Identifying inactive players

[Laochra]

For any player that has not logged into their city for 30+ days, an asterisk (*) should be placed beside their name in the list of players.

 

[DeletedUser]

+1

 

[SoggyShorts]

 

[DeletedUser]

I guess that's +2, because I like them both.

 

[Laochra]

As much as I like the new website, it isn't very convenient to have to search every player-having to go back & forth between the two sites--especially with the increase in the shockwave failures (mine only fails in Elvenar). That just adds another step to the process, and it doesn't update correctly. I still have members listed as *potentially inactive* that are also listed at the bottom as top contributors for the week. With my suggestion, if the asterisk is there, you instantly know to move on to the next person.

 

[Ashrem]

As much as I like the new website, it isn't very convenient to have to search every player-having to go back & forth between the two sites--especially with the increase in the shockwave failures (mine only fails in Elvenar). That just adds another step to the process, and it doesn't update correctly. I still have members listed as *potentially inactive* that are also listed at the bottom as top contributors for the week. With my suggestion, if the asterisk is there, you instantly know to move on to the next person.

I note, purely out of my own pessimism, that showing inactive suggests that they are not growing their city. To me, there are two likely reasons for someone to be doing well in tournaments yet not growing. 1) they are in the middle of a difficult guest-race passage. 2) they are pushing, and all of their coin, goods, and tournament activity is going into KP which is going into another city for Ancient Wonder boosts.

We expelled someone about a month ago, because it became apparent that even though they were very active, none of that activity was going into the city in our fellowship.

 

[SoggyShorts]

it doesn't update correctly. I still have members listed as *potentially inactive* that are also listed at the bottom as top contributors for the week.

AFAIK the "potentially inactive" is based off your score not changing as @Ashrem said. It would be very hard to have zero change in score while being a top tournament contributor... Even if you are totally stuck in the tech tree, with all buildings maxed, eventually you'd have enough KP in a wonder to upgrade it.

Perhaps @elvenstats could add some code so that tournament participation removes the inactive tag.... Although I'd like to know if a FS member isn't growing for a long period of time.

 

[samidodamage]

it isn't very convenient to have to search every player-having to go back & forth between the two sites

I agree. It would be very helpful if the game provided a way to know immediately if a player had not logged in for 30 days or more. At least then you'd know if it was even necessary to go to ElvenStats. They are definitely not active if they aren't logging in. Even if the game improves the woefully inadequate (?non-existent) FS in-game tracking tools, I believe the best we can hope for are simple indicators like the failure to log in for a period of time exclamation point.

that showing inactive suggests that they are not growing their city.

It appears that ElvenStats gathers and uses more data than just whether the player is logging in or not to define activity, and that is something I frankly don't think the game will ever do. Of course, sometimes you'll need to parse that data with information you have that ElvenStats can't get, ie: player on vacation for 2 weeks or other real life issues; player city is full of settlement buildings with the focus on guest race goods(like Orcs) for weeks, etc.
As I watch and use ElvenStats they seem to be gathering and using data in ways I just don't think Inno will or even should. The 2 areas I see the most complaints/confusion over in this game are Game Tools & Mechanics and Communication. I'd prefer they focus on those areas first, with a personal preference for improved Communication as the #1 priority. Game Mechanics and in-game info and tools to assist with those mechanics will be issues as long as the game continues to grow. Improved communication with avid fan bases that create sites such as ElvenStats, ElvenArchitect, Gems of Knowledge, Platinum Leaf, Crazy Wizard's (and probably many more I don't know about) can only serve to improve the inevitable misunderstandings that will arise around Game Mechanics.

 

[SoggyShorts]

It appears that ElvenStats gathers and uses more data than just whether the player is logging in or not to define activity

afaik It's just score change=active.
And really, unless you are on vacation, your score should change once a week even if techloched with max buildings. At some point you should get enough KP for a wonder upgrade if nothing else. Clearing a province on the map or ranking top 100 in a tournament gives points too.

 

[kctanzen]

Not sure about how to code this or the complexity, but most folks that I know take a week's vacation at a time, more than that seems to be out of the norm. So, if one would look at a 14 day window instead of 7 for activity, this should account for the vast majority all of planned holidays, and even a good chunk of unplanned illness that was bad enough to keep somebody bed ridden / unable or unwilling to get to a computer or device for fun diversion.

 

[Ashrem]

Not sure about how to code this or the complexity, but most folks that I know take a week's vacation at a time, more than that seems to be out of the norm. So, if one would look at a 14 day window instead of 7 for activity, this should account for the vast majority all of planned holidays, and even a good chunk of unplanned illness that was bad enough to keep somebody bed ridden / unable or unwilling to get to a computer or device for fun diversion.

You could do any length of time you want. The point is the cities don't have to be deleted, and the only penalty for missing a week is moving out one band. In the context of a dynamic world map, that's a tiny price. Everybody, except the most aggressive players, are going to miss a week now and then, and that's part of what makes the function interesting.

If they wanted to turn it into a money-maker, then have an option to bypass it. They could make some money by allowing users to turn on a option to have your diamonds debited by 200 any week you are not active, if you have them, rather than losing your spot. Then a person can take three months off, if they want, just buy buying a couple of thousand diamonds and turning it on before they leave.

 

[DeletedUser16361]

I still have members listed as *potentially inactive* that are also listed at the bottom as top contributors for the week.

I investigated in case there was a bug. I just looked at all 4 of your fellowships. 2 of the 4 had inactive players... Neither of them showed up in the weekly report as being top contributor. They showed up as 0 points. Perhaps you were viewing a previous weeks report? In which case yeah that would make sense that in the PAST they could have shown up as top contributor.

Please let me know if I overlooked something so I can fix it.

[SPOILER
]

[/SPOILER]

I note, purely out of my own pessimism, that showing inactive suggests that they are not growing their city. To me, there are two likely reasons for someone to be doing well in tournaments yet not growing. 1) they are in the middle of a difficult guest-race passage. 2) they are pushing, and all of their coin, goods, and tournament activity is going into KP which is going into another city for Ancient Wonder boosts.

As of last Sunday, my code now looks at tournament history in addition to points changing. Be that as it may... seriously if your fellowship member hasn't cleared a single encounter or gotten into the top 100 of a tournament.... OR simply deleted a building.,... I think this truly defines "potentially inactive". (remember it's not score getting higher... it's score changing PERIOD).

Perhaps @elvenstats could add some code so that tournament participation removes the inactive tag.... Although I'd like to know if a FS member isn't growing for a long period of time.

Done.

 

[SoggyShorts]

Done.

Thank you for the quick fix, but I must say, that I agree with you if your fellowship member hasn't cleared a single encounter or gotten into the top 100 of a tournament.... OR simply deleted a building.,... I think this truly defines "potentially inactive".

Especially since you were already so nice as to add "potentially"