Scavenger Hunt [1.2.0]

[trixsey1]

Thank you..x

[Water Crystals]

Lynx we're about to start a new Scavenger Hunt on my site. I have an issue I was wondering if you could weigh in on or help with?

We've run this plugin for years and it's awesome. This past year though, we've noticed some members were getting fiercely competitive, and thus almost obsessively mining as many prizes as they can (often spending HOURS over several days doing so). This has resulted in excessively huge amounts, which no one else has any hope of catching up to + heavily discourages other members from caring about the hunt.

We've talked to them and made some adjustments to how the hunt works (removing a winner, for starters; we give on-site rewards for certain scores or top 10 instead, and raffle off the "winner" from that rather than who has the most prizes). It reduced a bit but we do not want to repeat of this. Especially as we'd like to start using multiple prizes (finding more than 1, to help those who aren't having as much luck / don't have the time to hunt often), as well as the prize detector -- but we worry this will only push the over-hunters further ahead.

TLDR; is there a way to add a max cap or enforce things so that a member can't go overboard? Such as a forced cooldown option or a new frequency rate if you achieve x amount of prizes in total? In general or for everyone? Or really, anything at all which may help prevent members from getting so far ahead of everyone else or collect huge amounts in a day etc. 

[Kitty Katt]

Dec 31, 2022 19:17:29 GMT -8 Water Crystals said:

Lynx we're about to start a new Scavenger Hunt on my site. I have an issue I was wondering if you could weigh in on or help with?

We've run this plugin for years and it's awesome. This past year though, we've noticed some members were getting fiercely competitive, and thus almost obsessively mining as many prizes as they can (often spending HOURS over several days doing so). This has resulted in excessively huge amounts, which no one else has any hope of catching up to + heavily discourages other members from caring about the hunt.

We've talked to them and made some adjustments to how the hunt works (removing a winner, for starters; we give on-site rewards for certain scores or top 10 instead, and raffle off the "winner" from that rather than who has the most prizes). It reduced a bit but we do not want to repeat of this. Especially as we'd like to start using multiple prizes (finding more than 1, to help those who aren't having as much luck / don't have the time to hunt often), as well as the prize detector -- but we worry this will only push the over-hunters further ahead.

TLDR; is there a way to add a max cap or enforce things so that a member can't go overboard? Such as a forced cooldown option or a new frequency rate if you achieve x amount of prizes in total? In general or for everyone? Or really, anything at all which may help prevent members from getting so far ahead of everyone else or collect huge amounts in a day etc. 

Hello.

This is just a courtesy reply to let you know that Lynx has been made aware of your post here. He stated that he would get to your post as soon as he feels well enough to compose a reply, but he could not give an estimated time of when that would be.

[Lynx]

Dec 31, 2022 19:17:29 GMT -8 Water Crystals said:

Lynx we're about to start a new Scavenger Hunt on my site. I have an issue I was wondering if you could weigh in on or help with?

We've run this plugin for years and it's awesome. This past year though, we've noticed some members were getting fiercely competitive, and thus almost obsessively mining as many prizes as they can (often spending HOURS over several days doing so). This has resulted in excessively huge amounts, which no one else has any hope of catching up to + heavily discourages other members from caring about the hunt.

We've talked to them and made some adjustments to how the hunt works (removing a winner, for starters; we give on-site rewards for certain scores or top 10 instead, and raffle off the "winner" from that rather than who has the most prizes). It reduced a bit but we do not want to repeat of this. Especially as we'd like to start using multiple prizes (finding more than 1, to help those who aren't having as much luck / don't have the time to hunt often), as well as the prize detector -- but we worry this will only push the over-hunters further ahead.

TLDR; is there a way to add a max cap or enforce things so that a member can't go overboard? Such as a forced cooldown option or a new frequency rate if you achieve x amount of prizes in total? In general or for everyone? Or really, anything at all which may help prevent members from getting so far ahead of everyone else or collect huge amounts in a day etc. 

