That said, I don't get this whole "report / interact" with the community thing. I honestly don't. To me, it's nice to see a few updates there, and yeah, occasionally answering stuff, too.
But all I care about is that any company puts out a good game, that's all. And the more time and money is being allocated to community management, the less is available for the thing that matters, which is that bloody game.
That's also why I still hold reservetations about various crowdfunding models. In particular if they include major input of players over the course of development -- and obligations. One of the reasons is that people demand what they THINK they want rather than what they WANT for far too many reasons to discuss (just think back on the last game that honestly surprised you... anything you didn't think you'd enjoy as much or haven't experienced before, perhaps even the original Baldur's Gate when it was fresh... you may get the idea).
The other is that player feedback is invaluable. However, taking it too strongly can badly interfere with the long-term vision a game is aiming for. Which nobody actually knows, but the game's designers at that point. Hell, some of the stories of public play and focus group testing made public are a complete horror show as is.
