More Event Time Blocks/Shards

LuciferianX

This is inherently selfish of me, because I want to play the game and compete. My options on EDT are something on the order of 5pm, 11pm, 3am (?) and 12pm, or close to that. Lots of options, NONE of which work for me.

If I go with 5pm, I can start at the right time (5pm ~ 7pm) but I can't close because hey, I'm at work and it takes longer than an hour to clear an event node. If I go with 11pm, my sleep schedule is jacked and I'm usually doing things at that time. My answer is to clean up the clock to basic, 4 hour slots.

12, 4, 8, 12. Simple, easy for people to see & pick, no fuss. Or, 3 hour slots: 12, 3, 6, 9, 12. Either way, something that makes sense and remains consistent throughout. Personally I'm all for three hour breaks, those make the most sense to me and are easy to put on a schedule. The difference in an event for someone working a full day between 5pm & 6pm cannot be undersold. At 5pm, I only get an hour. At 6 I get two, and that second hour is liquid gold.

Malcrof

LuciferianX wrote:

This is inherently selfish of me, because I want to play the game and compete. My options on EDT are something on the order of 5pm, 11pm, 3am (?) and 12pm, or close to that. Lots of options, NONE of which work for me.

If I go with 5pm, I can start at the right time (5pm ~ 7pm) but I can't close because hey, I'm at work and it takes longer than an hour to clear an event node. If I go with 11pm, my sleep schedule is jacked and I'm usually doing things at that time. My answer is to clean up the clock to basic, 4 hour slots.

12, 4, 8, 12. Simple, easy for people to see & pick, no fuss. Or, 3 hour slots: 12, 3, 6, 9, 12. Either way, something that makes sense and remains consistent throughout. Personally I'm all for three hour breaks, those make the most sense to me and are easy to put on a schedule. The difference in an event for someone working a full day between 5pm & 6pm cannot be undersold. At 5pm, I only get an hour. At 6 I get two, and that second hour is liquid gold.

An 8pm EST shard would make life so much easier... my daily commute is roughly an hour.. then i have to make dinner and feed cats and wife when i get home.. I can play up until 4:30ish at work if it is slow, but i always fall way behind not being able to do clears for the first hour of subs.

LuciferianX

HA! My commute is similar, longer if I'm seeing the lady, and like you: Ride home, feed cats, feed self/lady, clean somewhat, etc. A 5pm shard or 11pm shard falls exactly into the two times slots that are least convenient. 8 or 9 would be infinitely better. EVEN SIX.

I'd prefer 8 or 9. Regardless. This needs upvoted.

Malcrof

LuciferianX wrote:

HA! My commute is similar, longer if I'm seeing the lady, and like you: Ride home, feed cats, feed self/lady, clean somewhat, etc. A 5pm shard or 11pm shard falls exactly into the two times slots that are least convenient. 8 or 9 would be infinitely better. EVEN SIX.

I'd prefer 8 or 9. Regardless. This needs upvoted.

Won't let me upvote, so /upvote!

Unknown

First, the end times are horrible for some time zones.

But...if they change it to be much more biased toward stateside times then it be like the old days where players in Europe and Asia were totally hosed. Even right now the end times can be atrocious for we overseas players so just be glad that the developers cater to US based players rather than fair and equitable times for all players.

Thanks,
Overseas Player Community

alphabeta

No need to alter current end times - just add more to cover global span.

Problem with UI and the list becoming to long - allow within setting people to select what type of time slot that want to see in their location - morning, afternoon, evening or night

Unless there is a truly terrible technical reason I can't see why there couldn't be a slice time every 2 or 3 hours to allow people to play (and guess what more play likely to lead to more spend) wherever in the world they are or whatever their lifestyle is.

