Improve the forum system, many good comments are going unnoticed

Even so, that's not even the definition of the 'problem'.

MMO design isn't a monolithic perfection state that one is striving towards. It's a requirement from effectively, a customer.

It's not as if the fact that there are other groups with years of experience in games results in the games being 'better' in the way that we all end up enjoying either.

A simple example is that in my old company, the CTO was the only person with a specific skillset, and I was the only one with a different specific skillset. Without us, there was a project that would have taken a year to be done, and would probably still have been done incorrectly.

Similarly, when a new 'specification' presents itself, the CTO still has to spend months designing it, and still asks both the customer, and even junior developers, for help and insight, and often, that turns out to be helpful.

Could it have been done alone? Actually, for some parts of it, no. Lots of it is 'asking the user exactly how they want something to be', and then having to come up with a whole new way of doing something because they want a combination of features that has never been done before and there's no framework. Sometimes they can provide the framework for you.

That's partially why I have the perspective I do on this sort of thing. I've been in that place, asking the client multiple times for their input, and wishing they didn't just go 'well I don't know, you're the experts, you do what seems best'. Not even because they all complain later, but simply because what they end up getting is 'generic version of product' that is nowhere near the best fit for them.

Tell them your best fit.

We have not received permission from Noaani to share the quoted post.

I dislike the tendency a lot of people in design roles have towards devaluing user feedback.

People aren't always good at articulating what they want, and not all their suggestions will be applicable or actionable, but this doesn't mean that designers should just disregard it completely. Interpreting and critically analyzing what users are saying is one of the core skills a designer needs to build if they want to make products which people can actually use.

In the projects I've worked on, even suggestions which seemed to be based on a fundamental misunderstanding of how a product worked, or which were rooted in frustration, were signals that something in the design wasn't working as effectively as it could be.

I'm sorry to hear that your previous jobs had such an adversarial relationship between the design team and the end users, but I don't think that the perspective that you've expressed based on it is useful here. By asserting that Intrepid don't plan to pay attention to what people are saying, you're discouraging others from making their voices heard, and in the process robbing the developers of the information they need to make key decisions. I wish that I had a way to shut down this sort of pessimism and negativity.

I'm sure that Intrepid have enough confidence in their creative vision to incorporate user feedback in a purposeful, carefully considered way. Asserting that they will either disregard suggestions, or blindly implement them, is an insult to the competence of their design team.

@Noaani

I don't think that I misunderstand you, I just vehemently disagree with your core premise.

I can't grasp believing that, in a user-centric field, the opinions of users are valueless. Are you familiar with the concept of a focus group? Understanding the relative priorities of your players is going to be pretty essential when you're prioritizing what to implement.

When I'm building websites, I don't wait until I've finished implementing everything to start discussing my designs with the client, or testing it with users. If you're worked in a design-centric field, then you must understand that when you're building something, it's with the intent that someone can eventually actually use it. If you're not taking into account the wishes of that end user, then one would have to question who precisely your design is for.

You talk about the value of experience, but given the bitter, pessimistic sentiment you've expressed towards the ideas that have been discussed in this forum, I have to question the relevance of yours.

I understand the human need to feel as if you know something that others don't, that you are "in on the trick" when others can't see it. It's the basis of many beliefs in conspiracy theories, that wish to feel as if you've got it all figured out, and you won't be fooled. But cynicism does not equate to truth.