Genesis Forums

So... a scavenger hunt is coming up. Very soon!

Question is, how long should it last?

I was thinking 1 week is a good length. But I noticed the previous one lasted 2 weeks. Way back in the past I think they lasted even shorter time. So... answer the poll please!

Well this seems fairly conclusive.

Cherek wrote:Well this seems fairly conclusive.

Statistically speaking, you skewed the poll by not including a "between 1 and 2 weeks" option. Better start again. (just kidding. i haven't taken statistics in 10 years.)

Amorana wrote:

Cherek wrote:Well this seems fairly conclusive.

Statistically speaking, you skewed the poll by not including a "between 1 and 2 weeks" option. Better start again. (just kidding. i haven't taken statistics in 10 years.)

I actually considered that option but figured I'd go for that if the 1 and 2 week results ended up very close.

We could still do 1.5 week, but the majority does seem to be in favour of 1 week.

Wow everyone started voting for 2 weeks suddenly. Well, 1 week had a big lead when I posted the announcement so 1 week it is. We'll see how it goes!

One week supports power players and the more experienced. Two weeks supports casual players and the less experienced.

Which are you trying to accommodate?

Emraht wrote:One week supports power players and the more experienced. Two weeks supports casual players and the less experienced.

Which are you trying to accommodate?

I am trying to accommodate all types of players as much as possible. As for your statement, I don't agree. I think in this case a longer event will just benefit the power player type even more. Sure, in theory a longer event could give a casual player more time to catch up, but that relies on the fact the power player reaches a limit - meaning they find all items. I think that is unlikely to happen, so I think a longer event really gives the power player more time to increase their lead if anything. Also one could argue that in a long event casual players are more likely to give up if it goes on for too long and they are far behind, while the power players will continue to the end.

Based on my own experience from events, I have always felt some 2-week events are too long and makes you lose focus after a while. I personally feel 2 weeks is too long for a Scavenger hunt, while it could be suitable for other types of events. The Scavenger is race, and if it becomes a marathon I think there is a risk people will lose interest. Especially casual players. Keeping it focused to one week should keep more people interested for the duration I think. Perhaps turning some casual players into temporary power players for that week. So I was always for the 1-week event, and so where the people I asked directly, and at the time of announcing the event the vote was 12-4 in favour of the 1-week version, so the choice seemed quite obvious. I still think it's the right choice.

Emraht wrote:One week supports power players and the more experienced. Two weeks supports casual players and the less experienced.

Which are you trying to accommodate?

Two weeks would actually support everyone since the powerplayers get their shit done in the first week and keep their secrets, the casuals just have more time wich makes it more interesting imo

Draugor wrote:

Emraht wrote:One week supports power players and the more experienced. Two weeks supports casual players and the less experienced.

Which are you trying to accommodate?

Two weeks would actually support everyone since the powerplayers get their shit done in the first week and keep their secrets, the casuals just have more time wich makes it more interesting imo

I think that was Emraht's point though, and why he feels two weeks is better for casual players. Powerplayers find stuff quicker, and the longer the event, the more likely other players are to catch up, which means the longer the event, the more chance casual players have. Which is perfectly true if there is a clear and reachable limit on the amount of items to find. However in the last hunt no single player was really close to finding all the items, and the powerplayers battled it out until the last minute, basically hunting items daily for two weeks. So unless people quickly find all items (which they wont), length does not really matter that much I think.

Either way, if you can only play for a couple of hours a week, or a day here and there, you wont have much chance of winning any event anyway, regardless of how long it is. But my hope is that with a shorter even even some otherwise casual players will find the time and motivation to play _more_ actively during the week the event lasts. Because when it comes to most events, being active is a very important factor. And from a game design point of view, the idea with events is to create fun things that will make players _want_ to play more than they usually do.

Ya, I was agreeing with him

It will truly be a game of knowledge and finding out if its 2 weeks or so, what you dont know about, you still have a few days to find