Salem

MvGulik wrote:

jorb wrote:It'd be helpful to actually know what it was you found so confusing.

Think this is better done by asking new users in advance (somehow) to take note of stuff like that. That way I think you can harvest more useful information. ... After they give up there memory is probably not in the mood to be that useful on the relevant details.

... But that's just me being me ...

Every few hours (or after a person completes the current tutorial) they should get a small server message asking if they'd take the time to answer a few questions about their in-game experiences thusfar. Say every 4 or so hours a message comes up giving the players time to critique the game. They get more spread out in time as you answer until they don't show up at all. This captures the raw initial feelings that the player has when first joining Salem. The spread out messages will capture the long-term feelings that they've developed towards the game as they play. Adding a reward for answering these is up to Jorbtar.

Some questions may include:
Are you having difficulty obtaining a certain skill?
Do you feel like any mechanics are unbalanced in relation to the others?
Do you feel safe in Salem? Are you constantly feeling like you are at risk?
How are you enjoying the gameplay?
Do you feel like "x" system has been explained decently?
Did you have any problems finding resources such as the Salem wiki/forum help section?

Etc.

Another way to work this would be to trigger these events after you've completed certain tasks. Some examples of this being after you've harvested your first field, used your first kiln/oven/furnace, etc.

These surveys may be seen as annoying to some but really, the game isn't released yet and any input for the devs is surely worth the time in the end.

Nice idea, I like it
Maybe every 4 hours would be a bit too much, but after the tutorial and maybe 4 hours later and maybe the next one 8 hours later could be reasonable.

Updated the OP

Now with added sex appeal

Direct in-game feedback is the way to go. People who don't like the game are likely to quit after the tutorial, and will never bother finding the forums. Players who quit a few minutes after the tutorial are then able to say what turned them off about the game, and hopefully the game can be changed to be friendlier towards new player.

I think an option to write up your own reviews and send them off at any time would be a nice addition also

colesie wrote:Every few hours (or after a person completes the current tutorial) they should get a small server message asking if they'd take the time to answer a few questions about their in-game experiences thusfar.

I've seen games that have done this... quite a few, in fact. In so many cases I don't feel they were that effective at refining the game. In a few cases, there were improvements, but it didn't make the game any better. The problems are many in doing this, but a few obvious ones are man-power to design and implement these things, manpower to assemble effective reports out of the data, and a large enough player base to make the feedback statistically significant.

MagicManICT wrote:

colesie wrote:Every few hours (or after a person completes the current tutorial) they should get a small server message asking if they'd take the time to answer a few questions about their in-game experiences thusfar.

I've seen games that have done this... quite a few, in fact. In so many cases I don't feel they were that effective at refining the game. In a few cases, there were improvements, but it didn't make the game any better. The problems are many in doing this, but a few obvious ones are man-power to design and implement these things, manpower to assemble effective reports out of the data, and a large enough player base to make the feedback statistically significant.

I suppose but even if the questions are put into a poll as they're submitted it would give some decent information about the different stages of gameplay and how our playerbase feels about it. Also, we'd likely get less of these QQ threads if new players feel like their review was sent off to some magical place where their input matters and someone is listening.

No, there aren't fewer QQ threads from my experience. The nature of the game style tends to generate more from what I can tell.

take a survey, my lord