Lol, you're right. But I think it would be more useful if the choice was between what the devs are actually willing to do.

We should have a poll to decide whether or not we should do a poll.

At the end of the day, the devs are going to do what the devs are going to do, sometimes even if the outcome of a poll shows that the majority are against it.

The votes give an indication to be taken under consideration, but not as the only factor in making the decisions.

A poll is like any election, so whoever wants to have their vote count can vote. I just think it's a more efficient way of summarising.

The DEVs ought to poll themselves for what they want to work on most, and then ask for our approval, or ELSE!! 

(Joking)

No offense Istari, but this is not an election...

I do see your point but I think the game is served best when the Dev staff follows a vision and uses us a a sounding board/testing bed..

I guess I just fear that programing by committee (at least one as big as these forums) is  more likely  lead us further from a concise vision.. then  to a better one.. In the end either way I will add my 2 cents when needed.. 

Again I am not trying to argue or offend just express my concerns on this matter..

I think the released version of Elemental lost a lot of the 'vision thing' that was proposed early on.  We did see very major changes to basic parts of the game, right up to release, and it sounds like more are to come.

Maybe I'm wrong, but if I'm right, perhaps one of the reasons is that the vision got 'diluted' by player feedback.

I'm not saying all player feedback was deleterious, or that some player feedback wasn't beneficial.  Just saying that the 'vision thing' is important and it's easy to lose sight of, given deadlines, feature-creep, desire to involve players, desire to be considerate of folks who's opinion one respects, etc. 

There's something to be said for locking the devs up in a room and not letting them out until the 'vision thing' is down pat, then soliciting input.

Given some of these responses, I'm not sure we should have these polls anymore. I've also become reluctant to consider whether we should have a poll on whether or not to conduct these polls.

If only there were some way to gauge the community's opinion on poll polling......

There was a game that I closely followed the development for that was in the end, basically a victim of design-by-committee.    The game was Tribes Vengeance.   Basically the developers, Irrational Games, was in close contact with the TribalWar and other forums to help them design it more in the vein of the original series of games by Dynamix.

At great length, members of the forum picked apart various mechanics they disliked and Irrational adapted...quite a bit.   Specifically concerning weapon feel, movement feel, and certain mechanics.

In the end, Irrational ended up with a game that tried to be everything to everyone, and while it was a thoroughly decent experience, it was, well, decent.

Nobody plays Tribes Vengeance anymore.  

But plenty of people play the two original Tribes games, even today.  I think what my point is, is while community input and suggestions are excellent, and indeed important things, a game will never turn out well unless a developer has the backbone to, despite all the naysayers, see their own collective vision to fruition.   Trying to adapt every good suggestion that comes along into your game will result in something that's unfocused and, at best, decent; at worst, all over the place.

We don't need a poll.   Let Stardock do their jobs.  And if you aren't satisfied with their design vision or the job they do, there are plenty of other developers willing and happy to sell games to you in the future.

@Istari

I didn't mean any purposeful knock against you, specifically.   I simply meant, in general terms, that the developers will likely review what they think are appropriate and good improvements for the game that fit in their vision, or are particular hot button issues among players  that have objective merit rather than personal preference (And, well, if anything, this forum has demonstrated that people are more than willing to show their opinion on issues!), and integrate those as they see fit.

While a poll is perhaps in some ways a good method to gauge popular opinion, there are plenty of people who lurk the forums and never post (such as myself, much of the time), or people who aren't even aware the forums exist, whose opinions won't get heard.  There is a natural bias toward the more vocal segments of the fanbase there, and that might not be in the best interests of the whole.

In any case, Brad's recent posts regarding the game's overall map of future development hint at a storyboard of sorts--a working plan as to where their targets are for development and what they need to be--already laid down.    We have to trust that, now especially that their eyes are open and they've had a chance to stand back and look at their product, that they can return to it and do what's best.

Our opinions are certainly important things--I myself have brought my own up--but the decision is ultimately theirs; as it should be.

So if polls only represent a certain percentage of a specific type of user, they should put a small team together to figure out how much that group represents the feelings of the whole community.

They could probably just ask the community how much these people taking the polls about polling allign with their interests and goals for the game.

They could even set up a convenient tally system on the forums to allow the whole community to quickly and easily guage these pollers relevance.

I think the next step is pretty clear...

I was really just making a point about the pointlessness of polling in many cases.