The culture in the forums of "please be polite" and "don't antagonize the devs" - which has been cultivated by some devs and mods and fans - is honestly toxic and counterproductive.
I've worked for tech companies. I've had to take calls from angry customers who paid 5-6 figures for enterprise software that f***ed up at critical junctures and who dialed my extension because the tech support line was constantly overloaded.
They were pissed. Paying customers who get let down and then ignored are entitled to be pissed. They shouldn't have to rephrase their frustration with a broken product just so a dev won't feel awkward forwarding said feedback to the guy responsible for fixing the f***-up.
If TW has the kind of corporate culture where serious issues with the customer base cannot be discussed in meetings for fear of causing offense, then they have much bigger problems than being behind schedule and I can't fathom why anyone would encourage it further.
Hey
@Callum ... When I first got to these forums 5 years ago, I saw one of the most devoted fanbases anywhere... and that continued even up to the unsteady-to-put-it-mildly EA release last year. Now the forum is in open revolt and it's only going to get worse until there's a fundamental change with in the way TW communicates with TW fans.
Without a drastic departure from the status quo, the gangrenous antagonism brewing here is going to spread everywhere else. The fans in the forum will absolutely forgive and forget if that happens soon, but once TW gets a wider reputation for being a vaporware vendor - and becomes the butt of YouTuber and webcomic jokes - then that stink is never gonna wash off.
I know I'm being aggressive here, but it'd be really nice if you could empathize with where we're coming from, then articulate either an agreement that something needs to change or an explanation for a broader context that we're missing.