new feature New Feature: In-Game Polling System

[MetaVileTerror]

Now that we have the /petition system up and running again, I wanted to share a suggestion with this new Dev Team which I think all multiplayer games (particularly MMOs) would benefit from:

An in-game polling system controlled by the Devs/GMs which functions much like the Message of the Day pop-up cross-pollinated with the support/petition system.

 

We all know that despite having to create our game accounts through these forums, a mere fraction of the players dare risk their sanity by actively participating in the forums.  Similarly for the discord (which is also third-party, making it even less ideal than these forums).  And then there are the more distant social media groups and fansites and external forums, et cetera.  The overall playerbase is distributed between different subcommunities, with some overlap.

 

But the one place all the players are together is the game itself.  Which makes it the ideal location for distribution of information, and also (if this suggestion is implemented) collection of precise feedback.

 

A GM or CR could occasionally put polls up in-game, where players can vote for such things as their favourite new idea, or to provide feedback in a "1 to 5" satisfaction ranking poll.  Such polls would then send the information along a similar media path as the petition system, likely populating the data in to a backend board here on the forums where the Team can review it.  This would also help ensure the Development Road Map (not a fan of the term, but there it is) reflects the playerbase's expectations.  

While polls might not provide the players with the depth of providing individual feedback, we do already have a tag for that in the petition window, and the purpose of polls is to collect specific data from a large group; so the two functions are not redundant.  Naturally, you'd likely never have 100% contribution to every poll (or any poll), but I believe there would be a significantly larger number of active players contributing to the feedback process if it were facilitated in the game directly utilizing this method.

 

I've heard that new GUI elements are a pain to implement, so this is obviously not a whimsical suggestion, but one which I genuinely think has enough merit to dedicate time and resources to.  It should move us toward a healthier development cycle and improve communication and transparency in both directions.

[Steampunkette]

Could do an In-Game Voting NPC.

 

Set up a P2W Vendor that sells two Temp Powers for free. If you buy one you can't buy the other, simple Yes/No question.

 

Then after a week, Datamine how many times that vendor sold Yes and how many times it sold No.

[Chuckers]

4 hours ago, Steampunkette said:

Could do an In-Game Voting NPC.

 

Set up a P2W Vendor that sells two Temp Powers for free. If you buy one you can't buy the other, simple Yes/No question.

 

Then after a week, Datamine how many times that vendor sold Yes and how many times it sold No.

 

The only problem I see with this is would it be linked to the account or the character? A person with 100 characters can vote 100 times....

 

Can you link a temp power to the account?

 

Edited August 28, 2019 by Chuckers
wrong word.

[Steampunkette]

1 hour ago, Chuckers said:

 

The only problem I see with this is would it be linked to the account or the character? A person with 100 characters can vote 100 times....

 

Can you like a temp power to the account?

 

That is true. Hadn't considered that!

[Megajoule]

I'm going to be a stick in the mud and/or a bucket of cold water, here:

 

The administration of a game, or a server, is not and IMO should never be a democracy.  Even the idea or expectation that it should be is dubious and IMO dangerous.  I've seen too many failures, hurt feelings, and long angry rants about what the devs should be focusing on (and what should be totally easy) to think otherwise.

Edited August 28, 2019 by Megajoule

[Chuckers]

1 minute ago, Megajoule said:

I'm going to be a stick in the mud and/or a bucket of cold water, here:

 

The administration of a game, or a server, is not and IMO should never be a democracy.  I've seen too many failures, hurt feelings, and long angry rants about what the devs should be focusing on (and what should be totally easy) to think otherwise.

 

I don't see this the same way you do 🙂 I see this as the Devs saying "We are going to work on either A or B next. Which would you rather see us work on?" Not a "Hey, what do you want next?"

 

Yeah, people who pick A when B wins, may be a little out of sorts, but that doesn't mean B isn't going to be worked on. 

 

[ArchVileTerror]

Polling is a great market research tool.  It's not so much about democracy as it is about getting accurate information, straight from the source, while reaching as many possible points of view.  The forums and other, third party communities will never be able to offer as clear a picture as a direct poll placed in-game.

[ArchVileTerror]

I just had a thought based on @Steampunkette's idea:  Badges can be awarded to an account, per the AE badges.  Using that mechanism, we can avoid a single account getting multiple votes!

A data-mining tool could, theoretically, also be written to match Vote Badges with I.P. addresses to try and weed out sock puppets.

[ShardWarrior]

On 8/28/2019 at 11:54 AM, Chuckers said:

eah, people who pick A when B wins, may be a little out of sorts, but that doesn't mean B isn't going to be worked on. 

