PAX AUS Player Feedback Survey

Well, it has been a few days since I ran that last game at PAX AUS, have sufficiently recovered from what was a monster weekend of tabletop RPG and have analysed the feedback. Before we get to the responses, some stats on session & player numbers from the weekend and how many games of 7th Extinction were played.

PAX AUS Game & Player Statistics

ARC (Australian Roleplay Community) ran “PAX AUS at the Table” event, over 40 Australian TTRPG stories told across 300 game sessions and 1,300 players. When we add in D&D Adventures League and Pathfinder Society we had 2,200+ players.

A truly monster effect from the organisers, it was a blast to be a part of it. These numbers don’t include any games being played in the freeplay area that wasn’t a part of any organised group and there were a lot of games being played in the freeplay area.

An Adventure Written for a Convention

7th Extinction had 10 x 2 hour sessions across the 3 days of PAX with a total of 55 players. I ran the same scenario 10 times (Titans Rest) which was designed as a 1 hour convention adventure with enough material to also be run as a single shot adventure which would take roughly 2-3 hours when playing at home.

I had written & run this adventure in an earlier iteration for my home campaign, my codesigner and I then spent time revising the story, tweaking it to make it more engaging and able to be played in a shorter period of time. I created several audio recordings to play during the adventure to increase player engagement, progress the story, create tension and set 7th apart from other games at PAX.

Survey Objective

For a game not officially released, I have run 7th Extinction at 5 conventions over the development journey (years) in addition to running games for my home campaigns. I’m always keen to get player feedback along the development cycle. Verbally at the table but also anonymously to get answers they may not have been prepared to provide in person.

While I know you can’t please all of the people all of the time, there is however real power with player feedback that shouldn’t be dismissed or ignored. These 10 game sessions were the last chance to address issues, oversights or omissions before the public playtest is released into the wild.

What was I looking for, ultimately I’m looking for:

Is the system enjoyable

Will people want to play it again

Any glaring flaws

What did they like (that I can use to market the game)

The Feedback

Instead of asking players to complete a survey on a paper form I decided to go with a Google Forms survey, and disabled capture email so that it could be anonymous. I printed a nice single-page flyer and mounted it in a plastic stand on the table with a QR code that would send the players directly to the survey.

From 55 players we had 27 responses = 49% response rate which is higher than average, I was very pleased with the response rate but also the effort players went with written responses.

I started the survey with 3 simple questions, requiring nothing more than selecting the radio button option they agreed with. Then I followed up with 5 very open questions with free text fields. None of these were mandatory fields. I kept the survey short in the hope of increasing the response rate, based on responses I will call it a success.

Question 1 - Have you played a tabletop RPG before? Forms response chart. Question title: Have you played an tabletop RPG before?. Number of responses: 27 responses. At conventions, I’ve seen somewhere between 20-25% of players have actually never played an RPG before. It’s good to understand how the system was received by someone completely new to roleplaying.

**Question 2 - Did you enjoy the game today? ** Forms response chart. Question title: Did you enjoy the game today?
. Number of responses: 27 responses. This wasn’t really a good question on reflection, I think a good game master can elevate a game with flawed mechanics. I am overwhelmed the players really enjoyed themselves though.

**Question 3 - Would you play this game again? ** Forms response chart. Question title: Would you play this game again?
. Number of responses: 27 responses. Couldn’t be happier, this number has gone up with each iteration of the game and stayed at 100% from the last 2 conventions now.

Question 4 - What did you like the most; can you explain a little bit why you liked it the most? 24 Responses

• Dice mechanics are excellent!
• The simplicity of the skill checks and the world setting is great
• I loved the combats creativity and just the amount of stuff to do
• Ran well, great setting.
• The crit system rewards skill and expands possible outcomes, with some luck.
• I liked that each character had different skills in lots of unique and different areas
• Skills/attribute mechanics and dice exploding
• The storytelling
• I liked the plot and the freedom and improvisation skill from the dm
• The whole background of the storyline.
• Setting and world building
• I enjoy post apocalyptic story lines.
• Unique aus fauna themed enemies, audio recordings for atmosphere
• Cool story/world, fun dice system
• System/roll was very straight forward - recharge ammo makes things easier - I can keep shooting, instead of being an accountant.
• My character had a wide variety of skills, traits and weapons which meant that there were lots of options available for approaching situations both in and outside of combat. It meant I could experiment with doing lots of fun things.
• New system
• The system suited the content well.
• The different way of using dice
• Simplicity of mechanics
• Our DM had a lovely, engaging play style. His use of "voice files" was a nice touch :)
• The luck system especially as the grifter was really interesting
• Action scenes, powers
• The dice mechanic, it neatly fixes the randomness of Savage Worlds

