Be advised that, as hinted earlier, I am also bringing up for discussion two further changes I believe would improve the update, in other topics.
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Eluvatar wrote:Next WA Update
This is a topic that has seen some previous discussion, with considerable confusion all around.
There was a previous plan called "Estimated Update Times Displayed". This is not that plan.
Instead of the current "Last WA Update: 12 hours ago" (with hover text "11/1/2017, 12:21:05 PM EDT") we would have something like "Next WA Update: in seconds" (with hover text/clickable timestamp "11/2/2017, 12:28:07 AM EDT ± 5 seconds"). Clicking "Next WA Update" would switch back to "Last WA Update". Clicking on the relative time would turn it into a timestamp (which is currently only rendered as title text, displayed on hover). The time shown for Next WA Update would be dynamically computed based on the number of nations before the region in the update (and, during update, how many have already updated). As a result, the time shown will change over the course of the day and over the course of the update.
For the sake of full transparency, I should note that when implementing this feature I may also adjust the variance system. The amount of random variance will be reflected in the Next WA Update prediction. Unless I am persuaded otherwise, I intend to aim for the following: if Next WA Update indicates a time 10 seconds from now, the region will update within 5 seconds of the indicated time. I believe such a 10 second window is appropriate for update Gameplay. Finally, all updates will in the future be approximately one hour long.
The goal of this change is to allow players to better understand gameplay as it happens to them or they make it, and participate without a great deal of training. Furthermore, update time prediction tools should no longer be necessary to participate.
Please provide input regarding the pros and cons of showing the next update time, of a 10 second window, or related matters. If you have suggestions for improving this plan, I would welcome them.
Please discuss the pros and cons of showing the next update time, of a 10 second window, or related matters. If you have questions about the feature as described, please feel free to ask. Please keep in mind, however, that I do not guarantee I will read every post in this topic with full care and consideration: that is the purpose of the request for comments topic.