This was strange - and rather refreshing actually.

I haven't touched RoF in a long time. Suddenly, in my email today, I get an electronic survey from them asking the best way to improve RoF. I'm tickled that A) they monitor how much we play, or at least how often we log-in and B) that they really seem concerned about our opinion. It shows to me that they're concerned about pleasing their customers.

Here's what they sent out:

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Dear XXXXXXXXX!

Thank you for buying “Rise of Flight: The First Great Air War”!
You have not been playing the game for a long time, and we feel regret if we did not come up to your expectations from our project. We would like to ask you to answer several questions that will help us to make “Rise of Flight” back worthy of your attention. We are sure that your opinion will help us to improve the game and make your playing more comfortable.

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The questions were as follows:

1) Does your PC meet the “Rise of Flight: The First Great Air War” minimum system requirements?
2) Have you managed to easily configure the following devices and settings? Joystick / TrackIR / Graphics / Audio
3) We know about necessity to reload the game each time if you have changed the default settings. We are working on the update that will fix this. And it will be out in December 2009. What are the other difficulties you have faced to when configuring the game?
4) What characteristics of your Internet connection do hamper your playing the “Rise of Flight”?
5) Have you managed how to control a plane?
6) What was the most difficult in mastering a plane?
7) Please rate each game mode with 1 to 5 marks. (1-the worst, 5-the best) - The options are Training campaign / Single player / Career mode / Multiplayer
8) Please write down one improvement that will make the “Rise of Flight” interesting for you.

To number 8, I answered:
I can't write just one. Here are the three things I'd want to see in Rise of Flight:

** Add instant respawn dogfight servers in multiplayer. Make it easy for people to just fly and fight online, and remove the need to "ready" on those servers. Just let people fly and have fun, and improve their skills!
** Create a real Quick Mission Builder, such as the one featured in IL-2. Choose number of friendly aircaft flights, opponent numbers and type, altitude, weather, location, and any ground-based obstacles (AAA, barrage balloons, etc.). A system like this is necessary for proper training against different aircraft and in different conditions.
** Improve the user interface. (a) Have the game remember your machine gun convergence settings and chosen aircraft skin every time you fly. (b) Move the "realism" menu to an optional page, so you don't have to click through it every time you fly.

9) What games do you play / or used to play?

Thanks for mentioning DF servers to them. That's what I need most, too (I didn't get an eval mail yet).

... are you limited to only one page?

Not from what I saw. For the non-multiple choice questions - #3, #6, and #8 - they give you a text box without a word limit.

One thing I wished they'd added was a question about the things you LIKE about the game. Every question they have is implied to be negative. I'd personally like to tell them some of the things they've done right - flight model, graphics, scenery, etc. I am happy about certain aspects of the game and wish there was a way to express that.

Yes WP, that would be great feedback too!

I think this is disturbing if you ask me. They are actively monitoring how much people are playing the game? Then if you don't play 'enough' they send you an e-mail?

That's one thing I didn't like about it. I had to "get over" my reluctance to buy the game due to the always online requirement- yes, I'm one of the weird ones that doesn't like the always online stat collecting when I all want to do is fly around a bit offline. Finally tried out the new patch for a whooping 5 min. and quit. Next day I get this email asking to take the survey and stating this: "You have not been playing the game for a long time, and we feel regret if we did not come up to your expectations from our project." thus reminding me of one of the "cons" I have about this particular business model decision.

I understand all the reasons for it, just don't like it that much. Not sure I would call it "disturbing" though.

..... BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING!

I kinda find the list of "other games" a bit silly.

I use the word 'disturbing' because in the 15 years I have played computer games, I have never gotten a message from a developer telling me "Oh. You aren't playing our game anymore, why is this? Tell me why?"

Seems like something an ex-girlfriend would do, not a business. If I am not playing your game just deal with it. There are plenty of constructive opinions, ideas, and thoughts about RoF on these forums. If Neoqb wants to improve their game they would be using these other sources.

I would also be interested to know if these are solicited messages or unsolicited. -Meaning was their something in the EULA or a check box that said "Neoqb can email you at anytime".

Might be splitting hairs because I don't enjoy RoF that much, but professionalism has never been Neoqb's strong area.

Bravo!

Communication ... Mebbe they are finally getting it. Only time knows for certain but a step in the right direction Be Sure.

Shhh! Don't tell anyone or they might grab ya!!!

I've been playing some MMORPG maybe 5 years ago, then abandoned it. Once in a while they still send me a reminder, a summary of past updates and an offer to play for a month for free.
I wonder how long would one have to ignore RoF to get a free plane offer

I think it's great that they are monitoring how much people are playing. If the game died on it's feet then they'd certainly see it coming.

I also asked for dedicated dogfight server software (with an admin console).

.... Okaaaaaaaaay ! .....................

I honestly don't think they're sitting there looking over your shoulder while you fly in the comfort of your own home.

It's likely their customer database has a "last login date" field in it. If that date is older than a certain amount of time - 1 month, 2 months, whatever - their system automatically sends out an e-mail to see if there's anything they can do to bring you back.

Many brick and mortar businesses do the same. It's nothing new to keep track of customer satisfaction.

Targeting only those who haven't played RoF in along time seems a bit silly if you ask me. The rest of us have opinions about what could be improved as well; just because they are plastered all over this and the RoF forum doesn't mean that they know everything we want.

It would be more logical to send the survey to ALL RoF owners.

It is good business for all Flight Sim's to use the data they have to send out emails and ask for feedback. Of course most do have data on how much a player plays. This is a positive user support step which indicates they understand they have problems and I hope they use the feedback quickly. I bet most players will not ask for more A/C vs feature improvements,fixes, and missing content.

They are asking the correct players, as well, the ones who have stopped playing ROF.

I bet, I will get a survey.

That's an excellent point. When I was filling out the survey, I didn't think once about the airplanes I'd like to see. (Sopwith Camel, two-seaters, etc.) I just want them to fix and improve what's already there.

I haven't received this survey but I wouldn't mind if I did.

I received a similar survey yesterday from a web site dealing with collecting military surplus firearms asking why I hadn't posted in awhile. The simple answer is that, while I have a very large (and very expensive; some of these guns are very rare) collection, I'm not in the market right now so I lurk on their site rather than post. I just want to read what the active buyers and sellers are saying.

However, I was pleased they asked and pleased I could reply.

Same with this RoF survey.

I'm glad RoF is seeking feedback, especially from those who are unhappy with it. I would recommend answering the questions.

HT