collect time creep fix

[Deleted User - 4491607]

first of all, my apologies if this has been suggested. I scanned a few pages of posts and couldn't think of search terms to find it.

the problem is that with some event buildings that produce 1 per day/12 hour/2 day the time to log in to collect keeps creeping later.

there was a time in my life when I could plan to get up at 3 am to tend a game, but them days are gone. It would be less of an
issue if the production aspect did not expire, but that is not what I suggest.

I am suggesting: add an 'instant' to the magic academy crafting list that can walk back the time on these builds .. say an hour ...
(too little to be easily abused).

another possibility would be to have the expiration timer stop if disconnected from road (or does it?)

 

[AtaguS]

I like this suggestion. The creeping collect times makes for tricky planning of regular collects around a busy day. Another suggestion would be to make them timed like the set buildings...I pick those up and put them back down now and then, just to reset the collect time. At the moment the only solution is to try try try not to collect the goods by accident while clicking around the building for 24 hours. So far that has been unsuccessful, lol.

 

[DeletedUser2870]

I think it has been suggested before, @SoggyShorts mentioned it once too.
But I wholeheartedly agree, because the time just keeps moving up to a point where I have to skip one of them to bring them back into alignment with the life in the real world. If such timers were to run for 23:50 hours, or even 23:55 hours that should give people time to harvest and reset and still stay within that 24 or 12 hour limit.
Especially the 12 hour ones screw me up with my work schedule as the time just keeps moving up a bit every day.

 

[Chriger]

That is one of the reasons I love the spire buildings. They all have a collection time of 21 hours.

That's close enough to 24 hours, that (probably) no one is going to cycle it through there sleep to gain an extra collection. Though gives enough leeway to collect once a day, even if log in a bit late some days.

 

[DeletedUser16929]

i like this idea and agree 100%................................. let's do it!

 

[Crow Last Elf]

It really pains me to lose a collection on my expiring buildings, a spell to reduce the collection by a bit would eliminate that frustration.

 

[JeanFritz]

Why not just adjust those buildings so that the current time reduction spells will work on them, the same as they do for workshops and manufactories? Sure, it'd be costly (in spells) to do 30 expiring buildings at once, but if you're looking at one or two particularly valuable buildings, a 1-hour spell every couple weeks isn't too bad.
Can anybody confirm whether expiration count-downs pause, when buildings are disconnected? That would be a helpful feature, too.

 

[DeletedUser2870]

@JeanFritz
Probably because the time-boosts are easy to come by. It might be a nice way of creating another sink for such instants, but it would be so much easier for everyone involved to just reduce the span to 23:50, or even 23:30 hours. Much less hassle

 

[AtaguS]

Can anybody confirm whether expiration count-downs pause, when buildings are disconnected?

I disconnected my Wishing Well this morning and the collection timer stopped.

 

[Xelenia]

If I am understanding this right, you want the ability to rewind expiring buildings? To give you time back in expiring buildings due to being busy outside of the game?

 

[samidodamage]

@Xelenia
I think what is still being fleshed out in this discussion is a mechanism to help with time creep on many event bldgs with 12hr/24hr/48hr collections in general. The suggestion of making them behave like set bldgs came up. The idea of using existing time boost instants to accomplish this came up. Someone mentioned expiring bldgs, many have the time creep issue as well. Another issue with expiring bldgs is, for example: bldg expires in 3 hrs, next collection time is in 3.5 hrs. The ability to use some form of a time booster to speed up that production was also mentioned.
My opinion so far: I like the idea from @AtaguS
I'd much prefer the culture/hybrid bldgs that produce resources to have the same function as set bldgs: Pick it up, sit it back down and reset the timer. This enables you to reset it to fit your schedule, but at a cost of however much time is left on the current production. This should have the player more engaged, especially on expiring bldgs due to needing to pay attention to the production times, time left on the bldg, etc. to make smart choices. The only downside I see is folks will complain about the warning every time they want to rearrange their city. The workaround for set bldgs for this is to disconnect the road, then rearrange. Allowing that same mechanism to work for these bldgs as well would be helpful.
The thing that concerns me with using existing time boosts is the ability to exploit this. If you just stick a button there that goes to your time boosts, what's to stop you from speeding up Wishing Wells for example and getting significantly more than the intended number of collections in its lifespan.
I'm also not opposed to a modification of the existing collection times, even if only to bring them in line with say Daily visits that reset in 23hrs. A one hr/day addition shouldn't significantly unbalance the rewards, I don't think. Personally I, too, love the Spire bldgs collection times, but I do understand their rewards were balanced around that 21hr timer.

