Jess Cliffe once told me Valve Software received a roar of protest from the Counter-Strike community every time they made a change. Their approach was to ignore it, for a few weeks.
In 5 years of updating Counter-Strike, Jess had learnt one invaluable lesson. People don’t want anything to change. The same is true for nearly every community. Nobody wants change.
This doesn't mean they don't need change.
If you make a change to the community, it’s not the initial outpour of anger you need to listen to. This is reactive, sometimes beneficial. Most people adapt quickly. It’s those that are still complaining 3 months later that you need to pay attention to.
Facebook were heavily criticised for changing their layout last year. Millions demanded they change it back. I bet we're secretly glad they didn't.
