Vanilla
Pixelmon
Cobblemon
2B2TClout
New member
Hello I am trying to explain my point of view of why the current 8 hour raid shield is inadequate on factions. I found it hard to explain my position in a traditional dialog without graphics so I decided to make a forum post here to better express my opinions similar to my creeper pricing essay a while back.
Here I will present common arguments and debunk them:
"Just recruit other time zones":
~ We have, We are a split of 50/50 US and EU time zones, AU/East asia time zones do not play the game mode enough to be effective.
~Time zones still do not provide adequate coverage regarding a 8 hour shield.
"Just fix your raid shield pattern"
~Given that most EU players are from West Europe, BST Time zone is used as example. 2am-10am EST is the most effective and most reasonable shield pattern. It is actually the most optimal shield for 8 hours, Anything other than that leaves you open even further as now you are leaving either US OR EU time zones open to obscure hour raids. 2am-10am is the most protection across both common time zone.
"This is factions, We don't want Skyblock"
~Ok, This is factions, Not a job either. Besides why are you staying up until 1am/5am depending on time zone to raid someone? Get a life...
"Well nobody complained before, Server is doing better than ever, Why change it" **Ahem frankcg**
While I 100% agree with it doing better before, This is NOT due to the current 8 hour raid shield, Raid shield is actually hurting it long-term. Look at player count for the season. It slowly drops down until the end... Now yes; We do expect this in normal conditions. People get bored and leave due to reset coming up. But if you look at raid recaps, You will see many of your cherished small factions getting smashed into weird hours by 2 factions (Mostly one) consistently. If shield was longer, Some of those factions would still be around and your player count would be even higher! We appear to be moving towards Casual factions, Which I actually support despite my formal more comp playstyle. The factions game mode has been teetering off for a long time and if we want to save it, We have to keep players wanting to play it, Staying up at 2am to defend or 10am while your supposed to be at work/school is not the move for that.
"Well, Asshole, What do you recommend then"
12 hour shields.
An 8-hour shield ends at 3pm BST — while half the server is still at work. A 12-hour shield ends at 7pm BST, when both timezones can actually log in and defend.
What players are actually doing with a 12 hour shield (During shield) [12am-12pm]
| Time (EST) | Time (BST) | US Players (50%) | EU Players (50%) |
| 12am | 6am |  Asleep | Waking up |
| 1am | 7am | Asleep | Waking up / getting ready |
| 2am | 8am | Asleep | Getting ready / commute |
| 3am | 9am | Asleep | At work / school |
| 4am | 10am | Asleep | At work / school |
| 5am | 11am | Asleep | At work / school |
| 6am | 12pm | Asleep | At work / school (lunch) |
| 7am | 1pm | Waking up | At work / school |
| 8am | 2pm | Getting ready / commute | At work / school |
| 9am | 3pm | At work / school | At work / school |
| 10am | 4pm | At work / school | At work / school |
| 11am | 5pm | At work / school | Leaving work / school |
| 12pm | 6pm | At work / school | Home / winding down |
| Time (EST) | Time (BST) | US Players (50%) | EU Players (50%) |
| 12pm | 6pm | Home / free | Home / winding down |
| 1pm | 7pm | Home / free | Home / free |
| 2pm | 8pm | Home / free | Home / free |
| 3pm | 9pm | Home / free | Home / free |
| 4pm | 10pm | Home / free | Home / free |
| 5pm | 11pm | Home / free | Winding down |
| 6pm | 12am | Home / free | Getting ready for bed |
| 7pm | 1am | Home / free | Asleep |
| 8pm | 2am | Home / free | Asleep |
| 9pm | 3am | Home / free | Asleep |
| 10pm | 4am | Winding down | Asleep |
| 11pm | 5am | Getting ready for bed | Asleep |
| 12am | 6am | Asleep | Waking up |
What Players Are likely Actually Doing (2am–10am EST / 7am–3pm BST) [8 hour shield]
| Time (EST) | Time (BST) | US Players (50%) | EU Players (50%) |
| 2am | 7am | Asleep | Waking up |
| 3am | 8am | Asleep | Waking up / getting ready |
| 4am | 9am | Asleep | At work / school |
| 5am | 10am | Asleep | At work / school |
| 6am | 11am | Asleep | At work / school |
| 7am | 12pm | Waking up | At work / school (lunch) |
| 8am | 1pm | Getting ready / commute | At work / school |
| 9am | 2pm | At work / school | At work / school |
| 10am | 3pm | At work / school | At work / school (school ends ~3:15pm) |
| Time (EST) | Time (BST) | US Players (50%) | EU Players (50%) |
| 10am | 3pm | At work / school | At work / school |
| 11am | 4pm | At work / school | At work / school |
| 12pm | 5pm | At work / school | Leaving work / school |
| 1pm | 6pm | Home / free | Home / winding down |
| 2pm | 7pm | Home / free | Home / free |
| 3pm | 8pm | Home / free | Home / free |
| 4pm | 9pm | Home / free | Home / free |
| 5pm | 10pm | Home / free | Winding down |
| 6pm | 11pm | Home / free | Getting ready for bed |
| 7pm | 12am | Home / free | Asleep |
| 8pm | 1am | Home / free | Asleep |
| 9pm | 2am | Home / free | Asleep |
| 10pm | 3am | Winding down | Asleep |
| 11pm | 4am | Getting ready for bed | Asleep |
| 12am | 5am | Asleep | Asleep |
| 1am | 6am | Asleep | Waking up |
| 2am | 7am | Asleep | Waking up / getting ready |
Conclusion:
The problem with the 8-hour shield:
- 10am–12pm EST (3pm–5pm BST): Both sides still at work/school. Zero defenders. This is the gap the 8-hour shield leaves open.
- 12am-2am EST (5am-7am BST): EST is going to sleep, BST is getting ready for school/work or is already away.
Edit: I realized another argument would be made so ill debunk it too.
"Not all EU/US Players fall under EST and BST"
I agree, You will have maybe 1 player from lets say Poland, Or maybe a player or two from west coast US. These time zones are spread a hour or two from the mean. That leaves you with maybe 2 players online if they happen to log on. If you are up against a 6~8 man faction of no lives with no job/school you are still getting raided, ESPECIALLY if you get targeted hard on those time slots those obscure time zone players are 100% going to burn out if its consistent. But lets be honest. Most players in Europe are from the islands or France/Spain, And you are more likely to have those guys not online anyways because they may have practice/homework/take a shower/Eat dinner/ etc like any other functional responsible human.
Bless my hyper analytical soul, I was forced to do this essay against my will obviously... (I will not stop thinking about it until I do)
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