Future direction of FFXIV

[Jeeqbit]

if SE doesn't undertake any work to obtain more representative & systematic feedback from elsewhere (e.g. via surveys) - and to my awareness, it does not

Then you are unaware of the fact they have sent me a survey which said it was asking veteran players their opinions as recently as late last year, right before Endwalker released. All companies of Square Enix's size do surveys and market research.

[Lauront]

Then you are unaware of the fact they have sent me a survey which said it was asking veteran players their opinions as recently as late last year, right before Endwalker released.

Yes, I am unaware of that, because as a person who has now been playing for a number of years - enough to qualify as a 'veteran' - I did not receive it, nor is there any reason I'd be aware of a survey you got, so I'm curious what definition of veteran they're working off. The sole survey I have received in the years of playing this game was one around the SB time on my general thoughts on another MMO. Though it's curious to me that they did one just before EW released, after any significant design work on it was complete...

What sort of questions did it ask?

All companies of Square Enix's size do surveys and market research.

Pretty sparingly by the looks of it when it comes to XIV. Though it's good that they're doing that for it - I'd still question how systematically.

[Jeeqbit]

What definition of veteran do they even use here? And if they’re conducting marketing research, I would think it would be far more prudent for them to send these survey emails to all active subscribers. Not just some.

Assuming this survey actually exists, or is from SE themselves and not a third party.

"We’re always looking to improve FINAL FANTASY XIV, and deliver the best experience possible. As a FFXIV player who has subscribed for a significant period of time, we would like to know how we can make your adventures in Eorzea better."

It was from Square Enix and not a third party. It was signed with "The Square Enix Team".

What sort of questions did it ask?

They wanted to know how the veteran players feel about the game and what they would like to see.

[HyoMinPark]

"We’re always looking to improve FINAL FANTASY XIV, and deliver the best experience possible. As a FFXIV player who has subscribed for a significant period of time, we would like to know how we can make your adventures in Eorzea better."

It was from Square Enix and not a third party. It was signed with "The Square Enix Team".

They wanted to know how the veteran players feel about the game and what they would like to see.

As I said, seems like poor marketing research if they only send it to some veterans and not all. And I have to ask what their definition of “veteran” is. My sub hasn’t lapsed once in over six years, so I don’t see how that isn’t significant. And if the pool of participants is already questionable, makes any data collected just as questionable.

[hagare]

As I said, seems like poor marketing research if they only send it to some veterans and not all. And I have to ask what their definition of “veteran” is. My sub hasn’t lapsed once in over six years, so I don’t see how that isn’t significant. And if the pool of participants is already questionable, makes any data collected just as questionable.

yeah that's just random sampling

[Ronduwil]

As I said, seems like poor marketing research if they only send it to some veterans and not all. And I have to ask what their definition of “veteran” is.

As someone who took various statistics courses on the way to getting their bachelor's degree, I'd say it's efficient. You don't need to sample 100% of any given population to obtain accurate results. You'd be surprised with how small of a sample you can get away with while still getting really close to the actual result. The fact that you personally weren't picked as part of their random sample doesn't invalidate their study.

[HyoMinPark]

Then you are unaware of the fact they have sent me a survey which said it was asking veteran players their opinions as recently as late last year, right before Endwalker released. All companies of Square Enix's size do surveys and market research.

I have to echo Lauront here. I’ve been playing this game for over 6 years, and I have never received any survey outside of when I contacted SE’s Customer Service regarding an SE Store order. What definition of veteran do they even use here? And if they’re conducting marketing research, I would think it would be far more prudent for them to send these survey emails to all active subscribers. Not just some.

Assuming this survey actually exists, or is from SE themselves and not a third party.