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Post by ShadowRune on Apr 21, 2018 17:24:00 GMT -5
Thank you all for for taking the time to read this post. Here I will explain how we will coordinate our efforts into accomplishing this special achievement. On the Playrix forum I have turned our adventure into a daily logged story page. Once complete I will cut and Paste it into a story. Feel free to read along here: forum.playrix.com/showthread.php?202949-Co-op-Going-For-Special-Achievement-HelicopterMembers: Your actions and chat may become part of the story, it's all in good fun and hope no one gets offended. I won't ever use specific names, you're safe... this time. QUICK Q&A:Q: How many Helicopter tasks do I need to finish this week?A: 6Q: Can I take other tasks?A: Yes.Q: Can I reserve Helicopter Tasks?A: No. Our Task Leaders will do our best to get helicopter tasks popping up regularly.
Q: Will I be demoted if I don't get my helicopter tasks done?A: No. We take pride in you all for making an honest effort. We took precautions to have other members fill this possible scenario.Q: Can I still dump tasks if I am not a Task Leader?A: Yes, and is encouraged. During this Goal however, never dump any helicopter tasks or house of luck. All others are free game if not reserved.Here are listed reasons why we are going after this achievement now:-We currently Have a full co-op of 30 members -Most of our members have been here for months, true leaders and caretakers of our group knowing how we operate. -An Event just passed giving us a window of not having any "seasonal" tasks that lower our chances. -A new season is beginning (Each season resets our tasks completed, so we have a time limit) -We have time to coordinate, stock up, and prepare for our selected goal at hand, which was voted on by all of us.Explanation of the Special Achievement: HelicopterEach season has four weekly regatta races. We have until the end of the season to get (500) helicopter tasks completed by our entire co-op. As co-Leader, I have decided to lower our member count participating to (20) giving us ten extra players to increase our buffer, finish early, or make up missed tasks by the participating members. Each member will need to complete "6" Helicopter tasks of any point value on our first week. Remember, no matter the point value, when you complete the task it adds +1 to our goal. ANY Helicopter task is what we want to go for here.We will have voluntary TASK Leaders that will help us get helicopter tasks on the board. I know this can be very frustrating when we have no tasks on board, so I am taking all responsibility for the "board state". Our Leaders will make sure tasks will be available to you before taking themselves. Hang in there, we will do everything in our power for you to get a helicopter task. I kindly ask that no one gets angry in chat if no tasks are available. Type "Waiting for Task" or something and It can give our TASK Leaders a ball park on how many tasks to save up for as they will be looking to take tasks themselves. Members have priority over TASK Leaders to take Helicopter tasks to ensure no one gets left behind. At the end of the week I will post our progress. If we are on track to completion, we will go for week 2. (Week at a time, try not to get overwhelmed thinking about all 4 weeks) After week 1, if we are not meeting our goal, the achievement will be abandoned and we can go right back to high point racing. This will not be considered a failure, but rather a successful attempt to see where we stand on Special Achievements. We are all here to help each other, remember to always ask for help on your planes, trains, and co-op requests as often as possible. If we are going strong, we repeat the same goal for the next week. Our weekly helicopter tasks will drop if we have our back-up 10 players completing additional tasks. I am seeking 100% participation from every member - we do this together. If you wish to be one of out TASK Leaders, please read on below this section. Everyone else, you may now go back to the game; Good Luck! If you have any questions please let me or the co op know before we get started on Tuesday in game or here. TASK Leaders: Looking for 3-4 more members if possible. This is voluntary and key to helping us obtain our goal. I, ShadowRune, will take full responsibility for all tasks dumped by our members during this time as you are helping me personally. Job Description: Coming online to the game as often as possible to help obtain helicopter tasks for those who work or have daily obligations outside of the game. Dumping Tasks: Getting helicopter tasks is our #1 priority of ANY point value, even a 75 pointer. We will dump every task that is not helicopter, House of Luck, or reserved by a player. Mining tasks will also be dumped. (we can hoard the supplies for the next season or after we finish our goal.) Taking a helicopter task: Each task leader also has a responsibility to not take the first helicopter task on the board. I would like our dedication to take one when "3" are on the board or if there are 2, ask in chat if anyone needs a heli task before taking. This will make sure the demand is met before we can easily accomplish them ourselves. No reservations on heli tasks also gives us as leaders the ability to take one without waiting on another player. Changes: As we have completed half of week one changes have been made:
TASK Leaders can take a helicopter task whenever one comes on the board, we have had only one time out of 1k dumped tasks 2 helicopters appeared on the task board at the same time. Noticing that helicopters have a 5-7% chance appearing, Dumping tasks is becoming more important in order to accomplish our Achievement. We have to dump everything that isn't a helicopter to increase our odds of getting more helicopters appearing. I think of it like this: Why hold onto a losing lottery ticket? We'll keep a few 135's on the board at times, but we have to remember the importance of dumping tasks.
To all players: We have to increase dumping and be patient for the helicopters. We won't get in first place, and that's ok., our main focus for the time being is the helicopter special Achievement. I know that I am taking us out of our comfort zone, and I will make it up to you all when we finish this what I feel is one of the harder ones.
Our Early group has done an amazing job. Now it's time for our weekender's to push through for all of us. Get your overnight production ready, and before work. We'll get those tasks for you. Those who finished early, I would like to ask you to still spend time on the board dumping non-helicopter tasks. We cant leave anyone behind or our numbers will fall below our goals.
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Post by ShadowRune on Apr 27, 2018 16:37:58 GMT -5
forum.playrix.com/showthread.php?202949-Co-op-Going-For-Special-Achievement-Helicopter Is the main place of entries. To follow along with added Playrix community comments go to this link. Once finished I will mold this into a story here sharing our journey to everyone marking a milestone. Below is the incomplete script to current date: when a Final script is done there will be a newly created post in our co-op section, not the main board. Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoy our story told by me. See that thumbs-up on the right hand side if you're logged in? Smash that like button to show me your favorite entries!
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Post by ShadowRune on Apr 28, 2018 1:39:39 GMT -5
Co-op Going For Special Achievement: Helicopter
I welcome you all and invite you to join our story time adventure. I began this post with the hopes of finding secret tips and tricks, but has morphed into something far greater! I will be posting one time a day the events and chat from our co op in a special way: Delivering a story filled with adventure, struggle, and fantasy. Something that would want you to come back to see what happens next. I won't be too extreme, use specific names, and look forward to your responses. This is partially realistic with a twist meaning the more input I get, could change the story at any given time.
Introduction: We just started the season and we decided as a group to do Helicopter a week ago. We need 500 completed tasks by the end of the season. With 20 people doing a helicopter task once each day per member we could accomplish this. We began our preparation the whole inter seasonal regatta, making posts, informing our members, educating to everyone what this is to begin with (one thought I was making this up for fun), and planning on how to take turns. TASK Leaders were selected to help our leadership with the task dumping process.
Day 1: We begin early, nearly half of our members online at 8am getting ready for work/families. Excited to start, we all begin dumping low point tasks, a few get reserved, and a few taken to wait for the first wave of members to get a task. Then some trouble arise almost instantly, a storm quickly followed the yacht. I saved tCash for refreshing in weeks past, but this was scary when it happened. For the first 6 hours we have seen 3 helicopter tasks and have spent in combination ~500 tCash, refreshing as often as possible.
This just feels a little wrong in order to complete a special achievement. Pay to win? (I edited this section so you don't freak out like I did) My original thoughts have proven wrong! As long as you remain consistent with dumping tasks not needed and regularly watch your ads, the daily tCash generated by a couple of players to refresh tasks will not go into negative numbers while saving a few hours total from the cool down timers. We then break off, most online going to work and the TASK Leaders preparing to get more helicopter tasks on deck.
Heading into the evening things were eerie, hitting 66% of our daily goal, but spending so much money took a toll on moral. Some members spoke about this being too hard as some others talked about how what a different change from the usual race this has become. As for everyone aboard we look to be still in a positive state.
The Moon starts to welcome us with its presence. At Midnight I took a look at our daily numbers: 27/500 "The hardest part done and we are going a little faster than expected." Do I think back on the rough waters we just sailed through. To know our boat didn't just sink near the rocks was a sign that we needed to push forward. The crew is safe and gathering to their sleeping chambers. We take down our sail and begin to sleep. We all will follow our Captain without question. For me however, I would not be here if it was not for her. I will follow her to the end of the Earth. <3
Tossing and turning I awoke from my sleep. I tried to understand what went wrong in the beginning. I start to ponder my thoughts...
