Source: TollhouseFrank (thanks for the mail!)
„Hello ladies and gents!
First off, I want to thank everyone who participated in the survey. The response I received was many times larger than I thought I would get. Again, thank you to everyone who participated to help me gather this data!
I did promise you all results. Results you shall receive. Some quick notes about the results of the survey:
THE SURVEY AND PREMISE
This survey was not scientific. It was designed to find the maps that elicit the strongest positive or negative responses. Limiting choices to up to 3 on each question – out of 38 possible selections – allowed me to find these strongest reactions. Also, keep in mind that Empire’s Border is brand new to all servers outside of the Chinese Server, so early opinions are still being formed.
Well, I believe this is where you all are looking for some data. I will give a link to the Raw Data at the very end, if you wish to see everything. To help keep this from being an information overload, I will list only those maps that received at least 10% or more votes in each category. Every map got at least 1 vote in each category. Again, remember that people could choose up to 3 maps in each category, so what the percentage below shows is how many chose that map as part of their 1, 2, or 3 selections they were allowed in that category.
For the votes below, remember, these are the strongest reactions (based on limiting to 3 choices per question). The other maps not listed (below 10% of the vote) just did not elicit as much strong reaction. This could be because they are perfectly average with nothing to make them outstanding. It may also be because while people may like or dislike them, they do not feel so to the extreme of the maps they did vote for. Again, this was designed with that purpose in mind – to find the extremes and figure out which maps are really loved or hated.
OVERALL FAVORITE MAPS
| Favorite Maps | Percent of Vote | Least Favorite Maps | Percent of Vote | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prokhorovka | 32.64% | Paris | 33.60% | |
| Malinovka | 25.76% | Ensk | 28.00% | |
| Redshire | 24.16% | Mines | 24.64% | |
| Sand River | 17.60% | Erlenberg | 14.24% | |
| El Halluf | 15.84% | Province | 14.24% | |
| Murovanka | 15.20% | Abbey | 13.28% | |
| Westfield | 14.56% | Fisherman’s Bay | 13.12% | |
| Steppes | 12.32% | Himmelsdorf | 12.64% | |
| Glacier | 10.56% | Fjords | 11.68% | |
| Himmelsdorf | 10.40% | Malinovka | 10.88% | |
| Prokhorovka | 10.72% |
Tidbits on Overall Favorite/Least Favorite Maps: 3 maps stick out here – Prokhorovka, Malinovka, and Himmelsdorf. They appear on both lists. These maps definitely stand out to you all. To me, this shows they are maps that we should be comparing all others to, both positively and negatively. Their best features and worst features make them stand out from their peers.
LIGHT TANKS
| Favorite Maps | Percent of Vote | Least Favorite Maps | Percent of Vote | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prokhorovka | 59.82% | Ensk | 56.06% | |
| Malinovka | 57.48% | Himmelsdorf | 51.70% | |
| Redshire | 15.68% | Paris | 38.83% | |
| Sand River | 14.95% | Abbey | 24.81% | |
| Murovanka | 14.77% | Mines | 17.99% | |
| El Halluf | 13.33% | Minsk | 10.23% | |
| Fisherman’s Bay | 12.25% | |||
| Karelia | 10.81% | |||
| Steppes | 10.63% |
Tidbits on Light Tank Maps: No surprise here. Wide open spaces and maps that give you chances to sneak around and spot from cover and use your view range/stealth are what you like. Small maps and city maps definitely prevent this sort of behavior, thus making them your least favorites while driving Light Tanks.
MEDIUM TANKS
| Favorite Maps | Percent of Vote | Least Favorite Maps | Percent of Vote | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Live Oaks | 20.36% | Paris | 34.52% | |
| Prokhorovka | 19.09% | Ensk | 33.13% | |
| Redshire | 18.73% | Abbey | 22.22% | |
| Murovanka | 18.55% | Mines | 20.04% | |
| El Halluf | 15.64% | Himmelsdorf | 15.67% | |
| Sand River | 15.64% | Minsk | 11.71% | |
| Fisherman’s Bay | 14.55% | Airfield | 10.91% | |
| Glacier | 14.55% | |||
| Cliff | 14.36% | |||
| Malinovka | 14.18% | |||
| Karelia | 12.91% | |||
| Steppes | 12.00% |
Tidbits on Medium Tank Maps: In every other category, there are a handful of standout maps and then most of the maps do not elicit much reaction. However, for Favorite Maps of Medium Tank drivers, this question had the widest range of maps that people like to play on, with differences in votes for all maps being tiny, with no large drop-offs. This definitely shows to me that Medium Tanks are fulfilling their position of “jack of all trades”, as people just like playing them on the widest range of maps compared to any other class of tank. The maps that people really disliked in Medium Tanks are those that are very restrictive of movement or have almost no way to easily support people in other sections of the map.
