Recent posts by solprovider on Kongregate

Topic: Kongregate / Least Earned Impossible Badges - New Stats!

Mission in Space : the lost colony was given an Imp today.

The 10 not-new least-earned Badges in order are The End [H], The Soul Driver [H], UA3 [I], Raze 2 [H], DJManiax, Top Defense [H], Vector Stunt [H], Sierra 7 [H], Zening [H], Max Mesiria Chp2 [I]

The list is Imps and least earned Hards sorted by number earned from January 5 to February 7, 2012.

17 = 11033->11050 - Oroboros [Hard]
20 = 6423->6443 - Breach [Hard]
21 = 2963->2984 - Bible Fight [2nd Hard]
22 = 3441->3463 - Z-Rox [2nd Hard]
29 = 1037->1066 - The Soul Driver [Hard]
29 = 3609->3638 - Frantic
30 = 4419->4449 - Zunderfury
31 = 2327->2358 - Sierra 7 [Hard]
32 = 3410->3442 - colourPod 2: dimensionPod
33 = 3147->3180 - Knightfall 2 [2nd Hard]
34 = 4528->4562 - MechanicalCommando
35 = 8635->8670 - Typing Ninja Hunter [Hard]
36 = 2693->2729 - Zening [Hard]
38 = 5187->5225 - Pyro
38 = 13717->13755 - Desktop Tower Defense 1.5
39 = 5480->5519 - Meat Boy (map pack)
39 = 9119->9158 - Typing Ninja Hunter [Med]
40 = 2778->2818 - Max Mesiria Chp2 RPG
40 = 3060->3100 - MAD: Mutually Assured Destruction
40 = 4031->4071 - Fold
41 = 2895->2936 - Tarnation [Hard]
42 = 6673->6715 - Dino Run
44 = 1880->1924 - Top Defense [Hard]
44 = 4376->4420 - Cell Warfare
45 = 2995->3040 - Tarnation [Imp]
45 = 7198->7243 - Gravitee
46 = 952->998 - The End [Hard]
46 = 3921->3967 - Santa Rockstar: Metal Xmas 3 [Hard]
47 = 4187->4234 - The Space Game: Missions
49 = 3603->3652 - Punk-o-matic 2 [2nd Medium]
50 = 6162->6212 - Vector Runner
51 = 4255->4306 - Orbular
52 = 4332->4384 - Balloon Invasion
53 = 7996->8049 - Line Game
54 = 3400->3454 - Snailiad [Hard]
55 = 4890->4945 - Bubble Tanks Tower Defense
57 = 4990->5047 - Hexiom
59 = 1952->2011 - Vector Stunt [Hard]
60 = 3086->3146 - Sacred Seasons 2 MMORPG [Hard]
60 = 6532->6592 - Warlords: Heroes
60 = 7185->7245 - MoneySeize
64 = 4553->4617 - Super Stacker 2
64 = 4925->4989 - Tower of Greed
71 = 1669->1740 - DJManiax
73 = 8822->8895 - Super Crazy Guitar Maniac Deluxe 3
80 = 1600->1680 - Ultimate Assassin 3
85 = 7093->7178 - Epic Battle Fantasy 2
88 = 5778->5866 - Elona Shooter
90 = 19296->19386 - The Necronomicon
92 = 9254->9346 - 99 Bricks
94 = 12311->12405 - Monsters' Den
97 = 4044->4141 - MARDEK RPG: Chapter 3
99 = 15751->15850 - Amorphous+
105 = 17596->17701 - Dolphin Olympics 2
108 = 15058->15166 - Super Crazy Guitar Maniac Deluxe 2
109 = 15492->15601 - Streamline
142 = 4466->4608 - Run 2
168 = 25614->25782 - Meat Boy
211 = 5068->5279 - Focus [Recent]
216 = 13844->14060 - Sonny 2
809 = 41260->42069 - Pandemic 2

When started, I updated monthly. I changed to when a new Imp arrived. Then we had a long period without a new Imp so I updated quarterly. I will try to wait for the next Imp; this list is for only 33 days.

I have added suggestions about the most difficult non-Imp Badges to the list. Additions take until the next report to appear, if they are worthy. Except for Tarnation, I will not add 2 Badges for the same game. (The Oroboros Easy has been awarded almost 30K times.)

Topic: Kongregate / Least Earned Impossible Badges - New Stats!

The 10 Least Earned Badges (more than a couple weeks old) are The End [H], The Soul Driver [H], Raze 2 [H], UA3, DJM, Top Defense [H], Vector Stunt [H], Sierra 7 [H], Zening [H], Max Mesiria.

The list is Imps and least earned Hards sorted by number earned from November 22, 2011 to January 5, 2012.

