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folks don't have "weekends"
mattsacre
Member Posts: 330 Arc User
I've said sort of similar things in other threads in the past on other issues, and yet the problem keeps popping up in progressive other issues. It has led me to come up with a possible new idea, let's give it a try.
Problem: WEEKENDS
Many of us folks in real live world don't have WEEKENDS.
Some of us either work on traditional WEEKENDS, thus not having a normal fri., sat, sun weekend..we have a weekmiddle.
Some other folks work shiftwork were they are 4 on 3 off etc.
Some others work weeks on end say graveyard, then weeks on days, then weeks on swing etc.
Some folks simply have their weekends different like wednsday and Thursday.
All of this ^ to say WE DON'T HAVE WEEKENDS!
And yet time and again you plan/announce content, events and rewards that happen ONLY on a WEEKEND!
Leaving us middleweekers shut out on the event or CTA or rewards or whatever...a true irritant. I have missed out on all the 2x RP "rewards" because of my rotation schedule not falling on a "weekend". I have missed out on all but 2 CTA for 2 yrs now because they were on "weekends" and MY "weekend" didn't fall on the scheduled "weekend" you designated.
I know that maybe CTA thing can't be fixed for folk like me, due to server population (maybe not, maybe us "middleweekers" could fill a CTA just fine!) I know that many of the weeklong events or multiweek (like the winter event) are great for us "middleweeker" to get a taste except the problem: the rewards are based on us logging on every one of those weekdays in the week (a thing we can't do as "middleweekers"). Many of us just log on a few day and then say "pfft forget it, can't get the reward..why bother?"
So how about this possible solution:
TOKEN FOR OUR OWN WEEKEND REWARD.
So things that aren't based on a absolute population server thing, like 2x RP "weekend". You don't need other players for that, so how about a token when used starts your own "personal weekend timer" that for the next 3 days you get 2x RP..ON OUR SCHEDULE not the "weekend" schedule.
Another idea:
CTA scheduled "middleweek" tue, wed, thur for a change, so maybe those folks on rotation have a chance to CTA.
But above all else, MORE NOTICE!
You announce a 2x reward weekend like late on a thursday night that starting at X time on Friday 2x RP is going on, or this that or the other. Since some of us aren't going to be on at that time, we don't even know it's going on until it's well over! A few of us, even though we are fall-down-exhausted, MIGHT , with enough notice (like when we are on during "middleweek" will log on during that weekend for a hr or so (risking our health and employment) to take advantage of the 2x RP weekend.
So in short:
1.Throw us "middleweekers" a bone now and then and schedule some midweek CTA/events NOT bound to holidays (most of us work holidays)
2.Make announcements of things to come well in advance.
3.Consider a new rewards item "personal weekend token: X*" that we can use on our schedule not NW's or the rest of the servers.
*X=effect activated (example:3 days of RP 2x, 3 days of bonus XP, 2 days of bonus 10% loot drops. etc)
Thanks for listening:D, Matt
Problem: WEEKENDS
Many of us folks in real live world don't have WEEKENDS.
Some of us either work on traditional WEEKENDS, thus not having a normal fri., sat, sun weekend..we have a weekmiddle.
Some other folks work shiftwork were they are 4 on 3 off etc.
Some others work weeks on end say graveyard, then weeks on days, then weeks on swing etc.
Some folks simply have their weekends different like wednsday and Thursday.
All of this ^ to say WE DON'T HAVE WEEKENDS!
And yet time and again you plan/announce content, events and rewards that happen ONLY on a WEEKEND!
Leaving us middleweekers shut out on the event or CTA or rewards or whatever...a true irritant. I have missed out on all the 2x RP "rewards" because of my rotation schedule not falling on a "weekend". I have missed out on all but 2 CTA for 2 yrs now because they were on "weekends" and MY "weekend" didn't fall on the scheduled "weekend" you designated.
I know that maybe CTA thing can't be fixed for folk like me, due to server population (maybe not, maybe us "middleweekers" could fill a CTA just fine!) I know that many of the weeklong events or multiweek (like the winter event) are great for us "middleweeker" to get a taste except the problem: the rewards are based on us logging on every one of those weekdays in the week (a thing we can't do as "middleweekers"). Many of us just log on a few day and then say "pfft forget it, can't get the reward..why bother?"
