From: Adam Delafield <A.Delafield@b...>
Date: Tue, 17 Dec 1996 10:41:29 -0500
Subject: Prelimenary results
Date sent: 17-DEC-1996 15:35:06 Answers Just the Means so far, but here is how it looks. > Please send your answers as a single line with 5 for agree and 1 for OK. I recoded the answers into -2 to +2 range, as this puts 0 as neutral. Variability means just that, that the scores were varied. The smaller the variability, the more significant the results. I only had 18 responses, so the variability had to be low for a good result. Take 4 score for example. -2, -2, +2, +2 has more variability than -2, -1, 1, 2 even though the mean is still 0. > Now for the Questions (some of these are for my own interest); Valid Variable Mean Std Dev Minimum Maximum N > 1.) I Would like to see a new version of FT > 2.) A batterys are too powerful > 3.) C batterys are too weak > 4.) Capitals are too powerful > 5.) Swarms of Escorts are too powerful > 6.) Fighters are too powerful > 7.) I prefer realistic movement > 8.) I would like to have ships balanced by mass > 9.) I would be against any change in the core rules > 10.) I would like to see more systems > 11.) I would like more powerful weapons > 12.) The Kra'Vak are too powerful > 13.) The Svasku are too powerful > 14.) The standard ships are too weak > 15.) I use optional rules in my games (1)=never (5)=always > 16.) I use a large table (3)=4'x6' (5)=8'x10'+ (1)=2'x2'- > 18.) I am a big SF fan > 19.) I would like to see 'fleet books' for the 'official' background > 20.) The problems in FT demand a reworking of the core rules. FT20 -1.56 .70 -2 0 18 Generally, only a score who is greater than the variability can be said to have any significance. So that would be 12, 15, 18 and 20. However, Neutral views can be significant too, especially 13 which has the lowest variability. (or is it just that no-one plays Svasku?) I think we can say that the core rules do not need rewriting, but that optional rules that you can use or discard as you wish are in great demand. Oh yes, and us SF fans think the Kra'Vak are too powerful. All the balance problems seemed to get bellow average scores (negative values). This means that in general people think that the balance problems we talk about do not exist, are balanced by other factors, or are simply not important. Comparing 10 and 11 also confirms what I suspected. People like extra gadgets to play with, but do not want more powerful weapons.