41 replies to this topic

[Stoney]

I had hoped that the New Year would bring about a more reasonable set of convention goals. So much for that theory! As has been previously stated, the Nutaku server can handle about 2 million per hour. So what do we get today? 3.6 million in an hour!  I doubt if it will draw enough enthusiasm to get even a third of that. So many people have just plain given up on them that I doubt if we could manage to do even 2 million anymore. PLEASE RE-ASSESS YOUR CONVENTION GOALS!! As it is conventions are no longer a viable part of the game, which is a shame.

 

I will go with that 2 million being possible in the lower zones, but don´t see that as being reachable in Beverly Humps. It really is zone dependant (ie how many active players can access it), so any set number should reflect the amount of players have access to the zone. I saw the 4 million yesterday and went right back to standard missions. Complete waste of time unless you´re real close on your next tier of Stage Hog.

[CaptC]

Yay! a successful convention!

 

Not coincidentally, perhaps? I got a reply from German support to my criticism about nutaku conventions!!!!!!  They said they were aware of the problem and were working to fix it. Maybe they did.  

[CaptC]

Nope.  They didn't.

 

2.4M in an hour.  Kindaish in approachable range, but I know I didn't try.

[SlicerDicer]

Nope.  They didn't.

 

2.4M in an hour.  Kindaish in approachable range, but I know I didn't try.

The main issue I see is that the more shows you do the less you bring. so if there is not big burst of activity at the beginning then you wont succeed.

[CaptC]

Hence my suggestion to them: If they want to get people to try conventions again, they need a week or two of conventions that are trivially easy.  Then people will look at them as something to try.

 

I am so burned out on them, I take a look at the required totals, laugh quietly, flash a finger in the general direction of my computer screen, and return to doing something useful.  I think I am far from alone. Worse, I think a fair number of people no longer do that much, they just ignore conventions altogether.

 

To break that cycle, the numbers need to be EASY to entice people pack in.  Ramp them up later, sure... but right now, they have to give us a reason to care.

 

=Cap

[Sadie2]

I only ever do one show on the off-chance that a miracle occurs and we get a successful convention.  Then I quickly ignore it completely.  I'm still annoyed by the Christmas Convention requirement that no one on Nutaku was ever able to get unless they paid diamonds for, which I did not do.  Those who paid diamonds should be recompensed for being forced to do it.  Those who didn't pay diamonds should get the achievement or some other bonus of some kind.  It was not fair in the least to make an achievable mission unachievable except through the use of diamonds only due to the ridiculous requirements for each convention.

[RosyCheekz]

I hate to contradict you, Sadie, but I got the Christmas convention achievement without spending diamonds. But only because I happened to be up at 3AM for the ONLY convention that had an achievable goal. I doubt there were that many of us.

 

It's  still a Nutaku standard: Under 1million in an hour if it's within an hour or two of the reset. Otherwise, forget it!

[SlicerDicer]

I see the game mechanic of reducing followers per show (and by quite a lot) makes achieving success more problematic then anything else.  

[Sadie2]

I hate to contradict you, Sadie, but I got the Christmas convention achievement without spending diamonds. But only because I happened to be up at 3AM for the ONLY convention that had an achievable goal. I doubt there were that many of us.

 

It's  still a Nutaku standard: Under 1million in an hour if it's within an hour or two of the reset. Otherwise, forget it!

Lucky you!  It's okay.  I don't mind being contradicted if it is the truth.    Still, only 1 successful convention and one occurring at 3AM nonetheless, I would still consider more or less unachieveable to the majority of players on the Nutaku server and therefore warranting some sort of apology or something.  Conventions like that, I think turn people away from the game when they realize how fruitless it is to go after them.

[Kitekat]

and you can be prettysure that someone has give diamonds

[mimesis]

Here I am! A real newby trying to understand how it works. And not a smart one, moreover.

I joined recently on NU1 and participated to some conventions (not many).

That I remember only TWO that were successful, Not that I did WIN then, but I got some rewards.

