JetLag UK and Ireland - player-chat

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JetLag UK and Ireland

BFZ1 Lite / player-chat

When it comes to large file uploads, it may be worth specifying a rule that if nobody is able to upload the file directly to discord they may provisionally claim the station while it is uploading to nextcloud/Google drive (edited)

Tbh, I prefer if the footage is preservable

15:50

Since they can come and go if on Google drive or anything

It just means if 2 teams are competing for a station, the winner isn't decided by upload speed At the end of the game helpdesk could download the large files and upload them somewhere permanent

15:55

Looking at profiles, I don't think anyone on my team has nitro

I have nitro but the problem is more than just nitro, it's data limits too

16:01

And the fact that in some places it can take longer to upload the evidence for the challenge than doing the challenge itself

16:01

I recommend for videos longer than 30 seconds, adjusting the form of the evidence required

16:01

Or at least accept provisional evidence with full evidence to be uploaded later

Yeah, the other issue is that there is limited cell service on the tube, so a team would have to stay above ground to upload a file That being said tfl are installing 4G antennas in the tunnels so some areas are fine (edited)

you can tell the helpdesk once you are finished doing your task while an image/video is uploading

17:04

well... this could be cheated i guess

yeah but you would be found out

17:09

the problem was before that the station wasn't claimed while this was happening, I think it should be at least provisionally claimed

I have 50GB of Google Drive available, I'm happy for that to be used for file uploads.

17:40

What we can then do, for the preservation, is we can spend as much time as we need (with nitro benefits etc) to upload them onto Discord after the game, and tag/label accordingly. (edited)

Still need to solve the problem of really slow file uploads. Is there any chance we can get some form of faster provisional verification implemented while you wait for the full video to be uploaded?

17:47

My thoughts are that provisional verification would prevent other teams from claiming the station

It depends on the challenge. LAst time, we as helpdesk did provisionally award stations while the files were uploading

17:49

I'm looking through some of the challenges...

17:49

Some of them just require a ton of pictures

17:49

Which shouldn't really be an issue?

Nah that's fine

I would say we do what we did with the London Bridge challenge

17:50

Where we know a large video could happen, it might be sufficient to just send periodic pictures

That's the example I was thinking of too

17:50

Even with that adjustment, that challenge was still the worst one for us last time, it required a video for each person crossing the road on the newspapers, which took a while.

Which is what happened, instead of a full lengh video of crossing a bridge, crossing a street etc, which could have been a 10+ minute video, we were given pictures every couple seconds

17:51

Maybe the occaisonal 2 or 3 second video

I also remember the challenge of finding a work of art and admiring it for 2 minutes took a long time to upload

But that's how we resolved that issue

17:53

But if we needed to, I'm happy to share my 50GB Google Drive, and separate links for teams per folder are possible

to double check as I wasn't at the last bfz1, is there a print of the rules anywhere?

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ak73ebAEHWYpmpFbWQdJZ9gufW_y_p_W/edit?usp=drivesdk&ouid=101493616666385249760&rtpof=true&sd=true This is structurely the same, except with some tweaks. Challenges which can be done anywhere are generated from a list rather than assigned challenges, plus quicker battle requirements and potentially some curses added.

Battle for Zone 1 Stations - Rules.docx

Battle for Zone 1 Stations – Rules + Gameplay Welcome to the Battle for Zone 1 Stations – seven hours of frantically running around Central London on a Saturday doing extremely silly things! The aim of the game is to have claimed the most stations at the end of the seven hours; you may claim stat...

cheers

Image attachment

21:53

this is current tube 4g/5g roll out status

21:55

its really good tbh. you get signal quite a bit of the time in the shallow tubes and this coveres for vast majority of journeys. Victoria is the main one that it is still very limited

21:55

and bank northern line

21:55

weirdly you still get it on bits of the vitcoria line that it isnt officially running in yet

for video uploads, what if we take a screenshot of the video showing the first frame and the video length? Easy to verify they match after uploading, and some effort to game that

its ABSOLUTLY useable for video uploads

image can be uploaded quickly and video follows

i have had 250mbps 5g in some of the tunnels

21:58

unless you are on the victoria line down by victoria itself, or northern line bank branch. you wont be more than 5 mins from a bit of the tube that has signal

21:58

and thats only if you upload it form within the station

The vast majority of challenges happen overground anyway where signal never going to be an issue...

22:15

Plus, there's WiFi in many Tube stations too, if you're with the correct network provider

22:16

With Three, all you need is a valid SIM card - not even a plan or anything

and most of zone 1 above ground will have plenty of businesses with free wifi

y'all overestimate how long you're going to actually be on the tube for

13:35

i had this concern when i played this for the first time

I'm sure that teams and Helpdesk can come up with a per-situation resolution. We've had similar hiccups before and they've all been resolved pretty effectively

has a 4th team been confirmed yet?

Barry Heck

has a 4th team been confirmed yet?

Not yet, but most likely so.

aight sweet

12:02

thank you

can we get a preemptive team chat just in case? so we can get a bit of discussion in

12:02

even if we end up not playing it'd be nice to at least have grounds for a bit of game discussion

I've given you Team 4 for now. Note to all teams: it may change in the coming days as Weeb is close to confirming teams.

thank you!

Draft Rules: Welcome to the Battle for Zone 1 Stations Lite – The lite version of the original BFZ1. The aim of the game is to have claimed the most stations at the end of the eight hours; you may claim stations by either completing a challenge randomised from a list by Helpdesk or battling another team for a station you already own. When initiating a battle challenge, you must own 1 station adjacent to the station you are battling for. Adjacent means that it is possible to travel between the two stations with one single stop tube journey. Basic Rules The stations up for grab are all the tube stations in the Zone 1 area. You may only walk or use scheduled public transport (tubes, trains, buses) to get around. All members of your team should stay together at all reasonable times (barring e.g. toilet breaks). It is recommended to stay in contact with the helpdesk as much as possible to stay up to date on the state of play (e.g. staying informed of station claims and battle challenges). All challenges do not have to be completed near the station in question as long as a photo of your attempt is sent. The post event meeting point will be decided later.

21:56

Claiming A Station 1) Take a group selfie outside the station entrance/exit, with both the station name and all team members clearly visible, and send it to the helpdesk verification channel. This informs us you are attempting to claim that particular station. 2) Complete the challenge associated with the station. All team members must within reason complete the challenge, either individually (things like walking or riding a train) or as a collaborative effort (if it involves creating art or photographing something for example). 3) The burden of proof for completing a challenge is on your team; you will need to give us enough evidence to convince us. Failure to do so will leave the station unclaimed for the time being. Initiating A Battle Challenge 1) Take a group selfie outside the station entrance/exit, with both the station name and all team members clearly visible, and send it to the helpdesk verification channel. This informs us that you are attempting to battle for that station. 2) The helpdesk will ping the other team. Once both teams are informed of a battle challenge you will be given a time when the challenge starts, which includes a few minutes to reach a more favourable position. 3) Battle challenges have been designed to be objective - i.e. there should be a clear winner - but in case of dispute, the helpdesk's decision is final. Keep yourselves hydrated throughout the game and remember – the clock is ticking!

21:57

Estimated Game times: 9am-5pm with 1 hour break at 1pm. Finish time may end early based on how game is performed

5

@FormulaOtaku/RacingWeeb How do you feel about the possibility of stacking battle challenges? There's a decent possibility that it's going to get quite chaotic on that front. If a team already has a battle challenge against them, can other teams or that same team launch another simultaneous challenge?

15:19

Would battle challenges be taken at the same time, or would they be queued?

15:20

I think this is something that needs to be accounted for before the game because this could be a heavy responsibility for the helpdesk to work out on the day (edited)

ratt

Would battle challenges be taken at the same time, or would they be queued?

I guess it can be queued, whatever comes first would happen first before the other

how many people are on helpdesk?

Around 6/7

wowie

15:29

I can't imagine doing it. sounds hectic

15:29

good job to anyone on helpdesk

should be a little more straightforward this time, Mithent has been developing an app for it

15:31

on that note how come Mithent can't see in here? Seems like he should be able to

He's not a player

he has the leader role and he's developing the app we're all going to be using, and in case that fails we're going to at least want to be able to ping him for tech support

15:35

specifically I was going to suggest that if the app is going to be as fully featured as he's trying to make it, adding a visible queue for battle challenges and start times might not be a bad call

15:37

If we're going to have battle challenges queued, that means there's a distinct possibility that a team can declare a battle challenge and have a wait until that starts, because the defending team is already engaged with a different challenge

15:38

If that is happening on multiple levels with battle challenges being declared and queued all over the place, it may be a good idea for that to be handled by the app

15:39

that could get quite complicated quite quickly

Barry Heck

I can't imagine doing it. sounds hectic

That's why I'm hosting a briefing/training

Barry Heck

I can't imagine doing it. sounds hectic

Think it's only hectic if there were like only 2/3 in helpdesk

15:54

In the first game, Helpdesk was rather stretched

@Mithent I've assigned you the Helpdesk role so you can see this category, although you'll likely only be needed for the app support

1

I will be in an unfriendly timezone (West Coast US) but will try to check in when I can!

1

If anyone wants to hop on the lounge for a bit, feel free.

Can there be a central channel, maybe the announcement channel that you post battle notification photos in, and maybe challenging team ping the current team to notify them. Then when the help desk can send the challenges as necessary in the challenge queue (if that is what is decided)

20:18

Give the other team maybe a few extra minutes notice that a challenge is coming

20:19

Then even if your not being challenged, you can have an awareness of who is challenging who and roughly where everyone is geographically

nelsonion

Then even if your not being challenged, you can have an awareness of who is challenging who and roughly where everyone is geographically

we'll be able to see the map as it updates and people claim stations anyway so i think we'll all have a rough idea of where everyone is

nelsonion

Can there be a central channel, maybe the announcement channel that you post battle notification photos in, and maybe challenging team ping the current team to notify them. Then when the help desk can send the challenges as necessary in the challenge queue (if that is what is decided)

When a team initiates a battle, the other team is notified and a suitable start time is set by helpdesk. When the battle begins, helpdesk will announce the battle in #game-announcements

I just realised

21:47

T1 will have 5 players

21:47

And T2 only have 3

21:47

I think we need to balance out the teams more

21:48

(btw it was an oversight when I'm trying to propose a 4th team)

21:48

Since I in fact originally added Uwu to T2, but I guess it's too late now

21:49

Actually, no, I just realised

21:51

T1: Fahmi Verum Nelson T2: Weeb Rebuteo Chrno T3: Louis Joe Shmee Thismo T4: Uwu Dylan Horjel (George) Ratt

21:52

There, that should be a clear lineup

Is having more people on a team like actually an advantage though

08:37

I think a team with 3 people is equally to do as well as a team with 5

08:37

Looks aight now though

All this is assuming everyone shows up. If we have people drop out then we may need to reshuffle teams a bit on the morning just to balance things out

@Players Just a reminder! It's game day in 1 week! The game begins at 9am, so arrive promptly at 8:30am so any final bits of prep can be done if needed. Please remember to bring anything you need during the day, including a form of ID. Meeting point is outside Festival Pier at Southbank Centre.

3

Also, some paper and pens would be very beneficial, although Fahmi claimed to have hundreds of paper he's willing to clear out.

FormulaOtaku/RacingWeeb

Also, some paper and pens would be very beneficial, although Fahmi claimed to have hundreds of paper he's willing to clear out.

I'll bring paper, no worries

I have no paper so I'll just use yours

1

FormulaOtaku/RacingWeeb

Also, some paper and pens would be very beneficial, although Fahmi claimed to have hundreds of paper he's willing to clear out.

I've got a pack of 500 A4 sheets so I'll just bring that and dish it out to teams on th day

Do I need to bring gummy worms in case I need to make some hair

1

thisemotrash

Do I need to bring gummy worms in case I need to make some hair

Yes. They are necessary.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1ThIsGNpJyJTGwRzeRuH8BjfcrNaYVqDFRJ89VQFtAFI/edit?usp=drivesdk Challenge list 99% completed

BFZ1 London Lite Challenges Sheet

16:01

Just need to sort out the last of normal challenges as well as most of the descriptions on the battle challenges.

