Is it fair to believe Riot puts too much stock in those player surveys? Seems as though you guys are hung up on the "More fun with friends" thing and let it change a big part of your philosophy, despite the game having thrived and done just fine previously.
I want to answer this in a few ways.
First, surveys are a useful tool for us, but like any tool, they have limitations. For example, they can't always answer why a player prefers X to Y, or how much more they prefer X to Y. We combine the data we get from surveys with data we get from what players actually do (such as games played, games lost, that sort of thing), player feedback from things like social media, and our own experiences and intuition as developers.
The second point I want to hit though as why not to leave good enough alone? We believe strongly in League as an evolving game. The continual curation, whether it's fixing a balance problem or updating outdated visuals, is core to the vision of League. When we think we can do something better for players, we try to do it.
Now why do we think this particular direction could make things better for players? "More fun with friends" is a philosophy borne out of a lot of evidence. We hear from players all the time that they wish League, as a team game, was more amenable to friends. We know most players learn League because a friend teaches them, so having friends is a great onboarding tool. We know that players who play with friends stick with League longer, and when players leave, they often do so when their friends leave. We also get the benefit of seeing the teamwork of pros up close and personal, and we even compete in internal Riot tournaments, where we get to experience how rewarding it is to have your team practicing together, getting better together, and celebrating a victory together.
I'm not saying DQ delivers on all of those promises (far from it), but our goal was to give players the opportunity to experience more of that.
First, surveys are a useful tool for us, but like any tool, they have limitations. For example, they can't always answer why a player prefers X to Y, or how much more they prefer X to Y. We combine the data we get from surveys with data we get from what players actually do (such as games played, games lost, that sort of thing), player feedback from things like social media, and our own experiences and intuition as developers.
The second point I want to hit though as why not to leave good enough alone? We believe strongly in League as an evolving game. The continual curation, whether it's fixing a balance problem or updating outdated visuals, is core to the vision of League. When we think we can do something better for players, we try to do it.
Now why do we think this particular direction could make things better for players? "More fun with friends" is a philosophy borne out of a lot of evidence. We hear from players all the time that they wish League, as a team game, was more amenable to friends. We know most players learn League because a friend teaches them, so having friends is a great onboarding tool. We know that players who play with friends stick with League longer, and when players leave, they often do so when their friends leave. We also get the benefit of seeing the teamwork of pros up close and personal, and we even compete in internal Riot tournaments, where we get to experience how rewarding it is to have your team practicing together, getting better together, and celebrating a victory together.
I'm not saying DQ delivers on all of those promises (far from it), but our goal was to give players the opportunity to experience more of that.