Elite: Dangerous Mega Survey Results
- Thread starter TheSynopticVision
- Start date
Can argue the semantics all day long. Fact is that only 49% of players mainly use open. What the others are doing doesn't matter, they're not in open.
Interesting, also means 51% of players influence the BGS without being exposed to the same tactics players use in open to influence the BGS.
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I'm a bit late to this thread, but remember when polls were taken here and FD carried out their own survey .... and the unofficial poll matched the FD survey really well? Can't even remember what it was about, but the forum poll was extremely close.
Disclaimer - I don't use Reddit and never knew about the survey, anyway, but good job OP
I didn't participate. I play in solo. That's going to really skew the numbers.
Honestly though, I can imagine many folks who only play solo also don't use the forums. I can imagine open players will be more likely to seek out other people to discuss the game with. For that reason I feel the numbers are skewed a bit. If that was covered in all the text, I apologize. Also, I had to click 3 or so links to see the survey.
Honestly though, I can imagine many folks who only play solo also don't use the forums. I can imagine open players will be more likely to seek out other people to discuss the game with. For that reason I feel the numbers are skewed a bit. If that was covered in all the text, I apologize. Also, I had to click 3 or so links to see the survey.
Your right. Expressing the metric in the negative is pretty meaningless because it doesn't tell you what those players prefer, just that it's not solo.
Would normally express a metric in the positive (i.e. "28% play solo" or "49% play open") which tells you what the players actually prefer. In this case the specific mode of play that certain groups of players like. So, we now know from the survey (despite any shortcomings it may have) is that:
- 49% of players prefer open (probably because they can play with others).
- 28% of players prefer solo (probably because they want to play alone).
...and if I use your example, and because we know the 72% of players you are referring to are playing in private groups or open, can say they prefer to play with others (not alone), which is hardly surprising given that ED is an MMO.
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Interesting; I think the questions could have split the open/ solo/ pg into two, due to solo having no player interaction, and pg allowing it, eg:
1) Do you play in open for > 50% of the time (y/n)
2) If n, which mode do you prefer for > 50% of the time (solo/pg)
Solo and PG are essentially 'not open', split the vote, but aren't interchangeable. Leading to the usual three-way that always causes people to argue semantics. It means the majority of those surveyed prefer some degree of multiplayer aspect, though. Note that multiplayer and pvp do not share 1:1 relationship. And, again, PG and Solo aren't interchangeable, regardless of what people want to believe, so that always needs to be clearly split out.
Frankly, with the amount of screaming about death in open, or in general, I find it hilarious that C&P is like sixth place; more ships, planets we can breathe on, legs and places to use legs seem to rate highest. So much for crime being a hot-button issue on the internets (outside of hotel california).
But stats, are stats, and they can be made to say anything. Remember, it was a sub-section of ED, and a minority of the overall player base that voted for delayed ship transport in a survey; so don't be so fast to claim the numbers are made up and the points don't matter, if you were also claiming Frontier's little ship-transport survey was somehow statistically relevant enough to force a change.
~12601 people responded. Out of how many of the player base? At most, the numbers are interesting and provide a little bit of a trend and a bit of an insight into the hive mind. Thanks for posting, OP.
1) Do you play in open for > 50% of the time (y/n)
2) If n, which mode do you prefer for > 50% of the time (solo/pg)
Solo and PG are essentially 'not open', split the vote, but aren't interchangeable. Leading to the usual three-way that always causes people to argue semantics. It means the majority of those surveyed prefer some degree of multiplayer aspect, though. Note that multiplayer and pvp do not share 1:1 relationship. And, again, PG and Solo aren't interchangeable, regardless of what people want to believe, so that always needs to be clearly split out.
Frankly, with the amount of screaming about death in open, or in general, I find it hilarious that C&P is like sixth place; more ships, planets we can breathe on, legs and places to use legs seem to rate highest. So much for crime being a hot-button issue on the internets (outside of hotel california).
But stats, are stats, and they can be made to say anything. Remember, it was a sub-section of ED, and a minority of the overall player base that voted for delayed ship transport in a survey; so don't be so fast to claim the numbers are made up and the points don't matter, if you were also claiming Frontier's little ship-transport survey was somehow statistically relevant enough to force a change.
~12601 people responded. Out of how many of the player base? At most, the numbers are interesting and provide a little bit of a trend and a bit of an insight into the hive mind. Thanks for posting, OP.
