Does TLG listen to us?

[hollisbrick]

Just a question I've been thinking about lately is that if the TLG watch and read these forums for ideas and also about what the fans and AFOL want? An example is I guess is Pirates. We nagged and complained about having no pirates then what do you know! We get em

What are your guys thoughts on this?

[ILikePi]

I think the main way we communicate through to TLG is by answering the polls they put out every once in a while and by making comments in the Embassy section of the forum, where LEGO Ambassadors (like CopMike) compile our comments and send the main ideas to TLG.

Also, Jamie Berard (the designer of modular buildings and other fantastic sets) is a member, so he might be reading our comments.

[Siegfried]

There's one very important point about consumers, in other words us. Consumers often ask for something, but they don't see things holistically (often they can't as they don't have all the information) and thus even if they are given what they want they actually no longer want it for one reason or another. (Price, quality, unrealistic expectations, too late...) Possible LEGO examples are the recent Factory sets, and the on-line Pick-A-Brick in general and for some people (not me!) the AT-OT set. Companies understand that a lot more than consumers as they pay the price and that's why they don't listen to us blindly.

Thus a lot of the time what we ask for will never happen as TLG know from experience and knowing the big picture that we actually probably wouldn't buy what were asking for. It is a shame though that TLG don't share with us their reasons all the time but they are a company afterall. If we knew the reasons for decisions (such as the short life of the Pirates) we'd be able to ask smarter!

[Svelte]

I don't know about EB specifically. I tend to assume fan communities overestimate their importance, especially as Siegfried says, the task of running a profitable multibillion dollar global business is different from, say, giving Star Wars AFOLs 12 different unique figs in every set for under $US20

Apart from the 'market research' type questionnaires (Do you like Brickjournal? Do you like the Architecture sets?), I do think that discussion threads and reviews do have some influence, either explicitly (Front sometimes says he reports feedback about Bionicle parts) or indirectly on other issues which tend to recur.

For example, I wonder if LEGO stopped using stickers across multiple parts (like in the 2006 6210 Sailbarge) because their focus groups of 8 year old play testers hated applying them or because their was a fairly consisent body of grumbling from AFOL communities? (On the other hand maybe it was a natural evolution and designers themselves realised it was a hideous idea?)

I suspect we'll never get a really clear answer. In the end, the only feedback that really matters to LEGO are the sales figures.

[blueandwhite]

I certainly am of the opinion that the AFOL community has a larger voice today in LEGO's product development than it did a few years back. I don't think our input is as big as some fans would have you believe, but I do think that there is a positive dialogue between the community and TLG. Lines like last year's Pirates, this year's Kingdoms and the minifig collector's series certainly seem to at least in part recognize some of the unique interests of AFOLs. These lines may not be the biggest sellers for LEGO, but they certainly go a long way to keeping the AFOL community involved in the hobby. And honestly, who would have ever expected the wide range of UCS sets or the CC-style sets we've had over the last decade?

We certainly aren't the dominant voice moving the gears at TLG, but they certainly recognize that we're here.

[hollisbrick]

Interesting responses with some good points...

I didn't think they payed attention too much but it's good that they recognize that we're here I guess

[L-space]

In my humble opinion LEGO is listening to us, the community.

Not in the way some people like to think that if we say we want a new set or line continued they will apply in the next year.

I think it is more like a mammoth tanker; TLC sets the course based on historical data and market research and we, the community, can tweek it to a certain extend. Maybe a degree to starboard or port, but not more.

However I think that LEGO has in a slow manor, like a tanker, discovered the AFOL community as an existing target group. Meaning we get stuff made and designed for us. CC, MMV and so on.

Lets hope they won't forget us in the future. Remember TLC: "todays kid is tomorrows AFOL".