|
Post by _DD_ on Feb 14, 2018 15:10:11 GMT
Okies, thanks again, Pink. And yes, not coming ingame to an almost empty taskboard is nice.
|
|
|
Post by Pink on Feb 14, 2018 18:02:14 GMT
For anyone wanting info on reserving tasks under 130 - see this post HERE Or below
|
|
|
Post by Pink on Feb 14, 2018 20:14:13 GMT
Reserving Tasks
For the majority of the time, all tasks on the board are ready and available to choose.
Anyone wanting to reserve a task for longer than 2 hours, should give a heads up in chat and/or send out a message. This would be for silk/rubber/overnight tasks generally.
House of Luck, helicopter, mining, feeding and zoo can't be reserved unless they are under 130 points. These tasks remain on a first come first served basis for anyone wanting these tasks at 130 and above.
Feathers can now be reserved as they really need the animal booster and nana bread and...they're not popular.
Reservations aren't usually made as frequently when we have the mystery tasks in place, and although we can reserve the task we would like to take next, we need to be mindful that this is not something we can constantly do.
Now that we can flag the tasks we want, this should make it easier to identify the tasks that no one wants, so that they can be dumped sooner. This is something we can work on over the next few weeks. This system would also be good for anyone wanting a task of less than 125 points to ensure that it doesn't get dumped.
Currently, ALL tasks under 130 can be reserved to enable us to identify more easily, the lower point tasks that are unwanted.
Reserving Seasonal Tasks
Any seasonal tasks that require prepping can be reserved, otherwise they follow the normal circumstance of first come, first served. Combo tasks that need prepping/long crops or boats can be reserved.
Currently, ALL seasonal tasks under 130 can be reserved to enable us to identify more easily, the lower point tasks that are unwanted. OK, this is what I have amended so far. I may have a bit of tidying up to do elsewhere tho. Any questions etc, post away, thanks!
|
|
|
Post by _DD_ on Feb 14, 2018 20:44:27 GMT
Now that we can flag the tasks we want, this should make it easier to identify the tasks that no one wants, so that they can be dumped sooner. This is something we can work on over the next few weeks. This system would also be good for anyone wanting a task of less than 125 points to ensure that it doesn't get dumped.
I thought at first, why would anyone want that "suddenly", when we usually dump anything below 125? So I re-read first post, and it says "Tasks under 125 points to be dumped wherever possible" - I had thought / understood it as 'always'; so now I'd like to ask, what is considered "possible" in this context/here? sorry for being so slow!
|
|
|
Post by Pink on Feb 14, 2018 21:09:54 GMT
I thought at first, why would anyone want that "suddenly", when we usually dump anything below 125? So I re-read first post, and it says "Tasks under 125 points to be dumped wherever possible" - I had thought / understood it as 'always'; so now I'd like to ask, what is considered "possible" in this context/here? No apology needed DD Some will take tasks that are less than 125 points. Although we would dump them automatically, if someone sees one, they can take it, or reserve it.
|
|
|
Post by Pink on Feb 22, 2018 18:29:54 GMT
OK, thinking more on this subject with the conversations in chat yesterday... I think we should try flagging all tasks under 135.
My suggestion is - anything between 125-135 should remain on the board for a couple of hours or so to give everyone a chance to take or flag them. Then if not claimed, they can be dumped. These should be flagged and viewed as 'do not dump' as opposed to 'this is mine'.
We should still have the 2hr max reservation time, but anyone can flag any task under 135, with the proviso that anyone can take the fast and easy tasks, should they wish to do so. This way, they remain on a first come first served basis and are kept on the board rather than dumped.
Anyone not currently working on a task should get priority of the board, over someone already working on a task with a task flagged for reservation.
So flagging the House of Luck, Mining, helicopter, feeding and zoo is only to highlight that they should not be dumped. (These tasks are not to be flagged if they are 135.) There is no preparation needed for these tasks, so nothing lost if someone else takes them. Whoever is available to take the task, should take it and make way for new tasks on the board.
135 tasks can only be flagged for reservation if they need preparation time such as production, boat and long crops.
Thoughts..
|
|
|
Post by _DD_ on Feb 23, 2018 18:31:46 GMT
More questions than thoughts. I didn't hear yesterday's chat, so - why? I thought tasks between 125 and 135 stay on the board anyway for some time? Why then flag them, and not even for me or another person, but just to...what?
