I failed to power level a toon again (I end up following story lines rather than just doing content at my level or higher) so well done to those that did it.
Edit : I see i miss some rules, like create it from start after the start date, maybe not bypass the tutorial, etc...that why i fail it, i just take 2 hero that was already start but not really play for long and grow it to lv40 thinking all ok!
If qualified characters really weren't caught in our data pull, we both have an immediate issue and one with database validity. The good news is that with your PMs, we'll be able to manually check this... although finding out when non-detected characters reached level 40 may be difficult. Stay tuned.
"Manually check this"...?
If a player found out about this contest from the launcher news screen and followed the link to the news article here (and read the fine-print rules here) they could easily have entered the contest with a valid, qualifying toon without ever having visited the forums. A lot of players never visit these forums (for a variety of reasons, including that Silver account holders weren't allowed to post for a long time.) Hence, a lot of players - and probably a lot of entrants - will never visit this thread, and have no idea that they need to additionally submit a PM in order to have their characters entered into the drawing.
And I can absolutely 100% ironclad guarantee you that my toon, "Queen of the Night" was made on the 29th, did the Tutorial, and hit 40 long before the deadline. So, yes, you have both an immediate issue and a database issue. Although where the database issue lies (in the data or the SQL for the data pull) I'll leave to you guys.
How immediate of an issue? According to the fine-print rules: "The winners will be notified by the email address associated to the Perfect World account used within 120 hours after the end of the Entry Period." That's Tuesday morning at 9 AM Pacific. Since this isn't likely to be looked at until Monday... Well, good luck with that.
I double checked my log-in screen, my character shows that it was created on Aug. 30th 2012, and I know I dinged 40 with ten hours to spare the night before.
After thinking about it for a few minutes: The code to write the 'hit level 40' event to the database may be triggered by critter kill or mission reward XP, and not by Alert bonus XP. Since most people leveled using Alerts... That would explain a database integrity issue of the magnitude we are apparently seeing here.
Hm. Well, it was just a guess. It's also possible some missions trigger the write to the database and others do not.
I built an overpowered DPS toon (with high survivability and aggro removal) that could carry an alert group almost by herself, so for me it was mostly Alerts. I only did missions while waiting for Alerts to pop.
After thinking about it for a few minutes: The code to write the 'hit level 40' event to the database may be triggered by critter kill or mission reward XP, and not by Alert bonus XP. Since most people leveled using Alerts... That would explain a database integrity issue of the magnitude we are apparently seeing here.
List characters level 40 at the time of the close of the competition.
Sort by creation date.
Collect names of characters created on or after 29th August.
Shouldn't be too tricky to work this out, but as Trailturtle has pointed out, something's amiss with either their query or reporting. I don't envy him the job of sorting this out on Monday.
Personally the only thing I'm worried about is time zone. I'm 17 hours ahead of PST / PDT, and even though I finished with a day to spare, and I am pretty sure I started at the correct time.
I took a costume screenshot and it's datestamped 18:45 on 29-08-2012, so in theory that would make my start time just before 2am on the 29th server time.
If qualified characters really weren't caught in our data pull, we both have an immediate issue and one with database validity. The good news is that with your PMs, we'll be able to manually check this... although finding out when non-detected characters reached level 40 may be difficult. Stay tuned.
This should help you zero in on my finish time as I posted it just after my toon hit level 40.
If qualified characters really weren't caught in our data pull, we both have an immediate issue and one with database validity. The good news is that with your PMs, we'll be able to manually check this... although finding out when non-detected characters reached level 40 may be difficult. Stay tuned.
Excuse me while i go edit/delete my posts with context admitting i didn't make it, then send a PM saying i've been 40 all along Sounds like a trap to me, they're testing which people will claim they hait 40 in time
After thinking about it for a few minutes: The code to write the 'hit level 40' event to the database may be triggered by critter kill or mission reward XP, and not by Alert bonus XP. Since most people leveled using Alerts... That would explain a database integrity issue of the magnitude we are apparently seeing here.
