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MechWarrior Online - Needs of the Many
(If you haven't seen it, don't click it right away; i intend to make a point here.
Do watch it tho, there are some very interesting points in there, imho.)
In this video he brought up the problem of player feedback, and how some people just play the game and don't use twitter or facebook or not even visit the forum.
Yet PGi has asked the players for feedback about a certain problem (described in the video; thats not my point tho) and created a poll.
This entire process made me thinking.
How many players are actually using the forum ?
Following PGI on twitter or facebook ?
How many players did not get heard, because they simply only play the game ?
That in mind, I would like to suggest two things:
1. If PGI needs / wants feedback from the players, they should add a little survey / poll in the game, as a pop-up, so no one misses it.
Yes, no one likes pop ups, so i would suggest asking politely for feedback, and hand out some rewards if the players really answered all the questions (a small amount of MC, for instance; don't hand specific items, let the players decide what they get, thats why i suggest MC).
Make sure the players understand why you bother them with such questions: to know that the players want!
I would even suggest one topic for your first poll:
Find out where your customers come from.
Have they played the TableTop game, the other Computer-games (MW2, 3, MW:LL, etc), or is MWO actually their first contact to mechs ?
Do they know that MechWarrior is only part of a bigger story, namely the BattleTech universe, and PGI tries to stay true to this origin (i know this is arguably, but not the point of this particular thread).
Another thing nice to know would be: how many players here play for fun, casually and how many play competitive - and what influence has this in their choice of mechs, for instance.
This kind of info.
I think this could help PGI to see what background their players have.
2. If you have to make a poll over an issue in the game, were you want to know what the players want:
Tell them the options, but also the CONSEQUENCES of the option.
In the case mentioned by SideStrafe the problem was Match-making.
In the PuG-Queue we currently can decide which modes we want to play and which we want to exclude (Assault, Conquest, Skirmish).
PGI decided to change that, so that your choice was more of a soft choice (more like a preference than an exclusion).
People complained, PGI polled, people voted to have their hard choice back, PGI obeyed.
Problem is that this means the Math Maker has a hard time finding players of equal skill to build matches with them, because it has to obey their wishes.
They point is: when you make a poll, make sure the people know the consequences of their choice.
Otherwise the will simply continue complaining about the NEW problem.
So... discuss.
Keep in mind that my intention is to suggest some way to improve the communication between PGI and the players.
I have no idea if my suggestion would work, neither do i know if this is necessary in the first place.
P.S.: I spend the last 1.5 hours typing this instead of playing (yes, English is not my native tongue which is why it took me that long), because i realized our -> New Community Manager is not only alive and well, but also alive and kicking -> see page 1 of Dear Pgi
On that note: give her a warm welcome if you haven't.
Edit: typo and added "P.S.:"
Edited by Trashhead, 05 March 2015 - 02:27 PM.
