Event ranks & timezones

Calhoun

Events end at 3-4am on a Tuesday in my timezone. I have never finished in the top 1,500 in 18 months of playing, and am usually content to finish in the 2000ish range.

In the last event, I had a genuine go at a high rank, spending most of it in the top-600. When I went to bed, five hours before the event ended, I was at 703. I woke up expecting to get a copy of Dexa - only to find that I was ranked over 1,600.

It feels like a massive disadvantage to not be playing in the last few hours of an event, as your score can be targeted - people can score just a few more points to pull ahead.

I can't help but feel disillusioned and wonder if it's ever worth making such an effort again. It's magnified by the fact Gauntlet is about to get worse for me from Sunday (moving from an 11am to a 10am finish), meaning I'm unlikely to have any chance of winning that for the next six months.

I know the disadvantage at least in respect of Gauntlet has been raised before, and TP showed no interest in addressing it, so I don't hold much hope it'd change. A mini-event would be a great chance to have different times, but those don't seem to be of interest either.

For those in a similar situation - do you still manage to get a decent rank despite this disadvantage?

WaldoMag

Let me say you don't look at rank but score. You need to decide that in the past 600k might make top 1500. But, with knew rank reward system, you might need to play to 675k points to be in top 1500. Basically, you need to pick some score.

I am sure you will get better info on this from other posters.

Zombie Squirrel

Main player base of the game is situated in North America and Europe,
so thats where the priorities lay.

Totally get, that it feels like an disadvantage, though. But there is no solution.

HaBlack

This happens for Galaxy and Skirmish, but not so for Faction.

And like WaldoMag said, you have to pick score to beat. If you estimated correctly you will scire above rank 1500

Team Zero

I understand what you're saying, but I'm in the UK and work for a living, I can do factions to some extent on my phone during the day, but usually miss a an hour or three. Skirmish and Galaxy are out of the question during my working day (not least due to my eyesight!) so I get 3/4 hours when the event starts on Thursday, then 3/4 hours on the Friday (not going to lose sleep over a game!), I then get Saturday and Sunday to play (RL permitting) and nothing on a Monday (get up at 4:30am go to work, get home after the event has finished past 5pm UK).

If you want to place top 1500/top 750/ better then you need to understand where you have to be to get in those slots. I gambled on 880VP in this last event for top 750, I had the time (Sat/Sun) and the chrons to hit 1m VP, didn't do it, didn't get x2, but knew I was comfortable for top 1500.

I lose basically 2 days play in each event, but in the 2 days that I do have I can hit threshold every time and know what I have to do if I want the gold (don't always want it), having the time to do so is a seperate issue.

Definite advantage to those, wherever they are in the World, that can put themselves in a challenging position over the first 84-90 hours and manage their position in the last few. You need to manage you time, resources and goals differently if you want to acheive those goals.

Bottom line is that if you want the gold you either do more when you're awake or set the alarm for 1am and give up sleep for it.

StephLovesVoyager

@Calhoun I reckon I'm in your timezone too, I go to bed Monday night & wake up Tuesday morning to find out what goodies I've won (usually not much).

I never worried about it previously until I realised recently I could rank high in a Galaxy. The decision for me then beomes - do I stay up late to keep playing and reduce that 6-hour gap to 3, or do I go to bed at the 6-hour mark and set an alarm to get up in the middle of the night to make it right to the end? If it's a Janeway event I'll probably stay up all night anyway 😎

I feel like it's just part of the game being a global mobile game, and someone somewhere will always be disadvantaged by timezones. Even in the "right" timezone there'll be players working shifts or doing other similar activities that would prevent them from playing right to the end. It becomes a part of your strategy and play style.

This Sisko1

Yeah always work on hitting point totals. For example, I would aim for 700,000 in a galaxy for top 1500 before the updated rewards. So plan on hitting above that or use the strategy of saving your rares and staying as high as you can, then cash them in before bed.

Factions are a little easier cause you can figure how many shuttles you are in front of people and then figure out how many they need to catch you. With that timezone, maybe 16 shuttles ahead? 8 for the double up, 4 for the morning of completion, and 4 uses of tokens.

Being on the west coast, I hate 9am phase changes.

EnderW

It's worth keeping in mind this last event was very blood-bathy, because Dexa is an objectively good card. I know I had to put in more work than I thought I would need to stay where I placed (mid-300s). And unfortunately, placement in Galaxy events can change radically in the last few hours, between making VP right up till the end and waiting to turn in SRs in the last hour (both of which I know I did). To OP's original point, not sure how it could be changed, as the events are global; living in the Eastern USA, events ending at noon, while juggling a job, aren't always easy either.

One suggestion, which I realize is not workable for everyone, is to prioritize events you are really interested in, and stay up till those end. I realize staying up till 3 or 4am isn't for everyone, but it is a possible solution. If you do it once a month (or once every 2 or 3 months), that wouldn't necessarily be detrimental.

