Please, Fix Labyrinth Timer

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vio wrote:

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Rhys wrote:

Behind the scenes, there is no timer. Just a couple of time-stamps.

having the server make a log entry for the first player action in a instance and grep for this event is not solving it?

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Rhys wrote:

Making it track in-game time across multiple servers is much harder.

yep, consecutive lab areas doesn't neccessarily have to be on the same gateway.

but doesn't the need to sync the "time needed for individual instances" also apply to your current approach where you grep the logfiles on each gateway?

This. too :)

Srsly people came up with so many solutions to the problem without the knowledge about the PoE architecture, that current Internt-basic-3months_experience-layOff-student-level idea should have not even be taken into consideration...

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Rhys wrote:

I understand your frustration and sympathize, but the problem is that such a fix is not easy, not fast, and not cheap.

Behind the scenes, there is no timer. Just a couple of time-stamps. We already went with the "easy, fast, cheap" solution. Making it track in-game time across multiple servers is much harder. It would be nice, yes, but unfortunately it's actually quite a lot of work. Sorry.

What do you mean by just timestamps? The timer isn't some special thing you need to include, it's a basic element behind all operations and we wouldn't have the game without it.

I don't know what you guys have going on there but coming from my experience with emulators and modding, this is as basic as it gets and can be handled with a couple of script variables and calls, something like this:

Timer initiates through a character-specific variable once you enter the lobby but doesn't start yet. Once you enter the actual labyrinth and the grace period ends (which is a status so no problem linking the start to this), the time starts ticking. Upon entering one of Izaro's rooms, the timer is suspended and the time saved to a variable. Upon exiting Izaro's room, the previously saved variable is loaded and timer resumes again as the grace period ends. Once you're done with the labyrinth, the timer is turned off and the final time is saved to another, permanent variable which is then used by the ranking system. Exiting the map/relogging would wipe both the time and turn off the timer.
Upon changing maps the timer would pause and the time would be saved as soon as you click the door and load back plus initiate again once the grace period ends, much like with Izaro's rooms.

All of this involves mere 3 variables, (two temporary, one semi-permanent (until saved to SQL or whatever you guys use and then wiped by entering a new instance). Even a single stage of Izaro's fights is more complicated than this.

This has been pretty much universal too all games I worked with and I highly doubt PoE can't support something a simple as this.

It would require a longer log of time stamps and a function to calculate the load times out.

So log start at entry of the gate and log end at the death of Izaro.

Log every activation of a transition and every end of the grace period (either through action or time out) as the a load time package.

Run the calculation to subtract all the load time packages only once Izaro is dead to save up on processing time.


How much more server resources this would cost compared to what is used now with all the people running labs, I can't estimate. It may be little in a single instance, but can add up to a lot with thousands of people.

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Raudram wrote:

All of this involves mere 3 variables, (two temporary, one permanent). Even a single stage of Izaro's fights is more complicated than this.

the way the game is built you can play on several gateways around the world. when clicking on a waypoint you never know if it is created on the texas, frankfurt or australia (just to mention the extremes).

to consistently collect user data, all gateways in the world report back to the realm servers (user database, item db, achievement server) located in dallas (texas).


as i understood rhys, the labyrinth also consists of multiple instances, so entering the itzaro boss fight basically can transfer you to another server (if your current one is under high load).

the real implementation would have been to have all servers report the lab run times of individual users and individual instances to the realm servers which reassemble them. which raises alot of problems coming naturally with unreliably syncing stuff over the internet.

a little bit more detail about how they eventually implemented it would be nice.

omg don't overdo

Make a timestamp when grace periods end, entering a zone transfer, and killing Izaro.

If we label them as G (Grace), Z (Zone), and I (Izaro), the results of the time-stamps should look like:

(time) G
(time) Z
(time) G
(time) Z
.
.
.

(time) G
(time) Z
(time) G
(time) I

Then you collect the times between the G's and Z's and between the final G and I, and you have your total time.

This cuts out all time going from Z to G, which is loading time and anything within grace period.

LOL, end users writing psuedo-code always makes me chuckle. Kind of like watching puppies wrestle with their mama.

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Rhys wrote:

I understand your frustration and sympathize, but the problem is that such a fix is not easy, not fast, and not cheap.

Behind the scenes, there is no timer. Just a couple of time-stamps. We already went with the "easy, fast, cheap" solution. Making it track in-game time across multiple servers is much harder. It would be nice, yes, but unfortunately it's actually quite a lot of work. Sorry.

If you aren't going to add a complete and fair feature then don't do it at all, especially if its going to be a month late to begin with. Labyrinth is already a failure at least after the first run and this doesn't make it any better.

Ok Rhys, that means it's an unfair challenge so you should be doing those jewel prizes available to everyone.

I get what people are saying, but on the other hand this is supposed to be a race from start to finish. Stopping the timer for a grace period turns it into a bumch of small races. The buy with the SSD can just chill for 40 seconds at the start of every area. Get a drink. Stretch. Take a quick piss. Tab out and look at the lab notes. Whatever. But it stops being a race from start to finish.

Off the topic but I watched the videos of that buy doing the lab in 3 minutes? They'd have to give me a 7 minute handicap if I was going to compete with him.