Let's Talk Prizes!

[Secre]

Well, we're coming into the final week and I know m y mind is set on the prize shop hanging at the end of this. Particularly as the games are now definitely more of a chore than any entertainment!!

So, what's everybody hoping for or playing for?

When I started this year, I was aiming for the paint brush, but I'm more interested in the yooyu now. I might have been very tempted to bite if Maraqua were in the lead and there was the potential of a Maraquan paint brush. But otherwise, I think the only two paint brushes I'd be tempted by would be Oil and Halloween as those are on the cards for my pets anyway.

I'm then hoping to tot up enough points for the stamp and the books... this may be a tiny bit ambitious I admit considering my current points!!

[Sciurus carolinensis]

My plan is to wait a few days, then buy the item going for the most neopoints that i can afford. I'll then sell it, and use the rest of my points to get every edible prize for my gallery. If there happens to be something expensive that I want to keep, that may change my plans.

[AgJu]

Ideally, i would love for them to go for broke and put up like a Steampunk paint brush cuz i want that for my Lenny (i'd like my Quiggle to be burlap, but that's a lab ray only thing, i believe). If its not, and i can afford it, i'll still get the paint brush just to say i did it. Since Meridell is on track to win, maybe they'll do the Royal brush? Sometimes there's a theme, but that Tyrannian paint brush has popped up a couple times even in non-Tyrannia-winning years. I think the water paint brush was up once and that would be cool to see again.

From there i just go down the list, picking out what looks cool to me, and then spending the rest on the team-specific gear toward the bottom; one of each, then the rest on the Terror Mountain item.

[anapm.agostini]

I'd be VERY surprised if they put a royal PB on the prize list

I usually just go for the books multiple times, one for my pet, multiples for some NP since books are rather easy to sell. 

This year I'll probably go for the stamp too, but I'm thinking of maybe holding on to those prize shop points to claim my prizes later, when I can already have some idea on what's really worth it (in terms of selling it later)

[Secre]

On 6/21/2020 at 4:11 AM, AgJu said:

Ideally, i would love for them to go for broke and put up like a Steampunk paint brush cuz i want that for my Lenny (i'd like my Quiggle to be burlap, but that's a lab ray only thing, i believe). If its not, and i can afford it, i'll still get the paint brush just to say i did it. Since Meridell is on track to win, maybe they'll do the Royal brush? Sometimes there's a theme, but that Tyrannian paint brush has popped up a couple times even in non-Tyrannia-winning years. I think the water paint brush was up once and that would be cool to see again.

From there i just go down the list, picking out what looks cool to me, and then spending the rest on the team-specific gear toward the bottom; one of each, then the rest on the Terror Mountain item.

I hadn't seen the burlap colour before. I can't decide if I think it's hideous or unique enough to count as strangely cute!! I've been wondering if they'll try and theme it this year. I suppose all we can do is wait and see!

On 6/20/2020 at 6:36 PM, Sciurus carolinensis said:

My plan is to wait a few days, then buy the item going for the most neopoints that i can afford. I'll then sell it, and use the rest of my points to get every edible prize for my gallery. If there happens to be something expensive that I want to keep, that may change my plans.

I'm certainly not going to have enough points to get stuff to keep and sell, so I think I'll be going with the keep option!!

On 6/21/2020 at 12:19 PM, anapm.agostini said:

I'd be VERY surprised if they put a royal PB on the prize list

I usually just go for the books multiple times, one for my pet, multiples for some NP since books are rather easy to sell. 

This year I'll probably go for the stamp too, but I'm thinking of maybe holding on to those prize shop points to claim my prizes later, when I can already have some idea on what's really worth it (in terms of selling it later)

The stamps and the books are almost always the items worth the most in the long term - particularly once the rush of sellers have disappeared and you have those few left who waited!!

[jellysundae]

I live in hope of a vintage Shenkuu jersey appearing, but seeing as this item doesn't exist I'm not holding my breathe. >.< Especially as - judging by the item description of those that do - a team needs to have won to get a vintage jersey. *le sigh*

I shall buy books and the stamp, and anything wearable that's cute.

