Yes, they ACTUALLY read the forums. Both of them. When I say they I don't mean just the select staff whom post. The large majority of the staff lurk. It would be safe to assume that they know and are working on a lot of our pain points. 
I mean this in the grand sense of the title and not just balancing.
Yes, they do that. Not all of them read everything, but at least the opening post and a few after can be a good read for a lot of threads. This was said rather often though
Yes, they also have a QA department and read/collect/act on bug splats.
Not so sure about this. Which of Relics staff are in the QA? They do react on bug splats though, that's true.
Yes, the NDA is real and it sucks. Unfortunately, it would appear that Relic is rather risk adverse and the legal barriers are preventing staff from communicating with us in a more open fashion. Cynthia eluded to this during the stream. It is a tough spot to be in.
Ya NDA sucks. While I would definitely prefer a more open approach, I can understand their reasons. That doesn't mean I have to agree with it though. The public beta is a great step towards a more open process and should also help a lot with QA
The staff I got to meet are passionate and personally invested in the titles success. Some of the posts we make here affect them in real life. Take this into account in the future. I'm guilty of some less than flattering posts about Relic but I try to be constructive in my criticism.
This is definitely true. Especially the lower ranked staff is usually quite passionate and the ones I've met have always been great guys. My quarrel with Relic was in most cases with the upper tiers. The problem is it's usually taken out at the lower tiers, as they are somewhat the public face. If balance is not good Peter/Brad gets blamed. If maps are flawed Eagleheart and so on. People perceive them as failing, as they see them as responsible for it. That those people cannot work on issues because they have to work on other projects due to bad prioritisation by upper tiers is ignored.
From what I observed, and I was not allowed entry into some places, Relic is working on enough stuff and things that CoH2 will be actively supported for a long time. Think years, not months.
Yes, but I don't think that's a good approach. They often are too heavily invested into the long term. For example the state after WFA release. The game was (and to this day is) having tons of bugs and general gameplay problems. Those didn't get tackled for months, as Ardennes Assault and new features (which from a long term view are more important) got prioritized over polishing what there already is. I think they need to find a better balance between long term investments (i.e. adding new features) and short term investments (polishing / bugfixing).
Right now to me they seem just too focused on getting the game in a good state in a years scope or whatever, that they ignore urgent issues. This causes people in the community to be annoyed by how slowly they react to issues. As said prior, this dissatisfaction is then often taken out on the back of the lower tier staff, making those people feel bad. If the community is having a bad opinion of Relic and the lower staffers getting annoyed by the community, then this is not a healthy way to proceed.
Cynthia, the new Relic Community Manager does play the game. She also understands a lot of the communities pain points and is making things happen.
Can't say much to this point
I would ask the community to support Relic. Consider pre-ordering AA as a sign of that support.
Meh, I wouldn't fall for sweet words so fast. I'd rather have them show improvements first. Open beta and the recent patch log is something good, but the fact it took almost half a year for some of those issues to get addressed is still problematic.
In general, I have to say I greatly appreciate a lot of people at Relic:
Peter Qumsieh - He's pretty much the symbol of a lot of rage and balance complaints, but he did a lot of great stuff for this game.
Eagleheart21 - He's one of the most laid back and enjoyable persons I've ever met. He takes feedback really serious and quickly acts on problems, but he seems to be always short on time
BreakingBrad - He's probably the funniest guy to hang around with. He's one of the few employees at Relic that I played, chatted and talked with a lot even in his off time. He got heavily invested in this game, as could be seen on the countless streams with Dusty / Lemon etc. Miss ya
Jason Lee - Awesome fellow. Not only a good perception of the issues and good at what he's doing, but also up for some nice deeds. I still cherish the moment you threw your stuffed panda at Braden during his "RektTrain" streams
Stefan Haines - Awww yiiiss. One of the most creative designers and a really nice fellow. While I think some of his creations are a bit over the top crazy, I really enjoy that he basically constantly tries to create refreshing new stuff.
Mitch Lagran - Only me this guy once, but a person that knows how to chug beer and tell interesting stories can't be bad, right?
Greg Wilson - Quite serious person, but also really professional. I can't say too much about him though, yet I greatly respect him.
Quinn Duffy - similar to Mitch I only met him once, but he seemed quite knowledgeable and open for ideas.
Jeffrey 'Noun' Simpson - He always seemed busy, not entirely sure with what, but he was enjoyable as well
I hope I didn't forget anyone, if so, I am sorry. It's early morning and I haven't even gotten a single coffee yet.
Failure is always an 
To make most awesome thing in universe combine 
Relic Entertainment
cblanco ★ 
보드카 중대 
VonManteuffel 
Heartless Jäger 
