Inactive Topic Grepolis Time

DeletedUser

Guest
Proposal:
Use one unified time for all game elements. This could be called Grepolis Time.

This can be the server time, UTC or any other offset. It would mean the removal of local time, and daylight savings. Daylight savings should also be removed from the server.

Have you Checked the 'Do not suggest list/previously suggested ideas' in the 'Archive'?
It should be there already.

Reason:
A common time used by all players will help tremendously in coordinating attacks and defence. The current method of local time zone, plus daylight savings, leads to confusion, mistakes and is a totally unnecessary obfuscation of one of the fundamental mechanics of Grepolis play -Time.

Local time does not accommodate geographical variants for daylight savings. For example, Iceland is in the GMT time zone, but does not follow DST, so therefore the displayed time is wrong for half of the year for Icelanders.

The server follows DST, and makes coordination very difficult around the biannual clock changes at 02:00. To use Iceland as an example again, even a setting of UTC would mean the displayed time is wrong half of the year.

Player A who is in New Zealand (UTC+11) telling player B who is in the UK (UTC) that their colony ship arrives tomorrow at 12:30 PM can be completely ambiguous when daylight savings from each country are considered, and the fact that tomorrow may mean completely different weekdays for each player

Details:
All time displayed in game is unified to server time UTC.
Time zone settings are removed.
Daylight savings are removed from server.

Visual Aids:
None required

Balance:
Balance should remain unaffected.

Abuse Prevention:
No abuse vectors identified.

Summary:
It seems common that alliances choose UTC+1 or server time for all of their coordination. This effectively makes any local time settings obsolete. The complete removal of time zones and daylight savings will prevent all ambiguity during game play, and should also make the developers job easier by streamlining scripts for offset calculations, and reduces the chance of bug introduction.
 
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DeletedUser

Guest
I don't think it will work as people have the option to set there own timezone currently show their times suit them. No-one wants to have to adjust to a different timezone all the time.

Some alliances make sure every player runs by the same timezone so it is to do with organisation if you want a solution.
 

DeletedUser

Guest
If all players are asked to use one time zone in an alliance, then doesn't that also amount to a constant adjustment of time zone for some players?

Removing it completely, saves any chance of mistakes. You don't address the daylight savings issues in your argument either.

Simplification is the solution.
 
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DeletedUser18132

Guest
Yes, please mods! It is very annoying having 7 different times!

+1
 

DeletedUser

Guest
I don't think it will work as people have the option to set there own timezone currently show their times suit them. No-one wants to have to adjust to a different timezone all the time.

Some alliances make sure every player runs by the same timezone so it is to do with organisation if you want a solution.

If all players are asked to use one time zone in an alliance, then doesn't that also amount to a constant adjustment of time zone for some players?

Removing it completely, saves any chance of mistakes. You don't address the daylight savings issues in your argument either.

Simplification is the solution.

although 5quelch provided a good argument, i will still have to agree with argos . . . leaderships are different, therefore the inner workings of an alliance are different . . .

every alliance ive been in has had a thread with wat time the alliance runs on, and where to go to change it . . . usually this was standard time that is already there wen u start the world . . . however wen i log off i like to set my clock to my time . . . this helps me figure out wat time things happen wen i go to sleep

also this will interfere with different leadership styles . . . u may have all members in ur alliance in the same ocean, therefore run in the same way, where as my alliance may be in two different oceans, and to make sure information doesnt leak (or something of that nature) i may have each group on a different time zone . . . standardizing time would be to standardize leaderships (in my example at least)

that being said . . . i do not like this idea too much

moved to minor
 

DeletedUser

Guest
I'm very surprised that this has not met with wider approval so far.

I can see the merit in using different time zones to obfuscate information within an alliance, but that does call into question the stability of that alliance when such measures are required.

In the wider sense, the whole question of what time zone a player is referring to, just causes an added complication to what is already a complex game. Add the daylight savings and it becomes a nightmare. For many players the clocks will change on the night of 29th/30th of this month, but not all. add the server changing too, and any coordination is thrown into a crooked hat come that time.

Are you seriously suggesting the time sadism is a good game mechanic?
 

DeletedUser

Guest
The problems around the DST allowances seem to have raised their head over the periuod of the 29th/30th as predicted.

Landing Time Miscalculation

I would like to challenge the move to minor as this suggestion is more likely a development issue and not just a cosmetic change or improvement. For example, the internal forum post timestamps used server time in version 2.12, and this makes it obvious that the developers have different time variables at their disposal where such bugs will be allowed to creep in. A single time would remove all possibility of such errors occurring in future.
 

DeletedUser19554

Guest
will you be quiet the only thing i even agree with is daylight savings time and this is minor not development
 

DeletedUser

Guest
this is a great idea, would make things far simpler.
 

DeletedUser

Guest
will you be quiet
Well reasoned, and very rich coming from a spambot. I'm assuming it was you that de-repped me but didn't sign. Well done.

To redeem yourself, would you care to explain how the categories of Minor and Developmental are decided?
 

DeletedUser18132

Guest
If there are not extremely game-changing, just adding a littlew to it,they are put into minor. The rest go into ideas. If a thread got a lot of yeses, then it is moved to development. There, it may go to coting.
 

DeletedUser

Guest
Thanks Sjsharksboy, but I was rather hoping the oracle johnny 07 would know the differences.

Further evidence that the current system just introduces bugs - Incorrect Time display
 

DeletedUser19554

Guest
first off i have no reason to redeem myself or even have a reason noob


Also imagine how many bugs this will realese :)
 

DeletedUser

Guest
I agree with the OP. The option for players to be able to set their gameclock to local time should be removed (we all have a clock for that in our taskbar or on our wrist), and the 7 different time/date formats we're currently facing should be reduced down to one.

I don't care if this is labeled as minor or major, just as long as it's finally done after having the community beg for this for 2 years in countless threads.

If you check the bugsection, about every 10th issue is directly related to this, all of which could have been avoided a long time ago.
 

DeletedUser

Guest
I was about to compile a list of all of the bugs that have been reported, and could have been avoided by using a common time in reply to the previous poster. A simple search is sufficient so I won't bother now, and thank you for the support.

There is a sister suggestion that covers the time and date formats

Common Time and Date Formats
 

DeletedUser

Guest
Just so this doesn't get lost in nirvana:
- This forum: 24.09.11, 18:20
- Main Game Screen: 18:20:37 - 24/09/2011
- Premium screen: End 10/11/11 (october? november? 2010? who knows....)
- Ingame messages: 9/24/11 at 6:20 PM
- Alliance forum: Sep 24, 2011 6:20 PM
- Alliance forum posts: 24.09.2011 18:20
- Command overview: Arrival on 24.09. at 18:20:37
 

DeletedUser

Guest
Quoted in the other topic that covers formats specifically.
 

DeletedUser19554

Guest
Just so this doesn't get lost in nirvana:
- This forum: 24.09.11, 18:20
- Main Game Screen: 18:20:37 - 24/09/2011
- Premium screen: End 10/11/11 (october? november? 2010? who knows....)
- Ingame messages: 9/24/11 at 6:20 PM
- Alliance forum: Sep 24, 2011 6:20 PM
- Alliance forum posts: 24.09.2011 18:20
- Command overview: Arrival on 24.09. at 18:20:37

that's different than what [user]5quelch[/user] is proposing.I agree with that but not his idea ;)
 

DeletedUser

Guest
im gonna re-read this and then decide if its a development or should stay here
 
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