We are a little ahead of the progress. In the first 24 hours we managed to get 27 tasks done giving us a +2. I like it. Cost us a lot of cash to do it, but we're doing it... I can't give you any numbers on how many helicopters may cone per hour dumping with no tCash to refresh... We just have too many members voluntarily refreshing them even when I asked not to. lol. and I'm not going to force it on us since after all, we ARE going for one of the harder ones.
It all boils down to this: Getting the tasks done is the easiest part. Dumping enough tasks to get those "25" each day to pop up is strictly based on luck, your time in game (being able to dump every 5-10 minutes, refreshing all the 1-2 tCash tasks, and checking on the hour the progress of the "board state". Co op dumped tasks on day 1: 550 / Helicopters appeared: 27 times. We don't have a night squad, we all are day people. Can't get our dumped tasks to 1k a day.... we tried. (how do the top co ops dump 6k tasks on avg?) That's serious cash, or I don't get it.
Never in my time playing have I saw so many 135's that we want to do, but literally abandon because its not what we want. It's a very weird feeling that has me going on an emotional roller coaster. I apologize for the initial freak out, I'm better than that.
On a side note: 8am-12:30am (16.5 hrs) I did some rough estimate. Day 1 our co op dumped roughly 500 tasks, roughly 25 helicopters appeared. Leads me to believe that helicopters have a 5% chance of appearing. does this sound accurate to anyone else that does statistics in game? So much yet to be revealed and we only have just begun. Maybe a cabin isn't where I want to be. I chose to come above deck and looked around. Night crew is keeping on course, and the TASK Leader at the helm tells me to take comfort. Pointing to a rear boat filled with life jackets in the back, I fell quickly back to sleep.
Day 2: we managed to stay on progress and getting a little bit better than the first day, using less tCash and more group participation. we managed to finish the day with 27 helicopter tasks another +2 from our daily goal. 2 Seasoned members started to question where the helicopter tasks are never seeing them. We assured those members and kept active getting those tasks rotated.
Today is our half way through week 1. My thoughts are that this is turning out to be a test of vigor. We manage to take a task in between waiting times and due to us taking any point helicopter task, everyone going for 135's for their others. This is keeping us in 4th place competing against a top 200 co op this race. We believe we are the first co-op going after Special Achievements so I posted that and got a few members even more stoked to complete ahead of schedule!
I took time to add what the special achievements are, what they look like, and how to accomplish them on our forum. People are now understanding what it is that we are doing, not just an event the Leader/Co-Leaders made up to spice things up. I also posted a link to this information in a different post, feel free to investigate my findings. (I have not seen ANY information on this on wiki, fandom, or here until recently. Our last season we were quiet about it because we did not know the tasks reset.)
As it stands this morning, I opened up the game and saw we are at 60/500 @ 8am EST. Our goal is 25 a day so I wont tell the Troopers we are 10 ahead and assume we only need to get 15 for the day. We are now understanding the mechanics, using less cash, and grouping together in shifts throughout our day. 2 members volunteered to set alarms and shuffle a few tasks around at night too. Completely unexpected, I take pride in knowing what a great team we have. No one's quit or got angry, no drama about where we are racing being in 4th, and a more clear vision is rising from the fog.
As I sit back and think what today will bring us, can we be strong enough to do this for 3 weeks? Can we stick together and have no one jump off the boat out of craziness? Will our captains at the helm be able to lead with such dedication for this long of time? The questions must be silent, for I can't get the boat off course. Playrix, I think about you, and what you have given us. Thank you. This is an amazing thing. I will keep you posted. I must take my position on the yacht and sail like the wind!
Day 3: All hands on deck and the sails readied! Feeling the wind to our backs and getting the grooves in the ocean lined up we are right on track and doing a little bit better than expected. I awoke to see we are at 60 Completed! Doing the math I wanted to make sure our group does 25 so I set our daily goal at 79 not counting the extra +6 completed. This may be cruel, but I don't want our crew to slow down, we have a long journey ahead of us.
Noon hits: The waves are fading away, the wind is calm. We set our sails down and brought out the paddles. Losing our pace we are now on a push to meet our daily goal. Sun beating down our TASK Leaders who have completed their 16/16 began dumping all of the excess cargo (Tasks not reserved, house of lock, or helicopter) overboard to lighten the load we are carrying.
As a captain I worry. Our sailors cannot paddle like this all day, we will wear out. I look into the Playrix ocean and begin to sing a song of wonder. The melody of a violin with the stomping the sound of a helicopter rose from the crew. Rowing now has been a rhythm of harmony. I walk down, grab a paddle, and follow right along side my team. We will make it.
(a few hours later)
AVAST! The sails begin to move. Clouds are coming bringing the delight of wind and shade once again. Every sailor immediately lunges their paddles to the deck and hoists the sails in almost lightning fashion. Crew ready we make our final sail through a straight getting to our goal minutes before midnight. This day was not like the others. We can't afford to be stuck in this position again so I take to my Leaders.
"We have to change our orders to the crew. For tomorrow, let us throw out everything that isn't a helicopter. Everything. No more saving house's of luck, mining, or various 135's. We are no longer stunned to see this happen after so many have spoken out about not seeing 135's. We have dumped at least 100 by now. To me holding these extra tasks is lowering our chances of getting helicopter." We agreed in unison.
At midnight we take out our stash of orange juice and sip from our mugs. Happy hour has begun. We prepare for our morning sailors who tend to their real live jobs and families. I must retire for the evening, our crew will see our chat knowing what lies ahead. Remember to whomever reads this, the Playrix Ocean is real. Treat it with love and kindness and it will hear you.
I lay down and look into the stars. I wonder if there are any lost sailors in the ocean. I have heard stories of these lone brave beings as a child; swimming faster than the currents themselves. Surely we can give them space aboard our vessel if they come near. (If you would like to join us on our journey and can do 6+ helicopter order tasks a week, we could use your assistance for the next 3 weeks. When we accomplish this special achievement, I will be posting every player in the roster, the date complete, and a thank you letter to all who participated.)
I'm. Getting.. Sleepy... .... zzz ... zzz ... (see you tomorrow, I hope you enjoy my posts)
Still sleeping I fall into a deeply needed state. An image of a highly decorated sailor became clear. I heard their whispering voice as they walked up to me and stood by my side. As we stood there for a few minutes gazing into the stars quietly I asked a question I would not normally ask. "How is is that I know I can see 552 stars in the sky right now? We look at each other and the sailor slowly vanishes right there in front of me. Just before vanishing I heard a final sentence. "Thank you very much for taking the time for this 'report', too. Good luck, dream well and happy sailing!".
Breaking out of story for a moment. I would love to see your comments! You are my stars being 552 views at the time I began writing this post. Let me know if I am overdoing it or want more statistical information; I can do what you would like to read. Or shorter. Point being, I want to know from you, the Playrix Community!
:: THUD, THUD :: Ding, Ding :: (90/500 Tasks completed and this counts towards our daily goal of 25, Great job night crew!)
Day 4: Opening my eyes the first thing I did was say "Thank You.". I had the strangest dream and what was that noise? stepping up on deck I took a look around and notice that we are already tied to a harbor. No one's on the ship but I can see our Task leader and the harbormaster speaking on land. Approaching each other... "Ahoy! Are we lost? We should be sailing if I'm not mistaken." The TASK Leader says to me that we arrived 12 hours early, the current was on our side the whole night, and you did not wake when we shouted at lands sight. The harbormaster is a little angered by having to change his schedule. "You're here early" he grunts. "This will take a little time to gather your supplies." I tip the person very well for the inconvenience; I had no idea as well. The grunts turned into a smooth voice. "Give me an hour and we will have you ready to sail. Please enjoy what our town has to offer, your crew should be either at the store or the tavern." pointing to the only road ahead. It's a pretty small town that's only real income is to re-supply racing co-ops every week.
Walking up the road I chose to go to the market first. Some of the crew are getting some extra supplies to try and continue this pace of 25 a day. "Shadow, I have something for you." One of our seasoned sailors comes from a nearby display of newly laminated maps and books. She begins to tell me about how I saw an orange juice stain on the map and charted us to go around it saving us..... 12 hours. I laugh and attempt to stop for a moment. I calmed to tell her, "This is why the team needs you. Your skills and attention to detail kept us on course. Thank you so much." As the rest of us gather together to finalize our purchases we walk out together she tells me a little bit about herself. She is a Librarian. A person who takes pride in what she does. Our team is so lucky to have her.
Opening the double doors to a sailor themed tavern called "Drinks-a-Yacht" we see the rest of our group all in celebration. What's the news? One of our members is going on a honeymoon! No time to plan for celebration - It just comes naturally to a team who spends a lot of time on a boat together. Harmony, drinking, eating, and dancing took place the remaining time we had before setting sail to the next way point. "This round is on the Captain!" I shout smirking since I am the co-Captain. She raises her glass as well as we salute to her a safe and happy return in two weeks.
