Quote Originally Posted by Kohashi View Post
If a company relies on directing people to provide feedback in forums, it's just another way of saying, "We don't care what you have to say." Forums are mostly echo chambers that hardly ever prompt a company to change. They're a space for people to vent and nothing else.
To be fair, they talk about the forums a lot. When you watch development panels and Q&As they often say "I checked the forums and saw x, y or z". There was also that time not too long ago when Yoshi-P had to stop requiring people to read them if they couldn't handle it due to an increase in rudeness. Checking the forums is not just something the GMs tell people to get them off their back, it's frequently mentioned in interviews, live letters, etc. It seems strange to us, with how forums are very dated of a concept, but it's what they genuinely feel works for them. If we think of the forums as an "issue tracker" then they are looking at most likes is my guess.

So, I think they are genuine about the forum but obviously there could be additional things like tracking issues more concisely or regular surveys.