Question 5 - What did you like the least; can you explain a little bit why you liked that part the least? 19 Responses

• Probably missed some of the instructions up front so took my head to get around.
• Loved all of it
• The fact that there wasn’t any miniatures for the combat to play it out
• N/A
• Nothing seemed too negative:)
• I felt a bit sick during it so had to go to the bathroom a couple times
• Skill check DC is sometimes not possible unless your dice explode which feels a bit limiting sometimes
• This was my first rpg game so i was a bit lost but other than that its great
• Was a bit confused at the start on what was happening felt like I was thrown into the deep end a bit
• Nothing.
• As a new player, don’t feel knowledgeable enough to comment
• Audio on speaker was difficult to hear
• Fixed damage - if roll for dmg, it would be more dynamic.
• Playing as a pre-made character, rather than being able to make my own. I understand this is necessary for short con-based campaigns but isn’t how I like to usually play.
• Felt like District 7 meets Alien, so perhaps a little derivative but that's a minor complaint.
• Could be a little long winded waiting for a turn
• Totally beyond anyone's control - playing at pax is sensory overload!
• However, it did make it a little gimmicky when I could just solve the issue via a coin flip
• The turn order/initiative system, everyone was just a 1d8 roll, take your 3 actions. Could be more co-op with 1 action at a time, then everyone’s second action, etc

Question 6 - If you could change one thing, what would you change? 15 Responses

• As a new player, don’t feel knowledgeable enough to comment
• Looking forward to the PDF - will probably have feedback then :)
• Don’t need to change anything
• Add miniatures to make a more emuresd battle situation
• Maybe expand racial traits?
• I’d like to just play it for longer
• Perhaps less people maybe like 4, the higher number of people caused clashes on decisions and extended combat for a bit too long
• Nothing
• The font wasn't Sci fi enough
• Not about system. In character sheet, if equipment list is in same page with stat's and weapon, it would be more convinient.
• Nothing.
• Races had stereotypically female vs male artwork, would be nice to break the mould.
• Nothing.
• Would like to know more about the world building, aliens and how you’ve handled indigenous reputation

Question 7 - If you played this game again, what would you do differently?
21 Responses

• Nothing - love it!
• Try a different trade
• Try out another character and wrap my head around them better
• Just try more classes to see some of the other content.
• Try a different class
• Not drink an energy drink beforehand
• Be more active
• Choose a different class and be more bold in game
• Nothing.
• Different character
• Collaborate more effectively with teammates
• Try more equipment
• Try to switch between melee and range combat more often
• I’d just experiment with different tactics and combat options.
• As a player, would choose an alien.
• Different role
• Play style of character.
• More time to explore the world and our characters!
• Play a different character archetype ie the frontline warrior
• Would like to build my own character
• Pick a different character

Question 8 - What would you do the same?
18 Responses

• Would have gone straight to the rifle in the first fight!
• Have fun with the rest of the group
• I’m not too sure
• Roll 3 crits in a row
• Use my skills when needed
• Continue to split the group up to maximise discovery
• Everything.
• Attack attack attack !
• Dumb greaser shenanigans
• Enjoyed durable tank character - I would use same character if group is okay
• I’m really happy with how the campaign went and our group made really good decisions. I’d keep the overall shape of our narrative and decisions the same.
• Mining laser to blow up a radioactive wombat.
• Shoot the enemies
• Nothing!
• Sign up :D
• Have fun
• N/a
• Enjoy the game

Overall really positive feedback across the board, it’s always a gamble asking for any feedback let alone asking people to provide free text comments in a survey that aren’t mandatory fields. I’ll keep reading these responses, thinking them over (probably too much).

Cheers,

Brad