[Discussion] The Solution: Player Movement

[Muf-Muf]

Dear Humans and Elves,

Please use this thread to discuss our latest announcement regarding Player Movement.

We're looking forward to your feedback!

Kind regards,
Your Elvenar Team

 

[DeletedUser867]

I'm VERY pleased!

Have any plans been made for the Safe Harbor cities, those at level 4 and above or with more than 200 Diamonds in their account?

If an inactive city is already on the fringes of the map they'll just be one more isolated city, rather than a Goldmine, but if there's an inactive city near the center of the map it would be nice to push them out to the fringes of the map. If they ever started playing again, the automatic moves would get them back toward the center of the map.

 

[DeletedUser118]

Sounds interesting but it also has a high potential of being buggy so you gotta be really careful with that.

Do we get a warning once a movement is on its way?

 

[Muf-Muf]

I'm VERY pleased!

Have any plans been made for the Safe Harbor cities, those at level 4 and above or with more than 200 Diamonds in their account?

If an inactive city is already on the fringes of the map they'll just be one more isolated city, rather than a Goldmine, but if there's an inactive city near the center of the map it would be nice to push them out to the fringes of the map. If they ever started playing again, the automatic moves would get them back toward the center of the map.

If an inactive user starts again they will once again be active and therefore will potentially be moved with the next round. The further you are from the center, the higher your chances of being moved - movement will be done from the outside in.

Sounds interesting but it also has a high potential of being buggy so you gotta be really careful with that.

Do we get a warning once a movement is on its way?

As announced, on Beta we plan to do this for the first time on Monday the 22nd. And yes, we are aware of the risk potential and are taking the necessary precautions before doing this full-scale.

 

[CrazyWizard]

in short: HELLO GUINEAPIGS

good move, about time, on the other hand I will dearly miss all those lovely gold mines, they empty so awesomely fast.

so next on the list to do, easier neighbourly help please.
some world map drop down menu with "Visit, Worker, Culture (boosts best culture), City Hall"(in this order or visit at the bottom) would be awesome.

Makes it a lot more comfortable to help all your nice new neighbours, of you are like me on 300 provincies neighbourly help becomes a pain in the a$$

not because I am lazy, but it's simply too tiresome to help them all right now.

 

[DeletedUser1250]

Sounds nice. I have a question.
You write in the announcement:
"But, should you wish to remain where you are, you of course have that option. Do note that it is very likely that you find yourself in an empty area should you turn the setting off, since your neighbors will likely be moved."

Suppose I turn it off now because I want to stay where I am. Suppose all neighbours will be moved at some point, it becomes empty around me, I feel lonely and regret the decision I took to stay. What happens if I turn it on then? After everyone else around me has been moved? Will there be a chance I can get moved later at some point when I turn that option on again?

 

[DeletedUser651]

This could be really good. Only moving the most active players should help a bunch.

PLEASE announce this in game (not in forums) before this feature goes live so people who love their neighbors won't lose all their friends one morning. This could be a death knell for the socializers. Give people a chance to uncheck that box and have all their friends around them uncheck it too so they can stay together. Also, for the achievers who have spent over a year building specific trading routes to have all that progress wiped in an instant would be awful. As long as people know it is optional, that will be very important.

Can you tell us which city is at the exact center of the map so we can find where we are in relation?

What happens to the people who quit playing, but are further advanced than the bot usually removes, who are in the middle of the map? Will they be moved out so there are more spaces for the actives to move into?

 

[DeletedUser1345]

Any indication how often a "shift" will take place? I would like to pass on the first one, just to see how well it works.

 

[DeletedUser867]

Can you tell us which city is at the exact center of the map so we can find where we are in relation?

Manfred is either at the center of the zz1 map, or else very close.
I'm charting the zz1 10 o'clock radial over at https://beta.forum.elvenar.com/index.php?threads/beta-neighborhood-watch.5677/

 

[DeletedUser651]

Thanks Kat!

 

[Muf-Muf]

so next on the list to do, easier neighbourly help please.
some world map drop down menu with "Visit, Worker, Culture (boosts best culture), City Hall"(in this order or visit at the bottom) would be awesome.

We're considering our options in that area, but let's do the player movement first. One step at a time.

Sounds nice. I have a question.
You write in the announcement:
"But, should you wish to remain where you are, you of course have that option. Do note that it is very likely that you find yourself in an empty area should you turn the setting off, since your neighbors will likely be moved."

Suppose I turn it off now because I want to stay where I am. Suppose all neighbours will be moved at some point, it becomes empty around me, I feel lonely and regret the decision I took to stay. What happens if I turn it on then? After everyone else around me has been moved? Will there be a chance I can get moved later at some point when I turn that option on again?

If you turn it back on again later, you will indeed be eligible for movement again, yes. We check the setting immediately before we would move. If it's off for a player, we skip them and they remain where they are. With the next round we check again.

