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Dr. Play Talks Points
Hello everyone.
Here's an explanation of the new points system, it should make things clearer:
At present, points are awarded for each of the YouPlay original games and puzzles. We gather scores from each game and record them so they can be used to make leader boards and statistics.
Each game will give you a certain number of points every time you do something right. In Wild Words, this could be getting a word correct. In Sudoku, it might be completing a row of numbers.
As well as the standard points you'd get for completing part of the game, we've also added a BOOST meter that's there to reward "winning streaks", or strings of correct actions that occur close together.
So when your BOOST meter says "x3", it means that the next time you get something right you'll receive three times the normal amount of points for it.
The trick with BOOST is that it trails off rather quickly, so you'll need a good strategy if you want to get the maximum score possible. In Wild Words, you could increase your BOOST by making longer words and using the blue double-points letters. In the Giant Crossword, you might "set up" a few partially completed words and then take a chance that you'll get them all right in a row.
In other words, if someone seems to have spent more time but gotten a better score, they've probably just been a bit clever about getting as much of the puzzle solved as possible mentally, and then entering bits of it in such a way that they have a high BOOST score towards the end. Or they're solving the puzzle in bursts.
Our system is tuned so that, on average, 25% of all points given will be BOOST points. That means that the more people learn to use it, the harder it will be to get! (Diabolical!) The system also intelligently calculates which are the hardest games and awards the most points for them. Easy games automatically give out less points. This is so we can build a site-wide leader board that lets you compete against everyone fairly, no matter which games you enjoy.
I hope that answers at least some of your questions! Once you get to know how the new points system works, it's actually a lot of fun.
DP
Dr. Play Talks Points
The above explanation is the way I solve Cryptics, yet Dr Play called it a "cheat" in his blog recently. Here we're encouraged to use his BOOST meter as best we can to our advantage. Wouldn't it be fairer all round to just play the games and award points for a completed game? The BOOST meter seems to reward the slower computers, as the player has more time to examine the game as it loads (e.g. Hitori Island). It has certainly been a bone of contention and a source of frustration for a very long time.
I used to get better scores but now my computer is a newer one I dont. My computer may be faster but my brain isnt. lol
I wonder if Dr Play has done anything about the scoring system yet. He did say that they would look into it. Perhaps that Boost meter works for the players with nimble fingers, but not so for the slower typists. Maybe that's the whole problem.
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I just found this old blog in the archives, and as this subject has been brought up recently, I thought it might be a good time to make a comment here, as none were made before. For players that have been wondering about how the scoring system works, here is Dr Play's explanation.