NationStates Jolt Archive


Variable update time.. Why it should be shortened.

Adyndril
21-02-2005, 19:35
My definition of in-game defending:

Numbers and Time

Defending is all about numbers, whoever has the most, wins.. But there is another element to defending and invading; that’s time. If you have the numbers, but do not make it into the region before update, you lose; its all that simple.

Update is variable, and occurs from 7AM GMT, to approximately 10AM GMT, though I think it goes a bit later than that; when you do the quick mental math, you see that variable update occupies 1/8th of the day, or 12.5% of each and every day, that’s: 3 hours, 180 mins, or 10,800 seconds, A LOT of time.

See, invaders have the easy job, no debate about it; they carry the inherent element of surprise, because defenders do not know when they will strike next, sometimes we can assume, or sometimes certain invaders just stink at their job; but they carry the element of surprise. As soon as they get the delegacy of a region, all they have to do is stay awake until whenever update occurs for their region to see if defenders move in to help the invaded region; and eject said defenders.. Its that easy for them. Sure, we all have our tricks, ways to elude the seated invader, ways to win; but with 3 hours of update time, it sure causes some late nights of worry when update just WONT occur, defenders ejected, time wasted.

There once was a time when update occurred at 7AM GMT, no questions asked. It even made the job of defenders too easy, though invaders actually had more of a challenge in those days; as well as higher rates of activity on both sides. Defenders could move in as many soldiers as necessary to secure the seat for the natives again within one minute of update; no way an invader would win, unless he was clever.

What do I see as the obvious solution to this problem? Well, in summary; I believe that update should be shortened, from 7-10; to 7-8. I see benefits of this on all sides of each conflict. If a petition is necessary, I will get you 1000+ names; but I see no reason to have one such. If game mechanics wont allow update to occur within an hour, which is the appropriate length of time, then I will simply have to understand, and invaders will simply continue to have a HUGE advantage.

Comments are welcome, but only from defenders and invaders; who understand how this all works, and of course moderators and admins themselves, who can make a change like this come about. ;)
Defaultia
21-02-2005, 19:49
I totally agree. Although I think that update should happen once every 12 hours, as 7AM GMT means most Americans will be asleep.
Myrth
21-02-2005, 20:06
The game update runs as fast as it can run. We can't vary the length of time it takes at a whim.
Just be thankful Salusa managed to get it down to the time it is now - it used to be over 5 hours.
Tuesday Heights
21-02-2005, 20:25
If game mechanics wont allow update to occur within an hour, which is the appropriate length of time, then I will simply have to understand, and invaders will simply continue to have a HUGE advantage.

You forget that the update has nothing to do with invading/defending, it has to do with getting the game engine to update itself and the whole invasion/defense game was spawned from that...

I'd rather it take longer without a problem to the rest of the game engine and lose a bunch of regions to "invaders" then risk something damaging to the game code during a speedy update.
Adyndril
21-02-2005, 20:39
Thank you, I wasnt sure if Admins had control over how long update took; but now I know.
Kwaswhakistan
21-02-2005, 22:03
wasn't it the defenders who first complained about how the update time was always the same time?


of course i am probably missing half of the argument here... but my point is, that it will never be perfect, so i say we just deal with it as it is now. defenders don't need to win them all, invaders don't need to win them all. it is still just a game... i laugh when i see some invaders/defenders that actually hate their rivals.. try to have some fun in the game


and now i've gone off on a totally different subject. i'll leave now
Snake Eaters
21-02-2005, 22:09
If you are talking about the process of region-crashing, the preventing it is easy. Password protection
Ballotonia
22-02-2005, 12:52
wasn't it the defenders who first complained about how the update time was always the same time?

I don't think so. I'm not even sure "the defenders" as a group have an agreement on anything other than that invaders should lose ;)

Ballotonia
SalusaSecondus
22-02-2005, 17:32
We'd like to make the updates run quicker, but we don't have the technical means.
imported_Blab
01-03-2005, 10:42
Update is variable, and occurs from 7AM GMT, to approximately 10AM GMT, I'm sure you know better than I do because I haven't been watching but tonight this is what the board read in Asia: Regional Happenings
7 hours ago: The Most Serene Republic of Vaw ceased to exist. which would have made it somewhere between 0200-0300GMT.