The new Feedback

I am not sure if many users are aware of this but there has been a huge change in the way Feedback is going to operate over the last few days.

No longer will normal posters be able to contribute to threads in Feedback, instead it will only be the OP in conversation with an Admin.

There is an Open Discussion forum relating to the site but AFAIK normal users aren't able to start threads there.

There is an open thread at the minute in Feedback asking why there isn't a place for the userbase to discuss these changes (due to the format mentioned above only the OP can reply to it).
The one Admin reply is fairly illustrative of why these changes are occurring

Thanks for your suggestion. An open discussion about a format that has yet to be tested or used would lead to the same kind of negative whinging that we're trying to combat with the new procedure.

It seems to me that this is all motivated by the idea of trying to quell any criticism (constructive or otherwise) of the way the site is ran by ordinary posters.
I know Feedback doesn't often result in changes but it does sometimes (misogyny in AH is a good example as well as years back the stepping down of bias mods) and even when it doesn't result in change there has been a good few times that the views of people who run the site have been made clear.

I know that Boards is unusual in having this type of Feedback but its also unusual in being highly moderated and regulated with restrictions on discussions. A good example of this is this thread, its probably not appropriate for AH but there is literally no forum now where a major change to the site can be discussed.

It seems like that the fact that its the normal posters not the Mods, Admins or Office Staff that make the site has been forgotten.

Whats your thoughts