Community Communications and Engagement - Preferences Feedback Wanted

BasP · December 20

ZOS_JessicaFolsom wrote: »

For Reddit AMAs, do you prefer when they are focused on specific topic and/or team, or when they are broad and open to all topics?

Similarly, for planned Q&As on the forums, what are everyone’s thoughts on them being a broad “grab bag” style Q&A versus themed around a specific topic such as PVP content? Do you have a preference? (Answering "both" for this question and the one above it is fine, too!)

Generally speaking, I'd prefer themed AMA's and Q&A's as I feel like those would lead to more in-depth answers around specific subjects.

I like the idea Avran_Sylt posted though. Starting with a broad AMA before delving into specifics, based on what the community voted on, sounds good.

Also, when we pull questions from the forums for a written Q&A, how would you all feel about using the forum react system to "vote" on what questions are most important to you? For example, dropping an "Agree" react on the ones you'd most like us to answer.

Hm, I'm not sure about this. On the one hand, it seems reasonable as the biggest number of players would like to get answers to those questions. On the other hand, I feel it's a bit "unfair" to players that ask niche questions that still deserve to be answered but don't get a lot of upvotes however.

On the topic of player satisfaction surveys, what are your thoughts on these being all-encompassing versus a little more focused on specific things each time, based on what is going on at the time?

Both would have its merits. I'm guessing specific surveys could lead to more meaningful results though.

Kallykat · December 21

For Reddit AMAs, do you prefer when they are focused on specific topic and/or team, or when they are broad and open to all topics?

I avoid Reddit and all social media.

Similarly, for planned Q&As on the forums, what are everyone’s thoughts on them being a broad “grab bag” style Q&A versus themed around a specific topic such as PVP content? Do you have a preference? (Answering "both" for this question and the one above it is fine, too!)

Both. The more-focused ones usually, but a general one once in while.

Also, when we pull questions from the forums for a written Q&A, how would you all feel about using the forum react system to "vote" on what questions are most important to you? For example, dropping an "Agree" react on the ones you'd most like us to answer.

I think you can already get a general sense of this by looking at reacts, and these should be taken into consideration. I'm not sure you should assign ultimate priority to it or make it an official vote though. As mentioned by others, questions posted earlier will probably get more votes by default, and sometimes niche questions have more interesting answers than the community anticipated. The more important factor determining satisfaction with a Q&A is the quality of the answers regardless of which questions are asked. Occasionally it's okay to give an evasive answer in Elder Scrolls fashion, but readers feel like they are wasting time and are let down if there's too little new lore or insight to be gleaned from an article.

On the topic of player satisfaction surveys, what are your thoughts on these being all-encompassing versus a little more focused on specific things each time, based on what is going on at the time?

I don't recall ever seeing one of these.

AtriaKhorist · December 21

ZOS_JessicaFolsom wrote: »

Hi everyone! As a follow-up to this comment and as we continue planning for next year and beyond, we wanted to ask for your input on a few specific topics related to our communication and engagement opportunities.
For Reddit AMAs, do you prefer when they are focused on specific topic and/or team, or when they are broad and open to all topics?

Similarly, for planned Q&As on the forums, what are everyone’s thoughts on them being a broad “grab bag” style Q&A versus themed around a specific topic such as PVP content? Do you have a preference? (Answering "both" for this question and the one above it is fine, too!)

Also, when we pull questions from the forums for a written Q&A, how would you all feel about using the forum react system to "vote" on what questions are most important to you? For example, dropping an "Agree" react on the ones you'd most like us to answer.

On the topic of player satisfaction surveys, what are your thoughts on these being all-encompassing versus a little more focused on specific things each time, based on what is going on at the time?

Thank you in advance for sharing your input with us, and for being a part of our community. We hope you have a happy and restful holidays in Tamriel and beyond!

I'm happy for any avenue that lets us discuss and ultimately address the Grim Focus problem as outlined over 45 pages over here:
https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/641376/grim-focus-permaglow/p1

Additionally, I would prefer this avenue to be viable without risking the fate of the OP while solving the Grim Focus Problem.

