Rework Thirst duration

[sharshooter]

Hello,

I think is high time to reconsider duration of thirst. Now it takes 5h 20 min per day if you pay attention. In most cases it take 6-8h to make 320 thirst. It is probably the main source od CHURN in this game. Making thirs is just too long. If you are f2p player it okey, 120min but if you want be in top place you need spend 8h per day to SF.

How about some "premium account" unlocked for mushrooms which saves you 75% time? It would work like enchantments on boots but -75% time or any other solution which can help attract players for long-term playing.

I know there are hourglasses, mushrooms etc but I still think the main source of CHURN in this game is too long thirst - game requires too much time. You lose double because there is no option to play more than one account seriously (other servers) otherwise you spend your whole time for SF.

[Arturu]

I agree, it is still too much.

Yet it is highly unlikely things will change.

Hourglass system was supposed to ease the pain. Playa still makes quite a bit of money on people who shroom on quests (even the shortest ones).


Hmm, maybe they would consider getting rid of Hourglass' and making all quests (beside shortest) instant?

[Strider]

I don't have a problem with that, depending on how long you've been playing.

If the server has been around for <3 years ... no change

If the server has been around for 3<>5 years ... half the time

If the server has been around for 5+ years ... instant

[sharshooter]

I agree, it is still too much.

Yet it is highly unlikely things will change.

Hourglass system was supposed to ease the pain. Playa still makes quite a bit of money on people who shroom on quests (even the shortest ones).


Hmm, maybe they would consider getting rid of Hourglass' and making all quests (beside shortest) instant?

It all about data analysis, I assume they will earn more if they can attract more people and decrease churn. We can write "it's not a problem etc" but we change the truth - people leave because they are bored or they don't have time.

Hourglass system is just addition if you want make instant thirst. Skiping for mushrooms doesn't work on all servers, on my server you need w8 until 23:00 to start skipping. It's too risky to wait because random things in real life can happen. It must be system solution - premium account, new scroll, reworked existing scroll etc.

In my opinion they lose more money than they earn for skipping.

[Apollo]

I agree with the fact that doing 320 thirst every day is too tiring. As a college student, sometimes gets really hard to go to classes, stay a couple hours studying in my college, have a social life and then go back home where I have to stay 5 hours in my computer just to finish my thirst.

For example, make a potion that decreases the duration of a mission by x % (for example, if it is 50%, then a 10-min mission would take 5minutes but it would still consume 10 thirst).

[sharshooter]

I agree with the fact that doing 320 thirst every day is too tiring. As a college student, sometimes gets really hard to go to classes, stay a couple hours studying in my college, have a social life and then go back home where I have to stay 5 hours in my computer just to finish my thirst.

For example, make a potion that decreases the duration of a mission by x % (for example, if it is 50%, then a 10-min mission would take 5minutes but it would still consume 10 thirst).

Yes, consume thirst like it consumes now but take less time. It's really hard afford 5h 20 mins a day! How many players you know who left the game because of time?

[Leander]

Interesting discussion, thanks! Will forward the results. Don't forget that the hourglasses speed up everything now.

[Eggman95]

A few months ago I made a suggestion regarding that topic in the german forum,
called Proof of Concept: Questdauerverkürzung


Here is a translation:
----------------------------[Start]------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Proof of Concept: Quest duration shortening"


Hi,

a few weeks ago, in the forum, I talked about a new way in which a future feature could reward the player.

The idea is quite simple, you can unlock a bonus that shortens the quest time.
By comparison, you can take a look at the rewards of older updates:
Tower (Gold Bonus), Scrapbook (Experience Bonus), Single Player Portal (Life Bonus),
Guild Portal (Damage Bonus), Raids (Gold and Experience Bonus), Pets (Stat Bonuses).

Whether you attach the feature to a kind of portal or a dungeon or the like, I do not care, here I am only concerned with the concept.



What do I mean by shortening the quest duration?
I mean something that shortens the waiting time between quests.
Example:
Without shortening:
You play 320 thirst, doing 82 quests and get 150 million XP and 250 million gold, but you need like 5+ hours.
With shortening:
You play 320 thirst, make the same number of quests and the same XP and Gold, but you need less than 5 hours.


How I would imagine the implementation (just an example):
So first of all, I'd rather think of this as high-level content,
something like character level 300+ as a requirement.
For example, as a maximum there is a bonus of 5%,
the bonus is unlocked by a dungeon / portal / anything else but gradually.

So this dungeon / portal / something else would have 50 floor;
5% max. Bonus / 50 floors -> 0.1% bonus per floor


This bonus is not only multiplied linearly, but increases with the amount of thirst you consume.
As an example (which I can also calculate) the bonus increases with the number of drunk beers.

The formula looks like this in my example:

Quest Time (Shortened) = Quest Time * (1 - Time Bonus * (1 + (Beer Count / 2)))

Sample calculations:
a) 10min quest, 5% Bonus, 0 Beer: 10min * (1 - 5% * (1 + (0/2)) = 10min * 0,95 = 9,5 min
b) 10min quest, 5% bonus, 10 beers: 10min * (1 - 5% * (1 + (10/2)) = 10min * 0.7 = 7 min

If you tie the bonus to the number of drunk beers,
you would benefit more when drinking immediately.

