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What's your friend worth to you?

  • Thread starter DeletedUser30459
  • Start date

DeletedUser30459

Have you ever wanted to devise a "fair" way of determining which of your friends are useful and which are just taking up space on your friends bar? I've come up with a system, using Excel, which allows me to easily view how often I've been allowed to visit each of my friends' taverns vs. which taverns' doors remain consistently shut to me for days on-end. I can even determine the reason behind why those doors are shut and surmise whether or not it's "fair" for me to keep them on as a friend or let them go in favor of keeping a spot open for a new friend from whom I will be more likely to benefit. Besides, this is the underlying reason for the tavern/friends system, anyway, right? Having a bunch of dead weight on your friends list isn't doing you any good, and even though YOU may have used up your 80 invitations (I know I have) a new player, looking for the advice of someone who's been around for a while will benefit from being on your list. Here's how it works:

Step 1: Set-up.
This is the most time-consuming and frustrating part, but it's also pretty enlightening. In Excel, Simply make a list in the first column of your friends. While you're going through, in the second column, you're going to automatically assign some points to them (more on that in a moment) so you need to go into every tavern. Take a look at their table cloths to determine which they have and assign points this way:
No table cloth=8 points
Simple tablecloth=3 points
Tavern tablecoth=2 points
Floral tablecloth=1 point
Burgundy tablecloth=0 points
To assign the points, simply put the number in the box in the first column which will be longer than any of the names (probably "C)

Now you're going to need to see what all the points ad up to and keep a running tally. I'm not a "pro" at Excel, so if there's an easier way of doing it and someone can tell me, I wouldn't be offended, but what I did was to highlight every line to the edge, out to about "x" and click on the "autosum" tool on the top. With 140 friends, this is time-consuming and tedious, but it really pays off in the end. You'll see the corresponding numbers show up with their initially-assigned points, and this will help you when you're keeping track of them over the course of the next few days.

Step 2: Implementation

Now you're ready to begin Across the top, I like to keep a notation of the date and time so I can get an idea as to how often I'm checking. It really helps when I'm considering dropping a friend and I see that I haven't been able to enter his/her tavern because I've "still been sitting here" for a week straight. The next part is, of course, to check the taverns, one-by-one and visit the ones you can. The ones you can't visit, hover your mouse over the chair to determine the cause. If I'm still sitting there, I give 2 points, and if the tavern is full, I give 1.
I do it this way because I honestly don't think that it should be up to me to govern how much or how often any other player should play his or her game. If he only wants to play every couple of days and his table gets full, OK. But if it stays full and I can't ever get in, we have a problem. Maybe he's a regular player, but he's just gone on vacation. That's OK too. He should be back in plenty of time to clear his table and let me in before he gets enough points to be cleared from my friends bar. And honestly, who can fault someone for being popular and having a lot of friends on their list? We can only have 16 chairs, after-all, right? Now, if I'm sitting in a tavern for day after day and I can't re-visit it because the player simply isn't clearing the table, that tells me that he or she just isn't playing and is dead weight and needs to be gotten rid of. When a player reaches 20 points, I clear them. I keep five spots on my friends list open because five is just a nice, round number and now I can always accept new invitations from eager new players or from opponents I've met on the battlefield whose respect I've earned.

Well, there's my idea. Post here if you like it/use it/what your experience with it is. Cheers!
 

DeletedUser

- Why is 20 demerits* the limit? Why not 10, or 30?

- If "tavern tablecloth" is 2 demerits, and "simple tablecloth" is 3 demerits, why is "no tablecloth" 8 demerits?

- Also, I think you missed a tablecloth. Isn't there a blue "royal tablecloth" in there somewhere?

* I use this term because "points" are usually a number you want to get bigger, while "demerits" are always a number you want to keep at 0.
 

DeletedUser24787

what a silly concept if you want to nitpick your list your more than welcome to do so and filter out the non active players or less then meaningful people you have come across that don't meet your standard. However attempting to set guidelines for it is just hilarious if you simply seek justification to remove someone just put it out there,"Your activity is just not what i need for my city thank you for your attempt of being a "friend"" and move on o_O
 

DeletedUser30459

- Why is 20 demerits* the limit? Why not 10, or 30?

- If "tavern tablecloth" is 2 demerits, and "simple tablecloth" is 3 demerits, why is "no tablecloth" 8 demerits?

- Also, I think you missed a tablecloth. Isn't there a blue "royal tablecloth" in there somewhere?

* I use this term because "points" are usually a number you want to get bigger, while "demerits" are always a number you want to keep at 0.
"points", "demerits", "smurfs"... doesn't really matter what you call them. I think you're right about the Royal tablecloth, though: I completely overlooked it because I had color-coded the different tablecloths and the "royal" had blended in. In this case, I would re-write it as:
Burgundy: 0
Royal:1
Floral: 2
Tavern: 3
Simple: 4
None: 8
Minor adjustment, really. And of course, if you'd rather set the limit at 10 because you're more eager to empty your friends list or 30 because you're less eager to empty it, by all means, please do so! 20 just seems to work for me and I thought I'd share something that I'd figured out that's made things easier for me because it might make things easier for you. :)
 

DeletedUser30459

what a silly concept if you want to nitpick your list your more than welcome to do so and filter out the non active players or less then meaningful people you have come across that don't meet your standard. However attempting to set guidelines for it is just hilarious if you simply seek justification to remove someone just put it out there,"Your activity is just not what i need for my city thank you for your attempt of being a "friend"" and move on o_O
Well, OK. I don't know about you, but I'm here to build a city. I've got real life for friends and such. My friends bar consists of three or four people with whom I ever actually converse or socialize (ie "friends) and about 130 people whose taverns I visit in the hopes of finding forge points. If I can't enter the taverns because they're not clearing their seats, well maybe I should clear them off of my list in the hopes of finding other people who will clear their seats or maybe even people with whom I may actually socialize and be "friends" with! This just makes it easier to figure out who goes and who stays. Cheers!
 

