New Restock System

[Cranberry]

Lately shops have been restocking oddly (all in one big clump), and now they're all restocking randomly (not by shop order or anything -- any shop can restock at any time now). And it's on purpose, according to a programmer, flighttime:

So everyone loves the new RS system.. Great!

(I believe that quote was sarcastic, as everyone in the thread is complaining )

AB'ers should be a thing of the past now... once and for all.

Actually... the idea is to make it so that someone other than the "Pro RS'ers" have a shot at decent items.

(From this neoboard thread, which probably won't last long, as it's busy.)

I don't see how this will stop autobuyers... and also, now restock bans are going to be much more frequent, since you will have to refresh a shop every 2-5 seconds so as not to miss a stock (people complained about this, and he said he's leaving RS bans as they are).

Any restockers have thoughts on this?

Last edited by Cranberry on Thu Jun 15, 2006 12:45 am, edited 3 times in total.

[Officer 1BDI]

I'm not a restocker, but I think this is going to make things even worse: I'd imagine people new to the RS game will be more discouraged by the lack of strategy. If anything, I predict ABs will become more rampant, out of necessity (why bother waiting to randomly stumble upon a restock when you can set a bot to do it for you?).

But that's just the opinion of a non-RSer.

[matchbow]

But the shops still rs every item at the same time, right? or do the items slowly appear at all at a time? i've found that recently, the card shop restocks once, and then several seconds later, another clump of items appear

[Q]

Great, I only just got into rs'ing recently and am going to have to toss away my little dice a roo/rs habit, lol.

Which board was flighttime posting on? Board asploded already

[Cranberry]

The items all come in one clump, but it can be at any time during the minute (food recently restocked at :50, for example), and not every shop stocks during the same minute anymore.

Edit: Q, it was the battledome board. Here is part 2, which probably won't last long either.

Last edited by Cranberry on Thu Jun 15, 2006 1:11 am, edited 3 times in total.

[Katy]

I made it through about 5 pages of the board before it went byebye. A lot of whining. I've never been much good at RSing, myself, but I just went to check out the situation in the shops, and got the Uni Faboo avatar, which I've been trying at for a while now. If I manage to get the chocolate one too, I'm going to be sold on the new system.

[Raza]

How is that so much different from before? So not all shops restock at the same time - that only matters if you restock at two shops simultaniously, which most people don't - and all items really stock at the same time, as opposed to over the course of 2 to 5 seconds.

There were never specific times during the minute at which it could or couldn't restock as far as I know. You always had to refresh rather quickly not to miss anything.

[Cranberry]

Raza, shops used to stock by number (in the url). Food restocked first, at about 1-3 seconds after the minute, and then all shops restocked after that, in order, throughout that minute (so early-numbered shops at 2:01:01, middle shops at 2:01:16, and later shops at 2:01:35 or whatever -- times are approximate, but you get the idea). When food restocked, you knew other shops would follow, so you could be prepared.

Now any shop can restock at any time, and not all shops restock in the same minute (so food can rs at 2:01:16, and stamp at 2:03:50, and geraptiku petpets at 2:09:03, for example). So no more "guide shops," and no more approximate times, which means now you will have to refresh every 2-5 seconds so you don't miss a stock. Now it's going to be very hard to restock.

[theonlysaneone]

All I can say is... THANK YOU!!!

I think this is going to make it a lot better for people who aren't as good at restocking. That way, they can get in, maybe refresh for a couple of minutes, and if they get something, great. It won't cut down on autobuyers AS MUCH, because they'll still nab an item when the shop restocks, but this will make it easier for normal people to restock.

Some people are going to REALLY hate this, though. Unlike a real economy, Neopets is in many ways a zero-sum game. Therefore, if it's harder for people to get crazy neopoints restocking, it's easier for gamers to buy things with their neopoints.

[stampsyne]

I wonder how this is gonna effect shopping related avatars.

[jojoneo]

As a "professional restocker", I understand the need to make a change to the restocking system. It is much too easy for some folks and virtually impossible for others.

The problem I see is that with the complete randomness of this new system, much of the strategy I enjoy in restocking will be gone. Believe it or not, I'm not in it for the profit alone. I enjoy the hunt! Nothing better than snatching that unbuyable!! It really takes patience and planning. With the new system and the risks of being restock banned, it will be much more haphazard in stumbling upon a restock, let alone having the precise timing needed to really restock something special. I don't really enjoy haphazard!!

As I mentioned, I'm a pretty good restocker. I've been refreshing aggressively for a while now and haven't been able to get anything great. I've done better at the random events I'm getting by refreshing so much! So yes, the playing field has been levelled, but at what cost? What's next? Maybe TNT will make some of the games easier to play? So I can compete with the people who are really good at them! LOL

Without giving it a great deal of thought, here's a few of my ideas...

Stagger the restocks. For example, historically, I knew the food shop would restock between 1 & 5 seconds and the toy shop somewhere between 10 & 15 with the newer altadorian shops restocking in the 25 second range. I could actually hit all these shops in a single restock. I suggest the shops still restock at their predictable seconds, just dont restock every shop at every restock. Mix them up. This way I can still refresh the toy shop 2 or 3 times between 10 & 15 seconds and if it doesn't restock, I know I won't have to refresh again until the following minute. This will keep the rs bans down a bit and still limit the number of items I can buy in a given restock.

Adjust RS Bans. Don't ban as quickly. Give shoppers more latitude to refresh a bit more often. When you do get banned, limit the ban to an hour or two. This way... "you play, you pay"... only it's not so costly.

Give a RS ban warning. Let shoppers know when they are close, then they can keep restocking or perhaps take a break and come back later.

Create a Lockout. Similar to IGS, if you buy something on this restock, you are locked out of that shop for the next restock. It will make people more thoughtful on what they purchase and also limit the competition at each restock.

[pipsqueeek]

How does a rs ban work?

[bettywales]

Wow, I really hate this. I make my money restocking. Not a huge amount, because I don't use an AB, but a nice tidy income. It IS exciting to RS that very rare or unbuyable item once in a while. This is "fun" for me, and the change is going to affect my enjoyment quite a bit. Oh, not so much that I don't enjoy Neopets anymore, but it will definitely be a lot less fun.

I only RS a handful of shops, and was able to space them out so, as jojoneo mentioned doing, I'm able to check them all in a single restocking minute. Even monitoring three is now putting me at lockout risk.

What's next? Maybe TNT will make some of the games easier to play? So I can compete with the people who are really good at them! LOL

Wow, you really hit it on the head there! I can see doing something specifically targeting ABs, but this sweeping change is a lot more than that. I'm not in any way a "Pro RS'er" but this is going to hit me hard, and I'm being punished for playing the game the way it's meant to be played.

[Kess]

Awesome. I love it. No sarcasm.

I wonder how many accounts will be frozen in the next week or so for continuing to use ABs. A lot I bet.

[Universal Senja]

Hey Cranberry, any word on the frequency of the restocks? In other words, will each shop tend to restock a set number of times per hour or will some of the shops that tend to only stock a few items per restock (coin, as an example) occur more frequently?