At this point the times between stages should honestly be rethought. Maybe the first wave could be the normal wait time (though I'd prefer 10-12 hours as I thought it was before), and then something more like 4-7 hours. Obviously users want them, the artist put a LOT of thought and energy into them, and people want to USE them (which is one big point in them being made ?). But if four come out each year and we can get 3, maybe 4 if we are extra lucky, we are kind of assed out on trying to get them. Especially given the sites hiccups. I by no means want an instant strain. I love seeing the progression, even for older ones, it's part of the fun. But I also want to actually have them and use them. They're a sort of collection.

I get it, they aren't a real collection. But they are something to collect and if you know you can't get them all, or even half of them at the current rate... Why be excited for them ? I'm not saying I want them all in one year, but it'd be great to be able to work towards them all knowing it's not literally impossible. There are 29 strains, 4 released in a year, and we are lucky if we get 3. Kind of a dead end goal. If we can more consistently get 5 a year it would still keep us interested in coming back to finish + see the new strains and work for a larger but obtainable goal.

Not to mention they are a great sP sink, why discourage us spending more ?

I wish more information was provided on if we could change to our older strains to bite while developing a new strain. Because it looks like you can wear a developed strain and go for a new one?? I feel like that's the reason no one is biting. I mean, I was here last year. I KNOW there are people with angler skin. At this rate, I expect to get infected in 4 days. Kind of bummed, because I also wanted death worms, but chances are no one will be around to bite for that either, so why bother with wanting it? Sorry if I'm grumpy, but seeing folks wait days to get infected is making me sour.

Ugh I went and got infected with on older strain about 8pm last night and am still waiting for it to kick in. This is ridiculous. I'll be lucky if this strain finishes up in time for me to start a third one this year.

I got infected on the night the event started, and my skin still hasn't unlocked yet, but this is supposed to be the way they planned it?

Your infection has reached the final stage, so it's been converted to an avatar skin! You can now switch to the default human skin (or any other non-zombie skin you've unlocked) in the wardrobe if you'd like to get a different virus

got this event as i posted

Did you progress to the last stage? Right now, your av doesn't look like the final stage of anything. edit: nvm, saw your edit

I don't really understand why the queue exists, or why it takes so long to run down. Is it a server thing, because if it is, that's fine, but it would have been nice if this was made clear from the beginning. The infection page mentions nothing about infections being queued, and the estimate of "about 2 hours" is just a complete falsehood now. That all information we have about this has been drip-fed from staff interactions really hasn't helped. Not everyone is going to see it, so just seeing nothing happening with strains makes the site look buggy, or leads users to question if they've done something wrong. It's frustrating. Events are supposed to be fun, but they aren't if you're secretly implementing ways to delay people getting things they've paid for.

At the very least:

• make it clear that strain acquisition is done on a queued basis (and a hint at a solid reason would be nice).
• list the actions that could set you back in the queue.
• add an accurate, live wait time/ numbers of people in the queue.

Dammit, Subeta. You can change things, but you have to keep us in the loop!

If you choose an older infection do you have to be bitten for it to work? Or will it eventually work on it's own without being bitten?

I -think- you can choose any infection and go to the forums and get bit to get infected. The "wait time" is just in case you can't find anyone to bite you, so you still ... eventually ... progress.

Thank you!

I don't mind a decent waiting time but if I choose a random virus about 8 hours after the event started and finally reach the end a whole day before people who instantly chose a certain new strain then I think sth is a bit off.

I'm still confused as to why 2016 strains can't bite others. Call me naive, but when I went and claimed a new 2016 strain, I was under the impression that the current zombies could bite me. Why isn't it allowed? Why do people [I]have[/i] to go through the queue?

2016 strains can bite though? I bit a couple of folks as doom bloom. It required me reaching stage 6+.

Mature 2016 zombies can only bite people if they've chosen the free random option which allows ALL strains to be able to bite them. The selection of specific 2016 skins do not need to be bit and instead go through a progressing queue, because when they are first released they can obviously not be progressed through biting since no one has them. This is why if you choose specific 2016 skins they do not progress to infection by biting, but you can get them to infection through biting if you choose the free option. Next year, when they release 2017 skins, the 2016 skins will be available by biting just as the rest of the older skins are.

