Topic

A Problem with the Home Street Resource Routes?

I love the home street resource routes and have been a member of the bean route for quite a while, but I see a problem developing with them.  The problem is that, to put it one way, there are too many members on the route list with too much resource on their streets. For example, two of the more popular routes, spice and bean, have over 50 members and many members have 10, 12, even 15 of the resource on their street.

Why is this a problem? Very simply, because, unless they go out of their way to do otherwise, everyone starts on the same street (the route manager's) and then follows the same sequence of streets, and with so many resources on the route few, I suspect, run the whole route. They get as much resource as they're after and then leave the route. Now this wouldn't really be a problem except that, with the new addition of glitchen receiving IMG when others use the resources on their streets, routes members get a real benefit from being visited. But I would guess the top half of people on the list get visited frequently while the lower people are visited less frequently (or never) because few people need so much resource that they take the time to run the whole route. So the glitchen on the top of the list are getting lots of IMG from visitors while those lower down are getting little. And the lower down people are the longer-term members who have been with the route from the start!

So what is the solution? Frankly I have no good ideas. What we need is a system that would spread the route visits roughly equally among all the members of the route. The only ways I can think of to implement this would require either major support from TS dev or major and constant tweaking of the route list and sign posts. Neither of these ideas seems workable. Does anyone have a good idea of how this could be resolved fairly easily???

Posted 6 months ago by Hawkwell Subscriber! | Permalink

Replies

  • Yeah, break up the X route into several X routes with different curators. I don't know how feasible this is but I'd imagine that there's enough interest in the routes for others to volunteer as curators.
    Posted 6 months ago by diaveborn ♥ Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Shouldn't this be in the HRR group discussions?

    However your point about those further down list not getting the iMG

    1. I joined a Resource Route in a spirit of community and wishing to share not what I would get out of it
    2. iMG from visitors is negligible. If you want to boost your iMG this is not the way.
    Posted 6 months ago by IrenicRhonda Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I'm on the spice route and I don't start with the route curator's street because I don't signpost to them, I signpost to the person on the route after me so they are my first stop. I'd always assumed that everyone did this so all the streets on the route got equal visiting, but maybe not!
    Posted 6 months ago by Agnes Snatchflannel Subscriber! | Permalink
  • @Hawkwell,

    Yes, I've noticed visitors have tailed off a bit recently on my Home Street and have theorised this is the cause. I know from running other routes myself that it is time-consuming to complete an entire route.

    My idea in the ideas thread was largely about boosting inter-connections between Home Streets and improving navigation. I hoped this would counteract the tendency (which I have myself) of starting with the curator and working down the circuit. However, I'm under no illusions that this is an easy problem to resolve.

    @IrenicRhonda,

    Regardless of the iMG question, if you are stuck at the bottom of a route and hardly get any visitors then this does impede your ability to share with the community.

    Edit:
    @Pandemian,

    Yes, if you are on the route this is naturally how it would work.
    For those not on the route though, which would presumably be the bulk of visitors if the routes are being well used, the tendency is probably to start with the curator. (Which is what I do for routes I am not on.)
    Posted 6 months ago by Dr Evanzan Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Boom and Bust has worked out an interesting solution to this for the Gas Route: 
    "To ensure a more equitable bonus iMG distribution, the last signpost will as of today be swapped every Earth day to point to a random person in the middle of the route. The fourth sign will now point to the very start of the route for those who wish to harvest the full length of the route. This is an experiment, and I'll tweak the set up based on feedback, so keep those coming. "

    http://www.glitch.com/groups/RHVP8CB5LHP2U8O/discuss/11025/#reply-67786
    Posted 6 months ago by Tribeca Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Funny, if I use a route I am not connected to through HRR (I'm on two of them), I NEVER start at the curator's street. The first time I visit a new route, I start at the last street on the route and work my way to my saturation point. The next time I want to use that route, I go to the last street I left the route from and then work my way to my next saturation point, ad nauseum...
    Posted 6 months ago by foolbunny Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Notes so far:

    Irenic: I agree that we are not route members in order to get IMG, but most players like to get IMG, as evidenced by the endless discussions about mood dropping too fast. I think it's a reasonable desire that the IMG bonus be relatively equitably spread among route members.

    Tribeca: I really like B&B's idea and think (possibly with a little tweaking) this could be the solution I was looking for.

    foolbunny: Your system is great, but it requires a conscious effort from each user of the route. I don't think it will have a lot of impact on the overall picture as only a small number would realize the problem and take action to deal with it.