Izanagi.Xiiib16_ESO · December 22

Whatever method is chosen the most important aspect for me is 'follow up' on responses.

A lot of the time questions are answered in a manor which missed the original point or doesn't really give the explanation players were expecting and so being able to follow up on these types of answer and hear back from the Devs/CM's with additional clarification or points is a lot more useful than just a one off answer.

Also (especially when it comes to pvp) timing of reply is the most important thing. What I mean by this is that if you pull questions for 6 months then answer them the 'important' questions are likely to no longer really be relevant. This is why a shorter Q&A/AMA every 1-2 months would be way better than a bigger one every 6.

WhiteCoatSyndrome · December 22

ZOS_JessicaFolsom wrote: »

For Reddit AMAs, do you prefer when they are focused on specific topic and/or team, or when they are broad and open to all topics?

ZOS_JessicaFolsom wrote: »

Similarly, for planned Q&As on the forums, what are everyone’s thoughts on them being a broad “grab bag” style Q&A versus themed around a specific topic such as PVP content? Do you have a preference? (Answering "both" for this question and the one above it is fine, too!)

Bearing in mind I’m not on Reddit, and would only be reading through responses there after the fact, I would say both for both at a roughly 2 to 1 ratio of specific to general. Maybe start with the general one to determine what the specific ones will be about if a lot of questions seem to be on a particular topic. Have the Q&As often! At least once a month.

ZOS_JessicaFolsom wrote: »

Also, when we pull questions from the forums for a written Q&A, how would you all feel about using the forum react system to "vote" on what questions are most important to you? For example, dropping an "Agree" react on the ones you'd most like us to answer.

I would like to echo previous posters’ concerns about questions getting diluted responses the farther they get away from the original post.

ZOS_JessicaFolsom wrote: »

On the topic of player satisfaction surveys, what are your thoughts on these being all-encompassing versus a little more focused on specific things each time, based on what is going on at the time?

Do both.

My thought is that any and all surveys should have a general comment box, ‘is there anything you would like us to know that wasn’t covered in the survey’ sort of thing. Also anything that asks for a number rating should have a box for comments to clarify why a score was given if the person filling it out chooses to do so. Also if it’s specific there needs to be an N/A option so for example, if you send out a survey about Battlegrounds but the responder doesn’t PvP, they can indicate that without skewing the results.

Whizzinglane · December 23

I think focused and theme approaches are ideal.

For Q&A: I think "reactions" and a way to voice our opinions would be cool.

arena25 · December 23

ZOS_JessicaFolsom wrote: »

Hi everyone! As a follow-up to this comment and as we continue planning for next year and beyond, we wanted to ask for your input on a few specific topics related to our communication and engagement opportunities.

Hi, Jessica. First of all, I am happy to see that Zeni is doing their best to be communicate/engage with the community - both here on the forums and over on Reddit.

I'll answer the below in order:

For Reddit AMAs, do you prefer when they are focused on specific topic and/or team, or when they are broad and open to all topics?

I am not a Reddit user, so N/A.

Similarly, for planned Q&As on the forums, what are everyone’s thoughts on them being a broad “grab bag” style Q&A versus themed around a specific topic such as PVP content? Do you have a preference? (Answering "both" for this question and the one above it is fine, too!)

It would depend on the context and frequency. If you want to do one every quarter/every 6 months - i.e. infrequently - a grab bag style would work. If you want to do one every month or two - i.e. frequently - a specific topic would be okay. Honestly, context is key.

Also, when we pull questions from the forums for a written Q&A, how would you all feel about using the forum react system to "vote" on what questions are most important to you? For example, dropping an "Agree" react on the ones you'd most like us to answer.

Personally, I think having a separate forum react - maybe a "Bookmark" reaction - that shows what's important to that particular user would be better versus having the "Agree" reaction be the official tally - unless there is an internal tool Zeni has that can differentiate regular Agrees from the Agrees that are meant to say "I want this answered by you".

On the topic of player satisfaction surveys, what are your thoughts on these being all-encompassing versus a little more focused on specific things each time, based on what is going on at the time?

Both are good, and they should be given more often.

