Subject: Soon: New reward system and more
Posted by: WesleyCrusher
Date: Aug 13 23
If you've been reading the right posts, you may have noticed that we've been busy behind the scenes. In fact, we're working on... big stuff.
While we're not quite ready yet to spill the beans, we'll say this much - a key element will be a new reward system to replace the current level system that has, over the last fifteen years, grown out of balance. Back in 2008, we had like 50 badges and point levels and badge levels were comparable. Level 80 was REALLY a lot.
As it stands now, top players have exceeded 250 levels - and almost all of that is from getting tier 1 on major badges. Almost nothing else matters - point levels are FAR apart once you are above 5 million or so.
Come September (we'll announce the exact date closer to release) this will change. The new system will give points some proper value beyond the first few again, it will reward gaining tiers, authoring, team play and just being active throughout the site. There will also be less of a distinction between minis and full badges - a differentiation we mainly made to keep levels from reaching 600 and above anyway!
Most of the back-end calculations are in place already - meaning you are already being tracked and rewarded for plays in ways you don't know... yet. But if you want to get a head start into the new system on top of what you've already done - gaining some tiers, playing a wide variety of games and authoring quizzes, questions and crosswords can do that.
Our end goal is to make FunTrivia feel a lot more like what it deserves to be: Not a random collection of quizzes and games, but rather ONE game pretty much like an MMO (massively multiplayer online) game- but one where you don't win by grinding character stats but rather where YOUR OWN skills determine your progress and success. All the elements for it have been there for a long time. We'll finally combine them.
(Of course if you prefer, you can keep treating things like a collection like you always did - you will still be able to play quizzes, win an hourly or work towards a GC title. But you can also look at the whole - and play FunTrivia.)
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Please note: We're announcing this early so you will know that we're working - and you may occasionally see things briefly not working as they should. If a problem should persist, by all means let us know immediately - major changes on a live system won't come without bugs.
Editors are already using the new system, so we hope to have enough testing to have a smoothly working version on release day that won't interfere with your play experience due to bugs. However, if you're absolutely bent on spending one month on THAT monthly you've been missing for ages and you know it's going to be tight, September might not be the best choice if you're worried about bugs. On the other hand, the transition might make players shift priorities and it could be easier than ever. It could go either way!
I would also like to ask you to not immediately knee-jerk react with a "rubbish" but rather wait until you've played with the new system.
Yes, it's always going to take some adjusting and a few players - those who have exclusively targeted high level by taking one tier of each badge and moving on - may find themselves in a less remarkable position. However if you're one of those players, you will also find ample easy opportunities to boost your tier count before the system goes live - so now is the time and you'll find it rather easy to catch up to your old status once you've harvested what should be ample low-hanging fruit for you!
Posted by: WesleyCrusher
Date: Aug 13 23
If you've been reading the right posts, you may have noticed that we've been busy behind the scenes. In fact, we're working on... big stuff.
While we're not quite ready yet to spill the beans, we'll say this much - a key element will be a new reward system to replace the current level system that has, over the last fifteen years, grown out of balance. Back in 2008, we had like 50 badges and point levels and badge levels were comparable. Level 80 was REALLY a lot.
As it stands now, top players have exceeded 250 levels - and almost all of that is from getting tier 1 on major badges. Almost nothing else matters - point levels are FAR apart once you are above 5 million or so.
Come September (we'll announce the exact date closer to release) this will change. The new system will give points some proper value beyond the first few again, it will reward gaining tiers, authoring, team play and just being active throughout the site. There will also be less of a distinction between minis and full badges - a differentiation we mainly made to keep levels from reaching 600 and above anyway!
Most of the back-end calculations are in place already - meaning you are already being tracked and rewarded for plays in ways you don't know... yet. But if you want to get a head start into the new system on top of what you've already done - gaining some tiers, playing a wide variety of games and authoring quizzes, questions and crosswords can do that.
Our end goal is to make FunTrivia feel a lot more like what it deserves to be: Not a random collection of quizzes and games, but rather ONE game pretty much like an MMO (massively multiplayer online) game- but one where you don't win by grinding character stats but rather where YOUR OWN skills determine your progress and success. All the elements for it have been there for a long time. We'll finally combine them.
(Of course if you prefer, you can keep treating things like a collection like you always did - you will still be able to play quizzes, win an hourly or work towards a GC title. But you can also look at the whole - and play FunTrivia.)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Please note: We're announcing this early so you will know that we're working - and you may occasionally see things briefly not working as they should. If a problem should persist, by all means let us know immediately - major changes on a live system won't come without bugs.
