The Spiral of Death was the winning weapon design by a Ratchet & Clank fan in the Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time weapon contest. It was one of the five finalists given to the public to vote on for a chance to appear in Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time. It was revealed at Comic-Con that the Spiral of Death would be in A Crack in Time."
As it can be seen, even a triple AAA title has done something like this. And I can tell you from hands-on experience that I think that it was a success - although I think the community only designed the weapon rather than create it - the weapons lore and whatnot was created by the developers of the game as far as I know. Nonetheless, I think that this would be a good idea! If the devs had made a new mech and want a unique weapon for it, I think that they should ask the community for some designs - hold it like a contest! Winner get recognisation and/or MC. It could possibly even mend relationships between the Hawken devs and the community and, if the words gets out, attract new players. But it's most likely to keep them than attract.
Edited by Dawn_of_Ash, September 27 2014 - 01:01 AM.