Topic

Badge Nerf

So I'm not a big fan of complaining on the forums. Up until now, I haven't really done it; out of what I thought was a matter of principle. Although really, I think it's because so far, TS hasn't made any change to the game I really disliked. Indeed, I've reviewed the game on three occasions, and each time, found the game and its changes overwhelmingly positive. But a change presented today is one that I'll finally have to break my silence over.

From the Glitch Change Log (found at https://twitter.com/glitchlog/statuses/230918577685925888):
"We've changed to a new system for achievement tracking. As a side-effect. badges will show up a little later than they used to. Relaaaxing!"

For a lot of people, this isn't an issue. For quite a few others, in fact for the players who show the most dedication to the game, this isn't relaxing at all. It's nothing short of panic-inducing. Up until recently, I've never really been one to grind badges. However, for whatever reason, I've decided to get into badge grinding lately. And there's nothing more satisfying than finally receiving your 10009th snail, and the corresponding achievement. As intelligent beings, we glitchen enjoy the natural relationship between cause and effect (as an example of how stressful things can be when this gets out of whack, ever tried gardening with lag?). It's what allows us to intelligently manage a given situation.

Aside from the logical, scientific reasoning why this change is disruptive, there's also the practical reason. Those who grind badges are possibly the most efficiency-focused people in the game, wondering "how can I accomplish this goal in the fastest time possible, and using the least materials?" However, not knowing exactly when to stop throwing resources into a badge can be an issue. When grinding some achievements, one must harvest an unusably large number of a given item (I've finished both my house and my tower, and all the furniture I'll need for the forseeable future, and still have about 7000 snails left over). Therefore, we're not going after these items for the sake of possessing the item itself. We're going after a separate goal, and usually have no interest in getting much more than the exact required number of items to get [insert badge here]. As a recent example, the Supafly Flycatcher badge. Not only was this one quite the chore, fireflies aren't the most useful item in the game. So I now have a hoard of fireflies that I'll most likely never need. But not a moment of my time was wasted. I got exactly what I was looking for. No more. No less.

As another example, this one involving credits (as usually credits are the issue that hits closest to home), Licensed Teleporter (Whoa Class). This was a badge I grinded (ground?) several months ago, before I was into badge grinding in general. Obviously, I used imbued scripts to two adjacent streets in the same region, to eliminate cooldowns and minimize loading times (granted, Cebarkul and Oktyabrya probably weren't the best street choices; if you were there when I did this one, I apologize for the flood of enter/leave messages I left in the process). Regardless, I burned through imbued scripts (which cost two credits each to make) rather quickly. I was on a rather bad connection when I did this, so maybe I just spent a few credits per minute, but had I been on my usual connection, I would've eaten through them much faster. Once I reached my 503rd teleport with follower, I then proceeded to immediately cease using the scripts, as they could then be saved for some other use (in this case, I gave the remaining scripts to the person who helped with the badge). Had badges been nerfed at this point, I would've wasted quite a few credits after having already accomplished my purpose.

My last point was by no means intended to trivialize the wastefulness of grinding past the required amounts for badges that don't involve credits. Quite the contrary. I don't enjoy being wasteful when grinding any badge, and enjoy being promptly informed as to when my work is complete (also, the wastefulness issue aside, the OCD in me likes to know the exact moment when I've finished a badge; a time off by a few seconds is still an incorrect time).

In conclusion, Tiny Speck, I implore you to restore the sacred bond of cause and effect that Glitch-kind has learned to depend on since we were first imagined by the Giants.

-- Signed,
The Badgers of Ur

Posted 4 months ago by Jus​tin Subscriber! | Permalink

Replies

Previous 1 2
  • With the delay in awarding badges, does this mean there's a delay in checking badge conditions have been met, or a delay before badge progress is updated to the server? If it's the latter, will there be a loss of badge progress if for some reason the game crashes?

