I just posted a long comment to a DA hot topic article, and since it's longer than my usual journal, I thought I'd post it here. :D

[original article on DA]
[my comment on that article]

I don't see any issue with listening to community input, considering that the commercial model is already well-suited for it.

Take your average TV series. There's possibly dozens of writers coming up with ideas for the show, and beyond their editors, the ideas have to go through a director or show-runner before they're authorized to be canon and included in the show. With a movie, it's the same thing - concept artists, writers, storyboard artists, all have their input and work with the director, who decides what single storyline winds up being the final path.

The concern of dedicated fans is that their favorite storyteller will be taken "offline" if fan input is allowed. It's a valid concern, considering the number of moviemakers who have complained about "direction via committee" - where the director is basically a figurehead, and all his or her decisions have to be approved by marketing and the board of producers before they can go into the series. But in the case where you still have a storyteller, director, or showrunner, that won't happen, even if you vastly expand the idea funnel to include the audience or the internet.

The other issue here, is that the perception of authorship doesn't change when the storyteller is changed. Take the latest TMNT movie. The fact that it is named "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" means that, for fans of that franchise, the story must still stick to the original storytellers, Eastman and Laird. Or at least remain faithful to the story they told! If it was called "Michael Bay came up with his own movie about alien turtles who fight crime!" NO-ONE WOULD SEE IT. Because we don't trust Michael Bay as a storyteller, even though that's effectively his job on the movies he directs. We trust him to give us action and explosions and gratuitous stuff, but does anyone at the end of the day say "Wow, that Michael Bay, he's a great storyteller"? Of course not.

Granted, you can change storytellers, provided that the new one is a talented storyteller in his or her own right, and tries to stay true to the original story. There'll be a slight shift in style, but it can still stay mostly agreeable. Take the latest My Little Pony series. The storyteller (showrunner) for season 1 was Lauren Faust. In season 2, they switched to Jayson Thiessen. Both good storytellers, but you can tell that the style shifted slightly. That hasn't deterred the fans for the most part, however. If there was no showrunner, and the stories were based strictly on Hasbro's marketing numbers, the popularity of the show would take a nosedive. Yet, the showrunners DO take input both from Hasbro, and to a small extent, from the internet at large.

Being an effective storyteller has always been about balancing your own creative ideas with entertaining your audience, and with the internet providing input, that's no different. Storytellers just have to remember to keep both sides of the coin in mind, and remember that quite often, the audience would prefer the storyteller's spin on their input rather than a story written solely by poll or committee.