Why on earth would it be triggered by mob kill only? I would assume any code to detect such a thing would be designed to only trigger when it hits 40, not hit 40 while killing a mob :S
Maybe taking a screenshot from the chatwindow message when you dinged to 40 would have been the easiest way to determing the leveling....Or Cryptic to check the chatlogs.
CHAMPIONS ONLINE:Join Date: Apr 2008
And playing by myself since Aug 2009 Godtier: Lifetime Subscriber
Maybe taking a screenshot from the chatwindow message when you dinged to 40 would have been the easiest way to determing the leveling....Or Cryptic to check the chatlogs.
Well we were assured by mgmt that there were sytems in place to track our leveling.
Hmmm... I think I'm beginning to see the problem. :redface:
Ya know, in hindsight that typo isn't so hilarious anymore.
Why on earth would it be triggered by mob kill only? I would assume any code to detect such a thing would be designed to only trigger when it hits 40, not hit 40 while killing a mob :S
If the code were well-designed, the write would be triggered by the Level-Up event. However, if some coder were assigned to write something to record a toon hitting 40, he might go in and put it in the XP_Add() function, not realizing that said function is only called by mob kills, and that alerts add XP to the toon through a different function call. [Note: This is a hypothetical example only, of how such things commonly happen in software development. I know nothing about Cryptic code specifically.]
I've seen similar (and far worse) issues with coding.
Maybe taking a screenshot from the chatwindow message when you dinged to 40 would have been the easiest way to determing the leveling....Or Cryptic to check the chatlogs.
Haha... the free form slot bug all over again, but what does it say about a game if you have to plan ahead and gather proof just incase. nothing good
Yeah, i'm still wondering about the latest news as well. I'm curious if they'll be able get it sorted out, give some of the skipped heroes a little something extra for the troubles (joking here but you never know), or will come up with some reason why their entries really didn't count (like mustaches....) Either way i'm curious to see what the actual culprit was as well as what goodies we get for going 1-40.
As a note, we have now passed the 120 hour window listed in the official rules for notification of the Grand Prize winner.
They never updated the second winner of the Alienware laptop either. That was well over a year ago. If no one remembers that contests, once they had 40,000 and 60,000 likes on there facebook page they were going to give away laptops. They annouced the 40,000 winner but never the 60,000. I believe 40,000 and 60,000 were the right number of likes, but I may off a little.
They never updated the second winner of the Alienware laptop either. That was well over a year ago. If no one remembers that contests, once they had 40,000 and 60,000 likes on there facebook page they were going to give away laptops. They annouced the 40,000 winner but never the 60,000. I believe 40,000 and 60,000 were the right number of likes, but I may off a little.
I remember that.
Does anyone recall if they announced who won that Scion that was being offered in that costume contest that took place nearly three years ago?
When XP earnings during a Double-XP Weekend still feel like I'm underperforming,
there's something terribly wrong with the reward system...
You can find/contact me in game as @PatricianVetinari. Original Join Date: Feb 2010.
According to that website, "... and get your character featured in the game!"
Anyone seen "The Blue Bolt" running around recently? Or ever, for that matter?
Actually, at this point: Can anyone name *ANY* contest in CO where Cryptic has actually delivered the full prize that was advertised? The only one I can think of where that might have occurred is the one that produced Duratok Gorehowl as a sidekick, but I don't know where to find the details of that contest.
I'm sure everyone who put in the effort to get from start to 40 in the contest would like to know what is going on, at least a 'we're still looking into it' would be appreciated
As fellow humans, we understand that sometimes things don't go as planned. We are generally willing to give a pass in these cases... It is however one thing to make a mistake and own it, it's another to hide out, skulking away in the shadows. Please don't let the latter happen.
The last "update" we got was four days ago when TrailTurtle said he'd investigate on Monday (two days ago):
...For everyone else: Please hang tight. Between some HTML issues earlier in the day and handling most of the Neverwinter blog posts for today, I did not have time to look into the leveling contest today. I'll be investigating this on Monday, but it will likely be a debugging process.
If qualified characters really weren't caught in our data pull, we both have an immediate issue and one with database validity. The good news is that with your PMs, we'll be able to manually check this... although finding out when non-detected characters reached level 40 may be difficult. Stay tuned.
