The New Counter

Shiber · May 31, 2003, 17:49

Temporary URL: www.securitywriters.org/counter

The Purpose of the Counter
The time counter has a simple function: to count the length of the period of time between the moment when the save was sent to a team to the moment that that team sent the save onwards, or in other words, to count how long each team has been "holding the save". The page displays the time it took each team to play the last turn, and the time it took
The time counter is here only to advise. It is a service, not a restriction. Slower teams will not face any official penalties, but ideally, they will realize that they are keeping the rest of us waiting and will try to improve their time.

The Responsibilities of a Player
A player is responsible for the following:

Sending the saved game when he's done playing for his team to all the current players of the next team.
Sending the saves to the correct addresses of all the current players of the next team.
Notifying the players of the preceding team if any change that they should know about is expected to happen (e.g. the player needs to be replaced, the player's email address will change etc') before the preceding team carries out its turn. Such a notification should be sent by PM, and preferably by email as well. Posting a notice regarding the change in the saved game threads or in any other thread is not enough.
Playing the game within 24 hours of the time that the save was sent. Should all the players of a certain team fail to meet this requirement and hold the save for over than 24 hours, the amount of time that they were holding the save will be recorded as double in the counter.

In case that a certain player had to delay the game due to an RL event (business trip, health issues etc') or due to technical difficulties (the damn computer won't start, the cursed ISP is acting up again, I accidentally spilled hot coffee all over my files etc'), his team will not be penalized for the delay. Such events must be reported ASAP to me, by posting information under this thread or sending it by PM.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do you need webspace to host the counter?
Yes! And thank you for asking!

I can't use www.securitywriters.org as a host forever - I need some new webspace.
Got any? PM me!

Who came up with the idea for the counter?
Borc of Neu Demogyptica originally came up with the idea. He implemented it in his own page, but discontinued the service. However, that page is still online and can be found here.

Does the counter have any kind of official status?
Absolutely not. It only serves to advise the teams of how fast or slow they are playing, and how well they're doing in that aspect relative to other teams. Hopefully, the slower teams will take the counter's advice and try to reform their inside procedures or nominate new players for the team in order to finish their turns faster, and the faster teams will also take the counter's advice and keep up the good work.

How does the counter work?

The screenshot above was taken on the end of 450 BC.
The first row displays the icons of each team. You should be able to recognize these if you're playing the game.

The second row displays the time it took each team to play their 450 BC save.
The third row should display the time accumulated on each team's counter over the last 20 turns. However, in this stage the counter will only display the time that was accumulated since 470 BC (so in this example, we see the time that was accumulated over the 450 BC and 470 BC turns).

Is there any concept of "green hours" in the new counter?
The old counter allowed each team to select 7 "green hours" for work or sleep, and did not count those hours.
However, I feel that it is the duty of each team to have several players scattered around different time zones in order to avoid situations where the game has to stop for 7 hours because one of the teams' player is at work or asleep. Therefore, no such thing as green hours exist in this system.
Of course, should people object to this, or to any other rule of the new time counter, I will be more than happy to change the rules should there be enough public support for such a change. After all, the counter is only a service, not a policeman.

Are the rules subject to change?
Of course!
The counter is for the people, not against the people. If the people want it changed in one way (or tossed aside altogether), it will be changed.
If you'd like some change, I suggest that you discuss your idea publicly first (preferably, in this thread, to keep it all under one roof), and if there's any public support for your idea, start a poll.

I have a private request/complaint/suggestion/comment, where do I send it?
If you want to speak about something privately, please PM me.

Shiber · May 31, 2003, 17:52

Comments? Suggestions? Debate? Reports of Elvis sightings?
This is the place.

BigFree · May 31, 2003, 20:09

I like it Shiber.

Beta · May 31, 2003, 22:46

Shiber - good stuff!!

(and please see my pm on technical difficulties)

Shiber · June 7, 2003, 08:48

Congratulations to Togas and team Role Play as a whole for being the last team still with less than 24 hours on their time counter, and the fastest team by average (and by far) since 470 BC!

Tiberius · June 11, 2003, 02:10

I welcome back the Counter

, but ...

Quote:

However, I feel that it is the duty of each team to have several players scattered around different time zones in order to avoid situations where the game has to stop for 7 hours because one of the teams' player is at work or asleep.

how exactly should ND do this in your opinion?

Darekill · June 11, 2003, 02:25

As it is we have four members that can actually move. I'm the one to do it most likely the others are just a back up. We all live in the same time zone so i'd be pleased if you gave us seven hours free. That would be from 22:00h to 05:00h GMT.

But if that would be a problem for some of the teams i'll accept the none green hours concept. We'll get it managed to move in a reasonable time anyway.

Shiber · June 11, 2003, 09:59

That's really not a problem in ND's case. They always get the save from Nathan of GS, who lives in the US, and they received, played and sent all of their past few turns in the morning (good job btw

).

Btw, Vox is the first team to break the 24 hours rule since the counter was started. They took 24 hours and 41 minutes, and they will have to bear the penalty of an added 24 hours. Sorry, but those are the rules, and they were announced several turns ago...

