I like DEFCON 1’s approach, but the fact of the matter is, at the numbers WotC is dealing with, you can fill out the survey however the heck you want, and it won’t be more than a ripple in a river. Unless you organize some kind of mass action.
70% is the threshold for further iteration, 80% and above is accepted, pending tweaks based on internal playtesting and/or survey comments. It is rare and difficult to clear 80% on the first try. I think only Advantage/Disadvantage, Proficiency Bonus, and now Cunning Strike have achieved that. Everything else has been iterated on.
At 69% or lower, necessary elements get redesigned and peripheral elements get canned. Bastions is the kind of thing to get canned. The thing is, if it gets on 69% approval, it means most people just went, “Meh.” Whether you gave it 5 stars, 3 stars, or 1 star, the problem is that
most people just said, “Eh.” One response, no matter how eloquently commented, nor how poorly rated in bad faith, is not going to change that. Not even a hundred such responses would move the needle. Rest assured that if you hate some feature, it will be removed if thousands of other people hate it, too. Same with a feature you like. Just be prepared that you may find yourself in the minority. If you think Bastions needs another pass, or even heavy revision, but 80% are satisfied, and it goes in relatively unchanged, well, that’s the system working as intended.
So rate things however you want. But if you really want to engage with the survey, leave constructive comments. We know they read those, and as
this Treantmonk video shows, such comments can actually inspire action.