I don't get either, why these would be dumped so quickly?
IOW, what exactly is the change to "before" (and why)?
|
|
|
Post by Pink on Feb 23, 2018 21:56:48 GMT
More questions than thoughts. I didn't hear yesterday's chat, so - why? I thought tasks between 125 and 135 stay on the board anyway for some time? Why then flag them, and not even for me or another person, but just to...what? I don't get either, why these would be dumped so quickly? IOW, what exactly is the change to "before" (and why)? What I'd like to do is give those taking tasks under 135 more choice. Currently we have 20 members max, with 15 doing mainly 135 and 5 doing anywhere between 125 - 135. A snapshot of the taskboard could be: 3 or 4 135s on the board, 1 or 2 of those may be reserved, some empty spots on the board with 2 or 3 up to 133. So, of those tasks under 135 we need to be able to manage them, with keeping the board moving and ensuring that everyone gets a decent choice. As there is more demand for 135s, we are now seeing more demand for the lower tasks to be dumped to free up more spots, thus offering the majority more choice, as the constant dumping of the empty spots doesn't produce higher tasks very often. Lower tasks have always been dumped after a certain length of time anyway. We also need to consider who is awake and may or may not be online, who already has a task, who may be asleep and who isn't racing. We have no way of knowing when someone will appear online to take a task, or when someone will complete their task and therefore look for something new. Currently we are only flagging quick and easy tasks under 130, so for instance, you could take a helicopter task or even a train, then a bit later a 131 mining pops up. There may be only 1 or 2 people interested in that task, so it is more likely to sit there far longer than if it were 133-135 where it's more likely to get snapped up. There might even be no one interested in it, due to a lack of tools, but we don't know if it's a wanted task or not. So to free up some space, it would make more sense to dump it, especially if it's been sitting there for an hour or so. As it stands right now, you might want that task, but current rules say that you can't reserve it. So once you've finished your task, you might find that the task you wanted is now gone. What I'm proposing is that all tasks under 135 can be flagged. This way, if you're working on a task and you see a 131 mining that you'd like to do, you can flag it to say 'please don't dump this'. Unless someone else wants it, (and there will only be 4 max if all are racing) you are more than likely to be able to do this task once you've finished your current one. Flagging tasks, give us an idea of when someone is ready to take another task, as it means you should be ready within 2 hours. If it's been there a while, all 5 of you have come and gone, taken tasks, still working on current tasks and no one has flagged it, then it can be dumped. This should give those doing tasks under 135 more options to stop some of these tasks from being dumped. Currently there is a 133 feed and 131 mining on the board. We have no way of knowing whether anyone wants to take those tasks, so they could get dumped soon. If however they were flagged, we would know that someone wants them and that leaves the dumpers to just focus on the 10 remaining tasks slots. If only one was flagged we could dump the other. As feed, hol, mining, zoo and helicopter are first come first served tasks, they should still be viewed as such, however it may well be, that as the number of members doing those tasks is low, there may be no demand to take a task that someone else has flagged. Right now I just don't know, but I think this way, it gives under 135 task takers more choice over the board and hopefully, less times looking and waiting for something to come up.
|
|
|
Post by _DD_ on Feb 24, 2018 10:15:34 GMT
Thank you, Pink, this cleared it up nicely! And it's considerate of you to "give those taking tasks under 135 more choice"! I noticed then that my concern doesn't lie in this procedure, which is rather a good attempt to work with the reservation feature (although I don't see how a rare-onliner will know what can be dumped), but the fact, that the 'taking under 135' is not always a voluntary thing for these few. But that would be a different topic. Thank you again, for your patience, your willingness to listen and understand, and your explanations. (I can say from reading the TS forum, that is not at all 'natural' (selbstverständlich) ;-) )
|
|
|
Post by Pink on Feb 24, 2018 14:34:39 GMT
I noticed then that my concern doesn't lie in this procedure, which is rather a good attempt to work with the reservation feature (although I don't see how a rare-onliner will know what can be dumped), but the fact, that the 'taking under 135' is not always a voluntary thing for these few. But that would be a different topic Yes, it's trying to strike the balance between those who are quite happy to do anything under 135 and those who would rather keep above 130 or only 135. Hopefully once we're in a position to know which tasks can be dumped, there may be more choice of 135s, but then these might get snapped or reserved anyway, so I don't know, I'm just keeping my fingers crossed. A lot also depends on those with reserved tasks, keeping to the 2 hour limit wherever and whenever possible. We will hopefully see more difference in higher point tasks towards the end of the week. For now I think the rare on-liner may need to just be ready to dump under 125 and duplicates. Anyone can shout out in chat if they think a task has been sitting there too long. So I'll see if we can start this from today, and see how it works out next week. And no probs at all DD
|
|
|
Post by _DD_ on Feb 24, 2018 16:05:54 GMT
okiedo, let's see then ...