This is player chat

They don't seem station specific this time so I think it's intentional

The challenge list is to be revealed anyway.

16:04

Anyone can see the challenge list, it's just they'll be randomly selected for each station attempt (edited)

I take it there's the option to veto and appropriate penalty because some of these...

Barry Heck

I take it there's the option to veto and appropriate penalty because some of these...

You can choose not to do a station challenge and go to attempt another station. However, if you want to try the previous station again, you'd have to go to that station and send through a selfie again, and start the challenge from scratch.

1

16:08

The "penalty" here being that the station remains unclaimed and you could lose it to another team, plus you'd have to go back and forth.

Before someone notices my status and thinks I'm not coming, I set that status because I'll be here, it's directed at others

see you there

Tbh I might've oversighted and forgot and could've kept Dylan and Horjel in same team as Verum as initially planned.

17:26

As there's now like a 4 year gap before Verum's.

17:26

Not sure if it's too big.

17:27

I think either Dylan and Horjel are just around 2 years older than Verum's which the gap would've been better

I'm sure it'll be fine

FormulaOtaku/RacingWeeb

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1ThIsGNpJyJTGwRzeRuH8BjfcrNaYVqDFRJ89VQFtAFI/edit?usp=drivesdk Challenge list 99% completed

Can you pin this

Fahmi Sack pinned a message to this channel. 27/01/2025 16:59

Can I vote that the penalty times are halved, 25 mins not being able to attempt a station is fine but 45 mins is like 10% of the entire game, or with the locked out of public transport ones, that be for each one of that specific bus ot train that comes through rather than time limit. For tubes that may reduce penalty time a bit but for most bus routes they still are 8-10 min frequency. (edited)

I agree with this

18:28

the penalty times are very very harsh

18:29

Game ruining by themselves if one team gets them and another doesn't

18:30

I'm guessing there will still be a chance to veto the curses at the cost of not being able to complete that station, but still

i think the train one is fine (edited)

I think there will be like a mini conference or something with me, Fahmi and the Helpdesk where the Helpdesk would be trained and as well as going through some challenges, hopefully I should make the challenge list final by then.

18:48

Need to double check when it is.

18:48

It's this Thursday

nelsonion

Can I vote that the penalty times are halved, 25 mins not being able to attempt a station is fine but 45 mins is like 10% of the entire game, or with the locked out of public transport ones, that be for each one of that specific bus ot train that comes through rather than time limit. For tubes that may reduce penalty time a bit but for most bus routes they still are 8-10 min frequency. (edited)

where are you seeing the rules?

Joe

where are you seeing the rules?

curse for example

18:53

Curse: You are forbidden from attempting another station for 45 mins

Joe

where are you seeing the rules?

They're talking about the challenge list

18:53

It's just a little way up the channel

18:53

Spreadsheet

Oh I thought they were talking about veto cost

18:54

oh yeah hell nah

18:54

especially since there's not really anything you can do in the mean time

oh yeah, really should make sure veto cost is explicitly specified in the rules since helpdesk made it up on the fly in December and it never got written down @FormulaOtaku/RacingWeeb @Fahmi Sack

NOTE: This can only be activated once per team. If drawn when it had already been activated by a specific team, regenerate and draw a new challenge. You've immediately claimed this station. However, for one hour, each time you attempt to enter a train or bus, you must roll a die. if it's not a 4 or a 6, you'll be jammed out for 10 mins. At least after every 10 mins, you must roll again. Please note that the train/bus must be present when you roll the die.

18:56

curses look a bit overtuned tbh

18:57

2/3 chance to be locked out for 10min if you are unlucky you might be stuck for an hour

I don't think that one is as bad because I believe you can try other buses and trains, right?

18:58

Well actually in fact does it apply to the exact same train? Those don't hang around for 10 minutes

since you have to roll when the train/bus is present i assume it won't stop there for 10min

ratt

oh yeah, really should make sure veto cost is explicitly specified in the rules since helpdesk made it up on the fly in December and it never got written down @FormulaOtaku/RacingWeeb @Fahmi Sack

Huh?

its not too bad since you can walk to the next station hence you are not fully locked out

I don't think that curse defines very well if you can do that. If so, are you allowed to try a different line in the same station? Being able to retry the same line doesn't make sense given the frequency of trains on most lines

Joe

I don't think that one is as bad because I believe you can try other buses and trains, right?

Is each time you attempt to board a train/bus you roll a die. If it fails then you're jammed out of all forms of public transport for the next 10 mins (edited)

okay so no you can't retry a different one

No, you may only walk

19:03

Besides, you may attempt the curse again after more than 10 mins.

I guess you can walk between stations, which is still quite a big time loss. There is an 8.8% chance that you get locked out for the whole hour

Joe

I guess you can walk between stations, which is still quite a big time loss. There is an 8.8% chance that you get locked out for the whole hour

It's possible though pretty much quite significant amount of stations are only close to each other

19:04

Tbh I am thinking of loosening the curse a bit

It depends on where you get it. Might be a bit easier in central central London but if you're more on the edge of zone 1 might be tougher

A 4 and a 6 required to pass might be a bit harsh

FormulaOtaku/RacingWeeb

Huh?

In December, we on the helpdesk ruled that you could veto challenges at the cost of being locked out of completing that station. This has never been added to the rules and it should be specified somewhere

Oh, that's not how our team played

It wasn't a factor in the first B4Z1 because we had a fixed challenge list

ratt

In December, we on the helpdesk ruled that you could veto challenges at the cost of being locked out of completing that station. This has never been added to the rules and it should be specified somewhere

Tbh, this was mostly Fahmi's work, he might give you more in detail to this situation.

19:08

And vetoing challenges, well, I've honestly never thought much on this

None of these challenges are location specific?

FormulaOtaku/RacingWeeb

A 4 and a 6 required to pass might be a bit harsh

odd or even roll sounds fair then its a 50/50 chance with a 10min penalty

19:08

and also we still have a 45min curse

It would make sense to allow retrying on the next train

Joe

None of these challenges are location specific?

You mean for this weekend?

yes

No, none are too location based/focused, they're more straight forward and somewhat easy to find almost anywhere (edited)

19:10

Like if you're looking for a red post box

19:10

Which you can find almost anywhere

The description for "sense the passage of time" (ID 58) is self-contradicting

Joe

The description for "sense the passage of time" (ID 58) is self-contradicting

Ah, slight mistake though

19:11

Should be 1 minute

19:11

Not 5

1

FormulaOtaku/RacingWeeb

And vetoing challenges, well, I've honestly never thought much on this

This is the relevant ruling from last time that we reached after some discussion in VC: https://discord.com/channels/1059625399979606166/1310653048011624610/1314912238749880400

But by that wording you can reattempt the same station, it's just that it is the same challenge

Yeah, but the wording and implication on some of the curses is that they're mandatory, and that needs to be clarified

I guess the challenge can be vetoed if a team goes to another unclaimed station or start a battle.

I do still agree that 45 minutes is too long, anyway

Will we be given dice?

That's an instant forced veto if it happens early

Joe

Will we be given dice?

I've always just used the dice rolling function on Google

Joe

Will we be given dice?

No but you can simply use a virtual one on phone

they do it on the show as well

19:19

They specifically brought dice with them last game but that hasn't been the case in every season

ratt

They specifically brought dice with them last game but that hasn't been the case in every season

I mean, they're using the same card pack that we're ordering so

I don't like the first challenge very much. The challenge itself is fine but the form of the evidence you need to supply to the helpdesk kinda isn't. VC with your camera on for a significant length of time takes a lot of mobile data

Probably for aesthetics/show (edited)

Joe

I don't like the first challenge very much. The challenge itself is fine but the form of the evidence you need to supply to the helpdesk kinda isn't. VC with your camera on for a significant length of time takes a lot of mobile data

I'm trying to add a rule in which teams can take pics and/or small video clips as alternative.

19:23

Though for this challenge, this could slightly open the door of cheating.

Yeah I think with this challenge it's either be comfortable with the possibility of cheating or replace it with a different challenge. Which is sad because I actually like the challenge itself a lot

There's a reasonable amount of trust in some of these anyway

i honestly doubt it way too much that a team would cheat this challenge regardless

If someone wanted to cheat their way through this game they probably could

19:25

(please don't)

I think it would be obvious on the GPS tracker if the team suddenly started moving a lot faster

FormulaOtaku/RacingWeeb

I'm trying to add a rule in which teams can take pics and/or small video clips as alternative.

That is, if they don't have nitro

Data limits are a thing, it's not just discord it's the phone contract

Joe

I think it would be obvious on the GPS tracker if the team suddenly started moving a lot faster

Depends on the signal and the attention of the Helpdesk

Joe

Data limits are a thing, it's not just discord it's the phone contract

I mean, my data is unlimited, not sure on others though

good for you, mine isn't

idea: curse: you've immediately claimed this station. however you have 20 minutes time to travel to your prior claimed station and take a picture of a bird near that station. if you fail to end this task on time you will lose control of both mentioned stations and are not allowed to attempt a reclaim.

that could be tough in the rare situation that your prior station is more than ~15 minutes away

19:32

also wouldn't work if you haven't claimed a station yet

yes and yes

Beni

idea: curse: you've immediately claimed this station. however you have 20 minutes time to travel to your prior claimed station and take a picture of a bird near that station. if you fail to end this task on time you will lose control of both mentioned stations and are not allowed to attempt a reclaim.

A bit too complex.

19:33

And random

I don't think we should have anything that forces a loss of a previous station

Plus we already have birds in one battle challenge

i see, well it was just an idea

Going to a previous station could be a fun idea but not losing it. Would still have to reroll if no prior stations

Beni

i see, well it was just an idea

they're appreciated, I just think that one is a little too much

The challenge could even be "go to a previously claimed station" and that's it. You could choose which one

I think it's mostly battle challenges that we could use more of

Joe

The challenge could even be "go to a previously claimed station" and that's it. You could choose which one

that was the original thought behind that challenge but it seemed a bit too easy

19:35

when it's a station 3 minutes away

Yeah but 1) there are other easy challenges and 2) you were probably travelling down a train line and you've had to go back on yourself which wastes more time

true

I don't understand the roll 10 double dice challenge (ID 15) (edited)

Joe

I don't understand the roll 10 double dice challenge (ID 15) (edited)

roll 2 dice until both have matching numbers 1-1 2-2 3-3 for example until you have had matching numbers 10 times in total

19:38

is how i understand it

Ohh

19:38

I thought you were supposed to roll 10 times in total and was wondering what would happen if you got no doubles

this might be a bad suggestion idk but if uploading a video is a concern, what about going into a VC and turning your camera on so someone from helpdesk can live monitor a lengthy challenge

that's what the first challenge is suggesting, but in reality live VC is worse than uploading a video because of lower quality compression, I think

uploading a video or livestreaming it to helpdesk would use similar amount of mobile data (edited)

19:42

there might be an app to speedup videos and shorten their duration/size, or just compress the quality from idk 4k to just 720p

There is no "Cost" of vetos.. It's more of an implication of the rules. If you go to a station, get a challenge and decide you don't want to do it, that's fine go to another station. But if you then want to re-attempt, you'll have to retake that selfie and start the challenge from scratch - the challenge itself will not change.

19:44

In the time you don't attempt that station, it could have been claimed by another team.

The flip a coin 15 times one is too harsh (ID 29)

19:45

The probability of getting heads 15 times in a row is 1 in 32,768 (edited)

Joe

The flip a coin 15 times one is too harsh (ID 29)

not in a row

oh

"It must not need to be consecutively. "

in a row would have been insane

missed that

How would “find the biggest number” as a new battle work? (edited)

MediocreLogarithm257

How would “find the biggest number” as a new battle work? (edited)

where ?

Fahmi Sack

There is no "Cost" of vetos.. It's more of an implication of the rules. If you go to a station, get a challenge and decide you don't want to do it, that's fine go to another station. But if you then want to re-attempt, you'll have to retake that selfie and start the challenge from scratch - the challenge itself will not change.

