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HI I'm Hex and I'm a Software QA analyst in the video game industry. I spent several years as a training specialist for Blizzard QA, now working as platform QA elsewhere.
Russ got my brain going on one of my favorite soap boxes, let me drop a few thoughts on feedback. https://twitter.com/nite_moogle/status/1247244921095901184
Russ got my brain going on one of my favorite soap boxes, let me drop a few thoughts on feedback. https://twitter.com/nite_moogle/status/1247244921095901184
Disclaimer: I don't mean to speak on behalf of Russ or other developers and this thread won't be a terribly in-depth run on the subject. I may or may not actually come back to do a Big Babble later.
I am also simultaneously sleepy and flighty at the moment.
I am also simultaneously sleepy and flighty at the moment.
Choosing your words carefully in feedback isn't quite so much about protecting feelings as it is making your experience clear.
"This zone sucks" doesn't give any hint of why the user disliked the zone. You don't have to write a thesis to explain; let me give you a few examples:
"This zone sucks" doesn't give any hint of why the user disliked the zone. You don't have to write a thesis to explain; let me give you a few examples:
"This zone is too dense with side quests/mobs, it feels overwhelming."
"This zone is too sparse and visually unappealing, I wasn't interested in being there for long."
"This zone's climax felt weak in comparison to the others, so the experience fell flat."
"This zone is too sparse and visually unappealing, I wasn't interested in being there for long."
"This zone's climax felt weak in comparison to the others, so the experience fell flat."
All three of those examples are negative feedback, but they are both brief and specific about what put the players off about a zone.
Of course, if you wanted to give further details that's great! But, each of these gives the devs a much better lens to start with.
Of course, if you wanted to give further details that's great! But, each of these gives the devs a much better lens to start with.
ANOTHER.
"This ability sucks." 
"This ability is difficult to work into a rotation unless all circumstances in a fight are perfect. Most encounters in the game are designed in a way that it is better to ignore this ability altogether."
"This ability isn't visually or functionally different from the other abilities main abilities for this class, so the work put in to get the ability felt less meaningful in the end."
"This ability is so powerful, there's never a reason to choose one of the other abilities from that tier. It becomes mandatory if you want to be seen as a good raider." "This ability isn't as interesting compared to the new abilities the other classes got."
"Remove this feature.""It takes about three weeks and some luck to make this item, but it's not valuable on the AH and it's quickly replaced in a dungeon. It doesn't feel worth the effort to use this feature.""This feature is overly complicated and frustrating to use."
Last one for now:
"____ is boring."
"[Thing] doesn't change the play experience very much, so obtaining it didn't feel like a meaningful achievement."
"____ requires three weeks of dailies, but there are only 5 dailies in rotation. It starts to feel burdensome."
"____ is boring.""[Thing] doesn't change the play experience very much, so obtaining it didn't feel like a meaningful achievement." "____ requires three weeks of dailies, but there are only 5 dailies in rotation. It starts to feel burdensome."
"Dungeon A is fun because I feel rewarded for making smart choices with my abilities and timing. Dungeon B can be done completely with AOE, so I barely even need to pay attention to my screen. I prefer dungeons that let me feel skilled at my class."
Ok, ok. That's enough of that for now. I could definitely go off for several hours on the subject of quality feedback; this list focused purely on one facet.
For those who have an interest, I hope this momentary brain rattle was helpful.
For those who have an interest, I hope this momentary brain rattle was helpful.
