I think there have been a lot of good things said in this topic. There is one thing that I want to call out, and it's something I have mentioned before in other topics.
People who have been playing Sindome a long time have gotten a feel for how things are, why they are the way they are, and (regardless of how they feel about a specific feature/issue/request) have a somewhat intangible understanding of if it's an idea the staff are going to be willing to consider.
This is due to hearing admin on the BGBB, or xhelp, or xgame or ooc-chat, explaining the reasoning and thinking behind the choices the staff have made for the game over the years.
The only way to fast track that contextual knowledge and get a true feel for what we as a staff are willing to do / change, is to read every single BGBB post from front to back, probably multiple times.
This is unrealistic and I don't expect anyone to do it. I expect new players to come in with an idea that was brought up 5 years ago, or 5 months ago, and present it, and for their to be discussion on it, or at the very least, for them to be pointed to an older thread where things were discussed, providing them the context they may have been missing, along with an explanation of the search functionality and that it's good form to search for existing BGBB topics before making a new post.
However, just because something wasn't right for the game 5 years or 5 months ago, does not mean that as we have grown, learned, and discussed things, our priorities or understanding of the need for a feature have not changed.
One great example of this is our obfuscation of how stats and skills work. This was a big complaint for two decades. We held fast to our opinion on it, until we didn't, and we decided to level the playing field by expanding our help files to better inform new folks of how the systems worked-- since it was info older players had gathered by playing the game.
That is not to say we are going to change our minds on everything or that you should go necro every thread I've said no to in the past, but it does mean that when people continue to raise an issue, we continue to reevaluate our standing on it based on the new information and new arguments presented, and then make the decision again on if it is a decision we still stand behind.
It has also been rightly pointed out that people do not like change, and that often times, when presented with the option for something to stay the same or to change, many folks will prefer it to simply stay the same. Nothing wrong with that, but it is something we should be cognizant of. Just because something has been one way for a long time does not make it right, or beyond reevaluation. I have definitely seen, in myself, and in others, the knee jerk reaction of 'no it's always been that way'. And it sometimes takes folks saying 'just because it has always been that way, does not mean it should not be reevaluated'.
As a staff member, I have to answer the same questions over and over, year in and year out. Any of you on Game-Help have the same situations crop up and have to render help. It can, if you let it, become annoying. However, it doesn't need to be annoying. It's an opportunity to explain, kindly, why something the way it is, or render a helpful response that answers someones question. Even if it's the fifth time you've had to answer this question for someone.
The same can be applied here, when someone has an idea or creates a post that you just know is going to get shot down or go nowhere. You can choose not to respond and let someone (like me) weigh in politely and constructively, or you can be the constructive polite person that responds and saves me (or another admin) the time. What you shouldn't do is be rude or unhelpful. That doesn't help someone grow and become a better member of our community.
-- S