Everyone is on the yacht now; supplies paid for ready to untie from the harbor. Another one of our sailors who I have not mentioned yet is new and a real pleasure to be around. Life of the party and always able to give you words of encouragement. Well this time I was able to share some back; As we left in high spirits and accomplished our daily goal (105/500) still having a good time, began dancing on the poop deck. slipping half way off I was able to grab her in time by the arm along with the sails rope. "Here you go for next time, you almost went overboard. She swung back around getting her balance and walking back on deck. "What would we do without you" she says... I laughed and said the same thing right back at her, leaving us both in such a great mood. This is a person that will bring you joy no matter what mood you were in before seeing her.
We have one more thing to mention tonight. One of our members will be receiving top honors to getting past level 100 in Township, a milestone! This sailor has been with us since the birth of the co op, being one of our respected leaders of the pack. We salute you for staying by our side and giving us the chance to give you a team that works with you, not against you. Oar's raised, we pop a flare to finalize the honor.
Today wasn't hard at all. Looking ahead seems to be brighter. In the back of my mind I still do think the third week will be our hardest struggle. Spirits are high and the we are at full sail. The sun sets and our night crew begins their shift. Good night and see you tomorrow.
Last night was one for the taking! A solid 12 hours of sleep to catch up on lost hours during this week (sorry for no midnight post). I want to take this time to apologize up front to our Moderators and admin for a moment. I am sorry about this morning when some posts were getting shuffled around from me and this post vanished from me for a few minutes. You are doing an amazing job and I can't thank you enough for your work. I freaked out for a moment. I am very sorry. I honestly am in uncharted waters, not knowing what to expect from you guys, and myself. I just want to provide you entertainment that would encourage others to go after these new additions. Putting it into a story instead of a bland report of statistics felt like the right approach, but if I am wrong, please let me know. I don't want to offend anyone and like I said, is only in good fun. So here we go! (Whooshing wave sounds)
Day 5: Cloudy with a chance of seagulls. We are traveling at an incredible pace, almost forcing the yacht to go faster than the wind and waves. Fully stocked and feeling a rhythm, we all command our positions with impeccable detail. No longer are we taking any other task other than the helicopter giving us more chances for them to appear. The result is amazing and will be applied to our next week's goal progress. Coming to a close we have a little more than half of us at 15 or 16, and the finishing crew all above 10 completed. However, something has come to my attention.
One of our chief officer's come up to me with concern. "We have a sailor not reporting for duty all week, we need you to take a look." I walk back with my officer to see, I mean, just how bad could it be with how successful we're doing? We enter the cabin and shocked to see a sailor sitting there unresponsive. "Sailor, come to attention." Not moving an inch of his body, he stay there thinking on the actions he has done. I have seen this look before, the kind that are lost and unaware of everything that is going on. I take care not to abandon this sailor who has done 0/15 tasks and today took a 135 helicopter task. "Sailor.....?" Staying there almost defiant we waited till that task ticked to 0. Task failed. Our chief officer takes him into custody. We report to the Playrix National Guard: "We have a Sailor who is in need of transport, over." Quickly they arrived to take this sailor back to land to find a co-op more suitable to his play style. Kicking him was our only option as he hurt the team deliberately. It's great to know just how amazing every player in our co op has our back. When I was blind to see this for days, our members have all of our interests at hand, not just the main goal. Great job team!
Mid day comes with the accomplishment of our weekly goal. We chose to still go after helicopters and not attempt to chase down the third place spot in the seasonal regatta. It would put too much pressure on our closing crew and soak up the much needed resources we want to keep for week 2. Keeping our pace is the right decision. Crew members already finished with tasks are aware to fully stock up by Tuesday. I also made a personal decision that we do not have results for. Our first crew, instead of going for only 6 helicopter tasks I told them to go for 12 and only do 3 tasks a day to calm the huge demand of helicopters on Tues./Wed.. I am hoping the results will continue to be beneficial and frustrations at an all time low.
The night approaches, crew exchanging places to keep everything fluid. Still maintaining the speed as the morning crew accomplished, we are right on track. I will let our sailors decide how far we go this week and retire early in hopes that I can rest for the week ahead. Managing has become more spread out as we all know to just dump tasks not helicopter. One more day and I will post all the statistics to all of our readers to better assist you in your race for a special achievement. I take to my quarters and prepare for our last day of week 1.
We are back! Due to my error this thread was was temporarily hidden. I now have the information I need for this to never happen again and I apologize to my readers. Without further ado, I give you the much wanted statistics of our first week sailing! But first... STORY TIME!
Day 6: A series of fortunate events. Whipping out of the bay like a cast to a fishing rod we set to the ocean. To start our travels I look into the Captain's book's to track our progress. 139/125 Our weekly goal is finished, and then some. In fact, This can be used for our hardest week of the Special Achievement where 20 of our members needed to get 7 tasks each. and we even beat that! Today is smooth sailing and not pushing for anything.
To explain our goal, we set our strategy as follows: Total Members in the Co Op: Solid 25 Members (we have been back and fourth on the last 5 seats to remain active and minimum requirements met.) Members Racing for the Achievement: 20. Reasons below explain. Racing Buffer: Account for racers opting out, accidents, sickness, anything. Never use exact Member count as your Racing amount. Be prepared to account for any loss that may occur. I strongly suggest this to any co op hunting down any achievements that reset. Give yourself this buffer to not strain your members. Moral is the most important task for you and your co op's preparation. This gives our co op These numbers as weekly goals looking down the 20 column.
WEEK (in any order)
| 10 Members Working on Achievement
| 15 Members Working on Achievement
| 20 Members Working on Achievement
| 25 Members Working on Achievement
| 1
| 12 Tasks PP= 120
| 8 Tasks PP=120
| 6 Tasks PP=120
| 5 Tasks PP=125
| 2 | 12 Tasks PP= 120
| 8 Tasks PP=120 | 6 Tasks PP=120
| 5 Tasks PP=125 | 3 | 13 Tasks PP= 130 | 9 Tasks PP=135 | 6 Tasks PP=120 | 5 Tasks PP=125 | 4 | 13 Tasks PP= 130 | 9 Tasks PP=135 | 7 Tasks PP=140 | 5 Tasks PP=125 | Task Total:
| 500
| 510
| 500
| 500
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Noon comes like the blink of an eye and the Tasks pending by sailors is dwindling. I asked our members who haven't dumped as many tasks to begin so in practice for next week. Our captain is circling the vessel congratulating every sailor on board for accomplishing our hardest goal in our first week. I observe the other officers collecting their data logs from sailors around on deck. During this process they pat each other on the back for a job well done, smiles everywhere. I even hear small talk of a conversation that everyone is talking about. This game called Township, everyone's playing it and are hooked! Satellite connection strong out on the calm ocean with a breeze to our backs, I don't mind one bit giving them leisure time this entire day. There is no daily goal today, We earned it.
The Moon arrives and I have been given the reports needed to conclude our week. Lets take a closer look into the Captain's book, shall we? Opening the gold trimmed book I go to our next blank entry page. (I begin writing all of the reports into one log entry.)As I end my report I conclude that helicopters for week one show a solid 12.5% yield rate. We use this as our production number and TASK Leaders will know to increase their dumping tasks whenever possible. I am not requiring any member to be online at any particular time, I feel this is not needed. Voluntary action is permitted as some are so motivated like myself, that we may the first ones to achieve this goal recorded. If not, we still feel that we are and that is all that counts. Closing the book, I set to take to the sleeping cabin. All comfortable and the Ocean quiet we prepare for our second week.
In the meantime before I go to sleep.... guilty! (Loads up Township)
Enjoy Editing your towns on what I love to call Fun Day Monday! Having the time to decorate and intricately place all of our buildings, roads, and decorations while not racing in a regatta. Adjusting all my items in the barn is important too, making sure I have about 5 of everything I can produce. I personally value this day off quite a bit. Gives us to the communication time needed to make adjustments while not worrying about anything else.
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Post by ShadowRune on May 2, 2018 13:37:51 GMT -5
WEEK 2Day 7: Finding Tempo. Life on the open sea can change in the blink of an eye. Expecting to hit a riptide in the morning with the beginning of a new regatta, half our crew remains below deck and sails lowered. The morning comes with a struggle, just as expected. Some members awaking in the middle of the night to tend to the opening board of tasks, we still found ourselves with extreme shortage. So far I have spent nearly 75 tCash to make up for the huge demand as expected from 7am-9am. This did not go unnoticed, we are on our way to making on of the best days yet on the hardest day of the week.
