Jagex: You should listen to trolls

There is part of the community you’ll never be able to please,” says Mark Gerhard, the CEO of one of Britain’s most successful games studios.

His company, Jagex, has become an elite force in the UK. That’s mainly due to flagship MMO Runescape – launched in 2001 – that Jagex claims is, today, the world’s most popular free-to-play MMO.

Some people are just angry, Gerhard said. Customers will complain no matter what you do.

We give people extra free content, some people complain that ‘oh you’re just trying to buy our loyalty’,” he said.

Speaking on stage at Edinburgh Interactive, Gerhard urged developers to listen to feedback but not make rash decisions from it. Hold out and see if your updates stick, he said.

You’re always going to have trolls, but those who love your updates are completely silent. You have to measure all this feedback. Part of it is quantitative, part of it is qualitative, part of it is gut instinct.”

Develop has the full story.