You are forgetting the people who wanted C instead of A or B or F instead of C getting out of sorts.  @Megajoule is spot on.  What does and does not get worked on and how projects are prioritized are best left to the admins and Homecoming people.  When they want our feedback, they ask. 

[SwitchFade]

Hmm. Are @ArchVileTerror and @MetaVileTerror the same person?

[SwitchFade]

On 8/28/2019 at 8:49 AM, Megajoule said:

I'm going to be a stick in the mud and/or a bucket of cold water, here:

 

The administration of a game, or a server, is not and IMO should never be a democracy.  Even the idea or expectation that it should be is dubious and IMO dangerous.  I've seen too many failures, hurt feelings, and long angry rants about what the devs should be focusing on (and what should be totally easy) to think otherwise.

Agreed.

[Burnt Toast]

2 hours ago, SwitchFade said:

Hmm. Are @ArchVileTerror and @MetaVileTerror the same person?

According to ArchVileTerror's "About me" section:

Secondary account of VileTerror.

Currently active.

Next active account:  ImpousVileTerror

[SwitchFade]

2 hours ago, Burnt Toast said:

According to ArchVileTerror's "About me" section:

Secondary account of VileTerror.

Currently active.

Next active account:  ImpousVileTerror

So, one person and three forum accounts that that one person posts on.

 

I'm not sure how to view that at the moment. I'm fairly certain that used to be frowned upon.

 

I'm sure it's perfectly within rules here, but... Something feels off about someone posting on multiple accounts. What's to stop them from swinging voting or statistics? Or, quoting/supporting their own content?

 

Hmm.

[ArchVileTerror]

All Reputation sources are documented with this forum system.  You are free to review any account to look for any such sock puppetry. 

[golstat2003]

Hard no.

The decisions on how to run the server should be left up to the devs.

[ArchVileTerror]

I continue to be confused, and a bit impressed, how this suggestion of a market research tool is being misconstrued as an effort to inject a democratic design philosophy.

 

It's for feedback, folks.  Because the forums and discord aren't good enough to reach every player, even combined.  That's all.  I am quite certain that the Homecoming Team -does- want our feedback; they ask for it.  My proposal is to give them a direct tap at the source, rather than trying to herd cats in "a part of the account creation process" for most players, or a third-party software deathtrap.

[ShardWarrior]

2 hours ago, ArchVileTerror said:

My proposal is to give them a direct tap at the source, rather than trying to herd cats in "a part of the account creation process" for most players, or a third-party software deathtrap.

Google the "Design the Next Enterprise" contest Crytic ran over on STO sometime.  It is a perfect example of why this is a bad idea.

[Burnt Toast]

They already have the ability to reach every player - through the large message pop-ups that appear when you login every now and then. They use these to announce many different things - new patch info, contest info, etc. 

Every HC player has a forum account. 

If they do a polling announcement and direct people to the forums to view detailed information on something they want feed back on - that would actually be better than an in-game poll in my opinion.

A detailed forum thread would be able to give more information and allow others to see various points of views before casting a vote.

Would it be as easy as an in-game poll? No - i t would require that you take a few minutes to think about something instead of just clicking a button or two to dismiss the game poll. 

I would rather be given as much information as possible when it comes to voting for something than a simple "We are thinking of working on A, B, C, or D...which would you prefer?" 

A system of this kind would not require any new coding and would be more beneficial in helping others decide on their vote. 

 

I would also like a caveat placed in huge bold letters at the top that the poll/votes are not a determining factor for what WILL be worked on, but rather options that MAY be worked on by HC. 

Either way I think a polling system is going to cause resentment if everyone can see the poll results - especially if "A" is the highest vote getter, but because "B" was the second highest and comes out first due to technical reasons then prepare for the whole "HC Devs don't even listen to players!!!!!!!!!!" 

 

[ShardWarrior]

22 minutes ago, Burnt Toast said:

They already have the ability to reach every player - through the large message pop-ups that appear when you login every now and then. They use these to announce many different things - new patch info, contest info, etc. 

Every HC player has a forum account. 

If they do a polling announcement and direct people to the forums to view detailed information on something they want feed back on - that would actually be better than an in-game poll in my opinion.

Spot on.

 

22 minutes ago, Burnt Toast said:

Either way I think a polling system is going to cause resentment if everyone can see the poll results - especially if "A" is the highest vote getter, but because "B" was the second highest and comes out first due to technical reasons then prepare for the whole "HC Devs don't even listen to players!!!!!!!!!!" 

^ This.  As I mentioned earlier in the thread, Cryptic tried this with STO a couple of times only to regret ever trying in the first place.