Over at Blizzard HQ in Irvine, the desire for unbiased, honest player feedback has resulted in the creation of Blizzard Research - whose sole job is to gather feedback regarding its games at least once a month (and sometimes more frequently if circumstances warrant). Their methodology most often (but is in no way limited to) involves sending out pulse surveys that gathers feedback from anyone and everyone - whether they are a Blizzard fanatic, someone who won't touch video games with a ten foot long pole, or somewhere in between. And the Research team is authorized to offer compensation that can include in-game currency, credits to their platform store, and even IRL goodies.

I'm not saying we need to go that extreme, but at a bare minimum I think an all-encompassing survey should be sent out at least once every 6 months and surveys regarding topics that is more narrow/tailored should be sent out at least once every 2-3 months.

Thank you in advance for sharing your input with us, and for being a part of our community. We hope you have a happy and restful holidays in Tamriel and beyond!

And the same to you and the team.

Raz415 · December 23

ZOS_JessicaFolsom wrote: »

Hi everyone! As a follow-up to this comment and as we continue planning for next year and beyond, we wanted to ask for your input on a few specific topics related to our communication and engagement opportunities.
For Reddit AMAs, do you prefer when they are focused on specific topic and/or team, or when they are broad and open to all topics?

Similarly, for planned Q&As on the forums, what are everyone’s thoughts on them being a broad “grab bag” style Q&A versus themed around a specific topic such as PVP content? Do you have a preference? (Answering "both" for this question and the one above it is fine, too!)

Also, when we pull questions from the forums for a written Q&A, how would you all feel about using the forum react system to "vote" on what questions are most important to you? For example, dropping an "Agree" react on the ones you'd most like us to answer.

On the topic of player satisfaction surveys, what are your thoughts on these being all-encompassing versus a little more focused on specific things each time, based on what is going on at the time?

Thank you in advance for sharing your input with us, and for being a part of our community. We hope you have a happy and restful holidays in Tamriel and beyond!

reddit AMAs: I don't really care; I will never use reddit, but I can read the AMAs there so whatever.

Forum Q&As: If you can't do both, I'd let devs answer questions that they consider important and/or fun. It's more important to get geniune answers than forcing someone to produce text to answer a question. Yes to voting, but I'd allow devs to veto. Questions about cats have an easy time getting reacts, something important that the majority dislikes might be missed if we're only counting votes.

I think the surveys should be focused. What do the devs actually want to know? Which parts of their work would benefit from them knowing what we like and what we want? Ask only meaningfull questions.

LikiLoki · December 23

Remove surveillance and censorship on the forum. Completely. People are afraid to write. More free communication will reduce the fear of players and open the way to diversity and creativity.

wilykcat · December 23

LikiLoki wrote: »

Remove surveillance and censorship on the forum. Completely. People are afraid to write. More free communication will reduce the fear of players and open the way to diversity and creativity.

If a few wants a "free speech" platform there are X(twitter) and other social media platforms out there to use 😉.

Also these forums are privately owned by Zenimax, it's their forums their rules. They have every right to censor and block things that go against their rules. I've seen many players here freely expressing their opinions about the game while staying in line with the community guidelines. It's rare when players get moderated here as many are being civil and respectful to each other while having a conversation.

silky_soft · December 23

Only the forums please.

AtriaKhorist · December 23

wilykcat wrote: »

LikiLoki wrote: »

Remove surveillance and censorship on the forum. Completely. People are afraid to write. More free communication will reduce the fear of players and open the way to diversity and creativity.

If a few wants a "free speech" platform there are X(twitter) and other social media platforms out there to use 😉.

Also these forums are privately owned by Zenimax, it's their forums their rules. They have every right to censor and block things that go against their rules. I've seen many players here freely expressing their opinions about the game while staying in line with the community guidelines. It's rare when players get moderated here as many are being civil and respectful to each other while having a conversation.

An honest request, since you have spoken of such for years:
Can you please stop dismissing moderation concerns in every topic that others express? I realize you are fine with it. Others are not. Your positive experiences do not mean it is objectively not a problem, and it feels rather belittling to still see you doing this.

Especially in a topic like this, meant for feedback, not discussion.