Stress Test Survey Results

This is a summary of the results from the Stress Test Survey, and our responses to them. 54 of you responded and your feedback is valued. While we have not followed all your preferences to the letter, we are nonetheless making some changes to the stress test server based on your feedback.

The results will be presented question by question, in the order those questions appeared in the survey. We will also include some of the more noteworthy comments received in the survey, and our responses to them.

Difficulty

Difficulty has been a subject of sometimes heated debate since the stress test server opened, and was one of the reasons why the survey was created. We have previously heard strong views from a certain part of the community regarding the choice of hard difficulty, and felt it was necessary to get a broader selection of opinions before deciding what to do.

Overall Enjoyment

These results are rather encouraging, with a much higher number of players happy with hard mode, than unhappy with it. A large number of players are also in the middle, with no strong feelings either way. This is perhaps the opposite of what we expected after the negative feedback we received before the survey, which now appears to be from a vocal minority. I hope this graph is sufficient to show this group that you do not speak for the entire community.

In the end we are happy to see a surprisingly positive reception here.

Difficulty Elements

Increased Mob Damage

The results are close here but do show slightly more players dislike the increase in mob damage that hard mode brings. Not a huge difference, but it is an area we would like to make changes in regardless.

Spider potion effects

A more positive result for spider potion effects, with more positive than negative responses. In addition, a large neutral response suggests this isn't a setting we need to tweak.

Zombie Reinforcements

For zombie reinforcements, the results are almost exactly split, with a single vote pushing it into negative territory. This tiny margin. the large neutral response, and the fact another mechanic unique to hard mode zombies (door breaking) was already removed, mean we would prefer to leave this setting intact.

Increased chance of mobs spawning with armour/weapons

Pretty clear result here, with a majority of players happy with the change, and most of the rest being neutral. We will leave this setting as it is.

Increased chance of mobs picking up dropped items

Another positive outcome here, with a larger number of players supporting the change to mobs picking up dropped items. The positive responses also appear to hold stronger feelings than the negative ones, with more opting for love over like vs hate over dislike. We will also be leaving this setting as it is.

Increased effect durations

Effect durations are another area we intend to make changes in, after the responses here show many players are unhappy with the current state of things.

Starvation

A majority of players remained neutral regarding starvation, with slightly more of those remaining responding positively. We will therefore be leaving this unchanged.

Increased Raid Waves

Raid changes also attracted a large neutral response, with a significant majority of non-neutral players being happy with them. No raid changes are planned as a result.