EPT
I asked seven questions and I'll summarize the responses I received below. Many people chose to skip certain questions or provide generic responses that I'll try to categorize.
How did you learn about TL mafia?
About 50% of players indicated they learned about the mafia forums on the TL sidebar
About 20% from another mafia site
About 15% from friends or family members
Other responses include the "We Want You" recruitment thread and google.
Was there anything that you wish you had known prior to the game beginning that wasn't clear ahead of time?
The number one response that I get here was a better explanation of the setup. I heard this from at least seven or eight individuals. For the newbie/student setups, I think we stick to either open setups or a list of possible open setups that may be run. There seems to be too much confusion with semi-open setups, including several players who had assumed that every role was present in the game.
Another common request that came from four to five people was a better explanation of mafia terms and abbreviations that they may encounter. I know LSB put together a guide covering that at some point, so we should probably include this thread along with the other list of guides in the OP for reference.
Finally several players indicated that they did not realize how seriously people took the game. They were expecting a more casual environment. Several people also wished they had a better idea of the time requirements before the game begun. I think I'll create a poll asking how many hours people play on average and see if we can work that into the newbie/student OP to give them an idea.
Did you find the coaches helpful? Is there anything you would change about the coaching system?
The coaching feedback was almost universally positive. Players indicated that coaches were a great resource and definitely helped improve their play. People were especially vocal in applauding the individuals who took the time to offer suggestions for improvement post game.
There were a few players who felt that their coach wasn't as active as others. They indicated that they felt ignored and sometimes received feedback long after it was relevant. I think coaches should make sure to be in the habit of checking their quicktopics frequently ones the game starts. Newbie players should also be aware that they can PM their coach to grab their attention if necessary.
One suggestion that I thought was a good idea was to attempt to match coaches to players based on their timezone whenever possible. We just need to be careful not to reveal the alignment of coaches if this is the route we take. Another player thought it might be helpful if coaches were willing to discuss the game over skype.
A few preferred to learn things on their own, rather than make use of their coach, but weren't opposed to others using them.
Do you feel that the 4 game limit for newbie games is appropriate or should it be higher/lower?
About 40% felt that it was appropriate
About 35% felt that it should be higher in the 5-7 range
About 20% felt that it should be up to an individual player to determine whether or not they are a newbie
About 5% felt it should be lower as the skill gap eventually becomes too high.
The large majority felt that the current standards are good or should be slightly higher. I think we should consider bumping it up to five games if no one is strongly opposed. There were several individuals who felt that they still would benefit from a newbie environment before moving on after four games.
Approximately how much time did you spend playing per cycle (day + night)? Do you feel that the activity requirements are reasonable or too demanding?
The answers varied a lot here ranging from a couple hours to 20+ hours per cycle.
7 hours
8-12 hours
5-6 hours
4-6 hours
7-8 hours
2-9 hours
6 hours
several hours
4-5 hours
16 hours
4-5 hours
25+ plus
6-7
20 hours
2-3 hours
4-8 hours
12 hours
4-5 hours
About 40% of players felt the activity requirements were reasonable.
About 30% of players found that games were too demanding. They described the game as exhausting, time consuming, and difficult to keep up. Several suggested that they were hoping for a more casual environment. One player suggested that we should remove the requirement for a post during the night cycle, so long as they posted during the day. I agree with that one.
About 30% of players found that the minimum activity requirements were too lenient. Activity at the start of the game was a very common complaint. Players felt frustrated when the thread would die for large periods of time due to players that were completely afk. I think we should consider bumping up the 1 post requirement to 5 posts. Almost every host I know is going to warn a player with only a single one-liner for activity, so we should update this to better reflect expectations.
Do you anticipate playing in another mafia game on TL? If not, please explain.
Most people who replied indicated that they had a positive experience and would return for another game.
About five people replied that they would not be returning or were undecided due to how time consuming the games were.
A couple decided the games were too stressful and that mafia was not for them.
A few stated that they would return, but only to play normal mini games.
Are there any other criticisms or suggestions that you have that would make the newbie games more enjoyable?
There was actually a lot of feedback given about the student mafia setup, even though most of the games that I polled were strictly newbies. The response to the student games was very positive. Players stated that they enjoyed playing with more experience players to guide them. A few went as far as saying that they preferred student games over newbie games. There were a few criticisms regarding the student setup from players who were frustrated that veterans dominated discussion. They found it difficult for their opinions to get acknowledged. One player suggested that student games should be open to only players who have a history not being overly aggressive and willing to be patient with newbie players. Overall, there seemed to be more positive feedback for student games than negative.
A couple players questioned the balance of the game and suggested that they be more newbie friendly. The all-vanilla setup in particular seemed to be disliked.
One player suggested a post restriction to make the thread easier to read and reduce spamming. I swear I didn't plant this one.
Another requested that hosts always use the date and countdown tags for deadlines to reduce the confusion for players in other timezones.
Someone suggested that we should update the mafia library sticky and make it easier to navigate. I definitely think this is a good idea and it's on my to do list. If someone else wants to help out, shoot me a PM.
A couple other various suggestions included better flavor and better advertisement for the game.
I think switching over to the student format is definitely something worth trying out. The games fill up faster and seem to be a decent experience for the players involved. I'll try to collect feedback and we can reevaluate in a half a year or so.
I think we should consider working in the Newbie title to the student games. Since so many players find out about mafia via the sidebar, we should try to make it obvious that the game is open to new players. The student name probably suggests that already, but maybe something like Newbie Student Mafia V brands itself better.
Also, it might be worth discussing whether or not these newbie/student games should return to the normal hosting queue. Over the last few years since Radfield ask me to take over, I've been trying to make sure a newbie game is running at all times by PMing a list of newbie hosts and posting in the queue thread if I can't find one. I typically send out a "newbie hosting PM" for players that are hosting a newbie for the first time with a few suggestions, such as confirmation PMs before the game starts. The current host list is completely outdated so I've been struggling to find hosts lately. BH has obviously been a ton of help carrying the load and thanks to anyone else who has volunteered at any point.
It might also be nice to standardize the default Newbie OP to include a few of the things mentioned above. If anyone else has thoughts or suggestions, I'm sure we would love to hear them! ^_^