[Secre]

22 hours ago, jellysundae said:

I live in hope of a vintage Shenkuu jersey appearing, but seeing as this item doesn't exist I'm not holding my breathe. >.< Especially as - judging by the item description of those that do - a team needs to have won to get a vintage jersey. *le sigh*

I shall buy books and the stamp, and anything wearable that's cute.

I've got a few of those in my collection as well - but largely of popular teams that sell for less as more people grabbed them I guess!!

[jellysundae]

10 minutes ago, Secre said:

I've got a few of those in my collection as well - but largely of popular teams that sell for less as more people grabbed them I guess!!

Looking on JN there's only 10 vintage jerseys. So I guess that means there are 8 teams that have never won! Teams like Faerieland and Moltara got no hope of EVER getting a prize/NP wearable jersey then, basically? : /

[Wildbreeze]

5 hours ago, jellysundae said:

Looking on JN there's only 10 vintage jerseys. So I guess that means there are 8 teams that have never won! Teams like Faerieland and Moltara got no hope of EVER getting a prize/NP wearable jersey then, basically? : /

Unless a cheater group backs them, no. Moltara got 3rd one year because of cheaters. Even with... help, Faerieland is notorious for losing because it's the one little kids join and then don't play, and those extra nonplayers drag the team down. While Moltara would need a LOT more help because very few people join them in the first place.

[AgJu]

only 7 teams have never won before this year: Meridell, Brightvale, Maraqua, Shenkuu, Altador, Faerieland, Moltara.

 

Three teams have doubled up: Haunted Woods, Tyrannia, Kiko Lake

It seems like Meridell or Brightvale's year (unless KL spoils), so we could bring that group down to 6. I'm honestly surprised Maraqua and Meridell haven't won yet. Unfortunately, i think it'll take a lot for Altador, Faerieland, or Moltara to take it.

[anapm.agostini]

On 6/24/2020 at 3:08 PM, Wildbreeze said:

Unless a cheater group backs them, no. Moltara got 3rd one year because of cheaters. Even with... help, Faerieland is notorious for losing because it's the one little kids join and then don't play, and those extra nonplayers drag the team down. While Moltara would need a LOT more help because very few people join them in the first place.

I always wonder how the number of players affects score. I mean, if everyone in neo achieved the exact same score, would teams with more players win? That doesn't seem fair (nor deciding it on an average > sum of scores divided by number of players...)

15 cups and I still don't get it.

[AgJu]

3 hours ago, anapm.agostini said:

 

15 cups and I still don't get it.

a part of me keeps thinking that's the point. like, if people knew exactly how scoring works, they'd have better knowledge of how to tweak it. Although i can hear an argument for why NO ONE knowing how exactly it works is unfair.

[Secre]

12 hours ago, anapm.agostini said:

I always wonder how the number of players affects score. I mean, if everyone in neo achieved the exact same score, would teams with more players win? That doesn't seem fair (nor deciding it on an average > sum of scores divided by number of players...)

15 cups and I still don't get it.

I think large teams are both a bonus and a minus - size of team does seem to matter, think of Moltara. However, with a larger team also comes a larger amount of players who join a team and don't play the games - think Faerieland. So Kiko Lake is a relatively small team with a dedicated fan base, whereas Faerieland is a large team with a lot of casual players.

But yes, clarity would be good!

[jellysundae]

It would be great to have just a little insight. I really hope it is that it is casual players letting teams down, and not actual code that counts up the amount of members in a team, divides by the number of games played, and consequently punishes those with a poor showing. Nah, surely not?? That'd be pretty punitive.

I wonder about the faerieland thing though, isn't the "a lot of kids join that team then don't play" thing a bit of a long-standing tale that's maybe no longer accurate? I see a few people say it but there really aren't many kids on Neo now.

Ok, I'm gonna do some researching using the Money Tree!

So out of 20 people on one page of the Money Tree:

14 didn't sign up - 7 of which are brand new accounts - those with older accounts have never competed.

apart from one who joined LD in 2011, clearly hated it and has never joined up again since, lol.

Out of the rest:-

• Maraqua: signed up but didn't compete - 4 month old account
• Roo Island: Rank 1 - 18 yr. old account
• Darigan Citadel: signed up but didn't compete - 3 month old account
• Meridell: Rank 5 - 15 yr.old account
• Kiko Lake: Rank Beginner - has played in 8 ACs but only to get participation trophy

Huh. I realise the Money Tree wasn't a good place to find people for this, as most of the people who give to it are new players who've not yet learnt the all-important Neopian mantra of HOARD ALL THE THINGS. xD Nice to see all those new accounts though!