I believe adding in some important rules is something we need to go through ourselves.

19:46

Unless it's already included

Beni

where ?

As a new battle

that's a good one

FormulaOtaku/RacingWeeb

I believe adding in some important rules is something we need to go through ourselves.

First.. What's the current ruleset?

MediocreLogarithm257

How would “find the biggest number” as a new battle work? (edited)

Maybe on bus routes?

biggest number in general would be more fun, you could get more imaginative

19:48

like you could find the serial number of something

physical number

The ideas I can think of so far are property or taxi

Fahmi Sack

First.. What's the current ruleset?

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1S5Fd5vnPNfs4CEW5coAN1z-kv0ydhqgD5JR6IqHLHQ0/edit?usp=drivesdk

BFZ1 Lite Rules

Draft Rules: Welcome to the Battle for Zone 1 Stations Lite – The lite version of the original BFZ1. The aim of the game is to have claimed the most stations at the end of the eight hours; you may claim stations by either completing a challenge randomised from a list by Helpdesk or battling ano...

19:48

The document I'm working on atm (edited)

19:49

Obviously it's in draft form

taxi numbers are up to the 70,000's now so that could easily win

why are some of the challenges missing an ID btw?

unless you go to a newsagents and look for a scratchcard with a million on it

MediocreLogarithm257

The ideas I can think of so far are property or taxi

Find the most expensive hotel?

or licence plate number

the oldest number plate?

^

the highest number on any cars licence plate

was gonna suggest newest but too much probability of a tie

so the opposite of what i said lmao

Beni

the highest number on any cars licence plate

the numbers are based on the 6 months the car was first sold (I think) so if both teams finds a new car it will be a tie

FormulaOtaku/RacingWeeb

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1S5Fd5vnPNfs4CEW5coAN1z-kv0ydhqgD5JR6IqHLHQ0/edit?usp=drivesdk

Add on there Vetoes/Strategic Forfeits: If you decide not to do a challenge assigned to a station, you may attempt another station instead. The challenge previously assigned does not change, and reattempting that station requires you to restart the challenge as well as submitting a new selfie. (edited)

Joe

the numbers are based on the 6 months the car was first sold (I think) so if both teams finds a new car it will be a tie

yeah i think 25 plates are coming in very soon so a lot of cars might have that, or at the very least a lot of 74 plates

74 is higher than 25 smart

smart

depends on if you go highest number or newest plate

Fahmi Sack

Add on there Vetoes/Strategic Forfeits: If you decide not to do a challenge assigned to a station, you may attempt another station instead. The challenge previously assigned does not change, and reattempting that station requires you to restart the challenge as well as submitting a new selfie. (edited)

@ratt suggestions on wording?

19:54

To summarise the rules, this is what I put over on Dev chats: So in short:

Same concept
One battle per station
Adjacency requirement is 1
Strategic forfeits allowed
Z1 only, Elizabeth Line included.

(edited)

For the mobile game, what's the reason behind excluding those that could also be board games?

Joe

For the mobile game, what's the reason behind excluding those that could also be board games?

Becasue I think there's a challenge that is a board game, which includes its mobile versions - avoids the possibility of the same game being used for both challenges

Fahmi Sack

To summarise the rules, this is what I put over on Dev chats: So in short:

Same concept
One battle per station
Adjacency requirement is 1
Strategic forfeits allowed
Z1 only, Elizabeth Line included.

(edited)

I don't think 1 free battle makes sense anymore. That was suggested while we still had the adjacency requirement at 2, so for one battle only teams could act as if the adjacency requirement was 1

Sorted.

battle id77 that "something besides you must eat it." could this be a person ?

Beni

battle id77 that "something besides you must eat it." could this be a person ?

Some of the descriptions of the battle challenges aren't finished yet

20:00

I just haven't removed it yet haha, that's why some don't make sense

would be fun to see a teammate peck the food like a duck tbh

I just need to rename it

Beni

would be fun to see a teammate peck the food like a duck tbh

Think that's from "Toss a tempting meal"

Fahmi Sack

Becasue I think there's a challenge that is a board game, which includes its mobile versions - avoids the possibility of the same game being used for both challenges

I can confirm there is a challenge that requires playing a board game

Rickroll your opponents: how do you get your opponents into a VC? How does the helpdesk choose which team to get into the VC? Would it unfairly disadvantage this team? Some alternative suggestions:

Rickroll the helpdesk
Rickroll the spectators
Send a voice or video recording of yourself singing rickroll to #player-chat

Joe

Rickroll your opponents: how do you get your opponents into a VC? How does the helpdesk choose which team to get into the VC? Would it unfairly disadvantage this team? Some alternative suggestions:

Rickroll the helpdesk
Rickroll the spectators
Send a voice or video recording of yourself singing rickroll to #player-chat

We do have a cult thing with the Helpdesk

Yeah, I think it's just unfair to force another team into VC

20:05

Would be alright if there were only 2 teams

20:07

I think sending it in #player-chat is the best option that's still funny. That way other teams can watch it when they're available to

20:10

The wording of the vegetarian challenge (ID 49) is confusing. The name implies you can't eat meat for the entire day but the description says eat one vegetarian product

Joe

The wording of the vegetarian challenge (ID 49) is confusing. The name implies you can't eat meat for the entire day but the description says eat one vegetarian product

Well, I could rename the title, it's just most people tend to take more seriously with the description

20:25

Besides I'm home and I'm willing to hop on VC for some form of consultation

I think the description of the challenge telling you what to do matters more than the name.

https://discord.com/channels/1059625399979606166/1324101908029374465

Are bank/monument counted as the same station either for challenges for for challenging

20:37

As they aren't next to each other for the purpose of challenging someone, but are obviously connected 'by foot'

20:38

Challenges happy for them to be separate cos lots of entrances you can take photos from, but challenging, it would be neater if they were counted as connected neighbours

last game they were not considered adjacent for the purpose of battles

20:39

pretty sure anyway

Joe

Rickroll your opponents: how do you get your opponents into a VC? How does the helpdesk choose which team to get into the VC? Would it unfairly disadvantage this team? Some alternative suggestions:

Rickroll the helpdesk
Rickroll the spectators
Send a voice or video recording of yourself singing rickroll to #player-chat

Doesn't need to be a VC

20:40

Half the fun of some of these challenges is finding creative ways to bypass them

Oh? The description says

you must VC any of your opponent teams

ah, didn't see that

20:41

yeah no that's fair

20:41

I should go over the challenges myself, I haven't done that yet

Joe

last game they were not considered adjacent for the purpose of battles

Can they be please

Some of the battles have mismatched descriptions

nelsonion

Can they be please

Imo it doesn't make a big difference, as you're generally backtracking to a station adjacent to one you claimed earlier anyway. But it's up to the game designers

20:44

Unless the rules have changed since last time battles are more of a late game thing since it's more efficient to claim free stations

nelsonion

Are bank/monument counted as the same station either for challenges for for challenging

They're not considered connected

20:46

We use the tube map to consider adjacency and the one in use will be posted to game announcements throughout the day, updated with team colours as the map fills up

20:47

This does mean that Monument/Bank is a good place to consider going, and this has been very much exploited by winning teams in the last couple games we've played of this mode

-# that is until you discover you have to do that fucking Bank exits challenge

Is Thameslink stations included, city Thameslink would be the only new one, but are there entrances considered "the station" for photos

Joe

-# that is until you discover you have to do that fucking Bank exits challenge

Don't think that's in this time

National Rail stations aren't included

1

Beni

the highest number on any cars licence plate

We already have "Find a car license plate with the same number as on the hour"

1

nelsonion

Don't think that's in this time

Yeah no it's a locational challenge. We got screwed over a bit by the Monument challenge last time too

For example 13 means 13:00pm

Joe

-# that is until you discover you have to do that fucking Bank exits challenge

Also I literally had to do that for another challenge game thing recently so I'm alright for that

, I think I know where they all are

The Monument challenge last time involved going to the top of the Monument, but it was closed due to the weather. So then the helpdesk made us take a picture of another team member from a quarter mile away which was harder than it sounds

Right, I'm getting overwhelmed with some suggestions I might've missed (edited)

Joe

Yeah no it's a locational challenge. We got screwed over a bit by the Monument challenge last time too

The Monument one was good for the first game (I was the one who volunteered to run up it, killed my legs for the rest of the game lol) Just a shame that there was that storm in December that made things difficult

and trying to put down

Joe

The Monument challenge last time involved going to the top of the Monument, but it was closed due to the weather. So then the helpdesk made us take a picture of another team member from a quarter mile away which was harder than it sounds

That one was randomly generated I think

yeah

20:50

it was hard lol

the second challenge

ratt

We use the tube map to consider adjacency and the one in use will be posted to game announcements throughout the day, updated with team colours as the map fills up

So even with a connector blob they are not "next" to eachother??

it's weird because it sounds easy but it isn't

FormulaOtaku/RacingWeeb

For example 13 means 13:00pm

yes i have seen it after writing that message

battle ideas: 1. stuff as many marshmallows in your mouth as possible, the highest amount from any player wins. (or the team sum)

1/4 of a mile is like 2 tube stations away, I think 1/8 of a mile would have been plenty with hindsight

Beni

yes i have seen it after writing that message

battle ideas: 1. stuff as many marshmallows in your mouth as possible, the highest amount from any player wins. (or the team sum)

Would require buying something though

20:54

I'll aim to keep the amount of challenges that involve paying to around 10.

reasonable, ok

Locate an expensive hotel (ID 45) looksk to have a mismatching description. Also why is it a different colour?

nelsonion

So even with a connector blob they are not "next" to eachother??

There are a lot of close stations on this map, feel free to abuse that with your team. They only have the connector blob on the tube map because that walk is the best way to interchange in some contexts, but they're still different stations

there are plenty of stations where the fastest route between them is walking

We also consider Edgware Road and Paddington to both be split into two different stations, because well, they are

Joe

Locate an expensive hotel (ID 45) looksk to have a mismatching description. Also why is it a different colour?

I wasn't finished with the description

oops sorry

Also i'm currently looking to convert it to a battle challenge (edited)

ratt

We also consider Edgware Road and Paddington to both be split into two different stations, because well, they are

Those make sense with paddington and edge where but with being able to walk between the two without even exiting a gateline, that's why I thought it. So are we counting farringdon Lizzy line and tube is different too as you are meant to go out and across the road there too

21:00

Sorry I'm edgecase finding

I was trying to find the map we'll be using because that should clarify it

21:00

But Mithent doesn't seem to have a workable link up right now

21:02

Image attachment

21:02

I hope that's high enough quality to work, I screenshot it on my phone

Cool cool, if using that one or whatever I'm happy haha, I've been looking at the tfl go app

21:04

Image attachment

So what is it about the "Rickroll your opponents" challenge?

21:08

And do I just remove the challenge ID 1?

What's wrong with challenge 1? Did you mean challenge 0?

Excuse me, it's 0

21:09

I need to rearrange the numbers at some point

FormulaOtaku/RacingWeeb

So what is it about the "Rickroll your opponents" challenge?

https://discord.com/channels/1059625399979606166/1324101485553913966/1333527878977064990

21:10

I personally think it is unfair to force another team to do anything if it's not a battle

I mean. We do already have one challenge which involved the helpdesk.

21:12

Spectators, hmmm.

I think that challenge is fine if it doesn't force the other team into VC

21:21

Maybe just make it the initial team recording a video of them singing the song up to a certain point, then they have to send it to another team in this chat with a ping (edited)

ratt

Maybe just make it the initial team recording a video of them singing the song up to a certain point, then they have to send it to another team in this chat with a ping (edited)

I think the Nitro limit is like 30 seconds so.

21:25

Dunno how would we trust them to perform for a minute

I don't think there's a limit on video length

21:25

Only file size

I think it's then a matter of finding a suitable app that compresses the video file (edited)

Discord automatically does it to some extent

21:28

Might be an idea to just have a guideline of setting video quality lower for longer videos

21:30

Doesn't really matter if people are sharing video clips of singing in 480p or even 240p

ratt

Discord automatically does it to some extent

Dunno, I just thought if you sent a video file too big, it'll just deny it from being sent

I don't think Discord has built-in video compression for video uploads

21:35

I like the idea of finding an app that does it though

Right, I don't think anyone is joining me into VC today.

