Fanbases aren't insanely powerfull. There are games with bigger fanbases then here. The difference is that the larians actually recognise that some ideas have some merits and listen to what we have to say.
I once did an interview with Dave Moldanado from BIS and asked him what the influence of the forums was on the development. He said that there was no influence at all (the interview was about Icewind Dale II).
