By Ricardo Vitoriano
At Tribal Wars, our community plays a crucial role in the success of the game. Running a game over 20 years comes with many learnings, one of them is if we want to make quality-of-life improvements we need to talk to the people that play our game.
Our community management team constantly collects feedback from players, passing it along to our product and development teams. The teams then evaluate each idea based on feasibility, complexity, and alignment with our long-term strategy. Some ideas are set aside for now, while others move forward for further consideration.
We wanted to close the feedback loop in a meaningful manner, so we set out to conduct our first-ever community poll, allowing players to vote on quality-of-life improvements suggested by fellow players. The response was overwhelming, with an impressive 39% of our Daily Active Users (DAU) participating—largely surpassing our initial goal of 15%!
This level of engagement highlights just how passionate our players are about influencing the game’s future.
Encouraged by the success of our first poll, we launched a second round of voting, which saw a 14% increase in votes, giving players another opportunity to make an impact. Once again, the participation remained strong, and the results have paved the way for further improvements to the game.
How the Polls Worked
From this pool of ideas we collected over time, we selected five potential improvements in each poll that could be implemented in the near future. These were then put to a vote, allowing the community to decide which features should take priority. This transparent and collaborative process ensures that our updates align with player expectations and enhance the overall game experience.
The Results from Both Polls
A total of 31,256 votes were cast during the first poll, with three out of five suggestions receiving more than 70% approval, making them clear winners for implementation. Here’s how the votes turned out:
First Community Poll Results:
| Should we add the nobleman unit to the list of units in the ‘Mass support’ screen? This way you could evacuate your noblemen with the mass support function in case of incoming attacks. | 69% |
| Should we add the possibility for you to add images and tables in mails you send to players? | 80% |
| Should we increase the trade route limit in the account manager under deliveries from 50 to a higher number? | 63% |
| Should we add the possibility for you to see how much you contribute towards the win in the dominance endgame? | 87% |
| Should we add the possibility to import village coordinates to manual groups? This would give you an additional way to manage your manual groups and in some cases would save you some time. | 85% |
With these results in hand, our development team quickly got to work. The three most-supported changes were implemented within a week, demonstrating our commitment to responding to community feedback efficiently.
Second Community Poll Results:
| Should we add the nobleman unit to the list of units in the ‘Mass support’ screen? This way you could evacuate your noblemen with the mass support function in case of incoming attacks. | 70% |
| Should we add an option to share dynamic groups between worlds? | 61% |
| Should we only disable flag acquisition for noble production and leave acquisition active for all other flags once flag farming has been disabled? Currently, flag progression is disabled on worlds after a certain amount of time. This was introduced because it had been heavily exploited by players. However, the main exploitation was with noble production. | 53% |
| Should we introduce a new night mode, e.g. for special worlds, in which armies do not move and fight during the night? Sent armies rest overnight, which extends their traveling time accordingly. The night rests are therefore safe from attacks. | 64% |
| Should we introduce village skins as a new item and as a reward? | 74% |
With the second poll now completed, which received 14% more votes than the first round, we are already working on implementing the most popular suggestions. The addition of village skins, a much-requested feature, received the highest approval rating in this round, showing strong community interest in customization options.
We also felt that in the result of the first round of voting, adding the nobleman unit to the list of units in the ‘Mass support’ was not a clear no and was too close to a yes. So, we brought back the option of a second round.
And we learned a couple of things
While none of these features drastically change game mechanics, they significantly improve the quality of life for our players. From easier troop management to better mail formatting, sharing dynamic groups, and the potential introduction of a night mode, these small but meaningful improvements were designed to make everyday gameplay smoother and more enjoyable.
A motivated team also means fast implementation, one of the standout aspects of these initiatives was the speed of their implementation. The overwhelmingly positive participation rate energized our team, pushing us to deliver these improvements faster than usual. Seeing the community actively engaged in decision-making was incredibly motivating, and we wanted to reward that enthusiasm with quick results.
What’s Next?
Encouraged by the success of these polls, we will continue running regular community votes to ensure our players remain at the heart of game development. These initiatives mark the beginning of a more player-driven approach, and we’re excited to keep working closely with you to enhance the game.
Every voice matters! If you missed out on these polls, don’t worry—more opportunities to vote on game improvements are on the way. Stay tuned to our announcements, and make sure to participate in future polls to help shape the future of Tribal Wars.
Thank you to everyone who voted and contributed to making the game better for all.