Hours to complete a stack? Give me a stack of 20 and I'll be done in a matter of minutes.SilverBride wrote: »DenverRalphy wrote: »Surveys cut down on "the chores", they don't add to them. Without the surveys the player would instead have to go out and search on foot, and compete with other players, for 18 - 24 individual resource nodes to get the same amount of resources as guaranteed by one survey report.
And here's the beauty of survey reports.. there's no time limit. You can save them to do later at your own leisure. Likening the task of collecting surveys as "chores" would imply it's a routine task that needs to be completed on a regular basis. That's not at all true with surveys. They're optional, and you can do them as needed when the mood suits.
I do every survey the same day I get them and do not let them stack up to do later. I can't think of much worse than having to spend hours catching up on a stack of these.
DenverRalphy wrote: »Hours to complete a stack? Give me a stack of 20 and I'll be done in a matter of minutes.SilverBride wrote: »DenverRalphy wrote: »Surveys cut down on "the chores", they don't add to them. Without the surveys the player would instead have to go out and search on foot, and compete with other players, for 18 - 24 individual resource nodes to get the same amount of resources as guaranteed by one survey report.
And here's the beauty of survey reports.. there's no time limit. You can save them to do later at your own leisure. Likening the task of collecting surveys as "chores" would imply it's a routine task that needs to be completed on a regular basis. That's not at all true with surveys. They're optional, and you can do them as needed when the mood suits.
I do every survey the same day I get them and do not let them stack up to do later. I can't think of much worse than having to spend hours catching up on a stack of these.
In fact, I'd sooner do a stack of 20 within minutes than spend the time required run around collecting up to 480 individual resource nodes to get the same number of mats.
Surveys already drastically cut down on the harvest time required. Yet now suddenly it's a chore?
SilverBride wrote: »They are necessary because they bring in income so I can afford the things I enjoy.
So what you're saying is they're currently worth the effort to you.......... That doesn't sound like something that requires a solution.
SilverBride wrote: »As far as the economy, holding on to surveys just keeps the supply down, thus raising the prices. If we had an assistant then more players would do their surveys which would increase the supply and lower the prices.
Correct. And the irony here is that as a player that earns an income from surveys, your income would drop to the floor if they ever implemented a survey assistant.
We've heard from players who have hundreds or even thousands of surveys saved in previous threads. It's very common on PC as a result of writ automation. So imagine what that would do to the supply of the things you earn an income from.
I also want you to consider the other players it would impact. Players who enjoy non-survey harvesting and earn an income from it who would also be affected. You are so concerned about your income, should you not also show them some concern as well?
SilverBride wrote: »
I earn income from selling other items, too so I won't go broke if mat prices drop some.
SilverBride wrote: »Also, those players that are holding on to huge amounts of surveys aren't likely to use them even if they had an assistant. Some players just hold on to everything and they aren't likely to let those all go.
SilverBride wrote: »Also, those players that are holding on to huge amounts of surveys aren't likely to use them even if they had an assistant. Some players just hold on to everything and they aren't likely to let those all go.
That makes no sense at all. Of course everyone would cash out their surveys if it were as easy as interacting with an assistant. The only reason they accumulate is because many players would rather spend their time doing other things
SilverBride wrote: »Actually, players holding on to mats for the purpose of long term profit would slowly sell their supply so as not to oversaturate the market and drop the prices.
spartaxoxo wrote: »Snipped for brevitythey get you out in the world helping the world feel more alive.
There are plenty of ways to get players out and about that involve active and engaging gameplay.
The idea that we need to confuse new players that we're bots for the good of the game makes zero sense to me. I've literally seen new players complain the game is dead and full of bots and I just know some of that is them not understanding surveys.
spartaxoxo wrote: »
I'm talking about legendary upgrade mats. The value of those would plummet. Not only would players cash out their saved surveys, they would be even more incentivized to grind crafting writs, so it would happen more often, causing the price of legendary upgrade mats to fall to the floor.
I'm completely against the idea but if it were added I think it should work like other things that have been added to the game. Surveys players already have would not be available for the assistant. Only surveys earned after the assistant is acquired could be gathered by the assistant.
Still think it would be bad for the game to get a survey assistant more than just economically.
It would maybe have some effect on the economy but it would be short term - those surveys have to be earned, they don't just appear out of thin air. Once the initial supply of hoarded surveys have all been turned in it would be back to the steady flow.
As far as addons go, as several people have pointed out we've only recently got them on console and there's been no shortage of people doing writs without them. With or without, people still do them.
But there's an interesting thing about console getting addons recently. We hate surveys just as much there, so as soon as we got an addon that would help (shout out to Murf's Treasures, THANK YOU!!), an awful lot of people have been spending many, many hours catching up on all their backlogs. I've done about 3k of mine so far. Because a little bit easier is still easier! Do you know the effect all these thousands and thousands of extra mats has had on the economy there? None at all that I can tell...
SilverBride wrote: »SilverBride wrote: »Gathering surveys is tedious and time consuming. Not everyone has hours to play every day and would prefer to spend what time they do have on enjoyable activities rather than chores.
