Lucky Luc
Level: Smitemaster
Rank Points: 1215
Registered: 08-19-2012
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(I guess this is technically a contest)

So, I've mentioned this idea in chat yesterday and nobody threw rotten tomatoes at me, so maybe there's more interest in this.

The idea is basically that the streamers in this forum hold a blind DROD race, meaning that they'll play a DROD hold they (and the general public) have never seen before and compete who can solve it fastest. Inspired by me watching way too much twitch lately and liking the concept of these blind races, so why not do it for our favourite puzzle game?

I guess the best way is to have a private beta forum or something like that where a few of us playtest the hold inbefore, then choose a certain time where all the runners are available, wait for all the streams to start and then upload the hold publically.

Nuntar and Chaco already offered to contribute rooms, and since we should probably do a relatively short and not too hard hold, I think getting a hold together would not be a problem. The question is rather if there are enough streamers who are interested in this and have the time.

Since I know it's possible to get completely stumped in DROD, and we don't really want that, another idea might be to do this in teams. Then we'd need "team captains" who can stream and would also do the actual playing, and team members who could help out with commentary.

So yeah, I think that's about it. I know the LP community has grown a lot. Not sure how many of you actually also stream, but I guess even a minimum of two would be enough. So if you're interested in this, no matter which part you want to take, please reply Also please tell me if you think there's a certain time of the year when this would be most likely doable.

(Since it is technically a contest, I'd also be willing to give a few mod points to the winners)

PigmyWubba
Level: Master Delver
Rank Points: 159
Registered: 04-14-2012
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I'll contribute a few rooms if there is enough interest in this.

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Someone Else
Level: Smitemaster

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We don't need teams if we don't go for high difficulty - moderate difficulty would probably be enough. I might be able to stream, but I'd be able to say for sure if we set a date.

bomber50
Level: Smitemaster
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Would love to contribute some rooms for this contest.

Dischorran
Level: Smitemaster

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There was an impromptu (unfilmed) race of Lost in a City on its release. That worked well; maybe make the rooms just a touch more difficult?

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Lucky Luc
Level: Smitemaster
Rank Points: 1215
Registered: 08-19-2012
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While I'm still hoping for some more runners to "sign up", the busy architects of this forum have already leaped at the task of making a great hold for this race I've now opened a beta board, and the four people showing interest in creating rooms should have been invited; if not, please contact me!

So I figure a good race time would be around 2 to 3 hours. Looking at Jeff's Directions of the Compass 2, he needed around 3/4 hours for 8 puzzle rooms, so I guess 20 to 30 rooms would be a good number. Assuming an average of 5 rooms per contributor, I'd happily welcome one or two more architects, but I guess not much more. So if you want to be part of this architecturally, be quick

I think I would be relatively flexible with the date. Probably Saturday at around 8 pm GMT would be the best for all timezones? But really, it's mostly the date where all potential runners had time; I'm confident we'll find a date.

(And again, if you have a streaming account, please consider signing up! It will be a lot of fun )

blorx1
Level: Smitemaster
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I'd possibly consider running in something like this. I guess I'd need to make sure I can set up whatever streaming stuff I'd need, but hey, I like doing stuff like this.

I'm curious if you're considering implementing something where only some of the rooms have to be solved (like 25/30 or a larger fraction), just to balance out the possibility of disproportionately hard rooms giving people a lot of trouble.

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ThemsAllTook
Level: Master Delver

Rank Points: 244
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I might be up for being one of the runners. Sounds like an interesting idea.

Jeff_Ray...
Level: Smitemaster

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Lucky Luc wrote: Looking at Jeff's Directions of the Compass 2, he needed around 3/4 hours for 8 puzzle rooms

Huh? The two videos add up to a little under an hour, not 3/4 hours! Or did you look at the victory stats? Because that's almost NEVER indicative of the time I spend actually solving puzzles. Far more often than not, I tend to accidentally leave a room open in the background, which bumps up the counter quite dramatically... xD

EDIT: Actually you meant 3 quarters, not 3 or 4 hours. I'm dumb, ignore plz

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[Last edited by Jeff_Ray... at 06-08-2016 10:27 PM]

Lucky Luc
Level: Smitemaster
Rank Points: 1215
Registered: 08-19-2012
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Another status update: bomber50, Chaco, Nuntar and PigmyWubba have done an incredible job and brought together an amazing hold in just a few days, which is almost ready for release So I'm closing down architectural applications now, sorry.

Some information about the hold:

- It will contain about 20 puzzle rooms.
- Only about 90 % of them need to be solved to conquer the hold, so it's not that bad if you get completely stumped by a room (thanks to blorx1 for suggesting this)
- The rooms are medium difficulty, around 6 brains, and contain a wide variety of elements and concepts.
- According to my first playthrough, it will take presumably about two hours to complete.

Awesome that we've found some more players who want to run this! I guess you can start discussing dates for the grand event now. "Registrations" for the run will basically stay open until it actually starts.

Lucky Luc
Level: Smitemaster
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So the architects are basically done now; we'll probably need a week or so for testing, but then we should be ready to go.