Editors are already using the new system, so we hope to have enough testing to have a smoothly working version on release day that won't interfere with your play experience due to bugs. However, if you're absolutely bent on spending one month on THAT monthly you've been missing for ages and you know it's going to be tight, September might not be the best choice if you're worried about bugs. On the other hand, the transition might make players shift priorities and it could be easier than ever. It could go either way!
I would also like to ask you to not immediately knee-jerk react with a "rubbish" but rather wait until you've played with the new system.
Yes, it's always going to take some adjusting and a few players - those who have exclusively targeted high level by taking one tier of each badge and moving on - may find themselves in a less remarkable position. However if you're one of those players, you will also find ample easy opportunities to boost your tier count before the system goes live - so now is the time and you'll find it rather easy to catch up to your old status once you've harvested what should be ample low-hanging fruit for you!
485 replies. On page 3 of 25 pages. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
Luckycharm60 
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Oooh! Looks like I am an Elder Master - whatever that means. Really becoming excited by all the changes!! Reply #41. Aug 18 23, 9:45 AM |
BigTriviaDawg
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It has been fun watching little things pop up here and there. I am enjoying the slow reveal. I wonder what is next... Reply #42. Aug 18 23, 9:53 AM |
ankitankurddit
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Yepp. This is live a suspense TV show. I love all these reveals. I eagerly await the ultimate episode (launch) that will reveal everything! :) Also, I got Maven (12b). And, I checked profiles around my level, and most of them are either Mavens (12s) or Savants (13s). So, the current and upcoming prestige-level correlations seem to be sufficiently high! However, level 200s seem to be transformed around 16s to 19s in the new system. So, it would mean that to go from 12a to 19e, is around 40 steps. However, there are 100 steps to go from 100 to 200. So, it seems that the no of steps (levels) might decrease a bit in the new system. However, that might be for good, and it will also become clearer when the new system is fully launched. So, I eagerly and curiously wait! :) Also, these chat room symbols look awesome. This is my first post here after the change, so I am curious about what symbol I get! :) Reply #43. Aug 18 23, 10:20 AM |
WesleyCrusher
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The new system effectively has a hardcap on the titles - and we don't expect anyone to reach the highest one before the 2030s. Reply #44. Aug 18 23, 10:32 AM |
andymuenz
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Wouldn't surprise me if come October someone jumps from Senior Contender to whatever the highest level is. After all, someone who is level 623 should be able to change at will. Reply #45. Aug 18 23, 11:28 AM |
| ankitankurddit
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The idea of a hardcap on the titles sounds enticing! Also, isn't the October Evil twin from Krypton or something? I think we earthlings might take some time to beat the final boss (title)! :) Reply #46. Aug 18 23, 12:30 PM |
| WesleyCrusher
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andymuenz: Knowing HIM, he'll probably try to get something like 66q on his status. I probably don't want to know what the insignia for that would look like... mushroom clouds, anyone? Hah... nah. I'd rather keep this both fitting my personality and dignified at once. Junior... since I'm stuck down here, can you, please, you know... Dang, now there's two of them! Just two to be going on with. For the moment. Mwahahaha! Reply #47. Aug 18 23, 12:40 PM |
Gispepfu
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Sounds interesting, I'm curious as to how it's gonna work. My question is, what will happen to all challenges that are based on points scored? Some of them are directly affected by this (Point Apprentice / Duke / King / etc; Team Stakeholder / Magnate; The Everything Challenge, and even an Epic challenge that I don't have) while others are indirectly related to points and/or levels (Old Timer comes to mind, and the "2020 is Hindsight" badge has two tiers that are based on points). There is also another one that is about completing a certain number of mini challenges. What will happen to all of these? Will they be reworked, or retired, when the time comes? Reply #48. Aug 18 23, 2:57 PM |
Catreona
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Alt text on the new doohickey displayed beside my avatar on my profile would be appreciated. And while I'm thinking about it: At one time badgelets and badges had alt text saying what they were, then the alt text went away. Please put it back. Reply #49. Aug 18 23, 3:18 PM |
Gumby1967
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Can the New Ranking System, for example, Elder Virtuoso [17c] and the Symbols next to our Avatars be explained? What do you do to progress or change them? Reply #50. Aug 18 23, 5:08 PM |
jasa9092
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I'd like to take mine off my profile page (and message board icon). The world doesn't need to know that I don't measure up to the smart players. I play here for fun... not the glory. Reply #51. Aug 18 23, 5:26 PM |