30 = 2933->2963 - Bible Fight [2nd Hard]
32 = 4496->4528 - MechanicalCommando
38 = 10995->11033 - Oroboros [Hard]
39 = 6384->6423 - Breach [Hard]
42 = 3399->3441 - Z-Rox [2nd Hard]
47 = 3363->3410 - colourPod 2: dimensionPod
51 = 4368->4419 - Zunderfury
56 = 3004->3060 - MAD: Mutually Assured Destruction
57 = 980->1037 - The Soul Driver [Hard]
58 = 3545->3603 - Punk-o-matic 2 [2nd Medium]
59 = 2634->2693 - Zening [2nd Hard]
59 = 2719->2778 - Max Mesiria Chp2 RPG
59 = 5128->5187 - Pyro
62 = 4193->4255 - Orbular
63 = 3968->4031 - Fold
65 = 1815->1880 - Top Defense [Hard]
65 = 2262->2327 - Sierra 7 [Hard]
66 = 2829->2895 - Tarnation [Hard]
66 = 2929->2995 - Tarnation [Imp]
67 = 7131->7198 - Gravitee
68 = 884->952 - The End [Hard]
68 = 4485->4553 - Super Stacker 2
68 = 6605->6673 - Dino Run
72 = 5408->5480 - Meat Boy (map pack)
73 = 4852->4925 - Tower of Greed
75 = 4915->4990 - Hexiom
76 = 13641->13717 - Desktop Tower Defense 1.5
79 = 4253->4332 - Balloon Invasion
81 = 4295->4376 - Cell Warfare
87 = 3522->3609 - Frantic
89 = 3311->3400 - Snailiad [Hard]
94 = 4796->4890 - Bubble Tanks Tower Defense
98 = 7898->7996 - Line Game
102 = 7083->7185 - MoneySeize
104 = 5674->5778 - Elona Shooter
109 = 8713->8822 - Super Crazy Guitar Maniac Deluxe 3
112 = 6420->6532 - Warlords: Heroes
113 = 2973->3086 - Sacred Seasons 2 MMORPG [Hard]
114 = 6048->6162 - Vector Runner
122 = 14936->15058 - Super Crazy Guitar Maniac Deluxe 2
124 = 1545->1669 - DJManiax
131 = 3913->4044 - MARDEK RPG: Chapter 3
135 = 4052->4187 - The Space Game: Missions
135 = 9119->9254 - 99 Bricks
144 = 15607->15751 - Amorphous+
145 = 1807->1952 - Vector Stunt [Hard]
145 = 6948->7093 - Epic Battle Fantasy 2
145 = 17451->17596 - Dolphin Olympics 2
154 = 1446->1600 - Ultimate Assassin 3 [Recent]
163 = 12148->12311 - Monsters' Den
163 = 15329->15492 - Streamline
164 = 19132->19296 - The Necronomicon
187 = 4279->4466 - Run 2
260 = 2887->3147 - Knightfall 2 [2nd Hard]
270 = 3992->4262 - Spectromancer: Gamer's Pack [Hard]
273 = 13571->13844 - Sonny 2
286 = 25328->25614 - Meat Boy
312 = 3609->3921 - Santa Rockstar [Hard]
1955 = 39305->41260 - Pandemic 2
4453 = 615->5068 - Focus [New]

I expect the Focus Imp to remain at the bottom of the list. In less than 2 months, the Imp was already awarded more than 19 other Imps. The Badge would have been one of the easier Hards if assigned to the correct category.

I have been manually entering numbers for the over-60 Badges that I'm watching. Many Hards are awarded much less often than many Imps. I may automate the list soon.

Topic: Kongregate / back yard monsters.. badged... wtf greg

Oops. Posted again instead of editing. Tiny “Edit post”, large “Quote post”. Why would I want to quote myself? Might as well use this for the other complaint about the game; this game is not friendly to chatters.

BYM thinks it owns the browser window and randomly reloads the entire page.

Just switching tabs at the top of the game sometimes reloads the page.

The game times out extremely quickly. You can reload just the frame. Right-click in white area near the top, and be careful to choose This Frame – Reload Frame. If you have not given Gifts, because Giving Gifts changes the URL so the frame loads to the Gifts window with no way out.

Sometimes you can click to load a different player’s yard from the bottom list. But sometimes that reloads the page. And sometimes it just reloads to the Timeout screen.

While game loads, the gameroom takes forever to load. The normal chatroom does not start loading until you “Chat action – Switch to chatroom”.

Be prepared to give up chatting while playing BYM.

Topic: Kongregate / back yard monsters.. badged... wtf greg

A friend is in exactly the bad situation I described. She has:
- 20 Shiny (game keeps encouraging spending it so she ran out before realizing its value),
- Town Hall lvl 2,
- maxed Silos, and
- maxed defenses.

She has not been able to start upgrading to Town Hall 3 because several players keep destroying her yard.

The only solution seems to be ignore the yard hoping the attacks stop while trying to collect enough Shiny from mushrooms to someday buy Protection. (Except I think the repairs start automatically so she cannot load the game to collect mushrooms without creating a target for raids.)

This isn’t a “5 minutes per day” player. She is actively playing, except there is nothing left to do. She has been trying to start Town Hall 3 for a week. Other players are making it impossible.

Originally posted by greg:

Regarding the hard badge, yeah, it’s super long. There’s no denying that.

Our bigger goal here was actually to get people to just play the game and see how much the world opens up once you’ve gotten your map room to level 2. The game actually gets pretty interesting — you can build outposts, see a lot more bases, take over new territories, etc. We thought that a hard badge would be a great way to encourage players to get to that point.

The hard badge in Backyard Monsters might take 2 full months to earn, but that just means a few minutes a day. And, as always, the badge is 100% earnable (without even a lot of difficulty) if you don’t spend any money on the game at all. That’s a principle that we have no intention of deviating from.

Originally posted by greg:

I think we’re just going to have to agree to disagree that Backyard Monsters is an idle game. I can definitely understand that point of view, but there are a few key elements that set it apart — you can be attacked by other players and NPCs (thus setting back your resources and making the badge take longer), so building up defenses and deciding where to place those defenses is important.

You can expedite the hard badge by building up an army and attacking other players and NPCs for resources. This at the very least requires some strategy, even if we’re not exactly talking Starcraft here. You can also earn the hard badge faster by planning out which upgrade path is most efficient (which carries a bit of risk, as it means putting fewer resources into defensive structures).

You can also work with other players to gift resources, speed up upgrades, and form alliances.

