People are inherently bad at rating things. Why not run a “This or that?” style study instead?
Given a list of items to rate, pair them up randomly. Ask a person which item they like better out of each pair. Run through Final Four type eliminations until you get down to their number one preference.
Run through this process for each person, beginning with different random pairings every time.
Record data on all the choices - not just the final ones. You should be able to get good data like that.
For example, there will probably be a thing that is so disliked that it gets eliminated in the first round more frequently than anything else. The inverse will likely be true of a highly-preferred item. And I am sure you can identify other insights as well.
Plot twist: the mystery foe won’t expect her shield upgrades, which will save the day. For this, she will be asked back, and she will hAvE tO mAkE a DiFfIcUlT cHoIcE aBoUt HeR fUtUrE.
