Banjooie
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 1645
Registered: 12-12-2004
IP: Logged

No, JtRH actually has some sort of reward in that there is story, or the good feeling of 'Wow, I figured that out!'

What you have there is just utter stupidity. I'm sorry.

BDR
Level: Master Delver

Rank Points: 106
Registered: 10-03-2006
IP: Logged

No, the goal of holds (like many other things) is to entertain. JTRH is no exception, and it is because it is entertaining that it managed to get people to stick around these forums and buy so many copies that it remained profitable. Not that it doesn't have sore spots, but it is a very large hold and so some places that aren't as good, while bad, are understandable, whereas a sore spot in a shorter hold stands out a lot more. I remember a room that drove me nuts in MetDroid: Echoes, but fortunately there's so much more good stuff in that hold that it was worth it to finish (still need to finish the whole thing though >_>); I bet most people would say the same thing about JTRH. A much shorter hold with a similarly nasty room with similarly unobvious ways to lessen the pain, or with many simply not-fun rooms probably would get me to abandon it rather fast in favor of other, more fun holds.

What that looks like is a not-fun room. Too many of those and I'll find something that offers better quality.

---

[Last edited by BDR at 03-16-2007 10:32 PM]

Insane
Level: Master Delver

Rank Points: 154
Registered: 08-06-2005
IP: Logged

BDR wrote:
No, the goal of holds (like many other things) is to entertain. JTRH is no exception, and it is because it is entertaining that it managed to get people to stick around these forums and buy so many copies that it remained profitable. Not that it doesn't have sore spots, but it is a very large hold and so some places that aren't as good, while bad, are understandable, whereas a sore spot in a shorter hold stands out a lot more. I remember a room that drove me nuts in MetDroid: Echoes, but fortunately there's so much more good stuff in that hold that it was worth it to finish (still need to finish the whole thing though >_>); I bet most people would say the same thing about JTRH. A much shorter hold with a similarly nasty room with similarly unobvious ways to lessen the pain, or with many simply not-fun rooms probably would get me to abandon it rather fast in favor of other, more fun holds.

What that looks like is a not-fun room. Too many of those and I'll find something that offers better quality.

I meant that with JtRH as a joke.
Really, the puzzle is MUCH easier then you think.
MUCH MUCH easier.

And the "trick" doesn't make it easier, it just makes it possible, really easy.



Also, I tried not making them too hard, and the masses actually enjoyed it.

Also, my masterwork, the hardest of them all, actually has a reward in a secret room behind it, plus it's optional.

-Insane

---

[Last edited by Insane at 03-17-2007 10:26 AM]

Banjooie
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 1645
Registered: 12-12-2004
IP: Logged

Argh. That does not change the fact that what you have there is dumb to a massive, massive extent.

Having one single orb does not make it /better/.

Gah.

Jatopian
Level: Smitemaster
Rank Points: 1842
Registered: 07-31-2005
IP: Logged

Banjooie wrote:
Argh. That does not change the fact that what you have there is dumb to a massive, massive extent.

Having one single orb does not make it /better/.

I disagree. Many would have fun feeling superior when they realize that someone else wasted time randomly hitting orbs.
Also, Banjooie, why do you do /this/, when our forum has working italics, underlines, and bolds?

____________________________
DROD has some really great music.
Make your pressure plates 3.0 style!
DROD architecture idea generator

Banjooie
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 1645
Registered: 12-12-2004
IP: Logged

Jatopian wrote:
Also, Banjooie, why do you do /this/, when our forum has working italics, underlines, and bolds?

Because italic tags kicked me in the puppy once.

But seriously, it's more because I go to a lot of places that do not have such clever trickeries as italic tags, and changing my style of writing to include and exclude them is beyond my simplistic views of reality.

Stefan
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 2119
Registered: 05-25-2004
IP: Logged

Nuntar wrote:

Jatopian wrote:
Also, Banjooie, why do you do /this/?

Perhaps it's a phonemic transcription?

Nah, that would be more like /ðɪs/, unless you talk funny.

____________________________
0.099³

bflatjeff
Level: Delver
Rank Points: 93
Registered: 04-04-2006
IP: Logged

Despite the "one orb" solution, many players may be frustrated. I don't know how long I played before I either discovered or remembered that you can click on orbs to see what they do. Where did that feature get explained? (Perhaps you want to add a reminder of it to your hold.)

I think it was playing the "Lights Out" game in (can't remember which hold...) that I first detected the pattern of the orbs, then discovered/remembered that very useful feature. Now it's about the first thing I do when I encounter a room with many orbs. Much easier than getting the scratch paper and drawing diagrams. Although that can still be helpful, I find.

BbJ

____________________________
"Stupid, stupid roach creatures!"
- Beethro Bonekin

---

[Last edited by bflatjeff at 03-22-2007 04:57 AM]

Insane
Level: Master Delver

Rank Points: 154
Registered: 08-06-2005
IP: Logged

bflatjeff wrote:
Despite the "one orb" solution, many players may be frustrated. I don't know how long I played before I either discovered or remembered that you can click on orbs to see what they do. Where did that feature get explained? (Perhaps you want to add a reminder of it to your hold.)

You know, I added about fifty "hint" scrolls to that room, each one going further than the last, while the absolute last one tells you to watch the included demo .

-Insane

Banjooie
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 1645
Registered: 12-12-2004
IP: Logged

Making people read 50 scrolls does not in any way make it better.

The trick here is just to not make a stupid room, and it is especially not to justify it by saying you totally have all these ways in which they can figure it out.

Beef Row
Level: Smiter
Rank Points: 471
Registered: 12-28-2005
IP: Logged

bflatjeff wrote:
I think it was playing the "Lights Out" game in (can't remember which hold...) that I first detected the pattern of the orbs, then discovered/remembered that very useful feature.
BbJ

Claythro Tower.

____________________________
"Now I will repeatedly apply the happy-face rule"