Again, I understand that there’s a lot of waiting around, but my point is that Backyard Monsters is undeniably a game, which is more than can be said of the pure-form idle genre.

Greg, Your goals failed.

No amount of defenses can survive repeated attacks. I reached Kozu level 6 with just many waves of 30 Octos in each wave. The game is very biased in favor of attackers. Thirty Octos can kill anything less than a Laser, which she cannot build. If I remember correctly, I could send a wave every 15 minutes with just one factory.

She can receive one random Gift per day. She needs 2 resources to start Town Hall 3. Each Gift will have been raided before she gets another.

Other players cannot help a building until it is started. She cannot start it.

If she averages 10 Shiny per day from mushrooms (much higher than I’ve received), she needs to login 23 days just to buy a Week Protection. Playing constantly and perfectly for that week, she might start upgrading to Town Hall 6. Then she needs to collect mushrooms for another month before she can start upgrading to Map Room 2

Signing in every day for 2 months to collect mushrooms is not fun. She might need another month if she doesn’t play 24×7 during the Protection.

Topic: Kongregate / Game Chat Rooms should have active mods 24/7

1. Mods are volunteers. There is little they are required to do. Mostly they are targets for chatters wanting to vent. Whether from stupidity or insanity, Mods have chosen to spend their entertainment time being abused. (To be polite, assume they are insane until proven wrong.)

2. Mods have little power. They can force someone to switch accounts. And, umm, that’s it. (Room Owners can also change the Room Description!)

3. Kong does not have enough active Mods to have a Mod in more than half the English rooms at one time. Kong also has gamerooms and rooms for other languages to dissipate more. If a Mod does visit your room, be nice to them and hope they stay.

The Mod system was designed when Kong had very few chatrooms. It was obsolete years ago. It is unlikely to change.

Forget about Mods. Use the Mute function. Often.

Topic: Kongregate / back yard monsters.. badged... wtf greg

The fundamental problem is that strategy MMOs do not work.
They can be competitive; but the player who has played the most (usually joining the server early) and/or spent the most real money will win.
Or they are not competitive, and are just a building sim.

Backyard Monsters would be a building sim if the upgrade paths were not so limited.

Greg’s defense is that the game allows players to interact. A malicious player can keep other players from getting the Hard Badge for a very long time by continously destroying their yards. I fail to understand how this is an advantage over a normal idle game. This is the only game I have seen designed to discourage new players.

Five minutes each day would not get the Hard Badge. Each day you start by waiting an hour repairing everything that was destroyed. Then you can start upgrades.

To avoid this:

1. Take advantage of the 7-day New Player Protection. Many players look at the game, see that it is boring and time-consuming, and decide to wait until they have time to dedicate to it. The New Player Protection timer starts from that first look so their base is destroyed and without protection when they return.

2. Don’t waste Shiny during the Tutorial; you can wait for the free rush job when under 5 minutes. Buy the 2nd and 3rd Workers. When the New Player Protection ends, buy 1-Day Protection. When that ends, buy 7-day Protection. That gives 15 days before getting attacked. You might even get enough Shiny from Mushrooms to buy the 1-day Protection again.

3. Ignore defenses except the instant-build Snipers and Cannons. You will be attacked twice. The first attack is during the Tutorial. The second is 15 Brains on Day 4. Without any defenses, you lose 1 hour (up to 3 worker-hours) for repairs, much less time than building a good defense. After the Day 4 attack, completely ignore defenses. (The Brains attack from the bottom. Put a few harvesters between the Snipers and Cannons near the bottom to take little damage.)

4. The goal is Town Hall 6, which requires more storage than you can build with Town Hall 4. Keep building and upgrading the Town Hall and Silos whenever you can. Keep destroying the Kozu to get to Kozu level 6 so you can easily fill your Silos. Just spam Octos. Build and upgrade Housing for more Octos per wave. If the Kozu are not on the list, destroy the Town Hall of the easiest Wild to get the Kozu to return.

I reached Kozu 6 on Day 5 before Town Hall 5. In Kozu 6’s yard, the bottom-right Silo protected by one Sniper gives 600-800K Twigs, 600-800K Pebbles, and 300K Goo, enough to overflow maxed Silos.

5. Once you start Town Hall 6, you need to log in 4 times:
a. Buy 1-Day Protection when New Player Protection ends
b. Buy 7-day Protection when 1-Day Protection ends
c. Upgrade the Map Room when Town Hall 6 is upgraded
d. Get the Hard Badge when Map Rooom is upgraded

Topic: Kongregate / Least Earned Impossible Badges - New Stats!

Focus was Badged with an Imp today. Already 615 earned.

The 12 least earned Badges (not including Focus) are The End [Hard], The Soul Driver [Hard], UA3 [Imp], DJManiax [Imp], Vector Stunt [Hard], Top Defense [Hard], Sierra 7 [Hard], Zening [Hard], Max Mesiria [Imp], Tarnation [Hard], Knightfall 2 [Hard], Tarnation [Imp]

"The End" is added to my records for possible inclusion. My records for Bible Fight and Knightfall 2 were incorrect and excluded from this update.

The Imps and least earned Hards sorted by number earned from October 5 to November 22, 2011.