We're all hanging tight, but unless you give us more information, there's nothing to which to stay tuned.
Please let us know how Monday's investigation went, what the ETA is for resolution, and ETA for prize distribution.
Communication is the key! Thanks. :redface:
When XP earnings during a Double-XP Weekend still feel like I'm underperforming,
there's something terribly wrong with the reward system...
You can find/contact me in game as @PatricianVetinari. Original Join Date: Feb 2010.
According to that website, "... and get your character featured in the game!"
Anyone seen "The Blue Bolt" running around recently? Or ever, for that matter?
Actually, at this point: Can anyone name *ANY* contest in CO where Cryptic has actually delivered the full prize that was advertised? The only one I can think of where that might have occurred is the one that produced Duratok Gorehowl as a sidekick, but I don't know where to find the details of that contest.
Oddly enough i have, he was by the powerhouse in mil city when my roommate pointed him out. I was debating asking him about the contest, but he disappeared.
Although i'm still curious as to what's going on with the contest as well.
According to that website, "... and get your character featured in the game!"
Anyone seen "The Blue Bolt" running around recently? Or ever, for that matter?
Strangely enough, yes. Twice yesterday. And I checked his level and it was 40, not that 40 means much regarding toon age these days.
But he wasn't wearing that costume nor did he have anything in his bio. And if it were me, I'd MOST DEFINITELY put that link in my bio.
So I have no idea if it was the contest winner or just some toon with the same name.
Anything yet TT? I know this must be taking up more time than expected or allocated but a quick update would be nice, even if only to tell us its still being processed.
Having a PC running around with the name "The Blue Bolt" does not in *ANY* way qualify as having your character "featured in the game."
"Featured in the game" means having the character implemented as an NPC, for anyone to interact with. So, has anyone seen that character actually 'featured in the game' as advertised? i.e. an NPC with that name and costume, not a PC?
If all goes well, prizes for this contest will be distributed after maintenance. Make sure to log in and check the C-Store -- prizes will be in there as a free item you can claim.
Well, i know i did level to 40 in that given time (Created in 30th, leveld to 40 in 5th). If their system is faulty to detect that, i did something that makes me ineligible to qualify, i'm in a region that doesn't allow these kinds of competitions, i would like to know the reason.
Well, i know i did level to 40 in that given time. If their system is faulty to detect that, i did something that makes me ineligible to qualify, i'm in a region that doesn't allow these kinds of competitions, i would like to know the reason.
You and me both, Mr F. Maybe because we're both outside the USA, but I doubt it.
And another thing: I don't care about the money, i wasn't in this competition for the $250, i wan't, if i win ofcourse, the custome Champion Online piece. That's all. You can quote me on that.
CHAMPIONS ONLINE:Join Date: Apr 2008
And playing by myself since Aug 2009 Godtier: Lifetime Subscriber
If all goes well, prizes for this contest will be distributed after maintenance. Make sure to log in and check the C-Store -- prizes will be in there as a free item you can claim.
1) I have only one of my characters on the OP list (Richard Wilkins III), I had two characters qualify, and I had PM'd you the second (California Jones). Do I get two entries in the contest/double prizes?
2) Are these prizes (particularlly the title) account unlocks, or claimable only once? If I make a character in the future, will they be able to claim that title too?
3) What about the Amazon Gift Card drawing? Who wins/won that and how is it being distributed?
When XP earnings during a Double-XP Weekend still feel like I'm underperforming,
there's something terribly wrong with the reward system...
You can find/contact me in game as @PatricianVetinari. Original Join Date: Feb 2010.
Comments
And playing by myself since Aug 2009
Godtier: Lifetime Subscriber
[SIGPIC]http://i221.photobucket.com/albums/dd175/Fifer71/mandrakesigmark3.jpg[/SIGPIC]
Edit : I see i miss some rules, like create it from start after the start date, maybe not bypass the tutorial, etc...that why i fail it, i just take 2 hero that was already start but not really play for long and grow it to lv40 thinking all ok!
"Manually check this"...?
