Is Turbine Even Listening To This Community?

[OOWS]

So I read these forums frequently, and the one thing that bothers me is the lack of participation from Turbine staff in the forums. It makes me wonder if Turbine actually reads these forums, or listens to the community.

Sometimes a really hot topic comes up, like the 4th anniversary event, with hundreds of posts by users. There are many valid points raised, and various interesting points of view. Yet there are very few replies by Turbine representatives, and seemingly no official reply that encompasses Turbine's position on the current topic. There is nothing which acknowledges the concerns of the community, no in-depth response, nothing at all to indicate that they understand the community and are working to improve things. "Working as intended..." is not a dialogue.

Similarly, I often see feature requests that come up over and over in the forums. Some requests are great ideas. Other requests are based on what other MMOs are doing. Either way, they deserve some sort of reply or dialogue from Turbine. Yet, again, there is very little response from Turbine.

Often it feels like its just the community talking with each other, with such little involvement from Turbine. Not sure why Turbine decided to take such a hands-off approach, or if it has always been this way. This is far different that other MMOs I've played recently in which the developers play a much more active role. Many times the lead developers or top executives chime in to address the community. In those games I knew that, from top to bottom, they were tapped into the pulse of the community.

It would make me feel a whole lot better if I knew that my developer listens to the community's concerns, understands them, and is working to make things better. I don't get that feeling with Turbine. I don't even know if they care about these forums, read the forums, or are in any way influenced by what the community is saying.

[JeanCarlo]

So I read these forums frequently, and the one thing that bothers me is the lack of participation from Turbine staff in the forums. It makes me wonder if Turbine actually reads these forums, or listens to the community.

You may be confusing the acts of listening/reading and the act of posting. Just because they're not posting does not mean they're not reading.

[AlphaMan]

Blue names actually post around here fairly often. Remember though that as players, we're going to be discussing things amongst ourselves much more than they'll be interjecting into the conversation.

[Dunford]

Actually, I have found Turbine to be one of the better software developers when it comes to both listening to their customers and their interaction on the community boards. There are many examples of Turbine revising content based on community board comments and feedback. As just one example, the glowy hands for minstrel warspeech was removed by Turbine and recently restored due to feedback in the Minstrel class forum (note: you may or may not like the glowy hands, but it IS an example of Turbine listening to feedback here on the boards).

[Haradim]

I imagine Turbine long ago learned to be careful of what they say. Give MMO players an inch, they will assume that they have been promised a continent.

[Skigorn]

Let's see...

Class updates.
Radiance Removal.
LI Revamp.

Nope, they're not listening.

[Cerridwen]

You may be confusing the acts of listening/reading and the act of posting. Just because they're not posting does not mean they're not reading.

This. Also, how can one claim they aren't listening when they've put in so many changes we've asked for. Sure, it may take a while but they've done it. What we may see as a priority is not a priority in the overall game. While replies from Turbinites are nice, I'd rather they not take the time to post when they could be working on what people are asking for instead.

[Indy-in-IN]

There has to be a reason to answer it.

"I hate lthe new instances" will not get a answer.

"Why does my horse look the way it does" will not get an answer.

"Where can I find this-or-that NPC" will not get an answer.

This thread will not get an answer.

They are smart to only reply to worthy threads. They will most likely, only reply to a worthy question on a thread if they have the correct answer. They don't know everything off the top of their heads. they may have to ask some questions around the office. They sure aren't going to promise something that they can not deliver. That's bad customer service.

They do listen. I've been around for 4 years and there have been many player requested changes. You have to realize, they are not going to change everything people complain about. That would be insane.

[Unique]

I imagine Turbine long ago learned to be careful of what they say. Give MMO players an inch, they will assume that they have been promised a continent.

LOL that's so on the mark

[Celestrata]

Yes, we're here in the community constantly! Sapience and I are always reading what the community has to offer, and so do many of the other developers. You can always track what we're up to by using the Dev Tracker link, and I think you'll notice many replies from us.