The way it's coded now, no - not within the plugin itself. You could always put members in a Forced Opt-Out Group for x amount of time if they are going too crazy. It really is up to the forum owner to enforce their own hunts and how they want to enforce them. I can see about adding additional options to assist, but I don't know when I'll be able to get back to any of my plugins at this time. RL has me busy right now and I can't go as fast as I used to, so things are taking much longer to do now.

[Water Crystals]

Jan 5, 2023 8:57:14 GMT -8 Lynx said:

The way it's coded now, no - not within the plugin itself. You could always put members in a Forced Opt-Out Group for x amount of time if they are going too crazy. It really is up to the forum owner to enforce their own hunts and how they want to enforce them. I can see about adding additional options to assist, but I don't know when I'll be able to get back to any of my plugins at this time. RL has me busy right now and I can't go as fast as I used to, so things are taking much longer to do now.

I've made some adjustments to how we do things, such as removing the competitive element -- and instilling a forced timeout group as suggested. We'll see how that goes

Thank you, regardless of if you can get to this now or not. RL comes first, so no worries. We have a whole year until a new hunt for me, so I'm fine with waiting until you're able to find some time to go over options or whatever it may be. So thanks for getting back to me, and I'll see how the adjustments go.

However, one thing I decided to try was to make the leaderboard only visible to me, the admin -- and perhaps one other staff later as a backup. I removed the custom page from the nav bar, and changed the page's permissions so only I can view it.

And in doing so... I can't see the leaderboard (there def should be some listed). The custom page is just blank. I set things back, still nothing. I don't know if I mucked things up in the plugin read / write permissions, or it's the custom page or what is going on. I used to have the leaderboard hidden for me (only members could see) because seeing it also meant staff could collect items and had the icon in our mini-profiles which we don't want.

But now I don't know how to make myself the only one able to see the leaderboard, while also being 100% exempt from the hunt. Unless something else went wrong? Any help on this from anyone would be greatly appreciated. 

[Kitty Katt]

Jan 6, 2023 0:30:10 GMT -8 Water Crystals said:

Jan 5, 2023 8:57:14 GMT -8 Lynx said:

The way it's coded now, no - not within the plugin itself. You could always put members in a Forced Opt-Out Group for x amount of time if they are going too crazy. It really is up to the forum owner to enforce their own hunts and how they want to enforce them. I can see about adding additional options to assist, but I don't know when I'll be able to get back to any of my plugins at this time. RL has me busy right now and I can't go as fast as I used to, so things are taking much longer to do now.

I've made some adjustments to how we do things, such as removing the competitive element -- and instilling a forced timeout group as suggested. We'll see how that goes

Thank you, regardless of if you can get to this now or not. RL comes first, so no worries. We have a whole year until a new hunt for me, so I'm fine with waiting until you're able to find some time to go over options or whatever it may be. So thanks for getting back to me, and I'll see how the adjustments go.

However, one thing I decided to try was to make the leaderboard only visible to me, the admin -- and perhaps one other staff later as a backup. I removed the custom page from the nav bar, and changed the page's permissions so only I can view it.

And in doing so... I can't see the leaderboard (there def should be some listed). The custom page is just blank. I set things back, still nothing. I don't know if I mucked things up in the plugin read / write permissions, or it's the custom page or what is going on. I used to have the leaderboard hidden for me (only members could see) because seeing it also meant staff could collect items and had the icon in our mini-profiles which we don't want.

But now I don't know how to make myself the only one able to see the leaderboard, while also being 100% exempt from the hunt. Unless something else went wrong? Any help on this from anyone would be greatly appreciated. 

I made an inquiry to Lynx on this. He asked: "Did they put themselves in the Opt-Out group?" According to him, if you put yourself into the Opt-Out group, you have essentially disabled the plugin for yourself.

