So, the survey we put out for the NOVA has a very high percentage response rate by now, and provides some very valuable input from the players themselves ...
Here are a few highlights, for your consumption
Several people are complaining about the terrain at various venues, loudly! Let's look at what the participants as a whole thought:
Asked whether players would like to play with the same amount of LOS blocking terrain again? 93% said yes.
Asked opinion about the terrain as a whole?
87% said it was Good or Excellent; 95% said it was Average, Good, or Excellent
What about cheating / sportsmanship / slow play / etc?
Asked about their experiences regarding opponents compared to the norm at the NOVA,
77% said Above Average
98% said Average or Above Average
What about the Independence Center as the Game Hall?
81% Very Satisfied or Satisfied
94% Neutral, Satisfied, or Very Satisfied
Other than a few more complaining sorts, the response to terrain, game hall, and sportsmanship was overwhelmingly positive!
What about the Hyatt as a whole, though?
62% of those who stayed at the Hyatt were satisfied or very satisfied with their rooms / room rates for value ($109/night)
17% were dissatisfied or very dissatisfied
The rest were "neutral"
What about the Hyatt food?
26% were satisfied with the food
42% were dissatisfied or very dissatisfied
The rest were "neutral"
So, this is more telling - not very high marks for the Hyatt for value ... over the comments you're able to sort of see that people felt it was a nice hotel, and a nice gaming venue, but too nickle-and-dime, and the food was either slow or expensive (or both).
When asked whether the NOVA was better than expected, as expected, or less than expected ...
77% said "Better Than Expected," and 97% said "As Expected" or "Better Than Expected." Many of those 20% saying "as expected" also specifically stated thereafter in their comments that they expected it to be awesome.
What about value for cost? 99.3% said Fair, Neutral, Good, or Excellent. 96% said Neutral, Good, or Excellent. 85% said Good, or Excellent.
Demographics? 94% of our attendees are over 22 years old. 50% are over 30 years old. Interesting.
How did we do in terms of keeping things organized?
87% said Excellent or Good
96% said Neutral, Excellent, or Good
100% said Fair, Neutral, Excellent, or Good
0% said "Poor"
Finally, when ranking the NOVA on a scale of 1-5, where a 1 was "Fair" and a 5 was "Off the Charts" ... 85% said 4 or 5; 97% said 3, 4, or 5. Nearly half voted it a "5."
So are the handful of negative blog reviews reflective of the majority? Not even in the slightest ways imaginable.
Do we have a lot to improve on? Hell yes! The best part of this review was the contribution of constructive suggestions for improvement. Nothing beats a positive suggestion given by a guy who enjoyed himself, but wants to see it be even better next year. My kind of comments.
A couple of choice "Single phrase summations" of the NOVA that tickled my fancy ...
Awesomefunweekend! (that's one word right? :))
Tough friendly opponents, Beautiful armies, unparalleled terrain, Competitive scoring, What all 40k Tournaments should be.
It was the best experience I could have had for my first GT. Thanks Mike and crew!!
Captures the GW GT spirit with a modern competitive edge.
NOVA has set a new standard for the social aspect of the tabletop wargaming hobby.
The NOVA was the best tournament I have attended in twenty+ years of running and playing 40K events.
I agree! I wish I would have gotten a survey! We are modeling a lot of what you do in our Indy Open coming next year. Great Job Mike and team!
ReplyDeleteIn my defense, as I noted terrain as a place for improvement on my survey, it did not affect the fun factor of my games in any way. Because I thought that the terrain would be similar to last year's, I designed a list that would hopefully do well in that environment. Turned out that wasn't the case and my list's effectiveness was drastically reduced.
ReplyDeleteHOWEVER: It forced a challenge upon my list, which created some very close games for me. This is why I play 40k; it was exciting to try and salvage wins in obscure ways. I was placed into a disadvantage and I had to work out how to win the game with what I had. And it was fun. Turns out, I was in every single game I played, except for one. Change a couple dice rolls in several games and I would have won. But that is the way the game goes and that is what I like about it. I think it taught me to think outside the box when the ideal situation doesn't come up, so while my record wasn't as good as I hoped, I definitely got something out of the weekend. ;)
So I'm not complaining in the least, I was simply unprepared. But as I said before, I won't be caught with my pants down again! Plus, as a whole, my opponent's were excellent and awesome to play against. :D