My remarks are:

- The temple mission based on convention is debilitating. Everybody hates it. I read some comments form CaptC and I Toooootally agree!! (I love you CaptC!!! )

- With respect to the convention topic in general. Has the situation really changed (and improved) lately? Is there anything I should do about it? I am always (on my knees) and ready to obey!

[CaptC]

In some ways the situation has improved. The numbers required for conventions have certainly gotten better. I would say 50 to 75% of conventions are actually doable these days.

 

On the other hand, conventions are still conventions. They give crap rewards of energy and equipment, and take a lot of time with no guarantee of any prize at all. On Nutaku, where you can buy unlimited energy for diamonds, it is ALWAYS more cost effective to buy energy directly, as opposed to trying to earn more on a convention. And equipment is always temporary - in a few levels, you will be finding as good as or better than the gear you get in a convention.

 

So conventions are doable, which is an improvement. But they are still a waste of time, in my not very humble opinion.

[primTRASH]

The last two conventions I entered I literally did one or two and I got them. I'm on NU1 and I'm still not sure how that happened. Ofc, I didn't win, but I did have successful conventions.

[mimesis]

Same here!!!

I logged in, a convention popped up, I participated, I got the reward  

 

In my being blond I still don't understand how they work, though

 

Maybe someone more experienced, I don't know, a kind of guru (e.g. CaptC ), may advice us young (game-wise) inexperienced but willing actresses?      

Edited by mimesis, 09 March 2017 - 08:40 PM.

[CaptC]

You are asking me to give away studio secrets, Mimesis.

 

Sigh - OK, just this once - but only because keeping secrets about conventions is like keeping a dung pile in a safety deposit box at the bank. Much better to just spread it around.

 

How Conventions Work

 

Conventions pop up randomly.

There are two types: regular and as part of special events.

They generally show up on the hour, but sometimes on the half-hour.

Conventions have a time limit. Shortest I have seen is 30 minutes, longest I recall is 2 hours.

Each convention is considered a success when the number of visitors exceeds a specified threshold within that time limit.

Normally, each show in the convention takes 4 minutes.

If you have diamond mission boosters (strongly recommended), each show takes 3 minutes.

You can use batteries to cut the time for a single show in half.

For each show you do, you attract a number of visitors to the convention.

The number of fans you have (from doing movies) determines how many visitors you get to your first show.

Each successive show you do gets fewer visitors. It drops off fairly rapidly.

You can spend diamonds to complete a show immediately.

If the convention does not get enough visitors, everyone gets a small experience reward and a horribly bad taste in their mouth.

 

What You Can Win

 

Everyone who did at least one show gets a prize based upon the number of shows completed. The prize is generally a piece of gear, plus some experience and energy. The more shows, the better the item, and the more experience and energy.

 

Good pieces of gear are given to the top 10, and for one essentially random show.

 

First place finisher gets a piece of gear from a unique set. For regular conventions, the gear is part of the camouflage set. For special events, first place prize is generally a piece you can't get any other way. This prize generally has excellent pluses.

 

The rest of the top 10 gets a piece of gear from a special set. For regular conventions, a piece from the firefighters set. For special events, something appropriate for that event.

 

There is one fairly random prize, given for winning show. The show that gets the fans which push the convention over the top is called the winning show. That person generally gets a piece similar to the top 10.

 

How To Run A Convention

 

The most important thing to do is decide quickly if you are going to try on a convention. Look at the number of visitors required, at where the convention is located, and the time of day.  If in doubt, do something productive. Wasting an hour on a failed convention is a complete and utter waste of time.

 

If you decide you are going to try, then there are two main strategies from there:

 

Strategy 1: Spend tons of diamonds to try for top spot, yielding ok-ish gear and energy (but bragging rights!) This is known as the 'trust fund baby' strategy, and is proof you have more money than brains. Spending on conventions is THE WORST RETURN you can get on your diamonds in the game.