21:37

Well, the next VC session will be Thursday with the helpdeskers

21:40

For Rickroll: You must record a video of you dancing to Rick Astley's "Never gonna give you up" and send it through to verification. Then the helpdesk must send it to all other team chats as a prank. It is advised for the helpdesk to post the team back with reactions, though it's not essential.

does it get announced anywhere when a team has claimed a station?

thisemotrash

does it get announced anywhere when a team has claimed a station?

yes

thisemotrash

does it get announced anywhere when a team has claimed a station?

Announcements are made when:

Teams claim a station
Teams initiate a battle
Battle result
Break/game time reminder
Anything else Helpdesk sees fit.

Any more battle suggestions?

I do think there's potential in something involving AI as a judge. While it's not that good, giving it two player creations and asking it to pick a winner is at least neutral

22:05

Battle challenges that involve making something creative rather than just racing to do something are fun

1

ratt

I do think there's potential in something involving AI as a judge. While it's not that good, giving it two player creations and asking it to pick a winner is at least neutral

I mean, ChatGPT is free

22:06

(Most cars from manufacturers from a region) I'm planning to remove it

For info, the Piccadilly line should be open where we need it to be but in all likelihood might be a bit f'ed as it's closed north of of kings cross which will mess up most of the line

22:08

It's closed overnight from Hyde park corner north, but should be open the rest of the places we need

~~Challenge: make DeepSeek talk about Tianenmen Square~~

~~while standing in front of the Chinese embassy~~

22:19

What about a battle challenge that's literally a game of blitz chess?

22:19

Either on chess.com, Lichess, or drawback chess (edited)

22:20

Either 3|2 time controls or a flat 5 minutes.

22:23

22:23

also ^

22:24

I know the first one was loosely added (edited)

22:24

Second one has hide and seek vibes though

22:25

Could be interesting

ratt

What about a battle challenge that's literally a game of blitz chess?

Imma be honest, I would likely beat most people here so it's probably not fair

22:33

Just because I've had lots of practice. I used to play for the county when I was a kid

ah, that's a bit above my skill level then probably lol

If you want to incorporate chess into a challenge, it would be better to say, play a blitz game against someone in the helpdesk or spectator, where only playing the game counts and not the outcome

Could do odds chess or drawback chess

22:35

I'm thinking of battle challenges mostly though

22:35

I think we have enough regular ones

Drawback chess takes several games for it to self-balance

22:35

I think I'd have an advantage over a new player even on drawback chess

Depends, if you enter your elo correctly at the beginning it's fine

22:36

should be, anyway

ratt

ah, that's a bit above my skill level then probably lol

Not necessarily, I was only a kid and it was only for my age bracket

Odds chess on chess.com also works.

What's your chess.com elo?

Lower than yours probably. I only really play daily games on the regular and there I'm 1160

1

22:39

~700 on rapid but I haven't played that regularly for some time so I could probably raise that with some effort

We can play an unrated game if you want haha. I think 15|10 is a good compromise for someone who's used to daily (edited)

22:40

What's your username?

Some other time, I should not really be focusing on Discord rn anyway.

1

22:43

But it's ra_tt

Okay, sent a friend request

1

ratt

Click to see original message

Pinpoint?

22:46

So a team can risk knowing the other's location?

FormulaOtaku/RacingWeeb

So a team can risk knowing the other's location?

I don't think that matters

22:58

and both teams are equally advantaged by that even if it does work out to be useful

I've added a tiebreaker challenge

23:23

Now, I'm going to bed

23:24

Anyone can continue to have a look at the challenge sheet and ask us if anything

After looking back I think the curse list is fine

10:37

The only ones I'm not really keen on is the 45 minute station lockout

10:38

Can you... Go for battles at this time though? I take it you can't

For 1 minute Silence challenge: All team members must ideally go to a memorial, graveyard (or gravestone) or anything that involves remembering a dead person or alternatively somewhere it is quiet and pose and stay silent for 1 minute. It must be fully recorded if possible.

12:31

Thoughts?

That's a pretty good one

12:53

And it would work most places in london

I don't know if a challenge like that is all that respectful personally

Barry Heck

I don't know if a challenge like that is all that respectful personally

Probably if it's more recent. But if it's more historical, I don't really see it as a big deal.

Just to clarify, I'm assuming we are allowed to travel out of the Game area for circumstancial reasons, right?

15:01

For example, travelling south from Vauxhall and back up to Kensington

15:01

I believe this wasn't noted before

I don't think this matters, it's not restricted by the rules

If it's faster to go into Z2 to stay in Z1 why not. Rules don't say you must stay in Z1, its Z1 stations that are up for grabs

You could even travel up to my house in Yorkshire. But I don't think we're giving too much away in saying that is not our secret winning strategy

I mean you could fly and back before the game ends

You could get the train there and back before the game ends, easily. Possibly even twice

16:00

But it still wastes too much time

Train tickets have been purchased

, let's hope GWR corporate and be on time in the morning

FormulaOtaku/RacingWeeb

I mean you could fly and back before the game ends

hey, you know how that could make you feel..? especially if you fly somewhere with time difference....?

kekw

1

oh no, not the discussion about north/south jetlag again kekw

kekw

oh wow there's a beeg meeting

23:11

beeg beeg meeting

It's a helpdesk briefing.

I've now muted myself from the Helpdesk chat

nelsonion

Train tickets have been purchased

, let's hope GWR corporate and be on time in the morning

Chiltern railways failed me last time lol

i was planning on driving to an Elizabeth line station but Stratford-Shenfield is closed on saturday so i have to find another station to park at

thisemotrash

i was planning on driving to an Elizabeth line station but Stratford-Shenfield is closed on saturday so i have to find another station to park at

Can't you take GA or something?

FormulaOtaku/RacingWeeb

Can't you take GA or something?

nope, my local train line goes to Liverpool Street so that line is closed and is all replacement bus service

10:14

its all good though, im gonna drive to a central line station that doesnt really change how long itll take me

Ah I thought it also counts the Elizabeth line

when's the pre game coffee meetup happening

10:24

i don't want to be unfashionably early this time

I was about to check here, so start is still at the pier at 9 right?

Barry Heck

when's the pre game coffee meetup happening

the other important question; where

10:27

putting dibs down on a greggs

I'll be arriving into London at like 6 or 7am...

incredible news

Barry Heck

when's the pre game coffee meetup happening

I confirm we meet beforehand for 9am when the Game will start.

10:52

I say arrive around half an hour beforehand

I'm aiming to get to Waterloo at 8

11:08

The earlier I leave my house the better

11:09

I've been awful with sleep the last few days

yeah, im hoping to get there around 8-8:30 depending on traffic into London

If all goes well for me I should get to Southbank at 833, that's reliant on GWR being "good"

11:34

Well should I say, doing what they are meant to do at absolute minimum

I should be at Kings Cross by 8

I still think confirmation is needed on how vetoes work. Once you veto something is there any chance to reroll the challenge?

https://w3w.co/works.gold.icon Is this the place to meet???

///works.gold.icon

This is the what3words address for a 3 metre square location near London.

ratt

I still think confirmation is needed on how vetoes work. Once you veto something is there any chance to reroll the challenge?

as far as i can tell, once the challenge is generated its locked to the station

Is there a 'final' rules and challenge doc anywhere that can save onto my phone

18:41

And can they be posted and pinned somewhere

To my understanding, once your team is assigned a challenge at a station, that's locked for the entire game - bar some extreme circumstances as helpdesk deems applicable.

18:43

There's no document per se... but here's a TL;DR:

There should be a final rules doc

18:43

Otaku had one iirc

18:43

A draft version anyway

or we could go over all the rules tomorrow in person to iron out any kinks?

Same concept
One battle per team per station
Adjacency requirement is 1
Strategic forfeits allowed
Z1 only, Elizabeth Line included. Strategic Forfeits/Vetoes

You can choose not to do a station. The challenge will not change, and to reattempt the station you must travel there again ans start from scratch

ratt

Otaku had one iirc

iirc that's a copy-paste of a previous document, not sure how updated it is at this time

thisemotrash

or we could go over all the rules tomorrow in person to iron out any kinks?

Ok if that's the plan sure happy with that

thisemotrash

or we could go over all the rules tomorrow in person to iron out any kinks?

That's why it's suggested we're all meeting up earlier than 9am at the meeting location.

Fahmi Sack

To my understanding, once your team is assigned a challenge at a station, that's locked for the entire game - bar some extreme circumstances as helpdesk deems applicable.

I just want to make sure that helpdesk won't assign multiple of the same curse to a team if they veto the initial one

The same curse can't be assigned to the same team twice.

you can't veto curses can you

Fahmi Sack

The same curse can't be assigned to the same team twice.

The challenge rules have the term 'activated' rather than 'assigned' under the bit that forces it to be regenerated, which implies to me that it the curse has to be completed before the forced regenerating clause comes into effect to me (edited)

18:51

Just a little wording thing but I wanted to confirm

Barry Heck

you can't veto curses can you

I think you can

18:52

This is how we did it in the December game

i think all the curses say that the station is automatically claimed

^ You can veto but doing so means you skip the station

no, im looking at the spreadsheet and it says the station is immediately claimed, you cant veto a curse

thisemotrash

no, im looking at the spreadsheet and it says the station is immediately claimed, you cant veto a curse

yeah this is how I read it

18:54

understandable if so

18:54

I don't think any of them are that damning

I agree, that's how I'd understand it

Barry Heck

I don't think any of them are that damning

1 hour of no public transport is if you're anywhere but central central London

18:55

Especially if it arrives later when a lot of the stations are gone

here's a question: do taxi's count as public transport? could you say take a black cab to the next station if you're significantly far away from one

potentially a very long walk back to where you can do anything

it's a jam not a straight up lock

thisemotrash

here's a question: do taxi's count as public transport? could you say take a black cab to the next station if you're significantly far away from one

Taxis are banned along with bikes, this is in the full version of the rules

thisemotrash

here's a question: do taxi's count as public transport? could you say take a black cab to the next station if you're significantly far away from one

No.

ratt

Taxis are banned along with bikes, this is in the full version of the rules

perfect. i'm always looking for edge cases and loopholes so glad to have that one closed

thisemotrash

here's a question: do taxi's count as public transport? could you say take a black cab to the next station if you're significantly far away from one

I don't believe there's many Z1 stations that take more than 20 minutes to walk between

18:57

Responded to the wrong message lol

can i also get some clarification on thise challenge: "!All team members must watch a film or video for at least 5 mins or for the whole duration. It must be one full video and must not be a film played from your own device. " does this mean we have to find a video in the wild or does it mean it has to be on youtube and not from camera roll etc.

thisemotrash

no, im looking at the spreadsheet and it says the station is immediately claimed, you cant veto a curse

The way we did it in December was that you could veto curses, but that you lose your claim on that station.

19:01

We had claim immediately curses back then as well

19:01

Some of them were absolutely brutal

thisemotrash

can i also get some clarification on thise challenge: "!All team members must watch a film or video for at least 5 mins or for the whole duration. It must be one full video and must not be a film played from your own device. " does this mean we have to find a video in the wild or does it mean it has to be on youtube and not from camera roll etc.

The way I read it is that it can't be from YouTube or on your own device

It can be a YouTube video if it's being played from a projector or something

me omw to watch the mcdonalds menu video on loop

Barry Heck

me omw to watch the mcdonalds menu video on loop

i was just thinking that, the only option is an advertising board of some kind

I mean it's not the only option

i mean i have other ideas but thats for my team only

Pub?

Fahmi Sack

Pub?

i'm so antisocial i did not even consider that an option

I have a sneaky suspicion that this'll be the pregame meeting point https://maps.app.goo.gl/V8kpeYday2Ztm1i68

Pret A Manger · London

Barry Heck

I have a sneaky suspicion that this'll be the pregame meeting point https://maps.app.goo.gl/V8kpeYday2Ztm1i68

Works for me...

nelsonion

https://w3w.co/works.gold.icon Is this the place to meet???