    As an example, for the jumping badges, does each jump get recorded individually and instantly, or does a total number of jumps in a certain interval get recorded periodically? If it's in an interval, is the game able to save the progress between update intervals, or is there a chance this portion of progress may be lost whenever Flash crashes?
    Posted 4 months ago by TomC Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Uh.. it's one thing to be genuinely unawares that it's upsetting to a lot of people with genuine OCD to have the term tossed around as such, but to acknowledge that and then present a cheeky taunting faux-apology that serves only to belittle that concern is pretty gross and offensive.
    Posted 4 months ago by Hoyden Nova Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Sorry to hear that obsessive gameplay will now involve having to think and keep track of what you're doing, Justin. People with real problems don't realise how lucky they are... :)
    Posted 4 months ago by Fritzl Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Yes. I think it's totally reasonable that I'm expected to be able to keep precise track of how long I've had the crown.
    People make lots of mistakes counting things. We're not very good at it. And it's tedious. It's practically what computers were invented to do. So expecting the game to do that for us isn't far-fetched. Unlike people, computers and software are expected to be accurate. If they're not, it comes across as a bug. So this new badge behavior seems more like a bug than a feature to me.
    Posted 4 months ago by Jus​tin Subscriber! | Permalink
  • As a badger I have to agree with Justin - I love that moment when all my hard work and planning has paid off and I really don't like the idea of having done more than I needed to do to get the badge. Some badges I have really enjoyed working towards and keep doing the things long after there is any need (tincturing, for example, I love the sound) but other badges have felt/do feel like a real grind. The moment I get my last fox-brushing badge I will throw my brushes and bait to the ground and be out of there. THe planning is an issue too - I'm putting off making a tower until I've finished feeding sloths as I'll use metal for rods rather than girders and mining for that metal is time and energy consuming. I really don't understand how this change could be described as relaxing. 
    ETA - perhaps a staff member could explain exactly what this change is and how it will actually work from players' perspectives? That way maybe none of us will get needlessly agitated.
    Posted 4 months ago by Captain Daisy Subscriber! | Permalink
  • There is some stress as it is in Achievements.  For many of them we have no way of knowing if we are anywhere near the goal.  This creates anxiety.  Take the Subway badges.  The sub riding Badges are among the few where we have a clear picture of how far along we are (the number of rides is told to us as we enter).  This however is not really exact because the counts are off and most of us are going to have to ride anywhere from just a few extra times all the way up to many extra times.  The count therefore cannot be relied upon resulting in anxiety and stress and an overwhelming fear of subs.  I broke out into a cold sweat just typing "sub".

    Now you say that Badges will be delayed.  Not only did I not have any clear idea when I would get the Uberculturist Badge (I must have ended up with 10K herbs or more before I got it) but now I know that it may even have been delayed.  I won't mention teleport Badges because I have not even begun to try for any beyond the easiest ones (which I have).  The stress is just too much.  Counting passengers and locations and tooting my Glitch train is stressful enough as it is without wondering when the Badges will appear.

    I am relieved to know that I have some Badges yet to get that I can easily count (raise 23 piggies, 23 chickens, etc.) .  At least when I have completed them I will know it (won't I?) even if the Badge is delayed.
    Posted 4 months ago by Brib Annie Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Just a perhaps silly question... Do we actually know what this delay will be? Perhaps it's a delay of just 1 - 2 seconds?

    @TomC: a delay before badge progress is updated to the server
    Surely hope not. In any decent client - server game, anything that happens on client side, in this case Flash interface, shouldn't be regarded as trusted by the server except the most basic interactions like mouse clicks and menu choices.

    Anything of any importance should only happen server side, else it can and will be faked.
    Posted 4 months ago by Heatseeker Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Er... did anyone ask what kind of delay are we talking about here?

    I mean, a 5-10 seconds delay has always been there: doubling that would make no discernible difference at all.

    Also, today I had the very nice surprise of being awarded two badges (numismatyzer ones, in case you're wondering) I really wasn't aware of having achieved. So, bring on the changes!

