Thanks once again to everyone who played in the second wave of the closed beta - both the "main event" and the extra time to focus on the Skirmish game mode. Also, thanks to all those who completed the surveys - we do analyse them and they do help!
Some quick stats for y'all: about 30% of beta players completed the main survey, with about 15% completing the Skirmish-specific survey. That's from about 3,600 people currently on the "included" list for the beta. We also noted that, of those who were added to Wave 2, about 95% opened their invite email.
And some of the learning points from the main survey...
We now have a baseline for the M16 and AK47, looking at the handling (recoil) and the ability to hit the target. The lower the level of experience in RO, the more difficulty people had with the recoil and targeting with the M16; while the same was true with the AK, we did notice that those with 20-50 hours of RO experience felt that the AK was harder to control than other groups. Go figure
On the grenade throwing distance, about 40% still feel that the throwing distance is too short. We'll check into that. Only 7% feel it is too long. Players new this wave/players with less RO experience tended to feel more strongly that it was too short.
On playing Commander: about 35% of players tried it out - slight bias towards those with more RO experience; definite bias towards those who have played before Wave 2. How clear it was to use had a definite bias towards experienced RO players - 90% or more of experienced players were clear on the role, while only 60% of inexperienced players felt the same. We know we have messaging to improve there! And we haven't worked through all the comments yet... so more to come.
On playing Squad Leader: more like 70% tried out SL, again a bias towards experienced players. Clarity on the role was quite similar to the Commander experience, interestingly - might have expected it to be "simpler". Our mistake! So, more work on messaging... and also haven't been through all the comments.
The helicopter and map feedback - still working on!
Performance and stability - will be a major focus for the next wave...
And things we learned about Skirmish:
It seems to take about 30-60 minutes for people to become "comfortable" with their understanding of the game mode. Again - a need to improve the messaging for those jumping in.
A definite interest from people in increasing the player count to 12v12 - which is nice and easy
Most of the respondents played between 1 and 5 hours of the mode. Not surprisingly, that was also people who decided they liked it - people wh odidn't think much of it didn't tend to stick around.
The main "dislike" reasons come down to "too arcadey", "too slow-paced" (which seems to be related to when there aren't many people on a server, or the timer is down to zero and people not respawning) - for a good number of people, an RO game requires big maps, big battles. From the notes, those who don't like it, REALLY don't like it - but nearly 75% rated the mode as a "3" or better. Those who really liked it felt that it brought something new, tactical/strategic; those who didn't saw it as arcadey and run-n-gun. Useful to know...
And working through all the comments, we find that there is a distinct feeling that the heavy weapons (RPG, M79 and Flamethrower) don't belong in Skirmish/on those smaller maps. There was definitely an issue for people knowing what was supposed to be going on - messaging (again - bit of a theme here?). Respawning and spending too much time dead (i.e. when a timer is down to zero, or when the player numbers are low) was an issue - along with the victory conditions.
That's about as much typing as I can cope with right now... more to come on the choppers and map feedback, plus all the commentary on Commander/Squad Leader roles!
Some quick stats for y'all: about 30% of beta players completed the main survey, with about 15% completing the Skirmish-specific survey. That's from about 3,600 people currently on the "included" list for the beta. We also noted that, of those who were added to Wave 2, about 95% opened their invite email.
And some of the learning points from the main survey...
We now have a baseline for the M16 and AK47, looking at the handling (recoil) and the ability to hit the target. The lower the level of experience in RO, the more difficulty people had with the recoil and targeting with the M16; while the same was true with the AK, we did notice that those with 20-50 hours of RO experience felt that the AK was harder to control than other groups. Go figure
On the grenade throwing distance, about 40% still feel that the throwing distance is too short. We'll check into that. Only 7% feel it is too long. Players new this wave/players with less RO experience tended to feel more strongly that it was too short.
On playing Commander: about 35% of players tried it out - slight bias towards those with more RO experience; definite bias towards those who have played before Wave 2. How clear it was to use had a definite bias towards experienced RO players - 90% or more of experienced players were clear on the role, while only 60% of inexperienced players felt the same. We know we have messaging to improve there! And we haven't worked through all the comments yet... so more to come.
On playing Squad Leader: more like 70% tried out SL, again a bias towards experienced players. Clarity on the role was quite similar to the Commander experience, interestingly - might have expected it to be "simpler". Our mistake! So, more work on messaging... and also haven't been through all the comments.
The helicopter and map feedback - still working on!
Performance and stability - will be a major focus for the next wave...
And things we learned about Skirmish:
It seems to take about 30-60 minutes for people to become "comfortable" with their understanding of the game mode. Again - a need to improve the messaging for those jumping in.
A definite interest from people in increasing the player count to 12v12 - which is nice and easy
Most of the respondents played between 1 and 5 hours of the mode. Not surprisingly, that was also people who decided they liked it - people wh odidn't think much of it didn't tend to stick around.
The main "dislike" reasons come down to "too arcadey", "too slow-paced" (which seems to be related to when there aren't many people on a server, or the timer is down to zero and people not respawning) - for a good number of people, an RO game requires big maps, big battles. From the notes, those who don't like it, REALLY don't like it - but nearly 75% rated the mode as a "3" or better. Those who really liked it felt that it brought something new, tactical/strategic; those who didn't saw it as arcadey and run-n-gun. Useful to know...
And working through all the comments, we find that there is a distinct feeling that the heavy weapons (RPG, M79 and Flamethrower) don't belong in Skirmish/on those smaller maps. There was definitely an issue for people knowing what was supposed to be going on - messaging (again - bit of a theme here?). Respawning and spending too much time dead (i.e. when a timer is down to zero, or when the player numbers are low) was an issue - along with the victory conditions.
That's about as much typing as I can cope with right now... more to come on the choppers and map feedback, plus all the commentary on Commander/Squad Leader roles!