Fans will always be 'demanding' one way or another.
I think gaming companies/developers should stop pandering to the masses and giving in to their complaints. Instead of having to rewrite, rework or completely change content, the development teams can create what they wanted to create.
I don't think that will happen that much because if they do not cater to the fans then they will probably lose them if they change the game too much. It is a funny business to be sure.
To be honest I don't think game companies shouldn't listen to the fans so much. We buy their games because we like the choices and content they make, not the ones the fans came up with. Because, to be frank, fans never knows what the hell they want. It's okay to give a shout-out to fans once in awhile, just don't go too far with it. Or else it might give a huge negative feedback like when Capcom cancelled Mega Man Legends 3.
I agree with Melirune. If game developers only listened to the fans, nothing or almost nothing new and/or creative is going to come out in a game.
Also, I remember a story about a Megaman game that got cancelled. It was suppose to be an online game where fans could say what they wanted in the game. Well, the company (Capcom) had to cancel the development of the game because they said fans didn't help enough.
My point is that developers shouldn't have to listen to what fans want for a great game (like Capcom did).
That's the thing though - while the companies/developers should listen to the masses to a degree, they shouldn't allow them to dictate every move or every last thing. Once you start catering to them, you may as well hand over the project to them as well.
If they want to tell you how to do it, they can create it themselves - and then when things don't work out they have no one to blame... but themselves.
I agree with you all on this, companies should not listen to fans, there may be some cases where listening is appropriate like if a company needs inspiration to keep going or feedback for a beta game or stuff like that. But if a company listens too much then they will dumb the game down or worse cancel the game.
Can we discuss that one time Capcom blamed the fans for Mega Man Legends 3 being cancelled because they weren't involved enough?
During that time they did the worst damage control every. At twitter they even insulted certain fans for being upset and over and over again they kept telling them "it's your fault not ours!! they point was that YOU were supposed to make the game!". Never seen more bullshit in my entire life.
I never liked Mega Man *flame shield protect me*
So I was not TOO upset when I heard that Mega Man Legends 3 was canned. I can understand why fans are upset at Capcom but the only way I could be upset at Capcom is if Resident Evil 6 turns out to be Resident Evil 5 with zombies.