Contest Planning: Kalizzaa's Tour of Arlor

[GoodSyntax]

I have updated the Week 1 thread and the post here to announce that we will be shutting down Week 1 a few days early (Wed., Feb 4th @ 11:59 PM EST).

Me and those that are helping me are trying our best to enter runs as fast as we can, but we are falling behind and simply cannot keep up with the incredible volume!

I hadn't expected to see so much activity on my server either - I am averaging over 600 requests per minute on the public side with 5 people doing data entry on the private side, that my poor server is having a hard time keeping up with this. This website and database are running on a virtual, on an old server, so it really isn't capable of handling loads like this.

I apologize for the inconvenience.

[GoodSyntax]

What I dont understand is how many in our guild have 8, 9, 10, 12 points but were not given the 100 point bonus for doing all 8 maps. Was it overlooked? The leaderboard site shows this. Can someone check this or explain to me? Thank you

My guild is: Crisis Of Faith
My IGN is: Lainnah.

8, 10, or 12 points doesn't mean that you have completed all maps.

For example:
ceokafrase still needs to complete Ydra Forest and Rooks Nest
Dgerik still needs to complete Gold Mine
Hcet still needs to run Forest, Aquaducts, Gold Mine and Rooks Nest


Granted, we are way behind on keeping up with the surge of screenshots, but that's why we have the Player Details page there. So players can check in to see which maps they are missing.

[TW84]

WEEK 1: http://www.spacetimestudios.com/showthread.php?206591
Week 1 thread has been posted. Prior to the start of the event, this thread will be updated to show the secret phrase that must be included in all screen shots.

UPDATE!
Ok, so, the turnout is far, far better than anything I would have imagined. So far, we have thousands of entries and me and my team are so far behind, and my poor server is taking such a pounding that I will shut this thing down a few days early. At this point, my group is already 50 posts behind, and with an average of 8 screen shots per post, this means we are already 400+ runs behind!

My poor server can't sustain 5 people doing data entry while at the same time, there is an average of 10 page views a second!

So, for Week 1, I will be shutting it down as of 11:59 PM EST on Wednesday. The Week 1 Thread will be updated to reflect this.

Sorry, but you all are posting at a volume I never would have expected to see! Thanks for making this thing so exciting (even if it means so much work for us!)

So, no chance for a prize for those who have a job if the other 3 weeks will close before time as well? I can not even finish the special STS prize for finishing all maps if this is the case.

[GoodSyntax]

So, no chance for a prize for those who have a job if the other 3 weeks will close before time as well? I can not even finish the special STS prize for finishing all maps if this is the case.

I don't think future weeks will need to end early. Its just that this week, the maps can be run in under 2 mins so we have literally thousands of player entries on the very first day!

Weeks 3 & 4, I don't expect to see nearly as many because even in a pro group on elixirs, runs will take 10 mins. This week, we are just seeing two orders of magnitude more entries than expected because the maps are so easy and so fast.

[GoodSyntax]

Please bear with me. I am experiencing some website stability issues at the moment and will make some changes to improve performance late tonight.

I am now averaging over 20 requests per second, and on a real-time system like this, it is putting a heavy load on the CPU.

[TW84]

I don't think future weeks will need to end early. Its just that this week, the maps can be run in under 2 mins so we have literally thousands of player entries on the very first day!

Weeks 3 & 4, I don't expect to see nearly as many because even in a pro group on elixirs, runs will take 10 mins. This week, we are just seeing two orders of magnitude more entries than expected because the maps are so easy and so fast.

And week 2?

Please bear with me. I am experiencing some website stability issues at the moment and will make some changes to improve performance late tonight.

I am now averaging over 20 requests per second, and on a real-time system like this, it is putting a heavy load on the CPU.

Will be 100 times worse during weekends then.

[GoodSyntax]

And week 2?



Will be 100 times worse during weekends then.

I'll be staying up late tonight to make some major back end changes to the website and database.

