What's the reasoning behind waiting for dead users' controllers to time out?
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true, but I still think the ticks should be reduced way faster while the player doesn't have any spawns. with the current tick times, it takes over a day per RCL, and over week for a level 8 room to revert to 0, if my math fu is right. even if anyone actually did what you are suggesting; nobody needs a week to rebuild their spawn...
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You can use the CLAIM creeps to "downgrade" it faster, however there are some severely big drawbacks to this:
http://screeps.com/forum/topic/1090/Make-CLAIM-part-more-useful-add-boosts-
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The downgrade time is set to a week period for a reason, it should be enough time to react for someone who plays just once a week.
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Dissi, I think you're missing that we're all in the n00b room. I don't think any of us are capable of the 5-claim creep, which means when someone upgrades their room then quits or is knocked out we're just stuck waiting.
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at 3 seconds per tick on average, this is roughly 6 days for a level 4 room. a level 8 room is roughly 13 days.
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There's a lot of grief potential in this system. Someone with a decent understanding of the game can make a level 4 room in under 20,000 ticks fairly reliably, which effectively locks the room for the next 6 days or so.
Someone with any unused GPU levels could easily abuse that situation by starting somewhere with no intention to stay, just to grief. restarting a day later, but leaving the room claimed. They could lock multiple rooms this way to be quite annoying.
I am a bit grumpy with this situation since in the newbie area where I started I have literally had to fight for the same room three times. And I was fairly lucky in that regard, since all of them chose to go ahead and restart someone else which freed up the room instantly.
But each time someone else moved in before I could reserve the room. I literally had a guy who started in the room before my warrior creeps even left the room, not a minute or two after I killed the last players spawn and structures...
Meanwhile I am now staring angrily at a RCL 4 room, which is unlikely to release before the newbie walls drop, 6 days from now...
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Maybe there should be another timer: One that starts when a controller drops from 1 to 0, and prevents new players from spawning in that room for a day or so, because that room is "contested" or something.
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I'm not as worried about rooms being taken before I have a chance to do something with them. This is a programming game, and there are very easy solutions to this that can be programmed.
Put a scout in the room so you have visibility. When the downgrade timer hits 500 send a claimer creep it. The instant the controller is downgraded have that claimer reserve or claim the room for you. Unless a new player happens to time things perfectly down to the tick there's no way the room can be taken from you.
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There are also very nice tactics in annoying a person this way. You can send in a 2M1C1W creep with 1 energy to it to "extend" the timer. This way you can wait for claiming this room until the next GCL level
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There's several sides to this issue. First, to the original issue of the timers being long, I agree, I find them painfully long, at least in the context of a newbie area. A mere RCL 4 room locks the room for nearly a week. Now in the context of a newbie area a RCL 8 room is unlikely, but a RCL 6 (9 days) or 7 (11 days) is very plausible and pretty much means the room will be locked until the newbie area drops.
My recommendation at least for newbie zones, would be to cut this timer in half, IF and only IF the player who owns those rooms no longer owns any spawns. If with the help of friends or whatever they manage to get a spawn back down, the timer goes back down to normal speed. In newbie rooms attacking the RCL level with (5x) claim creeps is much less of a factor since many will not have enough energy to really apply that tactic.
That's kind of what I am thinking. I am thinking a 24 hour hold, starting the instant the room releases. Only prevents new spawns, players can still use claim creeps as normal. If necessary, possibly elaborate that to only allow the conquering player (whoever killed the spawn) to claim for 24 hours after the claim drops, if only to prevent weird cheesiness with the original owner, friends of, or sneaky snakes from trying to ninja a room.
@tedivum
I would agree, except there is an option to instantly unclaim a room.
As it currently stands, when someone is killed out, before they can respawn elsewhere, they must unclaim the room. the INSTANT they do so, anybody can respawn into the room on top of you. In fact, I don't think there is actually anything preventing the previous player from just reclaiming the same room. If they can simply find it on the map again before your claim arrives. And they get to pick the schedule, since they can pick when they unclaim it.
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There are also very nice tactics in annoying a person this way. You can send in a 2M1C1W creep with 1 energy to it to “extend” the timer. This way you can wait for claiming this room until the next GCL level
You cannot upgrade another player’s controller.
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Has that been removed? We used to be able to help others with upgrading.
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Yes, see this changelog.
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Cool didn't knew that! Guess I missed that part while focussing on boosts.
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See, I don't entirely agree with that reasoning. If a player has been completely wiped out, has no creeps and no spawns anywhere, sure, it would be technically possible for their friends to build it back up... but I see two problems with that reasoning.
1: the friends have to, at their own expense, build the spawn and protect the room from whoever wiped out the player in the first place. As NPC invaders despawn when the room is devoid of creeps, it was most certainly another player that caused them to be in such a position, and if the reason for the attack was the player's interest in capturing the room for themselves, they're certainly not going to allow the player to be built back into place without some retaliation, which the rebuilding players have to be prepared for... not just for the time the spawn is building, but also for the time the base is building back up to the point it can defend itself.
2: at the point you have lost all your spawns, assuming you are higher than just the GCL 1-3 scrubs in the novice area, you have LOST. You are being driven back, your territory is being taken. Someone stronger than you is kicking over your sand castle and taking your beach toys. You were down to your last spawn, and your friends were not able to help you protect your last line of defense. You are DEAD. You can contribute nothing more to your own defense, and the burden of protecting your territory now falls on the shoulders of your friends. And sure, if the room was RCL8, you have a couple weeks for your friends to help you. But if you're in this situation, realistically, are you going to stick it out for your friends to help you fight a battle you've already lost? Or are you going to respawn and get started again in a more favorable position?
So I really don't see the logic in allowing someone who is effectively dead to be rebuilt by friends. If you're losing badly enough to lose all your spawns, your friends are either unable or unwilling to help you. Personally, I don't see the few edge case scenarios where a friend was simply late to respond and help you as being worth the weeks it takes for a high level controller to decay for an already dead player.
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Agreed. While I can't speak from long experience in the world, I would expect it would be a rare case period.
In the context of the newbie area it might as well be a green spotted unicorn with a limp.
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"A player can still place a spawn construction site, and might have some friends who build it up."
Has this ever happened?
Like other are saying, this is technically possible and I understand the sentiment. Does this case over-ride slowing the game down considerably for 100% of the userbase?
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Dont forget that the countdown also allows for other users to prepare to take a certain room. The countdown gives other preparation time. Even though tou did all the hard work of destroying something doesn't mean you are the one who's going to take the room.
It's how the game works currently, and it has measures in place to stop upgrades from happening. CLAIM creeps do require rcl 7 to be made, but they're quite effective.