    (and by the way: what was that teleportation trick like again?)
    Posted 4 months ago by Ayzad Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Okay, maybe it's just me, but I find there's a slight delay between the message in my log and the popup of me actually getting the badge. Because I'm not always looking at my chat log, I don't always realize when I've gotten a badge. How is that different from this upcoming delay, or am I the only person who has such an existing delay?
    Posted 4 months ago by Mahkia Subscriber! | Permalink
  • @Capt. Daisy: Yes! Exactly! I'm going to miss being able to savor the exact moment the results of my labor have come to fruition. It was a wonderful feeling to be able to enjoy that. Now it's been messed up. (I'm the opposite of you in the department of which badges I enjoyed grinding more than others though; I actually enjoy fox brushing)

    @Brib Annie: The anxiety is indeed grueling. For me it was that fireflies badge. Especially with the fact that there's a massive space between the penultimate and final badges, although Polymorphous Crystalmalyzer lying at about the halfway point, and being something I worked on at the same time, helped. By the end of it, I never wanted to catch a firefly ever again. And that was with the aid of routes and API tools. Anyone who got the badge (or a lot of the bog badges really) before those came to be; you're among my personal heroes. Is the intent of this new delay to torment? (I actually realize the intent is optimization/server side efficiency; I'll provide my thoughts on that at the end of this post)

    @Heatseeker: stoot has confirmed in global that the delay is 30 seconds or more.

    Now for another perspective on this whole thing. This time it's the perspective of principle. Tiny Speck has always come across to me as a company that prides itself in attention to detail. It's really something that sets Glitch apart from most other games (really, I tried signing up for one such other game a week or two ago [I was on a mission; I had no intent to actively play it] and didn't take me long to storm out thinking how crappy it was compared to Glitch). Granted, Glitch is in beta, and some details haven't been attended to yet, and TS deserves that we acknowledge this. This is why I normally don't post 730-word rants about bugs. However, this is a detail that was previously attended to properly (badges triggering at just the right moment), but was then forsaken in the name of optimization. It's a detail most people take for granted and probably don't even notice, but it was still a wonderful thing to have and I hope to see its return.

    As a CS major, I've had the importance of optimization shoved down my throat, many times. So, to some extent, I acknowledge it. From the sound of old blog posts, it sounds like TS has done some pretty good work in the area. But when optimization comes at the sacrifice of attention to detail, one of the most admirable principles in any field is at stake. Sadly, this change seems to reflect more than just not being able to savor the exact moment I've achieved something (not to belittle something we badgers hold dear). Indeed, it reflects a shift in priorities. A shift away from a priority (Tiny Speck's unending drive for perfection) that I'm sure everyone, not just badgers, admires.
    Posted 4 months ago by Jus​tin Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I'm with Hoyden. You could have just used the word obsessive, rather than bandying about an actual disorder. OCD is not an interchangeable word for obsession OR compulsion. You wouldn't make cheeky remarks about cancer or tuberculosis, followed by a wink and a nudge, so why is it OK to joke about a mental illness?

    Answer: It isn't.
    Posted 4 months ago by Belle Z. Bub Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I got two badges this morning. It took less than a minute for each to come up. THAT is a kind of delay I can deal with. No issue for me what so ever.
    Posted 4 months ago by jiva Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Dude.
    Can you tell me, at least, how longer has it been delayed? Is it beyond double of what it is right now?
    If not... Are you seriously THAT desperate? You said yourself all of the changes so far have been good. Give them some credit. Imagine when they make their REALLY bad (or drastical change to existing things since there's always someone to enjoy) change. You'll sue them or rage-quit?

