statistics > complaints -- DEV COMMENT

"CG_NotReallyAJedi;408452" wrote:
Surprisingly, the forums DO have a significant impact!

Data is simply a record of everything that happens. We have LOTS of data. But Data doesn't call you up, or send you an email, and say, "Hey Bro, some things are happening here you might want to know about. P.S. Your game sucks." Data is inert until acted upon by a Data Scientist (of which we have), but even still, you have to KNOW the questions you want to ask to get the answers you want.

While we have a lot of data dashboards in place to alert us to the big fires, it's actually the forums that highlight the things that are of VALUE TO THE PLAYER--something data can't do, because it is emotionless. You can have a PERFECT formula for gameplay in an Excel doc, but that doesn't mean it's perfect in-game. Data can tell us a lot of things, but it can't account for the art of games.

Without the forums, without the feedback, without the Dark Side, we would be doing what we did in the old days of game development, "Meh, we sold 1,000,000 copies, it's fine." All the while not realizing we could have sold 10 times as many had we just been able to correlate player sentiment with actual data.

So take heart, your feedback IS incredibly important! It's a huge indicator that there might be something amiss. Data is simply the opposite side of the coin: it helps us make rational decisions without overreacting.

Thanks for your reaction. I did not mean to say that the forum isnt important, or that our opinions dont matter. I respect that you would put the emphasis on the importance of the forum (and make us feel heard), where i put emphasis on the data. I wanted to show the "opposite side of the coin" as you called it in your comment. For example the threads about galactic war being to difficult and players cant finish it. If the data shows that the percentage of players finishing galactic war every day stays the same, it should not matter that there are 10+ threads about this "issue", it should not be changed because some players are very vocal about it on the forum.
Ofcourse if that percentage was actually going down fast, it would be a good thing that players brought it to your attention. (like i said in the OP)
Sometimes when i read the forum i get the feeling that certain members think if they express their opinion often enough and loud enough, that things should and will change. With this thread i am trying to say that if the data doesnt support their claims nothing should or will change, and becoming more vocal and more demanding about it would influence the whole forum in a negative way.

ps. a bit amazed that a dev actually took the time to respond :o