I had an epiphany not too long ago on offering suggestions for corrections in WoW, DugiGuides (this one was depressingly abusive) and Zygor.  I’m sure every player has ridden this curve.  In the beginning we’re invested in being part of the community and we point out the problem assuming someone’s going to fix that flaw.  The next time around, same thing.  We see the thing we saw before, remind whoever is responsible for the fix and move on.  By the third time around we’re thinking WTF?  Can’t anybody fix this?  Doesn’t anyone care enough to fix it?  Pretty soon we’re confident no one’s going to do anything about it.  It doesn’t matter if the fix is large or small, insignificant or would improve the experience for those who come after, it’s going to stay wrong for all of eternity.

This passive action by managers, supervisors and software engineers gives the impression that the player’s help in improving the gaming experience is unwanted.  And it guarantees the reduction of ALL feedback.  And disappearing feedback is indicative of player ennui.  Ouch.

I’m pretty typical.  Once I noticed nothing was fixed after I took the time to report problems I stopped giving feedback completely, even on support tickets (“Please take the time to tell us how we did”  Really?  Not likely.)  This is the normal bleed over effect.  And yes, that spider is still stuck between the bulwark and the tower in Redridge Mountains.  It’s been stuck there for over a year.  Am I going to point it out again?  Honestly, what do you think.