    This tweet was yesterday, no one knows exactly how longer they will be delayed.
    Posted 4 months ago by Wellincolin Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Grinding for achievements is like all I've done in Glitch for the past... Spriggan knows how long, so I know my opinion will probably be taken with a grain of salt, but I have to agree. If we're talking about something on the low end of the spectrum, like 30 seconds or even a few minutes, fine. It's annoying, but if it helps cut down on lag or whatever the reasoning behind this change is, fine. But if we're talking closer to hours or days, what? I want a badge for holding the Crown for 100003 seconds, not 105236. I want a badge for jumping 111111 times, and if I don't get it on that 111111th jump, I'll keep jumping. Assigning a specific number to a certain badge seems a little silly if you're not going to award it until a random point down the line, whether it be 35 seconds later or 2 hours later. Yes, it'll still be awarded for that 111111th jump, but it won't seem like that to me: I'll never know when that last, final, satisfying jump I needed to get that badge was.And I'm sure I'll have people jump on me for being unreasonable or demanding or whatever but one of the best things about Glitch is that there's no wrong way to play, and nerfing my way of playing and having other people telling me it's wrong to get upset is just plain wrong.
    Posted 4 months ago by Moi Subscriber! | Permalink
  • @Justin: Missed it. Thanks for the clarification.

    Even if it's 30 seconds, let's look at it from another angle. So far all the changes TS has done were to improve the game for us as players. If they make a change, I have faith it was needed to improve one aspect of the game or the other.

    In this line of thinking, perhaps the server did a churning database activity for near-instant badge gratification. This was feasible perhaps with 3,000 glitches online at a time. But now, with the grand opening looming around the corner, perhaps this was impractical.

    Given the choice to wait for 30 sec to be gratified about something I do - and I've chased many badges myself - and have many many glitches around to play with, or the old instant notification and only a handful online, I'd take the delay without a blink.

    To sum up, I honestly doubt TS would add a delay just for the sake of it. If it's needed from a technical point of view for scalability so be it.
    Posted 4 months ago by Heatseeker Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I forgot to mention we're on beta and on a fairly big wave of new players.
    Posted 4 months ago by Wellincolin Subscriber! | Permalink
  • If you have kept close enough track to know precisely when to stop grinding, then you don't need the game to instantly confirm that.  

    If you don't keep records that precisely, then one or two minutes more of grinding at an activity is pretty minimal.  

    I really like that TS has made badges a by-the-way aspect of the game instead of a focus of the game.  I hope they never install how-close-am-I-to-this-achievement counters.  There are a couple (uber-culturist, for example) that seem like I should have already earned several times over, but most of my badges have been awarded while working on other goals.  

    30 seconds (if the stoot quote is accurate) almost unnoticeable if you are actually enjoying the game.  
    Posted 4 months ago by WindBorn Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I actually enjoy the game, but I actually really enjoy the feeling of getting another badge, too. Your point of view is accurate, but saying that the way people play the game is wrong comes off as condescending. Just because badges aren't the focus of the game doesn't mean that people who *do* focus on getting badges are playing the game wrong and can't enjoy the game.
    Posted 4 months ago by Moi Subscriber! | Permalink
  • The game has no pre-determined focus. That's ours to decide. Those of us who want to focus on badges shouldn't be penalized for doing so. Being timely alerted as to our achievements was a great thing to have, and I hope it will soon return (once again, the "it's only 30-ish seconds" thing still doesn't satisfy my yearning to see the functionality return to its original attention to detail).

    Also, if badges aren't a goal to strive for, then please do tell me why we have a leaderboard for them, that admonishes us to "achieve things."

    www.glitch.com/leaderboards...

    Edited to point out my agreement with Moi's post. Some people, myself included, enjoy the sense of accomplishment and satisfaction from achieving things. There's nothing wrong with that, and it in no way detracts from your gameplay style. To each their own.
    Posted 4 months ago by Jus​tin Subscriber! | Permalink
  • WIth less than 100 badges left, I've entered grind mode too. In concept, I'm with you Justin - I wish TS hadn't made this change, and I never found it jarring or disturbing in any way to see an achievement popup in the midst of whatever I was doing. At the same time, I need to say that it's too soon to tell how this change effects *my* person play-style.

    I got one badge this morning, but have no idea how much it threw off my tracking, since I hadn't yet seen this announcement from the wee hours of the night.
    Posted 4 months ago by Quack Macallan Subscriber! | Permalink
  • The delay is unfortunate, since going from immediate gratification and responsiveness to delayed gratification and disconnection between cause and effect (however minor) always feels like a step in the wrong direction.

