Arga wrote:Actually, the customer is not always right. Case in point, airliner passengers being removed from planes for yelling at the steward(ess).
Any product that involves multiple customers can't operate on that principle. Not even if a majority of customers feel that way. If 99 out of 100 airline passengers decided the plane should go to Hawaii instead of Chicago, the plane is still going to Chicago.
Every player has the individual right to choose if they want to play the game as presented, just like the passengers can choose which airline to fly. Once you commit to playing the game, or the flight, your just along for the ride.
If while commited to playing the game, it changes, the customer is still not right. The plane intended to go to Chicago, but due to mecahnical failure, weather, dead guy in row 7, it was diverted to Tampa. Your going to Tampa regardless of the money you paid thinking you were going to Chigaco.
In an MMO, the only thing the monthly fee entitles you is access to the game. Customer satisfaction is limited to providing you access to that game. It doesn't ensure that you'll have fun playing the game or that you can have any influence in the development of the game.
Players get commited to playing games that DO take thier suggestions into account, and it's good strategy to try to get your plane to land in Chicago if that's where you intended it to go, as well as give those passengers that extra packet of peanuts. But there is no OBLIGATION for them to do so.
The plane analogy doesn't fit with the sandbox genre. A better analogy would be that we are builders building a house according to our individual architectural designs, and the Developers are the suppliers of tools and materials. If the tools are inadequate, you complain and either get the adequate tools you need, or you swap to a different supplier. If the materials are insufficient, you complain and get the amount you need or find a different supplier.
So while builders are often unreasonable, usually what happens when the supplier starts ranting at them (for whatever reason) is that they write them off and find either a more understanding or a more competent supplier.
A point with less analogy however, most MMO's out there make use of their populations by offering a free test server where their players can test (and stress-test) the upcoming changes. The results of these tests often impact the design itself, because let's face it: if they're developing the game, they don't have time to play the game. If they don't play the game, they don't have the practical knowledge to know what change X is going to do in the bigger picture and what effect it's going to have.