know about what's going on behind the scenes, the better. That said, I would like some means of them at least acknowledging certain large scale requests, and for them to comment specifics..sort of like a Director's/Behind the Scenes commentary like you get on DvDs.

I think a Job Role Deep Dive / Water Cooler series of discussions would go a long way. A place where they can lay out their visions of what everything is supposed to do and we can provide feedback in one thread. Because right now a decent chunk of the player base thinks they're not being heard and their concerns are being ignored. Mostly tanks and healers but some DPS as well.

[Lauront]

Right now its not helping they bulit a game for you people Stranger of Final Fantasy which is meant to be a hard as nails Dark souls game and yeah no one bought it except you people.

Ah, the Dark Souls canard - an orphan ever in search of a parent, since virtually no one is asking for that.

[Laerune]

I remember we got in game surveys during closed beta, maybe bring those back?