If I was running a business I'd be there whenever my consumer wanted to use me not make them work around me - especially in this age of instant gratification - people won't take long before going somewhere that does cater for their needs better - this should be the first priority in my mind for development - lets go a month without a new character while they do this

Arphaxad

LuciferianX wrote:

HA! My commute is similar, longer if I'm seeing the lady, and like you: Ride home, feed cats, feed self/lady, clean somewhat, etc. A 5pm shard or 11pm shard falls exactly into the two times slots that are least convenient. 8 or 9 would be infinitely better. EVEN SIX.

I'd prefer 8 or 9. Regardless. This needs upvoted.

EST player and I agree with this 100%. I usually play the 11pm slice, but it kills my sleep pattern. 5pm just doesn't work because I work. I always though 9pm EST would be a perfect time to have a slice start/end.

Not being selfish here, just want to enjoy the game. I'm sure there are better times over seas players would like to see. D3go should have a poll about slice times and see what works best for the players.

I couldn't image being single and playing this game. Trying to maintain a dating life and play has to be impossible. I can only handle the 11pm time because my wife plays also and we start at the same time. Even then, we would both appreciate getting our runs out of the way 2 hours earlier.

d0nk3y

LuciferianX wrote:

HA! My commute is similar, longer if I'm seeing the lady, and like you: Ride home, feed cats, feed self/lady, clean somewhat, etc. A 5pm shard or 11pm shard falls exactly into the two times slots that are least convenient. 8 or 9 would be infinitely better. EVEN SIX.

I'd prefer 8 or 9. Regardless. This needs upvoted.

I'd love to be able to play during a commute... unfortunately, Metro Phoenix doesn't have a mass transit system worth a tinker's damn so I have to drive the 45 minutes each way. 11pm doesn't work because I can't do first clear after the new sub opens and 8pm doesn't work because I need to be focusing on family instead of grinding. I'd like to see 24 shards, but that won't happen. I think I might settle for 8 shards but would prefer 12 - give us an end every 2 hours and let us define the game based on our lives rather than basing our lives on the game.

Quebbster

I have the same issue for PvE.
1 PM is during work hours.
6 PM is when I should be making dinner.
11 PM is when I should have gone to bed and fallen asleep
5 AM is before I should wake up
8 AM is when I should come to work.
In short, neither time slot works very well. I actually liked the old setup better.
This is only a problem for PvE though - in PvP you can always put up shields, so I usually pick the slot that ends at midnight and put up an eight hour shield in the afternoon.

LuciferianX

Right, this is purely for PVE shard structure; PVP is less volatile because of shielding although it could benefit from the same overhaul.

So what I'm hearing is: more shards, more options, less frustration as to when to select. To our overseas contingent, two things:

1. I want everyone to have an equal opportunity to enjoy the game, that means 3 hour slots (or even two, I saw mentioned) for everyone, forever. That would mean there is a slot that falls somewhere around breakfast, around break, around lunch, around afternoon commute, around dinner, around night, midnight or so, and OMG what time is it early. The fix I want is universal for all parties.

2. I agree on paper it looks like it caters to us, but most people with static schedules really struggle around the 5pm/11pm shard. If they threw in a 9, I would still hesitate. What I really "need" is a six or eight; a six I would get on 3 hour blocks, and 8 on 2 or 4 hour blocks assuming a 12pm EST start time. I think the current structure benefits very few, and those people whom it does benefit would not be negatively impacted with more options.

Unknown

Game slices are not for the players benefit in Europe and having 8hr refresh cycles is not player friendly either. Almost as if the game is telling you when to play it rather than when you want to that is an odd decision for a match 3 game especially a freemium one. Barriers to casual and even long time players with retaliations, optimum time slots for joining events or PVPs.

Arphaxad

I think this needs more attention. I would love to hear from a Dev about why they selected the start times that they did. Also, is there a technical barrier to either more start times or adjusting the start times.

Playing the 11pm EST all week for the Hulk event is really hurting my sleep pattern. I'm sure there is a more optimal time for every time zone, but for those in EST it sounds like 8pm or 9pm would be much much much better than 11pm.