Mad Clocktower

[Metaljaw.6437]

Can we please, I don't know, not stick me in an instance with 1 minute left on the timer so I have to wait like 2 minutes to start this jumping puzzle . . . . every . . . GD . . . . time!!!

PLEASE???

Sheesh.

/rantoff

[Metaljaw.6437]

Here. I'll code it for you:

Do while instance.assigned = false{
   If instance.timer <= 5.00 then instance=instance.next
       Else instance.assigned=true
Loop

Edited October 22, 2022 by Metaljaw.6437
Forgot loop statement

[senoramor.7534]

How about just get rid of the stupid 90 second delay between attempts?  

[Super Hayes.6890]

Yeah, that is annoying. So is waiting to start again between failures 🤷‍♂️ But this jumping puzzle is epic!

[Labjax.2465]

I'm pretty sure it's because it uses the same code template as a PvP match lol. Not that I'm excusing it, but I think that's why. You'll notice people show up as red to you (but you have no abilities in there, so can't attack them); there's a score that gets kept for completing it (tho it doesn't seem to impact anything); and it lasts a limited number of attempts (or time?) before it stops, shows a 'winner' screen and then finally shuts down and restarts.

The biggest wait seems to be based around a match ending and I'm not sure why. Maybe it's trying to give someone time to loot the chest if they got to the top? Or is that a separate instance? I'm really not sure. You'd think they could just get rid of that delay if everyone in the instance has finished their current attempt and nobody is up top; just end the match ASAP and go right into the next one.

Then there's the wait between attempts, which I believe is determined by other players' progress. So if everybody fails near the beginning, it'll go again sooner. If someone reaches the top, it'll be longer wait for someone who failed near the beginning.

But yeah, the wait is the worst part of it for me.

[SuavePuppy.2809]

I would certainly enjoy it more without the wait in between for sure 

[Bladestrom.6425]

3 hours ago, Metaljaw.6437 said:

Here. I'll code it for you:

Do while instance.assigned = false{
   If instance.timer <= 5.00 then instance=instance.next
       Else instance.assigned=true
Loop

 

style cop wants a word with you 🙂

[Solvar.7953]

The wait between attempts depends on how successful other players in your instance are.  If you fail on the first jump, and someone else gets to the very end, you have a long wait.  If everyone sucks more than you do, things restart quickly.

This actually means you root against other players - you really don't want anyone else to succeed, as it slows down the attempts.  I've sometime get loaded into an instance, and seeing that some other player has had 2 successes means I really don't want to be in that instance.

The change Anet should really make is give each person a private instance.  Each person would get loaded into an instance with full time left, and not have to wait on retries.  This would take some minor amount of extra compute resources (more instances), but would prevent people trying to cycle through instances finding a 'good' one.

 

[Labjax.2465]

5 minutes ago, Solvar.7953 said:

The wait between attempts depends on how successful other players in your instance are.  If you fail on the first jump, and someone else gets to the very end, you have a long wait.  If everyone sucks more than you do, things restart quickly.

This actually means you root against other players - you really don't want anyone else to succeed, as it slows down the attempts.  I've sometime get loaded into an instance, and seeing that some other player has had 2 successes means I really don't want to be in that instance.

The change Anet should really make is give each person a private instance.  Each person would get loaded into an instance with full time left, and not have to wait on retries.  This would take some minor amount of extra compute resources (more instances), but would prevent people trying to cycle through instances finding a 'good' one.

 

I got another idea. If you die and other people are still doing it, allow you to spectate their attempt(s), even flip between them if there's more than one still going. I think this should be doable since it's based on PvP infrastructure already. This way, you can learn from people who are doing it successfully and have something to entertain you.

[Arianth Moonlight.6453]

>ten years
>ten different teams
what makes you think they gonna change this now? I gave up years ago although I tried one last time this year.

[Batel.9206]

6 hours ago, Labjax.2465 said:

I got another idea. If you die and other people are still doing it, allow you to spectate their attempt(s), even flip between them if there's more than one still going. I think this should be doable since it's based on PvP infrastructure already. This way, you can learn from people who are doing it successfully and have something to entertain you.

That's a brilliant idea. Put it in the QoL Suggestions thread so the devs can see it! I hope it gets implemented next year. 😁

[draxynnic.3719]

Yeah, the wait is the biggest problem. It's long enough to get bored, but not long enough that you can switch to something else while you wait.

Just remake it into a private instance, I think.

[Westenev.5289]

9 hours ago, Labjax.2465 said:

I got another idea. If you die and other people are still doing it, allow you to spectate their attempt(s), even flip between them if there's more than one still going. I think this should be doable since it's based on PvP infrastructure already. This way, you can learn from people who are doing it successfully and have something to entertain you.

 

I both like and hate this idea. As someone who has done the clocktower puzzle, I literally can't undo it. The fun of the clocktower is that it seems endless and overwhelming because you don't know what's coming next - but once you find your own path via trial and error, it becomes a short cakewalk. The artificial frustration of waiting to make another attempt, I think, is what makes reaching the top for the first time so exhilarating.

 

While viewing other players do the puzzle to see what comes next is a feature I would have wanted, it's something I think would have trivialized my feeling of accomplishment.

Edited October 23, 2022 by Westenev.5289

[zeyeti.8347]

10 minutes ago, Westenev.5289 said:

I both like and hate this idea. As someone who has done the clocktower puzzle, I literally can't undo it. The fun of the clocktower is that it seems endless and overwhelming because you don't know what's coming next - but once you find your own path via trial and error, it becomes a short cakewalk. The artificial frustration of waiting to make another attempt, I think, is what makes reaching the top for the first time so exhilarating.

