Topic

The Great XPeriment -- (Updated April 6)

Ack! What am I doing here in the forum? So many strangers! Such a wide open space!

*flees in terror*

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Edited to add:

Hello, sea of nameless faces! 

Ack!

*flees*

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Edited to add:

Dear giant crushing throng of people I don’t know,

Ack!

*flees*

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Edited to add:

Dear Melody Pond,

Remember when you suggested I write a forum post about this? I was thinking of maybe posting something along the following lines:

“I’m a mere 61 XP points into level 59 (having visited only ONE public street since I left the tutorial) and am now prepping for my biggest experiment yet: trying to see just how much XP it’s possible to earn in one game day.

“So far I’ve gathered the ingredients for about 500 of each seasoned bean and 2070 pots of proper rice, all of which will take about three hours to craft and will give around 240k XP. Add in a huge shrine donation and it’s up to almost 300k. 

“I plan to spend the remaining hour on seasoning eggs, and am now in the process of gathering supplies for 829 butterfly eggs and 1243 piggy eggs. In case you’re wondering what that means in terms of resources, making 829 butterfly eggs requires 8290 tiny bubbles, and making 8290 tiny bubbles requires almost 25k plain bubbles.  Piggy eggs require seven hard bubbles each, with each hard bubble taking five plain ones. That’s a lot of plain bubbles.

“And now I’m starting to feel the pressure of time. I have to conduct this experiment before the shift from XP to imagination, and I only get one shot at it so I want to be super prepared. I need to start the big day with as little XP as possible, but somehow I ended up at level 59 without having harvested enough bubbles. I can’t do the harvesting myself because harvesting generates XP. I’ve already had tons of help from folks behind the scenes but now I’m finally desperate enough to appeal to the general public. As you might guess from my username, doing ANYTHING that involves the general public is totally traumatic for me. 

“But. The bubbles. I am in need of them. Billions of them. Please help. Please send bubbles. In return I can offer a share in the glory (because it WILL be glorious) and, uh, some thank-you eggs?”

What do you think? 

Too wordy, huh. Maybe posting on the forum isn’t such a good idea. I didn’t even say anything about all the other ways I’m planning on getting XP, like swf games and icons and some other secret methods. How do people write short, informative posts? I think I need to go back inside my house and close all the curtains now and figure out a different way to get bubbles.

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Edited to add: 

I'm trying to do this experiment by the end of this month.

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Edited to add: 

P.S. I just realized I should probably explain that "Agoraphobe" is my experimental alt account (wanted to see how far I could get without accruing any streets on the travel leaderboard) and that some of you may already know me as Sirentist.

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Edited to add: 

I just added this one because I didn't think there were enough "Edited to add"s and also because I like my vertical ellipses.

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Edited to add: 

It's a few days later and HOORAY! You all have sent me billions of bubbles! Thank you all for such an awesome response. Is it horrible to ask for more? I'm now in need of the cherries. That's right. ALL of them. Turns out they're crucial to my secret plan. They were so secret I didn't even know I needed them until just the other day. 

Should I do a tl;dr version? Here: 

I've got bubbles enough;
now it's cherries I luff!

Annnnd I think I just lolspeaked. Lolspake? Either way, somebody please kill me now.

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Edited to add:

Success! Cherry mission accomplished! Thank you, everyone, for your generosity and well wishes. As soon as we figure out the little details, it's a go. I'll let you know how it all unfolds.

Posted 9 months ago by Agoraphobe Subscriber! | Permalink

Replies

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  • Hi! Glad you posted and hope you have fun doing all that work/xperimenting! You can call me thurs. Also we arent too big. It might seem so but really we are just a bog group of itty bitty pixels ; D
    Posted 9 months ago by Thursday Soleil Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Bog is a funny typo that my phone wont let me fix.
    Posted 9 months ago by Thursday Soleil Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Interesting "XPeriment". Sending you a box of bubbles - enjoy!
    Posted 9 months ago by Sadie the Goat Subscriber! | Permalink
  • @thurs: I like the bogs! Even though I am incapable of catching fireflies, a thing I feel slightly resentful about. Because in order to get the whistle, I would have to go to a new location, you see. 
    Posted 9 months ago by Agoraphobe Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Don't forget the bubble route on the Great Circuit of Ur.
    Posted 9 months ago by CrashTestPilot Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I'd like to help, but Rube keeps bursting my bubbles.
    Posted 9 months ago by Jesus Christ Subscriber! | Permalink
  • @Sadie the Goat: Hooray! Thank you! 