HEAVY TANKS
| Favorite Maps | Percent of Vote | Least Favorite Maps | Percent of Vote | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Himmelsdorf | 50.72% | Malinovka | 36.94% | |
| Ensk | 33.27% | Prokhorovka | 33.08% | |
| Ruinberg | 20.68% | Fisherman’s Bay | 15.86% | |
| Paris | 18.17% | Mines | 15.86% | |
| Lakeville | 14.75% | Airfield | 13.35% | |
| El Halluf | 13.13% | Province | 11.61% | |
| Siegfried Line | 11.33% | Erlenberg | 11.41% | |
| Mountain Pass | 10.25% | Sand River | 11.41% | |
| Glacier | 11.03% | |||
| Cliff | 10.25% |
Tidbits on Heavy Tank Maps: In news that shocks absolutely nobody, Heavy Tank drivers love maps with corridors that allow them to use their strong frontal armor while protecting their weak flanks/rears. Heavy Tank drivers also tend to dislike maps that have large open stretches where they are vulnerable before they can get to areas of the map where they can use their armor. As an aside – I honestly believe that had WG not changed the northern and southern most routes on Lakeville to provide more cover en-route to the city, that it would not be as well liked. Also of note – this is the only question where people liked Paris.
TANK DESTROYERS
| Favorite Maps | Percent of Vote | Least Favorite Maps | Percent of Vote | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Malinovka | 37.88% | Ensk | 45.90% | |
| Prokhorovka | 34.62% | Himmelsdorf | 36.89% | |
| Karelia | 19.62% | Paris | 27.66% | |
| El Halluf | 17.12% | Mines | 22.34% | |
| Murovanka | 14.42% | Abbey | 21.72% | |
| Fisherman’s Bay | 13.85% | Fjords | 11.68% | |
| Redshire | 13.85% | |||
| Lakeville | 12.69% | |||
| Airfield | 12.50% | |||
| Sand River | 10.96% | |||
| Cliff | 10.58% | |||
| Erlenberg | 10.58% | |||
| Steppes | 10.58% | |||
| Glacier | 10.00% |
Tidbits on Tank Destroyer Maps: While there was a wide range of well liked maps by Tank Destroyer Drivers, they were different from Medium Tank drivers in that there was a very sharp cutoff on voting. Outside of the maps in the top 10%, votes dropped precipitously. All of these liked maps have something in common – they have a way for Tank Destroyers to operate at range and stay safe, whether the map has lots of corridors like Fisherman’s Bay or is wide open like Prokhorovka. The least liked maps all had something in common – almost all of the engagement corridors are very small and thus reduce a Tank Destroyers ability to work effectively at range.
SPGS
| Favorite Maps | Percent of Vote | Least Favorite Maps | Percent of Vote | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Malinovka | 59.51% | Himmelsdorf | 71.49% | |
| Prokhorovka | 51.68% | Ensk | 57.91% | |
| Airfield | 19.46% | Paris | 51.89% | |
| Sand River | 15.66% | Minsk | 12.47% | |
| Murovanka | 15.44% | Mines | 11.58% | |
| El Halluf | 14.99% | |||
| Live Oaks | 12.30% | |||
| Steppes | 12.08% |
Tidbits on SPG Maps: Once again with results that shock absolutely nobody, SPG players love wide-open maps or Maps where even with corridors, they still have ways to provide lots of support to the team. Maps that have lots of corridors with tall cover or very small maps are not liked by SPG drivers as these maps make it very difficult for them to support their teams, and are often very restrictive in where players can place their SPG to provide any effective fire at all.
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So, what are the conclusions that I can draw from this?
- Paris, Mines, and Ensk are universally disliked, no matter what the class of tank (aside from Heavies liking Paris because city/corridor map).
- Despite all anecdotal evidence to the contrary, Prokhorovka and Malinovka are well loved. I think people just like to pile on the ‘hurr-durr, arty bad’ circlejerk when it comes to these maps.
- Most of the maps just do not elicit a strong response positive or negative. This could be because of many various things. As I stated much earlier on, these maps may just be average with no outstanding features, or they are liked/disliked but not nearly as strongly as the leaders in each category.
Oh yes, I almost forgot. I promised you all the raw data from this so you can see it yourselves. GO HERE for the raw data that has been sorted out neatly for those of you who have an irrational love for numbers.”
