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Extra Day of Fellowship Adventure!
- Thread starter Sir Derf
- Start date
DeletedUser3571
Guest
Why exactly do we need it to end when the development team is available?
Pauly7
Magus
Sometimes I wonder if they understand their game at all. We asked before for FAs to finish either at the weekend or later in the day and now they change it from the weekend, because it's more convenient for them, and at the same early time as last time. Just one more example of feedback not even being read, I think.
Also, exhibit B: "We hope that with this additional day you'll be able to obtain even more rewards." Not only does this imply that they think the rewards were good in the first place, but more to the point, how do they think the extra day leads to there being even more of them? OK, maybe some teams will now complete an extra path that they couldn't before, but it doesn't help anyone compete against anyone else.
@pompeywolf a few months ago the Fellowship Adventure caused some server downtime just minutes before it should have ended.
The game downtime was more of an issue due to the time it occured on the weekend and around 1am (CEST).
To make sure that all has been resolved we have had the last FA and now this one ending when we have the developers on hand to make sure that we do not get a repeat occurance.
The game downtime was more of an issue due to the time it occured on the weekend and around 1am (CEST).
To make sure that all has been resolved we have had the last FA and now this one ending when we have the developers on hand to make sure that we do not get a repeat occurance.
Sir Derf
Adept
1) Okay, so they meant to have it end on weekday, they just forgot until after they started the event.
2) Obtain even more rewards. There are fellowships that don't quite finish all maps in the time normally provided. For some of these, an extra day might mean allow the completion of another map, and thus getting the triple rewards in that previously unattained chest. Me personally, I don't find the potential rewards of scoring in, or higher in, the top 100 fellowships really worth significant effort to do extra waypoints or any, let alone additional, rounds of the Endless Pit.
2) Obtain even more rewards. There are fellowships that don't quite finish all maps in the time normally provided. For some of these, an extra day might mean allow the completion of another map, and thus getting the triple rewards in that previously unattained chest. Me personally, I don't find the potential rewards of scoring in, or higher in, the top 100 fellowships really worth significant effort to do extra waypoints or any, let alone additional, rounds of the Endless Pit.
Giraffi
Enchanter
I think the chances for server overload are now even more. Everybody rushing home from work after 16:00 or 17:00 will try and dump those last badges before the end as they would not have had time to place it during the day.
Last time we still had the hiccup that if anyone completed a card in the pit you had to go out to town screen and reload pit to get the correct info. Very much doubt if that aspect has been fixed. If that is seen as part of server overload or server crash, then we get it continuously. I stay awake till the end of all the FAs I have played so far. I do not remember the EN server being unavailable just before end of any of those FAs.
I honestly don’t see what the developers can do at that late point in the game. Anybody waiting to dump badges at that late point for a photo finish win, has been doing it at risk in any case.
Last time we still had the hiccup that if anyone completed a card in the pit you had to go out to town screen and reload pit to get the correct info. Very much doubt if that aspect has been fixed. If that is seen as part of server overload or server crash, then we get it continuously. I stay awake till the end of all the FAs I have played so far. I do not remember the EN server being unavailable just before end of any of those FAs.
I honestly don’t see what the developers can do at that late point in the game. Anybody waiting to dump badges at that late point for a photo finish win, has been doing it at risk in any case.
Pauly7
Magus
It did happen once (I can't remember exactly when) that the bottomless pit crashed in the last couple of hours of an FA. There was a bit of an uproar. That was a while ago though. If they're really worried then they should just log on for a few hours on a Sunday night. A little overtime for a couple of people (who probably won't have anything to do) vs making the FA more inconvenient for the majority of all the players. Hmm.
Laurelin
Sorcerer
I wonder why FAs (and Tournaments, being another obviously competitive element of the game) are not scheduled to start/end at accessible times on a broadly per-Timezone basis (Europe, the Americas, Australasia, etc.), in order to allow players who work, study, or have other commitments to compete, if they so wish, on an equitable basis and without the need to play Elvenar at work and/or very early in the morning or during the night.