Also biting is only for progressing into the infected state, not for progressing faster through stages.

Edit:

I really hope they extend the time this year. Last year I could get four, this year I'll be lucky to get three: a common complaint, it looks like.

I so wanted to be able to eventually unlock all the skins, but obviously, at this rate, it can't happen.

Some things I am seeing here REALLY show the lack of communication issues here. I know we have an FAQ, but it really isn't enough for this event.

1. You cannot work on a strain and bite people with a different strain. I tried last night. If I wanted to bite people, it prevented /me/ from getting bitten with a new strain, and would have caused me to wait days to get my new virus, so I took off all my skins and waited until I was infected. Now that I am working on a new virus, I can switch skins, but I cannot bite for those skins. :C (Sorry , I have Angler, and switched just now to double-check, but I could not bite you.)

2. There are different wait times for different things, and they ALL SUCK.

• If you pick a 2016 virus, you have a wait time if you pay. This is the queue which is ridiculous. I was online when the event started and signed up right away, but I ended up a FULL 24 HOURS behind others. I changed to stage 8 exactly 24 hours after it came out, and that is total bullshit.
• If you pick an older virus, and do NOT get bit, it can take up to 3-4 days for you to get infected. The idea is that biting speeds this up. Which is interesting, but now that the wait times are longer, people are rushing to get their infections, and are not biting as much. So people who are off the cycle of most people are kind of screwed right now, and have to wait. Which is stupid. That time REALLY needs to be cut down. Maybe 24-36 hours would be more reasonable.
• Then the wait time between stages, which was increased this year for some weird reason. I completely agree with 's comments on the top of the page. Reducing the number of skins we can get each year just doesn't make sense. Let us get at least 4. We want an attainable collection, not another 'No one can have everything' deal. That is not the point of this whole VIP thing anyway.

3. Originally 2016 strains could ONlY bite people who chose random. This has since been changed so that 2016 stains can bite people who sign up for their strain. However, it was not retroactive. So, if you signed up one minute before the change, you HAD to sit through the queue. This issue has made people choose the free and random options more, because you can become infected much more quickly if you choose them (especially free if you get bit a lot). I am sorry, but people choosing free and random should not be able to get infected faster, just because they are not sure what they will get. That is why the queue is such a huge mood killer.

I still just dont get it. First off, I know that biting is only to get infected faster. Which is why I wanted to get bitten. Instead, I was waiting for 8 hours to get a disease. If I had gone for the free option, I could've gotten infected in a matter of minutes it seems. That just doesn't seem normal. I understand at the beginning, the 2016 strains couldn't be passed on because no one had them, but that should change when hundreds of people complete the rounds and now want to bite to get the achievement. Doncha think?

[Edit] Just read Lexx's post- 2016 strains can now bite without having to choose the random/free option. Still ridiculous that it wasn't changed as soon as people started hitting stage 6.

That's how it was last year too and there wasn't a problem biting people. Yes you can choose the free option and hope to get bit within a few minutes, but that's kind of the gamble with the free option. You can get bit by the strain you want, but others could also come and bite you without knowing you wanted a specific strain. Plus you may not be able to find people with the strain you're hoping for and end up with a random one. The free option can give you a random 2016 infection as well.

From what I understand, the wait time is on queue for approximately 2-3+ hours, the more people changing, the longer the wait time. So yesterday would have been one of the highest wait times since most strains were ending at that time & people were switching (just like on the first day when it was a HUGE wait time, even without the error that basically created a day stall).

Chocolate

It was changed. 2016 Viruses can now bite people that sign up for it.

That was yesterday at 10:17pm Subeta time. So yeah, doesn't help a lot of people sitting in the queue.

Ahh thanks for the update! I didn't know it was changed. At least that helps out the users now! Thank you again!

No problem! I found that in the Bugs forum. They are making some changes, and I do not think they are updating the FAQ or letting people know like they should. :C But at least we can pass that on to people now.

It makes sense that after the first round of new victims, the viruses should be able to bite. So I am glad they fixed that for this year. Not that it helps, since things are taking so long, we may not even get a chance for a third round...