If a player found out about this contest from the launcher news screen and followed the link to the news article here (and read the fine-print rules here) they could easily have entered the contest with a valid, qualifying toon without ever having visited the forums. A lot of players never visit these forums (for a variety of reasons, including that Silver account holders weren't allowed to post for a long time.) Hence, a lot of players - and probably a lot of entrants - will never visit this thread, and have no idea that they need to additionally submit a PM in order to have their characters entered into the drawing.
And I can absolutely 100% ironclad guarantee you that my toon, "Queen of the Night" was made on the 29th, did the Tutorial, and hit 40 long before the deadline. So, yes, you have both an immediate issue and a database issue. Although where the database issue lies (in the data or the SQL for the data pull) I'll leave to you guys.
How immediate of an issue? According to the fine-print rules: "The winners will be notified by the email address associated to the Perfect World account used within 120 hours after the end of the Entry Period." That's Tuesday morning at 9 AM Pacific. Since this isn't likely to be looked at until Monday... Well, good luck with that.
Again, Streaking Star@Rune.
And playing by myself since Aug 2009
Godtier: Lifetime Subscriber
Deliciously nutritious!
The only time Alerts equaled speed for me, was the rare few times the random PUG became a leveling group.
I built an overpowered DPS toon (with high survivability and aggro removal) that could carry an alert group almost by herself, so for me it was mostly Alerts. I only did missions while waiting for Alerts to pop.
Same here, but I did do a furious flurry of alerts the last night for my last six levels, and dinged in an alert.
Hmmmn.
List characters level 40 at the time of the close of the competition.
Sort by creation date.
Collect names of characters created on or after 29th August.
Shouldn't be too tricky to work this out, but as Trailturtle has pointed out, something's amiss with either their query or reporting. I don't envy him the job of sorting this out on Monday.
Personally the only thing I'm worried about is time zone. I'm 17 hours ahead of PST / PDT, and even though I finished with a day to spare, and I am pretty sure I started at the correct time.
I took a costume screenshot and it's datestamped 18:45 on 29-08-2012, so in theory that would make my start time just before 2am on the 29th server time.
Stuffy on the old CO forums. PWE ate my username.
This should help you zero in on my finish time as I posted it just after my toon hit level 40.
http://co-forum.perfectworld.com/showpost.php?p=2354341&postcount=74
And the character selection screen shows "Created on 29 August 2012" for this character so he should have qualified if the tutorial was not required.
Thanks.
People are broken. - Lum the Mad
Excuse me while i go edit/delete my posts with context admitting i didn't make it, then send a PM saying i've been 40 all along
Why on earth would it be triggered by mob kill only? I would assume any code to detect such a thing would be designed to only trigger when it hits 40, not hit 40 while killing a mob :S
And playing by myself since Aug 2009
Godtier: Lifetime Subscriber
Well we were assured by mgmt that there were sytems in place to track our leveling.
Hmmm... I think I'm beginning to see the problem. :redface:
Ya know, in hindsight that typo isn't so hilarious anymore.
People are broken. - Lum the Mad
If the code were well-designed, the write would be triggered by the Level-Up event. However, if some coder were assigned to write something to record a toon hitting 40, he might go in and put it in the XP_Add() function, not realizing that said function is only called by mob kills, and that alerts add XP to the toon through a different function call. [Note: This is a hypothetical example only, of how such things commonly happen in software development. I know nothing about Cryptic code specifically.]
I've seen similar (and far worse) issues with coding.
The problem is that the data I boldfaced above may not exist in the database. You can't pull data that was never saved to the database to begin with.
Haha... the free form slot bug all over again, but what does it say about a game if you have to plan ahead and gather proof just incase. nothing good
Good point. Cynical, but valid, kinda
he's always deleting and redoing his toon xD :biggrin:
@Scrizz :biggrin:
Anxiously wondering the same thing. :eek:
People are broken. - Lum the Mad
Honestly part (not all, I readily admit) of the reason was due to doubt they'd record it all correctly.
Fortunately they're not so good at following their rules for contests. :eek:
Still... given that I notice TT's fingers are apparently not broken, an update would be nice. :cool:
People are broken. - Lum the Mad
They never updated the second winner of the Alienware laptop either. That was well over a year ago. If no one remembers that contests, once they had 40,000 and 60,000 likes on there facebook page they were going to give away laptops. They annouced the 40,000 winner but never the 60,000. I believe 40,000 and 60,000 were the right number of likes, but I may off a little.