26 = 2608->2634 - Zening [2nd Hard]
48 = 3351->3399 - Z-Rox [Hard]
48 = 4448->4496 - MechanicalCommando
51 = 3312->3363 - colourPod 2: dimensionPod
53 = 3492->3545 - Punk-o-matic 2 [2nd Medium]
54 = 5074->5128 - Pyro
58 = 5350->5408 - Meat Boy (map pack)
60 = 2659->2719 - Max Mesiria Chp2 RPG
63 = 2941->3004 - MAD: Mutually Assured Destruction
63 = 4232->4295 - Cell Warfare
67 = 2762->2829 - Tarnation [Hard]
67 = 4301->4368 - Zunderfury
68 = 2861->2929 - Tarnation [Imp]
68 = 3454->3522 - Frantic
68 = 4125->4193 - Orbular
71 = 4414->4485 - Super Stacker 2
78 = 2895->2973 - Sacred Seasons 2 MMORPG [Hard]
79 = 3889->3968 - Fold
79 = 3973->4052 - The Space Game: Missions
80 = 3529->3609 - Santa Rockstar [Hard]
81 = 2181->2262 - Sierra 7 [Hard]
84 = 4169->4253 - Balloon Invasion
85 = 7046->7131 - Gravitee
94 = 4821->4915 - Hexiom
97 = 7801->7898 - Line Game
98 = 6507->6605 - Dino Run
107 = 5941->6048 - Vector Runner
109 = 8604->8713 - Super Crazy Guitar Maniac Deluxe 3
111 = 6972->7083 - Moneyseize
119 = 1696->1815 - Top Defense [Hard]
120 = 860->980 - The Soul Driver [Hard]
124 = 3187->3311 - Snailiad [Hard]
124 = 4728->4852 - Tower of Greed
126 = 1419->1545 - DJManiax
131 = 12017->12148 - Monsters' Den
134 = 14802->14936 - Super Crazy Guitar Maniac Deluxe 2
143 = 8976->9119 - 99 Bricks
155 = 17296->17451 - Dolphin Olympics 2
157 = 3756->3913 - MARDEK RPG: Chapter 3
158 = 13483->13641 - Desktop Tower Defense 1.5
165 = 18967->19132 - The Necronomicon
167 = 15440->15607 - Amorphous+
191 = 15138->15329 - Streamline
203 = 1243->1446 - Ultimate Assassin 3 [Recent]
212 = 4584->4796 - Bubble Tanks Tower Defense
242 = 5432->5674 - Elona Shooter
255 = 6165->6420 - Warlords: Heroes
258 = 13313->13571 - Sonny 2
283 = 25045->25328 - Meat Boy
312 = 6636->6948 - Epic Battle Fantasy 2
512 = 3767->4279 - Run 2
663 = 1144->1807 - Vector Stunt [Hard]
1074 = 38231->39305 - Pandemic 2

Topic: Kongregate / Least Earned Impossible Badges - New Stats!

The Imps sorted by number earned from June 30 to October 5, 2011.
This thread is the most difficult Badges; all Imps plus least earned Hards. The last update was when UA3 was Badged; no Imps released since then. Fantasy Online fell off the list. Eight recent games are being tracked as possible additions.

41 = 2900->2941 - MAD: Mutually Assured Destruction
53 = 3836->3889 - Fold
56 = 4392->4448 - MechanicalCommando
60 = 4172->4232 - Cell Warfare
63 = 2596->2659 - Max Mesiria Chp2 RPG
66 = 2795->2861 - Tarnation [Imp]
66 = 3285->3351 - Z-Rox [Hard]
72 = 3240->3312 - colourPod 2: dimensionPod
74 = 2688->2762 - Tarnation [Hard]
75 = 3379->3454 - Frantic
82 = 2526->2608 - Zening [Hard]
106 = 4063->4169 - Balloon Invasion
107 = 4018->4125 - Orbular
110 = 7691->7801 - Line Game
117 = 3856->3973 - The Space Game: Missions
121 = 6925->7046 - Gravitee
138 = 4446->4584 - Bubble Tanks Tower Defense
140 = 4274->4414 - Super Stacker 2
144 = 4677->4821 - Hexiom
145 = 4929->5074 - Pyro
148 = 4580->4728 - Tower of Greed
155 = 5195->5350 - Meat Boy (map pack)
158 = 2860->3018 - Bible Fight [2nd Hard]
163 = 8441->8604 - Super Crazy Guitar Maniac Deluxe 3
165 = 5776->5941 - Vector Runner
183 = 2712->2895 - Sacred Seasons 2 MMORPG [Hard]
188 = 4113->4301 - Zunderfury
189 = 1230->1419 - DJManiax
191 = 1990->2181 - Sierra 7 [Hard]
201 = 5231->5432 - Elona Shooter
204 = 2721->2925 - Knightfall 2 [Hard]
207 = 13276->13483 - Desktop Tower Defense 1.5
220 = 5945->6165 - Warlords: Heroes
231 = 3525->3756 - MARDEK RPG: Chapter 3
241 = 11776->12017 - Monsters' Den
248 = 6724->6972 - Moneyseize
250 = 8726->8976 - 99 Bricks
282 = 6225->6507 - Dino Run
283 = 6353->6636 - Epic Battle Fantasy 2
317 = 16979->17296 - Dolphin Olympics 2
358 = 14444->14802 - Super Crazy Guitar Maniac Deluxe 2
360 = 14778->15138 - Streamline
393 = 3374->3767 - Run 2 [New]
434 = 15006->15440 - Amorphous+
533 = 12780->13313 - Sonny 2
543 = 18424->18967 - The Necronomicon
921 = 24124->25045 - Meat Boy
1243 = 0->1243 - Ultimate Assassin 3 [New]
2279 = 35952->38231 - Pandemic 2

EDIT: To avoid this thread being filled with suggestions, I check the Least Awarded list, add a few Hards to my spreadsheet, and see if they are still there when I make the next list. These Hards were added this update: Call of Gods, Punk-o-matic 2, The Soul Driver, Top Defense, Vector Stunt, Santa Rockstar, Spectromancer, and Snailiad. Whether any are added to the list depends on whether people don't earn them.

