In game polling system.

[Piker]

I had an idea for a new feature to help with all these discussions and polls currently going on.


I like what i see, good polls and mostly constructive ideas, however What i would like to see is the final polls
posted in game to get the broader consensus of the playerbase. Right now, it's only forum dwellers and lurkers
like myself, that ever vote on these polls.

So here's the idea fleshed out a bit :

When a player connects to PS, before they actually choose the character to connect, a screen pops up with a brief summary of a
poll. Taking for example the current "RP covenant" discussion, the poll would have a short section detailing say,
"The roleplaying principles" then this would be followed by the final options, e.g. Do you agree? "Yes", "No" or "Don't know/care"
(No snorks here  ) This would only happen once per account per pole so no vote rigging

Hopefully doing it in this way you could target players by account, which would also allow you to set parameters like the
person should have played PS for at least say 30 hours?

The results of the poll could also easily be kept private to the Devs and GM's if necessary, or posted up on the
forums once a set time has passed for all to digest (say the poll could last for a week worth of log ins)

Any further thoughts would be appreciated

[Farren Kutter]

People such as I have several accounts, and while I would personally not exploit that, I'm not so sure other people wouldn't.

[neko kyouran]

The time factor the OP also mentioned would negate most of that though.  Those who have multiple accounts and have earned enough play time on multiple accounts to be able to cast votes on multiple accounts would still be able to exploit it a tad, but another way to look at that is that those people are more dedicated to the game and have put in more time and effort, and as thus their opinion can be worth more.

The downside to in game polling is that while it lets people who don't use the forums vote, it also alienates the forum users that don't log in much, but are active on the forums.  So we'd be back at square one.

And the game and forums are different software packages with no real easy way to link the two.  To allow everyone an equal opportunity to cast a vote, the poll would have to be run in both places at the same time.  But then the polls get skewed by those who vote both in game and on the forums.

/shrug

[Prolix]

As someone who is far more active outside the game than in, I am never quite sure whether the opinions I formed when I was in game more often are actually still relevant. It may be that someone who is an active developer but does not get in the actual game much is in a better position to speak than someone like me. A possible solution would to be to have a separate polling station at the courthouse that had related polls and then to average the responses.

I am not too certain how much weight my opinions ought to be (or are) given but I do try to stay relevant.

[h34th]

The server could check the against the account and the IP number and disallow further votes. What bubbles up on the forums is usually less than 10% of what goes on in game. This could be a much better way to get feedback. Not everyone playing the game bothers to come to the forum or IRC.

[zanzibar]

I feel safe in saying we want this to be a community game, so we want to encourage people to visit the forum and be active on it.  Also, we want to reward roleplayers.  Since roleplayers tend to be more active on the forum, limiting polls to the forum gives roleplayers more influence and sway in the community.

[Mythryndel]

So... if you PLAY the GAME... not just sit and chat on the forums... you deserve LESS of a voice in how the GAME is made? I disagree with that attitude. Those that actually play, RP, PL, whatever... those that PLAY should have a voice even if they don't know the forums exist.

The forums may provide a better way for everyone to discuss and give detailed feedback, but I like the idea of in-game polls. If more discussion is needed, reference the forum topic from the in-game poll or allow a check box to have the server e-mail you a link to the forum topic.


[EDIT] I just looked at some numbers...

hydlaa.com/smf/:

29049 Members

laanx.fragnetics.com/

Accounts      576155

It seems to me, that even if you assume most of these accounts are unused... there are still close to 20 times more accounts registered to play the game than are registered on the forums. Why do you feel the 5% of players who show up here are the only ones deserving of a voice?

[zanzibar]

A lot about the game needs to be fixed.  No one is playing PlaneShift right now, because the RP environment isn't what it should be, so the game we have isn't the game we're aiming for.

[khoridor]

Who is "we" ?

[zanzibar]

The community.

[Mordraugion]

[EDIT] I just looked at some numbers...

hydlaa.com/smf/:

29049 Members

laanx.fragnetics.com/

Accounts      576155

Just to add a little perspective, the numbers aren't quite as imbalanced as you assume, that 20 times more accounts in game than forum you mention does NOT allow for the assumption that most game accounts are unused.

IIRC the last time it was checked at least 70% of the Laanx accounts have less than 30 minutes total in game time of the 30% left at least half would be multiple accounts, there are numerous players with more than 4 accounts all with more than 30 mins ig time and a few with more than 7 accounts. As for the forum there may be some people with 2 accounts, I know I have 2, but it still works out fairly even.

[khoridor]

The community.

It was a rhetorical question.

[Mythryndel]

I know that there are a lot of dormant accounts on both the forums and laanx. I also know that there are a lot of multiple accounts... probably more in-game than on the forums...

But the fact that not everyone that plays the game reads the forums seems obvious, no matter how you look at the numbers.