As for InnoGames' Technical Support staff/developers being available out-of-hours or on weekends: even back in the 1990s it was not only possible but was even becoming commonplace for IT technicians to remotely administer Internet-connected networks and/or computers, albeit at slower speeds and with more difficulty than nowadays, with the only aspect of Net-connected machines which, generally speaking, could not be remotely administered being certain hardware-related issues (e.g. when a hard shutdown/restart was needed - although even this was sometimes possible), and of course the IT industry - especially online games, which are used most often during players' [typically evening/weekend] leisure time - has been progressing further towards remote admin ever since. According to InnoGames' CEO Hendrik Klindworth (see below), the Coronavirus affair has only increased the gaming industry's pre-existing and extensive reliance upon working practices which were already "relative[ly] standard", such as flexible hours and working from home, so I cannot imagine that this situation will be any different now.
Quote : "Gaming is one of the few industries that have not been negatively impacted by the [Coronavirus] crisis. According to NewZoo’s Global Games Market forecast from April 2020, the industry is set to generate revenues of $159.3 billion this year, a 9.3% year-on-year growth. In short, the quarantine measures have increased consumer play time and money spent on gaming in general. As digital businesses, [gaming] studios have been quick to implement changes, with companies transitioning to home office and continuing to conduct business around the world. [...] Benefits that would be novel in other industries are relative[ly] standard in gaming, such as regular home office and flexible working hours. While more traditional industries struggled to switch to remote work, with some even finding it impossible, gaming transitioned rather smoothly, without interruption. I am convinced that what we are experiencing now is the future of work. Colleagues [are] able to work from the comfort of their own homes without sacrificing the quality, productivity and collaboration often associated with the office."
~ Source : PocketGamer.biz Website Article by InnoGames' CEO Hendrik Klindworth - 10th June 2020
This viewpoint certainly gives the impression (at least to me) that the occurrence of FA-related (or any other) technical issues outside of 'standard' office hours should cause, if anything, fewer problems for InnoGames' already home-and-flexi-time-based technicians/developers than for those players whose work (or studies) are less conveniently arranged, and for whom it may not be possible - or desirable - to fit their commitments around Elvenar.
It may still be considered that occasions such as the end of a Fellowship Adventure increase network traffic and server load and therefore may be prone to causing technical issues which are, it may be argued, 'too critical' to be remotely administered. However, and by way of anecdotal comparison, the ability for IT technicians/developers to work from home and/or outside of traditional Monday-Friday nine-to-five hours has now progressed so far that - for over a decade - the team which co-ordinates and controls something as vital as the NHS Blood and Transplant Service (probably the most critical IT-related service in the UK outside of the military and intelligence agencies) has been able to remotely administer the entire Service from home, with no 'downtime' at all occurring during those ten years. Members of the team follow an 'on call' rota system during evenings and weekends in case of systems failure, and of course they are paid overtime if they should need to log in during these 'anti-social' hours, but the systems are so reliable nowadays that they almost never need any maintenance at all, and certainly not physical intervention, outside of normal office hours. In fact, the only time when any of the team has actually needed to be on-site (even though some team members still simply prefer to work there) was one occasion when a server room (and much else) was flooded during a 'freak' storm, so technicians had to go in and remove the machines from the floodwater.
NB : In case any fellow-Brits may find this event alarming, there was no Blood/Transplant Service interruption because there are, of course, multiple back-up servers, and the entire system is also operated with triple redundancy, i.e. with live replication of all data between three duplicate systems located hundreds of miles apart, but the point here is that if the NHS can, with very reliable efficiency, entirely remotely administer its most critical function, I would imagine that a gaming company (especially one which, as its CEO himself states, has actually increased its levels of home-working due to the recent 'stay-at-home' paradigm) can do likewise with far greater ease and, of course, far lesser consequences in the event of failures.