Keeping our routine practice from last week and advice given on our day off, we did in fact have a much better result as far as team moral going into Tuesday's crunch. Sailors going to work now switch with our reserve's in the cabin waiting out the rough. I chose this method vs rowing to keep us all encouraged. We have the additional completed tasks to take a day off if we really need it. That's a big IF because of how dedicated everyone is, I don't think I could slow them down even if I wanted too.
The waves are gone, for now. One more tide to go with a little patience and we should be relaxed enough to sail right on through until Sunday. Hoping that our progress doesn't shift, I checked out progress more often than usual. We picked up a few more sailors on our off day and the boat is in full communication with its sailors. Dumping tasks has shifted dramatically this week, seeing a definite answer on who our TASK Leaders are. I could not do this if it were not for them, spreading out their time to check on the board state and dump unwanted tasks in the process. The process is almost becoming routine and we are finding our tempo on taking helicopter tasks.
Night approaches with delight having completed our daily goal shortly after 5pm. Looking to my sailors with confidence, I set out some plans to see if it could help us. As communication between the crew is all positive, we remained on course as if this was the only way to play township. Helicopter after helicopter, we can feel ourselves getting closer to the goal. The tempo is ours for the taking and will not increase for the rest of our challenge. Midnight comes almost too quickly with such a busy day. I tallied up the tasks and we indeed beat our best day of the goal ending at 185 + 5 pending tasks. 33 Tasks in a day finished with 5 pending to be done, yes, this is all accurate and incredible information! Not one sailor is idle, the vision of what each day holds becomes a little more clear.
How can I avoid such a drastic demand on Tuesday's? It seems tCash is the only way to relieve the pain, demand, and emotions. I willingly look to my ads each hour to restock for the next morning. At the end of this challenge I will have to remember to come back to this entry before adding my final thoughts. This is just too expensive and stressful of a process for any co op. It also can't be avoided by trying to make half your team not do anything for a quarter of the day. Looking up into the starry night, I wonder if there is any tricks I am unaware of that could help us?
Day 8: Township Troopers and the Tempo of Doom. Setting the alarms last night, we all wake up one by one. Where did Spring go? Our early morning sailors were already prepared for the tasks at hand. Everything under control and in order, I chose to take a step back and sleep until my alarm goes off.
::BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP::
Clicking snooze to have just a few more minutes, if only that worked today. Warm air already started to infiltrate through the windows. Logging into the mornings statistics I see we are on course, proceeding to surpass our daily goal early. I was able to get all of my helicopter tasks as scheduled, not taking extras yet to make sure everyone has their chance. Seems that this wasn't so bad after all! or was it...
We have been at the bottom portion of the racing regatta steady at 11th place. We have to take every helicopter no matter its point value, so in return we are not accomplishing as many 135's as we are used to. No one has spoken of where we are in the race, but I know concern is rising among the crew. We all want rewards for the hard work we put in. These helicopters wont do it for us alone. I have to think what we can do to offset the loss in points. I will wait to see where we are tonight before making a decision that will impact the crew.
Dumping tasks has spread out through the crew to impeccable detail. I am finding myself not as in charge as I had to be on the first week. This takes a huge weight off my shoulders and I couldn't be more thankful. Knowing that if I am busy off of the game, someone is right there to take over without asking. It is just incredible how much dedication we have as a team and everyone is operating at 110%. I'll say it again, I'm proud of you guys!
I didn't have to wait long at all. By 6PM we have hit our daily goal of 25, plus 5 pending completion! We are on track to breaking our personal best daily goal so I stay quiet. Let sailors do what they do best; Sail the seas. We have a small group on the crew who have been getting together frequently. I was curious what it was all about, so I did what anyone would do, I listened in quietly. I hear the sailors talking ever so quietly... "We should go to the music factory." "We're coming into town tomorrow, we can go..." "Shhh, not too loud, Shadows listening." BUSTED! I jumped in shock a little as I didn't think they saw me. Whistling I held onto a rope to inspect it, looked aimlessly into the sky thinking they didn't know. I walked away wondering what they're up to?
I stayed up until midnight to track our progress for the day and we finished with 33 completed. This drives our total to 213/500 on the first half of week 2, a remarkable feat! With such good news comes bad news as well, almost fulfilling a circle of karma. We are still in 11th place, not advancing at all. The Co-ops behind us are 1,500 or less below in points. Luckily 4th place is not far ahead, showing a 2,500 point lead over us. I really enjoy the pace we are at, but I fear it may demote us if we all try to do as many helicopters as possible. I have an idea.
Day 9: Township Troopers Day Off. Waking up to the sound of waves crashing into the hull I know we are going to head into port today. Hearing the encouraging words of our sailors like how much barn space they have, and the increase in coins all around keeps our spirits up. This helps greatly with moral to have everyone think positive. The Idea I had came to clarity and I welcome my crew to hear the news. "We are currently on track to making a record breaking week." Instead of pushing all of us to finish early, let's take the day off. I have snagged a few 135's myself to offset the point difference no longer to try to get 16 helicopter tasks. Letting the crew know to pace themselves and still take some additional point tasks to catch us up in the regatta. Everything in place takes us to where we need to go, we slow down to not cause any water traffic arriving along the coastline.
Hundreds of boats are out on the water, it's another beautiful day. All sizes, colors, and shapes I take in the sights of our fellow mariners and thier ships. I saw a few motor yachts I remember the last time I was here such as MMOM, VCATION, and TBC. These yachts lure people to come from all over the coast just to take a picture next to it. The beauty and design of each exterior hull is different which is why there is a make shift line of people waiting their turn to see these magnificent ships. This reminds me of a saying a wise man once said, "Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it." — Ferris Bueller
We radio in for permission to dock. Granted, welcome to Raj Angeles. Weaving through the different docks we make landfall. "At ease everyone, enjoy the city, we'll meet back here at sunset." Giving the crew a break, I wanted to make sure they don't get burnt from all these helicopters. We've made it half way with no real troubles and for this even I would like a few hours to go into the city an find something fun to do. I see a whole bunch of flyers for a Color Splash event. This sounds awesome! I've got a lot of coins and not a lot of product, time to re supply the ship. There's only one guy I would like to trade with and he's always here, Raja. This guy has some stories to tell, never a dull moment and always puts a smile on our faces.
The small group of sailors I was curious about yesterday are almost gone in an instant. Renting a car they took to the city on a mission. I could tell they were excited as one of them raised their hands out of the sun roof cheering. This is why we came here after all, so many different places to visit in this amazing world. I feel the more fun we have now could make next week, what I call "Struggle Week", easier. Pushing the last half in any goal is usually the hardest and is only my opinion. I may find out the crew is on a mission and I could be completely over reacting. The rest of the crew took to various parts of town shopping for everything they need. I went to the Harbormaster to check on future weather and ocean reports.
I enter the office and head over to the information desk. As I look through the documents I came across some pointers that I would like to re share to you. To increase your productivity on helicopters: Once you have filled an order and the helicopter leaves, fast travel to a friends town and return to yours right after. This will skip the delivery and animation of the helicopter while still getting the XP and coins/tCash. Following this step you can finish a helicopter task minutes faster than you normally could. Another tip I saw that I have yet to include myself is a little harder. You aim to get +% of coins in your factories to negate the increased cost of purchases in the market. What essentially happens is the market becomes an extension of your barn. Use your tCash to invest in crates and you will find yourself having a much easier time managing your barn supplies. I don't know how accurate this next part is, but I have found that Raja tends to have exactly the amount of products you need on some selected trains, planes and helicopter orders. It's almost too ironic, has this happened to any of you? Finding raja has exactly what you need in the market, when you need it.
Before we all make way back to the dock, there's one more place I need to visit. Off to the side there's a small hidden place that serves the BEST food. "The Dive Down" Diner. You have to walk down 3 flights of stairs to enter the dining area. When you reach the bottom it overlooks the ocean underwater with curved windows. The golden railings and red velvet tablecloths made it feel as if you were aboard a cruise ship! Something to see for sure! The boats propelling through the water, fish swimming along the kelp, and everything is alive! Motion in paradise what I like to call it. I couldn't find myself in a better place. We spend so much time above water we tend to forget there's a whole other world just below the surface. We all need that time to take a step back and enjoy life, I find it to be the most relaxing thing in the world.