I can confirm, yes.

Is there a spoon nearby, I'll just have my breakfast there

nelsonion

Is there a 'final' rules and challenge doc anywhere that can save onto my phone

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1S5Fd5vnPNfs4CEW5coAN1z-kv0ydhqgD5JR6IqHLHQ0/edit?usp=sharing

BFZ1 Lite Rules

Draft Rules: Welcome to the Battle for Zone 1 Stations Lite – The lite version of the original BFZ1. The aim of the game is to have claimed the most stations at the end of the eight hours; you may claim stations by either completing a challenge randomised from a list by Helpdesk or battling ano...

Fahmi Sack pinned a message to this channel. 31/01/2025 19:37

Fahmi Sack

Is there a spoon nearby, I'll just have my breakfast there

don't think so but you can just have breckers at Waterloo instead

Barry Heck

I have a sneaky suspicion that this'll be the pregame meeting point https://maps.app.goo.gl/V8kpeYday2Ztm1i68

atm in front of Festival pier, though there are a few cafes around Southbank centre

19:41

Also regarding curses

19:41

(Curses cannot be veto'ed anyway)

19:42

That would technically be cheating

FormulaOtaku/RacingWeeb

(Curses cannot be veto'ed anyway)

Put that in the document

Oh I'd love a spoons breakfast

btw, for the post event venue, we will try and find a food court or something.

19:50

Last time we went to Popeye's it was very small but luckily there was space for around 7-8 of us there

FormulaOtaku/RacingWeeb

btw, for the post event venue, we will try and find a food court or something.

would highly recommend Mercato Metropolitano near Elephant & Castle

1

Barry Heck

Oh I'd love a spoons breakfast

I arrive at around 6am into Victoria, which is conveniently when spoons opens there

FormulaOtaku/RacingWeeb

btw, for the post event venue, we will try and find a food court or something.

My Aunt has a restaurant in Stratford if that's an option, but I'd have let her know in advance if we're any bigger than 4 people going over because they're not the biggest restaurant there...

Fahmi Sack

My Aunt has a restaurant in Stratford if that's an option, but I'd have let her know in advance if we're any bigger than 4 people going over because they're not the biggest restaurant there...

I remember being there at some point after the July event, it's rather small, also a bit too far away.

@FormulaOtaku/RacingWeeb do battles still lock stations

Barry Heck

@FormulaOtaku/RacingWeeb do battles still lock stations

Yes.

there's nothing about it in the rules so... just thought i'd ask

Just got pinged onto Team 4's chat

21:05

problems?

assuming you don't want to look, yeah, quickly removed upon realizing you were playing

Yes, i am playing

hoping you didn't stumble across our winning strategy™

21:06

might as well spoil it for everyone now

LEmme guess

21:07

Claim as many stations as possible?

yeah that's the gist of it

21:07

hoping you wouldn't catch on

21:07

drat

Fahmi Sack

Claim as many stations as possible?

Whoa that’s team 3’s strategy as well!

crazy

I think i'll hop on vc for any final things needing ironed out beofre tomorrow, or if there are any more suggestions on battles.

I'm on the bus to London!!

Hope you can catch some sleep on the bus. Busy day tomorrow

I hope so

If only the Caledonian sleeper stop over at Middleborough

01:23

More comfier than bus

Hope everything goes well! I will unfortunately be asleep when it starts

What's the problem with having multiple battles at once? We have 4 teams, that should allow for the possibility of 2 battles at the same time?

01:44

The rules specify that there will never be 2 battles at the same time

Overload on Helpdesk.

01:49

If Helpdesk has the capacity, then there's nothing stopping that from happening

Right i'm sleeping for 4 hours (edited)

Joe

The rules specify that there will never be 2 battles at the same time

Technically the rules say "There is never a risk of being in multiple battle challenges at the same time." and regardless of capacity I think that's just sensible

.. that's what I get for reading the rules at 2am

morning fellow players and opposing players

Morning

Morning

05:13

Seems I'm not the only one struggling to sleep XD

05:13

This hotel room is way too hot

Joe

This hotel room is way too hot

Bus was the opposite

05:23

Also seems like there's a ton of road closures in London atm

feels like I'm waking up for a flight lmao

Which reminds me... I've not passed Luton yet ffs

thisemotrash

feels like I'm waking up for a flight lmao

I'm not gonna say it

Say it...

The game hasn't even started yet

05:28

I can't say it

thats just how the jets lag

Fahmi Sack

Which reminds me... I've not passed Luton yet ffs

It'll probably be fine unless you're super far north

05:43

Luton is only maybe 1h10m from Victoria coach station and the game doesn't start for another 3 hours

good morning jet laggers

Joe

It'll probably be fine unless you're super far north

Is Milton Keynes super far north? The coach arrived there 5 minutes after sending that message

About half an hour further yeah

05:52

I can't get accurate timing on Google maps because some idiot put 114mph as the reduced speed due to the collision on the M1

05:54

Are there any other stops after Milton Keynes?

Morning

morning

o/

Our first helpdesker!

05:57

Just Team 2 missing now

good weather today

05:58

what i like to see

Yeah, pretty surprised

Anyone wanna get breakfast at spoons in Victoria? That's what I'm doing as soon as I get there

Yeah that's my plan

I'm getting in at 7, should be enough time

idk about anyone else but I'll eat before then, can't wait another 2 hours

ratt

idk about anyone else but I'll eat before then, can't wait another 2 hours

Before when...

the quicker I leave my home the better

06:14

hoping to get there in about an hour from now

1

Fahmi Sack

Before when...

Before I've got to head to Festival Pier for the pre-game

Just reached the end of the M1... Meaning I'm about to reach Golders Green

nvm my cat had other ideas about me leaving

Good morning This is the second one of these games I've been on a rail replacement bus

Image attachment

Barry Heck

nvm my cat had other ideas about me leaving

Bring it along. Team Mascot

verumIgnis

Good morning This is the second one of these games I've been on a rail replacement bus

Fkn hell! A bus all the way to London?

Barry Heck

nvm my cat had other ideas about me leaving

cat pics?

Image attachment

4

fluff

1

verumIgnis

Good morning This is the second one of these games I've been on a rail replacement bus

Oh god!!

06:28

Morning jet laggers!

Heyo

Yay! My whole team is up!

Barry Heck

Click to see attachment 🖼️

Model kitty

Pray for GWR

Barry Heck

Click to see attachment 🖼️

kitty cat!

Guys I just tested out video compression, would highly recommend it. The longest video to upload from last game took like a minute to reupload now on a similar internet connection, compression ratio is 90%

Fahmi Sack

Fkn hell! A bus all the way to London?

To amersham, then a slow tube train (edited)

Barry Heck

Click to see attachment 🖼️

Barry Heck

Click to see attachment 🖼️

I propose that their name is our team name

Joe

Guys I just tested out video compression, would highly recommend it. The longest video to upload from last game took like a minute to reupload now on a similar internet connection, compression ratio is 90%

Method?

Image attachment

06:31

No need for all that high res

Joe

Guys I just tested out video compression, would highly recommend it. The longest video to upload from last game took like a minute to reupload now on a similar internet connection, compression ratio is 90%

I did a 3 min video test. And it worked fine. No compression needed, it was over the 100mb limit but no issues. I didn't do more than that cos that's all I could be bothered to film

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.inverseai.video_converter

Video Converter, Compressor - Apps on Google Play

Batch Convert, Compress Video to MP4, MP3, 3GP, MKV, AVI, MOV, MTS, WMV, VOB,AAC

Dosen't VLC do that? (edited)

Can you get VLC on android phone?

Yes

nelsonion

I did a 3 min video test. And it worked fine. No compression needed, it was over the 100mb limit but no issues. I didn't do more than that cos that's all I could be bothered to film

Try that on a poor internet connection, will take forever to upload the evidence

Just checked on mine and I don't see the option, maybe editing video files is desktop only?

Although that is still quite small for 3 minutes, I think my camera just takes high res videos by default

Fahmi Sack

Model kitty

More like, Hello Kitty

06:34

Reminded me when I rode that train lol

He is absolutely gorgeous

~~No, it's nearly time to sleep~~

Literally still haven't got any/much sleep lol

Mithent

~~No, it's nearly time to sleep~~

You're on bug squashing duties

My waking up alarm is set for 40 minutes from now

verumIgnis

To amersham, then a slow tube train (edited)

Chiltern didn't seem to learn I guess

Fahmi Sack

Anyone wanna get breakfast at spoons in Victoria? That's what I'm doing as soon as I get there

Don't think many would be passing by victoria on the way I'm afraid

If you have an android phone using the pixel camera, enable "store videos efficiently"

1

Only @LouisOnAir comes to mind

I come from Sutton so yeah I'll be at Vic soon

Fahmi Sack

You're on bug squashing duties

I don't have a dev setup unfortunately!

Yeah it looks like my camera app has a setting for video Bitrate which would help, but not lower Res

Fahmi Sack

Anyone wanna get breakfast at spoons in Victoria? That's what I'm doing as soon as I get there

I might if I'm there in time Depends how long the train connection is from the bus

Barry Heck

I come from Sutton so yeah I'll be at Vic soon

Sutton? Isn't that on the SWR main line? Therefore, Waterloo?

Also, everyone enable this

Image attachment

Image attachment

Does anyone know of any good places to get breakfast near festival pier?

verumIgnis

Also, everyone enable this

I've got unlimited data so I think I'll be fine

Fahmi Sack

I've got unlimited data so I think I'll be fine

It will lower the size of the upload

Joe

Does anyone know of any good places to get breakfast near festival pier?

I mean, Southbank is there

06:42

Something worth checking

Fahmi Sack

I've got unlimited data so I think I'll be fine

Discord has a file size limit, if you enable that it will allow you to upload a longer video

Most things seem to open at 9 but there is a pret that opens at 8

old reliable

Joe

Most things seem to open at 9 but there is a pret that opens at 8

Victoria spoons opened at 6

06:50

Im just pulling into victoria now

Not en route sadly

the new waterloo spoons opens at 8

06:50

haven't been to that one yet

06:50

need to tick it off

Barry Heck

the new waterloo spoons opens at 8

How far from Victoria are you?

Image attachment

06:51

Probably another 25 minutes or so

Cool I'll wait for you then

see you there

06:52

may the intense trash talk commence

Just a whole country to cross!! But so far looking good and on time

Image attachment

nelsonion

Just a whole country to cross!! But so far looking good and on time

I miss Bristol

Bristol is great

I don't believe I've ever actually stopped there for any meaningful length of time

Can recommend

Oh I've never been there at all

06:56

Wild

It's extra great cos I can get to (almost) anywhere worth going (sorry northerners) in about 2 hours maximum. Super convenient

my maps timeline makes it look as if I've actively tried avoiding it

06:57

Image attachment

Just got to cope with the wonders of cross country and gwr

06:57

Why Weston

nelsonion

Just a whole country to cross!! But so far looking good and on time

I miss the older ones but I'm sure they would get to London around 5 mins slower

because I count rollercoasters as a hobby

06:58

unfortunately said hobby took me to weston

These 'new' trains aren't all bad. Your rarely on then for longer than 1.5h, unless there is a delay which is v frequent

06:59

And effectively they are every 15 mins to Bristol between both stations

07:00

Only trouble is the last train is super early at night

Quite ironically, I call them bullet trains. Just the seats are more like iron boards.

Barry Heck

unfortunately said hobby took me to weston

Ahhhhh, I feel sorry that you had to go there

FormulaOtaku/RacingWeeb

Quite ironically, I call them bullet trains. Just the seats are more like iron boards.

Haha yup

Barry Heck

Click to see attachment 🖼️

Avoided Bristol just to go to super mud.

Image attachment

07:03

says it all really

07:03

was there for approximately 10 minutes

@Players I forgot to remind everyone, sorry!

