I have been following the seemingly trouble wrought story of the game Destiny 2 with interest. Many have stopped playing, listing lack of in-game incentive as a primary cause for their leaving. Some fans have even reverted to playing Destiny 1, claiming the game is superior to the sequel. Bungie recently held a ‘community summit’ in an attempt to address player discontent, and continually update what they call a ‘roadmap’ to increase perceived development transparency. Bungie is not the only developer who has met trouble in trying to appease angry players who have their own ideas about the direction a game should take. My question is this: how transparent should game developers be when it comes to the creative process of game design? To what extent does community feedback and discussion help or hinder the eventual product?
Player feedback is an aspect of game development everyone should consider. Blizzard, as controversial as they may be, can owe a lot of it's success to how it connects with it's players and listens to feedback. The communication between developers and plays in the Overwatch "developer update" videos is really refreshing in the modern game industry, where so many decisions are made behind closed doors. – Dimitri7 years ago
