So I was thinking about making a suggestion for a c-store product, and looking at the c-store forum I was struck by something. No dev posts have happened in here for days. Zero. You look at the doff forum and Heretic's in there hammer and tongs, answering questions and concerns all day every day like a boss. However in here there is nothing but unanswered questions, ignored complaints, and discarded suggestions.

That is bad enough from a simple community perspective, but from a business perspective it is insane. In the post-F2P world STO has put itself in, this area is supposed to make up a significant amount of revenue/cashflow. It is literally supposed to be printing money, and, funny thing is, you have a lot of people in here talking about how and when they will give you money. That should be a boon to any business, such direct customer feedback about the conditions under which they will spontaneously pay you money is, no pun intended, invaluable. When this feedback is unidirectional and appears neglected, dissatisfaction increases and the urge to pay for things decreases.

Ironically I have to wonder if any of the Cryptic team is going to read this, considering how neglected this place-that-should-be-important is. Yes, all the gameplay suggestions and gripes and bugs are important, but so's the money. How is it that a business has to be reminded of that? It's insane. Talk to the people who want to give you money.

Most post in this forum are either complaining about costs or "problems." Things like "I can't find X" or "I didn't get X." Those are the types of things which actually need to be handled via Support Tickets - though other fans usually answer them, if possible. As such there's not a lot of need for Devs to post in this section. They simply need to scan through it and see if there's an interesting idea that Brandon can add to his idea list; as the Bug problems get picked up by QA via the Support Tickets rather then via forum posts.

Perception informs conception. Even if Cryptic isn't actually ignoring this forum, the perception that they are is still harmful. Some kind of dialog should be established and encouraged, and some positive feedback given to the community.

I really don't see the point in posting just to be visible. They post when they have something useful to contribute, which is the important thing.

It's been touched on already.
The Doff system. It isn't perfect. Not everyone likes it. We argue, complain, agree, and joke about it. However, I doubt you will find anyone who thinks it's a forgotten or ignored part of the game. And Heretic is usually seen as someone who is out to get things right. Even when you report something that is wrong you stand a good chance of getting the correct info from that thread. From Heretic, not just a player. Even when you were just asking for it from a player. That isn't the only area, just one I have some personal experience in. Unlike here.

Now with the C-store. All I have ever heard is things about it being a joke. How they never fix problems. They have items with misleading descriptions. Etc. In a nut shell it's run by worse then average Ferengi. Is that true? No idea. Unlike some parts of the game I can not think of one positive comment made about C-Store. That isn't a good thing.

It's important for the same reason it is at say best buy. If you went there and wanted to have a question answered. If no one answered it, would you buy something? Would you go back? What would you tell a friend if they asked? How about when you go out to eat, have you ever had bad service and then suggested it to a friend?

If it's a bug, you submit a bug ticket. That's how things get fixed. All this thread is asking is for devs to post more often, which doesn't actually get anything done.