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[Griffon]

That's the very reason I don't really understand why gamers think they have any meaningful input on Early Access games on Steam.

If the dev know how to do his job, he doesn't need the opinions of the 1% of morons who think they matter.

 

[ReBurn]

No. The dumbest sentiment is from the people who believe that they speak for an entire community and think that their own opinion represents the entire community.

 

[DonF]

I mean, consider the community, but for the love of god do not base all you development on the community.

 

[Elysium44]

That's the very reason I don't really understand why gamers think they have any meaningful input on Early Access games on Steam.

If the dev know how to do his job, he doesn't need the opinions of the 1% of morons who think they matter.

The 1% often know more about the game than the devs do. Forza is a case in point. The devs stubbornly hold on to the stupid and widely hated car levelling system which the community told them way ahead of time before the game's release would be a disaster. The game releases, the 'moron' community were proved right. This happens time and time again. It doesn't mean you automatically have to do whatever a tiny minority says, but nor does it mean the community are always wrong. It isn't a binary yes or no answer but somewhere in-between. Only arrogant devs disregard their community, and do so at their peril.

 

[mortal]

More often than not the game devs know what they're doing, and other times the feedback of a player base is necessary, especially concerning a game's technical issues.
Listening to a "community" is best done on a case-by-case basis.

 

[MagnesD3]

I think this question is thought about incorrectly. Yes you should "listen" to community feedback but doing it is dependent on what you actually believe to be the best for the game. To put it plainly just because your read the feedback doesn't mean you implement it.

 

[ahtlas7]

I remember ages ago Markus Persson developing Minecraft with community involvement. We could download it for free and give feedback. I’d say it was a success.

 

[SEGAvangelist]

Given all the layoffs and some really terrible releases, it seems the problem is listening to the suits. Always has been tho.

Or listening to stupid loud minorities in the communities.

 

[MiguelItUp]

I think it's important to be aware of what the community is saying and how they feel. But devs should continue to build and focus on what they think works best for their project. Maybe even while addressing things the community wants or doesn't want. Transparency works, and there are often moments where communities clamor for things that just don't work in the grand scheme of things. Or at least for the betterment of the project in most cases. Devs never want their projects to fail because those projects help them maintain their jobs and keep their studios open. It's true that when we've seen this in the past, some studios do it better than others. But I do think that being as transparent as possible about everything can be very helpful. Because if you can't do something the community asks for you can still address it and explain why.

 

[64bitmodels]

some of the biggest online video games are community driven or have a major focus on the community and fan creations. Minecraft, Fortnite, Friday Night Funkin, GMod, Roblox. I think it's safe to say that listening to the people who play your game helps success. You don't HAVE to take their feedback and you don't HAVE to implement every tiny suggestion into a game.

But when you ignore what players want and don't focus on giving your playerbase a good time you end up being Destiny 2, or Diablo 4. Bleeding players because nobody likes the game anymore.

 

[Fbh]

As with most things it's all about balance.
While it can work out, usually either of the extremes are bad. Completely ignoring player feedback or basically letting your community dictate every change and design decision both seem like a recipe for failure.
What's also important to keep in mind is that the loud voices online are usually just a loud minority. While your most passionate fans are important, you can't forget there's a bigger and more casual audience that's important too.

Also when you have a product with millions of customers it's unlikely that your entire fanbase will want the same thing. It's like when people say stuff like "people complained about 30fps but now that we have 60fps on consoles they complain about games not looking next gen"... as if it was some sort of "gotcha" moment to show the community being hypocritical when it's likely just 2 different groups of people with different priorities complaining about the stuff that's important to them.

 

[Whitecrow]

If game directors are not smart, they will screw it up, with, or without community's input.