Regarding the weekend's event fiasco

Ohboy

So, last weekend we had a horrible event experience between large numbers of people not noticing the change in event timing(I almost couldn't clear my nodes in time!) and the maintenence due to server overload.

I would just like to point out that the two issues are separate, and should not be bunched together. Not noticing the change in event timing was my fault. The sever going down was d3go's fault.

To give credit where it's due, the devs appear to be testing out community suggestions recently (different event times and less grindy events) and I feel their efforts should be acknowledged, not criticised.

So fix the servers once and for all devs, and keep up the good work.

Buret0

When I joined the event today and saw ten charges and a super low progression score, I was hopeful that the nodes wouldn't recharge. Like, it didn't matter when you started or ended, you got ten attempts and that was it.

How disappointed I was when I cleared and saw the countdown.

Plastic

All they had to do was be forthright with a small amount of information to the players about the new event time structure to avoid creating more unrest. Or make a timer that, while people are used to the current one, is more accurate (I can't fathom this being a difficult change).

Ohboy

Buret0 wrote:

When I joined the event today and saw ten charges and a super low progression score, I was hopeful that the nodes wouldn't recharge. Like, it didn't matter when you started or ended, you got ten attempts and that was it.

How disappointed I was when I cleared and saw the countdown.

It's a 6 hour charge though, not 4

Ohboy

Plastic wrote:

All they had to do was be forthright with a small amount of information to the players about the new event time structure to avoid creating more unrest. Or make a timer that, while people are used to the current one, is more accurate (I can't fathom this being a difficult change).

This is the part of the complaint I don't agree with. If the timer was accurate, it was my own fault for not noticing the event timing was different. I'll admit my own complacency.

I do agree that instead of saying x days, it should just be more universal and read x days and y hours

Plastic

Ohboy wrote:

Plastic wrote:

All they had to do was be forthright with a small amount of information to the players about the new event time structure to avoid creating more unrest. Or make a timer that, while people are used to the current one, is more accurate (I can't fathom this being a difficult change).

This is the part of the complaint I don't agree with. If the timer was accurate, it was my own fault for not noticing the event timing was different. I'll admit my own complacency.

I do agree that instead of saying x days, it should just be more universal and read x days and y hours

I guess we'll just disagree on the first point. IMO if there's a time pattern the staff uses that gets changed for the first time in weeks/months, I believe a courtesy to the players in the form of an announcement is all that was needed.

Some people don't play the game as much as others and aren't going to be logged in looking at the timer to notice a 2 hour difference.

Buret0

Ohboy wrote:

It's a 6 hour charge though, not 4

MPQ spent a lot of time messing around with recharging nodes. Like a lot of experimentation. Eventually they came up with a 24 period for node recharge, not forcing players to (necessarily) play around their specific window (and this was in a game where you could choose five different start and end times).

I'm surprised that the other D3 match three games didn't immediately follow suit. You still get the almighty ADUs, and with a PvE and a PvP always running, you got multiple instances of the same player playing PvP and PvE events in a day. Sort of like how quick battle is always on in the background, except you could keep users interested in competing in PvP (which always ran without maximum nodes, like quick battle) and events (which always had optimal clear patterns, only they were far more relaxed).

Making an event have the same start time for every player and making that start time commence a timer that you are in your best interest to start as early as possible, does not lead to optimum server use, nor does it lead to an event that is conducive to an international audience (or to those who cannot take the time to always play a mobile game during the first four or so hours of the start time).

I'm not saying "ten charges per node, per day" is the ideal solution, as it inherently leads to the tie-breaker issue where the top players are the ones who complete their nodes perfectly the fastest. However, in an event where the bonus ribbons actually matter, the "best" play through makes a bigger difference than the "fastest" play through.

Regrettably, the losses due to bugs (both in game and server generated) and sheer terrible luck play a significant role in some of the recent events' issues. Further, the bonus ribbon objectives have focused (recently) on deck design that encourages killing your own creatures to prevent winning before completing the bonus objectives. This isn't ideal game design either. Such events only led to some "painfully" long matches where the objectives were incompatible with proper deck design (which should favour winning quickly and winning decisively).

Examples of interesting designs (considered separate, not all in one node):
Win the Match = 5 ribbons
Cast no Mythics (win or lose) = 3 ribbons
Deal 20 or more damage in a single turn = 3 ribbons
Reinforce a creature 3 times in one match = 3 ribbons
Summon 100 tokens (cumulative over the course of the entire event) = 30 ribbons
This last one can even be specific to the event, like summon 100 zombies, elderazi, vampires, etc.
Win without using a targeted spell on your opponent's creatures.
Win five matches in a row during the event = 10 ribbons

There's so much the devs could do to make challenges interesting, make decks interesting, and give competitors many different ways to get a high score, rather than have every player get the high score in the same way.

losdamianos

Buret0 wrote:

Ohboy wrote:

It's a 6 hour charge though, not 4

I'm not saying "ten charges per node, per day" is the ideal solution, as it inherently leads to the tie-breaker issue where the top players are the ones who complete their nodes perfectly the fastest. However, in an event where the bonus ribbons actually matter, the "best" play through makes a bigger difference than the "fastest" play through.