    Calling it "relaxing" is pretty preposterous, and the kind of PR spin that TS does not usually indulge in. C'mon now, let's get real!

    Personally, I have always enjoyed the *surprise!!!* quality of instant badge awards.
    Posted 4 months ago by Pascale Subscriber! | Permalink
  • +1 Pascale
    I hadn't looked at it that way. It does indeed seem that a good way to sum up the change is "artificial lag." Which is a bad thing.

    Also, agreed as to the PR qualities of the whole thing. It's much akin to the "It's not a bug, it's a feature!" spiel (although I admit to having used that line before...).
    Posted 4 months ago by Jus​tin Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Damn, I've never thought people would actually endlessly rant because of less than 1 minute delay for a badge.

    If it was confirmed to be, say, at least 5 minutes, I would be ranting as much as you. But seriously, reportedly 30 seconds of delay? Thirty seconds?

    Are you really getting behind in a Badge Race because of 30 seconds? No you're not, because the delay is for everybody, making it virtually non-existant. It won't change a thing for the leaderboards.

    As for your happiness and sense of fulfillment, I'm pretty sure you won't die because of 30 seconds. Think of it as a final countdown.
    Posted 4 months ago by Wellincolin Subscriber! | Permalink
  • OK, so people have been asking forever for better feedback on achievement progress and this is what TS does instead? I don't know what the delay is (maybe it's not long enough to matter or maybe it is), but it does seem to be a step in the wrong direction and a slap to long time players who don't have much left to do but grind achievements.

    There was a glitch in Timtim
    Who felt that badge grinding was grim
    Ten thousand tries
    To get a giant surprise
    But no respose came back to him
    Posted 4 months ago by Janitch Subscriber! | Permalink
  • What was the point of this nerf? Are they planning on letting you see how much you have left till the next badge?
    Posted 4 months ago by koolaroo Subscriber! | Permalink
  • It probably came up with improvements, either noticeable or not. It could make things easier for them, administrators/game-masters whatever they are called on Glitch. They said it is a side-effect for a "new achievement system". It wasn't for nothing, that is certain.
    Posted 4 months ago by Wellincolin Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Initially, I read this topic and scoffed. "This can't be nearly as bad as everyone says; they're just getting bent out of shape like people always do." But having earned a few badges today, and having them pop up during completely unrelated activities a minute later is confusing. It makes the badges feel arbitrary and random rather than actual achievements, since there's such a disconnect from doing what awards the badge and actually receiving it. I liken it to watching a movie, seeing the final scene, and getting nothing but a black screen; a minute later, almost as an afterthought, the credits start to roll. That's how the badge delay feels now.

    I understand that there's probably a technical reason that the delay exists, and I do think that everyone is overreacting (myself included). I appreciate everything TS does to keep the game fun, interesting, and engaging, and I'm glad they're continuing to develop the game into something everyone can enjoy. It does feel a bit like having a feature taken away, I suppose- I guess that's why I'm a bit bummed out. It's bound to get better, though, so take heart, steel yourselves, and (touchy subject ahoy) relax a bit.
    Posted 4 months ago by Wrench Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I disagree with the topic from the beginning, because it was not a nerf. A nerf is an intended change for balance purposes (it is the antonym of buff).

    This is a side-effect of the new achievement system (whatever it is) and wasn't intended at all.
    Posted 4 months ago by Wellincolin Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I wish the tweaking of the achievement tracking had included something to tell us how close we were to getting the badge. Then it would not matter about the delay (not that it mattered really)
    Posted 4 months ago by Tibbi Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I'd like to hear a staff response to get some specifics about the reason for this change.

    I'm also curious about the potential for this scenario: I restore the depleted Herb Plot on my Home Street and then, noticing the time, I log out and go to bed.

    The next day I log in. 15 seconds later, while still dealing with the New Day notifications, do I then get the seemingly random notification of having achieved Restorer of Stuff?
    Posted 4 months ago by The Cat Face Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I agree that a delay makes the badge achievement a little less satisfying if you don't get it at the moment of completion.

