Last time I asked for feedback and listed off a number of questions I was interested in hearing what you had to say. I got 173 responses by e-mail and two (count 'em, 2) by snail mail. This shows that almost all of you have some access to e-mail. A good thing to know.

As I would have guessed, customer service/ support was the very top of the things you liked about the company with 143 of you point that out. Next in line (with 83) were those who pointed out the consistently high-quality games. The very next item (with 54) was the series concept which is countered by the 11 who listed it as a bad thing. From there, the numbers drop off rapidly (the next is production quality with 23) and very rapidly splay out into all kinds of individual topics.

In the "least favorite" category, the very top item (garnering only 34 responses) was that there wasn't enough releases per year. The next on that list (with all of 19) were those who's great wish was that the company and/or Homercon should be located wherever they are (which included 19 places to match the 19 responses!). Beyond those, you run into the many, many items each grabbing just a handful of mentions. The negative items listed ran all over the field and were far less concentrated in any specific are than the positive ones. I had guys who didn't like the "Proudly Produced in the USA" label, others who loved icons (matched by an equal number that hated them), and even a guy who felt moved enough to object to Dave Powell's politics (!). All over the place.

157 responded that they did have e-mail, 1 that he didn't, and several suggested that they were using e-mail on the sly at work (your secret is safe with me).

60% of you subscribe to Gamers-L. Several of those who do not used to but dropped it for one reason or another. A number did not know what it was. Several commented that the off-topic discussions turned them off and quite a number complemented Steve Graham's wonderful handling of the list (take a bow, Steve!).

Of what we could do to make the list more interesting. Some suggested that we need to find them more time in their day. Others suggested a digest form (which I thought was there ... though it has had some "issues" over the years). Others felt they got the same information from other sources (such as Consimworld).

For Operations, guys suggested a number of changes as seen in this issue (elimination of the more repetitive content). Many suggested replay articles which is something your merciless editor has been trying to get for years ... anybody have some game they want to write about? Please be in touch. This is one of those things we want to do, too, but just don't have the sources to get the desired articles. Some were fairly specialized in the series they like and did not want the mag which tried to please guys in "that other system". One admitted to not subscribing because his friend's issue was good enough for him:-)

So, what did I get out of this? Your input confirmed a number of hunches I had about what guys liked and didn't like. It provided an objective basis for some things I had thought objectively for years. For example, the number of identical items that showed up as good and bad in equal numbers confirms Owen Fuller's 50% rule (no matter what you do, half the people will hate it). The lack of any significant concentration of responses in the negative section tells me that there isn't anything a large number of you can point at as a major problem in the company (and something that needs some serious attention right away). The concentrations in the positive section reinforced the things we already knew were of critical importance to our continued success.

I'm not sure when I'll feel the need to do this again. I figure the sample I got was indicative of the entire population out there and (at the same time) will not be subject to quick shifts of opinion that need to be kept track of. A snapshot once in a while will be plenty provided I listen to the results and you guys are willing to give he feedback requested. Thank you to all who took the time to participate!