Your comment does not make sense its always about who will be the fastest with most ribbons, it doesnt matter if you get 10-15 charges at once or 1 every 3 hours in both cases player who finishses his first game quickest wins.
If you disagree please provide a scenario which would point otherwise

Throwing all charges at the same time is much better as you could complete them and be done and could carry on with the rest of your day

Zappo

To compound the fail, some users are seeing lots and lots of crashes mid-game. It's frustrating when you only have a few chances to get some ribbons, and you lose them to a crash. viewtopic.php?f=32&t=54136

Ohboy

losdamianos wrote:

Buret0 wrote:

Ohboy wrote:

It's a 6 hour charge though, not 4

I'm not saying "ten charges per node, per day" is the ideal solution, as it inherently leads to the tie-breaker issue where the top players are the ones who complete their nodes perfectly the fastest. However, in an event where the bonus ribbons actually matter, the "best" play through makes a bigger difference than the "fastest" play through.

Your comment does not make sense its always about who will be the fastest with most ribbons, it doesnt matter if you get 10-15 charges at once or 1 every 3 hours in both cases player who finishses his first game quickest wins.
If you disagree please provide a scenario which would point otherwise

Throwing all charges at the same time is much better as you could complete them and be done and could carry on with the rest of your day

I keep seeing this "takes up my whole day to grind event" theme come up. Are none of you playing only when free or twice a day like me?

I don't find it interfering with my life plans much(except staying up to start event)

Nitymp

Ohboy wrote:

losdamianos wrote:

Buret0 wrote:

Ohboy wrote:

It's a 6 hour charge though, not 4

I'm not saying "ten charges per node, per day" is the ideal solution, as it inherently leads to the tie-breaker issue where the top players are the ones who complete their nodes perfectly the fastest. However, in an event where the bonus ribbons actually matter, the "best" play through makes a bigger difference than the "fastest" play through.

Your comment does not make sense its always about who will be the fastest with most ribbons, it doesnt matter if you get 10-15 charges at once or 1 every 3 hours in both cases player who finishses his first game quickest wins.
If you disagree please provide a scenario which would point otherwise

Throwing all charges at the same time is much better as you could complete them and be done and could carry on with the rest of your day

I keep seeing this "takes up my whole day to grind event" theme come up. Are none of you playing only when free or twice a day like me?

I don't find it interfering with my life plans much(except staying up to start event)

I know people that regularly take 20-30 mins or more per match within events due to needing to stall for objectives and ensuring the win etc. So for them, events take a long time!

losdamianos

Ohboy wrote:

losdamianos wrote:

Buret0 wrote:

Ohboy wrote:

It's a 6 hour charge though, not 4

I'm not saying "ten charges per node, per day" is the ideal solution, as it inherently leads to the tie-breaker issue where the top players are the ones who complete their nodes perfectly the fastest. However, in an event where the bonus ribbons actually matter, the "best" play through makes a bigger difference than the "fastest" play through.

Your comment does not make sense its always about who will be the fastest with most ribbons, it doesnt matter if you get 10-15 charges at once or 1 every 3 hours in both cases player who finishses his first game quickest wins.
If you disagree please provide a scenario which would point otherwise

Throwing all charges at the same time is much better as you could complete them and be done and could carry on with the rest of your day

I keep seeing this "takes up my whole day to grind event" theme come up. Are none of you playing only when free or twice a day like me?

I don't find it interfering with my life plans much(except staying up to start event)

You didnt clarify how 1 node per 4 hours is better than all nodes at the start of event
and why 10 charges leads to tie breaks for perfect score players and 1 node per hours does not

Ohboy

losdamianos wrote:

You didnt clarify how 1 node per 4 hours is better than all nodes at the start of event
and why 10 charges leads to tie breaks for perfect score players and 1 node per hours does not

Wrong guy brother.

But 1 node per X hours is better because otherwise everyone would just play Y games at the start of the event and not log on for another 3 days.

That runs contrary to what games want you to do.

galro

Well, first, the All Hallows event was 10 charges to start and an 8 hour counter. So, only 12 matches in the 24 hours of the event.
With only a single node, this could have been on a 2 or 4 hour counter and still been a good match.

Most of us who finished the 10 charges early were just sitting around with nothing to do, and it was kind of nice for a change.

The EC event with 3 Nodes with a 4 hour counter is tough. Over 2 days you have: 5 start + 6 day1 + 5 day2 = 16 charges across each of the 3 nodes or 48 matches to play. This is a lot for a span of 48 hours.
Note: this was made far worse by the crashes and maintenance during all 3 of the EC matches.
Note: the first EC event at 24 hours was I felt much more pleasant. Mainly because it was over quick.
But progression was harder for some people, I do understand. 33 matches in 24 hours.

Likewise, the Avacyn event with 5 nodes is even more. Over 2 days you have: 3 start + 6 day1 + 5 day2 = 14 charges across each of the 5 nodes or 70 matches. Now, I know it wasn't exactly 48 hours. The 2nd one seemed like it lasted forever because once people reached their progression rewards they stopped playing unless they were in a competitive Coalition competing for the elusive Rare or Mythic.

Pardon me if my math is off, but you get the general idea I hope.

For me, I would like to see more events like the All Hallows. Shorter 24 hour events, but with 15-20 matches possible per day. That is a lot for some players, but I think that some balance needs to be made.

And with the shorter matches, hopefully they can do their maintenance and database cleanups in the off days, or if it absolutely has to be during an event, don't do it in the first 4 hours or last 2 hours of an event.