Talk:Event E2/Proposal sierraam

Template bit
Ahoy Mates,

While i can see this page under one list of entries i can't under the main page. Have i booched it somehow? Thank ye, Puffnstuff


 * It was a template issue with the caps. Just fixed it so that it can be discussed/workshopped. --Guppymomma 15:42, 10 February 2006 (PST)

Potential Tourney Problem
I see that you are having these tournies locally at Inns. What is to stop people who aren't really particpating in the event to enter in these events and steal the trinkets as they might be high end players who are just looking for tournies to enter and would just go from inn to inn to look for them and waste their whisk potions? Rappak 20:23, 10 February 2006 (PST)

Ahoy Mate,

Aye, they might, but 32 Inns with a 3 minute enter window will make it tougher. Also the trinkets need not be won, just used as a clue. The trinkets add fun, and more clue options. Thank ye, Puffnstuff

Comments
I have to admit that this wasn't an event that I rated high in its category, because of various problems I saw with it. I'm going to add some of those comments here, in the hopes that they can be resolved before the event happens!
 * Are you confident that Shanty Radio's maximum number of listeners is big enough for the event? I know it was increased a while back, but has it / does it ever get close to its maximum?


 * I am ordering Shanty ads for the week leading up to the event. These as well as the forum post should pull a larger audience.


 * Shanty Radio, or at least, people's connection to it, is not reliable by any means. I'm a fairly regular listener, and I sometimes get paused sections, or lost sections. I know other people who can't make it work at all, or only very jumpily. It doesn't happen all the time, but it happens. I know that part of your point is to get people listening to Shanty, but would you consider posting the clues up on the forum at the same time as they're read, so that people who have trouble listening to it can still participate?


 * With the new server this will be less of a problem. Also I will post the song and story clues in the YPP forums per your suggestion, I want as many people participating as possible!


 * I had the same question as Rappak above about the tournaments, but I guess if the type of trinket is the clue, rather than any message inscribed on it, it probably doesn't matter who wins it!


 * Something about the trinket is a clue, and winning it is not needed.


 * Whisking to islands not on your map can be a pain, even with the help of Navy ships, and it would be a shame if newer players were excluded for that reason. Would you be willing to ensure that there's always a member of your crew on or near the target island to job people if necessary? It couldn't always be the same person, or people will just use /who to find the right island, but maybe something could be worked out!


 * The islands the tournies take place on are all inhabited. With the ads and forum post I'm also suggesting people get familiar with the Inn names, as I did with the animals in Animal Crackers ( a trivia contest based on Midnight's animals ), part of Animal Madness. Having someone there to job isn't a problem, just trying to avoid the cheating that might bring. I suppose having random alts scattered as decoys could fix that.

--Crystal 16:41, 13 February 2006 (PST)
 * I'm assuming, given the 60 minute period at the end, that you are expecting the final clue to take an awful lot of working out. Otherwise, my final comment is again about Shanty connection. Even when I have an apparently perfect connection, I know from experience of contests on the radio that I have an unexplained delay of over a minute compared to some other listeners. There have been events where some contestants have heard, acted and completed a task (e.g. fetching deeds, charts, etc) before others of us have even heard the introduction. This basic, in-built, inherent, unavoidable unfairness in an event that has a "first past the post" winning condition, was probably the strongest concern I had about this event. If you can assure me from playtesting with GOOD puzzlers that the final clue will take at least 15 minutes to work out, then I'm prepared to accept that the delay probably isn't going to affect the winner very much. If it could be solved in less than that, though, I don't know how you're going to be able to get over this unlevel playing field. To me, it seems a pretty fundamental flaw, but I'm happy to be assured otherwise.

Just clarifying that I don't mean you should do a full Shanty Raidio test run of any part of this event. What I meant in the last section there was that you need to find (in real life) some people who are good at solving riddles / puzzles, and run the final puzzle past them, to see how long it takes. If it only takes a few minutes to solve, then the extra one-minute-ish transmission delay that some listeners have compared to others is too big a disadvantage. If, however, it's something that people are going to need to work at for 15 minutes or more, then the 1-minute delay becomes negligible compared to the skill of the puzzlers. Your playtesters should be people that are good at puzzles, and either not involved in Y!PP at all, or with no intention of entering the event. There's no need to test the variation in transmission delay itself. --Crystal 15:19, 16 February 2006 (PST)


 * Me grins, my first test took them 30 minutes to solve, lol! I made it easier and the second one only took 15. I believe posting the songs as well as the bits of story should take care of any time delay, plus increasing the amount of contestants. Thank ye, Puffnstuff

Ahoy Mate,

I'm working on yer questions Crystal.I just want to work out a couple of things before I answer. Thank ye and the other mentors/judges for all yer time and effort! Me points up, done!

