Are player councils a good idea?

Turbine recently announced a new Player Council for Dungeons and Dragons Online. The company previously put together a similar panel for Lord of the Rings Online, but thus far we've not heard much in the way of initiatives or results.

Back in the day, Star Wars: Galaxies had its own version of player representation that never seemed to actually accomplish anything. EVE Online's Council of Stellar Management has been meeting for years now, and it's probably the most impactful of the ones listed here, though whether that's due to the actual CSM or the fact that EVE is one of the few MMOs permanently affected by player action is up for debate.

The question I'm coming to is this: Do you think player councils are a good idea? Would you like to serve on one? Why or why not?

TH

Ultimately I feel this is highly dependant on the game. In a game like WoW or a theme park MMO in general, what can a Council really do that the game doesn't already have? They can't change the community much unless they have substantial influence on major guilds (which still wont affect the larger community), so all it comes down to is a more focused (and self-entitled) feedback, which if the Devs read the forums, the game doesn't need. In that I mean why set up a council when they have all that?

In EvE however it is very much player driven, and the concequences of a meeting can shape the things to come, everything is affected by the players, not the devs, and as such they DO have an effect. Imagine a major alliance declaring control of resources stopping all from grabbing? Or major trade deals between Corps that may affect long-term, multi year wars?

In a Sandbox game they can work, but in a theme park MMO I feel.

TH