    Another question: How much IMG do you get from the rock each day, and how high or low are you on your route's list? I am near the bottom of the bean route. Some days I get the minimum (I think) 535 IMG. My highest bonus has been 800 something.
    Posted 6 months ago by Hawkwell Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I get 535 or 555 and am not on any routes
    Posted 6 months ago by shhexy corin Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I hope you post these ideas or a summary of the discussion in HRR as well to ensure that they're seen by organisers and participants. I curate the sparkly route, and I've devoted my second sign to link to the halfway point on the route so that people have the option of starting in the middle if they so choose.
    Posted 6 months ago by Voluptua Sneezelips Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I dont mind being on rarely visited, I just happy I can help. Unless that sometimes I did say my 300-400 img road with a bit of :( .
    Posted 6 months ago by rosedragon Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I am near the bottom (? near the beginning, i.e. have been on the route since the IMG relaunch) of both the Herb and Gas Plant routes. I was getting in the range of 200 IMG to 400 IMG and was surprised to hear how much some of the other HRR members were getting. I have since added and removed resources, and am getting 500 IMG and up.

    My original resources:
    23 herb garden plots
    2 gas plants (I joined the HRR before the Gas Plant Route increased requirements to 4 trees)
    1 wood tree
    1 jellisac mound
    1 peat bog
    1 barnacle pod
    1 spice tree
    1 dirt pile

    My current resources:
    23 herb garden plots
    5 gas plants
    1 spice tree
    1 dirt pile
    2 peat bogs
    1 jellisac mound
    1 barnacle pod
    1 wood tree (recently added)
    1 bean tree (recently added)

    I do wonder if being on the herb route makes my street less likely to generate IMG compared to the other routes, since the amount of stuff you can do with herb gardens depends entirely on what the people who have come before you have done.
    Posted 6 months ago by Twotone Subscriber! | Permalink
  • The base amount, the floor, seems to  depend on your level. I'm saying this because mine increased when I levelled .

    I now get an extra 200-300 iMG from being on the Bubble HRR route. 

    Twotone says they are surprised at how much others are getting from being on the routes. I wonder if they are taking into account the floor amount that they would get anyway. The best I know is from someone that is on two Routes and he gets roughly 2000 iMG but his base level would account for half that

    I'm pretty certain that I saw a staff post that said there was a ceiling too, for the iMg from visitors to your Home Street
    Posted 6 months ago by IrenicRhonda Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I also think this question should be looked at by the HRR group as a whole. The OP has made some excellent points that are well worth exploring.

    I know that I definitely want people to come to my street and that I want to provide things for them to have. I'd rather provide a variety of things, though - if only to make my street more interesting. The current pressure, however, is to fill up the street with only the resource(s) required by the route(s). As well as removing the ability from the home street's "owner" to set it up as they wish and the freedom to change things around, it's simply not as fun to visit mono-themed streets.
    Posted 6 months ago by Flowerry Pott Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I removed some of my Gas trees and put in peat bogs instead. I didn't think of how unfair it was to have so many of one kind of tree! (*guilt-ridden*) Sorry! :)
    Posted 6 months ago by PittyPat is sad Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Active HRR discussion forum, and here's the dedicated thread on suggestions & solutions:

     http://www.glitch.com/groups/RHVP8CB5LHP2U8O/discuss/9622/ 
    Posted 6 months ago by Maruchan Subscriber! | Permalink
  • fwiw, i never start at the top of a route....i enjoy seeing new streets and enjoy the decorations and notes left out by players I don't know. :-)
    Posted 6 months ago by FlatEarther Subscriber! | Permalink
  • My street is near the 'beginning' of the firefly/barnacle route. I receive roughly 500-600 iMG per game day. No glitch is going to retire on that amount, so yeah, the reasons people are on the route are pretty obvious. /end humblebrag. 

    I'm not sure but I think that iMG doesn't accrue from one day to the next. In other words, if you don't go in game you won't get the iMG for that day. Like I said, could be wrong on that. 