Don't be such a Debbie Downer.....Me and everyone that is helping with this are working hard and putting as much time into this as we can. Unfortunately, we all have real lives, jobs, kids and responsibilities in the real world too.

I encourage you to run your own event so you can experience just how difficult it is to run a large, public event like this. A tiny bit of patience and appreciation would be welcomed you know...

[Candylicks]

Few things here:

1. The participation is more than expected, which is a GOOD thing. Give us a few days to get caught up on inputting.

2. As always, rules are subject to change if needed as the contest rolls on. You can't predict everything that happens.

3. Kali isn't the only one here working on this. Don't overload him with PMs to check your points. Message any of us if you have something for us to review. Here is your behind the scenes team:

Candylicks, Raregem, Twoc, Blipz, Kingmartin, Starkinea

4. Please don't post up a ton of SS on a single post. Do us a favor and label the SS or at least put them in order in these easy maps.

5. Have fun and be respectful of each other and the leaders of this contest. We are spending countless hours behind-the-scenes to make this happen for you guys!!!

Enjoy and let's rock this contest!!!!

[Dex Scene]

Few things here:

1. The participation is more than expected, which is a GOOD thing. Give us a few days to get caught up on inputting.

2. As always, rules are subject to change if needed as the contest rolls on. You can't predict everything that happens.

3. Kali isn't the only one here working on this. Don't overload him with PMs to check your points. Message any of us if you have something for us to review. Here is your behind the scenes team:

Candylicks, Raregem, Twoc, Blipz, Kingmartin, Starkinea

4. Please don't post up a ton of SS on a single post. Do us a favor and label the SS or at least put them in order in these easy maps.

5. Have fun and be respectful of each other and the leaders of this contest. We are spending countless hours behind-the-scenes to make this happen for you guys!!!

Enjoy and let's rock this contest!!!!

I'll be staying up late tonight to make some major back end changes to the website and database.

Don't be such a Debbie Downer.....Me and everyone that is helping with this are working hard and putting as much time into this as we can. Unfortunately, we all have real lives, jobs, kids and responsibilities in the real world too.

I encourage you to run your own event so you can experience just how difficult it is to run a large, public event like this. A tiny bit of patience and appreciation would be welcomed you know...

You all doing great job. Also shout out to stark...thanks for funs

[.no]

This has been very fun, thanks for putting this together

[Serancha]

I know it's likely a bit late in the process, but I am curious why the higher maps are not planned to be worth more points than the lower ones. Right now, someone could run elite forest 2000 times then stop running for the rest of the event and still get a top prize.

For example, someone who had to work or was out of town for 2 days this week (especially with this first week cut short) could be essentially out of any top runner ranking, even if they ran all the harder maps as much as they could. I just think the points should be scaled to map difficulty to make it all equal.

[Jazzi]

Is the information on your site upto date? I have uploaded two sets of ss for all maps, which should mean, correct me if I am wrong, what I should have 116 points? However I received only 4 for the first run through and 3 for the second 8. I do admit that that the first 8 were not completely compliant with the rules (loot was not visible in the chat box) and I am ok with that. However I took extra care with the next set of 8. Please do double check. Here is where you can find my second set (they are in different post, because of the different party members):
http://www.spacetimestudios.com/show...-Week-1/page14
http://www.spacetimestudios.com/show...-Week-1/page14

Forum name: Jazzi
IGN: Azekriusabac

Thank you very much in advance! I do understand that the work-load might be overwhelming. I am patient :-)

P.S. I do agree with what Serancha is suggesting in the above post. Maybe harder maps should award more points.

[GoodSyntax]

I know it's likely a bit late in the process, but I am curious why the higher maps are not planned to be worth more points than the lower ones. Right now, someone could run elite forest 2000 times then stop running for the rest of the event and still get a top prize.

For example, someone who had to work or was out of town for 2 days this week (especially with this first week cut short) could be essentially out of any top runner ranking, even if they ran all the harder maps as much as they could. I just think the points should be scaled to map difficulty to make it all equal.