So, to get the discussion about a possible race date going, I'll just throw the date

Local Time:06-18-2016 at 09:00 PM

out there. This is not meant to be a fixed date yet, but one where I hope a lot of people can join.

First priority are of course runners, so Someone Else, blorx1 and ThemsAllTook, please tell me if this would be a reasonable date for you or if some other time would be better. Also, as I've mentioned before, anyone else is still welcome to join Next on the list would be the architects in my opinion because it's always cool to be able so see other people play your hold.

GerAvos
Level: Delver
Rank Points: 51
Registered: 05-28-2016
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Hey there! I'm up for streaming it too. Just 2 problems though: I'm not all that good at this game yet and I won't be able to provide commentary, because english isn't my native language and I prefer not to talk

I'll be around.

blorx1
Level: Smitemaster
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Registered: 07-18-2009
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That time should work for me. I'm pretty much free on all weekends, thankfully.

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Someone Else
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 2356
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Pretty sure that'll work for me too.

ThemsAllTook
Level: Master Delver

Rank Points: 244
Registered: 06-23-2014
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Yep, sounds like a time that'll work for me. Should be fun!

Lucky Luc
Level: Smitemaster
Rank Points: 1215
Registered: 08-19-2012
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Alright, since there don't seem to be any objections, I now declare Local Time:06-18-2016 at 09:00 PM the official starting time of the first blind DROD race

I guess you can post a link to your twitch stream either here or in chat or by PM, and on Saturday, once I see that all the streams are running, I'll start a new thread containing the hold file, the single links and a multitwitch link so that we spectators can watch all the streams simultaneously.

I don't think this will be much of a problem, but I would prefer chat not to give any spoilers during the run. That way, the runners can also take a look at it without any danger of unfair advantage. I guess there's not much to be done about twitch chat, but yeah, I have no idea how many people there would actually be able to give spoilers and aren't members here.

The current runner list should be (in alphabetical order):
- blorx1
- GerAvos
- Someone Else
- ThemsAllTook

Prizes: 10 mod points for the winner, 5 for the runner-up and 2 to whoever places third.

If there's anything I've forgotten to mention, please tell me

GerAvos
Level: Delver
Rank Points: 51
Registered: 05-28-2016
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So here's the link to my stream page: https://www.twitch.tv/avvatro. Just to be safe, I'll be recording my stream and upload it to youtube afterwards.

Is it going to be clear when I finished the hold? Not that I expect to be able to finish it without being able to look up solutions, but we'll see xD

Chaco
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GerAvos wrote:

Is it going to be clear when I finished the hold? Not that I expect to be able to finish it without being able to look up solutions, but we'll see xD

Yeah, you literally cross a checkered finish line, and then go to the Hold End stairs. It will be very clear.

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Nuntar
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Lucky Luc wrote: Prizes: 10 mod points for the winner, 5 for the runner-up and 2 to whoever places third.

Seems unfair for fourth place not to get anything, when we all benefit from the entertainment value of having more participants. So I'll add a few rank points to the pile.

Prizes are now 10 for first place, 6 for second, 4 for third and 2 for fourth.

____________________________
50th Skywatcher

blorx1
Level: Smitemaster
Rank Points: 920
Registered: 07-18-2009
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I'll be streaming on
https://www.twitch.tv/blorx

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ThemsAllTook
Level: Master Delver

Rank Points: 244
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I'll be streaming here: http://twitch.tv/themsalltook

Good luck to everyone who's participating!

Someone Else
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 2356
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Shoot, looks like I'm going to have to pull out. I'm going to plan to stream (without spoilers, hopefully) later in the day, but I don't think I can actually participate at the right time. Sorry guys!

EDIT:
Although, I might make it in time, or just slightly late. If that happens, I'll post here and in the chat and start right away.

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[Last edited by Someone Else at 06-18-2016 02:49 PM]

Jeff_Ray...
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 962
Registered: 05-16-2005
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I have decided to cover the race with a commentary stream! I will be joined by Crimson Moon, and we will start 30 minutes before the stream for some pre-race commentary!

You can catch the stream here once it starts!

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Click here to find out my LPs' progress, and find out what I plan to tackle next!

Currently playing:


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GerAvos
Level: Delver
Rank Points: 51
Registered: 05-28-2016
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I'm so sorry for the disappointment, I have to drop out last minute. I actually can't get the stream working.

So I'm officially dropping out now.

Lucky Luc
Level: Smitemaster
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Registered: 08-19-2012
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Soo, if we actually want to turn this into a bimonthly thing, I guess we should start planning for the next one. I'd be happy to organize it again, but I would also kind of like to try racing (and probably failing horribly) myself. So if anyone else would like to take over, I'd be happy to pass on this job

disoriented
Level: Smitemaster

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I could contribute a room or two if desired.

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Best to PM me, since I might miss your message on CaravelNet chat.

blorx1
Level: Smitemaster
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I'd be happy to contribute rooms for this (and would make sure to keep arcane interactions to a minimum). Since I want others to be able to race, I'd be willing to run this.

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Xindaris
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I have interest in providing maybe a few rooms.

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109th Skywatcher

Here are some links to Things!