Should we reset the arcade scores?
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MemphisVol
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rockytops36
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rockytops36
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MemphisVol
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LadyO quipped-in both with one of my ideas and with an answer that begs the same question that stumped me when I saw your post:
What you got?
I work with and on computers about 12 hours daily, but I'm a functional not an operational user. I understand more than most of my kind about how software is created, but not enough to remotely say how easy it would be for you to beg, borrow, buy or create software capable of determining different types of arcade "Winners". Especially any type of "overall winner" which involved scores from different games.
A particular problem would be the ability to track the number of different games each and every player has played over different periods of time. Since you're already tracking the # of games each player has ever played each game, for us straights it would sound easy to keep track of a bunch of smaller segments of time, based on date/time. Yet I've learned the hard way in the past when I've asked 'softwarians' about making such supposedly simple variations that small variations in results don't necessarily come from small variations in code.
Another potential coding problem along the same line- How easy would it be to
require a minimum number of different games played to qualify for a monthly, quarterly and/or yearly award?
Possibly worse still is the whole issue of "factoring" or adjustng points across different games to determine any sort of multi-game winner. Though the current Hi-Scores provide a measure you could use to judge how points in the different games rate against each other, the games in our arcades aren't just different in terms of how big or small the number of points in a good game are. Some of the games have only one level (i.e. Frogger and Space Hunter) and therefore only a finite number of points that can be scored. At the other extreme are games like Air Fox or Breakout which allow unlimited points, but play so long that scoring high is almost a cry for help.
So, now that I've buried your "what-would-you-suggest?" gauntlet with excuses, I like the following:
1. Monthly, Quarterly, Yearly and All-Time winner for each game
2. M, Q, Y & AT winners of VolNation Arcade Pentathalon and Decathalon. For this you would have to have to have the ability to adjust scores across games, even if set groups of 5 & 10 games were involved.
3. M, Q, Y & AT Overall Winners who just played some minimum number of games of their choice. Would still require ability to adjust scores across games. Would give people the ability to play to their strengths & avoid their weaknesses, a plus since, however simple these games might seem, some involve profoundly different kinds of mental operations, reaction times, etc.
4. A Monthly, Quarterly, Yearly, and Overall "Lady in Orange Loser Award (The LOL)" for the members who spent the most time, etc. trying to cop a VolNation Arcade title. The reason I said "time, etc." instead of just time is because <blush> while I, myself gave up early on the worst of the long-playing games, I caught myself doing something which saved time, but deserves equal abuse:
Some games, if you don't score well in the first 2 or 3 rounds, there's no point going on if you are going after the high score. I (insert totally believeable look of shame here) have, myself, actually hit the 'Back' then "Forward" buttons in such situations in the past so I could start again and save time.
Since your software already keeps track of how many times each player has played a game overall, I suggest basing any LOL Awards on number of games first, then add adjusted time second. Time, though, still has to be involved somehow. After all, which is worse, playing Air Fox 4 times for a total of 1 1/2 hours, or playing Frogger 18 times over the course of 10 minutes?
5. Keeping track of the number of attempts ought to also be factored in to any type of award. True, there's a high degree of random luck involved in how challenging the levels of many of the games turn out to be, but if we're free to hit "Back" & "Forward" at will without being penalized for number of attempts, then players would also be able to reject options at will until they got dealt a hand where all the luck was on their side.
Well, you asked...
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Wow, what a post!!!!
I may have to let that sink in a little bit.
I will say that I don't want to (or can't) get too complicated with these high scores. I will think over some of your points and see what I can come up with. It may be easier just to archive the monthly/quarterly scores in a post on the board so that they can be enshrined there. We could also have some type of award for the player who gets the most high scores for the most games. I really don't want to get it to tracking the number of times played if I can help it.
Another option is a "tournament" option that could be added to the arcade. I can also add game icon's by a members avatar if they have the high score in a particular game but that could get kind of messy if one person had many high scroes.
:question: :question:
I may have to let that sink in a little bit.
I will say that I don't want to (or can't) get too complicated with these high scores. I will think over some of your points and see what I can come up with. It may be easier just to archive the monthly/quarterly scores in a post on the board so that they can be enshrined there. We could also have some type of award for the player who gets the most high scores for the most games. I really don't want to get it to tracking the number of times played if I can help it.
Another option is a "tournament" option that could be added to the arcade. I can also add game icon's by a members avatar if they have the high score in a particular game but that could get kind of messy if one person had many high scroes.
:question: :question:
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