Topic: Kongregate / Improving the Badges and Contests system

Today (July 28) we received another example of why this system is needed. Zombotron was published 2 days ago (July 26) and just received Badges. The dev also updated it today. The game is still buggy. The instructions neglect mentioning a mouse is required. Clicking “Main Menu” (which is bottom center where the “Play” button belongs) opens to nothing; need to refresh. The player can easily get stuck either landing in a bad location or from an elevator getting destroyed. (I have only played 2 levels. The bugs are too obvious for the game to have been tested at all.)

The Badges will bring many players. They will encounter the bugs and rate it down. The dev is scrambling to fix it. The game will be in the Weekly Contest for 5 days and have Badges for 3 of the days. It will be in the Monthly Contest for only 6 days. At the moment, the game is winning both the Weekly Contest and the Monthly Contest.

For the Weekly Contest, only top 3 win money. The current contestants are:

1. July 26 Badges
2. July 25 (Only sends one statistic: Game Completed)
3. July 25 Badges
4. July 25 Walkthrough for #2
5. July 28 (Disqualified because doesn’t use Kong API)
6. July 24 (Rating is just below Badge threshold. Already updated 3 times.)

For the Monthly Contest, top 9 win money. The current contestants are:

1. July 26 Badges
2. July 14 Badges
3. July 25 (Only sends one statistic: Game Completed)
4. July 25 Badges
5. July 8 (Disqualified because doesn’t use Kong API)
6. July 4 Badges
7. July 9 (Disqualified because doesn’t use Kong API)
8. July 8 Badges
9. July 25 Walkthrough for #3

Using my system, the dev would have a chance to fix the bugs before Zombotron entered next week’s Weekly Contest. The game would very likely be in the September Monthly Contest. Then receive Badges in early October, hopefully after all bugs were fixed. All games in the Contests would be available for the entire Contest.

Topic: Kongregate / Improving the Badges and Contests system

@Maiko You mostly agreed with me, and most of your concerns were assuming parts would be implemented separately. I presented the system as a single post with the assumption that all parts would be implemented simultaneously.

Under this system, players could gain points by rating games in the current contests without seeing any rating. A point-collector giving the same rating to all would not affect the results much. Even a few players rating randomly would have little impact since the number of ratings will increase. The purpose is keeping awareness of the better games for an additional week rather than allowing a game rated 3.69 to disappear after 2 days and a few hundred plays.

About the promoted games not being in the Contests: A publisher willing to advertise a game or use it in a promotion is unlikely to be concerned with the possible $1750 from the two Contests. If it is a concern, waiting two months should not be an issue. If it is not a concern, like a Kong game being part of a large-budget marketing campaign for a movie or non-Kong game, disqualifying it gives better odds to other developers.

it would be very easy to predict that what games you can prebadge. This takes all excitement from prebadging games

I have no care about prebadging games. Only players with (almost) all the Badges should even think about playing games hoping they will get Badges. This system is not designed to Badge more games or even change which games get Badges. That may happen, but only because many members rating over a week will give more accurate results than Badging a game released yesterday with 300 plays.

The purpose is to stop wasting money. Give the Contests a purpose. The purpose with this system is to maintain awareness of decent new games longer. Players (including the majority who have not registered) looking for variety gain two lists. Members would be encouraged to rate with the extra points (up to 250 per month, which is little compared to gaining all the Badge of the Day or just rating games every day for a week.)

Topic: Kongregate / Dinowaurs

Dinowaurs is broken. You cannot be Matched with other players on Kong. Until that is fixed, Dinowaurs cannot be the BotD.
If you want the Badges, the solution is here:
http://www.kongregate.com/forums/7/topics/137115

Topic: Kongregate / Least Earned Impossible Badges - New Stats!

The Imps sorted by number earned from March 23 to June 30, 2011.
Ultimate Assassin 3 was Badged with an Imp today; no Badges awarded yet.
The Fantasy Online Hard gained 1645 for 5224 total awarded; graduated from the list.
The Hards for Sierra 7 and Knightfall 2 may enter the next list.
The Least Earned Badges in order are DJManiax Imp, Sierra 7 Hard, Zening Hard, MaxMesiria2 Imp, Tarnation Hard, SS2 MMORPG Hard, Knightfall2, Tarnation Imp, Bible Fight Hard, MAD Imp.

48 = 2852->2900 - MAD: Mutually Assured Destruction
52 = 4340->4392 - MechanicalCommando
58 = 4114->4172 - Cell Warfare
60 = 2800->2860 - Bible Fight [2nd Hard]
60 = 3180->3240 - colourPod 2: dimensionPod
62 = 3317->3379 - Frantic
74 = 3762->3836 - Fold
83 = 2513->2596 - Max Mesiria Chp2 RPG
83 = 2712->2795 - Tarnation [Imp]
84 = 2442->2526 - Zening [Hard]
84 = 2604->2688 - Tarnation [Hard]
88 = 4186->4274 - Super Stacker 2
89 = 4024->4113 - Zunderfury
99 = 3919->4018 - Orbular
109 = 7582->7691 - Line Game
110 = 4819->4929 - Pyro
126 = 3937->4063 - Balloon Invasion
131 = 4546->4677 - Hexiom
132 = 6793->6925 - Gravitee
162 = 4284->4446 - Bubble Tanks Tower Defense
163 = 5032->5195 - Meat Boy (map pack)
167 = 3689->3856 - The Space Game: Missions
170 = 8271->8441 - Super Crazy Guitar Maniac Deluxe 3
177 = 4403->4580 - Tower of Greed
179 = 11597->11776 - Monsters' Den
185 = 6040->6225 - Dino Run
193 = 5583->5776 - Vector Runner
212 = 13064->13276 - Desktop Tower Defense 1.5
227 = 6497->6724 - Moneyseize
239 = 2473->2712 - Sacred Seasons 2 MMORPG [Hard]
242 = 3043->3285 - Z-Rox [Hard]
248 = 8478->8726 - 99 Bricks
251 = 4980->5231 - Elona Shooter
268 = 5677->5945 - Warlords: Heroes
272 = 14172->14444 - Super Crazy Guitar Maniac Deluxe 2
280 = 950->1230 - DJManiax [Almost new]
282 = 6071->6353 - Epic Battle Fantasy 2
312 = 3213->3525 - MARDEK RPG: Chapter 3
340 = 18084->18424 - The Necronomicon
388 = 16591->16979 - Dolphin Olympics 2
507 = 14499->15006 - Amorphous+
663 = 23461->24124 - Meat Boy
756 = 12024->12780 - Sonny 2
1557 = 13221->14778 - Streamline
2372 = 33580->35952 - Pandemic 2
3374 = 0->3374 - Run 2 [New]

