Now I know this post sounds a lot like sucking up to the Wizzez, and sure, in some way it is. I dont want them to quit, so I do my best they stay!
But at the same time, these are just plain common sense things, dont be mean... behave. And appreciate when people do things that help keep things going, and let them know if you think
they are going about it the wrong way, but do so in a polite manner.
Whenever things happen that cause uproar, and after these negative feelings have festered for a while, they start to ooze out in the form of anger and complaints.
But, remember that there is a correct, and not-so-correct way to communicate your opinions on anything game-related (new tunes, ideas, issues and so on).
The correct way is to create a Mantis ticket, and describe the problem there, with as much of information as possible, and preferably some data to back it up. And to be civil about it.
Its not illegal to discuss things on Chat, but just remember things can get more heated there, and more quickly.
We as players MUST understand that the people (yes, they are people like us, but better since they maintain and add to Icesus on their free time, best they can) are not paid
to do anything, are not required to do anything, and are not here to destroy the game, but to keep it running. Some kind of balance must be kept, but imagine how hard it is to create balance. Unless every guild is the same (meaning you could tank with a healer, or be a dps as healer, or heal as a tank..)and share skills/spells, there will be things one guild is better in than other guilds. And trying to create some kind of balance with only couple persons who can actually see the code and the system, with limited time and resources, is, to say the least, difficult.
If we get too salty about things, and especially when we go at it the wrong way, it wont exactly make the wizards want to do more stuff.
This brings us to the WRONG way of expressing discontent:
Talking smack on public channels will not help the situation. It will, infact, most likely make it worse.
Trying to gather others to your cause is fine, unless the intent is just to cause trouble (pitch forks and torches).
Or, if you try to push your agenda on the wizards by direct (and mean, or pushy) tells, mudmail, or even harass them on other media like Discord or whatsapp, is a big no-no.
There were times when Wizards were bit more distant and authoritive (or so I hear), but the current administration has gone for more of an community-route.
They are present on channels, talk with people and are generally quite approachable. Now this choice has its pros and cons, as does the other, distant version, and we will not discuss that much more, but what this basically means, is that the closer you are to the community, the more the community can affect you, if you get nasty comments all day long, it will eat at your morale.
To end this part, I would like to say that all of these problems are quite normal in games, but since ours is a free-to-play, not-paying-the-devs kind, we should really mind our Manners (heh)
when interacting with the "personnel".
Secondly.
Since the current administration is of the more interacting kind, and there are nice ways to discuss creatively (not whine about) like Mantis, and maybe the forums, we should use them.
If you feel there is something wrong with something, bring it up, but with arguments, not emotion.
Private tells and such (to wizards, when they result in tunes etc) might hurt the game, both in that it will make the community feel like they are left out if only few players "can influence" tunes or new ideas, and it can also make Wizards look like they play favourites with people. Both of these are not good, but at the same time, not everyone is willing to be active in helping the wizards create/tune things, or even if they are, they might
cause more harm than good, if they dont really know that much about the topic in question.
And at the same time, some players are very knowledgeable about the game and different guilds, and can offer their suggestions in valid ways, supported by data (e.g. ingame counters, measuring x and y, for a sizeable chunk of time),and naturally that sort of thing will more likely lead to changes, than just sending a tell "yo whadap dawg, i kinda feel like xxxx guild should be able to become Transformers. Make it so!".
It is a complicated thing, like Ricven said when talking about a topic that also touched on this kind of an issue:
Ricven [chat]: Which is why I emphasize it's kinda a living, situation-by-situation issue rather than something I think a specific, globally
applicable defense can be made for.
Finally, remember that Jää Ry has become more democratic than before, there is a board consisting of players and wizards, and you can even take your issue up to them if it is really needed.
Mantis makes bug/idea tracking etc more transparent. And that can be good and bad, like:
Cyto <chat>: now that it is transparent, expectations are given, and those expectations make wizards feel like IT personnel with SLAs.
Just.. you know. Place yourself in their shoes, be patient, be polite.