    What I HEARTILY disagree with in the OP (in addition to the OCD comment) is the notion that badge grinders "show the most dedication to the game". Sure, I've done some grinding, but I haven't hatched a bazillion eggs or chopped down tons of trees and am not going to teleport like a muufo just to get an achievement. I'll get 'em when I get 'em. Dedication can and does go beyond repeating an in-game action a set number of times.

    I adore this game with a fierceness that defies description. I have spent 2 RL vacations in Ur. I have played every day since launch but for one when I had no internet access. The notion that one's dedication is measured via badge-grinding is preposterous.
    Posted 4 months ago by Voluptua Sneezelips Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Stoot told us last night in global chat that this delay was for technical reasons. I don't know the details, but it seems to be for the benefit of the servers.

    For my two cents, I don't mind the delay at all.
    Posted 4 months ago by Raw Toast Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I have a silly question.  has anyone investigated this change to see if maybe they added in a way to actually track your progress reliably?
    Posted 4 months ago by Cherry Cat Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Or keep in mind, maybe this new system will enable them to eventually add a better tracking system.

    I agree it's not a nerf, because it was not made for balance issues. And 30 seconds isn't that long, though I can see how it might be a little jarring to not get the badge while you're doing that activity.

    It seems like the sort of thing that needs a bit of time, though, to see if they are going to look into ways to make the badges pop up more timely or whether this new system, side effects aside, will allow more for them to build upon. But it is good to at least voice concern over it, so they can see how it affects people.
    Posted 4 months ago by Little Miss Giggles Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I have to agree with Voluptua that badgers aren't necessarily the most dedicated to the game. I hadn't seen that point (I'll admit, with big blocks of text, my eyes tend to drift and it's hard to catch every word) in the original post but saying that is just as bad as saying that people who actively try to get badges are playing wrong. There are plenty of people who play the game and are extremely dedicated but don't personally care about badges. :\
    Posted 4 months ago by Moi Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Granted, I think badgers are not the most dedicated, but they are an important part of the game.
    Why? First because they kind of make the economy. Second because they're the ones defining the game's longevity. The game is relatively new and it's good to have them because they will always rush to get "capped" and this can be used to see how much content you still have left (say, if a hardcore player got capped in 3 months, playing casually it would probably take more than 6 or so).
    Posted 4 months ago by Wellincolin Subscriber! | Permalink
  • What has Ur come to when 30 seconds is now a lifetime?
    Posted 4 months ago by Gordon Lughsen Subscriber! | Permalink
  • It's not about "losing" that 30 seconds. It's about the relationship between the cause (completing an achievement) and the effect (receiving the relevant badge). They naturally go together, and if one isn't immediately followed by the other, it just feels... wrong. Many people in the thread have given it their own description; Wrench does a pretty good job of explaining why receiving badges at the improper time is so weird.
    Posted 4 months ago by Jus​tin Subscriber! | Permalink
  • It does feel wrong, and we all agree about that. If we had the option to instantly receive the notification or a OPTIONAL delay of 30 seconds, we would obviously pick the former.

    But it is not, and it was not intended. It is not fair coming up and complaining like they made it intentionally and calling it a "nerf".
    Posted 4 months ago by Wellincolin Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I question where you say it's not intended. It's beta and bugs happen. But usually when bugs happen, you don't post them to the change log as a feature. That makes it sound fairly intentional.
    Posted 4 months ago by Jus​tin Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Hi! I designed and built our original achievement system, as well as this replacement.

    The original system was designed with the goal that the game counts everything that you do, and then if we want to add achievements for it down the line, it's just a matter of getting some art and some copy and then TA-DA! I still think this is an important feature to have, and indeed the new system still does it this way. There are obvious downsides to this, which some people have guessed at above. Achievement counters quickly became the largest player data we had to store, which could not scale as we add more players.

    As you move around the world nibbling piggies, petting trants, and racing Glitches we would increment a counter and then say "Ok, NOW do they have an achievement? How about now? Now? Now? Now? Are we there yet?". As the number of counters grows, this starts to slow down every action you do, as well as every action for everyone else. Snowball.

