Penelope Daily subscriber Has not played this puzzle yet
JoergWausW Your prediction was right..a horrible slitherlink!
Posted 15th Mar 2020 at 10:06
JoergWausW Daily subscriber Completion time: 4:58
Sometimes I hate to be right.
Posted 15th Mar 2020 at 11:05 Last edited by Elisabeth 15th Mar 2020 at 11:07
Elisabeth Daily subscriber Rated puzzle: ModerateCompletion time: 19:09Used 'check puzzle' when incorrect
If you look at the statistics of slitherlink v any other type, other than sudoku ones, they show a less take up than any of the others, averaging 60 - 70 whereas the others are in the region 80 - 100 plus nevertheless slitherlink is still appearing the most often:) Even skyscraper beats it!!!!
Posted 16th Mar 2020 at 13:54 Last edited by gareth 16th Mar 2020 at 13:56
That's an interesting point, Elizabeth. However, given the distribution of slitherlink was set after multiple adjustments following a series of discussions some years ago, and no one has ever queried it since (whereas I was regularly asked for more before modifying it), I don't plan to change it significantly now. I will dial it back to match most other types however.
Ok, it's now equal probability with kakuro, but 20% less likely on any given day than it was before.
Posted 16th Mar 2020 at 17:51
Elisabeth Daily subscriber Rated puzzle: ModerateCompletion time: 19:09Used 'check puzzle' when incorrect
Thanks Gareth!!
Posted 16th Mar 2020 at 20:32
JoergWausW Daily subscriber Completion time: 4:58
...and I totally failed to get Elisabeth's argument - language related. I think it was "take up" that I didn't understand. Now, after some analysis, I think it was about how often those puzzles are played.
Thank you for changing it, Gareth!
...and there we are, wondering why no set was ever offered... (btw, I am waiting for a Nurikabe and a Hitori Set, and would buy one each - Slitherlinks are still appearing twice as often in the daily rotation, so no need here).
Oh, and my advocatus diaboli (devil's advocate) tells me this: If each Slitherlink puzzle is played less often than other types, then you need more of them to have, in total, all the types played equally often... (let's say, if 100 people play 10 Sudokus of the same type = 1000 played games total. To reach 1000 with Slitherlink, you'd need about 15 of them...)
Oh, wait: if Slitherlink's weight is now set to 20, and the other types' weight is 10, that means, we still get 20 Slitherlinks for 10 of other types.
I didn't originally understand what Elisabeth meant either (sorry Elisabeth!) but I worked it out from the numbers and thinking about what they could mean. :) In any case, it's a fair point on total plays but you can't tell from those total plays whether they are the same people playing/not playing. It may be (and in fact I think it is) the case that some players much prefer the non-sudoku puzzles, so reducing slitherlink has a significant detrimental effect on those people. Conversely keeping the number relatively high has only a very minor effect on those who don't, since the sudoku and sudoku-ish puzzles usually account for 3 puzzles a day.
Posted 17th Mar 2020 at 08:41
JoergWausW Daily subscriber Completion time: 4:58
3 a day might even be the case in average. Right now we have the second day without any b/w icon. But Tomorrow will come. Maybe a day without any Sudoku... (if I'm right here - what will I do?)
Maybe this is why it is a good idea to suggest to think about adjusting the randomizer to something like this: - every day one 9x9 Sudoku-type - every day one b/w-icon puzzle (Hanjie, Hitori, Nurikabe, Slitherlink, maybe include also Skyscraper here) ==>> every type of player gets something every day. - the other two randomized from everything, considering more balanced weights. - two day rule still applies.
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Key
A yellow/light blue highlight in the time distribution charts highlights your time, where relevant.
Rating scores out of 10.0 show the average difficulty rating chosen by users, where 1.0 is "Easy" and 10.0 is "Hard".
If a puzzle is opened more than once, including by loading from a saved position, then this is potentially a significant aid so it is listed as being completed with 'multiple sessions' for the purpose of the best time/average rating displays above.
Minor aid is defined as no more than one use of 'Check solution' when incomplete and/or no more than one use of 'Check solution' when wrong; and/or using highlighting aids (show repeated digits, show broken inequalities and show valid/invalid placements [slitherlink] only). Major aid is any and all other use of the solving aids except for 'show wrong'.
Last edited by Elisabeth 15th Mar 2020 at 11:07
Last edited by gareth 16th Mar 2020 at 13:56
Thank you for changing it, Gareth!
...and there we are, wondering why no set was ever offered... (btw, I am waiting for a Nurikabe and a Hitori Set, and would buy one each - Slitherlinks are still appearing twice as often in the daily rotation, so no need here).
Oh, and my advocatus diaboli (devil's advocate) tells me this: If each Slitherlink puzzle is played less often than other types, then you need more of them to have, in total, all the types played equally often... (let's say, if 100 people play 10 Sudokus of the same type = 1000 played games total. To reach 1000 with Slitherlink, you'd need about 15 of them...)
Oh, wait: if Slitherlink's weight is now set to 20, and the other types' weight is 10, that means, we still get 20 Slitherlinks for 10 of other types.
Now I'm confused whose advocate is talking.
Maybe this is why it is a good idea to suggest to think about adjusting the randomizer to something like this:
- every day one 9x9 Sudoku-type
- every day one b/w-icon puzzle (Hanjie, Hitori, Nurikabe, Slitherlink, maybe include also Skyscraper here)
==>> every type of player gets something every day.
- the other two randomized from everything, considering more balanced weights.
- two day rule still applies.
Maybe not.
You can however view other players' statistics and comments in the tables above.