    Also. I like your name. Especially if you're the kind of goat that faints. Okay, honestly, I feel ambivalent about fainting goats because I think it's kind of mean to make them faint, but then mostly I'm laughing too hard to remember how mean it is.

    P.S. I have never personally made a goat faint. I just want to go on record with that. 
    Posted 9 months ago by Agoraphobe Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Oh dear...if I am able to overcome my sense of propriety at work and actually enter the game, all my bubbles are yours asap! Can you update yr post to indicate when you need them by? Is it now-now-now, or by RL-tomorrow, or when?
    Posted 9 months ago by Voluptua Sneezelips Subscriber! | Permalink
  • @Crashtestpilot: Yes, I made great use of that route, back when I could still harvest. I think the Resource Routes are great, and will only get better as people become able to add more resources. 

    Unfortunately right now I need to keep my XP as close to zero as possible, so I can't walk any /home streets (due to generous icons and such).
    Posted 9 months ago by Agoraphobe Subscriber! | Permalink
  • @Jesus Christ: You've already given me so many bubbles that it's become obvious you're just full of hot air.

    @Voluptua Sneezelips: Good idea! The deadline is ... well, I'm thinking I should wrap this up by the end of the month, since there have been hints about updates happening in a monthly kind of way. Kind of like menses. Only not as messy. Okay this is why I should not be allowed to speak in public.
    Posted 9 months ago by Agoraphobe Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Wow! I am going to get in-game right now and send you all the bubbles that I have...this is quite the appeal for help from someone who, from the sounds of things, wouldn't normally ask for help of any kind!!! Lobve  <3
    Posted 9 months ago by Abbey Rhode Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Your post made me smile. Bubbles sent. Let us know how this turns out! =^.^=
    Posted 9 months ago by starrkittyface Subscriber! | Permalink
  • All my bubbles are yours..   So, uh... where can we meet?   :o
    Posted 9 months ago by Iconoclast Subscriber! | Permalink
  • It's for SCIENCE!
    Posted 9 months ago by glum pudding Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I think my issue is I spend WAY too much time out in public and not enough time making things!!
    Posted 9 months ago by Synnia Subscriber! | Permalink
  • @Iconoclast: Wait, meeting? I ... I ... You want me to ...

    NO. No meetings! I'm not leaving my house. You can't make me. We'll meet once you manage to pry my cold, dead fingers from the door jamb. Plus you'll never make it past the feral cats.
    Posted 9 months ago by Agoraphobe Subscriber! | Permalink
  • @Synnia: I highly recommend staying home, locking the doors, pulling down the blinds, ignoring the phone and doorbell, and in general refusing to engage in any sort of real-time or -- horrors -- face-to-face interaction. This has worked very well for me so far!
    Posted 9 months ago by Agoraphobe Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I'd love to help, but I'm on a similar egg seasoning quest. I'm gonna get my badges all at once. So I need all the bubbles I can get. I recommend the housing resource bubble tree route mentioned above, though. Giantspeed be with you on your XPeriment.
    Posted 9 months ago by dm Subscriber! | Permalink
  • @glum pudding: I like to say I'm doing Sirentific experiments. That way when I screw up the math, which I always do, I can say I never claimed I was good at REAL science.

    @dm: The bubble tree route is indeed a fantastic resource. Thanks for your well-wishes, and good luck with your own eggy journey! If I somehow end up with extra bubbles I'll send them your way.

    Also ... I just want to say I've already received over ten thousand plain bubbles! 

    Hooray and thank you! You folks are awesome! 

    Well, except for the part where Iconoclast wants to further emotionally traumatize me for the rest of my life by dragging me out of my house and making me meet people. That part wasn't so awesome. In fact I think I have to go take a nap now to recover from even imagining the scenario.
    Posted 9 months ago by Agoraphobe Subscriber! | Permalink
  • While Agoraphobe doesn't get out much, she's added to the fun of the game for many who haven't met her.
    Posted 9 months ago by Splendora Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Thanks, Agoraphobe! That's generous of you. I've got the whole thing laid out on a spreadsheet, and I update it as I acquire more resources. I'll check tonight to see how many plain bubbles I still need. I split my eggs three ways (piggy, chicken, butterfly) so that I'm making an equal number of each. (I think that'll help with the game-daily XP cap for each, same thing I ran into on beans.) if I end up with extra bubbles, vapour, spice, etc. I'll pass them along to another needy badge earner (or, eventually, my second character Beefwich - who is also fully developed, and whose purpose is NOT to gain advantage, so I don't call him an "alt").