PLEASE announce this in game

That is the plan, but if we put up an ingame announcement now, you will see it for the rest of the week, every time you log in, which would be kind of intrusive.

Any indication how often a "shift" will take place? I would like to pass on the first one, just to see how well it works.

No, not yet. For the first one we'll do it manually and then we'll go from there with the decision-making.

 

[DeletedUser1095]

Will neighbours who opt to move be kept roughly together? I seem to vaguely recall some idea like that (or was that on FoE)?

 

[DeletedUser]

How often will this change appear?

 

[Muf-Muf]

Will neighbours who opt to move be kept roughly together? I seem to vaguely recall some idea like that (or was that on FoE)?

Not necessarily, no. We have to check for a suitable space on the world map that matches the player's spot exactly. So no, unfortunately we cannot guarantee that current neighbors will still be neighbors after a move.

How often will this change appear?

At first we'll do it once manually. After that we will decide on how often we will be doing this automatically. It seems likely to assume a "once per week" approach, though. But, nothing set in stone there.

 

[DeletedUser]

Why is it that so many solutions and features rely on luck of the draw?

Some players will end up in a dense map section, some won't. This will affect their coins and supplies. It will affect their ability to win in Tournaments. Placement is a long term, permanent advantage given to players in a random fashion. How does this encourage anyone to begin or continue playing?

We also have random luck affecting our Rune Shard wins. Now we have it as the primary driver for Summer Solstice rewards, with posted odds.

For some reason, Inno is determined to introduce features that are guaranteed to give some players legitimate cause for disappointment. Given the fact that players have reached a critical mass of frustration with regard to the World Map, some of us - the unlucky ones whose replacement ends up being less fortuitous - are going to be furious. It won't be simply a matter that the Neighborhood is broken for everyone, it will be that some players gain permanent advantage over others.

Since we're stuck with this non-correction correction....why select players from the outer regions first? If they follow this method on live servers, it will be the newer players who are moved into the best positions. Long term players - everyone who has been faithfully playing and waiting and waiting and waiting - will have less likelihood of getting a good placement, won't we?

This Neighborhood concept was a fundamentally poor design in a game promoted for builders. Inno never mentions that this is also a game of chance - it needs to be added to the introduction of the game. "Build your city....placed in a neighborhood that may or may not help you grow". Alternately, they could advise players that they have to focus on building up their neighborhood. Best solution though - abandon this neighborhood concept utterly and let players enjoy Tournaments with fellowship members.

Forum reactions are going to fall into several camps:

• Players who want to hold Inno to a business standard, and don't appreciate a solution that merely repeats the fundamental error
• Players who are so tired of the NH problems that they're just grateful for any level of improvement - the nice people who want to enjoy a game
• Players who get good placements - and will give glowing reviews
• Players who don't get good placements - and will give furious reviews
• Players who tend to advocate for Inno regardless, often due to good experiences with other Inno products

And when the advantaged players start reaching Tournament rewards that are unattainable to others...we can expect yet another Furor.

 

[Muf-Muf]

@bobbipiazza, let's keep this thread about the player movement only. There is no need to discuss other game features here. Also, on what do you base that the player movement is "based on luck"? Because it is not. Our system decides who is "most eligible" for being moved and then moves that player to a spot on the world map identical to theirs as close to the center as possible. There is no luck involved. You're drawing conclusions based on assumptions.

Also, we advise to keep your contributions constructive. Just "ranting" is not going to help anyone.

 

[DeletedUser724]

The idea is good

BUT I STRONGLY OBJECT TO SET THE DEFAULT SETTING IS ON

some player may locate in a good hoods environment
some player may not active enough
some player's hood environment may not too bad
this new feature will also move semi-inactive player ( not active enough )


If they do not aware the default setting
<e.g. they do not read beta forum and do not know this new features>
After Aug 22, they may move a surprise area which .....>

so I suggest
THE DEFAULT SETTING IS OFF Manually ( manual mean it is their wish to move, they should not complaint )

for those who want to move
they change setting to ON

Moreover, if we want to move
we would like to move to a area with active player ( of course, very active player are the best )

 

[DeletedUser1548]

I agree with @conqueror9.
Sometimes it's not only about neighbourhood overall 'quality' but being close to a specific player, e.g. two people are trading links for two different fellowships with lack of certain resources. I can imagine also that someone would prefer to have gold mines around while having very active fellowship.

Could you let us be decisive by default in this?
Every recent change takes away another piece of players' freedom of choice...

 

[DeletedUser]

What is considerate as active player?

 

[Muf-Muf]

We will do our best to reach all players with this information, so that those who want to turn it off actually can. Still, in general you will always end up in a better area than you were in after having been moved, so turning the option off should only be done if you know that e.g. your neighbors will do the same. Otherwise you might find yourself being the only one left in a then empty area.