In the interest of gathering more detailed player feedback, Blizzard is forming a World of Warcraft community council in which a wide-range of players will be able to offer their opinions on various topics as they relate to Blizzard's MMORPG.
Stating that "gathering and understanding feedback is more important than ever," Blizzard is currently accepting submissions from players to join the council, and is looking for a variety in playstyles to fully encompass all aspects of the game.
"One of the key goals with this program is to encourage discussion with players from a wide variety of different playstyles," Blizzard states. "To help ensure this, part of the application process will involve sharing your areas of interest and expertise. Whether it's cutting-edge raiding, playing alts, completing achievements, accessibility, or collecting transmog, we want to know your perspective and ensure you're heard."
Players selected for the council will be able to post in a special forum and respond directly to topics and discussions started by members of the WoW development team and various community managers. Blizzard states that "separate conversations between smaller groups of members and Blizzard developers will be encouraged to ensure players with differing perspectives are being heard."
Those selected for the council will be able to participate for one year before applications will become open once more.
The creation of the community council comes just as the game's patch 9.1.5 is set to bring about numerous fan-requested changes, in what WoW's game director says marks a "fresh perspective going forward" for the MMO. It also comes amidst the ongoing fallout from multiple lawsuits and investigations related to an alleged history of sexual harassment and discrimination at Activision Blizzard.