I remember that.
Does anyone recall if they announced who won that Scion that was being offered in that costume contest that took place nearly three years ago?
When XP earnings during a Double-XP Weekend still feel like I'm underperforming,
there's something terribly wrong with the reward system...
You can find/contact me in game as @PatricianVetinari. Original Join Date: Feb 2010.
http://championsonline.ign.com/
And playing by myself since Aug 2009
Godtier: Lifetime Subscriber
Finn delivers. Thanks.
According to that website, "... and get your character featured in the game!"
Anyone seen "The Blue Bolt" running around recently? Or ever, for that matter?
Actually, at this point: Can anyone name *ANY* contest in CO where Cryptic has actually delivered the full prize that was advertised? The only one I can think of where that might have occurred is the one that produced Duratok Gorehowl as a sidekick, but I don't know where to find the details of that contest.
*sits in the corner rocking back and forth silently*
And playing by myself since Aug 2009
Godtier: Lifetime Subscriber
Its passed the date the winner should be announced and nothing, no winner and nothing about all the characters you didnt include that qualified...
As fellow humans, we understand that sometimes things don't go as planned. We are generally willing to give a pass in these cases... It is however one thing to make a mistake and own it, it's another to hide out, skulking away in the shadows. Please don't let the latter happen.
The last "update" we got was four days ago when TrailTurtle said he'd investigate on Monday (two days ago):
We're all hanging tight, but unless you give us more information, there's nothing to which to stay tuned.
Please let us know how Monday's investigation went, what the ETA is for resolution, and ETA for prize distribution.
Communication is the key! Thanks. :redface:
When XP earnings during a Double-XP Weekend still feel like I'm underperforming,
there's something terribly wrong with the reward system...
You can find/contact me in game as @PatricianVetinari. Original Join Date: Feb 2010.
Oddly enough i have, he was by the powerhouse in mil city when my roommate pointed him out. I was debating asking him about the contest, but he disappeared.
Although i'm still curious as to what's going on with the contest as well.
Strangely enough, yes. Twice yesterday. And I checked his level and it was 40, not that 40 means much regarding toon age these days.
But he wasn't wearing that costume nor did he have anything in his bio. And if it were me, I'd MOST DEFINITELY put that link in my bio.
So I have no idea if it was the contest winner or just some toon with the same name.
Anything yet TT? I know this must be taking up more time than expected or allocated but a quick update would be nice, even if only to tell us its still being processed.
People are broken. - Lum the Mad
Having a PC running around with the name "The Blue Bolt" does not in *ANY* way qualify as having your character "featured in the game."
"Featured in the game" means having the character implemented as an NPC, for anyone to interact with. So, has anyone seen that character actually 'featured in the game' as advertised? i.e. an NPC with that name and costume, not a PC?
More details at http://co-forum.perfectworld.com/showthread.php?p=2429381
And the Offical Fine Print Rules Link is broken. http://www.perfectworld.com/404?url=%2Fwordpress%2F&p=655271
And playing by myself since Aug 2009
Godtier: Lifetime Subscriber
You and me both, Mr F. Maybe because we're both outside the USA, but I doubt it.
Stuffy on the old CO forums. PWE ate my username.
And playing by myself since Aug 2009
Godtier: Lifetime Subscriber
1) I have only one of my characters on the OP list (Richard Wilkins III), I had two characters qualify, and I had PM'd you the second (California Jones). Do I get two entries in the contest/double prizes?
2) Are these prizes (particularlly the title) account unlocks, or claimable only once? If I make a character in the future, will they be able to claim that title too?
3) What about the Amazon Gift Card drawing? Who wins/won that and how is it being distributed?
When XP earnings during a Double-XP Weekend still feel like I'm underperforming,
there's something terribly wrong with the reward system...
You can find/contact me in game as @PatricianVetinari. Original Join Date: Feb 2010.
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
Click up there if you want to find more about the costumes behind my heroines.