I'll calculate how an optimal or a suboptimal use would affect 320 or 120 thirst:
The following tabels are images, translation of the german text:

Alu = thirst
Bonus = Bonus
getrukene Bier = drunk beer
1 + Bier/2 = 1 + beer / 2
1 - (Bonus * (1 + Bier/2)) = 1 - (bonus * (1 + beer / 2))
Zu spielende Alu = left thirst
Questzeit = Quest duration
Summe = sum
Erspannis (Minuten) = Saving (minutes)

But that would be just the time savings with the maximum bonus of 5%,
Here is a table with a bonus between 0% and 5% in 0.1% increments:

If you want to take a closer look at the spreadsheets, here is a link to the Google spreadsheet: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets...it?usp=sharing


According to the concept, you would save between 49 and 71 minutes with maximum bonus at 320 thirst,
an average of 1 hour of otherwise 5 hours and 20 minutes.



Other good reasons for such a feature:
1.) No "power creep"
"power creep" describes the state that over time updates introduces ever larger buffs into a game,
if you look back at the older content it is passed in days: I just say level 200 in less than 2 weeks,
Level 350 in a year, guilds make all raids in under 7 months ...

This bonus does not strengthen the character and thus does not ensure
that the half-life of the old content sinks even further.

2.) high-level content
If somehow implanted like a shadow portal, Raid 51+ or something else,
This time bonus will not interfere with the mushroom / buying behavior of server starts.
If it's late-game content, it will not stop the server-start power mushrooms from skipping their quests with mushroom.

3.) Increased motivation to play 320 thirst
What bothers me most about the 320 thirst is,
that it takes so damn much time.
If you do not have to spend more than 5+ hours a day,
more players will most likely consider playing 320 thirst and whoever spends mushrooms (on thirst) will probably buy some.

----------------------------[End]------------------------------------------------------------------------


Needing like 5+ hours each day is really annoying and that push up messages on the android app are broken since 6+ months dont make it easier.

I still think that concept would be a good and elegant way to implement such a feature and also would create a great reward for a future update.

[sharshooter]

Interesting discussion, thanks! Will forward the results. Don't forget that the hourglasses speed up everything now.

Yes it is really usefull but It doesn't solve the problem. If you know what I mean - many players quit game because it takes too much time - 5h 20min. It's a huge amount of time. Playing on more servers become impossible unless you can sped whole day for SF. Thats why people abandon "old" servers and starts new one - lack of time and bored. I am quite sure significant amount of players would stay after 350+ if making thirst wouldn't be pain.

Shortening quests from 5h 20 min to 2h would be awesome. I can't bet you will earn more on that - so people can stay active on old and new servers.

[bydway]

I spend 12 hours in job and meanwhile I'm doing thirst. Some days I've got absolutely no time to finish all 320 thirst (I'm glad to done 120) so I welcomed this idea into the game. In my opinion optimal time it would half of currently thirst (5,20÷2=2,60 hours) and how told sharshooter players would have to buy some kind of premium account to unlock this feature.

[Arturu]

Few things.

I do agree that it's all about the data, yet I would argue the system we have is kinda close to optimal for them.

Players mostly quit because:
- they get outleveled (by a lot)
- playing only base thirst does not seem impactful

That is why power creep is needed and it will happen even more. People need to feel that they are progressing. Specifically non shroomers.


My bet is that Playa makes most of its money on whales that shroom, use everything (with daily wheel) and speed up Fortress buildings.
Some of these players speed up a lot of quests too and I am certain they shroomed quests a lot more before.


My guess is that Playa actually overall lost money with the introduction of Hourglass, but thanks to it more people kept playing (people, that did not spent a lot on the game) and the game overall feels more welcoming for newer players.

[MedusasSnakes]

I have no idea if this is even viable.

Why not keep the first 120 minute at 120 minutes. Anything over that could be "half the time" it normally takes.

The first 120 minutes keeps people in the game, chatting, involved.

The rest of it would be more chatting, but cuts down on the amount of time spent in front of the screen, while still benefiting the shroomers who play the current 5 hours and 20 minutes.

The time IS long.

The hourglasses, while wonderful, do run out if you use them. I'd love to see the extra fortress materials (once fortress is maxed) be able to be converted to hourglasses. I'm getting ready to be on a very, very limited schedule for the next few months and it would be nice to be able to have enough hourglasses to get me through that time period.

Again, don't even know if any of that would be possible, but a player can dream

[sharshooter]

Leander can you stick this topic?

[Arturu]

So basically you want the biggest complaint topic to be pinned for everyone always to see?
Thats a suicide (also for a mod / admin who would do this).

Let me put it the official way - only topics which are a great source of information and knowledge on the game can be pinned.

[sharshooter]

Leander can you forward result to Playa? Maybe they will invent some nice bonus to shorten time quest for 400+ players.