Managing MMORPG community perception

Never underestimate the power of the community forum - it can work for community owners and it can really rear up to bite them.

One thing that strikes me looking at numerous beta and pre-beta communities is that there will always be people bitching about everything. That's a given - no matter if the game is beta or gold. Perhaps the most common criticism directed to those managing a game's community (often the development studios themselves) is that when things "hit the fan" it's perfectly acceptable to ignore your community.

More often than not, if the online service is working, Dev's will not hear a peep from the majority, but it's when things go wrong... it's then the topics start to bulge with replies, ever-increasing in their angered criticisms. Despite more sensible authors appealing for calm, the momentum builds into a virtual lynch mob, braying for blood.

One thing I don't understand is why the people who bitch about delay in patch deployment, server upgrades or other new content or client versions seemingly sway the community managers more than those who bitch about the lack of communication.

Why is this?

I think it would be better for the community managers to come clean when things are delayed, or when they are broken in the first place. If it's a question of community perception - In most cases, and particularly true for MMORPGS - the community managers will find a significantly larger percentage of their community willing to support and vociferously defend them against anyone authoring another whining post about yet another delay or error.

There's surely more to lose by NOT keeping the community members in the loop and with quick follow up on posts - which can take only a few minutes! For many Devs it's probably the easiest way to buy themselves even MORE time and more love, from their community.

Other than that, I can't think of another reason why community managers don't post updates more regular and reliable updates when things are wrong. Many online community members will read this and shrug "Just sit back and wait" or "it's always been like this". But whether or not it's common place - it's just exceptionally bad practice from those whose income is solely derived from the community they support.