DeletedUser24787

i meant no offence to your strategy i just find it comical you have a very picky system to screen players . Which ever option works best for your city is what works best for you. Personally i could care less if ppl visit my tavern or if i can visit theirs only thing i concern myself is with the return of aid due to the amt of soks i have i generate a modest amt of fp a day so i dont need to rummage thru the taverns in hopes of some extra fp and again i am not attempting bash on this some players just have extra time for that i dont. I rely on my soks and GB for my FP to be generated i collect once a day and return aid within the small window of time i play. We clearly have different play styles all i did was voice my opinion so do not be offended by it.
 

DeletedUser

Harbinger, it's not about "justifying", it's about quantifying. Players can trade all goods at a 1:1 ratio regardless of age; players can play the game without joining a guild; players can fill half their city tiles with roads; players can refuse to expand their army beyond the two-spearman defense and just accept being plundered constantly. They can say what you said -- "don't be so nitpicky, don't use guidelines, just do whatever". But most players on this forum prefer to analyze various aspects of the game, and they realize that some strategies are better than others. Why not analyze the friends list? Why not come up with a strategy for friends, if we're coming up with strategies for everything else?
 

DeletedUser

Harbinger, it's not about "justifying", it's about quantifying. Players can trade all goods at a 1:1 ratio regardless of age; players can play the game without joining a guild; players can fill half their city tiles with roads; players can refuse to expand their army beyond the two-spearman defense and just accept being plundered constantly. They can say what you said -- "don't be so nitpicky, don't use guidelines, just do whatever". But most players on this forum prefer to analyze various aspects of the game, and they realize that some strategies are better than others. Why not analyze the friends list? Why not come up with a strategy for friends, if we're coming up with strategies for everything else?
I can tell you why not for me. Too much like work. Event History gives enough info for me to cull out the friends that don't aid. Tavern visits have too many variables to be accurately and fairly quantified. If you have a lot of friends that are active on Tavern sitting, some of them could have every intention of sitting in your Tavern, but never hit an open time due to their playing schedule. I never worry about whether my friends sit or don't, unless it starts being empty a lot. I play the game for relaxation, not to fulfill my urge to do spreadsheets. Don't care if others do it, but doesn't interest me in the least.
 

DeletedUser24787

you make a good point @Kataphractos
perhaps my time in the game has just made me jaded to the view points of others that try to break down every aspect of the game like i said before i meant no offence i am simply putting my opinion out there be it right or wrong its mine some might agree or disagree with it that's the wonderful part of the forum we can voice our opinions
for myself i gave up a long time ago on being picky i think i have developed a decent city with some decent leveled GB
if you care to visit i am on server 14 as you will see i am far from underdeveloped town and i have been camping my age for a very long time :D
 

Darth Mole

Well-Known Member
This seems like a very over complicated method of screening! Just biff anyone who doesn't aid you for a week or two. Job done.
Go through your event history, Aid all who aid you. Make a mental note of who of your friends hasn't aided you. Factor is stuff like is it vacation time, and then if their name pops up a few times give them the boot and move onto pastures green.
Spreadsheets have a place in this game but not for this.
 

DeletedUser30312

I can tell you why not for me. Too much like work. Event History gives enough info for me to cull out the friends that don't aid. Tavern visits have too many variables to be accurately and fairly quantified. If you have a lot of friends that are active on Tavern sitting, some of them could have every intention of sitting in your Tavern, but never hit an open time due to their playing schedule.

Same here. There's too many variables for me to bother tracking tavern visits. I go by M/P, every Monday I aid friends from the event log, filtering aid events from friends. When I'm done, anyone on the friend bar who still has an active "Aid" button hasn't aided me once in the last 5 days. They usually get purged. It's simple and easy.
 

DeletedUser24929

Same here. There's too many variables for me to bother tracking tavern visits. I go by M/P, every Monday I aid friends from the event log, filtering aid events from friends. When I'm done, anyone on the friend bar who still has an active "Aid" button hasn't aided me once in the last 5 days. They usually get purged. It's simple and easy.
I basically use this same method and I also search the Event Log to see who visits my Tavern. To allow for vacations and RL emergencies, I keep a note on who has not AIDed or visited and if they show up again next week, they go.
 
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DeletedUser32232

This seems like a very over complicated method of screening! Just biff anyone who doesn't aid you for a week or two. Job done.
Go through your event history, Aid all who aid you. Make a mental note of who of your friends hasn't aided you. Factor is stuff like is it vacation time, and then if their name pops up a few times give them the boot and move onto pastures green.
Spreadsheets have a place in this game but not for this.
Agree with you. However aiding people over me in neighborhood or guild is my biggest source of BP's. Until my FP production is big enough to get into FP swaps I will continue to aid these people just for that bennie alone. Those under me I aid daily expecting them to reciprocate. If they do not I let them go. This is my game. I am interested in succeeding and will do what I have to.
 
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