Now that Ive had sleep and my mind is fresh I can better put into words my thoughts on the current happenings regarding what my purpose is actually supposed to be on this council. I feel like every ounce of feed back we’ve ever given on the subjects past and present has all been chucked in a shredder then bits and pieces of words from that shredded feedback have been glued to a piece of paper like a ransom note demanding we waste more of our time giving meaningful feedback and suggestions only to have it ignored and once again thrown in an even bigger shredder.
“We hear you” has become a false promise phrase that only seems to be dished out as an attempt to appease the masses when something truly troubling is brought to the players attention.
We point out flaws in the system and list one of the many cogs in the system as an example and that singular example cog, despite the whole lot of the cogs being in the same boat of needing to be addressed, is the only thing to be patched up and “fixed”.
It was my understanding that being on the community council would help us get closer and voice our ideas, suggestions and concerns to the developers, that we could activly discuss with them the concerns we hear floating around in the community. But so far all I see are a bunch of great suggestions and grave concerns and not a lot of validation for them.
I thought there would be much more back and forth with the devs, that our brains would be picked for ideas and confirmation before following through with certain design choices but all I feel like right now is just the same old forum goer as I used to be but with a golden wrapper that just makes me more shiny and more noticeable then others.
What even is our purpose?
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I’m trying to not believe that the Community Council was just for good publicity, it’s getting harder and harder by the week.
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This sentiment was my gut reaction when it was introduced and after having been on it for some time, I’m not sure I’ve been swayed otherwise tbh.
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Change isn’t immediate, that much is certain.
I’m not a person to doomsay as such but the recent change to Zaralek caverns is very questionable at the least.
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I understand a bit of this frustration but I also consider that we just had BlizzCon and so much of what the team was working on could not be disclosed ahead of time. We have had multiple sit-down conversations with the developers outside of this window.
It’s also a little much to say that our feedback goes into the shredder to be ignored. The team has been working on DF as well as 3 expansions into the future. They can read our posts without replying. They might be having similar conversations internally that can’t easily be shared.
An example I would point to is a post I put up with no replies and little notice. One point of that post was improved quest and objective tracking. The UX team is making changes in that direction with The War Within. The team is collecting data from all over and just because our particular posts don’t get a reply from a blue doesn’t mean that the feedback given is not valued nor that the ideas are being ignored.
I agree that I would like to see the council conversation resume now that the curtain has been pulled back on much of what the team has been working on but I encourage you all to be a bit more patient and understanding. These things do pull devs away from the internal conversations and implementation of those very ideas we want.
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As an example the issues revolving around Z.Caves has been an ongoing topic before blizzcon was even here. This is where the frustration is stemming from, unanswered topics from even before blizzcon was reinitiated from even the very first CC iteration.
When I compare our feedback being shredded and picked through the pieces I refer to an example I made to address the big concern of rares not truly having an increased drop rate in loot after the first dumb “fix” they did the ZC. They took the one encounter I went into example mode about and only fixed it when I was using it as an example to say how we feel about all the encounters not having their drop rates increased.
This latest hotfix to ZC and FR are not what the players have been asking for when it comes to Special Encounters. Several of us have been advocating for change to this system and nothing is being shown for it. To us it feels they are lighting a torch on one thing when we talk about multiple things and run the torch through relay to get it to the finish line without considering everything.
They are literally not listening on topics of making legacy content live longer.
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I think no matter the circumstances. None of us know this for certain. To believe that the conversations we have and articulate on in these forums aren’t regarded in any good way is bad posturing.
At an increasing pace some of the C.C. members are taking a harder, more rigid stance towards what they expect and seemingly what they are owed.
For one, these posts that have less than ideal open communications prevent a tangible response from a Blue thats publicly viewed and captioned on all the fan sites.
Structuring our concerns and views better may garner more replies.
Even something as fundamental as a change as the rares despawning, by almost all players account I have heard or seen. Its a terrible change.
They may require more time to gather information, reconsider the system implementation. Formulate a proper response.
Whose to say this change isnt in line with systems coming in TWW.