The April 3 to June 9, 2010 list starts 105 MAD, 108 MechanicalCommando, 114 colourPod2, 119 Fold, 127 Frantic. For these 5 games, 573 were awarded in 67 days (8.5/day) last year compared to 296 in this 99 day period (3/day). This could be from less interest in getting Imps, but is likely because these frame-based games' difficulty depends on computer speed (more difficult on faster computers.)

Topic: Kongregate / Improving the Badges and Contests system

@pinkandblue:
Yes, Kong is about money. Kong pays $88,000 per year in prize money plus administrative costs for a system that has no benefits.

@GhostlyGamer
The current points system encourages people to rate games and discourages playing games before rating them. A pretty menu screen with obvious Mute and Upgrade buttons will get rated well even if the game is no fun. I estimate one-third the good games get Badged and about one-half the Badged games are fun. Some good games may not be Badged because the developer did not implement the Kong Statistics API, but most are because the rating was not high enough.

At the moment, the most recently Badged games are:
- a game that is all work, no challenge, no fun. I do not understand why it was rated well.
- a game requiring grinding for upgrades before having fun. The game would be more fun without the upgrade system, but would it have been rated as high?
- a sequel that will win this Monthly Contest and cannot be differentiated from the original. This game also has a grinding upgrades system.

I tried checking if the game had just won the Weekly contest or whether the original had previously won either contest. The current Contest program is so purposeless that Kong does not even list previous winners.

Topic: Kongregate Multiplayer Games / LETS BRING DINOWAURS BACK TO LIFE

Figured out how Ranked Matches (don’t) work. See:
http://www.kongregate.com/forums/7-technical-support/topics/137115-dinowaurs-ranked-matches-do-not-work

Topic: Technical Support / Dinowaurs: Ranked Matches do not work

Ranked Matches do not work between players on Kong. We can play against players on other websites. Dinowaurs is on New Grounds:
http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/493489

You can play against yourself by opening the game here and on New Grounds. You do not need a New Grounds account; the game works fine playing as a guest. The fastest way to get DNA is for a friendly opponent to use the flamethrower to burn their own towns. You get 1 DNA per kill and 40 DNA for winning. Working together, you can win in under 2 minutes.

My guess is the server is supposed to prevent playing Ranked Matches against yourself, but instead of checking players’ IP addresses, the server checks the Web servers’ IP addresses. So you can play against yourself using different websites, but you cannot play against players on the same website that you are on.

Topic: Technical Support / How do i take a game off my account?

If your game is much better, you should upload it as a new game so the published date is recent so it appears on “New Games” and the rating is reset. Uploading over your old game will not generate many plays. Games over a week old that aren’t rated high enough to get Badged are pretty much lost. Their only purpose is to add the “41,307 FREE GAMES!” over the logo.

I updated the one game I’ve published a few times. All the updates have not generated as many plays as any new game gets on the first day. I didn’t want multiple versions of the same game on my profile, and hope the (very different) sequel will generate more interest someday.

Topic: Kongregate Multiplayer Games / LETS BRING DINOWAURS BACK TO LIFE

Ranked Matches have not worked since January 2010 (based on Comments and Shouts on dev’s profile.) Over 20 people in 4 chatrooms all tried to start Ranked Match in January 2011 with none starting. A few minor efforts (4-7 players) since then have also failed.

If you get Ranked Matches to work even once, let me know and we’ll swarm the game.

Topic: Kongregate / Nerdook games

@nerdook, Get good testers to tell you the problems before uploading to Kong, like:
- Needs more obvious instructions. I am annoyingly observant and rarely figure out how to play your games.
- No challenge: just play until you have all the upgrades and win. I just click or press keys until the Badges appear. If you can win by losing (Necronator, Orbital Onslaught), the game isn’t challenging.

I have every Badge for all your games. I’m certain VDH has much depth that I didn’t notice, and I didn’t need to figure it out. IAARIA may not be salvageable; the concept was “play until you have all upgrades” and the play was mostly clicking all the robots.

Even one good tester will make the games much better. The process will delay each release, but you can work on multiple games so your overall production isn’t slowed. Be ready to discard or redesign a game if testers say it isn’t fun.

My sequel was playable over a year ago, then started testing. The first change removed my favorite feature. Then we started adding new features to make it fun. We constantly balance the game to keep it challenging and trying to make each wave more difficult than the last. (Just completed “Splitter Pals” – many later levels were much easier than earlier levels.) We recently made a change that removes the impact of many other features. Each change restarts the testing process. I could easily have released last year, but the game will be much better when it is finally released.