    Speaking of seasoned beans, once I got my bean badges, I ended up with over two hundred of each kind. If anyone needs a few, let me know....
    Posted 9 months ago by dm Subscriber! | Permalink
  • How should people get resources to you? Mail?
    Posted 9 months ago by Thursday Soleil Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I mailed you bubbles but then it occurred to me you might be too scared to go out and check a mailbox....
    Posted 9 months ago by Empyreal Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I sent you some bubbles in some mails...you can access the mail bx...right?
    Posted 9 months ago by Minkey Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Hmmmm..... billions and billions of bubbles.... If I still has my bag full of bubbles, I can send you a few thousand. :)
    Posted 9 months ago by Little Miss Giggles Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I did this experiment---- I cooked from exactly start of day time, ended at about 9:30 p.m which then i used other way's to get xp. ended up with 201k xp in one game day. Only problem i forsee is running out of time in a game day!
    Posted 9 months ago by blackwidow Subscriber! | Permalink
  • @Splendora: I'm the MOST fun when you haven't met me! 

    @dm: I didn't realize using the term "alt" would suggest I was using this character for personal gain in my main account. That's not the case at all.  I use the term to simply as an abbreviated form of "alternate character," one that allows me to play the game in what I think is an interesting and challenging way.

    @Thursday Soleil: Mailing is best for me, but if the mail tax is a hardship or there's some other reason it makes sense to do it in person, I have friends who'd be willing to act as a go-between. Okay, fine. I have one friend whose arm I totally twisted and he said if necessary he could do it once or twice. Well, I don't mean to make it sound like I only have one friend. I'm not against having friends, as long as there's no socialization involved. What I mean is I only twisted one friend's ... argh never mind.

    @Empyreal and @Minkey: Yay! Thank you both! And NO, I am NOT afraid of going to the mailbox. Sheesh! Well, mostly. I mean, I wouldn't call it fear, exactly. I'd call it ... caution. Prudence. Look both ways sort of thing. 

    @Little Miss Giggles: Wow! I can't stay here commenting; I have to go log into the game and stampede to my mailbox (which I am NOT afraid of) now!
    Posted 9 months ago by Agoraphobe Subscriber! | Permalink
  • There's a cap on how much experience you can gain on a single action during a game day, which might throw a wrench into your calculations a bit (found out about this the hard way ;_;)
    Posted 9 months ago by Genkicoll Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I mailed you some bubbles! Good luck.
    Posted 9 months ago by Cristy Subscriber! | Permalink
  • @blackwidow: I remember your post about that and that's a big part of what inspired me to try this! There's another problem besides time, and that's the "stuffed" buff. Or debuff. I'm not sure if it's a buff or a debuff. Either way it limits the amount of energy you can get in one game day from food.  

    This means part of what I have to do is have a bunch of backup ways of getting energy. I've tricked a few people into agreeing to stand around rainbowing me if it comes to that, but I'm still not sure if we'll be able to pull it off.
    Posted 9 months ago by Agoraphobe Subscriber! | Permalink
  • @Genkicoll: Yep, that cap is already figured into my super mathy calculations. That's why I'm only making around 500 of each bean, instead of making thirteen zillion of one kind for four hours.

    @Cristy: Yay! Thank you! If I ever stop commenting and go back into the game, I'll thank you in person. Meaning via mail. Or maybe IM. But, like, not face-to-face or anything. 
    Posted 9 months ago by Agoraphobe Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I can send bubbles for eggs!:)
    Posted 9 months ago by gracerigney Subscriber! | Permalink
  • hahaha... Yea i got someone to RK me as well :D I did get full. it sucked LOL
    Posted 9 months ago by blackwidow Subscriber! | Permalink
  • how would you like to take delivery of bubbles? by mail? on your doorstep?.. and if so, where should i drop them?
    Posted 9 months ago by onion Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Fortunately Agora has the benefit of being level 59 :) I believe this causes the recipe exp caps to skyrocket. Should be able to make a truly massive amount of stuff :) 

    Good luck Siren/Agora! 
    Posted 9 months ago by Liza Throttlebottom Subscriber! | Permalink
  • how would you like to take delivery of bubbles? by mail? on your doorstep?.. and if so, where should i drop them?-onion

    You should mail them to her a single bubble at a time. :D
    Posted 9 months ago by Little Miss Giggles Subscriber! | Permalink
  • @Agoraphobe Oh no, I wasn't referring to you at all! :) I just didn't want to put it out there that I had a second character and have anyone assume it was a personal advantage-type situation. There are threads about secondary characters I've read and I know there are some more sensitive types who automatically assume that an alt is for cheating. So I threw in the disclaimer.

