Do design PROPERLY! and satisfy the players' desire

During my first job as a designer, the direction of the game for a "war oriented" MMO (We all know what the game is) is to have war as a tournament system which is the selling point of the game. This is the aim to make the game friendly. So that it "suits" the market the company is targeting.

The direction is kept throughout the entire development process which is correct. In the end, we have a major feature that player cannot see everyday and the setting of the game is so peaceful that there is not enough other content for players. The game although is having a war theme is so friendly that it ends up too friendly, so friendly that it becomes boring. Players are not used to it. Players are not able to accept it. This is not what they want.

Is it wrong to stay with this direction? In this case, yes. But what is the problem? The direction for any major game development should always be adhere to throughout the process. The problem in this case is that the designers want to be different without any proper market research. Been different is good. However being different does not mean surprising people with something they do not desire. But to surprise people with something that they do not think of, ENHANCING what they desire.

This is the importance of market research. A game will not sell unless it satisfies it's targeted audience.

Another problem will be that all design decisions are made to cater for system limitations. Talk to any designer and they can chunk out all the system limitations that lead to his final decision and in the end, that is the basis of the design. Such design will means smooth process because the design will always work and literally means less cost. It's just a matter of fact that the design might not be desirable or fun. I feel that is wrong. A designer will not be necessary in the above case, we can just let the programmer design then. So in this case, why do we need designers?

I feel that designing is not like this. We need to know what we want, and then use the system limitation to modify that idea.

I am guessing that it is the stress of designing. A wrong design can literally cause players to quit the game, or do not buy the game. And any wrong design in the middle of the process literally cost thousands of dollars to rectify it. However, that is the challenge of been a designer. A designer needs to recognize this fact as a challenge and not a excuse or problem.