Trick Or Treat?

[Gingir Ghoststar]

Any word on if we'll be doing the trick or treat hunt again? I had soooo much fun with that last year.

[Missbehavin Neva]

5 minutes ago, Gingir Ghoststar said:

Any word on if we'll be doing the trick or treat hunt again? I had soooo much fun with that last year.

 I hope we get to do this again! 

[CalypsoJewel]

I didn't get to see what that was all about last year, so would be interesting to see.

In the meantime the Halloween neighborhood Tour is up in Millbank again.

[TT120]

I am also hoping to do that again this year.  I'm working on a better Halloween display this time.

[Polenth Yue]

It was a nice way to get people to visit the decorated houses. I'm still decorating and putting out a gift whether anything happens or not, though I've not finished yet.

I would like to see set prize tiers though, as that'd solve a lot of the issues from last time and fit better with how people played the game (most people wanted to help others find the buckets, rather than competing).

[Baiphen Quintessa]

What is this exactly? I have vague memories of everyone talking about it last year, but I didn't have a Linden home at the time so I didn't pay close attention. I just remember annoyance at people participating but leaving their security on? I think? 

[Polenth Yue]

4 minutes ago, Baiphen Quintessa said:

What is this exactly? I have vague memories of everyone talking about it last year, but I didn't have a Linden home at the time so I didn't pay close attention. I just remember annoyance at people participating but leaving their security on? I think? 

People put out candy buckets at their houses. Hunters wore a HUD and could click on each bucket to get a candy. It was only one candy per bucket, so hunters needed to move around and find more houses with buckets. There were prizes (special bears) based on who found the most candy. One candy was enough to get the first bear prize, so everyone who took part got something. The top ten hunters got the top prizes (I was in that group... it took over 1000 candies). You didn't need to be a premium member or own a house to go around collecting candy.

The security issue was mostly a crossover with people not following the rules. A bunch of us got autobanned from houses for stepping onto the porch to click a bucket. This improved later, presumably because the orbs were getting reported and removed. Allowed security was less of an issue. 15 seconds was enough time to reach a bucket and leave again (though a weird choice to have a big "Trick or Treaters Welcome!" sign and the security on). A few people were banning any hunters that got anywhere near their house, though I'd say that also improved as the event went on (I was banned for walking on public paths and visiting neighbours, but mostly only early in the event).

There were also a few people using an exploit. I don't know in the end if they were disqualified or simply had the extra candy removed from their totals, but either way, it was handled.

Some houses did extra stuff like offering gifts or having an open house with decorations. The buckets were obviously a good way to direct people to extras.

[Baiphen Quintessa]

How fun. Now I'm hoping they do it so I can try my hand. And I now have to get some candy buckets for my houses so people can Trick or Treat. I freaking love SL sometimes. Thank you, Polenth!

[Marianne Little]

4 hours ago, Baiphen Quintessa said:

How fun. Now I'm hoping they do it so I can try my hand. And I now have to get some candy buckets for my houses so people can Trick or Treat. I freaking love SL sometimes. Thank you, Polenth!

I was one who argued against it, because it was no known number of how many candies you needed.

All with one candy got a bear. But then it was unknown. No one knew how many candies they needed, to get bear number two, three and up. That set people in a frenzy. Is 200 enough? I must have more! People passed on lists. They used alts to get homes, set out candy, and abandoned that home when they and friends got a candy. Then getting a new home. Repeat, repeat, repeat. LL could follow the pattern of groups doing this over and over again. 

It would be better with fixed numbers. Let us say, 25 candies to reach next level, then 75, 125 and so on. Up to 500 for the super special edition.

Over thousand was just too much. In my opinion.

And it should be rules about gaming the system. Those who got and abandoned houses over and over again, did nothing wrong, because it was no rule against it at that time. "But you shouldn't have done it, it isn't fair" is not a good argument to bring up later.

Edited October 5, 2022 by Marianne Little

[Mercedes Avon]

I had a blast doing the Trick or Treat last year. I believe I got into the top 20 (using my alt). I liked traveling all the themes and seeing how people decorated up their homes for the holiday. I even put on a costume. I got out of the Linden homes altogether and it was what brought me back in.