    In your case, I never assumed it. At level 59, that'd have to be some SERIOUS dedication to a cheater alt if it were true. :) I see yours as simply another character with the purpose of a different style of gameplay, with no cheating intentions at all.

    Sorry for the confusion!
    Posted 9 months ago by dm Subscriber! | Permalink
  • If you would like, you may continue harvesting the bubbles and then I don't mind conducting the experiment for you ;)
    Posted 9 months ago by hoppy Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I could leave bubbles on your doorstep... knock on the door and run. You count to 30 to make sure I've had time to leave the street and then retrieve bubbles from doorstep... never need to step outside or see me.
    Posted 9 months ago by Snazzlefrazz Subscriber! | Permalink
  • This post just makes me want to meet up with you at a party, invade your space and give you an awkward hug. 
    Posted 9 months ago by Addi Bee~♥ Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Sirentist (or Agoraphobe, or whoever you are): I just wanted to say that you are awesome. And you are my hero. I'll see if I can find some extra bubbles for you...
    Posted 9 months ago by Shepherdmoon Subscriber! | Permalink
  • @gracerigney: Yay! I won’t have eggs to send back until AFTER all is said and done of course, but your bubble investment won't go unrewarded!

    @blackwidow: According to my calculations, I’ll make it through the beans and rice before hitting the stuffed debuff, but will have to find other ways to get the energy to support the egg-seasoning. It’ll be interesting to see if orchestrating the RKs and such will actually work to cover the eggs. I haven’t done all the math yet but as I recall eggs are very energy-intensive. 

    @onion: Mail is best, but don't listen to Little Miss Giggles as she is obviously evil and out to get me.

    @Liza Throttlebottom: Yes, the crafting xp caps are pretty high at 59 -- almost 30k! 

    @dm: No worries. And it’s funny, the alt thing, isn’t it? I know it’s possible to misuse the system but to me it seems a lot more fun to see what odd things are possible within the rules.

    @hoppy: Ha! Sure! And then we’ll co-author the results, right?

    @Snazzlefrazz: Yes! You understand me! I’d be thrilled to ignore you at my door any time.

    @Addi Bee Tilde Heart: Hmph! You’ll never find me at a party because party spaces count as new locations on the travel leaderboard, so there. And without making any overt threats, I would just like to announce in a general sort of way that I already have a well-developed plan for disposing of bodies should it ever become necessary in preserving the integrity of my giant personal space bubble. Not that I sit around all day plotting out possible revenge scenarios or anything. And I certainly don’t have a hole in the backyard with your name on it. I don’t even have a list of people to watch out for, and even if I did I’d never put you or Iconoclast or Little Miss Giggles or anyone else on it. So don’t worry about any of these things as you think through your horrifying hug visualization, okay?

    @Shepherdmoon: Aw, jeez. Oh no … wait a minute … is this ... am I having a warm fuzzy moment? Ack! Get it off, getitoff!

    And finally, to all the people over the past fourteen hours who’ve added me to their friends list: just because I added you back doesn’t mean I’m actually trying to be nice or friendly or whatever. So don’t get any ideas. I have a reputation to protect, you know.
    Posted 9 months ago by Agoraphobe Subscriber! | Permalink
  • sirentist - you make me smile and giggle - hug your lovely agoraphobe self for me ;)
    hop in now to send you some bubbles ;)
    Posted 9 months ago by serenitycat Subscriber! | Permalink
  • You need to post how you made it as far as you have without going public. Very interesting.
    Posted 9 months ago by Thursday Soleil Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I only know you as agoraphobe, not as sirentist, and cant get in game right now, but, good luck!
    Posted 9 months ago by Violet Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Me? Evil? Nevar! *checks to make sure her halo isn't slipping*

    Next time I shall leave you 4,000 bubbles separately! I might even hide them behind things so you can go on a bubble hunt in your yard. :D  Ain't I just the sweetest?
    Posted 9 months ago by Little Miss Giggles Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Wow! You guys are amazing! In the past 24 hours over forty of you responded by sending more than FIFTY THOUSAND bubbles. Then Melody Pond used her mad transmorgification skillz to convert them into the appropriate bubble types and I'm happy to report I now have all the tiny, blue, and hard bubbles necessary for BILLIONS of seasoned eggs. Hooray! And we’re almost done with the cherry collecting, too! Only three thousand more cherries to go and we’ll have all the apples for those piggy eggs. It’s all starting to come together and I feel pretty confident that it will be a go for next week.

    Thank you all for your contributions. I have a hard time asking for help and you made it painless and fun. I was so nervous to post this because I thought no one would respond. This is the sort of thing that keeps me coming back to Glitch. Not to wax all poetical and sappy, but it's the sort of thing that reaffirms my faith in people in a more general way, too.

