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Stretham
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Joined: 15 Sep 2003
Posts: 24792
Location: Here, there, somewhere, everywhere

PostPosted: Thu Jan 27, 2005 9:41 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

theandygrant wrote:
Wouldn't the percentage of players starting a contest that have finished it be a good natural indicator of how difficult a contest is?

That's an extremely good point, and to a large extent probably true. However, I think the numbers are slightly distorted with regard to some contests, in particular PT1. Because that has been seen as the 'entry point' many people have used it as their basis for not returning to the site at all, and therefore not even tried the other contests. I agree it's a pretty good indicator on the whole though.

Stretham
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Rosie Ragdoll
Drunkenness is thy best virtue


Joined: 28 Sep 2004
Posts: 2426
Location: Hove actually

PostPosted: Sun Feb 13, 2005 11:19 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I'm not very technically minded and I may well be missing something but about only thing that annoys me is when I enter the site 'through the back door', ie I receive a message to say I have a new pm and I follow the link that way, having arrived at the forum I can't get to the home page to access the contests without starting from scratch. So I think it would be helpful to have a link.

Other than that I've found it all quite 'Rosie friendly' and as long as I don't close a window instead of minimizing it I don't have to growl at myself too often.

Rosie
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SparkPlug
Because I can


Joined: 30 Jan 2004
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PostPosted: Sun Feb 13, 2005 12:09 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

The puzzletome picture (top-left) is the link.
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Rosie Ragdoll
Drunkenness is thy best virtue


Joined: 28 Sep 2004
Posts: 2426
Location: Hove actually

PostPosted: Sun Feb 13, 2005 12:42 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

SparkPlug wrote:
The puzzletome picture (top-left) is the link.


Embarassed how dumb I am

In which case I love it all

Rosie

Many apologies for my bad manners Sparkplug, thank you very much for pointing me in the right direction.

Rosie
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theandygrant
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Joined: 07 Feb 2004
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PostPosted: Mon Feb 14, 2005 12:04 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Don't feel bad, Rosie. The 'Logo is a link to the homepage' idea is just one of those things that has become standard on the web, and its easy to forget that if you don't *know* that, its not that intuitive.

I only discovered last week by accident that the big logo on the homepage is a link to the forum. I'd always just clicked the word 'forum' before. And I used to design websites for a living, so I've no excuse Embarassed
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Si
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Joined: 06 Oct 2003
Posts: 6875

PostPosted: Mon Feb 14, 2005 8:56 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

theandygrant wrote:
I only discovered last week by accident that the big logo on the homepage is a link to the forum.

It is as well! Nobody tells me anything... Embarassed
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SparkPlug
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Joined: 30 Jan 2004
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PostPosted: Mon Feb 14, 2005 9:41 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

That has to be new !

Also, the mouseover descriptions that have started appearing.

Perhaps there should be a weekly treasure hunt type contest called "what's new on the forum".
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xyphic
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Joined: 14 Sep 2003
Posts: 2804
Location: Cambridge, UK

PostPosted: Mon Feb 14, 2005 12:32 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

SparkPlug wrote:
Perhaps there should be a weekly treasure hunt type contest called "what's new on the forum".

More like "things that have always been there but you've never noticed before". Razz

Sneaky
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SparkPlug
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PostPosted: Mon Feb 14, 2005 12:38 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

xyphic wrote:
More like "things that have always been there but you've never noticed before". Sneaky


... and I suppose that smilie was always there too !

Surrender
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a-j
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Joined: 02 Sep 2004
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PostPosted: Tue Feb 15, 2005 3:05 pm    Post subject: for what its worth Reply with quote

I like the idea of being informed how the solution should have been worked out. Especially for those where intuition has solved them or you have got close enough to make an intelligent guess for the rest.
I can also see the benefit of being able to skip a question once a competition has been completed. This should be set at a high level e.g. stuck for a month as this would then encourage a solution via pm hints first.
As enhancements it would be nice from a puzzle for the forum button to go directly to the correct forum page. (although i currently often just have a second session running).
Also be nice to be able to switch directly between puzzles on different contests instead of having to go via the content page. Maybe have a cycle feature to move between current deferred contests.
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mistermickster
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Joined: 19 Feb 2004
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Location: Nottingham, England

PostPosted: Tue Feb 15, 2005 3:24 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Puzzle Donkey has the ability for puzzlers to chat about a puzzle they're currently on. I think it might be useful here too.
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imladris
O ho monster


Joined: 17 Nov 2004
Posts: 18
Location: Enkhuizen, the Netherlands

PostPosted: Tue Feb 22, 2005 11:02 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

mistermickster wrote:
Puzzle Donkey has the ability for puzzlers to chat about a puzzle they're currently on. I think it might be useful here too.


I think that's a good idea. Being an individual puzzler, I don't have the opportunity "discuss" the thoughts I have. Forum and PM helps, but it is not very "interactive". You post a way of thinking and someone replies, that's good, or way off track, gives you another hint, and it's back to the search for new ideas.

When you can discuss your thoughts with others though, it would be easier to change a way of thinking or expanding an idea.

Plus, it makes it easier for me to find out if a word exists or not Wink
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Badvok
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Joined: 09 Nov 2004
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Location: UK

PostPosted: Tue Feb 22, 2005 11:32 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Not sure whether this is right place to ask this but here goes anyway.

Often when you read the threads for each puzzle key hint phrases keep recurring; e.g. "put your spectacles on", "you'll kick yourself" , "you need to plot this out"

It would certainly be useful to puzzle tyros to know what these mean.
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mp
A great lubberly boy


Joined: 06 Dec 2004
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Location: London

PostPosted: Tue Feb 22, 2005 11:48 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I agree - I've seen the spectacles reference a few times and still have no idea what it means!
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Stretham
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Joined: 15 Sep 2003
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PostPosted: Tue Feb 22, 2005 11:52 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

mp wrote:
I agree - I've seen the spectacles reference a few times and still have no idea what it means!

At the risk of probably saying too much, I believe it is normally used to refer to a puzzle very early on in PT Contest 1.

Stretham
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