I looked forward to seeing everyone coming back to the ship. Trinkets, souvenirs, a full belly perhaps? What did those sailors bring back and where did they go? I can't wait to see what the crew has in store for us on this journey ahead, I love surprises so I didn't ask what came on board. All accounted for and fully loaded we congregate on the main deck. We hit our daily goal at 5PM and we are fully loaded. I tell my team that this week will be even more exciting as we have an event that uses helicopter orders to obtain paint buckets; hitting two birds with one stone! One last check around the boat to make sure everything is safe and secure; we all take to our positions.
At midnight I took to our status to see our progress on the Helicopter goal. We are at 249/500 just missing half way 3 days ahead of schedule. This is still great news as we have yet again passed our daily goal striving towards excellence. We could of stayed longer in the city, but we all are too excited to get to our final destination. It's a place none of us have been to.... yet! The next three days I will step back and just monitor the progress without setting daily goals for the rest of this week. I honestly think that the whole crew is in motion of what they are required to do. We are all captains aboard this vessel. Everyone is showing leadership qualities, excellent communication, and motivating others to stay positive. I'm starting to hear soft music come various parts of the boat. All different, but playing the same tune.... I think I know what they're doing now! (Laughs in delight)
Making our way back into the ocean I took one last look at Raj Angeles. The lights at night really make the city come alive. With the reflections off of the water to the harbor filled with boats, I think about what is in store for us on week 3. Can't get ahead of myself, we have a long way to go still. One day at a time seems to keep the bulk of the pressure off and allows me the time to tell our story to you. I thank you again, every reader, for taking the time to share our experience! Can you believe we are almost at 1,000 viewers?! One last mention. Playrix, we would not be here if it wasn't for you. Again, Thank you all so very much from all of us here @ Township Troopers. May you have everlasting happiness and a future filled with excitement!
Day 10: YACHT WARS: The Co Ops Strike Back. May the fourth be with you! Adjusting some tactics early morning we accomplish our discussion about increasing other tasks to offset the loss in task points. We are in 8th place right in the middle of the pack, a safe place for us to not worry. I chose to let myself take a step back from the front lines and concentrated on statistics coming with this event.
Two new tasks enter the board and the helicopters aren't showing up as much. I will estimate my previous percentages with 2 new tasks entered leaving us with an 8.3% of them showing on the board. "8.3, why does that number sound familiar?" (I think my original estimate for helicopter showing was this value! Then at the end of week one helicopter tasks showed an increased percentage of ~12.5%). The Color Splash event lasts for 9 days, so I have to account for this. It won't be easy and it confirms my speculation that week three is indeed..... "Struggle Week".
I personally feel that this is beginning to drag out with a pressure. I'm taking in twice the required amount @ 12 helicopters per week and therefore have leveled 3 times since we have started. I'm now around 150k coins, but need 650k coins for my hot dog and juice factories. My helicopter orders are starting to use these items from those factories as well, making have to dump a few orders I normally wouldn't, request for the items from my co op, or splurge on raja for a day and request an item I can't produce every hour. This is where the challenge partly exists, can you keep up with your increased experience. I may be the 1% here, but I feel that I am leveling too fast; the other 99% love the coins and XP that helicopter tasks bring, especially if you do it repeatedly.
Three tasks left for the week I will pace myself and make sure there are helicopters available to other members. We have a few members just starting their tasks and two members who have not even started, one I can confirm already failing a ships task to Olivia island. This doesn't look good and will have to try and make communication. They have been silent all week and it puts us a few sailors behind over every other racing co op in our regatta. Action will need to be taken but I will wait until Sunday or Monday. (The way I operate is equality, If they make an effort I let members claim their prizes before finding another co op, and we're talking like 2 tasks, below our minimum requirement. If they do 0 tasks, don't help, and always ask for things, they get the boot early. They claimed enough prizes during the week.)
Friday night comes to our delight and we welcome the weekend with open sails. We just missed our daily goal but hit 24 helicopter tasks (daily goal 25). I didn't tell the crew because we've had record breaking days prior that put us over. We are still way ahead of schedule, morale has to be high. Staying on track is the only thing to worry about, if we get demoted, then so be it, we will still strive for the Special Achievement.
I will try to make a midnight post rather than the next day to cram in as much information prior to the Captain log book. A clear mind helps me decide how to determine our next weeks advance. Today was a personal favorite of mine. We hit over 1,000 viewers for our story AND passed our half way point for the Special Achievement. Half way down, think we can do it with these new turn of events? Stay tuned for more action packed thrill rides provided by your friendly co op!
Day 11: The Dark Night. Clouds are beginning to merge together and the wind begins to pick up. You can hear the chimes of the sails rigging rattle on the poles. What awaits us on today's journey? No Daily goals set we only take what the sea gives us.
Everything started normal but something unusual started to happen. The crew are not in their normal clothing. We have several costumes on board. Smiling I quickly went back downstairs and grabbed my captains outfit from Halloween and join in the fun. Long behold some of our sailors selected every sailing type avatar we could find. The kitty with the ships wheel, seagull on a crows nest, the helicopter, the kitty and human pilot with goggles, and the good ole' captain himself arrived to the party. This made us have a great time and turned us into super heroes!
The event brings a lot of us some new adventure as well. The new tasks such as coloring blocks, and playing the game boards are making a lot better filler as quick tasks opposed to the plane, train and mystery tasks which we now do not leave on the board. Being prepared for helicopter orders we are already supplied for this event. I couldn't be happier with the selection we chose during an event that corresponds with it. Like the Joker says, "If you're good at something, never do it free."
Towards the end of the day I became worried. I checked several times a day on the progress of our crew and saw that five sailors were under our minimum requirement and two of those still at 0/15. This puts stress on the crew as each member is accountable for a certain amount of points. We're sailing in this regatta essentially 6 members short, that's a couple thousand points. Climbing out of the trenches we found ourselves at midnight in 9th place, back in the pack. I voiced my concerns and tried to make communication during the day to those who I needed to. Sadly I kicked the 0/15 and sent an S.O.S. to the Playrix National Guard. Our other sailors if giving an honest effort by the end of tomorrow I will allow prizes to be claimed before we set shore for anyone under the requirement to search for one more their pace.
289/500 helicopter tasks are completed and recorded for today. If we can manage to pick up 11 more by the end of our regatta will have matched out last weeks pace. Everything evened itself out even with the increased push in week two. I made a tactical decision to set 4 other sailors and myself to do 10 tasks each for the next two weeks, half of the tasks needed for the remainder of this achievement. Then I told all other members to do 5 Helicopter tasks each week, that's giving them a day off of their choice. I also promoted that any additional helicopter tasks above your requirement is encouraged. I would to finish early and show off our great success!
I'm very excited about giving you our second entry in our captain's book on Monday. This will contain the statistics and log entry just like last week. Looking ahead now that we have passed our half way point is a lot more clear and optimistic. We honor those who have traveled with us but could not finish, we hope you still find lots of happiness and enjoyment playing this one-of-a-kind game. Happy sailing to all of you and finish strong on that last day in the regatta. Township Troopers are rooting for you!
Day 12: Gone with the Wave. Our second week is coming to a close and the routine job reports that follow. As morning approaches we find ourselves struggling in 13th place. We're giving it all we have with the last few remaining sailors who have tasks available. Only needing 11 helicopter tasks today, can the gap be filled with remaining tasks to avoid demotion. We tense up waiting for the rough waters ahead.
It wasn't easy but we fought until dinner to climb the rankings to 10th. As we take a break dumping tasks and eating our dinners with family, I had to stop coming back to the scoreboard. It was almost too scary to watch, having 5 sailors as dead weight and the other co ops unaware of our setback. I refuse to believe we will crash on course, I'm so very nervous till the last hour.
Seeing the fatigue among the crew is heart breaking to me. Every sailor I look at gave it their all and I feel personal responsibility to each one. I should have been more prepared for the new recruits coming aboard to not even get us into this situation. I accepted quick "Yes" a "Hi" in chat as confirmation that they have read and agree to our rules for a minimum requirement. My assumptions cost us dearly and I will never make this mistake again. Down to 11th in scoring.
I need to find something for inspiration... Here it is! Gone with the Wind. (I begin to read a few pages to calm my mind.) After doing this one quote came to mind that I grasped to in times of struggle. Scarlett O'Hara says "After all, tomorrow is another day!" and that's it! We exceeded our expectations for helicopter orders, the main crew who I rely on the most is by my side ready for anything, and we're going to finish our Special Achievement. This is going to be our only chance at this and failure is not an option. I had to go to sleep, I couldn't watch any longer to see our final racing results.