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I feel like this feeling could have been easily abated by Blizzard when we, as the council, within the last month already directed the comments towards them of having a “Weekly rolllup” or by responding more frequently to our topics to let us know they have seen it and what the developers thoughts are on the matter.
The current Radio Blackout with occasional radio static does not aid in helping us community members feel like our voices are being heard. Is my radio functioning? Can I get a “Copy”? Should we be signalling with Morse code?
… . .-… .-… - - - ?
With this council being garnered towards feedback… Feedback is a 2 way street, not a one lane highway.
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If the rare changes are an indication of what to come, I honestly don’t want it.
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The whole point I’m getting at though is that these huge changes are not run by those of us who are suggesting change and giving feedback. Thats what I thought the premise of the CC was supposed to be. What do we even have a private discord for, what is the purpose of that when we could just be posting here on the forums and still not have any sort of response.
I literally feel like the discord is meaningless if it’s not meant to convey or run ideas through us first to get our feedback as a whole. Literally feels like we’re 100 dogs tied to a leash left in a lot to bark at each other with no intervention from higher ups.
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Or, they could’ve easily made a thread saying ‘‘We’re going to change the rare spawn in Zaralek, because of X reason, what do you all think?’’
Give it a week
Done
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I believe in this case, they, should have, already knew the answer and went in this direction anyways.
And instead used the adage of “Better to ask for forgiveness, than permission.”
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Have they ever, even once. Done this?
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No but what’s the reason for the discord if they DON’T do this? 
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Except they don’t ask for forgiveness they just ignore the fire burning in the trash bin before dumping out the trash on a pile of leaves and then pretty soon the whole forest is on fire but no firetruck is sight.
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I will echo that the feeling that your comments are being silent read by devs exits but is increasingly based purely on faith and lacking material evidence, and weakens over time. I dont think its fair or reasonable to assume malice or infer negative judgement, but the feeling exists nevertheless. I don’t feel like the amount of blue post responses has met my expectations thus far.
I think there have been signs that feedback made a difference, PTR and hotfix notes have been correllated to seeing a thread on the council forums a month or two beforehand before it shows up on several occassions I can think of. That should be proudly celebrated as a success. But unless you read the original thread from 2 months ago and remember it, that credit and reinforcement of the systems providing value is lost, forgotten, and unrecognized by the wider playerbase, and likely within the other council members themselves.
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Some changes that go on PTR and then later reversed are similar to this. I can think of a few changes to wrath classic Feral Druids via the Omen of Clarity/Faerie Fire changes that were discussed with theorycrafters and stuff beforehand also. Seems to be less common for Dragonflight/Retail though.
Your original post here did not mention that your frustration stems from a specific change where the team had a different direction than you would have liked. Regarding
the example you cited, I am also pretty perplexed by what the reasoning might be behind it. I still think there is a vast difference between “literally not listening on topics” and simply not fixing issues we perceive in the manner we want them to go about it.
I don’t think this topic is genuinely productive and is likely to get locked down. That said, I am glad that people reading this topic will see that the Community Council has people with many differing views.
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I’m not sure if its me or you readding too much into things. I was using the frustration as an example of feeling ignored which in turn warranted me making this thread to question what my purpose is in its entirety. What I listed was merely to use an example of why I feel like I’m nothing more than a deflated tire who’s air was spent just spinning in a circle without moving.
The fact is we’ve had mass outcry over the changes implemented displayed both here and across various forms of the internet where WoW players congregate, being on the CC I felt we had an elevated voice to be closer to the team responsible for the changes but to my dismay that does not seem to be the case.
This is why I am calling into question our true purpose. Are we simply a PR stunt to get thrown at rabid fans to deflect from the true masterminds or are we really supposed to help bring about meaningful change by being the voice of the community as a whole?
I mean we do get swapped out for new blood every year, we are not permanent residents to this position unless our re-application is approved.
Edit: I’m also not suggesting the Community Council should be dissolved. The title is merely a question on if it should be given the rate of feedback we’re giving versus receiving, the lack of “what is our true purpose” responses, and the sort of “false promise” details that made it seem like the Council was more than a group of 100 average people with no direct ties to blizzard on a stage of the forums biggest debate pedestal with no one from the team officiating with details.
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