"
In the beginning there was a Journey. But the way was dark and the direction uncertain. There were mighty struggles, great trials and much tribulation. Monsters were overcome and levels conquered, but at great cost. Many lives were lost. Many moves were sacrificed. And lo, one day, a stranger spake, "
Look ye to the Demo Screen. Watch. Learn. Much will be revealed."
And so it was the apprentice watched. The apprentice learned. And a light dawned. But knowledge gained must be practiced and verily the apprentice practiced. And thus the Journey continued, passing through foreign Kingdoms and distant lands. Armed with such a boon companion, the apprentice could seek enlightenment and strive towards perfection throughout the long Journey and beyond."
Enough... it's too hard (and silly) to keep the metaphor going. You get the idea.
The following is secreted as it is very long and mostly dull. Don't say I didn't warn you.
Click here to view the secret text
×Basically when I finally learned about downloading demos I was thrilled to have a chance to really improve my skills. I'd watch the demo, thinking "Cool, that's something I have to practice." Sometimes I'd take another crack at the room, sometimes I'd just move on. If I re-played the room, my score almost always improved. Sometimes I would tie the #1 score. (I suppose I can't call myself a sniper as I've only beaten one #1 score and that was purely accidental... sorry Larry.) I wasn't trying to "snipe", only to learn. And (I think) most people are the same. Most of the time when I re-played a room I'd try it on my own: I'd use the skills I'd learned without re-creating the demo step by step. However I'll admit, there were some rooms I had to re-create step by step simply to train the trick into my brain.
In my defense, I had no idea this was an issue. I guess because I've never strived be in the top scorers (my skills being nowhere near good enough... yet) it didn't occur to me that this was a bad thing. Now I realize that this is an issue, and -- having read why people feel it's unfair -- I completely understand.
So as to solutions: I also don't want to wait a week to see a demo. I can't remember what I did yesterday, so to try to remember to go back to Level 22, 1 North, 2 East seven days after completing it simply to see if there's a better way to kill goblins... well, fugedaboudit.
On the other hand, while I was playing the other day and demos were greyed out, it was kind of cool to be able see number of moves but not view the demo. I could immediately tell if my solution was even close to optimal. If it was way off, I'd re-start the room immediately to see if I could find a more elegant solution. If the score was in the ball-park, I'd just move on. But I think that if I could have downloaded the demo, I'd probably have viewed it first before trying to figure it out for myself. And it is much more satisfying to work it out on one's own.
It's like the H&S board for me. If I'm really stuck in a room and find hints on the board, I'll seek enlightenment. But if there are no hints, I figure I must be overlooking something obvious. Then I stubbornly work that room until I either solve it or become so frustrated I simply must post for a hint. Usually I solve it and lo, there is much rejoicing.
My rambling is complete. I will get to my final thoughts:
1. I like demos being greyed out. (see above)
2. I want the choice to download a demo (for those rooms that give me grief) but I still want to remain competitive. I may not be a contender now, but I'd like my scores to count towards the distant future when I may be one.
My vote for a solution: uploads must be executed manually using the "
Upload"
button. Demos for rooms you have not yet uploaded will remain greyed out so that you can see the number of moves and decide if you want to try a room again. After upload, the demos become available for download. If however, a score for that room is re-uploaded
after a demo is downloaded, then that score won't be "
counted"
for 1 week. (Honestly, I wouldn't care if it wasn't counted for a month but that may be asking too much.)
That's my two (okay probably one hundred) cents. Perhaps someone can tell me if this is C2, C3, B12... I'm totally confused at this point.
.
. So you will not receive a points for it (except 1 by default); this demo will be shown on high-scores screen but doesn't affect places. I doubt anyone except me will use such option though 
.