Waking up I dreaded opening my device. I waited a little longer than normally just due to the stress a few idle sailors can bring. I slowly lift the cover... 11th Place. Pheww! we did it, barely. Here is the Entry for our racing results: Preparation for our final full push on week 3 is mentioned. I asked around who did how many helicopters and got a good estimate going into this week. We are now short on our buffer and are strictly relying on our main crew only. This worries me that we many have to push harder than expected burning out the crew. Me must survive, me must continue forward. Too much is invested for this to go wrong. Some sailors will not survive after this achievement and we will have a course of down time to be expected. I only hope our crew stays with me and our Captain stay beside us. I tried to do everything right and can't expect every veteran sailor to stay. I'm sorry I let those members down.
I have chose the title today with a little reflection about how I am feeling after this week. Given the ending you know will be a happy one, but if it were to be any longer... It wouldn't be so happy. This is a sure test to any co op willing to do something that requires fortitude and dedication. I will have to dig deep within myself to make the team as motivated and confident as ever. I keep coming back to moral as a key factor in accomplishing these Achievements, and it is turning out to be the most important even above communication. I would hate to see the results of next week going into it with a few additional disadvantages making it feel impossible. I must stay confident an happy, my crew needs me just as much as I need them.
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Post by ShadowRune on May 9, 2018 9:26:28 GMT -5
WEEK 3 Day 13: A Ripple in Time. Our third week approaches quickly. "What if we are here for a reason. What if we're part of something truly divine." Imagine 500 helicopter tasks done, like that. (snaps fingers) We are trying to accomplish something extraordinary and dangerous. Trapped from Sundays darkness the Captain pulled me out of the shadows within with encouragement. "Be a warrior." I reply in confidence, "I'll try." Having my purpose reignited with passion we set sail for a Tuesday like no other.
On a course plotted with our sails set to full mast we begin the Regatta with haste. TASK Leaders setting their time accordingly we already begin to shuffle the board scrambling for what we need. I got a late start this morning and was blown away at the dedication of the crew. Everything is on schedule, spirits are high, and we're all just having fun.
Then this happened.... Eurythmics - Sweet Dreams starts to play from a few instruments. I thought we only had a violin on board. Our small group of sailors begin to form their band and play this delightful melody. This is what they were planing all along before arriving at Raj Angeles! Other members begin to sing along, a tingling feeling starts to take over. I can't help it, I start dancing on deck! We have a purpose and this journey will never be forgotten. The song coordinated a rhythm with the crew as well, progressing at a comfortable pace.
The day is going well and I check to see our progression. I mentioned in the morning to the crew we would go for 25. I changed this to 20 when I saw we only had 13+2 pending helicopters. This looks great to me seeing we only need 100 a week, we'll sail with the wind; not against the current. Two hours later roughly around 10:30PM EST we had reached our daily goal.
Right before I prepare for bed I added a daily statistic of dumped tasks vs helicopters appeared. 375 Tasks Dumped, 20 Helicopters taken. What? 18.7% is completely opposite of my expectations. The Playrix Sea heard our song and gave us fortune, I can't explain it any other way. Thank you! I had no clue how good our musicians are, concluding out the night with a harmonious melody. Sweet Dreams.
Day 14: Shipknobs and Boatsticks.
How pleasant, bobbing along Bobbing along on the bottom Of the beautiful briny sea
What a chance To get a better peep At the plants And creatures of the deep
We glide Far below the rolling tide Serene Through the bubbly blue and green
It's lovely, bobbing along Bobbing along on the bottom Of the beautiful briny sea.
This song has the embodiment of our goal. We sail along having fun and marvel at the imagination and what mysteries await our final destination. Things are going smooth and with the lower requirement, sailors are going as before with haste at 25 helicopters done a day. We will have to make one last stop at a port nearby to gather the remaining cargo to complete our voyage. The sea isn't so deep and we see some dolphins playing in the current behind our vessel. We start to see some small islands in the distance, but all are uninhabited. We do however have the chance to sail in between a few to have a makeshift obstacle course. It was almost too easy and we sailed right through each curve like a snowboard on a fresh mountain snow.
We used our story as a way to motivate the crew. Exceeding expectations it has become a growing story with everyone's involvement. I rarely need to add in content from a quiet day as everyone's spirits are up. I think the beautiful weather also has something to do with it. I could not be happier at the time we have chose to go after this special achievement. Our early finishers are approaching completing all of their tasks and transition to our strong finishers will begin tomorrow.
Pursuing helicopters like it was a war-effort, we will be done a few days earlier to the timed limit we have. Regatta wise we are right back at the top 5 where we want to be only having picked up one veteran sailor instead of filling the boat back up. Tasks have been fluid and I was able to step back and not dump as many tasks as weeks prior. Everyone knows their purpose, no questions arise, and we have a clear vision of victory. This being said I start to change my thinking from daily goals to possibly a countdown to motivate the crew on one last push.
My final thoughts of the day were calming. I look at the thousands of stars in the sky now and just can't believe its awe. Every time I come to the forums to write I see how many new stars appear in the Playrix sky, and I want to thank each one of you. I see you even if you don't write and it helps me go on in times of struggle. I took a personal day off of writing yesterday and I felt that it was needed. I'll play a little catch up and will bring yesterdays post a little later on today. Keep on enjoying that game we all love and know: Township!
Day 15: Albatross Day. Okay sailors, rise and shine, and don't forget your booties cause its wet out there...its wet out there every day. "We musn't keep our audience waiting." It feels these past three weeks have felt like the same day repeating itself over and over. We try something different every day and we always have the same result. I wonder what we need to have happen to break out of this repetition.
Sailing along we make progress not as fast as the prior two weeks, but according to the relaxed goals set in place. A couple of seagulls fly around as we are closer to land. One bird looks like its diving right for the boat, and its not like the other birds... it's bigger. Crashing into a sail he tumbles down to where a crew member caught the poor fellow before hitting the deck. An Albatross in these waters?
Our on board medic tended to the bird to see if any wounds were visible. "You are one lucky bird." she says as he avoided all injuries in the accident. The bird given to me, I brought it to the ships wheel and he perched. (to the albatross) "Don't sail angry! Don't sail angry!" I joked and the boat took a few swaying motions. "Yeah, I'm betting he's gonna swerve first." as we saw another boat quickly approaching us. Hilarious as this was, the Playrix National Guard was notified and we quickly had their patrol boat visit our side.
(after getting pulled over) "Hi, three cheeseburgers, two large fries, two milkshakes, and one large albatross." holding the bird in my arms. I apologized about the boats movement and explained the accident that happened with our new friend which we named Philos. We were hoping they could take the bird to land so it make be able to get back into the wild. We all knew there's no way he can take off from our vessels. They gladly took our friend aboard and to remember this, we took a picture. I think you may be able to find him in the Township avatars if I remember correctly.
The night approaches as we glide along the coast. Having the time of our lives we all take in the moments that make us so happy. We talk to each other of our homelands and families, what we love and what makes us all stick together as a crew. No longer needing to sail through the night, we lay anchor and rest up an hour before dark. We have made our daily goal of 20 in the morning and carried over all additional progress to the next day. There is no need for goals anymore and tomorrow starts the long awaited countdown!
I went to the captains book and wrote in a quick excerpt before the crew logs are generated: When Chekhov saw the long winter, he saw a winter bleak and dark and bereft of hope. Yet we know that seasons are just another step in the cycle of life. But standing here among the people of Township Troopers and basking in the warmth of their hearths and hearts, I couldn't imagine a better fate than a long and lustrous season.
Day 16: The Last Sailfighter. We always wanted to fight a desperate battle against incredible odds. Of all the life forms, on all the planets, in all the galaxies, we have been chosen. We are the last sailfighter. For every Earthling who's ever imagined going beyond the stars comes the unforgettable story of a co-op who made it.
We all had a dream, "You really are leaving here aren't you?" our loved ones say, to be as far away from here as possible. "It's your chance. When it comes you have to grab it with both hands." was some great advice coming from a friend. It started with a game. "You're going to bust the record!" a person says behind us. We all are perfecting our Township skills and understanding everything there is to know. But it wasn't just any game...
"You have been recruited by the Township League to defend the frontier from Xur and the Kodan Armada." comes from a secret messenger in our inbox. Then one night, a stranger approaches with a small yacht and begins to say "Don Picone the Mafioso's the name. We have to talk about a matter of upmost importance. Step into my office. I've seen em come, Ive seen em go, but you're the best. Light years ahead of the competition" as the cabin door closes automatically. Suddenly we sailed away faster than any other vessel we have ever seen. We didn't find our dream. "LOOK OUT!" we shouted as we are headed right for a cliff side. In an instant he replies with "Oh Dear." pushes a button and everything begins to transform into whats best described as a star ship! We begin to fly avoiding a collision and are gaining altitude with even a greater speed heading into space. The dream found us.