Please remember to bring some form of ID

Whilst we don't require it to play JL, its likely to be asked for during a challenge

imagine that's a bit late now for some people

Barry Heck

imagine that's a bit late now for some people

Myself included, but I've got 5 form anyway.

just checking, none of the challenges involve actually having to consume alcohol right? I don't drink

07:07

as far as I can tell drink at a pub can be anything

Barry Heck

just checking, none of the challenges involve actually having to consume alcohol right? I don't drink

I don't drink either. If there are any, there will be substitutes

got me passport on me anyway

07:08

incase they don't believe I'm 25

Barry Heck

incase they don't believe I'm 25

I've been ID'd for a Mountain Dew.

oh that's awesome

07:08

I've been ID'd for paracetamol

Tesco ID for alcohol free beer

I always carry my passport, German DL, UK provisional, German ID and a bunch of other cards

is alcohol free beer really 18+?

ratt

is alcohol free beer really 18+?

surprisingly apparently so

always gotta have the passport on me just in case I feel the need to leave the country

Barry Heck

as far as I can tell drink at a pub can be anything

Yeah but doesn't have to be alcohol

07:11

Consume any "drink" but outside a pub

Barry Heck

always gotta have the passport on me just in case I feel the need to leave the country

Exactly the same. I once got a call enroute to London and had to get to Germany within like 3 hours

Also there's no eating pork involved too

@Barry Heck ETA?

I believe I'm pulling in now

07:16

get me to spoons (edited)

I'm inside. Blue bag, olive green jacket

Barry Heck

incase they don't believe I'm 25

Lol, I'm 25 and I've had people not believe I'm over 18 (not for id checks just the casual observer)

Im on the central line for the next hour or so

Right I'm leaving my house now

Same

07:34

My house, not yours

Thanks for clarifying I was getting concerned

Welp, around 5 mins after leaving the house and I forgot my pens and paper

07:40

Paper isn't too much a problem but still need to search a Smiths or something

FormulaOtaku/RacingWeeb

Welp, around 5 mins after leaving the house and I forgot my pens and paper

And this is why I decided to bring extra for me and my team just in case, plus some dice

FormulaOtaku/RacingWeeb

Welp, around 5 mins after leaving the house and I forgot my pens and paper

You just reminded me I forgot mine

FormulaOtaku/RacingWeeb

Welp, around 5 mins after leaving the house and I forgot my pens and paper

I have pens and paper

07:42

No need to shop, I have a few notebooks, a sharpie and 3 or 4 rollerball pens

07:43

Between us I’m sure we’re fine

Ok I'm being delayed definitely.

07:45

My rail line appears to be blocked

I’m just getting on the train, so definitely not the same house

Ok the train just arrived, apparently it's over an hour late.

07:54

Due to "a cow on the line"

Morning prime minister

Image attachment

FormulaOtaku/RacingWeeb

Due to "a cow on the line"

MOOOOOVE

kekw

3

1

At St. Pancras. I'll grab a coffee and come straight to Waterloo

1

Don't you live in London? Where are there cows in London??

I'm gonna try and pass by an Asda on the way for pens, just in case.

Joe

Don't you live in London? Where are there cows in London??

Maybe if you're around Enfield.

FormulaOtaku/RacingWeeb

I'm gonna try and pass by an Asda on the way for pens, just in case.

I have some

Also, that's a sort of reference from "childhood times"

08:01

@Barry Heck https://www.youtube.com/@ThemeParkDash

Theme Park Dash

This is THEME PARK DASH, a game show 4 roller coaster geeks (and Mark) made up and then played for real at Alton Towers. We're desperate to record a season 2, but that can only happen if we get the likes and a few subscribers, so please take pity and sub to the channel! Theme Park Dash is a sister channel to The Next Outing available here: yout...

Joe

Don't you live in London? Where are there cows in London??

Chalk Farm probably

Yeah I've been watching that series

08:04

is good

Just pulling into

, should be there in about 25-30 mins

We're in the pret opposite festival pier

Right, I'm gonna get on the tube now

ima probably arrive for 9 on the dot, I get into Waterloo at 8:50 (edited)

I'm at Baker street

@Barry Heck and I have arrived

Just crossing the river

I’ll be 15 mins probably

I'm crossing the river now

Getting into London bridge at 8:40 so I'll be there just before 9

I'm at Waterloo now

Ohh northern line Charing cross branch has 4g/5g apparently

08:38

I'm at embankment now. Crossing over river now

noooo my tactical cow deployment didn't slow you down

Just coming out of Waterloo

FormulaOtaku/RacingWeeb

I'm at embankment now. Crossing over river now

Yep!! Embankment it ends

Where are we meeting?

Barry Heck

noooo my tactical cow deployment didn't slow you down

Only by a few mins

I'm at festival pier

verumIgnis

Where are we meeting?

Should be right

Am I the first here?

I'm behind festival hall, just walking round

I'm just in the entrance of the pier

We’re in the Pret opposite

I'm just nearby making a phone call now

08:48

Image attachment

Downstairs

08:49

To the pret

@Team 2 where are yall?

Rebu should be nearby

Fahmi Sack

@Team 2 where are yall?

Walking into pret now

Avancular should be arriving into Waterloo shortly

When does the game end?

I’m here

08:52

Where is everyone lol

Joe

When does the game end?

6pm at the earliest

AVUNCULAR ENERGY

I’m here

Come to Pret in the Southbank

08:53

@LouisOnAir you coming?

FormulaOtaku/RacingWeeb

@LouisOnAir you coming?

Yeah

T1: Fahmi Verum Nelson T2: Weeb Rebuteo Chrno T3: Louis Joe Shmee Thismo T4: Uwu Dylan Horjel (George) Ratt

2

??

09:54

@Fahmi Sack

?

Oh I thought it was a mistake to send video haha

If @Players are struggling to send videos you can send them via whattsapp if needed, ask and we can provide a number via dms

1

Seems to be fine for now for us. Should probably be a note that teams have a live clock in the video for race battle challenges

1

Is break 12 or 1

1

1

1

So how are the other teams doing

1

Are you a robot? "I am feeling emotion ID 1"

1

Joe

So how are the other teams doing

Emotion ID 1 is station capturing mania

11:48

It's the only one we need

11:49

Only weak teams waste time on other emotions

Can you guys say another number

Joe

So how are the other teams doing

Need I explain?

@Team 3 and you can take this

Image attachment

12:07

You nerds don't know what's coming

No u

12:08

https://discord.com/channels/1059625399979606166/1324101718279065692/1335216967937822754

12:09

Actually no u

Image attachment

2

switches to Team 1 and 2

Lunch starts at 5 past right?

No

We started 5 mins late

Starts exactly at 1

Aight

We all agreed that in the very beginning

Were breaking

We're so confident of victory that we intentionally ended right outside a Wetherspoons just to be able to chill for the entire break

1

Image attachment

ratt

We're so confident of victory that we intentionally ended right outside a Wetherspoons just to be able to chill for the entire break

Who didn’t?

13:06

Image attachment

Rebuteo

Who didn’t?

Probably the poor sods who managed to strand themselves on the outside of Z1

13:07

idk who that is but someone probably did

@Players big protest on its way to parliament square, so Westminster might get a bit crazy

1

good to know

13:16

Didn't ping me though, I don't have the players role

Of all the things you could protest about on the 5th anniversary of Brexit...

Anti fashism/ anti Tommy Robinson

ratt

Didn't ping me though, I don't have the players role

Just added it.. could this be why you couldn't ping Helpdesk?

The OG march appears to be pro, it just has a big counter protest

Ahhhh

@Helpdesk eyy

ZOOMEReyes

2

^

Definitely stay away then

Finally I can ping roles

@Players Would anyone like to meet at Mercado Metropolitano at E&C after the game?

4

Sounds good to me

Better than just going to a pub

13:21

Because of Verum

I'll have to leave early-ish probably because I need to get back to St Pancras

13:26

I'll probably head out at quarter past 7

I believe Fahmi leaves London in the morning

ratt

I'll probably head out at quarter past 7

I think E&C, you can possibly go directly from to St Pancras

Yeah

13:27

Both on NR and the underground

13:27

same amount of time

FormulaOtaku/RacingWeeb

I believe Fahmi leaves London in the morning

23:00

Probably still risky though, unless if you're very close by the time the game ends

FormulaOtaku/RacingWeeb

@Players Would anyone like to meet at Mercado Metropolitano at E&C after the game?

is helpdesk welcome

Realigning

is helpdesk welcome

Helpdesk are making the booking

1

Realigning

is helpdesk welcome

Don't really see why not

We all owe helpdesk drinks, so I’d encourage it

I mean, realigning claimed to live in North London so (edited)

Rebuteo

We all owe helpdesk drinks, so I’d encourage it

thats the last challenge of the day, get me a cold beer to innsbruck in austria

13:37

reward = 10 points

Realigning

is helpdesk welcome

If you can magically appear why not

FormulaOtaku/RacingWeeb

I mean, realigning claimed to live in North London so (edited)

"claim" to?

Does it have to still be cold when it arrives?

Rebuteo

Does it have to still be cold when it arrives?

thats the most important part yes

Beni

reward = 10 points

10 stations for a bier? Lieferando

Also Germany are known for it's beer and 2 of us in helpdesk are in Germany (edited)

FormulaOtaku/RacingWeeb

Also Germany are known for it's beer and 2 of us in helpdesk are in Germany (edited)

No? 1 in Austria 1 in Germany?

get ready for team 4 to execute plan 'sicko mode'

Fahmi Sack

No? 1 in Austria 1 in Germany?

yeah, germany and "better germany"

Fahmi Sack

No? 1 in Austria 1 in Germany?

2 are German or speak German* (edited)

@Team 3

Image attachment

1

Lmao

@Team 1

Image attachment

Anyone fancy helping the poor today? Even the smallest station helps

3

Image attachment

It looks like the app didn't break! (Although I see longer than expected challenge names have been an issue in some UI, apologies!)

Image attachment

My feet are killing me

Same

I can already feel blisters

@Players wheres the end meeting point?

We have lost

Team 1 hereby admits defeat

Fahmi Sack

@Players wheres the end meeting point?

Think it’s Mercato Metropolitano, it’s near Elephant and Castle

Apparently there's an emergency incident at Victoria

17:22

Can helpdesk confirm?

Again??

thisemotrash

Think it’s Mercato Metropolitano, it’s near Elephant and Castle

Can we not? That is quite far south I probably won't be able to make it

17:24

Not sure who said that

Someone's dying on a train at Vic, we can still get to e&c fine

concern

1

E&C is not a very ideal place to meet I don't think

I swear someone else said it so I was repeating sorry if I misread things

What about Embankment where we started?

Where do you suggest?

Wetherspoons in Waterloo? Or St Pancras?

I don't object for a spoons!

Joe

Wetherspoons in Waterloo? Or St Pancras?

Remember @verumIgnis is under 18

I think he would be allowed in, just not allowed to order anything

I'd be allowed in no?

This

1

Team 1 is conceding the game.

Would be fine in a station pub

17:32

If team 1 are finished first you can find a meet up location, seems fair enough

Also, you can go directly to St Pancras from E&C (edited)

verumIgnis

I'd be allowed in no?

Not sure, one of the games before (last scavenger hunt?) they were rejecting people at the door

I think it's okay to give away that it's easier for our team to get to st Pancras so I'd prefer that

verumIgnis

I'd be allowed in no?

Depends on ID stuff

That was at kings cross

Why not something like KFC?

I believe the spoons is in st pancras

I need to go to Marylebone to go home

verumIgnis

Why not something like KFC?

Sure

I'm heading off

great game everyone

verumIgnis

Why not something like KFC?

Preferably a Halal one please

Me and Sammy need to get to KX to go home so as well as it being closer it's better for us anyway

We need to find a place big enough that cramming all of us in is okay

Tbh today isn't too big for football

@Realigning do I recall correctly that you're interested to join?

So pubs might become slightly less busier

Try the Spoons at St Pancras, if any issue we’ll adjust

17:35

But I’m sure you’ll be fine

Rebuteo

Try the Spoons at St Pancras, if any issue we’ll adjust

Ok, @verumIgnis and I will attempt Spoons at STP now

I'll probably be there in about 45 minutes after we fight off these damn battles damnit y'all teams!