[Water Crystals]

Jan 13, 2023 10:58:48 GMT -8 Kitty Katt said:

I made an inquiry to Lynx on this. He asked: "Did they put themselves in the Opt-Out group?" According to him, if you put yourself into the Opt-Out group, you have essentially disabled the plugin for yourself.

Not as far as I can tell. I changed permissions of the custom page (so only I can view it), removed it from the navbar, and adjusted some of the read / write permissions for the plugin -- none of which exclude me. I even tried putting things back the way they were (as far as I could remember), and it's still not showing up. I don't know if I accidentally did something or if it's an error.

Going over everything, I'm at a loss why the leaderboard page is just blank for me. Any ideas how to fix this? I have permission to see the page, and everything else works as intended for other groups, but where the leaderboard should be is just... nothing?

[Lynx]

Jan 15, 2023 7:09:38 GMT -8 Water Crystals said:

Jan 13, 2023 10:58:48 GMT -8 Kitty Katt said:

I made an inquiry to Lynx on this. He asked: "Did they put themselves in the Opt-Out group?" According to him, if you put yourself into the Opt-Out group, you have essentially disabled the plugin for yourself.

Not as far as I can tell. I changed permissions of the custom page (so only I can view it), removed it from the navbar, and adjusted some of the read / write permissions for the plugin -- none of which exclude me. I even tried putting things back the way they were (as far as I could remember), and it's still not showing up. I don't know if I accidentally did something or if it's an error.

Going over everything, I'm at a loss why the leaderboard page is just blank for me. Any ideas how to fix this? I have permission to see the page, and everything else works as intended for other groups, but where the leaderboard should be is just... nothing?

Do you see the collection count and bag in mini-profiles in posts?

[Water Crystals]

Jan 20, 2023 10:20:52 GMT -8 Lynx said:

Jan 15, 2023 7:09:38 GMT -8 Water Crystals said:

Not as far as I can tell. I changed permissions of the custom page (so only I can view it), removed it from the navbar, and adjusted some of the read / write permissions for the plugin -- none of which exclude me. I even tried putting things back the way they were (as far as I could remember), and it's still not showing up. I don't know if I accidentally did something or if it's an error.

Going over everything, I'm at a loss why the leaderboard page is just blank for me. Any ideas how to fix this? I have permission to see the page, and everything else works as intended for other groups, but where the leaderboard should be is just... nothing?

Do you see the collection count and bag in mini-profiles in posts?

Not as Admin, but that's always been the case as staff don't partake in the hunt. I could still see the leaderboard at the time. The only thing I changed, as far as I know, is that the leaderboard is now only visible to me -- or it's supposed to be, but I can't see it either despite having permission. The plugin itself works perfectly, as intended, for everyone else.

I'm so confused why this isn't showing for me. Any ideas?

[Lynx]

Jan 22, 2023 19:29:50 GMT -8 Water Crystals said:

Jan 20, 2023 10:20:52 GMT -8 Lynx said:

Do you see the collection count and bag in mini-profiles in posts?

Not as Admin, but that's always been the case as staff don't partake in the hunt. I could still see the leaderboard at the time. The only thing I changed, as far as I know, is that the leaderboard is now only visible to me -- or it's supposed to be, but I can't see it either despite having permission. The plugin itself works perfectly, as intended, for everyone else.

I'm so confused why this isn't showing for me. Any ideas?

Would you mind if I joined your forum? Keep in mind that this may just be a temporary join while I work on the issue. If me joining is fine, then I'll need a forum URL. Just to note: I'll be gone from 1/25 to 1/30, so I won't be able to do anything until after I get back.

[Water Crystals]

Jan 24, 2023 8:21:14 GMT -8 Lynx said:

Jan 22, 2023 19:29:50 GMT -8 Water Crystals said:

Not as Admin, but that's always been the case as staff don't partake in the hunt. I could still see the leaderboard at the time. The only thing I changed, as far as I know, is that the leaderboard is now only visible to me -- or it's supposed to be, but I can't see it either despite having permission. The plugin itself works perfectly, as intended, for everyone else.