 

[Sir Squirrel]

I agree. I would sooner see the buildings collect every 23 hours like visits (NH) or 21 hours instead of every 24, but to be able to reset the timer by picking it up and placing it again like the spire buildings would work too! These 2 ideas would be the easiest for the developers to do and wouldn't be exploitable. I don't like the idea of using time instants as that would be harder to implement and could be exploited.

 

[michmarc]

Note that neighborly help is also on a 23 hour timer (instead of 24 hours). Just having that one hour shortening does wonders for preventing time creep. Having "longer" collect times be 11 hours, 23 hours, or 47 hours would be a huge help in keeping both the building synchronized with each other and synchronized with a particular collection window (like first thing in the morning which is when I do my NH).

 

[Kekune]

I would not like the timer to reset when you move it. I don't see that it really achieves much. When my timers creep, they naturally settle into a pattern that fits my schedule - the next time I collect it. If a 12 hour cycle creeps too late in the evening, it becomes a morning collection. I don't see how resetting it and losing the production is any better than just letting a production sit until you can collect it again. And then you reset the timer and sacrifice production every time you rearrange, so you'd get less production overall.

I do love the idea of a 21 or 23 hour cycle instead of 24 hour productions (or 11 instead of 12, etc). That seems to actually solve the problem, rather than simply introduce a workaround.

 

[Ashrem]

Personally, I wouldn't be offended by replacing every single 24 hour timer in the game with a 23 hour timer.

 

[Xelenia]

Not much unity to the recommendation here ^.~

 

[Kekune]

Not much unity to the recommendation here ^.~

I don't see any objection to replacing all timers with slightly shorter timers.

 

[AtaguS]

Not much unity to the recommendation here ^.~

I am seeing an emerging concensus around cropping the timer an hour or so.

 

[Yogi Dave]

The idea in general has merit and would reduce another frustration factor in the game. Personally, I think the 21 or 23 hour cycle (11h for 12h items) is the best solution. It will slow down the time creep considerably, though it will still occur at times. I agree with @Kekune that moving the building should not reset the timer. There are times during an event or FA when moving things around becomes a way of life. Also a city reorg disconnects things and they are moved. I'd hate to lose 10h on a wishing well due to a city reorg. Keep that aspect the same. The set buildings have their own set of rules and problems with syncing them.

When I've missed my usual time for visits, I can walk it back to my normal time by doing visits a bit earlier each day until it's back to my normal time. You can't walk it back too far since you have to sleep sometime, so it would be very difficult to abuse this type of change.

@Xelenia, if there is a growing consensus for this topic, is there a best way to change the original post to reflect that? Your thread, Ideas and Suggestion Forum Guide seems to suggest this would be a good idea, but it would make a lot of the following posts look, well, stupid since they would be suggesting to do what the top post now says the thread is all about.

 

[Xelenia]

f there is a growing consensus for this topic, is there a best way to change the original post to reflect that? Your thread, Ideas and Suggestion Forum Guide seems to suggest this would be a good idea

There are two ways...can remake the thread with an OP who will summarise the discussion and keep it organize and presentable, I can close here and redirect to the thread. Alternatively, perhaps the OP of this thread can come back and update (a clear indication of such so responses will not look stupid) @Yogi Dave

I may tweak the guide just a bit because you are, this cause will make the comments look rather stupid.

Ultimately, the make the individuals I am forwarding this to...there needs to be a mini-presentation...I am not going to make them read through the multiple responses to figure out what the consensus is :O .