So how about this possible solution:
TOKEN FOR OUR OWN WEEKEND REWARD.
So things that aren't based on a absolute population server thing, like 2x RP "weekend". You don't need other players for that, so how about a token when used starts your own "personal weekend timer" that for the next 3 days you get 2x RP..ON OUR SCHEDULE not the "weekend" schedule.
Another idea:
CTA scheduled "middleweek" tue, wed, thur for a change, so maybe those folks on rotation have a chance to CTA.
But above all else, MORE NOTICE!
You announce a 2x reward weekend like late on a thursday night that starting at X time on Friday 2x RP is going on, or this that or the other. Since some of us aren't going to be on at that time, we don't even know it's going on until it's well over! A few of us, even though we are fall-down-exhausted, MIGHT , with enough notice (like when we are on during "middleweek" will log on during that weekend for a hr or so (risking our health and employment) to take advantage of the 2x RP weekend.
So in short:
1.Throw us "middleweekers" a bone now and then and schedule some midweek CTA/events NOT bound to holidays (most of us work holidays)
2.Make announcements of things to come well in advance.
3.Consider a new rewards item "personal weekend token: X*" that we can use on our schedule not NW's or the rest of the servers.
*X=effect activated (example:3 days of RP 2x, 3 days of bonus XP, 2 days of bonus 10% loot drops. etc)
Thanks for listening:D, Matt
Post edited by mattsacre on
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Comments
To make everybody happy, may be it should be a whole week event like the stuff on sale in Zen Market.
Nobody won't complain about 2x RP for the whole week, right?
I could be wrong though.
However, the timeframe does start on Fridays and end mid-morning on Mondays, which might allow some extra time for those who work the weekends.
Trying to develop some kind of token system isn't going to work well, as the events affect the entire game during a specific time.
Since I work every Friday, I can't play during the day when the event first starts . . .
In the end, it is impossible to please all the people all of the time. Hopefully you don't work 24 hours a day on the weekends so you get some time to play.
myles08807 said, "Back in my day, we didn't have any of this fancy Mulhorand gear while we were leveling . . . we walked uphill both ways while dying once every five seconds while leveling, and we liked it fine!" . . . Now, get off my lawn, you kids!"
pointsman said, "I don't rue the game. In fact I don't feel any regret for the game at all."
looomis said, "I don't like people changing to alts and then bragging about their mains like schizophrenic role players."
As long as you don't work 14-15h a day though you should be able to log in for a couple of hours, after work, as many of us do during the evening!
That's sort of my point, the mechanics are in reality already there, they just need a new *token* trigger for them. The +25% xp is right there with Zen store buys, quest rewards, and INVOKE of all things
With the exception of needing the whole server there to do it (like a CTA) there is no reason (it's already in the coding, needing a trigger) all other "timed" rewards can't be individualized. Do you need the whole server for your professions timer to tick down to completion? No. Why do you need the whole server to time your RP rewards? Heck the 2x RP thing is right there in the refinement process as is, when you match like to like stone. Make it all colors 2x for a X time frame individualized *shrug*
And I'm not saying it needs to be stock pileable token either, put a time frame on when you can start your individualized token up. Just "defer" when the players "weekend" starts. Make the token have a 1 week or 2 week decay. If they didn't log in say a week or two to use it, were they really "missing" the event in the first place?
For someone like me (4x days "on" 3x days "off" shift duration minimal 10hr (most often 12 hr. occasionally 14hr.) if my days "off" don't fall just right I'm screwed (add commute to my "on" times as well, that's 1 hr.ish ea way so a "normal" day is 11ish hr.) add some laundry in there, and shopping and a couple of meals and other esoteric errands and chores (for some reason nobody wants to scrub the toilet for me, or trim my toe nails
I'm sure I'm not the only one in this state.
Let me sleep on my work time off, and RELAX on MY weekend, your and your loved ones health will be much better for it..trust me.
glassdoor.com - Cryptic Studios Review
Many jobs come with a 24/7 work schedule: A lot of healthcare jobs, in many countries where shops are open on Sundays the retail business, petrol stations, airport and rail personnel, powerplant workers,... ...and often the people working in these jobs do actually love gaming as their hobby, because you can do that whenever you want. The typical workday rota for these jobs is often 10-4, which means that every other week you might have a weekend. Now the events in this game generally also come in a bi-weekly turnus. Doh. So either you're lucky, and your weekend off is always on the event weekends, or you are always working on event weekends.
