In the free-to-play fantasy MMO The Lord of the Rings Online, HdRO, the news that there will likely be no new raids in 2014 causes ongoing unrest in the official forum of the game. A community manager from Turbine has now clearly stated: “The forum is not representative of the player base.”
No more raids: Is Turbine developing away from the players?
In the near future, there will be no more raids. This decision by Turbine has been known since early 2014. This has been lamented in the official forums for six months. The active forum members demand these raids; they want to have a discussion about it. Whenever a developer speaks about the state of the game, the topic comes up.
The demand and focus are clear: Instead of introducing cosmetic changes, bringing new pets, a cloak, boots, or a hat, the developers should finally do what all players are waiting for – namely, more raids.
This creates the impression that a huge majority of players definitely want new raids and that Turbine is ignoring them, in fact, developing away from the needs of the players.
Raiders are a noisy minority
This impression is clearly contradicted by a Turbine employee, community manager Rick Heaton. He stated that raiders only make up a vanishingly small part of the player base. This has not only been the case recently, but has been true throughout the history of The Lord of the Rings Online. PvP players, who are involved in the monster game, make up a slightly larger group, but still a small one. Together, these two groups do not even represent 10% of the player base.
Just a little more than 10% of all players regularly post in the forum. However, raiders and PvP players make up a large part, over half, of these forum posters, creating a distorted image. Thus, forum posters are not representative of all players.
A tiny group (raiders) loudly draws attention to themselves and their wishes within an still small, but slightly larger group (the forum posters). However, this is by no means representative of the entire player base.
Mein MMO says: While this is a specific message for The Lord of the Rings Online, it can be assumed that it is similar in many other games. PvP and endgame PvE players invest more time in the game than others, engage more deeply with the mechanics, and are more willing to discuss. They are referred to as “competitive” players. They want to be better than others and are willing to invest more. The MMO also plays a role in their lives and thoughts, even when they are not currently playing.
The majority of players in HdRO (and probably in other games as well) are not in the forums. Only one in ten expresses themselves there. This could create a false image of player willingness. On the other hand, these 10% are often a crucial part of the fan base, as they act as multipliers and can carry the reputation of the game outward.
