I support, with one caveat.
There likely won't be any actual timeline involved. It would be a collection of "here's things that may happen in the future when we get the chance to do it."
It will require a lot of patience from the users, is that something that can be asked for?
i don't think patience is the problem here. reading this thread, people aren't saying they're impatient for new stuff. they're saying they
don't like new stuff happening without warning.
i've been on sites which had staff-user communication so bad it was a meme. i left those sites mainly for that reason.
some of those have improved. one now has excellent staff-user communication: flight rising.
i don't think flight rising's communication style should be used as a template, but a case study.
let's look at the most recent developer update: https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/ann/3093798
they:
1. state they're close to completing updates they've previously announced, but do not promise a deadline (users have asked for more updates on progress, so this is a fairly new thing)
2. announce they're changing their priorities on an update they've previously announced (Refactors VS Revamps)
3. explain why this is happening as clearly as possible
4. clarify that the update put on hold (revamps) will still happen at a later date, but again don't promise a deadline
5. tell players what to expect when the new update (the refactors) is rolled out
6. take the opportunity to read and answer questions
the formatting is good. paragraphs never go over a certain size, and
the most important information is bolded for those who struggle to read large bodies of text.
in my experience, this is what most users are asking for when they ask for better communication from staff. they don't want exact deadlines or previews, they just want you to
tell them what you're doing so they know what to expect.
TL;DR: users don't like surprises, so warn them
i also agree polls are a good idea. even if the staff think a new update is a great idea, if the majority of the users don't like it...maybe it's time to reconsider.
having polls for new updates would necessitate sending a notification to all users telling them about the poll. otherwise, only those who look at the forums when the poll is released will know about it, and you'll get a very incomplete view.
a planned update being unpopular doesn't always mean scrapping it entirely. there might be something specific about the planned implenetation, like how much it costs, how hard it is to access, or what it's replacing, that people have a problem with.
and of course sometimes it's too important to the devs to implement and they're willing to lose users over it. that's their choice. but at least they'll know what kind of response to expect when it's rolled out, and it will be an informed decision for them.