“won sponsorship from Kong”: Cluesweeper wasn’t sponsored, but hasn’t every game since been sponsored by Kong?

I don’t care about graphics as long as they don’t interfere with the game. Pixelated graphics like Dino Run are fine if the game works. At the other end is the very beautiful Zening; waiting for the graphics and cutscenes makes the game too slow to enjoy. I stopped creating games because I can’t create graphics in any reasonable time and can’t find someone else to create them, and the next games I want to start need animation.

I am not trying to discourage you. Your games have very few bugs. The graphics work. Just have someone check that the instructions are where they will be found, needed information is where it can be found, and something is challenging besides guessing the instructions. None of this is necessary for Kong. Enough people rate games before playing that ratings rarely reflect anything other than prettiness of the first screen or popularity of the developer.

Topic: Kongregate / Nerdook games

rudy_sudarto had a good game idea and made it into a long grind. (Was the idea just expanding Age of War? Or did someone else create the “both sides send troops” Defense genre first?) Several sequels with slight variations have been Badged. The graphics are beautiful. Thinking about strategy is usually required during the first and last few levels of each game. (Did anybody win the poster contest?) He has uploaded many other games that didn’t receive Badges and I haven’t played.

nerdook has bad game ideas and makes them into short grinds. The graphics are cheesy enough to make mine look good. Any thinking is trying to figure out how to play because the instructions are either missing or hidden. (In his latest “Orbital Onslaught”, each unit is described once, then the description cannot be seen again.) Lucky for us, getting the Badges does not require any understanding about how to play the games. Players can always just grind. Strategy is either obvious or unneeded.

nerdook did publish one good game. I praised “Cluesweeper” when it was released. Maybe because Cluesweeper and Steambirds ended a 3-month drought of good games gettin Badged, interrupted only by the very buggy BTTD. (Scary when the game remembered as best for a period froze often and wouldn’t end a level with no visible enemies remaining after playing for over an hour.)

Cluesweeper won sponsorship from Kong. nerdook realized that quantity pays better than quality. We’ve been afflicted with Badges on all 10 games he’s published since.

P.S. I define “grind” as a game of repeating the same actions without thinking or skill. DTMD is a grind that only took 15 minutes. The only thoughts I had while playing were “A column of pink repulsing blocks prevents losing” and later, “Oh. I’m supposed to click on the ghosts.”

Topic: Technical Support / Art refuses to be rated more than one star

Started rating art in the Arts & Sounds section. Gave 3 stars to each of 3 pictures. Noticed that the third only showed one star. Checked the others. All 3 showed that I had given one star. Clicking says I updated the rating, but they remained one star no matter what I chose or how often I refreshed.

Tried changing ratings and setting new ratings (using IE on a 4th picture) with these browsers:
Mozilla 3.6.16
Internet Explorer 8.0.6001

Rating games works fine.

P.S. Fix Dinowaurs

Topic: Kongregate / Least Earned Impossible Badges - New Stats!

The Imps sorted by number earned from January 1 to March 23, 2011.
DJManiax gained an Imp on Jan 17; 950 awarded.
Run 2 gained an Imp a few minutes ago; 0 awarded.
Excluding Badges released since the last report, the Least Earned Badges in order are Zening Hard, SS2MMORPG Hard, MaxMesiria Imp, Tarnation Hard, Tarnation Imp, Bible Fight Hard, Z-Rox Hard, colourPod Imp.

113 = 2739->2852 - MAD
115 = 4225->4340 - MechanicalCommando
123 = 2677->2800 - Bible Fight [2nd Hard]
129 = 3051->3180 - colourPod2
129 = 3895->4024 - Zunderfury
129 = 4690->4819 - Pyro
130 = 3984->4114 - Cell Warfare
133 = 2309->2442 - Zening [Hard]
134 = 3183->3317 - Frantic
150 = 3612->3762 - Fold
158 = 2554->2712 - Tarnation [Imp]
166 = 2347->2513 - MaxMesiria2
166 = 2438->2604 - Tarnation [Hard]
167 = 4865->5032 - Meat Boy (map pack)
172 = 6621->6793 - Gravitee
176 = 4370->4546 - Hexiom
181 = 4005->4186 - Super Stacker 2
182 = 8089->8271 - Super Crazy Guitar Maniac Deluxe 3
184 = 7398->7582 - Line Game
186 = 3733->3919 - Orbular
192 = 3745->3937 - Balloon Invasion
214 = 5826->6040 - Dino Run
253 = 4031->4284 - Bubble Tanks Tower Defense
261 = 3428->3689 - The Space Game: Missions
271 = 5406->5677 - Warlords: Heroes
273 = 4130->4403 - Tower of Greed
276 = 6221->6497 - Moneyseize
277 = 5306->5583 - Vector Runner
294 = 5777->6071 - Epic Battle Fantasy 2
308 = 13864->14172 - Super Crazy Guitar Maniac Deluxe 2
310 = 4670->4980 - Elona Shooter
314 = 11283->11597 - Monsters' Den
352 = 8126->8478 - 99 Bricks
404 = 12660->13064 - DesktopTD 1.5
412 = 2801->3213 - MARDEK RPG: Chapter 3
412 = 16179->16591 - Dolphin Olympics 2
433 = 2040->2473 - Sacred Seasons 2 MMORPG [Hard]
447 = 17637->18084 - The Necronomicon
460 = 12761->13221 - Streamline
472 = 14027->14499 - Amorphous+
672 = 11352->12024 - Sonny 2
727 = 22734->23461 - Meat Boy
935 = 2644->3579 - Fantasy Online [Hard]
1938 = 31642->33580 - Pandemic 2

2011-04-02 EDIT: Corrected numbers and placement of colourPod2 in list.

