Do internet polls actually tell us anything? Or should we remove the option for anyone other than FDev to make forum polls?
Oh the irony, lmao 
General / Off-Topic Are internet polls indicative of anything?
- Thread starter Garbarrage
- Start date
Cheesy wotsits, 60w lightbulb and Pangolins. Please.
It reflects those who take part and those who use the platform the poll is on. I find player posted polls are usually loaded and as a result shouldn't really be open to everyone to create or taken seriously. These forums are more welcoming to those who like PvE and so poll results will usually show that.
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I voted Yes but clicked on No anyway
Voted yes. I enjoy a good quiz.
I posted this on Reddit. I wasn't particularly interested in the actual result, but I wanted to see if the result would be different to here. It was only marginally different but still favoured PvE.
Reddit PvE vs PvP poll
Burn them all!
Robert Maynard
Volunteer Moderator
Some are of vital importance, e.g. https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php?t=246280
I don't have a problem with polls by their nature.
What I have a problem with is that polls are rarely written without bias.
Even phrasing that seems totally neutral to the author will have some perceived bias by some percentage of people.
If polls on the forum were, most of the time, not biased in any way, then yes, I think there would be some value.
However, most people inject their bias (willingly or not) when they write their polls. For that reason, it is my opinion that polls on internet forums are, by and large, useless.
What I have a problem with is that polls are rarely written without bias.
Even phrasing that seems totally neutral to the author will have some perceived bias by some percentage of people.
If polls on the forum were, most of the time, not biased in any way, then yes, I think there would be some value.
However, most people inject their bias (willingly or not) when they write their polls. For that reason, it is my opinion that polls on internet forums are, by and large, useless.
Yes, they indicate the location of a forum post wherein if you scroll down you can find where I inform you that my opinion is more important than yours.
Duane Dibbley
Banned
Given who posted this - No irony to see here..move along please!
I see someone has been paying attention. Have a cookie. I can judge from your avatar that you'll make short work of it.
Poll needs more options I want to vote No but keep them. They arn't useful but do provide a nice and much needed joke every now and then
Yaffle
Volunteer Moderator
Being vaguely sensible for a moment...
You may note that there is a poll being run at the moment by FD. It's about the Race to Power thing. That is done via the game website, and requires a sign on. I think that's evidence of how FD views forum polls.
We did have one poll that attracted a load (as in hundreds) of zero-day accounts, all of whom voted the same way and then never logged in again. FD ignored it.
There's a lack of rigour around forum polls in nearly every department, so can they be fun things? Sure. Can they be divisive things? Heck yes. Do they give reliable data? Not really, no.
You may note that there is a poll being run at the moment by FD. It's about the Race to Power thing. That is done via the game website, and requires a sign on. I think that's evidence of how FD views forum polls.
We did have one poll that attracted a load (as in hundreds) of zero-day accounts, all of whom voted the same way and then never logged in again. FD ignored it.
There's a lack of rigour around forum polls in nearly every department, so can they be fun things? Sure. Can they be divisive things? Heck yes. Do they give reliable data? Not really, no.
He didn't vote for Pangolins though, nor crunchy peanut butter, so it's completely not an abuse of power. The vote still stands in perfect legitimacy.