I'm so confused why this isn't showing for me. Any ideas?

Would you mind if I joined your forum? Keep in mind that this may just be a temporary join while I work on the issue. If me joining is fine, then I'll need a forum URL. Just to note: I'll be gone from 1/25 to 1/30, so I won't be able to do anything until after I get back.

Yeah, that's fine  Hogwarts AU

If you need to see the plugin in action, I'll have to make a temp group to place you in as currently only those who have approved + sorted characters can partake / see it. 

[Lynx]

Jan 25, 2023 19:53:20 GMT -8 Water Crystals said:

Jan 24, 2023 8:21:14 GMT -8 Lynx said:

Would you mind if I joined your forum? Keep in mind that this may just be a temporary join while I work on the issue. If me joining is fine, then I'll need a forum URL. Just to note: I'll be gone from 1/25 to 1/30, so I won't be able to do anything until after I get back.

Yeah, that's fine  Hogwarts AU

If you need to see the plugin in action, I'll have to make a temp group to place you in as currently only those who have approved + sorted characters can partake / see it. 

I've registered with the username of msg. Yes - I will need to see the plugin in action.

[Water Crystals]

Jan 31, 2023 20:51:08 GMT -8 Lynx said:

Jan 25, 2023 19:53:20 GMT -8 Water Crystals said:

Yeah, that's fine  Hogwarts AU

If you need to see the plugin in action, I'll have to make a temp group to place you in as currently only those who have approved + sorted characters can partake / see it. 

I've registered with the username of msg. Yes - I will need to see the plugin in action.

I saw you on board, and was prepping to give you permission -- making a group etc.

Then also realised I'd set it so only those with certain themes can stuff, so needed to make one for that too... and decided to try enabling my admin theme to see if the leaderboard popped up. And it did! However, it also includes the icon in mini-profiles and all the other stuff that comes with it, which I don't want.

So I have a way of checking the leaderboard if necessary, though not ideal, but still does not solve my main issue as I used to be able to see the leaderboard regardless. Anyway, you will need to pick the "TEMP" theme to see the plugin in action. 

[Lynx]

Jan 31, 2023 21:00:48 GMT -8 Water Crystals said:

Jan 31, 2023 20:51:08 GMT -8 Lynx said:

I've registered with the username of msg. Yes - I will need to see the plugin in action.

I saw you on board, and was prepping to give you permission -- making a group etc.

Then also realised I'd set it so only those with certain themes can stuff, so needed to make one for that too... and decided to try enabling my admin theme to see if the leaderboard popped up. And it did! However, it also includes the icon in mini-profiles and all the other stuff that comes with it, which I don't want.

So I have a way of checking the leaderboard if necessary, though not ideal, but still does not solve my main issue as I used to be able to see the leaderboard regardless. Anyway, you will need to pick the "TEMP" theme to see the plugin in action. 

Are you in any of these group numbers: 6, 45, 46, 62 and/or 73?

[Water Crystals]

Jan 31, 2023 21:17:00 GMT -8 Lynx said:

Jan 31, 2023 21:00:48 GMT -8 Water Crystals said:

I saw you on board, and was prepping to give you permission -- making a group etc.

Then also realised I'd set it so only those with certain themes can stuff, so needed to make one for that too... and decided to try enabling my admin theme to see if the leaderboard popped up. And it did! However, it also includes the icon in mini-profiles and all the other stuff that comes with it, which I don't want.

So I have a way of checking the leaderboard if necessary, though not ideal, but still does not solve my main issue as I used to be able to see the leaderboard regardless. Anyway, you will need to pick the "TEMP" theme to see the plugin in action. 

Are you in any of these group numbers: 6, 45, 46, 62 and/or 73?

Sorry, I have no idea how to check that? I don't see their numbers anywhere. How do I get this info?