Magic Online Feedback Survey - Time for some brutal honesty

[KrauserKrauser]

So it appears that someone at WotC wants to get something done regarding MTGO and has released a feedback survey. 

My hope is that the hard data this provides will combine with the lowered activity on the program (if my reduced frequency is common, which I believe it to be) to motivate the higher ups to make some fundamental changes.

The questions regarding Hearthstone are especially interesting as I would recommend that program before MTGO pretty much every time. 

I have no faith in WotC's ability to actually deliver a good program (as they have not demonstrated the capability to do so), especially if they insist on keeping it in house, but this is the type of concrete market data that will be required before executives will think that there is anything more than a vocal minority of players dissatisfied with the current state of Magic Online.

MTGO Feedback Survey

Sadly there is no place to add personal comments.  Maybe they will add that in the future.

So, anybody think this will actually have an effect?

[Klep]

Of course there's no way for anyone scared off MTGO entirely by the constant parade of V4 horror stories to offer any feedback.

[Samoht]

Too bad Vintage is unsanctioned. Going to look awkward that I say I play M:tG regularly but only in 2 sanctioned events in the past 3 months.

[enderfall]

I completed the survey, but I don't know how much value it will have. There was little to offer in terms of making suggestions to fix things, rather, it seems geared more towards allowing WotC to identify the areas which need the most improvement. For that matter, I encourage people to not simply answer 1 (the lowest score) for every single answer.

[Chubby Rain]

For that matter, I encourage people to not simply answer 1 (the lowest score) for every single answer.

Tempting...

Honestly, I am glad that they are conducting the survey and employees like Ethan are coming onto these boards and addressing some of the community's concerns. That said, it was somewhat depressing answering "How long have you been playing Magic Online?" with "since the beginning".

[diophan]

Without the ability to comment the survey is pretty useless. Honestly I don't think they're doing nearly as bad of a job as people make it out to be, but there are really some important bugs they need to fix that really shouldn't be too difficult.

[vaughnbros]

Too bad Vintage is unsanctioned. Going to look awkward that I say I play M:tG regularly but only in 2 sanctioned events in the past 3 months.

They will probably just assume you are a casual player.

I completed the survey, but I don't know how much value it will have. There was little to offer in terms of making suggestions to fix things, rather, it seems geared more towards allowing WotC to identify the areas which need the most improvement. For that matter, I encourage people to not simply answer 1 (the lowest score) for every single answer.

Agreed answering all 1's doesn't really do any good.  There needs to be some diversity in your answers for them to actually pinpoint an area for improvement.  Also as someone that has analyzed survey data when you get input of all 1's on a survey you have to question whether the person actually read what the question was asking, and as such there is justification to throw your survey out entirely in an analysis.

[Smmenen]

Too bad Vintage is unsanctioned. Going to look awkward that I say I play M:tG regularly but only in 2 sanctioned events in the past 3 months.

I'm not sure if I played in a sanctioned event in 2014. 

[thecrav]

Too bad Vintage is unsanctioned. Going to look awkward that I say I play M:tG regularly but only in 2 sanctioned events in the past 3 months.

I'm not sure if I played in a sanctioned event in 2014. 

Just for comparison's sake, how many proxy events would you estimate you've played in?

[evouga]

I like how many questions there are about program stability -- I'm glad WotC is keenly aware of the problem, even if they've chosen to do jack all about it.

[Twiedel]

Just did the survey, and I have to say I take this for a step in the right direction. Hopefully, there will be a lot of people participating, so they will get a good view at the current areas where improvement is really necessary.

As a side note, there was no reason to answer with 1s all to much, at least for me. There are surely some areas where I am completely satisfied with MTGO - and I think we should let them know that as well. Otherwise, as enderfall said, they will focus on the wrong things once again.

[sirgog]

Anyone with a statistics background will tell you that people that put consistent 1s would be removed from consideration, as people that are clearly trying to manipulate results.

[H]

Anyone with a statistics background will tell you that people that put consistent 1s would be removed from consideration, as people that are clearly trying to manipulate results.

It's been a long time since school for me, but I recall in Psychological Statistics we learned that any set of answer sets with no (or very little) internal variance should not be considered statically valid.  So answering all (or almost all) of one thing should make your data invalid, be it all ones or all fives.

[Varal]

Depends what you're looking for. All 1s and all 10s can be relevant in determining customer satisfaction.

[serracollector]

If i were looking for customer satisfaction all fives would not be a bad thing.

[H]

If i were looking for customer satisfaction all fives would not be a bad thing.

Sure, but it might not be a statistically relevant thing.  Recalling further, this only applies to surveys constructed statistical analysis in mind.  I don't feel they did that in all probability, so my point probably isn't valid at all.  If it were me though, I know all too well how crude just a mean value can be to measure some things, so I'd want to discount outliers and find what the bulk of people's experience is and not have my results skewed just the guy or girl who hates everything, or the guy or girl who loves everything.  I guess a five point scale does minimize that to a degree though.

Eh, what the hell am I musing about really?  I don't know, I think I just need more sleep.

[sirgog]

If i were looking for customer satisfaction all fives would not be a bad thing.

I would consider it someone who was not answering the questions, but instead trying to push an agenda through manipulating the results. Unless there were a very large number of results like that.

[Chubby Rain]

http://magic.wizards.com/en/MTGO/articles/archive/blink-user-study-highlights-2014-10-29

Here are the "results" of the survey:

"Similar to the user study, the highest-rated areas of the client center around playing Magic, including playing matches, finding opponents, and the variety of formats and events offered. As the Khans of Tarkir release has shown, we continue to deliver authentic Magic gameplay experiences.

When looking at the negatives, the study and survey align as well. Players are least satisfied with Magic Online's stability and performance. As mentioned above, we're continuing to take measures to improve both of these areas and will remain vigilant until we get where we need to be. Eliminating crashes, lag, and other impactful bugs is our top priority."

That correlates with my response - Magic Online is a valuable tool for testing but only if it works reliably without taking up several GBs of RAM. I'm glad they did the survey, I'm glad they identified what I feel are the key issues, but what I will ultimately judge MTGO by is the final product...

[KrauserKrauser]

Highly skeptical of their ability to improve.  Years and years of a horrible track record keep my expectations in the toilet.