Treading Dangerous Ground

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here's another part about polls that are an issue. if you took a poll asking which version of a merge was wanted or even if a merge was wanted then chances are very good that the large servers would have just voted against a merge. looking at these forums leading up til they said they were considering merging servers it was likely 3-1 people opposed to having a merge in the first place.

people on large servers didn't WANT a merge.
people on small servers did NEED a merge.

an overall players poll may have decided the majority didn't want a merge even though some actually do need them to happen. a poll is only as good as the questions are worded. the original poll asked very vague questions and many people, including myself, voted for one thing and have regretted them since.

I wanted to respond to this post sooner DarkStar, but ended up going out with my family. I think exactly what you have stated here is an excellent example of the pros and cons of both the forums and the polls. I think that having both is necessary, because, as I have said before, the forums provide a place that players can post questions and concerns, but it shouldnt be used to make desicions concerning everyone in the game. So, as an example of what you have stated here, people from lower population servers use the forums to express their displeasure at having no one to play with (which is actually what happened). SE then see's that a portion of the community isnt enjoying the game, and then decides to merge some of the servers or offer a world transfer. Now, the players on the larger servers dont really feel the need for this, but they can see that there ARE players that do. SE then creates a poll that doesnt ask if there should be one (since they have already made that part of the desicion to do it), but instead creates a poll asking how BOTH communities (the underpopulated and those that are populated just fine) would like to go about fixing the issue for those that need it. Its about finding a balance and creating harmony for everyone. I certainly agree with you though that polls are only good if the right questions are asked in them, and I can see how the forums could be used by the devs to formulate those questions. PLus 1 on your post btw. You bring up some really good points. I dont want people to think (and some do) that I think polls are the end all be all of player communication, because they arent. There is a time and place for them, just like there is a time and place for using the forums.