And I agree that the rules against gaming the system should be made clear. However, LL should not have to write an encyclopedia long list of all the ways grown adults should not try to give themselves unfair advantages in a game meant to be fun and bring together a community.

[Freddie Venus]

I really enjoyed looking for the buckets and skating / driving around Belli. I just looked for them manually and didn't use any lists or system. Although if people wanted to use those then that's okay as well. 

 

[Nika Talaj]

I didn't collect candies, but I did have fun putting them out and seeing how many people picked them up from different neighborhoods.  Then when the list was made it was interesting to see if getting on a list boosted the candy count (yes).  In one place we have adjacent properties, and I put one pumpkin clearly visible inside just beyond the open front door, and the nextdoor property's pumpkin right on the walkway.  Fascinating that the one in the hall had MANY fewer clicks, I guess people got really fearful of security being on, even tho neither property had any.

Then when the flipping began, I felt bad for the folks who got so sadly obsessed by it.  I wouldn't blame LL at all if they decided not to do it this year.  They invented a cool game and then had to police it.

This is why we can't have nice things!

[TT120]

It was a shame that so many people decided to game the system.  I didn't really care about the prizes, I was just having fun looking at all the decorations and how people were decorating their house.  I did get one of those lists about halfway through though mostly because I wasn't finding very many on my own.  I ran across several people that had their orbs set to eject and ban people that got near or on their property.  I don't understand why they would put out a treat pumpkin just to kick and ban people that tried to use it.   Maybe that was their idea of fun, I don't know.  

This year, assuming LL does it again, I'm setting up a better display and you will have to explore my place a little to find it......I never use any security systems so you won't have any issues at my place.  You may find me lurking around in the shadows though.....grin.

[Nika Talaj]

5 minutes ago, TT120 said:

I ran across several people that had their orbs set to eject and ban people that got near or on their property.  I don't understand why they would put out a treat pumpkin just to kick and ban people that tried to use it. 

It's possible that some of them didn't read the instructions and didn't know that trick-or-treaters had to be within 10m to get the candies?

[Polenth Yue]

10 hours ago, Marianne Little said:

And it should be rules about gaming the system. Those who got and abandoned houses over and over again, did nothing wrong, because it was no rule against it at that time. "But you shouldn't have done it, it isn't fair" is not a good argument to bring up later.

The rules can never list all the exploits, because the whole thing with exploits is it's unintended. People did something wrong, because they knew it wasn't how the game was meant to work based on the description of the game. It was made very clear that every bucket was only supposed to give candy once, even if moved or replaced. So figuring out a method to make the buckets keep giving candy was very clearly not how it was meant to work. They also knew they'd get into trouble if it was found out, because they hid that they were doing it. People getting precious about calling it cheating just get a hard stare from me. The people doing it knew it was cheating. They absolutely knew, which is why they tried to hide it. Even long after the event, the people involved still avoid admitting it in public, because they know it was wrong.

It also got dealt with, so they wouldn't end up with all the prizes. If that hadn't been done, winners would have been set up for abuse (whether they were one of the cheaters or not), which would have soured the whole event a lot more than a few people outraged that using exploits was called cheating. As it was, I didn't have to worry about people cheating, because the Lindens/Moles handled it. I just got to wander around, collect candy, and enjoy my prizes.

All that said, I've said from the start I'd rather see a set number for each prize. I wouldn't like the bears less if more people had them. They have the data now to set the levels at realistic values, so it won't impact anyone else if somebody finds an exploit.

[Cinnamon Mistwood]

I had a good time with the candy bucket hunt last year.  I walked or ran up and down roads looking for decorations and sent a personal thank you IM to each parcel owner.  I enjoyed all the decorations. I didn't use any list to teleport non-stop for hours from house to house.  I only got the participation bear. 

I don't mind much that people played by constantly tp'ing, but I know, for them, the goal was not to enjoy the decorations or to gather with a group for trick-or-treating and the company of friends.  They played to win only. Different strokes and all.