If it's not worth it to you, then don't do them. The economy will thank you.
They are necessary because they bring in income so I can afford the things I enjoy.
As far as the economy, holding on to surveys just keeps the supply down, thus raising the prices. If we had an assistant then more players would do their surveys which would increase the supply and lower the prices.
SilverBride wrote: »The only condition that should even be considered for a Survey Assistant would be one that reduces the yield by a small percentage.
tomofhyrule wrote: »I could also make a joke here about how the “main activities” like questing have gotten so formulaic and poorly written that the “side activities” like farming mats are actually more entertaining…
This is a fact. Quests are objectively more tedious.
There is so much irony in this thread. Questers who grind automated crafting writs complaining surveys are tedious.....
spartaxoxo wrote: »Snipped for brevitythey get you out in the world helping the world feel more alive.
There are plenty of ways to get players out and about that involve active and engaging gameplay.
The idea that we need to confuse new players that we're bots for the good of the game makes zero sense to me. I've literally seen new players complain the game is dead and full of bots and I just know some of that is them not understanding surveys.
New players aren't getting confused about surveys and if they did it would only be the one time, two tops. Taking players out of zones isn't going to help with the feeling dead problem. It will make it worse. New players, most players experienced or new, are concerned about bots because of the bots. If you know that bots exist you know how they move. Seeing a person doing surveys a player isn't going to think 'hey a bot' because their movements are nothing alike.
They might wonder why a player appears, disappears then reappears a few times when a player doing surveys ports to a house and back but they aren't going to think bot.
You don't like surveys don't do them. I don't like the card game so I don't play it. The card game offers some rewards I at one time wanted but I decided they weren't worth the tedium of playing cards. Doesn't mean they should get rid of the card game it just means I will forgo the rewards and do something else instead.
wolfie1.0. wrote: »SilverBride wrote: »The only condition that should even be considered for a Survey Assistant would be one that reduces the yield by a small percentage.
How about this: the assistant will collect the mats for you, randomized as normal, but the mats are fixed. No Plentiful harvest, leads, or zone specific drops impact the returns. Just what you would normally get if you went out and collected a survey without any of those triggers.
I feel that would be a reasonable compromise. This way the yields would be greater for manual collection, but not so much that it significantly impacts collection of the surveys as you save the additional time.
Is that reasonable?
SilverBride wrote: »wolfie1.0. wrote: »SilverBride wrote: »The only condition that should even be considered for a Survey Assistant would be one that reduces the yield by a small percentage.
How about this: the assistant will collect the mats for you, randomized as normal, but the mats are fixed. No Plentiful harvest, leads, or zone specific drops impact the returns. Just what you would normally get if you went out and collected a survey without any of those triggers.
I feel that would be a reasonable compromise. This way the yields would be greater for manual collection, but not so much that it significantly impacts collection of the surveys as you save the additional time.
Is that reasonable?
I think the surveys should yield the same type of drops they normally would, and have the same benefits from Champion Points that they normally would, only with a decreased yield.
wolfie1.0. wrote: »All of the other assistants are NPC vendors that have just been slightly retasked to do an existing activity. A survey gathering assistant would require new programming and would be harder to pull off.
spartaxoxo wrote: »spartaxoxo wrote: »Snipped for brevitythey get you out in the world helping the world feel more alive.
There are plenty of ways to get players out and about that involve active and engaging gameplay.
The idea that we need to confuse new players that we're bots for the good of the game makes zero sense to me. I've literally seen new players complain the game is dead and full of bots and I just know some of that is them not understanding surveys.
New players aren't getting confused about surveys and if they did it would only be the one time, two tops. Taking players out of zones isn't going to help with the feeling dead problem. It will make it worse. New players, most players experienced or new, are concerned about bots because of the bots. If you know that bots exist you know how they move. Seeing a person doing surveys a player isn't going to think 'hey a bot' because their movements are nothing alike.
They might wonder why a player appears, disappears then reappears a few times when a player doing surveys ports to a house and back but they aren't going to think bot.
You don't like surveys don't do them. I don't like the card game so I don't play it. The card game offers some rewards I at one time wanted but I decided they weren't worth the tedium of playing cards. Doesn't mean they should get rid of the card game it just means I will forgo the rewards and do something else instead.
I have literally seen a person get confused by surveys and had to explain it to them. They can't see the nodes you're harvesting. You look weird to them.
Surveys create a bad first impression.
They can get rid of them at the same time they give us some new reason to be out and about. They don't have to cling to bad choices to work towards giving us more reasons to revisit zones.
I'm curious, for those that insist we all must go and get them would you be opposed to condensing said survey's? You'd still have to go to the spot, but you get all 56 survey worth of material you've saved in one trip rather than having to either mount, run 15 seconds and then back 56 times, or port to an unowned house and exit 56 times. I mean realistically, all the material is there but only "refills" when we're not looking? Sounds like a good compromise as long as we're not skimped on the materials
spartaxoxo wrote: »spartaxoxo wrote: »Snipped for brevitythey get you out in the world helping the world feel more alive.
There are plenty of ways to get players out and about that involve active and engaging gameplay.
