Does The Sims Team actually read these forums?

If I had to guess, I would say NO! They don't read the forum posts or feedback section. I think that they used to more often, because I have seen posts made by some of the Gurus, but that was years ago.

Now, I'm not sure if there are any "behind the scene" staff that gather statistics or if the moderators do something or if they are strictly moderating the forum for rule breaking.