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Poll
Hourly box activations?
Permantly change box to hourly activations
2%
 2%  [ 3 ]
Permantly change box to 30mins peak, hourly offpeak
3%
 3%  [ 4 ]
Trial change box to hourly activations
3%
 3%  [ 4 ]
Trial change box to 30mins peak, hourly offpeak
24%
 24%  [ 25 ]
Change nothing
64%
 64%  [ 66 ]
Total Votes : 102


smallman



Joined: Sep 24, 2007

Post   Posted: Oct 11, 2017 - 05:04 Reply with quote Back to top

I have zero doubt that hourly activations will revitalize the box. 15min was great when box was thriving, but those days are over, it needs to be hourly or box death is imminent.

Players will strive to play at a good pace and finish in time for the next hours activation. This will snowball in to consecutive great box pairings, and way more interest in coaches coming to activate.
This will make the draws in peak times huge and even TV pairings.

Currently for most of the day coaches know there is a very good chance box won't trigger so don't even bother to look, and go do something else.

I keep hearing the awful logic of 'If I miss out on a pairing I don't mind waiting 15mins for the next'. If it is hourly, you will miss out way less often, especially if you activate many teams.

My last game had a TV difference of 1mil, and recently had a 840k gap game.

This should at the very least be trialed. If this is trialed and fails I will gladly banish myself from this site if majority desire this. This will excite some of you lol.
Kondor



Joined: Apr 04, 2008

Post   Posted: Oct 11, 2017 - 05:37 Reply with quote Back to top

Why not try changing it to a draw every 30 minutes and see what happens. I normally pop in and try to get a box game and if (when) that fails I move over to get a ranked match. If I don't get one I may come back and try again in the box if I have time.

If I were reasonably sure there would be a draw at the top and bottom of the hour I would play more box games.

However, if I get online at 5 minutes after the draw, I am not going to wait around an entire hour for a draw. I will try to get a ranked match.


Last edited by Kondor on Oct 11, 2017 - 06:31; edited 1 time in total
spelledaren



Joined: Mar 06, 2004

Post   Posted: Oct 11, 2017 - 06:25 Reply with quote Back to top

I'd be interested in 30-min intervals as a test, but only that. That isn't an option in the poll, so I didn't pick anything.

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smallman



Joined: Sep 24, 2007

Post   Posted: Oct 11, 2017 - 06:53 Reply with quote Back to top

spelledaren wrote:
I'd be interested in 30-min intervals as a test, but only that. That isn't an option in the poll, so I didn't pick anything.


umm surely option 4 works then. Currently next to no games happen in off peak.
kummo



Joined: Mar 29, 2016

Post   Posted: Oct 11, 2017 - 07:29 Reply with quote Back to top

15 min interval is already easy to forget. Having 30min or 60min wait needs to have some kind of sound (why not same ping ranked has when someone challenges you). You could just leave tab open and boom, it reminds you "hey, you got a game now". Especially if you could activate more than 5 minutes before draw (if you got to wait 20 minutes or so after activation how many of you really are gonna stare at that one screen? i'd most probably watch some videos, write something on forums or social media or prepare something.. etc etc etc).

Or even have sounds for both: when you can activate and another when draw happens.

(Heck, even if 15 min intervals stay, i'd still would like that soundmark)
The_Murker



Joined: Jan 30, 2011

Post   Posted: Oct 11, 2017 - 08:10 Reply with quote Back to top

Wait.. wut? People don't scramble for a chance to play against smallkosp or the WMD's every 15 minutes? That seems.. strange.

I think if there were a 'Black Box' created that did not allow Dwarves, Chaos Dwarves, Chaos, Nurgle, Pact, or Orks, (and almost by necessity, no cheesy Amazons).. you would see a flurry of activity.

No claw, no mass av9. Hell.. even a Box with just ARR! teams would be amazing.

I think it's pretty clear money dosn't talk here.. but if it did.. if a donation drive goal were announced that would prove enough interest in an alternative to regular 'Bash Box' I would happily dedicate my FUMBBL free time to seeing that goal met.

A so called 'Rainbow Box' idea was proposed years ago. The proposal was for ANY alternative to the regular Black Box be trialed once per hour, on the hour, to see if it got more activations than normal Black Box.

Some alternatives suggested were: 'No bash teams, or only 'agile' teams, or multipute team activations required (one bash, one agile, one stunty).

The OP suggests funneling the limited traffic into a smaller activation period. I would rather see more traffic.. generated by something different.

Something clawless and bare-chested. Err.. I meant armorless.

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Cloggy



Joined: Sep 23, 2004

Post   Posted: Oct 11, 2017 - 08:20 Reply with quote Back to top

Gotta love the irony of this thread. The person who almost singlehandedly killed the box by his stupid minmaxed killer spam thinks this will all be fixed by changing the interval of the draws.

The problem is a lack of coaches and that will not go away by introducing an hourly draw. It will only change when people have more fun playing.

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Kondor



Joined: Apr 04, 2008

Post   Posted: Oct 11, 2017 - 08:28 Reply with quote Back to top

The_Murker wrote:
Wait.. wut? People don't scramble for a chance to play against smallkosp or the WMD's every 15 minutes? That seems.. strange.

I think if there were a 'Black Box' created that did not allow Dwarves, Chaos Dwarves, Chaos, Nurgle, Pact, or Orks, (and almost by necessity, no cheesy Amazons).. you would see a flurry of activity.

No claw, no mass av9. Hell.. even a Box with just ARR! teams would be amazing.

I think it's pretty clear money dosn't talk here.. but if it did.. if a donation drive goal were announced that would prove enough interest in an alternative to regular 'Bash Box' I would happily dedicate my FUMBBL free time to seeing that goal met.

