I would love to hear from CO about a tentative (bolded for emphasis) plan for the next expansion to CSL. I think most of us will understand that nothing is set in stone. Anyone who doesn't know or acknowledge this caveat doesn't count in this, to put it bluntly. But I think perhaps it would be good for CO to hear a general feedback on a proposal outlining the next expansion before it goes into development.



I was thinking about this possible way to go about with future DLCs because it seem to be my impression that most people thought that natural disasters should not be the next expansion's focus back then when ND was announced.



I am not calling for a vote on every facet of a future expansion in a draft proposal but I think it would a good idea for CO to consult with the community for a general feedback on a draft outlining a future expansion before finalizing it and going ahead with its development. Perhaps this would avoid the ill-feeling that people had about ND that focused on disasters rather than things they wanted most like transportation and such.



Personally, I don't think keeping it under wraps until an announcement is a good way to go about it, because I think consultations would be a valuable tool to assess what kind of reception an expansion is likely to get when announced officially.



Alternatively, I would propose a closed consultation with a number of de-facto community leaders in CSL community for feedback on a draft proposal for an expansion. I am not sure how to define community leaders but it would be those who stand out prominently in the community and who contributed constructively to it. A number of popular modders would probably fit in this definition. In a closed consultation, I would recommend that all parties invited to sign a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) before being admitted into them.



This alternative proposal is intended for if CO is more comfortable with keeping it under wraps before announcing it. I realize that this would be perceived as unfair for it would seem to be a special treatment for an "elite" but it is better to have some consultations from a part of the community than no consultations at all with community when planning an expansion.



One another possible tool to gauge the feedback on a planned feature of an expansion, before it is actually announced, is to anonymously post under an alias (pretending to be a lowly regular user) a poll on a number of community sites (this forum, Simtropolis, etc.) asking if this feature would interest them, without any hints at all that this feature is planned as a part of an upcoming expansion and that the poll is posted on behalf of CO. In this way, a planned feature is "leaked" without anyone even knowing it. Anonymity can do wonders, sometimes. (Note: because the Paradox forums, oddly enough, does not support polls directly, the best bet is to simply create a poll on a third-party website and post link to it in a thread)



This is not intended as a replacement for suggestions subforum because I am talking about consultations on a draft proposal for an expansion from CO before it is actually announced.



At any rate, I must again emphasize that CO is not bound to take any of these suggestions under consideration or to actually implement them. They are well within their rights to not consider them, for they are a private company and they have no obligations to do so. These are merely suggestions, nothing more.



Just a thought.