    Also wanted to ask shexycorin if she has a lot of people visiting her street or if she notices receiving Rock iMG even when nobody visits. I've been wondering if there is a base amount that everyone gets (maybe connected to level as stated above). I seem to get the same iMG a lot, even when it appears the resources on my street haven't been touched.
    Posted 6 months ago by N2ZOrtolanaBlue Subscriber! | Permalink
  • One of my friends is on a resource route near the middle.  when i realized this, I bumped her to my sign post so i always start in the middle instead of the "leaders/manager"
    Posted 6 months ago by Gadzooks Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I find that I rarely follow one route from beginning to end. Either I get bored gathering one thing so I switch routes, or someone's name catches my eye and I decide to check out their street. Hopefully switching mid-stream sometimes means that I end up on a street farther down the list.
    Posted 6 months ago by Nuveena Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I bookmark locations from the routes.  Usually 2, the start/end (curator), and the middle.  More for the longer ones. It's so much easier to do that with the home streets having pages.
    Posted 6 months ago by Tibbi Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Twotone, you're one street after me on the gas route and my minimum img per game day is about 585. I agree that if you were getting 200-300 that was definitely a resource related issue, not location in the route.

    I never ever use the whole route. That would be ridiculous. I can get 2-3k of something and still have done less than half of some of the routes. The gas route has 715 gas plants on it. That's over 17 thousand vapor! Nobody needs that!
    I'm right near the end of the gas route, and I don't have a problem with the img amount I get, so I don't see a big problem with the way things are. Having a randomized second street is a good way to share the love, but if a curator is too busy then it is fine the way it is.
    Posted 6 months ago by Biohazard Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I'm on the gas route, & I always start at MadHatter, the next on the route, & who is on my 5th sign.  If all the members of the routes who also use the routes, did this, then we'd all be getting at least some iMG.  iMG wasn't really the reason for me joining the route anyway, so to me it's just a nice bonus, my general vapour supplies were low, & gas trees are what I like the look of best on my street.

    Doing a whole route takes so long for me - I get laggy quite easily, & find to move from street to street pretty slow.  I personally really don't think it's unfair for people to have a lot of one resource on their street - not everyone has loads of time to go from street to street for just a few trees for one resource, for example.  

    I have 9 gas trees on my street (+ 3 wood trees & 1 each of a few other things), & I'd actually prefer it if I could go to streets that are heavy in the particular resource I wanted to harvest. Maybe a solution would be to have different varieties of one route - one with a larger variety of resources, & not just a majority of one resource, & another with a majority of one resource, that way route users have more of a choice - if they're looking for just one thing, &/or have less time to harvest, or if they are less discriminate about what they want to harvest.

    I haven't done the whole gas route since R2, when I tried to recently, many of the people on the route either didn't have the correct links on their 5th sign, or didn't have the required number of resources. I hope the problems get ironed out soon, because I think the routes are great.
    Posted 6 months ago by Errata Stigmata Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Not to worry, this is something we've been aware of and talking about for a few weeks.  There's new routes launching today, which might help, and a number of ideas being tossed around.  More ideas always welcome though!
    Posted 6 months ago by Red Sauce Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Why don't they have a maximum and when they reach that they have to start another route or can be a sub or something, or maybe a supplier.
    Posted 6 months ago by Maxy Cat Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Maxy cat.. are you suggesting that to continue playing the game you have to subscribe? that is the literal opposite of how glitch is ran...
    these are player ran routes and it's not like you get an abundant amount of imagination from them. We have to pay to keep our resources public which in and of itself is hard work for near nothing. I'm constantly having to reup my sparkly and plant new trees all because i like to be generous and part of the community. I see nothing wrong with having a extra 500 or so img being thrown my way. It'd be different if it was in the high thousands. or if we were cheating the system. but we arent. so yeah. 
    Posted 6 months ago by Clickadee Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Clickadee: I meant for the route, like supply beans, wine and other things to help them grow. When I said sub I meant substitute, not subscriber.
    Posted 6 months ago by Maxy Cat Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Ooh Okay I see what you are saying now. 
    Posted 6 months ago by Clickadee Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Complain in the group, ok? We can help answer your questions. Also, bean and spice route are now closed to new members.
    Posted 6 months ago by AwesomeCardinal2000 Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I must say, I have 13 egg plants because I have a personal goal of filling up an SDB with eggs. I joined the egg route because I have all them anyway and other Glitchen might as well be able to use them too.
    Posted 6 months ago by JohnaMarie Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I get at least 420 iMG and have gotten as much as 1500+. The most I have gotten in the last few days was 900+. I have 8 bean trees, 4 jellisac pods (12 jellis), 3 peat bogs and 2 dirt piles.

    ETA: I got 1423 when I logged in just now. Must have been a good day and/or a day when many resources got replenished ;p
    Posted 6 months ago by foolbunny Subscriber! | Permalink