I've continued to venture over to the DR/MTV site. Like Greyfriar's Bobby, loyalty is hard to shake off and I am still at heart, a loyal Daily Rage fan.
Do I think that Riddle Productions will miraculously insert our favorite, and really the best version of the game? Well, no. But, then I wasn't expecting this bastardized version either. So who knows what can happen?
I will elaborate on some of the problems that I have encountered with this shark-jumping version of the game. First of all, the main problem is the size. Even when I hit F11, the game still maintains that same, tiny screen size. I don't know if there is a clause in the flaming contract between MTV and Riddle that orders them to maintain some sort of Hock the Loogie -Daily Rage screen ratio, but no matter what I do, the game screen remains the same.
Now back in the days of the Beta version, screen size could make a huge difference because then we were looking for the elusive treasure chests and sapphire Easter eggs. (By the way, who didn't notice the homage to them in Nathan's game a few days back?). Now, I can just click mindlessly around the page and Voila! I find the "gears." It's all a little too easy. I don't know exactly what the marketing plan is behind this. I suspect that they want to make the game play so boring that all the game players will decide to try their hands (or lungs) to hocking loogies with the Beave and Butthead.
The next problem that I encountered is the gem-clicking part of the game. Those herky-jerky gems are so, well, herky-jerky. I think I could just play the game by finding the gears and doing nothing else. I really don't think that my gem-shooting/clicking/ skills are actually that good. At first I tried to click on the gear because that is the all-important piece to gaining access to Willy Wonka's Golden Ticket. But, I found that you automatically get that piece. Next, I thought that I would try the pink gems because they have the highest point value. By that reason, I should go for the green gems next then the blue ones last because the are only worth one point. Funny thing is, I can hardly click on any of them and before I know it I have on average 290 points. Wow. Off to Casinoland I go.
Now this part of the game is probably the most irritating. We have three "chances" to arrange our numbers in a certain order to gain access to where? Another gem-shooting/clicking opportunity. Wow! What an incentive, more mind-numbing game play. I can only hope that this dumbing down of the game play has allowed the programmers at Riddle some extra time off. There has to be much more free time around the office without all that research do to that made up the Beta version. No more moons of Uranus to count, let's go surfing Dude!
So, If I am not too sleepy from all the previous Space Invaders' style gem-shooting, I get to randomly order numbers. Due to my lack of any real interest or hope for a real win, I usually just drop the gears straight in. Surprisingly, I get about one right which is about the same percentage as when I come up with my own initial rearrangement. Of late, however, I don't even bother with the gears. I have my Willy Wonka ticket. I just watch my gems accumulate.
Next, the mysterious gem count - what's it for? Who will benefit? I've visited the "leader board" to see if I recognize any familiar names. A few are there. I am assuming that the reason for the board is to award those with the highest points. Maybe they will get a Beavis and Butthead DVD or Season One DVD of Southpark?
Certainly Riddle Productions has no trademark or copyright on the "King's Parque" puzzle. Perhaps someone will see the need for an intelligent game site for the thinking man and woman.
Nancy Kerrigan said it the best way: "Why?.......why?"
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2 comments:
I agree, wholeheartedly. I was even nice enough to send them a comment on how much I 'appreciate' their new brainless, mind-dulling game. I really REALLY hope that they get the point and improve this flop. I've played I think 3.. maybe 4 of the days it's been up. I let my kids do the gem clicking and code making. I consider it to be a waste of my time.
Voila! Going with your clue of hitting F11, I did get the game to enlarge...after F11 I refreshed the page and poof! a nearly full sized page, at least in Firefox. Taking the bad with the good, B & B is also larger, albeit a bit blurry. I just found a new use for post-it notes this am.
My gem points average from the first part shot up from ~280 to a whopping 330. I haven't tried the second part yet...we'll see if it helps.
In the Beta version, we got 3 entries daily if we submitted 3 correct guesses. Our name went on the daily winners list once. Occasionally when a name was accidentally left off the list, we were assured our name was in the drawing. In this new version how does a select group of players continue to get their name on the list multiple times? However this list is constructed, it is not just human error copying a name twice. Several of them are different versions of the same name, and variations of upper and lower case. Then there are the nonsensical names for instance fdglsdfhglj jhgklsjdfhgjn. if all those names are in the drawings, are they legal drawings? With the move to MTV, the game loads with and without the www in the URL. For a few hours the other night, there was a different winner on each page, one female (a prior Beta winner not posting here at the present time) and a male. Eventually someone caught the difference and the male won out.
Has anyone else had the game freeze after solving the numbers? The only solution was to refresh. My 100 points gone and no trip the next screen to get more gems. To add insult to injury, they left my name off of the daily list even though I did get my golden ticket.
Weren't we told there would be even more ways to win/earn prizes in this new and better game? In the new official rules there is nothing mentioned about gems, just the hidden icons. If collecting gems are going to equal MTV giveaways this is nothing but a waste of time.
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