Continuing into space he continues to explain the story and how he needs us and we are his only hope. "Hold it! There's no fleet? No Sailfighters, no plan? One ship, you, me, and that's it?" Don like a salesman reply's "Exactly! Xur thinks you're still on Earth. Classic military strategy, surprise attack." It'll be a slaughter! He cheers "That's the spirit!" Not knowing satire we say. No, *our* slaughter! As we begin to arrive at another planet not from our solar system, we shortly sail on the planetary rings as it were a cosmic ocean. Docking into a facility our ships doors begin to open.
Where are we? "Welcome to Rylos Spaceport my friends." A world on the brink of destruction. Alien lifeforms and humans all work together in their stations and the humans there look concerned. The main desk has a person who tells us "Greetings, Sailfighter. You have been recruited by the Township League to defend the frontier against Xur and the Ko-Dan armada." like the message in our game as we finished their sentence. The training begins for the war approaching within days. The time ticks down to zero.
(An epic battle takes place)
With the Frontier down, Xur orders the Armada to attack. We hide in a small asteroid near the Frontier and attack the Ko-Dan mother-ship from behind, crippling its communications system; catching the Ko-Dan fighter wings off-guard. keeping the upper hand, using the "sailfighter-against-co-op's" tactics we mastered by playing Township. Soon, however, our weapons are depleted. Desperately, we activates a secret weapon installed, which destroys all the remaining Ko-Dan fighters. The commander of the Ko-Dan mothership, blames Xur for this turn of events and surrenders.
Township Troopers are proclaimed the saviors of Rylos, only to discover that the Township League is still vulnerable: the Frontier has collapsed and Xur escaped, and he will continue to be a threat as long as he still lives. We return to Earth, dramatically landing the star ship in the ocean we first met. Don tells the crew before he leaves, "You may feel like you have been gone for over a year, but it's only been a few hours here on Earth. Get some rest and finish your voyage Sailfighter." Checking our end of day helicopter total we have reach 396/500 with 2 more days remaining. The excitement is growing!
Day 17: Chargers not Included. What ever happened to General Eisenhower? You hardly read a word about him anymore. Today brings a new pace to our goal as I switch from daily tasks to a countdown clock. There won't be many day's left and we eagerly wait for celebration upon our victory. Here is a story of how a small co-op stood can stand side-by-side with the largest most successful co-ops.
The ship has definitely seen better days. We have a couple of problems that start to plague the ship from the engine to our sails rigging. We are trying to repair the problems ourselves but it seems we may need to dock for repairs. This could put us out of reach of the goal as some of these parts would need to be ordered and installed using specialized equipment. What makes things worse is we may have found out what started this whole thing.... RATS! Tiny chew marks and a destroyed kitchen left us scrambling for storage containers to keep our food from being eaten.
Things look bleak until the appearance of a pair of small living space ships descend into the a sailors cabin that evening, repairing many of the items that were broken. They also repair the vandalized kitchen, putting our chefs back in business. The two aliens take up residence in the crows nest at the top of the main mast, and are dubbed "The Fix-Its" by the crew.
"Someone was in my room." "Yeah mine too." "I think we got elves." the crew started to joke and become curious. There's been a couple of misplaced items on board as well as random items being moved around. We learn that the "female" Fix-It is pregnant! After consuming plenty of metal and electrical objects, it gives birth to three baby Fix-Its, although one of them is didn't make it. Our medic puts the machine into a small box the next day, but then our electrical engineer retrieves the box in stealth, takes it back to his quarters, and succeeds in reviving it by taking apart his precious television set.
The rats hungry with no food to consume, break into the ship's engine room to sabotage the pipework and electricity, and badly damages the "father" machine in the process. After throwing the rats overboard, the crew discover the Fix-It children are missing and go searching for them around the boat while our medic stays behind with the "mother" machine as it fixes the "father". When the "father" machine is repaired, the now-wary Fix-It parents leave to seek out their offspring. After finding them with the captain, the machine family departs from the planet.
The ship seems to be working well now, let's get moving. We proceed to pick up a racing pace until out of no where smoke begins to engulf the engine room. Seconds later an explosion rocked the boat and we came to a full stop. Crew is all accounted for, some with minor injuries, and all emergency extinguishers are in use. The look on everyone's face was on os lost hope. There was nothing we could do. Electrical is out, we can't radio in for assistance and the flares went missing. It's too dark to do anything and we all are lost without hope. This was not an easy night for all of us.
By the next morning, we inspected the engine room to see it was a smoldering wreck. Everyone starts to clean up in their respective posts and our leader goes to write our final report. There is a faint sound that is growing every second, its buzzing. "I know that sound!" The captain is greeted by the mechanical family, who have recruited countless other Fix-Its for repairs. By nightfall, the entire ship has been seamlessly restored to brand new condition, forever ending the rats evil plans. Our ship is faster now faster than ever and we all feel recharged. The adventure we went on ends with us being at 418 helicopters completed. Just 82 more to go!
Day 18: The Logo Movie. A bottle floating in the water! I haven't seen one of these in years. Quickly we grab the bottle and see there is a note inside. It says, "One day, a talented lass or fellow, a special one with face of yellow, will make the Piece of Resistance found from it's hiding refuge underground, and with a noble army at the helm, this Master Builder will thwart the Kragle and save the realm, and be the greatest, most interesting, most important person of all times. All this is true because it rhymes." What does THIS mean?
Coming into port for our last supplies to get us through next week we quickly gain access to the dock. As we begin restocking, we see all these propaganda posters with a brick logo on it. Something doesn't seem right here as everything is deserted but the essential establishments for sailors and their yachts. I enter the harbormasters office and watch the TV. for some reason there's the same commercial repeating every three minutes. It's simple, catchy, and here it is again....
"Hi, I'm President Barter, president of Township corporation and the world. Let's take extra care to follow the instructions or you'll be put to sleep, and don't forget Taco Tuesday's coming next week."
I've never heard of this guy and how long have we been on the open sea?! The captain suggests we gather a small group of five sailors and investigate the city before we leave. I take our best sailors and proceed into what appears to be an abandoned city. In the middle of the city is a giant monolithic building that is all black with the same brick logo I've seen. This is where we should go to get the information we need. Approaching the lobby we encounter a corporate greeter with several armed guards.
"Hi, buddy! I'm your friendly neighborhood police officer! Would you like a glass of water?" While the cautious conversation takes place we find out that they are looking for an outlaw and their gang called the Master Builders. "Oh, so you've never heard of the prophecy? Or The Special?" the officer demands. We all are unaware of who they are but have seen the posters leading all the way here. Realizing that this could very well be a dangerous place we proceeded to head back to our ship. Walking a few blocks we begin to hear giant explosions, huge stomping, and metal clanking getting louder every second. A four story construction machine comes barreling through a few buildings attacking black square drones with claws! I yell to the crew to get back to ship and proceed to the plume of smoke settling from the wreckage.
The president from the T.V. commercials is in a giant suit of armor and looks to have captured whoever he was hunting down. I dash to the side of a remaining wall to a building and listen in. "You don't have to be the bad guy. You are the most talented, most interesting, and most extraordinary person in the universe. And you are capable of amazing things. Because you are the Special. And so am I. And so is everyone. The prophecy is made up, but it's also true. It's about all of us. Right now, it's about you. And you still can change everything."
Watching the stand-off I knew I shouldn't be there. As I was running back to the ship, they were running into the huge central tower. Alarms begin to be raised. I made it back to port and tell everyone we need to go. Scrambling to get our last necessities we made it our back into open water with no trouble. Just before we exit the bay we hear a cheering from thousand's of people. Something tells me that those two just saved the day. As we end our week I already have the reports on my desk. Lets get to the juicy statistical side of things now that we have a week long event in place taking up an additional 3 task board slots.
I feel that... Everything IS awesome! With 65 tasks left to finish we are approaching my last three story time posts. This has been something new for me and I really enjoyed it. I want to give a shout out to my whole team, Township Troopers. Every single member is a leader and I couldn't of done it without each one of you. I thank you for being there to try something new and different, kinda like me with this story time. I'll conclude with a catchy tune I heard on the ships radio:
Everything is awesome.
Everything is cool when you're part of a team.
Everything is awesome, when you're living out a dream!
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Post by ShadowRune on May 17, 2018 0:39:12 GMT -5
WEEK 4: Day 19: Voyage of the Navigator. Entering week four, I bring to you one of the best family sci fi films of all time with a twist of course. We felt almost as if we traveled 8 years into the future being so close to our goal. We can familiar sights as the float across the sea with excitement. We feel older, wiser, sea hardened. With under 50 helicopter tasks remaining we don't pace ourselves and give it our all reaching record speeds. If only we had a time machine...