Fahmi Sack

@Realigning do I recall correctly that you're interested to join?

yes

17:37

I would say Somers Town Coffee House is much nicer than the St Pancras spoons, if you're going to choose pubs in my area

17:37

i bet it will be less busy as well

17:37

and they are close to each other

Can I just say 4 teams ROCK

17:39

This is awesome

1

Do we have a meeting spot yet

Provisionally spoons at STP

17:54

But where's that? I just arrived at STP

Inside stp (edited)

Same

We're on our way from Paddington

It’s at the bottom of the escalators up to Southeastern High Speed trains

17:56

The entrance opposite Kings Cross

Ok walking there now

It's called the Barrel vault

We’re outside awaiting the last battle. We worried if we went in we wouldn’t come back out

Btw @Joe if you're joining with us later, I think this would be a good time to sit down and talk about, certain things that need to be finalised.

Sure although we've just been challenged again argh

Also I object having a battle attempted/initiated so late in the game

I think that's a reasonable question to post, but we did indicate in advance that we were going to allow submissions until 6

I misread it and thought there would be no new battles past 6

You guys still in spoons?

Yes

We tryharded and preempted the tiebreaker

Image attachment

Image attachment

18:23

They didn't send us a tiebreaker

Standby I'm discussing with Weeb

anyone feeling...

18:24

JET LAGGED??

1

Team 2 is currently in spoons

dylanka1nth

JET LAGGED??

WOAH HE SAID THE THING

@Team 4 are everyone still together?

18:26

If anyone from your team have left then it's probably no point

we're together

Yeah we're on our way

FormulaOtaku/RacingWeeb

@Team 4 are everyone still together?

We're all here

dylanka1nth

We're all here

How far are you to spoons?

18:27

St Pancras

At pic circus

dylanka1nth

JET LAGGED??

Very

Bout to jump on pic

dylanka1nth

Bout to jump on pic

Come over and we'll decide

18:28

Let me order from spoons first

It looks like it was very close other than the unfortunate team 1! And so much battling, the suggestion for a queue in the app was probably worthwhile

18:29

we were dodging bullets left and right

18:29

literal hell second half

How useful was the app?

Thank you for your service today @Helpdesk

Mithent

How useful was the app?

Probably better on the helpdesk side, was a little annoying having the challenges on little fiddly dots rather than in discord tbh

18:33

the map was great though

1

18:33

Invaluable for how fast paced this was

Oh the map was great

We had to check discord for when the challenges were announced, wait for the emoji, then refresh the webpage before the challenges would show. A little slow sometimes on a London data signal

18:36

Anyone doing a pedometer?

Image attachment

18:36

Nearly 18 miles

Yeah, the challenge flow needs work. Glad the map was useful! There is also a stations tab that should show the challenges too

Challenge assignment would be the perfect place for discord bot integration

2

Congrats to Teams 2 and 4

Unfortunately can only help with half of the game. Hopefully next time I'll have more free time with it

Thanks to everyone on @Helpdesk really appreciate you giving up your time to allow us to run around London looking crazy

1

Mithent

How useful was the app?

From my Helpdesk perspective and compared to the December game it was awesome! Every workflow was much quicker and smoother with the app

1

Mithent

How useful was the app?

I havn't been there last time but it helped a lot

1

19:13

I have 2 suggestions, one that i have already made earlier today. 1. Add a list of changes that have been made with timestamps 2. Add a schedule option for battles. Like being able to put notes somewhere for example would help in a textbox or idk.

@Team 2 @Team 4 this is your trophy

Image attachment

19:13

How do you feel? (edited)

I feel.... # JetLagged

It was clear they were swamped and even though there were some disagreements, @Helpdesk did a really good job handling things

Beni

I have 2 suggestions, one that i have already made earlier today. 1. Add a list of changes that have been made with timestamps 2. Add a schedule option for battles. Like being able to put notes somewhere for example would help in a textbox or idk.

Thanks! I had timestamps for last claim update but a full history would be better. And yeah, battle support would make sense (and the Discord integration mentioned) (edited)

I think I need leg surgery

I think I walked like 30km today...

just checked 29990 steps & 29 flights of stairs

19:56

cheers all. hope to return for another challenge soon

shmee

just checked 29990 steps & 29 flights of stairs

Take 10 more?

Such a tight end game, people will say this was staged!

Today's spectators will vouch for us.

Hope the spectators enjoyed it just as much as we did

Honestly the extra team and the changes to battle initiation really boosted that pace

Sounds like a big day for the server on Monday

20:12

As tomorrow is Sunday, which is more of a deserving rest day

20:12

(religiously)

I'd like to see everyone's favourite challenge videos

Barry Heck

I think I need leg surgery

Same

Some of this was beyond cursed

20:14

Barry Heck

Click to see attachment 🖼️

I believe this was filmed in a Sainsbury's exit just after the checkouts

20:18

20:22

Congrats helpdesk on managing an absolutely brutal game

good ol' wholesome scavenger hunts don't quite do it like B4Z1 does

Oh I love this format

20:30

'lite' ahaha yeah right

Well I'm home now

20:34

Pretty quick I guess

why was this named b4z1 lite

20:37

genuinely curious

Barry Heck

why was this named b4z1 lite

from the design standpoint I think

20:48

all random challenges that don't rely on location is easier

20:49

it just ended up being more popular than the last ones due to the Reddit adverts and that's why the change to claiming was made

20:49

I think it was probably the right move, I think we'd have locked up early if double adjacency was required

Oh yeah it rocked

I think this is the maximum capacity for this game setup... And I think it worked pretty well

I honestly think it's the perfect amount

21:05

Image attachment

How can I get this for contactless?

I don't think you can

21:07

It's an oyster app thing

Fahmi Sack

How can I get this for contactless?

You can use the tfl website

21:07

Not sure if it's working rn because it got pwned recently (edited)

1

There was a lot of pre game discussion about taking a riverbus to London Bridge

21:09

Because 'cool'

21:09

unfortunately the first one was scheduled at like 9:36 or something stupid like that

Disappointed nobody went for the Thames Clipper meta

even if it were scheduled at the right time it goes on a ridiculously inefficient route, side to side of the river. Takes way too long to go any distance

21:11

I'd have liked to have it as a challenge for something but it's also expensive

21:12

I can't really tell who'd actually use it to commute or travel

Image attachment

Image attachment

Image attachment

It's only one step above the stupid cable car thing

So what's the situation with the tie breaker

ratt

I can't really tell who'd actually use it to commute or travel

Its faster to take the tube Its a tourist attraction

21:14

It gets quite busy

There's probably some edge cases where it's faster though right

Barry Heck

There's probably some edge cases where it's faster though right

Nope, unless your going from literally in front of one end to in front of the other

Fahmi Sack

So what's the situation with the tie breaker

We did the tie breaker in the challenge doc

21:19

MarkdownContext { Depth = 1 }

Fahmi Sack

So what's the situation with the tie breaker

tbh I'd be fine to concede it because of the rules about the game continuing up to 6:30 being misunderstood. Does feel a little like we're rules wanking by pulling it out the bottom of the spreadsheet. AFAIK team 2 were already at Spoons or on their way. Technically it should've been permissable but also the tiebreaker shouldn't have been visible to everyone digging for little advantages

21:20

but I'm too nice and Barry is mean

1

21:21

If we were going to have a tiebreaker it should've been a random battle challenge

ratt

but I'm too nice and Barry is mean

so true

21:22

angry_talcc

Was a good game, Team 2 did great to pull it back like that

oh honestly the second half was absolutely hellish

21:23

but in a good way

~~even though it was partially because we were being pelted by every team with battle challenges~~

Barry Heck

get ready for team 4 to execute plan 'sicko mode'

What exactly was this... And how'd it turn out?

I hope I didn't reveal my address as I forgot to switch off my location sharing tracker until now

ratt

If we were going to have a tiebreaker it should've been a random battle challenge

I suggested we ask helpdesk to find a ‘guess the nearest number’ type question, then ask it when you were back at the pub

21:35

30 seconds to confer between the teams and get the result in front of all

Rebuteo

I suggested we ask helpdesk to find a ‘guess the nearest number’ type question, then ask it when you were back at the pub

literallu suggested this in the pub

But I’m also happy to share the win, the trophy is plenty big enough to go round

Fahmi Sack

What exactly was this... And how'd it turn out?

we wanted to go on a absolute rampage chucking out a ridiculous number of battle challenges to everyone involved

21:36

would've been a great time

21:37

turns out everyone then went sicko mode on us

We just couldn’t find a route into your territory due to Bank, London Bridge and TCR being locked

21:37

We only went to Borough to battle for London Bridge, only to find out from team 1 it was locked when we bumped into them!

Rebuteo

We just couldn’t find a route into your territory due to Bank, London Bridge and TCR being locked

I think the Bank heist was the move of the game, immediately followed by the blunder of the game

Claiming 1 Paddington and walking straight past the other one was a pretty huge blunder

21:39

No idea who would do that

i mean they're not exactly close... but when in paddington

Fahmi Sack

I think the Bank heist was the move of the game, immediately followed by the blunder of the game

what would you say your blunder was

Doing borough after Bank.

To be fair you hated the idea so much you didn’t even go with the team

Barry Heck

i mean they're not exactly close... but when in paddington

They are Literally the other end of the platforms

I remember it being an absolute trek

Depends which way you go

Rebuteo

To be fair you hated the idea so much you didn’t even go with the team

No I got distracted and got onto a train in the wrong direction

If you just walk down the mainline platforms and go over the bridge its not that far

Just realised you guys did a video that you couldn't post into here

22:10

I think team 1 did the imaginative short story about Jet Lag

22:10

I wonder how this went. And just curious

@Team 1 someone compress it and send it through

Yeah I'm currently reading through other team channels right now

open them up?

22:19

don't need to let other teams chat in them if you want them to debrief

22:19

Would be cool to read them though

I thought we need a few days of briefing and such

22:19

And feedback

22:20

Probably after Monday, I could open them up

doesn't disrupt that if other teams can only spectate the other chats

ratt

open them up?

Yes, will do in the morning once I'm back on my laptop

I have the most enormous blister on my foot

ratt

I have the most enormous blister on my foot

I've got one on my little toe...

everything hurts

22:35

i think i sprained a leg or something

did anyone else pull every curse then? (edited)

I'm on the bus back to Middlesbrough!

whey

22:54

also ate all three of my meals today at a spoons

I think I hurt my everything

We may have won the battle for zone 1 but I do not know if I will be able to win the battle to get out of my chair and relocate myself to my bed

@Players Please remember to turn off your trackers

Barry Heck

We may have won the battle for zone 1 but I do not know if I will be able to win the battle to get out of my chair and relocate myself to my bed

I guarantee you won't be winning the battle after that, getting out of bed.

So I might've set my alarm but probably didn't hear it so I was able to just get up for work because my taxi driver called me.

06:09

Think it was the drink from when we've had our break time.

@Helpdesk @Players you should all now be able to see other teams chats and verifications

who did your team 1 challenge drawing a landscape for 5 minutes ? I pinned the drawing in your verification channel

I did, I cant draw

1

Fahmi Sack

I guarantee you won't be winning the battle after that, getting out of bed.

it is time for the battle to get out of bed

10:16

can confirm everything still hurts

1

1

To be fair I don't actually think any of the curses were badly designed at all

Woke up and was like "why do my shoulders ache" and I just remembered the pushup challenge

3

Barry Heck

To be fair I don't actually think any of the curses were badly designed at all

All but one.

The "no transport until your next unclaimed station" was broken but we're very glad you changed it to "until your next station/won battle"

I think they were all fine tbh

12:55

the hour jam was annoying but fine

Image attachment

sorry but I would argue that a rental or an airbnb should count

Crazy how the person who wrote the unclear challenge just changed the meaning of it so their team could win

The easy fix is: Find a place to sleep tonight - Using 'list of pre decided sites', find the most expensive place to sleep tonight Teams must take a picture outside of the property, and provide a screenshot indicating price of selected bed If it's on the site, and has an identifible address it counts (edited)

2

It may also be worth specifying if it can be any room in the hotel, or if it has to be the cheapest room in the Hotel

13:25

And what about booking.com surveillance pricing?

