HT-Survey 2.0: The results!

In Hattrick Backstage federation (108435) we have seen over the years the users of the game becoming much more demanding. This is one of the reasons why the HT’s should be careful when deploying applications, because criticism is lurking around the corner. But is any decision condemned a priori? The answer to that question is what we were looking for when we launched the "HT Survey 2.0”. (16317422.1)

We opened our survey in July and left it open for a few weeks so users could give their opinion. The number of participants exceeded our expectations, with almost a thousand managers who made their contribution. We gave them a list of 71 changes / modifications / applications to assess, on a scale of 0 to 5. Here we give you, the community, the results of additional analysis.

We decided to analyze the individual score of single changes in the rest of the article, but for those that want to have a general idea of the users' reactions, here are the overall scores across some categories of changes:

Cat.	Description	Score
A	Social media, external	49,70%
B	Business	57,74%
C	New competitions	62,85%
D	Cosmetic additions	63,94%
E	Social media, internal	73,60%
F	CHPP	75,98%
G	Core game	76,86%
H	Stats, graphs etc.	79,11%
I	user interface	80,04%

Social media and website integration
Social media is very popular in today's society. Yet we see that the link with Facebook doesn’t suit the taste of the community. The question is whether this is due to the managers, who do not need to integrate social media in Hattrick, or to the implementation efforts of the HT's themselves.

A 'like' button, in imitation of the famous Facebook-button was however greeted with cheers, with 88 % of managers who seem comfortable with it. The same can be said about the addition to writing about specific events and messages. For example, the ability to link a press release to a match was rewarded with a high score.

A change that was rather neutrally received were the new blogs on Hattrick United, with 50% of the users only giving a score of 2 or 3. Also, the ability to "recruit" friends does not get the high score we expected. With many votes in the neutral zone, the question arises whether the current system meets the (often high ) requirements of users.

It seems very obvious that the system of "reward points" for many managers shot the wrong way. The HT's have seemingly done well to remove this feature. For many managers, the corresponding spammails and unexpected costs were clearly too much.

Who thinks of integration, immediately makes the connection with the CHPP programs. Inserting the match orders through a CHPP program can count on much sympathy, as also the improvements in the CHPP 2.0 package and the new authentication system.

Website Features
Website functions are generally understood as the applications that have an impact on the user experience, such as, for example, the picture or the team meeting Bob at the bank. However, these cases are not known to everyone, as it often happens with statistics and other functionalities. Yet, many managers feel that many of these statistics are ready for change.
Not so much the idea is bad, according to the user, but rather the way in which something is being used. E.g. many managers think the team of the week is a great idea, but the way it is determined is to be renewed.

Financial charts, club themes and making a club logo on the logo maker are all features that generally get a good score, but they also got a surprisingly high number of low scores. This may indicate that not everyone uses these functions, or takes them seriously. Nevertheless, things like the avatars are very well perceived, with 78% of users who gave a very positive score, of which 43% the maximum score.

That the fora are an important part of Hattrick is proven by the vibrant community, nevertheless it continues to gradually shrink. Yet the forumusers remain active and they have accepted the search function in thanks. Bookmarks also remain an essential part of Hattrick, at least for the fans. 81% of the users signal that they’re very content with the ability to organize the bookmarks. And they also signal in great numbers that the ability to add the matches of your supporters to HT-Live can provide a good overview.

Game Features
In the game itself, there are certain features that relate to the gaming experience, such as inserting the order form, the statistics after the game, and many others . These functions are directly related to matches so everyone has to deal with it anyway.

The number of games has increased dramatically in recent years . This is in the form of ladder competitions, tournaments and single matches . The ladder competitions are not an immediate success , with 60 % of the managers who have a neutral opinion. However, a single match is much more popular, even though it costs a credit. For tournaments, one needs to pay two credits or purchase a supporter package, what tempers its popularity.

Other changes relate to the matches themselves. Such as the changes around the declining skills, the change in the personnel system and the like. Many of these features are appreciated by the managers. Removing the training 'General' is an example of this. With 55% managers giving this adjustment a 4 or a 5, the users seem generally pleased with the alternatives to get players in shape. Numerous other changes regarding the 'Match Engine' , who determine the outcome of matches, often elicits a positive response from the users.

A nice addition for many users is the live table on the seriespage . Like the HT-Live page, you can see here how the current ranking is within the series, which can be interesting when there is an important duel between your competitors. It creates a lot of excitement in the game, which is an added value for a game like Hattrick.

Another aspect of Hattrick is the financial side of a football club. Many managers are very happy when there is more money in the till, for example through lower wages or higher ticket prices.

Automation and keeping the game easy is very important. That is why very often the small changes score well . For example, many managers were very pleased with the reduction of the maximum duration of an injury. Nevertheless there’s also some criticism concerning some details. There are the stars that have changed in numbers. Many would have preferred the option to choose between stars and numbers.

Supporter
Long, long ago , in a faraway land... There once was a game that offered supporter to the community as a way to get financial support. Nowadays HT -Supporter is a classic product, as offered by many companies. However, the purpose of supporter seems to have changed, hence why many users have doubts about supporting Hattrick.

To justify the price increases HT-supporter was divided into three packages: Platinum, Gold and Silver. Something for everyone, so it sounded . With Platinum users even got the opportunity to manage a second team in their country of choice. Many managers are satisfied with this division of the supporter package, despite the differing opinions on the forums. The second team is generally accepted positively, with the same differing opinions on the forums. On the same forums many discussions about the prices and the different rates per country are held, even though many users consider this a fair distribution.

The federations are an important part of the supporter package. Yet many managers signal that they are not really charmed by the new federation enhancements . Here lies an important task for the HT’s because the federations are still an important part of the supporter package, which many managers continue to enjoy. In contrast, the "immortality" of supporters is a nice extra for many managers. Finally, the current price is another story , this is according to our data clearly too high.

Other Features
Another feature that benefits the game according to the community is the new managers license. Most managers of course have no interest in it, but the fact that HT 's are working on it, seems to please them nevertheless. The new election rules are another feature that is appreciated by many managers, due to the prevention of fraud.

Switching series in the two lowest divisions and “my office” are two other features that are considered to be a good addition. The first mainly because it is easier to play with your friends. The latter because the office is sometimes useful to avoid important matters to be forgotten.

Conclusion
After many hours of work, we can finally conclude that there have been a lot of good improvements but also some that did not score as well . For more details, we invite you into our topic on Global (16474386.1).

Zoldon & SG1990

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Editor's note: we thank you the authors for their survey. The data used for the article is available here: (http://www.2shared.com/document/UvwYPZN5/surveypunten.html)

Link izravno na ovaj članak (HT-ML, za forum): [ArticleID=17674]