DT WoL Updates: Players want the diversity of features we once had

[Striker44]

I don't think you understand statistics and psychology. In most "forums" whether in real physical life or digitally you will find both sides of the spectrum. Don't tell me the square enix lawyers don't pounce the forums when things are criticized. The forums are not "all angry people" as you're making it seem to be. Sometimes one side overtakes the other but that reflects the state of the product.

Not trying to sound condensing at all, but I highly dislike when people use statistics and psychology like you did; it's an attempt to discredit valid feedback.

The person you're responding to actually has the right of it. From a psychology and statistics perspective, people with negative opinions are much more likely to actively and voluntarily seek out ways to voice their displeasure compared to people who are satisfied with a product. It's one of the reasons why many service providers actively solicit feedback from satisfied customers - they know extra effort and persuasion is generally needed for people to post positive reviews, while people with negative thoughts are more likely to do it on their own. All of those things to scan on your receipt, pop-ups you get, text messages linking you to a way to review something, etc....they're all done because businesses know psychologically that satisfied customers are much less likely to express their satisfaction without direct persuasion.

Without those prompts, reviews would not likely reflect the state of the product, but primarily those who are dissatisfied.

[KisaiTenshi]

The person you're responding to actually has the right of it. From a psychology and statistics perspective, people with negative opinions are much more likely to actively and voluntarily seek out ways to voice their displeasure compared to people who are satisfied with a product. It's one of the reasons why many service providers actively solicit feedback from satisfied customers - they know extra effort and persuasion is generally needed for people to post positive reviews, while people with negative thoughts are more likely to do it on their own. All of those things to scan on your receipt, pop-ups you get, text messages linking you to a way to review something, etc....they're all done because businesses know psychologically that satisfied customers are much less likely to express their satisfaction without direct persuasion.

Without those prompts, reviews would not likely reflect the state of the product, but primarily those who are dissatisfied.

Those prompts usually incite negative emotions in people however. Like if I phone my mobile carrier, and have a generally negative outcome, but just go on with my life, getting a follow call/email/text to take a survey is just going to incite my anger again and I may rip into the "company" via the survey even if it wasn't the person on the other end's fault. These "how was our service" stuff generally solicits just as much negativity towards the company but it falls on the representative you interacted with or the store you dealt with. Hence, if you get a survey prompt, think twice about trying to rip into the company, because the company will see it as a reason to fire the employee or close the location rather than improve anything.

The right place to get feedback will always be:
- Company controlled forum
- Unofficial "fan sites" that have been blessed to "Exist"
- Unsanctioned media (Eg twitter, reddit, youtube)

But you have to understand the position of each place. The official forum, to operate needs to expend money on community management and keep people from becoming belligerent towards other customers and the company itself. Many small companies do not have "official" sanctioned forums/discords/etc because they can not afford to manage them. Many popular and semi-popular sites exist in this way because they are too popular to moderate without paid staff but not popular enough to make enough money from the ratio of spam to reasonable UGC to pay for the moderation.

Square Enix for it's part, has largely tolerated nearly every criticism, use and misuse of it's intellectual property, which is why it remains popular and people still buy it's games, even when some of the same criticisms would get other companies like EA or Ubisoft winning the "worst gaming company of the year" award. People generally like Square Enix. People like indie game companies, Square-Enix, SEGA, and Capcom. But that positivity is not endless, and any potential change in company management or project management risks destroying that positive sentiment.