 

But if you want to, go for it. It *is* just a game after all, and if you enjoy keeping Nutaku and Playata solvent, who am I to tell you no?

 

Strategy 2: If you are in at the start of the convention, you are on mission boosters with three minute shows, you have all your batteries, you can play continuously during the entire convention, and you have absolutely nothing else in your entire life worth doing, then try for a top 10 spot on the cheap. (If you do not meet any single one of those conditions... maybe do a show or two, but then do something else more productive.)

 

Try a few missions at three minutes per.  Check the fill rate - are you getting enough visitors? If the convention looks like it might succeed, then burn your batteries on the next four missions. From there, micromanage the time for each mission. You want to spend very little downtime between missions. It is VERY likely you will end up in the top 10, but very UNLIKELY that you will win the convention as a whole with this strategy. (There is always an idiot with a trust fund.) At the end of the convention, you will have spent an hour of your life to get a nice piece of gear that might take you two weeks to replace. Sometimes kind of worth it, given you have spent no diamonds at all.

 

Satisfied now, Mimesis? (Flattery will get you everywhere.  LOL)

[mimesis]

Purrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!!

[Tabithia]

I usally spend the 1 diamond for the three shows.  It's a penny, and I can get 3-10 diamonds through movie rewards any given week any way.  Plus, it's minute shorter to complete the set then to do them individually, not counting lag between starts.  (3 shows at once is 8 minutes not nine) Not sure now if the math works out battery wise though...

 

Any time you see a convention always get one show.  It's all you need to get loot from it.

Edited by Tabithia, 08 February 2019 - 10:33 AM.

[CaptC]

The triple option was not available when I wrote that. It brought two major changes to the strategy. 

 

First, you have to buy triple shows to compete for top 10. Consider the diamond investment.

Second, you want to use your batteries two at a time, to complete a triple purchase immediately.  

 

There are other twists not covered above.

 

Most importantly, trust fund babies have discovered that buying conventions is the single best way money players can directly turn cash into experience and notes. So the reason there is always an idiot with a trust fund competing for conventions, is that they are using an inefficient means to buy high ranking quickly. Shrug... as I have noted elsewhere, I don't mind other people keeping the game solvent. (I won't even begin to talk about how growing only on conventions makes your character lopsided and a liability in studio battles.)

 

There is also bubble chasing. The winning show gets a top 10 prize.  Save up your batteries and/or diamond spending until just before the convention fills... then spend it all in one glorious burst of triples and battery spending, to improve your chance of getting that winning show. Everyone does this now, so beware the massive acceleration that occurs as the thermometer gets close to the top.

[mountbara]

Worst one I saw was 3.2 million for a 30 minute one. I don't do conventions on Nutaku unless it's the temple.

[Tabithia]

The last convention I happened upon was in the port, it need 3.6Mill guests and with 28min left only had 650K.  I did my one 3min show to get the failed loot and ignored it.

 

I got the Christmas one (3 successful conventions) with only a diamond dump for the last one.  Si they're not all unachievable It seems.

 

I noticed the title limits it to the NU1 server, I take it the others are not unreasonable?  I play on NU1 only so I don't know.

 

Without confirmation of details I can make some general assumptions about how they are generated, but it does seem overly complicated.

 

I kinda get the diminishing returns on shows as an attempt to balance the big levels with lots of fans with the lower levels that don't to give them a chance.  I also think it possible that amount of higher fans generated is factored in the needed total. 

 

Simplify the process.  All the data I recommend should be available anyway.  When generating a convention use the number of players currently online, or the statistical average for day/time, for the area.  Multiply the players by the average number of shows generated per player online.  Then multiply by a set number of guests per show.  Success scaling should be accomplished by the first to values.

 

Make every show the same random range of number of guests generated, no level, fans, or other factors modifying it.  But make the rewards level appropriate still (XP, $, Item stats).  This would make conventions the one area that players can compete against each other on equal footing, aside from diamonds.  With no diminishing returns, players may feel like participating the whole convention.