Factorio Forums

I joined recently, by some standards, and have been here long enough to get a very basic grasp on what has been suggested and in what way. (nowhere near link master ssilk level) and have noticed the ever repeating re-suggestions and new suggestions on old ideas with new twist. New players can use search, as with any forums, highly suggested and required if you don't want your genuine new topics to be immediately shot down as a repeat and wholly unresearched thought process.

The Frequently Suggested Topic is a great place to start but as mentioned here by ssilk many suggestions are on the Devs radar, you just don't know.

My suggestion is a simple list of suggestions and where they rank for the devs.(2 topics that got me started on this one here and the ssilk reply mentioned earlier)
Some groups could be:
Will be implemented eventually

https://forums.factorio.com/forum/vie ... =14&t=6847

Needs new content to know how it will work
This would include things that are a good ideas but until the new circuits or the factions or whatever comes out or implemented they can't be fully discussed.

https://forums.factorio.com/forum/vie ... =14&t=8352

Highly suggested and on Devs radar (ie not dead and doesn't need resuggestion so Devs know we want it)

https://forums.factorio.com/forum/vie ... f=6&t=3904
https://forums.factorio.com/forum/vie ... f=6&t=5011

Frequently suggested but unlikely to be implimented
Things that have been thoroughly discussed and might not happen but that doesn't mean you can't try again
https://forums.factorio.com/forum/vie ... f=6&t=7475

These are just to name a few and I'm missing a lot of topics that I know about that can't be implemented yet or that won't, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't try as suggested on the Read this or be Ignored number -1.

Hopefully this will help.

That was actually gonna be my next suggestion. Although thinking about it makes me realize that
this is basically what an issue tracker does. So maybe this community has reached the point
where it's worth looking into a public issue tracker? It could replace the entire bugs subforum and
might even make the staffs work a little easier (might make it worse as well, though ^^').

There are a lot of great bugtracking solutions out there. One that integrates with the forum would
be nice but I'm not sure there are any available for phpBB. (phpBB is sooo old school )

I don't have any links or suggestions cause I haven't ever used any of them but I know there are some out there for phpbb

A proper bug tracker would be a good idea. Using forums is a rather ad hoc solution, and a dedicated tracker would probably work better.

A prioritized list of suggestions, though, is not such a good idea. People have a tendency to get a little upset when a feature that the devs say they will include gets delayed, changed, et cetera. Just keep track of the most frequently made suggestions, without regard to development status, and only update them with the development stance when work is started on bringing them into the game.

Here are the pros and cons for a bugtracker/issue tracker I can come up with.
Pro:

• More transparency: open and formalized communication about upcoming features
• Easier to find stuff: Most bugtracking software makes it easy to filter and sort issues
  and keep track of their individual progress.
• Better organized: Managing duplicates, attaching files, providing relevant data etc. is
  usually handled in a more structured way then on forums. This might making the staff's
  day-to-day work a little easier.

Cons:

• More exposure means more pressure on the dev team. Transparency may also lead to
  missunderstandings
• Unless there is some sort of plugin for phpBB that integrates really well, a bugtracker
  may very well be a seperate plattform, requiring sepearte registration etc. making people
  more reluctant to join in. I've seen quite a few bugtrackers that got deserted without
  ever being used properly.
• Even if it does integrate well, people still tend to treat bugtrackers with a lot more respect.
  Newbies may shy away from reporting bugs / suggestions for fear of Doing It Wrong™.
  Forums feel a lot more casual.

TL;DR: I'd love to see a public bugtracker or some other kind of formalized communication about
which suggestions are treated as probable candidates, but I also fully understand if the dev team
prefers to keep their day to day work a little simpler so they can focus on actually getting things
done.