*tries Kadoatery instead*

Alrighty then! Out of 20 Kadders, with join year

3 didn't sign up: 1 joined 2006 and has only played once and didn't do much, one's a brand new account but old player, last has played in 6 previously but only got participation medals.

The rest:-

• Krawk Island: All-star(2008); beginner(2005); beginner(2011);
• Darigan Citadel: All-star(2010); rank 1(2009); All-star(2005) ; All-star(2005); Beginner(2004 - joined every year just for participation medal) ; All-star(2018)
• Terror Mountain: All-star(2005)
• Shenkuu: All-star(2009)(also, my friend Aya )
• Maraqua: All-star(2006)
• Roo Island: Rank 12(2005)
• Meridell: All-star(2010); All-star(2005)
• Brightvale: All-star(2005)
• Roo Island: All-star(April  2020)

That's quite telling, isn't it! Out of 20 people DC has the lion's share, that's interesting. I know it's way too small a group of people to be able to draw any proper conclusions. But one thing REALLY stands out. People who are into the AC work hard for their team, look at all those AS ranks! I admit Kadders are maybe also liable to be a little on the obsessive side? So AS ranking kind of to be expected?

If doing this wasn't so flippin' time-consuming I'd go through things like the Wishing Well and Lottery winners too.

 

 

 

 

 

[anapm.agostini]

I absolutely loved your research, @jellysundae! 

I kinda like to think that younger players are there, but not where we see them: neoboards, off-site forums, etc.

I think back to when I started playing: it took me YEARS to first adventure to the boards. All I used to do was play games (badly) :P

not that i am any better at games now

[Secre]

21 hours ago, jellysundae said:

It would be great to have just a little insight. I really hope it is that it is casual players letting teams down, and not actual code that counts up the amount of members in a team, divides by the number of games played, and consequently punishes those with a poor showing. Nah, surely not?? That'd be pretty punitive.

I wonder about the faerieland thing though, isn't the "a lot of kids join that team then don't play" thing a bit of a long-standing tale that's maybe no longer accurate? I see a few people say it but there really aren't many kids on Neo now.

Ok, I'm gonna do some researching using the Money Tree!

So out of 20 people on one page of the Money Tree:

14 didn't sign up - 7 of which are brand new accounts - those with older accounts have never competed.

apart from one who joined LD in 2011, clearly hated it and has never joined up again since, lol.

Out of the rest:-

• Maraqua: signed up but didn't compete - 4 month old account
• Roo Island: Rank 1 - 18 yr. old account
• Darigan Citadel: signed up but didn't compete - 3 month old account
• Meridell: Rank 5 - 15 yr.old account
• Kiko Lake: Rank Beginner - has played in 8 ACs but only to get participation trophy

Huh. I realise the Money Tree wasn't a good place to find people for this, as most of the people who give to it are new players who've not yet learnt the all-important Neopian mantra of HOARD ALL THE THINGS. xD Nice to see all those new accounts though!

*tries Kadoatery instead*

Alrighty then! Out of 20 Kadders, with join year

3 didn't sign up: 1 joined 2006 and has only played once and didn't do much, one's a brand new account but old player, last has played in 6 previously but only got participation medals.

The rest:-

• Krawk Island: All-star(2008); beginner(2005); beginner(2011);
• Darigan Citadel: All-star(2010); rank 1(2009); All-star(2005) ; All-star(2005); Beginner(2004 - joined every year just for participation medal) ; All-star(2018)
• Terror Mountain: All-star(2005)
• Shenkuu: All-star(2009)(also, my friend Aya )
• Maraqua: All-star(2006)
• Roo Island: Rank 12(2005)
• Meridell: All-star(2010); All-star(2005)
• Brightvale: All-star(2005)
• Roo Island: All-star(April  2020)

That's quite telling, isn't it! Out of 20 people DC has the lion's share, that's interesting. I know it's way too small a group of people to be able to draw any proper conclusions. But one thing REALLY stands out. People who are into the AC work hard for their team, look at all those AS ranks! I admit Kadders are maybe also liable to be a little on the obsessive side? So AS ranking kind of to be expected?

