Scenario Time Question

[waystin2]

All you guys who are answering "b" should realize that 10pm EST in Europe is 6am or earlier and that part of the playerbase is a large part of scenario participation. It ain't just about you. The 3pm start time is well thought out time to give MOST of the AH player base a chance to participate.

This I understand.  What about our Austrailian friends?  This last scenario I had no less than 5 Aussies who got up before 5:00 AM to participate in the Enemy Coast Ahead Scenario.  I thank them for their dedication!

[Zoney]

All you guys who are answering "b" should realize that 10pm EST in Europe is 6am or earlier and that part of the playerbase is a large part of scenario participation. It ain't just about you. The 3pm start time is well thought out time to give MOST of the AH player base a chance to participate.

I'm sorry if the majority end up voting for 10pm and the minority is therefore inconvienced.  But is that better than running it at a time that the majority would be inconvienced?

B

[perdue3]

We keep it at 3 PM EST so that non North Americans can participate. But why? They are the minority. Many more people will show up if the time is later, even by a few hours. What percentage do non NA players make up? 20%? Common sense to me.

[Vudu15]

We keep it at 3 PM EST so that non North Americans can participate. But why? They are the minority. Many more people will show up if the time is later, even by a few hours. What percentage do non NA players make up? 20%? Common sense to me.

wow, yea that's the ticket screw em....ain't but a few of em anyway. I've been deployed in Germany for the last three years and the 9 pm time puts EU players up around 4 am depending on daylight savings. Now on the other hand Aussie players are coming in at around 11am Sun morning that time. Each time will put a type of strain on the players but you shouldn't just say F*&* it out of turn, just because their aren't as many of the folks in the other times zones. My 2 cents and I don't give a dam what you do with it.....................

[Easyscor]

We keep it at 3 PM EST so that non North Americans can participate. But why? They are the minority. Many more people will show up if the time is later, even by a few hours. What percentage do non NA players make up? 20%? Common sense to me.

You say more people will show up for a later time slots. Maybe so, and it's a big maybe, but you miss one of the biggest draws for AH events. Hopefully you simply haven't considered the consequences of your wish, so I'll try to explain it so it might enlighten you and perhaps others.

The flavor of AH's Events depends on the multinational makeup of its' participants, particularly in Scenarios. All AH Events are based on the World War II, where every nationality participated to some degree. Hearing those voices, accents and languages over vox is paramount to the immersion factor for many. Those of you wishing for B would create a plain vanilla event that might be convenient, might have a few more numbers, but it would never have the true flavor of a recreated WWII engagement. There's nothing better then spending your afternoon hearing a bunch of Finns, Brits, Germans, Aussies, Poles, ... etc etc etc talking excitedly over vox! You can't beat that immersion factor, and anything else is just another Main Arena mission.

[fudgums]

either way you put it, someone will not able to play(Unless they push the times)

[Brooke]

Yep, no matter what time is picked, some people can't make it.

The assumption is that later (9 pm Eastern or thereabouts) would increase participation, and we tried it to see in Battle Over Germany and the proposed Coral Sea.  BOG did have large participation, but so did Der Grosse Schlag at 3 pm (which is a very similar scenario).  Coral Sea had too low a participation.  Also, I have run This Day in WWII on weekends during the day and at night, and I don't see significantly better participation on weekend nights.

My feeling is that Saturday night vs. Saturday day isn't significantly different in participation numbers.  There's not enough data to say with much certainty, but if this is correct, it means that at night we get some more Americans but few Europeans, and the numbers are a wash.

Me, I like it best with folks from other countries playing.

The ones who get the worst time are the Aussies.  I love it that they play in scenarios, and I do <S> their participation.

[killrDan]

What about Saturday AM?  Before you say it's a totally bad idea look at it this way....

A) Aussies can participate (Sat Night)
B) Europeans can participate (Sat Afternoon)
C) North Americans can participate and still have time to do other things like mow the yard, wash the car, etc etc on Saturday afternoons.

Just a thought sir....

[Brooke]

But then no one in the Pacific time zone could play.

[Brooke]

Some conversions for folks as they ponder times:

Pacific time = Eastern - 3 hours.
UK time = Eastern + 5 hours
Germany time = Eastern + 6 hours
Aussie Victoria time = Eastern + 16 hours

[killrDan]

Some conversions for folks as they ponder times:

Pacific time = Eastern - 3 hours.
UK time = Eastern + 5 hours
Germany time = Eastern + 6 hours
Aussie Victoria time = Eastern + 16 hours

I agree, it wouldn't be convenient for the Aussies.  So why the heck was I going in at 5 AM to take these conference calls  .

[Brooke]

Because there are some of them that are dedicated enough to fly at times that are very inconvenient.  A big <S> to them for that.

I don't think that this is a good idea, though:  because they fly at a very-inconvenient time, we should choose times that are as inconvenient for all of Europe or all of the western US.

I think that there are two goals that make sense.  Either (1) adjust the time to get maximum participation, or (2) adjust the time to get maximum international presence.  I think that 3 pm Eastern does both because I don't think that 9 pm Eastern has much more participation than 3 pm Eastern.

[ROC]

There is also the consideration of what players turn out to which events.  Our Euro friends look to actively participate in events designed around that theater, 3pm Eastern fits that bill.  Pacific events don't seem to draw our Finnish friends and others over there, and seems more conducive to a later North American time frame to make it more convenient for them.   There is no perfect answer, as stated before, but there is no desire at all from the designers to disallow one segment of our player base simply for the sake of convenience for another.  It is a global game, with friends around the world who we try to cater to.   Nice post Easyscore.

[perdue3]

Didnt mean to come off like we dont care. Of course we do, but alot of Americans cant play so that the Europeans can. I think just a couple hours later would be a good compromise. Fact is there are more Americans playing so if the time is better suited for Americans, more numbers.

In the end, it is all about fun. If scenarios were at 6 AM, I would be there. Didnt mean to upset anyone, just opinions.

At the very least have the summer scenarios late EST. Who wants to waste a beautiful summer Saturday at the computer desk?

[Delirium]

The biggest reason I haven't attended scenarios is the 3pm time. Right now, I need to literally plan scenarios as my 'alone time' so I have to pick and choose the events I want to take part in very carefully. If the events were moved to 6pm or later, it would be all the difference in the world.

I do feel the Euro/Aussie pain and I'm not without sympathy. When I worked nights, I would get to bed at 11am and be up by 2:45pm so I could make the scenario and often was the GL.