[2019] Communication Survey

Originally posted by Mercurionio

I believe, many people will agree, that dev diary series like Paradox studios' one will be helpful.

UPD: it's a very good way to demonstrate new ideas and gather feedback on the fly, btw. Like, Paradox got a lot of it right before release of Megacorp expansion for Stellaris (so they fixed some things with Relics and Caravans). It also, shows players the way of dev's thinking.

Originally posted by Catsuperhighway

Dev design goals and choices on aspects of the game are more important to me than anything else. Understanding why something is the way it is by design gives me a clearer picture of the the long term goal of the game from a devs stand point.

The recent explanation of explosive damage and why it was as it is now was superb.

Originally posted by Magicmoochgg

Just took the survey, really appreciate Massive reaching out like this.

I will just add my 2 cents here; I don't think I speak for myself when, as a gamer, transparency is the #1 thing I could ever ask from my favorite video game developers. Changes with games will come and go, patches will hit that either nerf something we love or buff something we hate, but at the end of the day that stuff doesn't bother me. What DOES bother me is when there is no communication, about anything, regardless of how good or bad. For a recent example, Amper stating that there are no plans for Survival in TD2 everyone seemed stunned. I was stunned not only because I was almost positive it was going to be apart of TD2 but the fact that...there was no reason as to "why" it wouldn't be added. Instead, we get this information (not even from a SotG or official post or anything) but now we don't even know why it won't be added. If during a SotG it is mentioned that it wouldn't be added and why it wouldn't be added I would imagine that the reception to the news wouldn't be as negative.

That was one example I can think of off the top of my head, there are others from other game developers in the past but I won't muddy /r/thedivision with that information. The point is, I think we all would agree that more communication is better, regardless of what it is about or whether it is positive or negative.

I will end this with a small note. I have no problems with cancelling State of the Game, stuff happens and its understanable, but is there a way we could get a written SotG on the forums or a Twitter post or something similar? Maybe a summary of what would have been on the SotG so that some communication is still happening?

Originally posted by MrReaux

Taken!

Originally posted by Biggs_gaming

The problem with surveys like this is that the same blind spots that create the problems also mean those issues won't be addressed in the survey. Hamish is obviously a nice guy who is enthusiastic about the game but I just think there might be better choices to host video updates about the game. Or perhaps utilize a different format entirely that does not rely on a single host. The feeling I get from many SotG videos is one of self-congratulation and time-filling chit-chat even when the main points are listed early in them. But there were no questions on the survey about any of this, hence my remark about blind spots.

Originally posted by Zeus_Apollyon

I personally would like to see more gameplay on stream of new content that's coming, or at least some information about what's coming. I understand trying to keep things under wraps, but showing off small aspects of what's coming is always nice.

And just to mention it, I do in fact enjoy developer interviews. They're usually very interesting and provide more context to certain things, so do keep that going!

A quick overview of what's going to be discussed in SOTG posted on Twitter would also be nice. That way we'll know if tuning in is worth our time or not.

EDIT: Also, the fact that you're even doing this survey and reaching out to the community is a huge plus in my book, so kudos!

Originally posted by Iyosin

From the survey the thing that stuck out to me the most was one of the Likert Scale questions (the agree/disagree segment for the uninitiated), specifically this one:

"I think official messages address the main community issues "

This was the only issue on that list that I answered anything other than Agree or Strongly Agree too. Because honestly, you don't, at least not all of the time. You do most of the time, but there is one glaring issue that seems to stick out to me concerning this.

The community as a whole has been clamoring for a Survival, Underground and/or Resistance style activity in The Division 2 since before it launched and it has not been officially addressed yet. Now, I understand completely why you aren't answering these requests. If you tell us no, you may lose people playing the game that decide to go back to TD1 or off to another game. If you tell us yes, you get bombarded by people asking when and the badgering will not end until it's delivered and then a new type of badgering will begin because nothing is ever good enough for this community.

I am not one of the people asking for these modes, I played them in TD1, if I want to play them again I will go play TD1, but the people asking for them deserve to be told, honestly and straight forward, whether they are going to get them or not, regardless of how far out they may be.

Thank you, for putting out the survey and letting us voice our opinion. Overall I think you guys are doing a great job interacting with the community, keep it up. Something I might recommend is taking a look at what Luke Smith from Bungie did just before the launch of Destiny 2: Shadowkeep. He released a very long 'developer blog' about things they've done, what they've learned, thing's they are going to do and design intent. It would be interesting to read a more in-depth and perhaps a more technical take on what you guys want to do in the future, what you envision for the game and how you're looking to get us there.

The roadmap is probably the most important thing for me. I want to know where the game is going and how we're getting there. I would love to hear more about design decisions along the way if that's something you guys want to do.

Originally posted by LegoGuru2000

Quick addition and I do hope you see this. For future surveys when asking about how many hours you play the game i think its important to include the question how many hours do you play the game now versus previously. Someone may have played the game a lot but not any more and unless you ask this in the survey they will look to you like someone who plays the game title to none