Wow, it's hard to believe that people would actually call or insinuate that the devs are ignorant for following the instructions they are given. Imagine, if you will, how the corporate structure ACTUALLY works. Do you truly think that the devs(the ones who do the actual work aside from the coders) are responsible for these decisions? I guarantee that it DOES NOT work that way. A small group would NOT have autonomous control of a game with this many subscribers. I have worked in the thick of, and on the tail end of, many projects like this. I can assure you that although it seems like these folks are responsible for the changes you see in front of you it is not so. A talking head, a corporate committee, and a PR crew all get together to decide the best and most profitable way to move forward. If they decided to make wings a long-term veteran reward it is likely that concensus came from TONS of datamining to determine what would keep people here the longest. Right or wrong it's not the devs who truly decide these things. If I were to hazard a guess I would bet good money that the people you are maligning are the same people who WANT to give these things earlier. The thing is that although the squeaky wheel gets the oil it could also just be replaced with a new wheel. These guys probably make decent money. It would make no sense to piss off the talking heads. It's just not worth causing a huge stink and lose the job. I have SEEN this happen with my own two eyes on many games. The guy or group of guys(and a gal on one ocassion) were canned because they thought the game was being cheesed out. They said thier piece to the heads(and offered GREAT suggestions I may add) and were summarily dropped from the payroll for not being a "team player". That is one of the reasons I no longer work in this field. So, please lay off the devs a bit. They have a job that I doubt you would envy. They get it from all angles. Well, as Johnny Storm would say.. FLAME ON!