Topic: Kongregate / Improving the Badges and Contests system

Re: New Servers – While the programming of this system is trivial, using it would require a little more processing. As the Unachieved Badges filter demonstrates, the old servers cannot handle even the current functions. I timed making this proposal for when our new overlords may be seeking to improve Kong and migrating to the new servers creates an opportunity to make large changes.

@GHEZ119: This does not propose to change the Contest payouts – just hide the ratings and include more games on the Contest page during the contests. And include games that have been published earlier. The current system includes new games immediately. Using the current system, a game published now (January 29) is included in this week’s Weekly Contest ending today and the January Monthly Contest ending in 2 days. My proposed system might enter the game in the Weekly Contest for February 6-12 and the March Monthly Contest. This makes the contests more fair, and allows games to remain in players’ awareness longer.

@Danaroth: Kong is not about having the latest games. Kong is about having any game that any developer feels like uploading. Most of the famous publishers release on their own sites first. Many non-famous publishers only publish here. And a few became famous here and still publish here first. Kong will never be marketed as the website for the latest hits. It is marketed as the website for having many games that cannot be found on other portals. Allowing good games to be promoted longer fits Kong’s purpose. Increasing the number of recent games from ~15 on the New Games page and 5 on the homepage to those plus 50 on each Contest page increases Kong’s revenues as the number of recent games people see increases from ~20 to ~120 for more playing and more ad revenues.

Topic: Kongregate / Improving the Badges and Contests system

The goal of Badges and Contests should be to keep good games getting played.

Badges and Contests lower ratings. They gain plays, but the larger audience includes many players who are not in each game’s target audience. Contests also lower ratings as people try to make their favorite game win by voting others down. The goal of Badges should be to increase playing of older games without corrupting the contests. High ratings can help keep good games getting played, but should be ignored after Badges are assigned. A game rated 2.5 with one Badge will be played more than an unBadged game rated 3.5. The current system gives incredible importance to the first day of ratings – games rated under 3.5 after the first 48 hours are buried forever.

Here is a different system. All numbers may need adjustment as I do not have any historical data.

Initially, games get published. People play them from the New Games list. No additional promotion is needed.

The Weekly Contest page shows up to 50 games at least 7 days old with at least 200 plays that have not qualified for another Weekly Contest. Each game is qualified for one Weekly Contest – the next contest after it passes 200 plays. Rating should be hidden during the contest. Rating games in the contest earns 2 points, or 1 extra if someone rated a game before the contest.

The Monthly Contest page shows up to 50 games with at least 500 plays that were not qualified for another Monthly Contest and released before the start of the current Weekly contest. Each game is qualified for only one Monthly Contest – the first contest after it passes 500 plays. Hide the current ratings at the start of the contest. Rating these games during the contest earns 2 points, or 1 if someone has already rated them.
[EDIT: Was 3 points, but bonus point should be received for voting during Weekly AND Monthly contests. The extra point should encourage voting on both.]

The minimum rating for each contest should be the higher of 3.00 or the rating of the 51st qualified game plus 0.01.

The current Contest pages should show games not rated by this player for this contest in random order, followed by the games rated by this player with highest rating first. The “current rating” on those games’ pages should change to “In Weekly Contest” or “In Monthly Contest”.

A good solution to handle ratings dropping is to use the best rating a game had after the moment it was qualified for the Weekly Contest, which guarantees the game has been published for at least one week and had over 200 plays. Every quarter, the “top rating” of games over 3 months old can be lowered 0.1, but not below the current real rating, to keep ancient games from dominating the Top Rated list.

Badges (and Challenges) should only be given to games no longer qualified for the contests. The top winner of the Weekly Contest, the top 3 monthly contest winners, and any game no longer qualified for the Monthly Contest with a rating over 3.5 should be Badged. With much adjusting for the game, games rated 3.5-3.8 get 1 Easy or Medium Badge; games rated 3.8-3.9 can get 2 Badges, and games rated over 4.0 can have up to 4 Badges. If using the “highest rating achieved” system, the minimum rating for Badges should be much higher.

Any game advertised on Kong is disqualified from the contests. A few games have been Badged or became a Challenge on the day of release; I assume this happened due to contracts with the publishers or an overeager Badge-assigner. Publishers can choose the immediate boost in plays or wait until the game is no longer qualified for the contests.

Review for developers:
1. Publish a game.
2. At 7+ days, game may be entered in Weekly Contest.
3. At 21+ days, game may be entered in Monthly Contest
4. At 22+ days, game may enter the Badge assignment process. A game could enter the process at 22 days if the lowest rating needed for the Monthly Contest is below the minimum rating to be assigned Badges. If in the Monthly Contest, the process cannot start until at least 50 days.

Topic: Technical Support / Dinowaurs: Ranked Matches do not work

Dinowaurs is a Kong Premium Game with 4 Badges requiring winning Ranked Matches. Entering “Ranked Matches” stays on the “auto-matching” screen forever. Complaints on the developer’s profile suggest this has been a problem for over a year. Today, a dozen players entered Ranked Match at the same time without any starting. Please fix the game. Or fix the Badges so they can be gained from unranked matches.

Topic: Technical Support / Achieved Badges are appearing as Unachieved

Previously earned Badges are disappearing. You know you earned it, but they show as Unearned. They still appear as earned on your Points page if you page back to when you earned it. If you earn them again, they will move on the Points page from when you originally earned them to the the current date.

I lost and re-earned the IntoSpace Hard. Other chatters lost more Badges.