As for InnoGames' Technical Support staff/developers being available out-of-hours or on weekends: even back in the 1990s it was not only possible but was even becoming commonplace for IT technicians to remotely administer Internet-connected networks and/or computers, albeit at slower speeds and with more difficulty than nowadays, with the only aspect of Net-connected machines which, generally speaking, could not be remotely administered being certain hardware-related issues (e.g. when a hard shutdown/restart was needed - although even this was sometimes possible), and of course the IT industry - especially online games, which are used most often during players' [typically evening/weekend] leisure time - has been progressing further towards remote admin ever since. According to InnoGames' CEO Hendrik Klindworth (see below), the Coronavirus affair has only increased the gaming industry's pre-existing and extensive reliance upon working practices which were already "relative[ly] standard", such as flexible hours and working from home, so I cannot imagine that this situation will be any different now.
Quote : "Gaming is one of the few industries that have not been negatively impacted by the [Coronavirus] crisis. According to NewZoo’s Global Games Market forecast from April 2020, the industry is set to generate revenues of $159.3 billion this year, a 9.3% year-on-year growth. In short, the quarantine measures have increased consumer play time and money spent on gaming in general. As digital businesses, [gaming] studios have been quick to implement changes, with companies transitioning to home office and continuing to conduct business around the world. [...] Benefits that would be novel in other industries are relative[ly] standard in gaming, such as regular home office and flexible working hours. While more traditional industries struggled to switch to remote work, with some even finding it impossible, gaming transitioned rather smoothly, without interruption. I am convinced that what we are experiencing now is the future of work. Colleagues [are] able to work from the comfort of their own homes without sacrificing the quality, productivity and collaboration often associated with the office."
~ Source : PocketGamer.biz Website Article by InnoGames' CEO Hendrik Klindworth - 10th June 2020
This viewpoint certainly gives the impression (at least to me) that the occurrence of FA-related (or any other) technical issues outside of 'standard' office hours should cause, if anything, fewer problems for InnoGames' already home-and-flexi-time-based technicians/developers than for those players whose work (or studies) are less conveniently arranged, and for whom it may not be possible - or desirable - to fit their commitments around Elvenar.
It may still be considered that occasions such as the end of a Fellowship Adventure increase network traffic and server load and therefore may be prone to causing technical issues which are, it may be argued, 'too critical' to be remotely administered. However, and by way of anecdotal comparison, the ability for IT technicians/developers to work from home and/or outside of traditional Monday-Friday nine-to-five hours has now progressed so far that - for over a decade - the team which co-ordinates and controls something as vital as the NHS Blood and Transplant Service (probably the most critical IT-related service in the UK outside of the military and intelligence agencies) has been able to remotely administer the entire Service from home, with no 'downtime' at all occurring during those ten years. Members of the team follow an 'on call' rota system during evenings and weekends in case of systems failure, and of course they are paid overtime if they should need to log in during these 'anti-social' hours, but the systems are so reliable nowadays that they almost never need any maintenance at all, and certainly not physical intervention, outside of normal office hours. In fact, the only time when any of the team has actually needed to be on-site (even though some team members still simply prefer to work there) was one occasion when a server room (and much else) was flooded during a 'freak' storm, so technicians had to go in and remove the machines from the floodwater.
NB : In case any fellow-Brits may find this event alarming, there was no Blood/Transplant Service interruption because there are, of course, multiple back-up servers, and the entire system is also operated with triple redundancy, i.e. with live replication of all data between three duplicate systems located hundreds of miles apart, but the point here is that if the NHS can, with very reliable efficiency, entirely remotely administer its most critical function, I would imagine that a gaming company (especially one which, as its CEO himself states, has actually increased its levels of home-working due to the recent 'stay-at-home' paradigm) can do likewise with far greater ease and, of course, far lesser consequences in the event of failures.
Last edited:
Jackluyt
Shaman
An extra day has been added to this FA, to end now on Monday 12th October 2020.