I enter the captains quarters to see the map spread out on the desk mapping our entire journey. Starring at the map I almost fell into a trance. The floor panels begin to rise in between my legs and behind me creating a chair. At the same time a holographic lens begins to slowly extend from the ceiling above and lights up with a humming noise. "Sit down Navigator" it demands. "You have the information I require to complete my mission."
Scanning my head this machine now speaks more human and in different comedic voices. "Hi, I'm Droidmaxiom..." I stopped him and said I'll just call you Max. Its eye quickly comes to face me. (It plays a song). "Captain, What are those strange sounds?" I reply confused: Wow, that's called music. "I want to hear more music." Can you pick up radio waves I question. "I'm equipped to receive over 2 million forms of radio waves. I can monitor all frequencies with electrical..." Ok, Ok, I say stopping his long description. See if you can pick up some signals that sound like what we heard. (The device makes some static noises like tuning a radio against the wall and then looks back at me) Opera starts to play all around the cabin. "How's this?" I cringe and say No that's not music. Try another station. (scrambling continues as he turned back n fourth) Salsa music blares! I hold my ears and demand, Ah Change it quick! (Scrambles to another station and this time it looks at me even closer trying to figure me out.) HOLD IT! Now THIS is music.
I'm gettin' bugged driving up and down the same old strip I gotta find a new place where the kids are hip
"See Max, you gotta move, like this" (I begin to bob my head left to right and tap my feet to the beat)
My buddies and me are getting real well known Yeah, the bad guys know us and they leave us alone I get around (get around round round I get around) From town to town (get around round round I get around) I'm a real cool head (get around round round I get around) I'm makin' real good bread (get around round round I get around)
"From town to town" the robot dances and sways its lens left to right. "I LIKE MUSIC CAPTAIN!" it celebrates.
I get around (round, get around-round-round, ooh) (Wah-wah-ooh) (Wah-wah-ooh) (Wah-wah-ooh)
Max changes back to how the original cabin looked not even knowing he was there and helped us travel through the day. As night approaches I go outside and see what our crew is doing. Our violinist see's me exit the cabin and waits a minute until beginning to play a delightful tune to conclude our night. As the first bar of notes pass, one other member begins to shake some coins in a cup in rhythm. The next bar another member grabbed an instrument and played along. Then another. The band is playing a song we could all smile to.
Mr. Ben E King's Stand by me. I couldn't control myself and my emotions took over. I remixed the song. "Sail with me" and then the whole crew joined in as a choir. This will be our best journey we have ever been on together. Nothing is quite as memorable as the first. I can't believe it's almost over.
Day 20: BRAVECREW. Dreaming of a time before we started this goal we think, "I cam home to raise crops, and god willing, a family." In a land of timeless beauty, Township Troopers were sailors of peace. But when helicopters threaten our world, and the people we loved, we were driven to war. ShadowRune rallies volunteers from every harbor and our forces are growing. Let's go pick a fight.
Yesterday we were blasting helicopters from the sky twice an hour. The sky is clear and all we hear is the water hitting the yacht. Something isn't right. "Lower the sails, I see something ahead and it's not a rain cloud." We begin to wait a little to see just what is on the horizon. The Captain is using the telescope with a straight face. "Prepare for a final battle. there's got to be at least 30 helicopters coming for us." All of our hard work got us this far, this must be our final stand. Preparing my thoughts, I attention the whole crew on deck. Pacing two time's I passed each member and look them in their eyes and saw confidence, determination, and excitement. We have taken out a lot of helicopters these past few weeks, but nothing as large as this in one day. They don't know the army is advancing as the sounds are too far to hear. I ready the crew with my final speech for war:
ShadowRune: Sailors of Township, I am ShadowRune.
Young sailor: ShadowRune is 7 feet tall.
ShadowRune: Yes, I've heard. helps people by the hundreds, and if he were here he'd consume the Helicopters with fireballs from his eyes and bolts of lightning from his... (haha, oops.) I AM ShadowRune. And I see a whole army of my crew here in defiance of tyranny. You have come to fight as free sailors, and free sailors you are. What would you do without freedom? Will you fight?
Veteran sailor: Fight? Against that? No, we will run; and we will live.
ShadowRune: Aye, fight and you may die. Run and you'll live -- at least a while. And dying in your yachts many years from now, would you be willing to trade all the days from this day to that for one chance, just one chance to come back here and tell those helicopters that they may take our tCash, but they'll never take our A C H I E V E M E N T !!!
ShadowRune and Sailors: Toun Trooper! (Scottish Gaelic: Township Troopers!)
Well, we didn't get dressed up for nothing. Several hours go by with a fiery determination to succeed. Sailors dashing from one side of the yacht to the other to help crew members defend their positions. The Captain, TASK Leaders, and myself surround the yacht protecting the crew with our own lives. All of our effort came down to this final day, our last full day. We shattered our daily record from any other day while keeping a firm second place in our weekly regatta.
Plumes of smoke fill the sky as chopper after chopper fall into the deep blue ocean. There are just six helicopter tasks left to take down. "Casualty report! Is everyone OK?" No one is injured to my relief! We fought off the well equipped army with our passion to achieve something special. Setting our sails back to full position we take to our final day with only those last few.
Day 21: Achievement Day. Good morning. In less than an hour, yachts here will join others from around the world. And you will be launching the largest nautical battle in the history of mankind. "Mankind." That word should have new meaning for all of us today. We can't be consumed by our petty differences anymore. We will be united in our common interests. Perhaps it's fate that today is the 17th of May, and you will once again be fighting for our glory... Not from tyranny, oppression, or persecution... but from annihilation. We are fighting for our right to live. To exist. And should we win the day, the Seventeenth of May will no longer be known as the 137th day of the year, but as the day the world declared in one voice: "We will not go quietly into the night!" We will not vanish without a fight! We're going to live on! We're going to survive! Today we celebrate our Achievement Day!
1:00PM comes and we have one helicopter left. The final battle we have waited weeks for comes to this very moment:
ShadowRune: We're hit! We took a hit! Captain: (yelling) We're not hit! We're not hit! Stop side-seat driving! ShadowRune: (trying to make a break for the finish line) Left! Left! The Bay! The Bay! Exit! Exit! Left! Captain: Where the hell do you think I'm going? ShadowRune: Ok, ok. We're we're we're uh... (indicating they were communicating) ShadowRune: Uh oh, they're closing up on us... they're closing... Captain: Shut up, shut up, shut up! ShadowRune: Must go faster. Must go faster! Must go faster! Go, go, go, go! (escapes from the last remaining helicopter task) ShadowRune: (screaming) Captain: Aaaaaaahhhhhhhhh! Captain: Oh! Elvis has left the building! ShadowRune: (in Elvis voice) Oh, thank you very much.
1:11 PM, we have succeeded at getting the Special Co Op Achievement: Helicopter.
My final thoughts: The cost for refreshing tasks is double what I think it should be. We could of avoided the purchases at our peak times, but our determination got the best of us. My jaw would drop if I really knew how much our whole team used tCash during this goal just on refreshing. The ending felt a ittle lack luster as well. Once you accomplish it we all get a 1 second pop-up saying its done. I was hoping for something like when our mayors building upgrades and we see fireworks center screen on our co op building and do the same. It just seemed so much effort a co op has to do to obtain these achievements we could of got a little more. Like have all of the co op achievements counted and bracket them off so each few you obtain upgrades the co op building larger. The balance of the goal was spot on in the games current state, it is perfect.
All of us in Township Troopers had a blast. It was fun communicating with everyone, some never did helicopter tasks prior to this and now enjoy them, and others are already wanting to do more achievements. Thank you Playrix for adding these as it has given all of us a new mechanic that can take a group out of their comfort zone and do something new and fun. Thank you, yes you, reading right now. I hope that this story has given you an imaginary joyride and that some of my movie references brought back good memories.
-=( The End )=-
Cast & Crew: (listed by level) Rapture Twins Territory Luckyville Tater Tot Town Lauraville Guga Maritown Sapphire Valley Tiddbits Little Town Township Melibu ShadowRune Dreamtown BERGVILLE Colo City Mia Parrishville Zahira Main Town Cozy Cottages Happyville CsikiTown Kitchensville DrMel Unicorn Valley Signature Town
*Special thanks to Metro Melissa for helping us in the first 2 weeks, may your future regattas be filled with fortune.
*Special thanks to Amoria and Nevada for allowing Township Troopers (myself) to share our voyage. I couldn't of posted these without you.
*Special thanks to Playrix for making a 1-of-a-kind game that everyone can enjoy.
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