(HGH)Apollo

This last event was crazy. I went to bed at 340 and woke up five hrs later at 738 and had to run hard last twenty min. I dropped much more than I do regularly. It definitely stinks the time zones put some users at a big disadvantage. I have advocated for a rolling start and stop time but I guess TP cannot do that because hey have to be online for it. I also think an extra point payout for other time zone people might help but not sure how they would balance it.

SSR Barkley

It definitely helps to shoot for a specific score, not rank. if you look at some of the historical scores , then add about 20-25% of that score for cards that are more popular or better statistically, then you have an idea of what score to aim for. this way, "time" doesn't affect you.

in galaxies, you will often see a player jump out to a score of, say, 800k on the first few hours and then they don't move the rest of the time. that's because the player knows what score is safe for rank 1500 or 1000 and they hit that, and are done. I've done this numerous times ... get the score i need in the first 2-3 hours and take the rest of the weekend off.

that's an example of what we mean by aiming for a score

join the stt discord, there's people who track event scores there that can give you an idea of what VP to aim for. link is on the wiki

Delphi1

I can understand where the OP is coming from. With daylight saving ending for me this weekend events will be starting and finishing at 4am. I value my sleep too much to play through the nite. Having said that I am able to rank when I want to. Factions are a lot easier, esp if you send and receive shuttles when you wake to go to the bathroom

Galaxys are a lot harder, I really wanted 2 x Dexas and was in the 300s when I went to sleep and woke up to one Dexa placing in the 800s. When that happens it **tsk tsk**. But what are you going to do?

As a rule I only really try to rank in factions, the others with the end time being the middle of the nite are just too tricky to judge. Saves waking on Tuesday mornnig and being disappointed.

[QH] Oxmyx

One of the reasons I stopped being active in events is this exact thing. If a crew pops up I think I must have I’ll go the pack route. Usually I’ll do one to three pulls maybe snag one and if not oh well, either way I’ve gained dozens of hours of wasted time trying to match the zombies who can play for hours on end. In the end it will always be just a game. I’ll never be able to catch them all and spending quality time with family is much more important than a perceived “ leg up”. Four days is much too long to devote to something so unimportant in the grand scheme that is life. I only wish I had realized it sooner.

~peregrine~

[QH] Oxmyx wrote: »

One of the reasons I stopped being active in events is this exact thing. If a crew pops up I think I must have I’ll go the pack route. Usually I’ll do one to three pulls maybe snag one and if not oh well, either way I’ve gained dozens of hours of wasted time trying to match the zombies who can play for hours on end. In the end it will always be just a game. I’ll never be able to catch them all and spending quality time with family is much more important than a perceived “ leg up”. Four days is much too long to devote to something so unimportant in the grand scheme that is life. I only wish I had realized it sooner.

“Zombies”, ouch. I guess that stings a little bit since the shoe fits me sometimes, but was such disparagement of other players really necessary?

Zombie Squirrel

~peregrine~ wrote: »

[QH] Oxmyx wrote: »

One of the reasons I stopped being active in events is this exact thing. If a crew pops up I think I must have I’ll go the pack route. Usually I’ll do one to three pulls maybe snag one and if not oh well, either way I’ve gained dozens of hours of wasted time trying to match the zombies who can play for hours on end. In the end it will always be just a game. I’ll never be able to catch them all and spending quality time with family is much more important than a perceived “ leg up”. Four days is much too long to devote to something so unimportant in the grand scheme that is life. I only wish I had realized it sooner.

“Zombies”, ouch. I guess that stings a little bit since the shoe fits me sometimes, but was such disparagement of other players really necessary?

Proud of being a „Zombie“, because i know that my score is tapped only by me, not by Macros, „big Family/Friends“ or via account sharing. 🤪

Not complaining, i know that such „cheatings“ happens a lot, so at end
of the dayit is my call only if i decide to accept the challenge or not.
Most times, i decide not to.

The mentioned tactic by @SSR Barkley that you tap the needed score right at the beginning of an event and then take the rest of the weekend off,
i did and do as well, especially when it comes to Galaxies. Easy going.

2-2.5hs for a galaxy are enough to score 800k, which usually get you Top 1,000.

[QH] Oxmyx

Apologies if the word zombies was the wrong choice. It was the first thing that popped in my head. It is how I describe myself having to work 15 hour shifts days and nights in the same week, i usually don’t know what day it is anymore, and turning 60 has made me more reflective of little things I took for granted like 8 hours of sleep in one session.

I don’t disparage those who make the choice to go all in so to speak it just isn’t something I care to do anymore but I am sorry if it seemed I was being mean. I’ll never be in the top 100, probably never break 1500 again but that’s ok, kudos to those with the stamina to do so consistently.

I guess my change of heart occurred when my little granddaughter asked if my tablet was more important than she was because I was always looking at it instead of spending time with her. That kind of slap in the head is sometimes needed to break a habit. It was for me.