Well they for sure don’t give a xxxx about communitys opinion alteast looking at the last 3-4 patches…
Keep in mind that the devs aren’t based in the US, and I’m pretty sure are russian.
Also things take time. We had a MMing change the week the poll finished. however it is impossible for them to have implemented that feedback into that patch. They probably just rolled out w/e change they had been working on for the last couple weeks.
For every piece of feedback we give, there is a development cycle. IE: 1) team looks at feedback and determines what is useful and what is not useful 2) a different team translates that feedback 3) that feedback is looked at by the devs and/or marketinng 4) there is a meeting to decide what feedback should be implemented, what’s important, etc. 5) that feedback is coded into the game 6) initial testing of that feedback occurs 7) feedback loop 8) changes are rolled out onto live servers.
This process doesn’t happen overnight. it probably doesn’t happen within the span of a week. keep this in mind. A lot of the stuff I saw in the suggestion forums are just now starting to come up in the dev Q&As and official communication from the devs. things like dreadnaughts, etc. so from my perspective its happening, it’s just very slow. This is common for ‘international’ betas.
I’m not sure if there is a russian sub-forum, or a main forum for the players in Russia. I haven’t seen it (but i haven’t looked for it either) but the dev’s could be more active over there. communication would certainly be easier. we dont’ have any way of knowing what the russian players are saying, or what their main concerns are. we also dont’ know if they want the core playerbase to be US, Russia, etc. these are important things to know.
As an example, I’m also Beta testing FFXIV:ARR. It takes about a week to get a response from the devs. sometimes sooner if its a hot topic on the japanese forums as well. (IE, they already have an official response) and this is very fast IMO. especially since it’s going from english=>japanese=>english.
SE has also stated, or implied, that they are restructuring and will also be focusing more on the western market. Their Core IP hasn’t been doing well (FFXIII, Dragon Quest, etc.) but subsidiary IP has been doing better in comparison (Tomb Raider, Hitman, etc.) so it’s clear what they want. and what kind of feedback can be very meaningful
but Square-Enix is a major company. Gaijin is more or less an Indy studio.
For many american studios, the devs are also gamers themselves (IE: Riot is a good example). that’s not always the case for international companies. understanding how they do business helps understand why they do certain things. this is one reason US studios have been doing very very well in the last couple of years. They already know what the customer wants. they dont’ have to ask, because they also play and enjoy gaming.
US studios also understand the importance of transparency. (or at least faking it very well) the rest of the world is still catching up to that way of doing business. Riot employees are encouraged to post on the forums. but they post as themselves, and can give their opinions (to a degree). compared to the Square Enix forums, where there is a lot of developer activity, but everything they say is ‘official comments,’ very formal, and not really opinions.
Also, if you look through the developer blog, and answers from the devs sections, there is a huge period of inactivity. namely November is the last Q&A for the devs. so what happened between now and then? did the servers go down because that was the end of closed beta? did the company get purchased and are now under new management? the Q&A posts seemed to be happening every couple of weeks. but now none in months?
things to keep in mind. i’m not saying one thing or the other. mainly because i have no clue. but really I don’t see the devs as being impartial or uncaring. just limited in availability.
so post feedback on the suggestion forums. join in discussions you find interesting. that’s the best thing you can do to help improve the overall health of the game.
