Communicating time sensitive actions between alliance members with multiple time zones

[Dani RK]

If all your alliance members live in the same time zone (e.g.: all in Germany) the following might not make much sense to you.
If you play with players in countries from different countries, or a country with multiple time zones (e.g.: USA, Australia, Russia) you probably know the pain.

When the players in an alliance live in different time zones, it gets very complicated to communicate the time of an upcoming event in the alliance forum.
Example:
Player A lives in Los Angeles, USA (GMT-7) and correctly set the game time zone settings to Los Angeles.
It is 23:32 (11:32pm) in the evening according to his local time. He sees that he will be attacked at 06:22:30 next morning (the game correctly displays this in his local time).
He asks in the alliance forum for help and posts: "Help needed, incoming attack at 6:22:30 next morning"

Player B lives in New York (GMT -4)
He reads the post but has no clue what 6:22 actually means. Is it HIS local time? Is it Player A's local time, which? Is it GMT?

To avoid this Player A has some options:

• calculate time difference from now (wait, hmm, 6hr 48 min 30 secs) : "Help needed, incoming attack in 6 hours, 48 minutes since sending this post".
  Now player B would read the post. The forum correctly displays the time of the post in his local time: 02:32 (am) and does some calculations to get the attack time in his local time.
  
  
• Just send the GMT (after he figured out what his local time is in GMT taking into account any dalylight saving in his local time): "Help needed, incoming attack at 10:22:30 GMT", letting layer B doing the calculation from GMT back to HIS local time.
  
  
• (only theoretically) Force all members of the alliance to set the in-game time zone to GMT. This would make the post display "correct", but would f*** up other game experience

These options are horrible, many have been in these situations, when under time stress you are forced to make (sometimes) complicated conversions (and making errors) on both sides

What I suggest for posting in the alliance forum:

• Add a new BBCode which allows to specify a unix time stamp ( the number of seconds that have elapsed since 00:00:00 GMT/UTC on 1 January 1970)
  for example [unixtime]1672570800[/unixtime]
• when displaying the post, it would show the time in local time (according the timezone set up by the viewer in the game).
• SInce converting to a unix time stamp is not very user friendly: in the post form, add a new icon to the menu strip "local time". When clicked the user is prompted for a local time. If approved a [unixtime] BBCode would be inserted to the text

How would that work in the above example:

• Player A: writes a post to the alliance: "Help needed: incoming attack at ". He clicks the "local time" icon, enters 6:22, approves and the text is now similar to:
  "Help needed: incoming attack at [unixtime]1672570800[/unixtime]".
  After he posted that and looks at his post he would see "Help needed: incoming attack at 6:22"
  
  
• Player B opens the post and sees "Help needed: incoming attack at 9:22"
  

I do not know how much effort these would this take for the developers, but this definitively missing in the game. Many forums in other games have similar solutions. What do you think?

 

[Hixxa]

Sink.

You are over complicating things, when I played with Belle she just told us all it’s easier to adjust all the clocks in our house to server time and become one with the game! Don’t try change the game, that’s out your control, change your life! which is in your control to do! Be one with the Grepolis! You will soon forget about “real life” don’t stress it.

But seriously don’t touch your game time, it’s not a clock to tell you the time, it’s a tool to help you fight, no one in your alliance should be messing with it, even if your whole crew decides to set it differently, if you ever then work with a pact you’re going to cause headaches!, when you post the time of an incoming attack you say 06:06:06 hh:mm:ss server time. Never your actual rl time. The very reason you mentioned about people coming from different time zones is the very reason you leave the tool alone. Not a clock it’s a timer.

 

[GuardianAngel671]

Every alliance I've been in says to have the game time set to default which is America (UTC-4:00)New York for the US server. I don't know the default times for the other servers as I only play US. If everyone has their game set to the game server then everyone will have the same game time. For RL - just google & translate the differences. Why make things harder than they need to be?

 

[Hixxa]

Who’s done the Ares quick quiz? Have you @GuardianAngel671

 

[GuardianAngel671]

nope lol

 

[\*belle\*]

Who’s done the Ares quick quiz? Have you @GuardianAngel671

i has! is exciting haha

 

[Hixxa]

nope lol

You not bothering? Might have ago at it later today,

i has! is exciting haha

Lol look forward to seeing what you’ve put

 

[\*belle\*]

You not bothering? Might have ago at it later today,


Lol look forward to seeing what you’ve put

ha welll

 

[\*belle\*]

also what do that mean?

 

[Hixxa]

Nothing, just that I’m interested in your answers. Lol

 

[Silver Witch]

Thanks for this suggestion.
@Hixxa is correct you can coordinate battles or give details of incoming based on the time given you provided you all set your timezone to the same one. When I play we all agree a timezone and then display this prominently in the alliance internal profile and then get everyone to confirm. Initially there is a lot of questioning players who are newer just to check they all have the right timezone since as you say you cannot play at all unless you all have the same one!

Also please stick to the subject!!!!

 

[Hixxa]

Yup, my bad.. no quiz talk, apologies.

 

[\*belle\*]

Is crazy they even option to change server time is no need for it be changed? What other game experience is changed? Except fun of everyone sinking because all confused

not know of any more elite alliance change time zone, not mater what server they go to they just use default so they connected to everyone else in world

really only new players is ever go change it, and make game harder for them and if is giving wrong times out can make them so feel silly and be insulted from more elite players which might put them off even playing.

Dani always keep you server time as default. The actual time it says not important! as long as it the same for everyone else you is play with or plan to play with like allies outside of you alliance. if in mra make sure they also on default by ask leaders or like silver say look for the post on time zone in profile or forum and if not adjust then to match them. you idea is good but I think not will happen, we have what we have and it do work good

 

[Coltt]

If I join an alliance and they’ve change the alliance time zone.. I won’t be buying any gold lol

 

[Arkitek88]

i has! is exciting haha

Can I look at your answers?

Sorry Im slow.

 

[Coltt]

Can I look at your answers?

Sorry Im slow.

Lol
It’s not about winning, it’s about taking part! And belles taken part lol, Anyway, we’ve had warning to stay on topic! Leave belles answers alone lol. Tut tut

 

[Silver Witch]

Guys it doesnt matter which timezone you use - only that the whole alliance is on the same one. Thats the whole point of the options. If the default works for you then great but if a different timezone is preferred then that will also work perfectly. It is coordination that matters.

 

[Hixxa]

Yeah but like what’s been mentioned, why change it, even if your whole alliance changes it, and you manage to get your allies on board to change it, there’s still the risk you jump to a different alliance and forget to reset it and mess up an op, as it’s not actually a clock to tell us what time of day it is, surly setting it to our actual time zone serves no purpose at all other than putting ops at risk etc if the rest of the world runs default it just seems daft to go changing it and causing confusion lol

 

[Coltt]

Guys it doesnt matter which timezone you use - only that the whole alliance is on the same one. Thats the whole point of the options. If the default works for you then great but if a different timezone is preferred then that will also work perfectly. It is coordination that matters.

Do you change your time zone ?

 

[mogula]

The actual time it says not important! as long as it the same for everyone else you is play with or plan to play with like allies outside of you alliance.

All that really matters?

From my little experience - the majority do keep it at default, some newer alliances change it but do seem to run into issues by doing so. But as majority keep default your risk of having an issue is lower by keeping your time zone default that going with the minority and changing it.