This change was made so the design team could be available in normal work hours when the FA ends. One does not want the game to freeze up on a Sunday when there is no one to fix it; I understand that.
This is IMHO a REALLY bad decision!
Already the top fellowships are reaching the Bottomless Pit with several days of just plonk-plonk-plonking of Items to keep their ranking position - this requires one to be tied to the computer most of the day, and with an overload of FA’s already, this is really just more of what we don’t need!
It would be better, I think, to start the FA a day later on a Tuesday rather than a Monday, to coincide with the Tournament, which we need to make Magic Items.
This change was made so the design team could be available in normal work hours when the FA ends. One does not want the game to freeze up on a Sunday when there is no one to fix it; I understand that.
This is IMHO a REALLY bad decision!
Already the top fellowships are reaching the Bottomless Pit with several days of just plonk-plonk-plonking of Items to keep their ranking position - this requires one to be tied to the computer most of the day, and with an overload of FA’s already, this is really just more of what we don’t need!
It would be better, I think, to start the FA a day later on a Tuesday rather than a Monday, to coincide with the Tournament, which we need to make Magic Items.
Deleted User - 2077221
Guest
No stop. Forget rankings some of us just are glad to have the extra day.
Jackluyt
Shaman
There are other ways to address the fact that some fellowships are not finishing. If you add an extra day some groups still won't finish - and what then? Add one more day?
Already there are far too many days of Fellowship Adventures in a calendar year for many people's choice; ideally one should have one every three months, and we are getting far more than that.
A better solution, I believe, would be to have three different levels of difficulty for the yellow, blue and green paths. 'Weak' fellowships could easily finish the Easy path to get the stage prize - stronger fellowships looking for bragging rights could choose to do the Medium and Difficult paths, each of which would give another, different prize / prizes.
Then there would be something for everyone, without the Adventures dragging on interminably!
Here are some other suggestions:
1. Artifact Fragments - of which you would collect several, depending on how many waypoints / paths / stages you completed, which eventually could be used to craft an Artifact for any evolving building once you have collected enough. That would incentivize the FA to make people want to do more.
2. A small building or flag for completing any one of the nine paths in the FA, which could go in your city or be attached to your account for bragging rights
3. RR Spells might be a nice path prize
4. Spot prizes could be awarded for the three-colour Switchpoints and the top waypoints, to stop people path-hopping and gobbling all the path prizes for minimal effort.
4. I love the FA's for the wonderful team building it allows - but there is not much FUN in them; they are actually boring and the prizes are trivial.
It would be so easy to fix this!
And making FA's longer and more frequent is not the answer, IMHO.
Already there are far too many days of Fellowship Adventures in a calendar year for many people's choice; ideally one should have one every three months, and we are getting far more than that.
A better solution, I believe, would be to have three different levels of difficulty for the yellow, blue and green paths. 'Weak' fellowships could easily finish the Easy path to get the stage prize - stronger fellowships looking for bragging rights could choose to do the Medium and Difficult paths, each of which would give another, different prize / prizes.
Then there would be something for everyone, without the Adventures dragging on interminably!
Here are some other suggestions:
1. Artifact Fragments - of which you would collect several, depending on how many waypoints / paths / stages you completed, which eventually could be used to craft an Artifact for any evolving building once you have collected enough. That would incentivize the FA to make people want to do more.
2. A small building or flag for completing any one of the nine paths in the FA, which could go in your city or be attached to your account for bragging rights
3. RR Spells might be a nice path prize
4. Spot prizes could be awarded for the three-colour Switchpoints and the top waypoints, to stop people path-hopping and gobbling all the path prizes for minimal effort.
4. I love the FA's for the wonderful team building it allows - but there is not much FUN in them; they are actually boring and the prizes are trivial.
It would be so easy to fix this!
And making FA's longer and more frequent is not the answer, IMHO.
