Blitz Queue Trial (Closed)

[Rob14]

Automated queue?

[Equinox]

Post-game surveys were finally sent out! Sorry to everyone who received duplicate messages. If you want to opt-out, shoot me a PM and you'll be subscribed to Cat Facts instead, but you won't receive survey requests anymore.

Moderators can request aggregated scores for their games at any time, and a report will be sent about a week after the survey PM was sent (or when everyone has opened their PM). If you don't want your game surveyed, PM me as soon as possible.

Thanks!

[zoraster]

Incorrect. Your favorite animal is <dog>.

[Persivul]

Right now, my primary concern is that we're not getting enough mods.

Suggestion: offer apprenticeships. A new mod co-mods with an established mod for a game in order to learn all the technical stuff. Personally I've considered modding and would probably do so but I don't know what the learning curve is like. Or maybe you just need to create a thread (or promote one if it exists already) that explains how it all works, best practices, etc. Just stuff like setting up the mafia and other private threads - I don't know if someone teaches first timers that or not.

[SirCakez]

I think a barrier to getting new mods is the big wait time to being able to actually mod your first game. There's the three months on site requirement first, then you have to join either the Open or Mini Normal queue to mod your first game and both of those can take months to get through on top of the initial three month wait time. Joining the open queue right now to mod your first game looks pretty depressing because you'll be waiting 3+ months to be able to actually mod.

[RadiantCowbells]

I personally see modding games as more of a public service than anything and only sign up when the mod queue is looking thin.

[Rob14]

I think a barrier to getting new mods is the big wait time to being able to actually mod your first game. There's the three months on site requirement first, then you have to join either the Open or Mini Normal queue to mod your first game and both of those can take months to get through on top of the initial three month wait time. Joining the open queue right now to mod your first game looks pretty depressing because you'll be waiting 3+ months to be able to actually mod.

I agree with this, and I see no reason why we shouldn't allow someone to join the Normal or Open Queue when they're 6 weeks in with a note that says when they're available to mod (which would be at the three months mark).

[itlepip]

Why don't we let newbie mods mod blitzes since those games generally don't have about as much going on in them as a micro or mini.

[Rob14]

Because the Newbie games are explicitly to teach newbies the game, which takes time.

[fferyllt]

What are the next steps and what do you think the timings will be?

[zoraster]

Two very good questions. Right now I want to allow games to finish and then try to assemble the data we have. I've been keeping track periodically of the player counts in both the blitz queue and elsewhere, but Equinox has also been keeping track of survey results. Once we have that, I think we can speak more intelligently. My general thought is that we'll probably develop some sort of plan, let players comment on it, then revise that plan.

The timeline is going to depend on what kind of solution we start to think is appropriate. If it's simply "put Blitz queue in" or "don't put Blitz queue in" then it probably doesn't take that long all told as we really only end up debating the merits of a Blitz-specific queue. If we want to try to rearrange the queue structure more dramatically then it increases our variables in play as well as likely increases the number of people who will feel strongly about the proposal, which will make the comment portion take longer.

Sorry I can't give a better answer than that at the moment, but hopefully it'll become clearer as we move forward.

[pignash]

Thanks Equinox for running the blitz queue trial!

[lane0168]

I really love the blitz games. Its especially good for players like me that don't want to sift through pages upon pages looking for content.

I wish I could be a viable mod earlier than waiting on my open. I would have for sure signed up to mod blitz games exclusively, assuming I was a good mod.

[davesaz]

Strongly in favor of having a blitz option of some kind.

[Plotinus]

I really love the blitz games. Its especially good for players like me that don't want to sift through pages upon pages looking for content.

I wish I could be a viable mod earlier than waiting on my open. I would have for sure signed up to mod blitz games exclusively, assuming I was a good mod.

The blitz i was in lasted over a hundred pages. the only real difference between it and a mini was that we had those 100 pages in a couple weeks instead of over the course of a couple months.

[lane0168]

Exactly, so it is fresh in your mind all the time. I can remember what I read yesterday and who said what. Or 5 pages on a day. I can't remember 5 pages over the course of a week

[Plotinus]

oh. I find the slower that i read stuff, the better it sticks with me. too much information in a short period of time is overwhelming.

[Ankamius]

Exactly, so it is fresh in your mind all the time. I can remember what I read yesterday and who said what. Or 5 pages on a day. I can't remember 5 pages over the course of a week

My experience says otherwise. When the pace of the game is insanely fast, it becomes that much harder to get town to come together since everyone's timeline of the game is distorted to different lengths. The overly active people have a very long timeline and the less active people have a much shorter timeline.

EDIT: As further proof of this statement, I've been called a lurker in some of my most objectively active games (10-20+ posts a day) solely because a half dozen people were posting 80+ a day and drowning everyone out.

[Ranger]

When the pace of the game is insanely fast, it becomes that much harder to get town to come together since everyone's timeline of the game is distorted to different lengths.

And yet, of the 21 completed blitzes (I'm excluding Lawless, which was cancelled), 12 have been town wins: just about half, what would be expected. And even in the losses, at least four of them were close games where any faction had a chance of winning. (Though I also know at least two or three of the town losses were in setups that were explicitly scum-sided.)

It's definitely manageable. I quite like the Blitz format. It's actually going to feel painful now that there aren't any new blitzes for me to start playing with that much longer deadline. People have this silly habit of dragging games on to their two-week deadlines when you generally need less than half that for a productive day.

[hiplop]

When the pace of the game is insanely fast, it becomes that much harder to get town to come together since everyone's timeline of the game is distorted to different lengths.

And yet, of the 21 completed blitzes (I'm excluding Lawless, which was cancelled), 12 have been town wins: just about half, what would be expected. And even in the losses, at least four of them were close games where any faction had a chance of winning. (Though I also know at least two or three of the town losses were in setups that were explicitly scum-sided.)

It's definitely manageable. I quite like the Blitz format. It's actually going to feel painful now that there aren't any new blitzes for me to start playing with that much longer deadline. People have this silly habit of dragging games on to their two-week deadlines when you generally need less than half that for a productive day.

this

gonna miss it

[BROseidon]

When the pace of the game is insanely fast, it becomes that much harder to get town to come together since everyone's timeline of the game is distorted to different lengths.

And yet, of the 21 completed blitzes (I'm excluding Lawless, which was cancelled), 12 have been town wins: just about half, what would be expected. And even in the losses, at least four of them were close games where any faction had a chance of winning. (Though I also know at least two or three of the town losses were in setups that were explicitly scum-sided.)

It's definitely manageable. I quite like the Blitz format. It's actually going to feel painful now that there aren't any new blitzes for me to start playing with that much longer deadline. People have this silly habit of dragging games on to their two-week deadlines when you generally need less than half that for a productive day.

The flip side is that the shorter deadlines make it harder for scum to stall out of bad positions if they get caught out early.

[Lucky2u]

since the que closed I don't have anyone to put this but...

Blitz 24 ended

happily ever after (3 way tie)

[HeatherA]

Damn. I've been registered on this site for years, but only played two games because a "day" that lasted for 3 weeks was just plain ridiculous. Finally you guys bring in some sensible day lengths, and I missed it!

Will the Blitz style be coming back? Please?

Where I play, day is usually 48 to 72 hours and that's plenty long enough for anyone.

[Klazam]

not for i. my schedule limits me to 1-3 posts per rl day

but i heartily support this queue

[Frozen Angel]

This queue was one of the best ones of MS

I wasn't playing mafia for a long time and when I joined MS this queue was running. Existence of such a queue for people who can post more is soo nice. If this quoue exists I can invite some offsite friends to play MS as well.