Some Quick Information
I wanted to respond to your concerns, Crystal, to clear up a few of them and to help.
 * First of all, we have no maximum listener right now. We operate within a certain amount of bandwidth (and we don't even use half of it at this point so we have room for probably close to 200+   listeners).  We can communicate with our host in advance to make sure that all of our servers allow for the potential hike in listeners in advance.
 * I know our reliability over the last six weeks has been down. We switched to a new host to get some server plans that are more freeing with the options that we need.  After many conversations with the host and many issues we have switched yet again.  Our new host is rated very highly by it's users and we have not had a single problem since the transition.  Our reliability should have drastically increased at this point.
 * The tournaments and whisking questions do not apply to Shanty so I'll move to the next one. Yes, there is a broadcast delay with Shanty.  I cannot really offer solutions (although I may have a few brainstorms as we've had to combat that issue ourselves).  The delay is just something that comes with internet radio.  It ranges from a few seconds to a couple of minutes (usually no more than 2).  One thing that seems to combat this is if the listener has been tuned in for a long time.  When the jockeys switch from one to the other it seems to eat at the delay and over several switches it can often be non-existant.  This won't help with the tournament, just some information to explain how it works.

If there's anything else I can answer or help with, I'd be happy to do so! - Heksubah - --WhyvernWeb 15:31, 16 February 2006 (PST)

Ahoy Mate,

Thank ye Heksubah for all the information and time ye have given me! The artwork ideas are awesome. Puff

--Artemis 19:50, 16 February 2006 (PST)
 * Trinkets and ship renames should be easy to come up with, how many prizes were you thinking of?
 * If you're looking for privacy you could always hold it in a house and just invite everyone who knocks. You can always just keep the prize below 5k so it doesn't announce to everyone.
 * Are you expecting to write notes on the trinkets for additional prizes? I'm actually not sure if the notes would show up for everyone when they're up for a prize, I think they would but I'd have to check.

Ahoy Mate,

Thank ye, Puff
 * I'll need 12 trinkets for the clues. I tested with a band,a skull,and a Valentines card. The messages do show up in the prize window. While I can't list the trinkets I can say some will have a message clue, and some will use their colors or names as clues.
 * I'd like to give 3 renamed sloops now, with the first place one holding a treasure chest. I have the sloops, so 3 renames, possibly painted, and a treasure chest.
 * The local tournies with the clue trinkets are for the enjoyment of the ocean as well as to help the contestants. The clue songs will relate to the Inn's names, or the island's names. The trinkets shown at each, combined with the story read on Shanty, will lead to the location as well as the song title.

Ok, so for prizes for you I need to know: I'll start distributing prizes after I return from Blackpool and will discuss any problems with prizes that I have. --Artemis 13:14, 21 February 2006 (PST)
 * What trinkets/colors you need
 * Where I should put the prizes (ocean/island/house name)
 * What the original and renames of the ships should be

Final Prize and Support Information
As of right now, this is the list of prizes and support I have listed for the OM's to provide for you, if anything is not correct or complete you need to get in touch with me as soon as possible, I will not around the whole weekend! Please give the OM's plenty of time to respond to any requests and speak to them in advance if at all possible, for some of you that will be more important than others. I've given a copy of the standard OM schedule to Jacquilynne as well if I'm not available.


 * Prizes: 3 standard ship renames. Non-expensive paint for the ships.
 * Support: 12 Inscribeable Trinkets for Clues which should be returned or deleted at the end fo the event. Broadcast.
 * Pre-Prizes and ship renames: For all prizes being handled one one ocean, if you've not yet given me an idea of where you want the prizes (ocean, pirate, island, house) you will not be getting them at the last minute!) For Ship renames, send me the ocean, old ship name, island, crew, new ship name.  Just send in a petition, my availability will be sketchy this weekend.

--Artemis 09:30, 3 March 2006 (PST)