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More developer communication about balance would also be really nice. For me, the 'gold standard' for communication is Riot Games - they have a constant developer presence on forums, run AMAs on Reddit and make regular blog posts about balance/game design issues. All this stuff is very much appreciated by players such as myself, and at the very least creates a channel for developers to reassure the community that they are aware of and looking into balance issues. However, I fear that since our community is pretty hostile toward Relic a lot of the time (this thread is an example),they probably don't want to interact with us any more than is necessary.
i only wish to take issue (slightly) with you, over your assertion that this thread (in particular) and the community is pretty hostile to Relic "a lot of the the time" I do agree that the perceived community can be hostile, but (IMO) most, in fact, are not. It is the vociferous minority who "bend" the outlook of the board. I highly doubt if the Official Forums are very different (though I am open to persuasion). FWIW, I consider this thread to be a particularly carefully expressed thread, free of the usual nonsensical infighting from most Balance threads. But that is subjective, and we may have to agree to disagree
I also think that this community has to hold up its hands more to balancing: I am a believer in transparency, where possible. Therefore,if a balancing team from this community has misled Relic (innocently or otherwise) to a poor Balance solution, this should be made plain.