And another hint dropped: The 4/3 schedule - that is a fairly normal one if you're e.g. a watchman, and that (at least here) then means: 4 days of 12h shifts, 3 days off. Yeah. 12h-shifts don't really leave much time for gaming, especially not if you're also commuting more than a few kilometers.
...yes, these people are a minority, but a fairly big one. But there's no need to call people's voiced interest "selfish" due to that. See it their way: They're already somewhat shafted due to their choice (not necessarily free choice) of job, often limited in their social life due to their work schedule. And in the gaming world, too, they get passed over when it's cookies-for-everyone-time. Of course the OP has a justified interest. He's even made a suggestion as to how to ameliorate this issue, though whether that can be satisfied or not is another topic. But he definitely has my sympathies and support, and doesn't deserve being called names for speaking out...
Was going to post just this idea.
If you make events last a week, everyone except those on vacation trips will be able to work stuff into their schedules. As a bonse is is less complicated than other modifications, just an extention of the timer.
nah it would be good. We could actually upgrade our gear to BiS before they introduce the next artifacts to switch to, so it would be killing 2 birds with one stone.
Besides, you should edit your post to 'I hated it" not "we hated it". It was rather satisfying for a large segment of the gamer population to be able to participate in end game before without almost limitless grind.
ppl save RP for months for 2x RP, the amount of rp gained during 2x is small compared to amount spent, and if they save rp for months and blow all their ad anyway it doesnt matter if its 3 or 7 days, its just that market would stay starved for longer and prices would be up for longer, there is a limit of how much rp can be gained in a day, before 2x is RP buildup period and it gets spent within 2x
ppl were buying rank5s at 70k+ in 2x, now they are below 30k, so its cheaper to upgrade now
...2x RP drop - there that might make a marginal difference. 2x RP on use... ...how so? Price development - and sheer offer count on the AH tell me that at the end of the "regular" 2x RP weekend the market is all but swept clean.
Also, the "Prevent botters / power creep" prexcuse is getting _really_ lame... ...especially since the RP that are in the game already are propagated with only some reduction or not at all, and stunts like the Ravenskull interjection method can even multiply them under specific circumstances. All the gear trashing brought on by Mod 6 has hit the have-nots. The people stuffed from before all had had their golden bridges built - if they cared to catch up on their reading in advance (including myself). So that blurb doesn't compute in this context - especially not if the token-triggered time window the OP had suggested could be realised.
I do not see getting it done - basically everything causing work exceeding preparing the next module launch doesn't seem to - but on an abstract level I don't see why everybody's so much opposed to it.
Side note: Namescalling referred to "self-centered", and, yeah "Garl Glittergold" - whom I only know from the two paragraphs in my 198x Deities and Demigods, and the two lines of voiceover in Baldur's Gate. And that "Freeedom of choice" thing: One of the watchmen I know "chose" his job when after some drunken idiot rammed him of his bicycle, and he lost his left leg, so rooftiling, the job he _had_ chosen, didn't seem like a sensible job after that, and he wasn't the absolutely brightest one, so office jobs were out of the field. That's freedom of choice for you. When it's about how and what you do to pay your rent and fill your fridge, choices can sometimes be narrowed down, and working pattern changes can be ordered from on high...
95%?? I think you might have a skewed perception of the workforce.
According to Wikipedia % of U.S. workforce is:
"79.7% in the service sector"
That means irregular work schedules, with almost all of those working weekends.
So, no. PW is missing a huge percentage of its playerbase only scheduling events on weekends.
Don't know if this was sarcasm..or observation..or what.
In the event it was a accusation/observation..no. Wasn't even on the server the day I posted the original post ( I actually was trying to stay awake for the laundry cycle switch, and I nipped into the forums, from using the gateway to reset professions to see what was going on.)