Pauly7
Magus
@JackLuyt
I don't ever have a sense of boredom in a fellowship adventure. Some people will stop after finishing a path on the third map. In which case no problem. It's over. For fellowships who have cleared every waypoint on all three maps then it's a case of competing with the other teams on the leaderboard. This keeps the interest. I don't think it's a problem to spend a few days dropping badges into the pit when you have them. Many teams get people to produce the badges and then arrange certain times when they come together and deposit them all.
I wouldn't sniff at the idea of extra prizes, but I know by now that prizes are not what FAs are about. They are about the competition. The prizes that tend to matter are columns and arches that are given to the top teams. The only change I would make is to widen the number of people that can get a unique prize. No one's really interested in another lotus flower. What I would like is if there was some 2x2 building given to the rest of the top 10 that displays FA success (does the Memorial of Heroes do that? I'm not sure). I would then have a 4th unique FA prize building that is handed out to everyone who is currently getting Lotuses. At least people will have something specific if they want if for bragging rights. I think it's a bit of a reach to be asking for extra prizes for completing paths or waypoints.
The thing we agree on is the frequency of FAs. They shouldn't be any more than once every 3 months and preferably once every 4 months. By throwing them out monthly it means that many of the top teams sit some of them out, so it makes it less special as a competition. I don't expect to be listened to on this though. Many of us used to give many good reasons why month long events shouldn't be any more often than once a quarter and we were never listened to or responded to on that.
I don't ever have a sense of boredom in a fellowship adventure. Some people will stop after finishing a path on the third map. In which case no problem. It's over. For fellowships who have cleared every waypoint on all three maps then it's a case of competing with the other teams on the leaderboard. This keeps the interest. I don't think it's a problem to spend a few days dropping badges into the pit when you have them. Many teams get people to produce the badges and then arrange certain times when they come together and deposit them all.
I wouldn't sniff at the idea of extra prizes, but I know by now that prizes are not what FAs are about. They are about the competition. The prizes that tend to matter are columns and arches that are given to the top teams. The only change I would make is to widen the number of people that can get a unique prize. No one's really interested in another lotus flower. What I would like is if there was some 2x2 building given to the rest of the top 10 that displays FA success (does the Memorial of Heroes do that? I'm not sure). I would then have a 4th unique FA prize building that is handed out to everyone who is currently getting Lotuses. At least people will have something specific if they want if for bragging rights. I think it's a bit of a reach to be asking for extra prizes for completing paths or waypoints.
The thing we agree on is the frequency of FAs. They shouldn't be any more than once every 3 months and preferably once every 4 months. By throwing them out monthly it means that many of the top teams sit some of them out, so it makes it less special as a competition. I don't expect to be listened to on this though. Many of us used to give many good reasons why month long events shouldn't be any more often than once a quarter and we were never listened to or responded to on that.
Gargon667
Mentor
Lol did I mention before that Inno does not own a calendar? There is NO planning in that office.
Gargon667
Mentor
I wholeheartedly agree
However I suggested exactly the same a couple month ago and nobody liked the idea then.
Autumn Goldleaf
Spellcaster
Can we also have the time extended for the conversion of Bear Artifacts in the Magic Academy please?
Because many were working on the Stages longer than usual, they have missed out on conversion recipes.
Because many were working on the Stages longer than usual, they have missed out on conversion recipes.
Jackluyt
Shaman
Can we also have the time extended for the conversion of Bear Artifacts in the Magic Academy please?
Because many were working on the Stages longer than usual, they have missed out on conversion recipes.
It was about a week in Beta - should be the same here.
Autumn Goldleaf
Spellcaster
It was about a week in Beta - should be the same here.
The banner mesg said we could only craft until the 13th October. That was only the day after the Fellowship Adventure ended.
A lot of players did not get a recipe for converting their artifacts during that final day. VERY UNHAPPY players out there...
Pauly7
Magus
Correct. They gave one extra day after the FA finished.