If doing this wasn't so flippin' time-consuming I'd go through things like the Wishing Well and Lottery winners too.

This sounds like a project I can get behind. *fires up a spreadsheet*. Data points being account name, age of account, team, number of times played, highest rank earned, average rank earned? Might add in individual years. Let's see how I go. You can tell I'm a data monkey in real life, can't you? I get way too excited over spreadsheets.

I think the kad is likely the place where the slightly more engaged players hang out. So an average of all of them might be interesting.

I'll be back with results in a bit.

1 hour ago, anapm.agostini said:

I absolutely loved your research, @jellysundae! 

I kinda like to think that younger players are there, but not where we see them: neoboards, off-site forums, etc.

I think back to when I started playing: it took me YEARS to first adventure to the boards. All I used to do was play games (badly) :P

not that i am any better at games now

I still don't go on the boards! The wrath of TNT scares me too much!! I'm a little better at the games though... she says... I'm hoping for a new trophy for my cabinet this month though. Depends on who else plays certain games!!

[AgJu]

my account is old enough to drive and almost old enough to vote and i don't think i've ever really used the neoboards lol

[jellysundae]

On 7/1/2020 at 1:26 PM, Secre said:

This sounds like a project I can get behind. *fires up a spreadsheet*. Data points being account name, age of account, team, number of times played, highest rank earned, average rank earned? Might add in individual years. Let's see how I go. You can tell I'm a data monkey in real life, can't you? I get way too excited over spreadsheets.

I think the kad is likely the place where the slightly more engaged players hang out. So an average of all of them might be interesting.

I'll be back with results in a bit.

Hahahah, what am I enabling here xD Do enjoy though!

[Secre]

19 hours ago, jellysundae said:

Hahahah, what am I enabling here xD Do enjoy though!

Well, I did about 50 players yesterday... very few of them had Moltara or Faerieland as their chosen team. I'll increase the data set today!

[anapm.agostini]

@Secre & @jellysundae

Look at what I stumbled upon: 

http://www.neopets.com/~Figgebu

A page with team sizes, overall stats, team-specific stats. 

"currently there are 13744 players included... or 9889 if we ignore the Many who joined a team and didn't play a single game."

[Secre]

39 minutes ago, anapm.agostini said:

@Secre & @jellysundae

Look at what I stumbled upon: 

http://www.neopets.com/~Figgebu

A page with team sizes, overall stats, team-specific stats. 

"currently there are 13744 players included... or 9889 if we ignore the Many who joined a team and didn't play a single game."

Oh wow! Now that's a data set worthy of the name! 

[616.1314]

3 hours ago, anapm.agostini said:

@Secre & @jellysundae

Look at what I stumbled upon: 

http://www.neopets.com/~Figgebu

A page with team sizes, overall stats, team-specific stats. 

"currently there are 13744 players included... or 9889 if we ignore the Many who joined a team and didn't play a single game."

omg that's insane! 

shocked to see such a high number of AS players :0

and wow DC is the biggest team! 

[AgJu]

i guess if Kiko Lake can be the smallest team and still win, maybe the scoring DOES have to do with average of active players versus sandbagging from inactive players?

 

Edit: Anyway, as far as prizes, i was hoping for a better paint brush, but it does make sense since Terror Mountain were last year's winners. Now i'm not sure if i want the PB or the Snow Yooyu. Def getting the Prytariel action figure and team-centric gear

Edit 2: Already have a snow PB in my inventory so i guess that settles that decision. lol

[anapm.agostini]

On 7/4/2020 at 1:00 AM, AgJu said:

Edit 2: Already have a snow PB in my inventory so i guess that settles that decision. lol

That makes it easier lol

I still haven't claimed any of the prizes but went to do some price research on the yooyu, stamp and books and I figured that with more people supposedly playing (because quarantine) the prices wouldnt escalate so fast but I was SO wrong lol

Probably gonna get two stamps and a book with my 10k-ish points

 

Also: the prizes for the staff tournament are really cheap aren't they? I wish we could transfer those to the main prize shop lol

[AgJu]

i would've thought a "perfectly preserved diamond yooyuball" would be worth more than 60 points lol