A so called 'Rainbow Box' idea was proposed years ago. The proposal was for ANY alternative to the regular Black Box be trialed once per hour, on the hour, to see if it got more activations than normal Black Box.

Some alternatives suggested were: 'No bash teams, or only 'agile' teams, or multipute team activations required (one bash, one agile, one stunty).

The OP suggests funneling the limited traffic into a smaller activation period. I would rather see more traffic.. generated by something different.

Something clawless and bare-chested. Err.. I meant armorless.


This is going to go completely off topic into giving an alternative to the current box. (Or at least fundamentally altering the box.) Sorry Murker, but this is not the thread for that.

I have no problem with a box idea for squishy teams or fundamentally changing the box. Both have merit, but this is an idea that could quickly help the current box environment.

For the record, I would love a requirement to activate one agile, one bash, and either a mid-range or stunty team.

Would funneling the draws into once or twice an hour increase the number of games played? I think it would.
Wozzaa



Joined: Apr 23, 2016

Post 14 Posted: Oct 11, 2017 - 08:38 Reply with quote Back to top

I think 30 min draws is all good. No need for 'hourly during off peak time'.

Cloggy wrote:
Gotta love the irony of this thread. The person who almost singlehandedly killed the box by his stupid minmaxed killer spam thinks this will all be fixed by changing the interval of the draws.
Upvote on this. Perhaps the box is dying due to people not wanting to play against mono-activiating killer spam or min/maxxers.

I personally have no issues with building a team like that: all of us can do it (obviously with varying degrees of success based on skill). But its proper annoying when all 3-4 of your teams get *insert infamous team name hear* every day for a week because you seem to activate the same time as *insert infamous coach name here*. Playing the same coach with a variety of different teams... all gravy, just happen to be online at the same time. Playing the same team over and and over Image
Kondor



Joined: Apr 04, 2008

Post   Posted: Oct 11, 2017 - 08:40 Reply with quote Back to top

Cloggy wrote:
Gotta love the irony of this thread. The person who almost singlehandedly killed the box by his stupid minmaxed killer spam thinks this will all be fixed by changing the interval of the draws.

The problem is a lack of coaches and that will not go away by introducing an hourly draw. It will only change when people have more fun playing.


With the death of Pile On, that technique should have been diminished. However, now you see killers take more tackle/guard in the box and agile teams struggle in a different way.

The fact is that many coaches of Agile teams try to avoid facing bashers on a regular basis. This is still a fact even if they are winning most of their games.

I can't complain. I do the same thing. Most of my Box Teams are bashers and my favorite Ranked Teams are not.
Sp00keh



Joined: Dec 06, 2011

Post   Posted: Oct 11, 2017 - 10:54 Reply with quote Back to top

This has come up before.. there is some merit in something like this:

15 min draw fails X times in a row = move to draw on the half hour
30 min draw fails X times in a row = move to draw on the hour
Once a draw is completed, reset back to 15 min draws

Value of X maybe around 2-5?


My preferred box fix though, is different.. but not mutually exclusive to the above idea:

If a 4 coach draw has failed to make 2 valid matchups, then disregard the worst-fitting coach and attempt to make 1 valid matchup out of the 3 remaining coaches


I don't see a real downside to either idea. and no one has really refuted the general idea in this thread so far either


Last edited by Sp00keh on Oct 11, 2017 - 10:59; edited 1 time in total
doclystria



Joined: Sep 22, 2011

Post   Posted: Oct 11, 2017 - 10:59 Reply with quote Back to top

Not only a box problem. I looked 30min on 59 teams in ranked and nobody wanted to play a nearly fairly match up. (actitead WE, Humans and Necros btw)

Time issue, 20 CET u will get a box game, 10 am probaly not.

I prefer to reactivate the box per projects, like Human League Premiership, Elf or something like that. To bring diversity in the box. Then maybe more people are interested to play game, thats are not always Nurgle, Chaos and Smallmann. Smile
koadah



Joined: Mar 30, 2005

Post   Posted: Oct 11, 2017 - 11:21 Reply with quote Back to top

Just removing PO was a 'fix' that also weakens hybrid teams.

If anything, it was a disincentive to play, rather than an incentive.

Box is also up against the CCL which has a competition element to it. CCL also reduces the chances of drawing big bashers by resetting every season.

Going to 30 minute draws sounds good. But it just means having a longer wait to see if Smallman already has an opponent. Wink

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Chainsaw



Joined: Aug 31, 2005

Post   Posted: Oct 11, 2017 - 12:42 Reply with quote Back to top

I always said PO wasn't the problem. Glad to see I analyzed that right. El broken clocko me!

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MattDakka



Joined: Oct 09, 2007

Post   Posted: Oct 11, 2017 - 14:22 Reply with quote Back to top

Games are absolutely more enjoyable and less dice based without PO.
About the hybrids, they lost PO but they don't suffer Clawpomb either, so I'm not sure they have been so weakened.
For example, I found to play Amazons at high TV now more viable than in CRP even if they can't PO anymore, because my opponents can't PO them either.
About diversity in the Box, it should be enforced, because some coaches want to play only one race. So you know that if you activate in a certain time you are going to face the same coach with the same bash team.
Nothing wrong with playing vs bash teams, they are one aspect of the game and ensure a needed attrition, but playing always vs high TV teams without the proper inducements (Horatio has not been implemented yet) is boring and after a while takes its toll.
About hourly activations: it's a terrible idea, I don't want to wait for so much time, 15 minutes are already a great waste of time, let alone 1 hour.
I'd like more frequent activations instead, every 10 minutes or 5 minutes.
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