Event/Game Transparency


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wolfspirit25

7:38am Apr 15 2022 (last edited on 8:04am Apr 19 2022)

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I post this on the event feedback regularly but I'm going to post it in an actual suggestion thread as well because it feels like that thread is just never read (that is a discussion for another time though).

If there is a leaderboard for an event, the base minimum we should be told is if there are prizes and where the tiers are for those prizes. Is it the same prize for all 50 or do I have to aim for top 25 to get everything? Tiers are important knowledge (they don't have to exist, I like it when they don't, I understand why they do sometimes, but we have to know if they do). I always assume there are, but sometimes I'm wrong and I shouldn't have to ask in the SB to be sure.

Additionally, and I can see the argument for both ways, we should know what those prizes are. I'm personally far more likely to try to get to a tier with a book or squishy or food. Other people are more likely for a nice little toy and many will fight tooth and nail for clothing. I think you actually get more overall engagement if you reveal the prizes right at the start because people will fight for what they want. Even if FOMO is what pushes us when we don't know, that's much more stressful and a far more negative feeling than "I want this item that I know I like" and more likely to end in disappointment when the top tier item is something we don't care about at all. That's just my take but either way, the next point is the important thing.

Some users know what these prizes are. Yes, those users are staff and I understand why they need to know, however, they can join the leaderboard the same way as everyone else. This means they have the inherent advantage of knowing whether they want to invest their time/energy/TU into this endeavor. Unless there is a very pressing reason why regular users can't know what the prizes are (brand new feature? I can't really think of any other solid reason) if someone that can participate in the same leaderboard is allowed to have more knowledge about that thing that the other people can't get through trial/error or finding it somewhere on the site it's inherently unfair. I am not advocating that staff not be allowed to play the event, not even close, I am just saying that regular users should at the very least be given the same playing field. I recognize that staff will inherently have some advantages over regular users just by virtue of knowing things like features that are coming up but this is a very easy and harmless playing field to level.

If the concern is that some people like not knowing (who am I to judge if that's what they want?) then it's still a simple fix. The prizes could be a separate page like they are for every permanent quest on Res or just a dropdown that opens like the color hatch chances in the hatchery.


This is kind of a tacked-on afterthought but this goes for games too. Things like Treasure Hunt. If you don't ask in the SB or find a user-made forum (which didn't exist until super recently, probably because someone was frustrated with not knowing) you don't even know that you can get "bonus"  RC from stats or what those stats are or what the bonus limit is. It should be clearly stated somewhere within the game page "Your pet can find up to 5 bonus base RC, one extra RC for every 100 stats combined in agility/power." Worded better of course, I'm just throwing up whatever first comes into my head for this example.

Places the game transparency could be useful (this is not all-inclusive, just ideas):
Enchanted Springs tier rewards
Treasure Hunter stats/max bonus
Quests listing which shops they pull from somewhere obvious
Whether different tiers of the easter egg quest give different squishies (event-only game obviously)
Full list of all things we can find while on the egg hunt page for the event (also event-only)


Edit for clarity: I'm not suggesting telling people about events in advance, just what the prizes for the events are completely clear once it releases to the public and what position on the leaderboard you have to be to get there.

Edit 2: We now know the prizes for the event when this was written. I'm leaving the first part here because this should be standard 100% of the time so it's mostly there as a reminder. In fact, it'd be nice if it was somewhere front and center on the leaderboard page or somewhere easily accessed from it so we don't have to dig through updates, but the update is good as a bare minimum and enough to go on. This thread isn't "done" yet though because the second suggestion is not yet implemented.



Whims

8:22am Apr 15 2022

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Posts: 12
Seconded! I for one wasn't aware of any events (partially due to being new again) and would've stockpiled my eggs rather than selling them for a very low cost had I known :)
Zydrate

9:51am Apr 15 2022

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Posts: 2,700
Support! I created the Treasure Hunting/stat training guide, and it was difficult at times to find the information that I needed. I ended up having to Rmail Patrick himself for some of the information I needed to fully complete the guide, as most staff that I asked didn't know the answers.

Ngl, I also don't participate in events often simply because I don't know what the prizes and things are, and I don't want to waste my time turning items in just to get a prize that I didn't want or need.