I don't think I will be changing the point value for Week 2, since I feel Dead City and Kraken are both very easy. I may increase point values for Nordr, Shuyal, Tindirin and Planar though, since these are generally longer maps and substantially more difficult.

But, at this point, we are completely inundated with the screenshot surge that every tweak I have been making has been to improve website performance and speed up the data entry process, that I haven't put much thought into what will happen in weeks 3 and 4.

[GoodSyntax]

Is the information on your site upto date? I have uploaded two sets of ss for all maps, which should mean, correct me if I am wrong, what I should have 116 points? However I received only 4 for the first run through and 3 for the second 8. I do admit that that the first 8 were not completely compliant with the rules (loot was not visible in the chat box) and I am ok with that. However I took extra care with the next set of 8. Please do double check. Here is where you can find my second set (they are in different post, because of the different party members):
http://www.spacetimestudios.com/show...-Week-1/page14
http://www.spacetimestudios.com/show...-Week-1/page14

Forum name: Jazzi
IGN: Azekriusabac

Thank you very much in advance! I do understand that the work-load might be overwhelming. I am patient :-)

P.S. I do agree with what Serancha is suggesting in the above post. Maybe harder maps should award more points.

We have caught up to page 14 in the thread of screenshots.

When you check the website, take note of the Last Recorded post field. This reports where we are in the data entry. If your posts are after that, we haven't gotten to it yet.

We are seeing dozens of screen shots a minute during peak times, and we simply cannot keep up (which is one of the reasons why we are ending week 1 a little bit early). We will probably need a day or two just to backfill all of these posts after Week 1 has come to a close. Each of us are taking blocks of 10-20 posts and, to be honest, I haven't even been able to log in since the event started because I have been so busy with the management and data entry.

[Jazzi]

We have caught up to page 14 in the thread of screenshots.

When you check the website, take note of the Last Recorded post field. This reports where we are in the data entry. If your posts are after that, we haven't gotten to it yet.

We are seeing dozens of screen shots a minute during peak times, and we simply cannot keep up (which is one of the reasons why we are ending week 1 a little bit early). We will probably need a day or two just to backfill all of these posts after Week 1 has come to a close. Each of us are taking blocks of 10-20 posts and, to be honest, I haven't even been able to log in since the event started because I have been so busy with the management and data entry.

Thank you for the prompt reply. I just checked the tracking site again. My points seem alright now. Thank you for looking into it and for clearing how I can check whether my post has been processed or not.

P.S. I had to do something similar, although not for a game, during my first internship years ago: Sort through a large number of screenshots and retrieve data from them. I could imagine how cumbersome this could be. Keep up the great work. :-)

[Serancha]

I don't think I will be changing the point value for Week 2, since I feel Dead City and Kraken are both very easy. I may increase point values for Nordr, Shuyal, Tindirin and Planar though, since these are generally longer maps and substantially more difficult.

But, at this point, we are completely inundated with the screenshot surge that every tweak I have been making has been to improve website performance and speed up the data entry process, that I haven't put much thought into what will happen in weeks 3 and 4.

I did mean for weeks 3 and 4, yes. Dead city is as easy as these maps.

[regizakirs.rs]

Twoc, Candykissed, Serancha,Raw, it would be a honor and a privilege if I am able to run some doing Kali ' s event. Ign ladynifft.

[regizakirs.rs]

I'm in elite runners also but, and there are some very awesome players in house but, I would like to run with other elite players also.

[Dex Scene]

.

We are seeing dozens of screen shots a minute during peak times, and we simply cannot keep up (which is one of the reasons why we are ending week 1 a little bit early). We will probably need a day or two just to backfill all of these posts after Week 1 has come to a close. Each of us are taking blocks of 10-20 posts and, to be honest, I haven't even been able to log in since the event started because I have been so busy with the management and data entry.

How's life now kali??
good luck.
Shout out to your team

[GoodSyntax]

How's life now kali??
good luck.
Shout out to your team

Crazy! Haven't logged in since the event started.

SO MANY POSTS!!!!

Your folks are running this thing like machines! Keep up the good work!