FetchPoint: The Game

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Bright Strider May 2021 11:02pm, 26 May 2021 212 posts	0 Bright Strider The usual rationale is that it is the lifetime of the traffic light, rather than the player.
Flatlander May 2021 7:56am, 27 May 2021 2,060 posts	0 Flatlander Yes, that is what players have worked out in the past. Further, observation has determined that the lifetime of the traffic light was 30 days. However, Fetch posted yesterday that he has "amended the code to match the rules". In the guidance section for traffic lights there is not a specific rule, just the phrase "life-long money spinner". Following the code amendment, we can no longer be sure to what "life-long" refers, hence my comment. Presumably it is still the traffic light. From my own and other players' recent observations it appears that the life of the traffic light is now indefinite/permanent. I do not think that this is a good development - 1. the map will eventually be full of traffic lights, as old ones exist for (presumably) ever and new ones appear, 2. owners will be compelled to travel the same routes week after week to maintain ownership, 3. players could conceivably incur TL penalties of 400 points or more (assuming the maximum penalty of each TL remains at 80) each journey because they will unable to find TL free routes.
fetcheveryone May 2021 7:59am, 27 May 2021 26,118 posts	0 fetcheveryone Ok, let me clarify. Unowned traffic lights will expire if they are older than 30 days. Owned ones will not.
George Smiley May 2021 8:05am, 27 May 2021 194 posts	0 George Smiley Please keep the 30 day expiry, for reasons Flatlander gave. I can see my self rapidly being trapped behind a wall of traffic lights.
fetcheveryone May 2021 8:22am, 27 May 2021 26,119 posts	0 fetcheveryone To address the points directly (with an acknowledgement that FL's points came before I clarified what the rule was): 1) I don't believe it will, as they only survive if owned. To back this up, there are currently 2845 traffic lights in Fetchpoint world, and 1904 of them have no owners. Our current traffic light mogul is Oranj with 29 lights, and only 12 players who own 10 or more. We can revisit these numbers in a few weeks, and see if there's a significant change. 2) Users aren't compelled, just as they aren't compelled to interact with every other marker. Yes, some people might choose to maintain their traffic lights, but as suggested, doing this every week doesn't sound much fun - so you'd have to imagine there'd come a point where they would drop that ball - and the balance of power shifts again. Ah, the cosmic ballet! 3) part of the challenge of the game is in reacting to what's on the map. If a new traffic light appears, you could attempt to nab it yourself, and trap your opponent instead. If this code change causes an imbalance, there's nothing to say we couldn't introduce another change e.g. different penalties for run, bike or walk.
Bright Strider May 2021 9:42am, 27 May 2021 213 posts	0 Bright Strider I think it is worth giving the current settings ago. Owners of 'low traffic' traffic lights can safely let them languish, given that, certainly after 30 days, they will be expire, having been owned but being older than 30 days and no longer owned, and unlikely to be claimed before they expire. Fetch, How many days does it take a traffic light older than 30 days to expire, once it is no longer owned? What happens to no longer owned traffic lights that are less than 30 days old? It seems to me that lately they have expired quite soon. Could you revise the guidelines to be clearer about the lifetime of traffic lights, please?
DocM May 2021 9:45am, 27 May 2021 41,790 posts	0 DocM Personally I think I'll gain little from the new rule but could get very heavily penalized when visiting other areas.are they going to have an upper value limit?
DocM May 2021 9:47am, 27 May 2021 41,791 posts	0 DocM One of the things I like about the game is the positive nature. Getting points for collecting things rather than penalties that are outside of your control
Flatlander May 2021 9:54am, 27 May 2021 2,062 posts	0 Flatlander I agree George Smiley. I've deliberately not claimed TLs in other Fetchpointers areas to prevent boxing them in fetcheveryone.com/forum/fetchpoint-the-game-48002/2467 although that has backfired on me because in one area there are now nearly 20 TLs which are regularly maintained and cut me off from travelling north unless I incur a huge congestion charge each time. I have never thought of this game as being about battling with opponents (see above paragraph), I feel that it is about exploring areas that one would not usually visit, and gaining points by one's own efforts rather than at the expense of others. I would think that most of the large number of unowned TLs are in inaccessible spots or places not frequented by Fetchpointers. In a location where there are more than one Fetchpointers, I expect that most TLs are owned and this is where a Fetchpointer could be hemmed in by TLs, especially if it is in an area with few routes. Some players will be unable to be the first to claim TLs or other markers for reasons such as work patterns and so they will be more likely to be hemmed in and penalised.
Fizz :-) May 2021 9:56am, 27 May 2021 5,745 posts	0 Fizz :-) Traffic lights only spawn where there is more than 1 Fetchpointer. I am alone in my circle and none ever appear.