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    As for your question, Thursday Soleil, about how I made it this far without ever leaving my one and only street (okay ... I have to confess I did DIE, which took me to Hell, which technically is another street, which IRKS me, but I keep telling myself it doesn't really count) -- I didn't do it alone. Right from day one there were people rooting for me and helping me work around the self-imposed special needs that my refusal to go anywhere created.

    The mechanics of it were a bit complicated, especially at first, since there are so many resources I can't get myself. I wasn't willing to start with any sort of advantage (like I couldn't use my Sirentist account to give myself a ton of money or whatever), so the beginning was pretty hard and I actually didn't do much in the world until I'd managed to learn some skills.  I made a point early on of learning all the stuff necessary for bean seasoning because I figured that was going to be the most reliable route to leveling up, and I knew could get most of the necessary ingredients on my own. 

    After that it was a matter of trading services and goods. Like once I got enough money to buy a house, I bought a little bog house, even though I didn't have any herb skills. And I offered the use of that herb garden to a friend in exchange for her helping me out with other stuff. I harvested what I could, and whatever I hadn't used in the bean seasoning I turned around and sold at auction, then used that money to buy the resources I couldn't access directly. 

    I also made sure to complete every quest I could because they're a great source of XP and currants, especially early on. I do have a huge backlog of ones I'll never be able to do, though, since so many of them require visiting new locations. Go to the tool vendor and buy a bigger bag! Oh, wait ... I can't go to the tool vendor because that's on a different street. Okay, how about digging three dirt piles with a friend! Oh, wait ... there are no dirt piles in houses or housing quarters. Patches, yes. Peat bogs, yes. Dirt piles, no.  Help the frog pass the eye exam? Wait ... I can't go to the eye exam place. Rescue Ilmenskie Jones! Slather the right shrine! Set a TP point in Xalanga! Give the subway bot a fuel cell! And so on.

    And then over the last month or so, a couple of people with lots of their own resources got interested in the project and began pitching in. Melody Pond in particular has given a huge amount of time and effort, along with resources ranging from currants to materials to all the “extra” musicblocks she gets from her own harvesting activities. And this final XP experiment is as much a result of her labors as it is of mine.

    So, yeah. I didn’t get here all by myself. It started as my lonely idea, and grew into a very cool team effort. I tried to make a list of all the people who have helped along the way and there are so many I started getting all anxious that I was going to miss someone so I had to put it aside for the moment.

    Oh my god, I wrote a book. How embarrassing. Sorry about that. I just find the details really fascinating, and sometimes even flat-out funny. Like, on the leaderboards, I’m the number one donator to Friendly, which is the shrine on my one street. But I have stupid emblems sitting at all the other shrines, and will never be able to collect them, so my favor at every other shrine will always sit at exactly a thousand. How annoying is it when I walk past an icon and hear the ta-da sound, only to find that what I got yet again was another ZERO FAVOR at one of those ten shrines?

    Okay. Stopping now. Who knew I was so freaking chatty? I need to work on my hermit skills before I end up in the middle of an identity crisis. 
    Posted 9 months ago by Agoraphobe Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I think this is a wonderfully interesting thing you are doing, Agoraphobe. I hope you can come back to the forum and let us know all about it when you achieve your goal.

    If it helps, simply picture all of us in our underwear. Just remember to stop laughing long enough to breathe! :D
    Posted 9 months ago by Flowerry Pott Subscriber! | Permalink
  • @Flowerry Pott: Thank you for the underwear tip! I shall imagine you all in 19th-century bloomers and union suits.

    Also, to update: I lied when I said we were almost done collecting cherries. My entire Glitch life is now consumed with the gathering of cherries. GAZILLIONS of them. Voluptua Sneezelips was very sweet to put up a special post asking for them on my behalf. Whether or not this might have come out of my melodramatically complaining about my lack of cherries to her remains unclear. 

    Edited to add: "Lack of cherries" is not a euphemism. In case you were wondering. Not to imply, necessarily, that I still have ... okay wait. This is one of those times when I should stop talking, huh.
    Posted 9 months ago by Agoraphobe Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Just take a deep breath and have a glass of lemon juice garnished with a rotted cherry while you think about what you say next.

    Sooo, gazillions more cherries. Got it! I promise these will be several months fresher. I wonder if I can train some butterflies and batterflies to drop them all over the roof of your house.... Hmmm....
    Posted 9 months ago by Little Miss Giggles Subscriber! | Permalink
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