A basic back and forth would totally lower the volume level a bit in these forums – there’s always going to be a base level of white noise, but sheesh, yeah – when VAYNE is critical of Anet’s communication style, you know there’s something wrong.
Look, it isn’t that there’s no communication. It’s the fact that what we do get is one-way and rather obviously manicured .. look at that interview; pure pr speak. Most of what we do get is .. a) too late for feedback to change it, and b) rather low on detail, so feedback is not so useful.
The fact that there was a direct connection over the commander tag issue is shocking to me. Shocking. Laudable but extremely surprising.. and seriously, it also makes me question why there’s been no comment in the trait thread WHATSOEVER over the last five months if they’re capable of this kind of response.
The thing that really gets my goat, in the end, is the apparent growing disconnect between Anet’s reading of our intentions and what the forum is saying. Trait system changes are one example – nobody asked for the system to be extraordinarily grindy, hamper alt development, and hold off character progression until more than halfway through the leveling process. when they asking for the chance to capture skills in the world.
And the commander tag thing is the prime example: the wvw and pve communities wanted a tool to help organize multiple groups across a map. The original release didn’t fit that need at all.
It comes off like somebody said ‘Do this’, then somebody else implemented it with no clue as to why.. so it came out functionally uselessly for the purpose intended.
I refuse to assume that Anet is really all that blind to player wants, but somewhere there’s a communication breakdown in the company itself between the people looking at what players are saying and what the devs are getting. It’s the only explanation I can come up with that makes any remote sense while maintaining a respectful appreciation of Anet’s developer’s competency.
Here’s a hint to whomever’s compiling forum feedback for the devs: next time, don’t say ‘The players want colored doritos.’, say "The players are looking for more ui functionality to organize groups across a map for our large scale encounters’.