This direct communication can actually do more harm than good. The most vocal in a community are not necessarily speaking for the majority and I think game developers make that mistake all too often. They attempt to appease the loud minority which ultimately pisses off the happy majority when the changes are put in. The reality is the unhappy minority will never be happy anyway. They hate their own lives and these developer forums are just a medium for them to express it. I've always had difficulty understanding people who spew their vitriol on developer forums. I wonder why they don't just simply stop playing if it's really as bad as they say it is. Star Wars Galaxies comes to mind where the complaining was so bad from the minority that they changed the game. The problem was the change was so bad it pissed off the majority. Everyone quit to go play WOW but the harassment continued. I think the lead developer of that re-write ended up killing himself years later. Really? Over a game? People need to lighten up. It's a game. Not your real life. Just because you waste your life away playing a video game doesn't give you any rights to demand anything. If you don't like it, quit. The bullying and harassment should be completely ignored. In fact, I would keep the developers away from hearing or interacting with the customer entirely. Allow them to fulfill their creative potential without the noise.

You actually compare the Chinese government with America? You clearly have no idea what the implications of the Chinese labor market are. If Americans weren't so entitled we could force slave labor too and undercut other countries in the prices of our products. To say that the USA could even accomplish that is idiotic and low information at best.