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Bowie

3:26pm Apr 15 2022 (last edited on 3:32pm Apr 15 2022)

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Yes please. I am begging for more transparency with events and the like. It does feel like the event feedback thread is just kinda... there as a moot point rather than as something that will be taken into consideration or interacted with. 

I have never gone for leaderboard prizes because I don't know if the grind is worth it and I am not gonna waste time if it's not something I'll like. I didn't even know getting extra RC was possible until reading this. Something like telling us what all the new seeds are, for example, would be really nice because I'd like to collect them all, but I don't even know what they are. 



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sonyadarlene

3:47pm Apr 15 2022

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Posts: 54
I second!
Grace

4:53pm Apr 17 2022

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Posts: 43
huge support, i didnt even know leaderboard prizes were a thing until right now in SB ;c

staff knowing the prizes and being able to participate puts them at quite an unfair advantage.. i know they have to know, but as wolf said, it wouldnt hurt anyone to even out the playing field by letting all users know what the prize is?

 i would also like to know if its worth spending my time and tu on a prize.. i would grind for a new book for example but i probably wouldnt try as hard for a clothing item.. if i dont know what the prize is (or that it even EXISTS), im way less inclined to spend a bunch of tu when i might not even want/like the prize :/


Punk

2:16pm Jul 15 2022

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Posts: 1,044
I agree. There have been a few times i would have rather sold items than participate in the event itself. Instead participated and was disappointed with the reward. Most of the time when i haven't participated it's due to not knowing the reward on both games and events.



Work in progress
Wanderland

7:24am Sep 21 2022

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Posts: 524
Support. I think prizes should be stated upfront together with contest details in the very first update. Also, i think Avedori is working on a thread for Enchanted Springs tier rewards currently.



~
wolfspirit25

7:25am Sep 21 2022 (last edited on 7:26am Sep 21 2022)

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A thread is great, it's a step in the right direction, but users shouldn't have to go searching in the forums for that information. Ideally there'd be a "rewards" page like there is for some events that just tells you outright what's in each tier that is linked right on the springs page.



Lilith

7:31am Sep 21 2022

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Posts: 2,153
Agreed that there should be a dedicated page somewhere, but I believe Patrick is the only one on staff that can create pages like that rn, so we are doing the best we can. The info on the Springs is now complete; this was a group effort done by quite a few staff members who had to have different levels of access to dig and scrape for info and then Avedori put it together and Juke prettied up the formatting for us! :)





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moonsilver445

1:59pm Dec 11 2022

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Posts: 349
support



Encore

8:10am Feb 5 2023

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Posts: 95
I have literally NOT participated in some events simply because I had no idea what the reward would be, or even if there would be one.  I wouldn't want to work that hard to have the prize be something I wouldn't deem worth the effort!

100% support this!
squeak77

4:21pm Jun 13 2023

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Posts: 18
yes please



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Ophidia

8:13am Aug 12 2023

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Posts: 15
Greater transparency on currently non-documented mechanics would be wonderful.  The two FAQs (both from Help and Explore) are great for what they cover, but unfortunately are still missing things.  

As an example; I had no idea about treasure Hunter's bonus RC until I read Zydrate's forum guide... and the only reason I even found that was by searching to see if the non-mentioned stats in the Explore FAQ had any use.

Event games seem to be the most notorious for this.  Balloon Pop for example - as far as I can tell, the score to ticket ratio is 25:1, but I have no clue about the prizes.  By the time I'm done with tickets... I still typically have 8 prizes to get.  Unless I've been very unlucky, better scores don't seem to make any difference compared to just popping a few balloons and letting it time out... over and over (which isn't particularly fun, even if I otherwise like the game).  This also includes the quality of the prize - is their anything as complex as loot tier lists based on score?

It's a bit disheartening not knowing if their would be a higher probability to obtain a prize by playing well - or if it's awarded based on one or more particular balloons popped (I assume not as this would mean greater code complexity) or if it's really just every game having the same chance to award a prize as long as 0+ (whatever that number might be) balloons are popped.
squeak77

2:34pm Dec 13 2023

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Posts: 18
Complete support! I think hiding the prizes makes things a lot harder to question whether you should go for it or not. 



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Slm2023

5:24pm Jan 1 2024

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Posts: 8
Support!!



Art credit to Zen!
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