Allpower Time/Magic Timeslot/Power Flood

[Celadon's Penultimate]

Well, I hope he corrects it, too.

This could be a problem in the future, should irresponsible users find it out.

[Vespert]

That's why I didn't say anything when I found out (my profile is too noticeable). I even tried to get ahead of people who would see I acquired three powers at the same time by saying "OMG! I was the victim of a glitch! It kept logging me out, that's why I ended up with three powers!" Of course, that's not what happened...

[WonderDrow]

The glitch happens when powers are possesed on the same second.

Justin could correct that glitch by changing the check on 1 power a day before a possesion.
A check that inserts the username & day of possession in a table.
That table then needs to have a uniqueness constraint on username + day.  
Since inserts on a table are always done sequencial in a "first in first out" method, the inserts after the first would fail because for those the database would raise an error on the uniqueness constraint.

[WonderDrow]

He could also add an extra tab on the main site that lists the powers that are active in that hour.
That way the users wouldn´t have to load a massive amount of powers each hour to find the active ones.
Because each day more powers are added it gets harder to find them.
That might actually help avoiding the Out Of Quota error.

[Vespert]

wonder_drow wrote

He could also add an extra tab on the main site that lists the powers that are active in that hour.

I disagree and agree with that. Disagree because the point of acquiring powers is to reward regular and dedicated users. Agree because, as you said, it would surely delay the Out of Quota error until Justin finds another hosting site, that is if he intends to change it again.

wonder_drow wrote

That table then needs to have a uniqueness constriction on username + day.  
Since inserts on a table are always done sequencial in a "first in first out" method, the inserts after the first would fail because for those the database would raise an error on the uniqueness constriction.

It's actually possible to acquire two powers during the same without it being a glitch. It's a little complicated to explain but it's because there are more than one time zone involved, the New York one for the time displayed on the site, the Reikjavik one for acquiring powers and the Pacific one for the quota refresh.

[Celadon's Penultimate]

 *sigh*

I feel I've been the victim of a deception. Here I am, trying to get powers legitimately, not looking for loopholes, and exploiting none that I've found (such as stealing back powers that I know I made up--that others have submitted under their names--and giving them replacement powers).

Then again, I have exploited a couple loopholes for my advantage...so I suppose adding one more glitch exploitation to my repertoire can't hurt. Not to mention, we can always put all this juicy info back in the Private Forum, so nobody can ever hope to gain unworthy access to it.

[WonderDrow]

Well, if the user uses that "active" tab once a day to get a power. That also rewards a dedicated user. Are you more dedicated if the search of the active powers is made almost impossible?  I don't think so.  It would still be a daily achievement for the user.

About that timezone difference. Yes, that's something to keep in mind.  But I doubt it's a problem, because if the user gets his possession around the same hours each day, that would still be inserted as 1 power per day.  At most you could have situation on his profile screen where it appears 2 powers were aquired on the same day.
Maybe it makes a difference wether he would use the datestamp of the session, or the datestamp of the database.

Oh well, I don't even know if the google app engine allows you to do stuff like that.

[Vespert]

wonder_drow wrote

Are you more dedicated if the search of the active powers is made almost impossible?  I don't think so.  It would still be a daily achievement for the user.

Justin originally intended us to hunt for powers. Not to have powers delivered to our lazy selves.

wonder_drow wrote

Oh well, I don't even know if the google app engine allows you to do stuff like that.

Actually, acquiring two powers during the same day is made possible by google app. We've noticed it after the migration. Justin said Google didn't allow him to change it because it's more expensive. Then, the Over Quota came into play...

[Celadon's Penultimate]

Well, I just need to wait for the AllPower Time, now. I'll be ready for it this time.

[Vespert]

Eagerly waiting for someone to push me out of my throne.

[Celadon's Penultimate]

 Well, you'll be waiting a while. Until some nutball goes about trying to catch 20 or 50 powers at a time, I don't think you have anything to worry about...

[WonderDrow]

No worries then.  You probably can only get maximum 4 out of it

[Celadon's Penultimate]

 Probably so.

[WonderDrow]

Vespert wrote

Justin originally intended us to hunt for powers. Not to have powers delivered to our lazy selves.

That's all dandy and all. But you probably can also agree that it becomes more and more difficult each time more powers are added to the site. ;)

[Vespert]

Oh, we know. We've even complained about it to him. He told us it's not a fixed number of powers that are available, but a percentage on the total number of powers, so the same proportion of powers are active each hour.

[Celadon's Penultimate]

Well, if you guys catch the AllPower Time this time, lemme know. I wanna test you guys' theory out.

[Vespert]

Well, try cracking the code like Sirmazing did.

[Celadon's Penultimate]

I have a few tabs up to wait...

[WonderDrow]

Allpower time happened 10 minutes ago.

04/24/12 at 09:30 a.m.

[Celadon's Penultimate]

What did you get?