The idea that we need to confuse new players that we're bots for the good of the game makes zero sense to me. I've literally seen new players complain the game is dead and full of bots and I just know some of that is them not understanding surveys.
New players aren't getting confused about surveys and if they did it would only be the one time, two tops. Taking players out of zones isn't going to help with the feeling dead problem. It will make it worse. New players, most players experienced or new, are concerned about bots because of the bots. If you know that bots exist you know how they move. Seeing a person doing surveys a player isn't going to think 'hey a bot' because their movements are nothing alike.
They might wonder why a player appears, disappears then reappears a few times when a player doing surveys ports to a house and back but they aren't going to think bot.
You don't like surveys don't do them. I don't like the card game so I don't play it. The card game offers some rewards I at one time wanted but I decided they weren't worth the tedium of playing cards. Doesn't mean they should get rid of the card game it just means I will forgo the rewards and do something else instead.
I have literally seen a person get confused by surveys and had to explain it to them. They can't see the nodes you're harvesting. You look weird to them.
Surveys create a bad first impression.
They can get rid of them at the same time they give us some new reason to be out and about. They don't have to cling to bad choices to work towards giving us more reasons to revisit zones.
Like I said if they are confused then it was once or maybe twice. One question and problem solved. No reason to change the game as far as surveys go. Surveys do not create near the bad impression a completely empty zone would create. I doubt they create a bad impression at all.
spartaxoxo wrote: »spartaxoxo wrote: »spartaxoxo wrote: »Snipped for brevitythey get you out in the world helping the world feel more alive.
There are plenty of ways to get players out and about that involve active and engaging gameplay.
The idea that we need to confuse new players that we're bots for the good of the game makes zero sense to me. I've literally seen new players complain the game is dead and full of bots and I just know some of that is them not understanding surveys.
New players aren't getting confused about surveys and if they did it would only be the one time, two tops. Taking players out of zones isn't going to help with the feeling dead problem. It will make it worse. New players, most players experienced or new, are concerned about bots because of the bots. If you know that bots exist you know how they move. Seeing a person doing surveys a player isn't going to think 'hey a bot' because their movements are nothing alike.
They might wonder why a player appears, disappears then reappears a few times when a player doing surveys ports to a house and back but they aren't going to think bot.
You don't like surveys don't do them. I don't like the card game so I don't play it. The card game offers some rewards I at one time wanted but I decided they weren't worth the tedium of playing cards. Doesn't mean they should get rid of the card game it just means I will forgo the rewards and do something else instead.
I have literally seen a person get confused by surveys and had to explain it to them. They can't see the nodes you're harvesting. You look weird to them.
Surveys create a bad first impression.
They can get rid of them at the same time they give us some new reason to be out and about. They don't have to cling to bad choices to work towards giving us more reasons to revisit zones.
Like I said if they are confused then it was once or maybe twice. One question and problem solved. No reason to change the game as far as surveys go. Surveys do not create near the bad impression a completely empty zone would create. I doubt they create a bad impression at all.
But again, it does not have to empty zone or surveys. They can give us more stuff to do in older zones AND change surveys at the same time. And they even plan to give us more reasons to revisit older zones in upcoming content.
spartaxoxo wrote: »spartaxoxo wrote: »spartaxoxo wrote: »Snipped for brevitythey get you out in the world helping the world feel more alive.
There are plenty of ways to get players out and about that involve active and engaging gameplay.
The idea that we need to confuse new players that we're bots for the good of the game makes zero sense to me. I've literally seen new players complain the game is dead and full of bots and I just know some of that is them not understanding surveys.
New players aren't getting confused about surveys and if they did it would only be the one time, two tops. Taking players out of zones isn't going to help with the feeling dead problem. It will make it worse. New players, most players experienced or new, are concerned about bots because of the bots. If you know that bots exist you know how they move. Seeing a person doing surveys a player isn't going to think 'hey a bot' because their movements are nothing alike.
They might wonder why a player appears, disappears then reappears a few times when a player doing surveys ports to a house and back but they aren't going to think bot.
You don't like surveys don't do them. I don't like the card game so I don't play it. The card game offers some rewards I at one time wanted but I decided they weren't worth the tedium of playing cards. Doesn't mean they should get rid of the card game it just means I will forgo the rewards and do something else instead.
I have literally seen a person get confused by surveys and had to explain it to them. They can't see the nodes you're harvesting. You look weird to them.
Surveys create a bad first impression.
They can get rid of them at the same time they give us some new reason to be out and about. They don't have to cling to bad choices to work towards giving us more reasons to revisit zones.
Like I said if they are confused then it was once or maybe twice. One question and problem solved. No reason to change the game as far as surveys go. Surveys do not create near the bad impression a completely empty zone would create. I doubt they create a bad impression at all.
But again, it does not have to empty zone or surveys. They can give us more stuff to do in older zones AND change surveys at the same time. And they even plan to give us more reasons to revisit older zones in upcoming content.
they can give us more stuff to do. They have given us more stuff and I'm sure that will continue almost every time we get new content. Still no need to take away what is already there. Defeats the purpose of why surveys exist in the game.