 

Yes and knowing that you are the only one alive , and there are 4-5 people at the start waiting and swearing you to fail so they can start over again immediately is quite a thing . But you get your karma backfired on your face when it happens to you .

[Dean.3056]

16 hours ago, Metaljaw.6437 said:

Here. I'll code it for you:

Do while instance.assigned = false{
   If instance.timer <= 5.00 then instance=instance.next
       Else instance.assigned=true
Loop

 

I dont wanna bash your amazing code but instance games have templates so they need to rework the template to counter all game modes in the game therefor it means some work therefor it means they will never do it hahahaha

[Labjax.2465]

2 hours ago, Westenev.5289 said:

 

I both like and hate this idea. As someone who has done the clocktower puzzle, I literally can't undo it. The fun of the clocktower is that it seems endless and overwhelming because you don't know what's coming next - but once you find your own path via trial and error, it becomes a short cakewalk. The artificial frustration of waiting to make another attempt, I think, is what makes reaching the top for the first time so exhilarating.

 

While viewing other players do the puzzle to see what comes next is a feature I would have wanted, it's something I think would have trivialized my feeling of accomplishment.

Fair enough. In my case, I looked up a video to help me with where to go at certain points and watched how other players would do it when making attempts alongside them, so it didn't occur to me someone might see it as a critical part of the experience to do it without any help. And I was kinda thinking from the goal oriented standpoint of a person whose main priority would be to beat it, as opposed to a person whose main priority would be to get a certain kind of experience out of it. I mean, changing it in any way would be a tradeoff with pros and cons depending on what someone values. Questions like would people enjoy it more another way. Would changing it at all take away from the experience somehow.

I think the complaint here in general is from the goal oriented standpoint and so proposed solutions are also going in that direction.

[Fueki.4753]

While I agree that the wait is annoying, it kinda fits in with Mad King Thorn's personality, making people mad on a mechanical level.

[draxynnic.3719]

3 hours ago, Fueki.4753 said:

While I agree that the wait is annoying, it kinda fits in with Mad King Thorn's personality, making people mad on a mechanical level.

Games are supposed to be fun, not disrespectful to the player's time to the extent that clocktower is.

As far as I'm concerned, as long as it stays as it is, it is essentially dead content and any reward locked behind it does not exist.

[Westenev.5289]

8 hours ago, Labjax.2465 said:

Fair enough. In my case, I looked up a video to help me with where to go at certain points and watched how other players would do it when making attempts alongside them, so it didn't occur to me someone might see it as a critical part of the experience to do it without any help. And I was kinda thinking from the goal oriented standpoint of a person whose main priority would be to beat it, as opposed to a person whose main priority would be to get a certain kind of experience out of it. I mean, changing it in any way would be a tradeoff with pros and cons depending on what someone values. Questions like would people enjoy it more another way. Would changing it at all take away from the experience somehow.

I think the complaint here in general is from the goal oriented standpoint and so proposed solutions are also going in that direction.

 

That's the thing, though. Reaching the top of the Mad King's tower SHOULD be a goal. It took me 3 years to get to the top, because I'm an unimaginably bad player. Imagine the elation when I made it into the treasure room! It was definitely more memorable than a checklist to be ticked off, or a means to an end.

 

I think GW2 needs more experiences like that, where you hit a wall and keep hitting it in frustration until you finally succeed.

[Doggie.3184]

The wait time is explained in the rhyme. "Tick tock, the mouse ran up the clock, and time swallowed it whole; tail and all." When you fail you're devoured by time and space and have to wait for them to pull you back into the correct dimension.

Edited October 23, 2022 by Doggie.3184

[draxynnic.3719]

1 hour ago, Doggie.3184 said:

The wait time is explained in the rhyme. "Tick tock, the mouse ran up the clock, and time swallowed it whole; tail and all." When you fail you're devoured by time and space and have to wait for them to pull you back into the correct dimension.

I always interpreted that as a justification for having the time pressure.

Seriously, though, imagine if every time you wiped on a raid, the game forced you to wait until the clock counts down to zero before you can try again. People wouldn't put up with that. The current clock tower is old design, and it's BAD design. Make it fiendishly difficult, sure, but allow players to practice it without spending the lion's share of their time twiddling their thumbs. There's enough 'hurry up and wait' timewasters in the real world without unnecessarily adding them to games as well.

[BulletNG.7069]

I agree the waiting period is annoying and unnecessary.  Although I seriously doubt they will change something that was designed ~9 years ago?

[Linken.6345]

10 minutes ago, BulletNG.7069 said:

I agree the waiting period is annoying and unnecessary.  Although I seriously doubt they will change something that was designed ~9 years ago?

well in the current format it is necessry since your not alone in there bud.

[BulletNG.7069]

6 minutes ago, Linken.6345 said:

well in the current format it is necessry since your not alone in there bud.

 

Really, I hadn't noticed!?🙄

[Khisanth.2948]

22 hours ago, Solvar.7953 said:

The wait between attempts depends on how successful other players in your instance are.  If you fail on the first jump, and someone else gets to the very end, you have a long wait.  If everyone sucks more than you do, things restart quickly.

This actually means you root against other players - you really don't want anyone else to succeed, as it slows down the attempts.  I've sometime get loaded into an instance, and seeing that some other player has had 2 successes means I really don't want to be in that instance.

The change Anet should really make is give each person a private instance.  Each person would get loaded into an instance with full time left, and not have to wait on retries.  This would take some minor amount of extra compute resources (more instances), but would prevent people trying to cycle through instances finding a 'good' one.

 

That is thematically fitting for a Mad King Thorne creation.