No, the original post was just exactly what I said (believe it or not some folks are straight up about their motivations!). I was sick and tired of being shut out from "free-cookies-for-all-time" as another poster put it
I'm not trying to be "self centered", nor am I trying to capitalize on some AH dynamic, I wasn't trying to come up with some nefarious plan to take over the game, nor subvert any other players game play. I said it plain and simple: I, and several other players I personally know, and family members, and me being fairly confident that if it's those three there actually may be others out there that are in the same like boat as me, would like to enjoy some of the stuff others do.
I was proposing an idea that I thought might be workable so those like me might also be included, if it's not workable *shrug* I guess we are SOL. It seems a small (to me, on the surface anyway) thing to do to include many others. It seems to me so far about my idea the nay sayers objections fall into 3 catagories:
1.No, well because, don't know why, just cuz, because it's not been done, so no, just because.
2.No, because they aren't going to because (not worth it, not enough player to cater to, not enough money in it etc.), don't hold your breath.
3.No, it's going to break something else so we shouldn't risk it.
So to #1
When has "just because" ever been a legit reason not to TRY something? If it don't work it don't and it could be put back, if it's unworkable fine then it is...but if it was workable, would that not be real cool for those folks that get screwed? Are you the type that begrudges others their fortune, most especially since it can therby be good for you as well?
#2Yes I know the cynic in me also says not likely, they do have other things going on and it might be low on their list, but some of the greatest things ever created started out with someone asking "what if...." and then someone else thinking of a way to monetize it
#3 When has that EVER stopped cryptic from putting something in..it might break it! ROFL! LOL! look at Mod6 and say that! They put stuff in all the time that breaks something else, each mod has like a unintended patch fix cycle of at least 5 or more "fixes" of stuff that broke..and "balance" vs. "inbalance"? OMG that's a constant state of tweeks/nerfs.
So far from the other side it's been"
1. decent idea
2. don't see why not, I'm not opposed
3. might not happen, but seems fine to me.
Hey this was just an idea, got an idea that would work better? post it!
The excuse not to do something, seems silly, if they are saying too few folks etc. Anyone that knows ANYTHING about business knows this: Find your niche, exploit it, get rich. Did Microsoft start in a giant warehouse selling to megacorps? No, they started in a garage selling computers to friends, family and like minded nerds. They found a niche that IBM wasn't filling and got rich thereby, now Microsoft can by IBM many times over. Were the founders of apple born rich? No. But Jobs knew when he saw something good and talked Xerox out of their tech, tech that the old "we can't do that" fogies didn't even appreciate, he got rich by seeing a need, convincing people they wanted it, and selling it to them.
So give us middleweekers the same access to 2x RP "weekends" and whatever the weekenders are doing for business we will do also, maybe/maybe not to the same level as the weekeners do..but even nickles and dimes add up in time.
on demand 2x is bs and easily abused, existing events though could be stretched to a week
rent-a-cop? lol, it includes all retail, food services, medical profession, and most government run agencies like police/fire, etc. ALL of which rarely get weekends off and get odd hours. These professions exist outside of the U.S. to I hear. <.<
Because off the odd hours and inability to coordinate with 6-5 mon-fri crowd, these people are much more likely to be gamers, simply because they can get online whenever they actually have free time.
Even if the % was say 30% rather than almost 80% it would still be a huge number, that would be silly for a game company to arbitrarily ignore. (but then again PW has made such great decisions lately, ill concede that.)
I also think you might be surprised at the population skew of the game. Just because someone acts immature in a game doesn't mean they are young. I think you will find the the anonymious nature of the internet/games, allows anyone to behave like a troll. I am sure there are young people playing, but is highly doubtful they are a majority of the gamer population.
It's really simple and other games are doing it already.
They give boosts and bonuses per account.
They are announced server wide but they are in effect during play (have their own timer), per win, or per x time of gameplay.
Therefore cater to each individual according to their schedule with no additional hassle.
And you know what ?
They make their playerbase really happy.
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...aforementioned watchmen, police, train drivers & conductors, railway personnel in general, same for local public transport, nurses and paramedics, the whole gastronomy business, hotline personnel, a significant percentage of retail workers in many countries and/or specific locations, road and railroad construction workers, network operator personnel, power plant technicians, quite some factory workers and associated personnel, truck drivers, farmers during their work-intense seasons, priests,...
I could go on, but I won't. But I could.