Follow a Branch Across Cubes

Feature Requests
#1
I think that after you submit a cube you should be allowed to move to the adjacent cube that it connects to (or a random one if it is a dead end)

1. This would minimize the break in concentration from one cube to the next.
2. Personally, I start to feel attached to the hard work i've invested in a cube.
3. Might make users more accurate, since they will get a sense of how the cell's branches move in a larger space.
4. Might increase users online time, since they will be reluctant to leave a branch they have worked extensively on.
#2

Hey ekerstein,


This is a great idea but with a few big complications…  Currently, we rely on the wisdom of the crowds to decide what new cubes to create.  That means that one individual can’t spawn new cubes on their own, they need others to agree with them.  In some regards, this is a good thing.  If you accidentally introduced a merger in one of your early cubes, all your hard work tracing that branch would be wasted because you are chasing a branch that doesn’t contribute to the cell we are working on.

Assuming that a person were playing perfectly and we could with confidence make new cubes based on one person’s result, there are other complicating factors.  First, it takes a good 30s to a minute to spawn on a cube.  We could probably bring that down, but there would still be a substantial wait between cubes if you wanted to follow one branch.  Second, the only way we have come up with to score people’s cubes is based on other people’s results.  It might not bother you that you are trailblazing absolutely everything, but I’m sure it would bother some people.

Technical issues aside, I have a few questions for you.  What is it about transitioning cubes that breaks your concentration? How is attachment/commitment to a branch different from feeling the same for a cell?  Or I guess, to put it differently, why doesn’t the cell “do it for you” where the branch would?  Just curious.  Maybe there are other things that we could do to help with your experience.
#3

Thanks for the reply! I assumed there would be technical issues, but thought I would throw it out there anyways.


To answer your questions:

1. Transitioning cubes breaks my concentration because I am in the mental mode of zooming back and forth between layers, and then I am suddenly shifted to a new cube that i’m not familiar with. Imagine being able to zoom infinitely across layers, across cubes. That’s kind of what i’m talking about.

2. Commitment to a branch is different from a cell for simple reasons: I trust myself more than other people. In other words, I’d like to feel like i’m working on “my” branch, not someone else’s. I’m exaggerating the bias a bit, but that’s the general point.
#4

Thanks ekerstein!  That’s good feedback.  Hopefully I didn’t take too much of the feeling ownership away with my description of how things work under the hood.  On that note, we have discussed the possibility of introducing more ownership features in the future.  Probably through teams, since cells are big and take a long time, but we’d like to give you all the ability to take pride in what you do and show it off.

#5

If there were hundred or even thousands of people playing then all parts of a block could be up for grabs and people could stake ownership in their own branches that span multiple blocks. Even if it doesn’t help map the target cell the conflicts between ownership would make people really analyze hard if a branch belongs to one cell or another (which would reduce false positives for your target cell). Some sort of reddit up/down vote could be used to resolve conflicts between teams that think a branch belongs to one cell or another. Which brings ‘human AI’ into the process of resolving conflicts as well as mapping. Ownership is a big draw for people (even more than points) people vie to stick their ‘flag’ in each block and have their profiles reflect the blocks and cells they’ve helped map. 


All aside, this is really great. I’m having a lot of fun mapping - thanks!
#6
If there were hundred or even thousands of people playing then all parts of a block could be up for grabs and people could stake ownership in their own branches that span multiple blocks. Even if it doesn't help map the target cell the conflicts between ownership would make people really analyze hard if a branch belongs to one cell or another (which would reduce false positives for your target cell). Some sort of reddit up/down vote could be used to resolve conflicts between teams that think a branch belongs to one cell or another. Which brings 'human AI' into the process of resolving conflicts as well as mapping. Ownership is a big draw for people (even more than points) people vie to stick their 'flag' in each block and have their profiles reflect the blocks and cells they've helped map. 

All aside, this is really great. I'm having a lot of fun mapping - thanks!

That’s a great idea in my opinion which is definitely worth thinking about when wanting to upscale this project. For the moment the current approach probably is better since there’s not that much players yet, and I doubt their servers could handle that much players.