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FetchPoint: The Game

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Flatlander Aug 2020 11:33am, 6 Aug 2020 1,771 posts	Quote Pin Flatlander That is interesting CumbriAndy about the game having no memory of where we have been recently. Frequently, my new bug (and jewels) appear in places that I have passed through in the previous 2 or 3 days. Too often for it to be by chance. Unless there is some other coding working, that makes that seem so.
Nellers Aug 2020 11:44am, 6 Aug 2020 36,931 posts	Quote Pin Nellers I guess if you have any significant part of your circle that's been identified as inaccessible, Flatlander, which would then increase the chances of stuff appearing where you run regularly? I've mused on the same thing though. Bugs seem to appear more often on accessible, regular routes than in awkward places which are on the verge of being accessible, although there are clearly exceptions.
CumbriAndy Aug 2020 11:55am, 6 Aug 2020 1,943 posts	Quote Pin CumbriAndy My experience seems to match others - my bug regularly appears 'where I ran yesterday' and the fact that I notice it happening makes me feel like there's something more than chance behind it. As I said earlier, I have a recollection of Fetch assuring us that any such patterns were not a deliberate feature of the coding and have no reason to doubt his word. Whether there is something unintended in there or whether we simply notice some particular patterns/occurrences more than others are much wider issues that I'm not competent to comment on.
sallykate Aug 2020 11:55am, 6 Aug 2020 6,805 posts	Quote Pin sallykate The bottom half of my circle gets way more stuff than the top half. I tend to focus on the bottom half as that's where there are a couple of registered but presumably inactive players are, so lots of jewels to collect and bugs to infect. Might keep more of an eye on this over the next few weeks to see whether there is a pattern.
Nellers Aug 2020 12:02pm, 6 Aug 2020 36,932 posts	Quote Pin Nellers I think this might be a more likely answer than a bit of stray coding in the background: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confirmation_bias#:~:text=Confirmation%20bias%20is%20the%20tendency,evidence%2Dbased%20decision%2Dmaking.
ITG 🇮🇸 Aug 2020 12:20pm, 6 Aug 2020 9,991 posts	Quote Pin ITG 🇮🇸 69 points on my bike to work! Dripping with sweat and not sure if it is hot in here or just me. Showers closed bc Covid. Fortunately, I have a private office.
Ultra Sparkly Bridget (USB) Aug 2020 12:29pm, 6 Aug 2020 14,721 posts	Quote Pin Ultra Sparkly Bridget (USB) I had to check against a route from a couple of weeks ago whether today’s bug was accessible or not. It was in a field but the footpath doesn’t show on the Fetchpoint map.
Neal Aug 2020 12:51pm, 6 Aug 2020 132 posts	Quote Pin Neal USB, the map used for the game is derived from openstreetmap.org so you can go and add the footpath to it.
njosmith Aug 2020 12:55pm, 6 Aug 2020 576 posts	Quote Pin njosmith I mentioned this last time the discussion came up but humans are generally very good at spotting patterns where non actually exist. In the early days of the ipod Apple had to make their playlists less random as users were complaining they were getting the same songs to often for it to be random. Having said that there is a feature in fetchpoint which I think would bias bugs to be on well travelled routes which is that accessible but not generally used points are more likely to have a jewel or other item on them, where as where you ran yesterday (within your circle) is more likely to be a free spot which increases the chances of a bug landing in a spot you have recently run in.
Nellers Aug 2020 12:59pm, 6 Aug 2020 36,934 posts	Quote Pin Nellers That's a really good point njo. You can't have 2 items share the same point can you? So the options for new things spawning are reduced by inaccessible areas and accessible areas that you don't visit that have something on them you've not cleared. It IS more likely that new bugs will show up on a route you run regularly, then, but only dependent on the above factors and not because of any actual "memory" or intent of the system.