That's a bit of a simplification because there's no true way to actually measure either of those. It's a prediction of a pile which is ignored in favor of whatever is less trouble. Look at the implementation of Trammel and Felucca into UO, that had a lot of forum support but certainly didn't keep the game going. Alternatively naked appearance slots in EQ2 had a lot of fierce resistance on the forum and went in and didn't really bother anyone. That's why you get these kind of hyper defensive responses out of people, because they still want the game and they're not going to not buy it, but it seems like a slow erosion of things they enjoy.
But the only ass I care about is Vega's.
You can't measure it, but largely it's based on numerous factors. What do I as a developer like? What do I think I can sell to my audience? What will make me the most money? Who is my audience?
In the past, changes like this would've gone unnoticed because we wouldn't have been in beta. The publisher wouldn't be able to patch in changes. We're at a point now where a developer can decide to change things weeks before or years after release. And since viewpoints can evolve, things can change. Random example: What a paladin is in WoW has varied wildly since vanilla, because Blizzard viewpoint has changed. Sometimes they've moved in line with certain fan feedback, other time they went their own way. That's their right with the product.
People can certainly be angry about these changes. Let Capcom know! But those desires aren't more "right" than anyone else's. This isn't larger than a content creator shifting their content, something that happens all the time for many, many games.
Right after Cammy's intro: Laura's intro, featuring sexy poses and lingering shots of her tits and ass.
Gamers really are a ridiculous bunch.
Pretty much.
"Censored"? Perhaps Capcom just came to their senses. I'd rather not have gratuitous tits 'n ass in every other game.
I mean, that's the odd thing about cries of censorship. The T&A is still there. It didn't go anywhere.