GS was close too, with 23 hours and 58 minutes on the clock last turn.

A reminder: no rule is set in stone. The counter is here to serve you, not to police you, so if you want a certain rule changed, start a poll and if you win enough support, I will be more than glad to change it. However, keep in mind that changes can never be made retroactively.

Shiber · June 11, 2003, 10:02

Btw, I've just noticed that I made a mistake last turn and listed the time it took GS to play its previous turn as 27:07. The correct time was 23:07.

Shiber · June 14, 2003, 10:58

ND has just completed a turn in under an hour (51 minutes to be accurate), again!
Congratulations on a job well done! Again!

Shiber · June 14, 2003, 11:58

GoW played the same turn within 46 minutes. It must be an epidemic!
Way to go, GoW!

Shiber · June 16, 2003, 07:04

I think I can excuse Vox for violating the 24 hours rule this time... negotiations can be exhaustive, and dead lines are often not long enough.
Vox Controli will not receive a +24 hours penalty for their violation of the 24 hours rule this turn, unless people object.

Shiber · June 17, 2003, 13:25

Hurray! The counter page now also displays a random counter fact. So far it will shuffle between the fastest and longest turns, and the fastest and longest rounds, so I need more ideas for what to put! Come on, brainstorm and think of some weird stat or something

Soon, thanks to Sirotnikov, I may also have a nice PHP script that will make it much easier for me to update the damn thing.

Sirotnikov · June 21, 2003, 08:12

Script is done.

Updating just made easier

Shiber · June 21, 2003, 08:34

Beta · June 21, 2003, 08:36

Counter looks great guys!

Shiber - it says the last turn counted was 310bc - but we only took 6:30 to play that turn. Did you mean 330bc?

Shiber · June 21, 2003, 08:47

You are right. I forgot to update the data file (btw, thanks again Siro!). I'm updating it now...
Thanks for keeping watch!

Sirotnikov · June 21, 2003, 15:49

if anyone wants hacking instructions, i'm willing to supply for a fair price

Panzer32 · June 21, 2003, 16:06

I think Sirotnikov and Shiber are DLs

Shiber · June 21, 2003, 16:55

How much do I have to pay you so you won't tell Ming?

Shiber · June 24, 2003, 13:36

270 BC: Beta of Vox Controli just broke GoW's record for fastest turn played, at 25 minutes! The previous record was 47 minutes.
Way to go!

Borc · June 25, 2003, 03:50

The counter is working great! the game is quick again now! - only Gs could be a bit quicker

Shiber · June 25, 2003, 06:44

Borc · June 26, 2003, 01:21

is the 24 hour rule still accepted? Maybe you can give every team a little "bomb"-symbol for every time they need more than 24 hours for a turn

Shiber · June 26, 2003, 05:31

Teams that violate the 24 hours rule get a penalty of another 24 hours in the accumulating count.
A symbol for every violation sounds kind of harsh, since it stays on for 20 turns, and the penalty sounds enough. But I could certainly add 'Team that broke the 24 hours rule the most times during the last 20 turns: ' to the random fact bit.

vondrack · June 26, 2003, 06:16

Honestly, I believe that a symbol for every violation would be better than the penalty is - with the penalty being added into the sum of all true playing times, you do not really know if that team broke the 24h rule once or twice (during some sort of a crisis), or if it's constantly slow playing their terms.

I would (personally) prefer adding no penalty times for breaking the 24h mark, but would display "black marks" for every such violation of the "rules" we agreed upon. That way, IMHO, the accumulated time would have more information value.

Shiber · June 26, 2003, 06:40

You make a good point.
I could add another row to the table displaying the number of violations during the last 20 turns with angry marks. Do I have to start a poll on this, or does everybody agree?
Also, I really need some webspace guys. I can't use www.securitywriters.org anymore, I used to own it (it's a site about computer security, networks and legit hacking; it used to get thousands of unique visitors a day, but I'm not sure how it's doing nowadays) but I no longer do. In fact, the current owners probably haven't noticed that their precious space and bandwidth are being stolen.
Borc, you used to run the counter and you're still running the embassy site on ND's server. Any chance you could loan me some space too?

Beta · June 26, 2003, 06:43

I vote for the black mark - or bomb icon - as well. I think it is better than adding the 24hr extra 'penalty' time. As there really is no consequence of using the most time, or exceeding the 24hr turn rule, the real value of the clock is in its display of the time which has been used, AND the number of times the 24hr has been broken. Just adding extra time will not indicate that.

So - I am with borc and vondrack on this one.

And again - thank you Shiber!

Borc · July 1, 2003, 16:26

i really think about starting a poll in Neu Deomogyptica to discuss if we should at least organize a trade and tech embargo against the "slowest team" ...

Hot Mustard · July 1, 2003, 17:19

Quote:

Originally posted by Borc
i really think about starting a poll in Neu Deomogyptica to discuss if we should at least organize a trade and tech embargo against the "slowest team" ...

I'm sure the other teams will remember that once ND is involved in a war.