    Sometimes when changing locations, we transparently move you to another server. When this happens, we need to compress and store all of your player data, move you to the other server, and then fetch and uncompress your data again. The larger the dataset, the longer this takes, and the longer you have to stare at the street loading screen. In some of our more dedicated players' cases, their achievement data became so big that we couldn't even write it to storage anymore. If you've ever seen a player's profile page show them getting the same achievement over and over and over, this is why.

    So the data had to move.

    Over the past six months or so, we've been recording all achievement data in both systems and making sure that it's both accurate and scalable. Now when you take an action, we write that data to a queue and start a timer to save to the new system. Any other actions you take before that timer expires get batched up and written at once. If the game crashes, we still have that data and can write it when the game comes back up. I somewhat arbitrarily chose an initial timeout of 30 seconds, since it seemed like a value that was not so long as to be laggy nor so short as to negate the purpose of the new system. Now that we're officially up and running with it, the goal will be to nudge that value down as much as possible.

    Since we queue up data during that 30s, it means that if you take an action right before it expires, it will be saved and checked instantly, meaning the delay is actually 30s or less. Additionally, there are a few achievements that operate outside of this system: the jumping achievements are one example, and they will continue to fire as soon as you make that last jump.

    Achievements are near and dear to me, as much as the rest of Glitch is. I want us to be able to add as many achievements as possible, while still adding as many players and other game features as possible. This allows us to do that. All staff accounts, as well as some of you, have been running under the new achievement system for a couple months now. It has its upsides and its downsides, like any change, but the upsides are higher for everyone. Additionally, the downsides are intentionally worse initially in order to give us room to tweak as more data accumulates. That's what I'll be doing today.
    Posted 4 months ago by Myles! Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Ah. I could've sworn that I'd heard 30s or more. And the fact that it was promoted as a feature made it sound like that delay time would be permanent. Glad to hear that neither of those are the case. :)

    Also, thanks for clarifying things.
    Posted 4 months ago by Jus​tin Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Thanks for the very helpful description!
    Posted 4 months ago by TomC Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Yeah, I think Stewart said "30s or more" in Global Chat last night. He's often right about things, but in this case he's mostly wrong. It's ok, there's a lot on his plate. We'll let him keep his job, for now.

    I bet that if we hadn't tweeted it, most people would never have noticed. But, we try and be transparent here. It's not a feature, but it is a change, so we let our players know.
    Posted 4 months ago by Myles! Subscriber! | Permalink
  • If it reduces lag, I'm all for it.  
    Posted 4 months ago by WalruZ Subscriber! | Permalink
  • "Achievements are near and dear to me, as much as the rest of Glitch is. I want us to be able to add as many achievements as possible, while still adding as many players and other game features as possible. This allows us to do that." -- Thank you Myles!! That's all I needed to hear. I can do with a slight delay, as long as more badges (players, and fun things to do) are on the way :) 
    Posted 4 months ago by Sadie the Goat Subscriber! | Permalink
  • "Nerf"
    Dear god no.
    Posted 4 months ago by Volkov Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Thanks for the explanation Myles!.
    Posted 4 months ago by The Cat Face Subscriber! | Permalink
  • oh, be still my heart!  (I love geeky explanations of how things actually work behind the scenes!)

    with that said, I can relate to the suspense of wanting to know when you are done with a badge, but knowing I'm done in most cases, while a relief, hasn't actually affected my long term gameplay.   while I promised myself I would never jump again after getting the 111,111 jump badge or visit the Ancestral Lands after dealing with that 503rd juju, I've continued to do both. 
    (though I am with Justin on the fireflies ;)
    Posted 4 months ago by Tribeca Subscriber! | Permalink
  • :D  Thanks Myles!  Now I am now visualizing several tiny bots rapidly recording everything I do as reported to them by my Magic Rock.  This probably explains why the Rock often gives me those looks that say, "I can't believe that you are really using all those machines and the construction tool at the same time!"
    Posted 4 months ago by Brib Annie Subscriber! | Permalink
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