Interesting Article RE player feedback in MMOs

[Zarador]

I am certain there are plenty of people like this involved with Turbine's development team already, they're just bound by NDA. Just because we don't know who they are doesn't mean Turbine isn't talking to somebody before they develop/release content. I'm sure they don't just throw a dart at a dart-board and queue up whatever project it lands on next.

Just like I am sure that they use data mining to determine zone usage and perhaps even correlate that with player responses. Much as many complained about the LL revamp, it was a great improvement for many. I'm certain they looked at the amount of players bypassing the original version or doing it when it was trivial and determined they needed a change. They did not spend a ton of money making those changes because the system was working fine and the majority of players (like the arguments claimed) had no issues with the LL area.

Data is a valuable tool that provide indirect player collaboration. Where are they going and what are they doing? Where are they not going and why are they not doing that content. Surveys may lie but data is fairly reliable.

I don't have a crystal ball, but I would venture to say that they are also looking at the skirmish system to see what route players are taking. If enough players are completing their class quests by using the 2,600 point items obtained in skirmishes they just might ask why they are not going to CD and getting the item in a group instead. Same with other items offered by skirmishes. Why are they willing to do 20 hours of skirmishes instead of two hours of something else. How can we make that "something else" either more accessible or have more appeal?