A lot of MMO studios talk a big talk about listening to player feedback, but whether or not they put out surveys to solicit that feedback – and what goes into those surveys – tells the real story. Sandbox Interactive is weaving one such tale with the release of its annual survey for Albion Online, which polls players on a wide range of topics.
The initial questions are basic – when did you start playing, how old are you, how many characters do you play, what devices do you play on – but they quickly drill down to preferred weapon lines, favorite activities, guild status, and then expand to future content, thoughts on 2022’s patches, cadence preferences, holiday events, UI and controls, and so forth. It’s actually surprisingly granular; they even want to know what people thought about their dev talks. (We love the comfy chair.)
We were particularly intrigued to see a lengthy section on toxicity and communication; Sandbox is clearly aware of the widespread (and arguably accurate) perception that Albion’s toxicity problem is one of the worst in the genre, as it asks players how they choose to confront it and whether (and why) they participate in-game as well as in channels like the forums, Reddit, and Discord.
Oh, and here’s a nice touch: One of the questions asked about colorblindness, the lack of accessibility for which is a big pet peeve of mine as my husband is red-green colorblind (and you would not believe the number of games where that turns out to matter!).
Alby players should make sure to take the survey themselves to get a vote on influencing the future of the game.