btw, a quite-OK attempt at accepting a compliment! lol ;-)
|
|
|
Post by Pink on Feb 24, 2018 21:46:02 GMT
Ok, I've just sent out an email to everyone, so we can start from now...ish lol!
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Feb 25, 2018 1:17:56 GMT
Plan seems good to me.
|
|
|
Post by cathy on Feb 25, 2018 3:07:43 GMT
My understaning is, the added rule that we can now reserve any task under 135 should improve 2 things: 1. That anyone wanting/willing to do a under 135 next doesn't have to face it being dumped in the meanwhile and 2. That the dumping of the under 135 is now simpler for the others, because they easier/faster will know if a task is indeed unwanted. Both points are very welcome, so yes, let's try that. Additions/thoughts/questions to any 134 to 125 pt task: Sometimes we will change our minds, say having flagged a 133 mining, then along comes a heli and we prefer that. We can unreserve tasks anytime, but in case of the lower ones it could get confusing when say 3 were sitting there flagged, suddenly are still there, but not reserved. So if someone unreserves a lower task, maybe say so in chat? Pet peeve for me here is the rubber tree/silk task: While it's extremely rare that someone is doing one of those for 135 pts, I simply cannot believe anyone would do it for less pts, lol. Since I see that they don't get dumped, question here: Shouldn't rubber tree and silk tasks under 135 get dumped immediately? Sharon, also from me here a thank you for putting so much effort and thoughts in running the co-op. It's highly appreciated! (We could need a thank-you-emoji )
|
|
|
Post by Pink on Feb 25, 2018 17:15:43 GMT
Additions/thoughts/questions to any 134 to 125 pt task: Sometimes we will change our minds, say having flagged a 133 mining, then along comes a heli and we prefer that. We can unreserve tasks anytime, but in case of the lower ones it could get confusing when say 3 were sitting there flagged, suddenly are still there, but not reserved. So if someone unreserves a lower task, maybe say so in chat? The reason we started reserving tasks, was to give those who may have already prepared for tasks such as 8 hats, the opportunity to complete them. We also allowed boats and long crops so that members could get a head start. We should not be reserving tasks that we don't really want. If we're expecting others to honour the tasks that we've reserved, then the least we can do is also honour the tasks that we've reserved. If we're not going to honour them, then why should anybody else? This way we might as well treat all flagged tasks as 'do not dump', then everyone can take tasks, regardless of whether they are flagged. Something I'm still leaning towards currently, as our old system worked well, and I'm struggling hard not to let this new way of reserving tasks go tits up. It's not really a new way of reserving tasks, it's just that our previously (in the main) adhered to system is being disregarded, while others are moving the goalposts. Anyone who decides that they no longer want the task that they reserved should dump it. If it is a popular task they will complete it, if it's not a popular task, then there's not going to be a fight over it, if it's a quick and easy task under 135, then someone else would have already taken it. The two biggest complaints about reserving tasks are members : - not honouring the 2 hr limit
- not honouring the tasks reserved
then these tasks end up being left on the board for 4-5 hours or more 'cos nobody knows what to do with them. If we do not think that we can claim the task within 2 hours, we should not reserve it. Due to the size of our racing group, maybe we should dispense completely with reserving tasks for longer than 2 hours, so anyone doing silk and rubber gets a 2 hour leeway only. After all, those who get silk and rubber in the mystery tasks have the clock ticking right from the off. Pet peeve for me here is the rubber tree/silk task: While it's extremely rare that someone is doing one of those for 135 pts, I simply cannot believe anyone would do it for less pts, . Since I see that they don't get dumped, question here: Shouldn't rubber tree and silk tasks under 135 get dumped immediately? Yes, I would agree with that and add cacao to the list too.
|
|