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Really? They emailed everyone and of the 40000 responses returned, 70% voted for delayed transfer. Yeah, that's clearly a sub section of elite and a minority..
'little ship-transport survey'
lol
Doesn't really matter if they emailed, sent owls from hogwarts or used the postal service; 40,000 players out of how many? If you think that's statistically relevant, and another survey with an equally small number isn't? Man do I have an amazing deal on a bridge in Sydney, I'd love to sell you.
Here's the thing; surveys, unless incredibly well written, and scrupulously managed and operated, are at best useful for trends. And even the really well done ones, still have a shocking margin of error; because surveys always attract those who have a vested interest in the questions. As was frontier's survey, it tracked the trend that those who responded, didn't like 'instant'; how many who voted nay to instant, then approved of the outcomes? Hard to say. It wasn't 100% of that 70% happy with the outcome, though. That's for sure.
This survey is the same; it's at most some interesting trends. Nothing more. I would put no more or less stock in it, than frontier's one.
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Space Legs got a lot of votes.
LOL, I noticed that too. I was one of the few who wanted it, along with atmospheric landings. So I was in the minority AND the majority.
I think the results could be interpreted to show that the majority of reddit users prefer to grief. That's the fun of statistics, you can do what you like with them to argue a point because everyone here is right, even though some of them are wrong. (Etc.) I did a poll about modes once, and got a result of 100% solo. But I was the only player in my house who answered the question, which wasn't indicative of the population who play ED.
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Which opposition? When did Solo and PG form coalition to outvote Open?
That never happened, we are not talking about politics. There is no opposition. The only reason you have a majority with +50% in politics is because otherwise you wouldn't be able to decide anything. That only works for yes / no questions. A political model can't be applied to this survey.
To (un-)clarify:
The majority can't play in Solo/PG because that would require them to be Schroedinger's Cat, being present in both modes at the same time.
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I have to say the most entertaining thing about this thread is people seem to like to argue for the sake of arguing, and in that some still cling to the fallacy that one mode is better than the other.
I mean really who cares what mode we all play in or how many play in what mode or who has the majority in a poll that does not encompass the whole player base but a segment of one forum or another.
Ahh the joys of exploering, means I have far too much time to read/make inane forum posts.
I mean really who cares what mode we all play in or how many play in what mode or who has the majority in a poll that does not encompass the whole player base but a segment of one forum or another.
Ahh the joys of exploering, means I have far too much time to read/make inane forum posts.
Robert Maynard
Volunteer Moderator
Which opposition? When did Solo and PG form coalition to outvote Open?
Not yet in any official poll - it happens informally whenever someone suggests removing Solo / PG or having Open as the only mode that can affect the BGS / Powerplay / CGs / etc.....
The majority can't play in Solo/PG because that would require them to be Schroedinger's Cat, being present in both modes at the same time.
Which raises the question: how many of those who voted only ever play in the single mode that they voted for in the poll?
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Obligatory ".. or having PVE as the only mode and remove Open.", you missed that one.
I'm helping!
Hence why I said questions about open/ solo/ pg need to split out where people play, based on an average, and treat all three as a set of stacked questions. The survey asked which game mode do you more regularly choose, not which modes, plural, do you choose. If I had a 60/40 split between PG and open (or to present a balanced argument, 60/40 split between Open and Solo) the fact that I am in open at all (or solo!) is lost. It's really not ideal to throw away a bunch of data points if you want a statistically relevant outcome.
The three modes offer pretty differing outcomes, lumping all three as a generalised single question just makes the numbers open to interpretation. And makes a wonderfully ambiguous stat that I am quite sure will be dredged up, repeatedly, like some extra-marital affair, over and over again.
Roll on Beta, so I have something more positive to throw some time into. Looking forward to seeing what shenanigans I can get up to with hull limpets.
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Robert Maynard
Volunteer Moderator
Obligatory ".. or having PVE as the only mode and remove Open.", you missed that one.
I'm helping!
Sorry - I fell into the same trap as the OP - missing out a rather small proportion of possible answers....
It's meaningless. You could also argue that 73% don't play in solo. so those that dont play in solo have a massive majority. It doesnt mean anything. Oh and its what 76% dont play in private group's or some thing like that.
Saying 51% don't play in open is utterly meaningless in regards to the poll.