Challenge Released!

[Fuse]

First guy I looked up just finished. This seems to be going well. Tons of compliments and "I'd so join these guys" so far.

[Anathamas]

You guys are so incredibly awesome! I can't express how excited I am about all of this.

[likwidtek]

OK, so I'm running through the challenge for fun.  I'd like to give you the feedback of a dude with average intelligence and high google fu.  Here's my conversation with Lithium just a second ago:

[11:14] cpantle5789: hey man you there?
[11:14] cpantle5789: <-- it's likwidtek
[11:14] : hey, working, but I'm here. What's up?
[11:15] cpantle5789: I'm running through the challenge just for fun. At the spinning star map part with the tick tock 90tick tock 270 part.
[11:15] cpantle5789: I just followed it around and clicked like a maniac and it went through but I'm trying to replicate it.
[11:16] cpantle5789: I reloaded and now it's not doing it. Is that a bug? by design? I wasn't actually able to figure that part out.
[11:16] : do you want the answer or just a hint?
[11:16] cpantle5789: I guess a hint. I mean my hunch was...
[11:17] cpantle5789: that 90 270 was some star wars standard of time
[11:17] cpantle5789: that would give me a clock position
[11:17] cpantle5789: and I have to wait till that position to click it
[11:17] cpantle5789: but I couldn't find anything online about starwars time.
[11:18] : yeah, it has to do with position... but the position of the map is irrelevant.
[11:18] : there is a reason we display the little clock in the console
[11:18] cpantle5789: I mean I know you find the dot that makes sound
[11:19] cpantle5789: ok yeah weird. go ahead and tell me the answer.
[11:19] : 90 and 270 refer to angels on an analog clock
[11:19] cpantle5789: I mean I was able to get passed just by floowing the dot around and clicking it over and over
[11:19] cpantle5789: took a while but it worked
[11:20] : ie. 15 and 45 minutes past the hour.
[11:21] cpantle5789: so I just got lucky that it was 45 after.
[11:21] cpantle5789: rofl
[11:21] : it's not really trivial, and 99% of people get by on luck... we've dicussed changing it
[11:21] : but could never agree on anything
[11:21] cpantle5789: Yeah, honestly that's somethign I'd vote to change
[11:21] cpantle5789: even reading on the forums
[11:21] cpantle5789: everyone thinks it's a bug.
[11:21] cpantle5789: It's a total random thing
[11:22] : yeah if you do a search you might be able to pick up on the thread. I'm not sure where it's at
[11:22] cpantle5789: I would just add more hints to the voice thing that says 90 270. Because there's NOTHIGN that makes me think angles.
[11:22] cpantle5789: I'll bump the thread.
[11:22] : kk

In my opinion tick tock 9 0 tick tock 2 7 0 is hardly enough of a clue to jump to 90 degrees and 270 degrees and wait until 15 or 45 after to click the dot.  From the looks on the forum, people are saying it's a bug.  I thought the exact same thing.

Also, the wording in the very first part of the challenge,   "“where it all began…in a Violent display, lIght meets dark…GrEat
power still remaiNs hERE”"

If I remember, when the challenge was first made there was text on the official SWTOR website that said almost these exact words referencing Tython.  I think they took it down.  Honestly I just googled that phrase and ran across this article:  http://www.swtor-life.com/community-news/mysterious-transmission-from-faint-old-republic-signal/591/

Are people struggling with that part?  That one isn't as much of a big deal but yeah, I think they took down the original reference text.

[likwidtek]

Maybe just adding more to the voice part of that hint saying you must wait for the right time window to warp to that sector or something.  Would make it click in their head a little easier.

[Lithium]

Please, don't ever post my real name (ie. s/n) like that again.

[likwidtek]

My mistake.

[likwidtek]

I just finished the challenge.  

You guys did such an amazing job.  It's so good.

I have no idea how the number sequence puzzle work but a quick search on the SWTOR forums solved it for me.  Aside from the notes from above, everything else looked and worked great as well as made sense.  

awesome.  

[Broin]

Maybe we need to add a blank face small clock with rotating hands... nothing that would notate it as a clock but something where they could look at it and see the spinning arms and match it with the 45 and 90 degrees.

[Tbone]

Pretty good idea, Broin! But I think only one hand would be needed - the minute hand

[likwidtek]

Maybe when you click the digital clock you get a small overlay with a standard clock face.  Or it changes one of those spinny circles to an analog clock.

[Arawn]

Tbh, I dont need it need to be changed... People always get distracted by things they shouldnt even consider...

The voice keep saying follow the signal, follow the signal, follow the signal.... Thats all I did... I followed the signal thru the white dot and found my way home.

If people pay more attention and thoughts into it and focus on the display and the challenge itself, then they might figure out the tick tock reference to a clock.

[Tbone]

The problem now is I would say 5% of the 5% of people who get through the challenge actually know how they got past that map. I feel like that's a design flaw on our part rather than only a small percentage of the population is intelligent enough to get it. Ideally, we should be seeing maybe 25% get past that part of the challenge, with 100% of them understanding how they did it.

[likwidtek]

Tbh, I don't need it need to be changed... People always get distracted by things they shouldnt even consider...

The voice keep saying follow the signal, follow the signal, follow the signal.... that's all I did... I followed the signal thru the white dot and found my way home.

If people pay more attention and thoughts into it and focus on the display and the challenge itself, then they might figure out the tick tock reference to a clock.

I agree man and I did the exact same thing.  But I got lucky.  I got it in 2 rotations.  You expect someone to sit there and follow it for 25 minutes possibly?

[Manic Velocity]

But I got lucky.

That's the thing.  It shouldn't feel like luck.  The solution should be obvious once the user solves it.

I think we need to somehow reinforce the concept of "9-0" and "2-7-0" being a reference to a circle, either visually or audibly.  Currently it seems like we're using the wrong method to give them the right idea.

Maybe add a compass or sonar-like graphic to the ship console, in addition to the digital clock.  Something circular with numbers at each 45 degree interval around the perimeter.  This will give the user a little more information to make the connection between those numbers and how they translate into "time".

[Tbone]

I was thinking of adding a muffled "DEGREE" into the scary voice as well, but I thought that might be TOO obvious...