I can see where you are coming from Riner. Some of the games / event didn't seem too well thought out with hiccups early on, BUT the EMs did make adjustments as they went. Perfect example was the Beachcomber game went from 5 shells turned in to just 1. I was one of the people that gathered 5 just as they made that change so I had 4 extra I gave to people who needed.
What I noticed:
- Seems like the pyramid maze was a hit and more games in the future should be like that. Multiple players were able to play at once and kind of go at their own speed. This game probably had one of the shortest lines consistently.
- Food/Drink clickies were good so people didn't need to waste time waiting for food and could play games. Tip for 5pm - No need to wait in line! Just hit the clickies.
- The Hide'n'seek game was probably the most difficult; partly because it was just a little confusing what you needed to do (you do not need detect hidden / reveal spell) and it was run by the Japan EMs so it was a lot of Japanese. It will require you to leave the event and go various places (like Skara etc). At one point, I was given a clue that was in all Japanese which I had to use Google translate to read (this should not be the case). Some clues were a little confusing which I think was due to the English translation. The EMs realized this and did start giving hints in global chat. This game took me about 40min but people didn't have to wait in line... so good idea in theory so people could actively "play the game" but needed ironed out a little more.
- There was some kind of issue with shells spawning (which also had timers) for Beachcomber. There wasn't a lot of info about where to look besides "the beach" but with the amount of people looking, I don't think enough were spawning initially. I think they turned the spawn up a bit (and only required 1 about half way through) which help but I did spend about 25min looking for 5 shells.
- Long lines that moved slow. Luckily I won at the dunk tank but if I didn't there was no way I was going to the back of the line to wait again. I'm not sure how long the boat race took or how many rounds there were but the line was long too.
- Ludo game only had 4 rounds in 2 hours. With only 4 winners per round, that's 16 prizes in the first window. If you didn't get in for the first round, you are going to wait about an hour at a chance to win (30min for the game in front of you to finish nd 30min for your game to finish).
Things I think can be improved:
- I think first thing they need to do (for 5pm & future events) is to allow all EMs to speak globally in dark red like Mesanna was doing because their messages/updates were getting lost in a sea of other people in global chat asking questions. The beachcomber & hide'n'seek EMs were messaging in there and people were still asking the same thing the EMs answered.
- Game rules should be defined ahead of time somewhere and maybe even have an NPC cycle through the message for people in line. Almost every person needed to be explained the dunk tank rules and needed to equip a dagger for it. That slowed things down. Nobody knew what was needed for the Beachcomber event or hide and seek either. Having the details specifically laid out on UO.com would have been a good idea.
- Stick to games / things that don't require a lot of guidance from EMs or waiting around in line for "rounds" to be completed. Dunk tank is a good example of a game that takes little guidance and lasts maybe 60 seconds a round. Same with Pyramid (multiple players can go at their own pace) and Beachcomber.
- Get rid of the lines. People were cutting in line but some people probably had multiple accounts running at once so there were a few instances where I saw gaps in the line because the people in line were probably doing hide and seek or beachcombing on an alternate account and not moving their char. They shouldn't hold up the line just because they are trying to multi task. There is also no way to police the lines, especially in Tram where there is no stam block. My thought would be have like 2-3 dunk tanks and 2-3 Beachcomber EMs (they actually added a second one when the first was getting slammed) and stick to games that are quick so lines aren't really needed. Another thing would be to have like a governor stone where your name gets added to a queue and when it's your turn you get ported to the game.
Great post with great ideas. Thanks for taking the time to write it, Kev.
THE NEGATIVE: I can only echo what others have said about not having enough time. And the frustration with the players cheating and cutting in line with multiple characters.
My day started with 3 hours of standing and walking around on blacktop in 90-degree heat looking for a used car and haggling over the sticker price. OH MY GOD, it sucked so bad!
But I was able to attend the 2nd hour of the first block. Once I figured out where things were I did the
clickies for one account. Unsuccessfully looked for shells twice (I think there
was some trouble getting the tide to roll in, it seemed to take a long time). Then got in line for the dunk tank. I got three from the front of the line and
the clock struck 1:00 EST and shut down before I got a turn.
The second block of 2 hours, I zipped through the clickies with my other two
accounts. I jumped around in the pyramid twice. Then I got in line for the dunk
tank with ONE character.
In the hour and a half I had left, I successfully got
through the dunk tank line twice with no luck at the dart board. I can't speak to what happened in other game lines, but the dunk tank line was full of cheating players. They jumped through the gate, getting in line there, passing more than half the people who started at the back. There were those who moved along with one character but when they got to the front had their other characters join them in line, thus getting multiple tries at the dartboard with a single turn in line. And there were those who literally just jumped in anywhere they liked.
I was on my third try in the dunk tank line when the clock ran out and the game shut down. So, I TOTALLY get why
people cheat in order to be able to come up with the prizes. But it sure sucks
for those unwilling to cheat. I had 0 time for the other games that required you to get through a long line. It's not much fun to devote almost the entire time at the fair to one game and come up empty.
I hope others will take the time to offer some constructive ideas either in this thread or through some other communication with the devs.
THE POSITIVE: I had a lot of fun chatting with those who stayed awake in line instead of holding it up because they were managing multiple accounts at once. It looked fabulous and fun and festive! Loved it!
The EM's were as attentive as they could be for the crowd they had to handle. They were friendly, interactive, fun and funny!
The watermelon is adorable. The root beer is fun! The frog will be cute in the garden! My favorite is the little red crab I can put in a cooking pot! So cute!
I did get a couple shell necklaces because hubby, after doing the clickies, spent most of his time waiting for the tide to roll in. He got in the boat race line, but too late, the clock ran out. I'll look a gift horse in the mouth on the necklace. I was a bit bummed at first, because I thought the prize might be one of those sweet starfish! Then I was bummed I couldn't wear the necklace. Then I was kinda bummed I got two of the same color. Was there more than one color shell necklace to be had?
I do thank the Devs and EMs. I hope they know their time and effort is appreciated despite my complaints that come along with this post.
Thank you again! Happy Summer!
P.S. The colors I saw on the nautilus shells were beautiful! I would have been so happy to keep those instead of turning them in for the necklace!
less lag because less people/Housing