I'd take whatever you can find and screenshot, adds a bit of research

Booking.com will charge different amounts depending on what it thinks you will pay

13:26

I guess the screenshot would resolve that too

13:27

But then helpdesk wouldn't be able to verify it

If anyone is photoshopping a passable screenshot from one of the websites on their phone, getting to the hotel and taking a picture inside 10 minutes let them have it

13:28

They'd still be able to verify the general price on the webiste, so if it showed £200 for them and you were claiming £3k they'd could ask for a screen recording

True

all of the battles have some element of trust though, for zone 1 stations or countries yesterday we could've read off of a phone, for the wikipedia challenge we could've taken multiple random pages until we found a good one and submitted that effort

13:31

you just have to trust that anyone going to the effort of travelling for the game isn't then cheating, which in teams of 3+ you'd have enough people to keep it straight

Yeah

13:32

That said, I personally prefer "best attempt in 5 minutes" over "1 attempt" because it means we don't have to verify whether it's truly the first attempt

best attempt in 5 minutes probably converges to very similar numbers for wikipedia game

It would really depend on how much variation you can get with the particular task though

Best attempt in 5 min for the Wikipedia game could involve rerolling for 4 mins then completing it in 10 secs

13:34

It doesn't work for all challenges, but it could work well for some

Finding minimum solution of a particular question in 5 minutes would be a cool idea, but also runs into the issue that ties are likely going to happen

13:36

Say, fewest pages in Wikipedia race, word ladder (edited)

13:38

Trivia would also be a cool challenge idea, but it requires someone not playing the game to come up with questions

Also, what happens if you end up rolling one of the thousands of articles about Iranian towns?

1

MediocreLogarithm257

Finding minimum solution of a particular question in 5 minutes would be a cool idea, but also runs into the issue that ties are likely going to happen

Making the question harder would help with this, but then it can run into the issue that a team may not be able to submit a valid solution within the time limit

realised I had this, I have location timeline off but that doesn't go for my pedometer: (edited)

13:52

Image attachment

Image attachment

13:52

Pre-break and post-break for team 4 (edited)

13:54

The mile counters should only be counting where we walked

Thats cool to see

verumIgnis

Also, what happens if you end up rolling one of the thousands of articles about Iranian towns?

Town Name -> Iran -> Islamic Republic of Iran -> United Nations -> United Kingdom -> London etc...

Fahmi Sack

Town Name -> Iran -> Islamic Republic of Iran -> United Nations -> United Kingdom -> London etc...

Ah they link Iran

15:27

I guess that makes sense

I reached the daily cap about 30 minutes into the game...

Image attachment

that's fun

15:33

i like to imagine some tfl person in an office somewhere watching entries and exits on a monitor

15:33

getting very, very confused

'Who tf is doing 20 journeys across London? Wtf they doing in Battersea?' (edited)

Seems like the highest I did in a day was 14, not during a game

those squats have genuinley killed my thighs today lol @FormulaOtaku/RacingWeeb @Rebuteo

1

AVUNCULAR ENERGY

those squats have genuinley killed my thighs today lol @FormulaOtaku/RacingWeeb @Rebuteo

Mine felt fine, just barely and through a 12 hour shift.

Was a great game until we got screwed by finding 10 Vauxhalls at Battersea, took FOREVER, found 7 in like 5 mins then took ages for the other 3 and then hit with a 20 min no claiming pause.

11:24

(and the hotels etc decision)

11:25

Bank is an absolute OP place to do battles though, especially later in the game with the remaining battles that could have come up (edited)

11:26

Super annoyed we didn't get the get the highest you can in 10 mins" one would have been legendary if we had

11:26

Literally would have been the highest people in London

That one Sainsbury's near Horizon22 came in clutch twice!!

nelsonion

Was a great game until we got screwed by finding 10 Vauxhalls at Battersea, took FOREVER, found 7 in like 5 mins then took ages for the other 3 and then hit with a 20 min no claiming pause.

We really did feel sorry for your teams bad luck in many challenges and battles

12:43

Did any of the 4 player teams feel like 4 was too much ?

Honestly if we need a tiebreaker between team 2 and team 4 it should be the hotels etc situation

Fahmi Sack

That one Sainsbury's near Horizon22 came in clutch twice!!

Yeah, I think the only one that isn't great at bank is birds

Beni

Did any of the 4 player teams feel like 4 was too much ?

I probably still think it is.

4 players was fine

12:52

3 maybe optimal for team contribution but 4 is good as well

12:52

5 would definitely be too many though

3 worked well

So yeah it's clear that BFZ1 has a cap of 16 players.. different versions need different levels of battle requirements.

13:37

Not sure how stretched Helpdesk was this time, but last time it was pretty manageable, so I think it's fair to say a minimum of 4 helpdeskers

4 players is fine but I think 3 is probably optimal

13:37

4 teams rocks

I think a catchup mechanism like last game would have worked well this game. Except it can't be the same catchup mechanism it would have had to be something different

Fahmi Sack

Not sure how stretched Helpdesk was this time, but last time it was pretty manageable, so I think it's fair to say a minimum of 4 helpdeskers

I think we were pretty stretched (in proportion to the amount of battle challenges that came in, not so much by the normal station claims) but the amount we were stretched could be drastically reduced by some improvements we considered under feedback

Fahmi Sack

Not sure how stretched Helpdesk was this time, but last time it was pretty manageable, so I think it's fair to say a minimum of 4 helpdeskers

I think if we were to run exactly the same game again with no changes, a total of 4 helpdeskers would be too few

Realigning

I think we were pretty stretched (in proportion to the amount of battle challenges that came in, not so much by the normal station claims) but the amount we were stretched could be drastically reduced by some improvements we considered under feedback

Remind me again what the feedback was?

@Mithent is the web app you made open source?

Fahmi Sack

Remind me again what the feedback was?

Make the queue of battle challenges always visible to players so we don't have to manually post about changes to it in the multiple relevant channels, and get the helpdeskers to be more specific about assigning responsibilities amongst themselves beforehand (although there was some debate about what the most efficient way of dividing up would have been, I think there was agreement that we should have used a more consistent way of dividing up work amongst ourselves than we actually did)

Fahmi Sack

Remind me again what the feedback was?

Also write more specific challenge descriptions and stress test the challenge descriptions in advance (get people to try to 'break' them) so we don't spend as much time coming up with a view on an individual basis on the day. You gave us the opportunity to do this in the briefing, it just would have been useful to have more time to sit on the completed list of challenges, come up with potential issues and improve the challenge descriptions as a group.

Fahmi Sack

Remind me again what the feedback was?

There was also a suggestion to automate the discord messages we sent out the minute that battle challenges actually started; I think that would have really helped too. You could do this using the information in the queue

Realigning

Make the queue of battle challenges always visible to players so we don't have to manually post about changes to it in the multiple relevant channels, and get the helpdeskers to be more specific about assigning responsibilities amongst themselves beforehand (although there was some debate about what the most efficient way of dividing up would have been, I think there was agreement that we should have used a more consistent way of dividing up work amongst ourselves than we actually did)

queue of battle challenges

This was a new method which we had not needed in previous BFZ1, so I agree after seeing how fast paced and frequent it became we would need some sort of queue system. Making it publicly visible also makes sense, as battle announcements are announced anyway. I think for the next BFZ1 (whenever it is) we can try see if this can be implemented in the app - it was on the radar this time but there was not enough time to have it implemented.

get the helpdeskers to be more specific about assigning responsibilities

I think I mentioned in the briefing that this was up to the Helpdesk as a team to determine who does what, or how the team wants to function?

more specific challenge descriptions and stress test the challenge

Agreed. The last BFZ1 did not have this problem - there was however a veto problem but this falls under the rules, not the challenges themselves.

automate the discord messages

I wish I knew how. I had hoped that the copy text box on the web app would have helped a little, but I still agree that having a bot would be ideal. My programming skills are not that advanced so I have little input on how this can be achieved. I can see you've customised the google sheets to help with that too!

1

I could do it if needed

14:20

Any programming that is

Fahmi Sack

queue of battle challenges

This was a new method which we had not needed in previous BFZ1, so I agree after seeing how fast paced and frequent it became we would need some sort of queue system. Making it publicly visible also makes sense, as battle announcements are announced anyway. I think for the next BFZ1 (whenever it is) we can try see if this can be implemented in the app - it was on the radar this time but there was not enough time to have it implemented.

get the helpdeskers to be more specific about assigning responsibilities

I think I mentioned in the briefing that this was up to the Helpdesk as a team to determine who does what, or how the team wants to function?

more specific challenge descriptions and stress test the challenge

Agreed. The last BFZ1 did not have this problem - there was however a veto problem but this falls under the rules, not the challenges themselves.

automate the discord messages

I wish I knew how. I had hoped that the copy text box on the web app would have helped a little, but I still agree that having a bot would be ideal. My programming skills are not that advanced so I have little input on how this can be achieved. I can see you've customised the google sheets to help with that too!

Thanks. On the 2nd point I agree and i'm only pointing this out as a learning that we had for ourselves, i'm not suggesting that you implied anything that was wrong. I just wonder whether in future it would be good to really hammer home that point: 'Helpdesk you need to assign consistent responsibilities amongst yourselves or it will get messy' or indeed create a framework so that they are forced to do this.

1

As with 4 teams, if 2 are in battle, and one of the others is challenging the 4th team, i don't see a reason (other than help desk capacity) for then to have to wait for the challenge to finish before can start the next one

Fahmi Sack

queue of battle challenges

This was a new method which we had not needed in previous BFZ1, so I agree after seeing how fast paced and frequent it became we would need some sort of queue system. Making it publicly visible also makes sense, as battle announcements are announced anyway. I think for the next BFZ1 (whenever it is) we can try see if this can be implemented in the app - it was on the radar this time but there was not enough time to have it implemented.

get the helpdeskers to be more specific about assigning responsibilities

I think I mentioned in the briefing that this was up to the Helpdesk as a team to determine who does what, or how the team wants to function?

more specific challenge descriptions and stress test the challenge

Agreed. The last BFZ1 did not have this problem - there was however a veto problem but this falls under the rules, not the challenges themselves.

automate the discord messages

I wish I knew how. I had hoped that the copy text box on the web app would have helped a little, but I still agree that having a bot would be ideal. My programming skills are not that advanced so I have little input on how this can be achieved. I can see you've customised the google sheets to help with that too!

automate the discord messages

Pylon is very straightforward for this, only issue is that it would be tricky to get it to hook directly with Mithent's app

14:59

If you just want announcements, then I imagine Mithent making his app post to a webhook upon the helpdesk pressing a button would be fairly trivial

15:00

Any calculation run from a discord command would be also very doable but you'd want a separate bot for it

15:01

It's very possible probably just running everything from buttons and graphics directly within Discord instead of the app, but you do miss out on the pretty zoomable map (edited)

Joe

@Mithent is the web app you made open source?

Not currently, mostly because it's evolved over time in a way that was convenient for fast development and I'd probably want to refactor it a little (also the repo contains my Firebase API key, oops). But I could work on tidying it. It's serverless though, it syncs using Firebase, so there is no server backend to hook Discord integration into exactly, but a microservice could also subscribe to Firebase to receive updates.

Mithent

Not currently, mostly because it's evolved over time in a way that was convenient for fast development and I'd probably want to refactor it a little (also the repo contains my Firebase API key, oops). But I could work on tidying it. It's serverless though, it syncs using Firebase, so there is no server backend to hook Discord integration into exactly, but a microservice could also subscribe to Firebase to receive updates.

You could just use webhooks, get an admin here to add one to a relevant channel and post to it using an HTTP post request https://discord.com/developers/docs/resources/webhook#execute-webhook

16:28

that shouldn't require a backend

Note: This game will be archived at some point this weekend.

ratt

You could just use webhooks, get an admin here to add one to a relevant channel and post to it using an HTTP post request https://discord.com/developers/docs/resources/webhook#execute-webhook

Yeah, it just occurred to me recently I could do that pretty easily

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