I had my houses on the main list last year, but this year I'd like to give candy to those that are walking instead.  I will decorate again.  If there is a trick-or-treat hunt this year, I will just let people find my houses the old fashioned, traditional way or not at all.

Edited October 6, 2022 by Cinnamon Mistwood

[Fay Starlight]

It was fun, and I loved the prizes last year!

[Paulsian]

I hope they bring trick or treat event back, it was epic. I tried to locate the official video from last years' great trick or treat event and could not find it on the SL Youtube page.

I think it would be neat to have the candy buckets give random prizes, instead of who can get the most candy gets prizes. I like my skelebear just for participating. There's something extra magical about clicking something and winning a prize. OMG I just won a yacht! see where i'm going with this. 

[Laniakea Nebula]

It was so much fun! Really enjoyed walking/cycling around the houses and looking at the decorations. 

[KrystalKandy]

12 hours ago, Paulsian said:

I hope they bring trick or treat event back, it was epic. I tried to locate the official video from last years' great trick or treat event and could not find it on the SL Youtube page.

I think it would be neat to have the candy buckets give random prizes, instead of who can get the most candy gets prizes. I like my skelebear just for participating. There's something extra magical about clicking something and winning a prize. OMG I just won a yacht! see where i'm going with this. 

It's here and it opened last October on the 18th and ran until November 1st. Have not heard anything about it coming back yet, though. 

 

 

[DemeraraGirl]

4 hours ago, KrystalKandy said:

It's here and it opened last October on the 18th and ran until November 1st. Have not heard anything about it coming back yet, though. 

 

 

It was announced on October 11, 2021, if we have the event happen this year, I guess we will find out soon.

I really hope so, because I had so much fun last year. I didn't collect a lot of candies, but I enjoyed decorating my houses and admiring the decorations made by the neighbors.

 

Edited October 8, 2022 by DemeraraGirl

[Hauntingly Boo]

On 10/4/2022 at 2:07 PM, CalypsoJewel said:

I didn't get to see what that was all about last year, so would be interesting to see.

In the meantime the Halloween neighborhood Tour is up in Millbank again.

what's the halloween neighborhood tour!?

 

[Nika Talaj]

2 hours ago, Zombi Turquoise said:

what's the halloween neighborhood tour!?

The moles built a special interactive Halloween neighborhood in Millbank region, it's very cool.  Use the default "Shared Environment".  If you can, have Advanced Lighting on.  Also have sounds on.

If you just find Millbank on the world map and double click on it, it will put you at the start of the tour.  I believe there's a balloon tour, but it's more fun to pick up a flashlight and walk around.  Pro tip: do not just stay on the road - walk up to houses and houseboat, into the cemetery, etc.. 

You can go as you are, but of course it's more fun to dress up and take pics.

Edited October 8, 2022 by Nika Talaj

[Eddy Vortex]

I hope the Lindens bring it back this year. Last year was a blast. I enjoyed seeing the festive decorations. One house had an army of guard spiders dogpiling you when you get too close to the door was hysterical.

[PJBear Bitey]

On 10/5/2022 at 4:25 AM, Marianne Little said:

I was one who argued against it, because it was no known number of how many candies you needed.

All with one candy got a bear. But then it was unknown. No one knew how many candies they needed, to get bear number two, three and up. That set people in a frenzy. Is 200 enough? I must have more! People passed on lists. They used alts to get homes, set out candy, and abandoned that home when they and friends got a candy. Then getting a new home. Repeat, repeat, repeat. LL could follow the pattern of groups doing this over and over again. 

It would be better with fixed numbers. Let us say, 25 candies to reach next level, then 75, 125 and so on. Up to 500 for the super special edition.

Over thousand was just too much. In my opinion.

And it should be rules about gaming the system. Those who got and abandoned houses over and over again, did nothing wrong, because it was no rule against it at that time. "But you shouldn't have done it, it isn't fair" is not a good argument to bring up later.

"All with one candy got a bear"? I didn't think I'd get anything prize-wise, so I only got a few candies. No more than 10.  And I received zero bears. I was supposed to get one bear?