Chavs
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Maybe they will bring in the option to show/hide various things. Reply #52. Aug 18 23, 6:01 PM |
| jasa9092
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That's what I was hoping, Chas. I thought maybe it could be like the Duels where you could hide it. Or be like the Global Challenge where you participate only if you want to. Reply #53. Aug 18 23, 6:58 PM |
| jasa9092
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Chavs, sorry (Autocorrect, lol) Reply #54. Aug 18 23, 6:59 PM |
| Terry
Head Honcho 
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A bit confused why? Your level has always been public. This is pretty much the same thing as level. I’m not sure that anyone sees someone with a lower level or rank and thinks poorly of them. Most of it has to do with years on site. Reply #55. Aug 18 23, 7:03 PM |
Triviaballer
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This all seems to be a great update. The titling is kind of odd for the levels, i.e. #19 is Augur? Something like utilizing mountain names seems kind of cool and it can be based on heights for the levels (Kosciusko, Kilimanjaro, Denali, Aconcagua, up to Everest). The Duel game has something similar with the dinosaur names. Also, the prestige rewards being linear seems odd to me. For the Iron Mind for example it's 125,000 tri points to get to tier 6 and then it's 250,000 (double T6) to get to T7. It seems that the prestige should go up when the jumps between the tiers are so drastic (i.e. 6 prestige per tier 1-5, 9 prestige for tier 6 and 12 prestige for tier 7). Reply #56. Aug 18 23, 7:52 PM |
brm50diboll
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I think that keeping the prestige gain between tiers the same even though the spacing between tiers increases is deliberate and, honestly, I support it. The reason behind it, to me, is to provide an incentive to people to try different things, not just more of what they've already been doing. So if you have a choice on how to allocate your FT time, should you focus on moving from Tier 6 to Tier 7 in a particular badge where that move might take months to accomplish, or look for some (as others have said) "low-hanging fruit" that can earn the same amount of prestige that you would get from a Tier 6 to Tier 7 promotion? Under the developing new system, it seems that looking for any previously unexploited "low-hanging fruit" would be the better use of time for the ambitious player. This will help get people out of their comfort zones. I might even decide it is worth it to write a few questions. Who knows? But actually, I support the idea of a "law of diminishing returns" for higher tiers. You should go from Tier 6 to Tier 7 because you really, really want it, not because it gives you more prestige than going from Tier 5 to Tier 6. So yeah, I'm going to be a voice of dissent here. I do not think going to higher tiers deserves more prestige just because the gap widens. Doing that would only aggravate the clamoring for "prestige inflation". For years I have spoken out against "Level inflation" and I see this new prestige system as a chance to get rid of that mess, not repeat the same mistakes under a different name. No increase in prestige with increasing tiers. Keep the reward the same as the gaps increase. Make people think about how they want to allocate their available time on FT. Reply #57. Aug 18 23, 8:10 PM |
| Terry
Head Honcho
|
Linear prestige per challenge is also that way for simplicity and predictability. The prestige system needed to be neat and tidy, and I like how it has turned out. Details soon. A single number per challenge tells you what to expect. You can determine yourself whether you want to invest in the next tier or not. Reply #58. Aug 18 23, 9:22 PM |
| WesleyCrusher
|
@Triviaballer - the general way the system works is that doing a lot of different things is worth more than doing a lot of the same thing. Practically every activity has diminishing returns the more you do it - be it points scored, quizzes written, or any specific kind of win point. For tiered challenges based on "do something X times", the effect is built into the challenge - tiers have linear value, but the requirements increase. For other aspects such as FT points, it's built into the prestige formula - usually prestige grows with the square root of the underlying stat (with possibly a linear segment early on to prevent excessive values on the first few - quizzes written, for example is linear to about 100, otherwise we'd have way too high a value on the first five.). @gispepfu: The only thing that goes away is level. Badges that have a level requirement will instead require a specific rank before you can attempt them. Points and all that remains and is part of the prestige calculation. @Gumby1967: You progress through earning prestige. Prestige in turn can be earned by pretty much anything on the site. Be active - preferably in many different areas - and it will come to you automatically! @jasa9092: I'm not sure why you'd feel inferior at your rank. You're among the top 5% of the active players. We'll discuss a possible opt-out internally, but no promises. Reply #59. Aug 19 23, 2:00 AM |
| Gumby1967
|
Thanks WesleyCrusher. I don't fear change, so will look forward to it as something new and worthwhile. Reply #60. Aug 19 23, 2:05 AM |
485 replies. On page 3 of 25 pages. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
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