There's been a ton of WPN bashing going on recently (and before recently), and while some of it is certainly justified, it raises a somewhat interesting question: do the goals of WPN and WPN's regs clash or complement one another? The reason it's interesting is because if the goals of both parties are similar, then there's not really a compelling reason for all the bashing. Instead, the focus should be on constructive ideas that further the interests of both parties.

Here's the way I see it:

WPN's goal: make money. It does this through rake. While regs are currently probably raking the most on WPN, if it wants to make more money in the future, it needs to grow its player pool. WPN aims to go about this goal by using its promotions, policies, and gameplay to attract recreational players (Jackpot SnGs, Spin to Get In, $1 million GTD tourney, reworking The Beast structure, ridiculous tournament structures to meet guarantees, etc). Some of these policies or changes hurt regs in the short term, but if successful they should benefit both parties in the long term. Thus criticism from regs should focus on how WPN can *more* effectively attract recreational players.

Regs goal: make money. They do this through a) being winning players and b) promotions. Some promotions/game structures are/were more conducive to regs earning more money. Therefore, regs get upset when changes are made on the site. However, if WPN is successful in attracting more recreational players, regs will make more money from these players, and the site will be able to increase their promotions.

In short, it seems that it's in the interest of both WPN and regular players to grow the site by attracting more recreational players; everyone profits! (except for the recreational players)

So shouldn't discussion focus on less just bashing and more qualitative and quantitative analysis of what will bring recreational players?

There are some things that just seem downright unproductive to complain about. Two examples: WPNs DDOS issues and WPNs lack of Mac client. With the DDOS issues, the players and the site are on the exact same page: they both want the problem resolved as quickly as possible. It's a ****ty inconvenience when your tournament gets shut down, but I guarantee you that WPN's management wants the site up and running smoothly more than any given player. Their livelihood depends upon it. With the Mac client, I think it's fine for players to express that they would like to see a Mac client, but complaining about it doesn't seem productive. Again, of course WPN will do anything it can to reach more players--provided it has the resources to do so.

Because (I believe) WPN and the reg player pool have a large shared interest, I think there should be more discussion and constructive criticism specifically with regard to how the site can bring in more players. Regs know the game and site well, but complaints aren't likely to be well received unless they serve the interests of both parties. A good example of constructive feedback I saw the other day was perhaps doubling the number of SnC points offered for the $10 Turbo OD SnGs. That seems like it could get those games running more often, which could benefit both the player pool and the site.

Sorry for the rant. I just think WPN has the goal of and potential to bring poker back to the US in a somewhat serious way, which I think we all would like. But the site is struggling to do so and getting a lot of flack from the regs. No one wins if the site just flops.

Feel free to shut me down or disagree about any of my points.

I agree with the gist of your post that although some skepticism remains in my mind about the value WPN places on constructive input/feedback from posts here.

To illustrate with your example, many posters have questioned and provided suggestions regarding the OD SnGs. To my knowledge, the reasoning for OD point policy (respawn policy, pre-registration policy) has never been provided. Things like this can make it frustrating when putting in effort to provide constructive input. [The $10 Turbo OD SnGs currently receive 0 SnC points, while the $1s and $3s get 4x points and $5s get 8x points.]

This is just an example. There are also some examples of input that was discussed and used by WPN.

There's no simple answer to this question.

Regs wants more recs, but only if the recs are playing games that the regs find beatable.
WPN wants more recs, in any format that will earn them rake.

Regs and WPN both have concerns re disconnects, which have been an issue since WPN's earliest days. But WPN has historically been unwilling to expend resources to improve the resiliency of its network and software, which has created frustration for regs. WPN's priorities may have changed recently with the DDOS attacks that disrupted the Million.

No one is opposed to constructive dialogue that benefits both players and site. But I'm also not opposed to players expressing their frustration. A well run company wants to know what its customers think. Even its semi-articulate customers.

clash or mesh poll is mandatory!

in b4 new promo...

Clash or Mesh!

Lately I've noticed more 25NL games and less 50NL games. A sign that the lower stakes guys have slowly been bleeding money to the beast grinders. I wish they could implement something for cash games similar to the freebuy promotion that WPN does for MTTs. The freebuys attract new players and the regs still get all the money

That is an exceptionally large assumption to make.

A promo where a spinning wheel determines whether they give you prize money or whether you give them prize money.

hahaha, wp

I think its a great idea for the regs and management to be on the same team. I play cash games so Im hoping we can increase traffic in that sense. A mac client would definitely get a lot more players but im sure that has been talked about a lot. How else can we bring new players? How do these players even hear about the promotions?