The problem is that strain progression times are in a delicate balance. If you chop off even 30 minutes per progression, it compounds by a lot. The number of progressions we can get this year range from 22-27, so we can assume the average per player will be about 24.5 over the course of the event. Cutting off just 30 minutes per stage will give an extra 12 hours. That's almost an entire extra stage we can squeeze in. If we cut off more time than that (like the hours suggested in the OP), we're going to get a lot of extra stages and will more than likely be able to fit in a fifth long strain. I don't think staff want us to get more than four long strains because then we will overtake the amount of new ones released each year. If we start collecting too many skins, people will demand more new strains each year and staff can't provide that.

I think the best course of action is to keep Survival at 15 full days every year so we have time for four strains and to not adjust the progression times. If we shorten progression times, then Survival would need to be shortened accordingly to balance things out and I don't really want a shorter event.

I also do get frustrated because it always feels like I've got the slowest stages. It always feels so long. It is frustrating to see someone who got a strain after you finish before you.

However, I think it's very much worth considering what would happen if the stages weren't slightly randomized and everyone ended their particular strain - especially the new ones - all at once.

The site would crash like an albatross with an anvil around its neck every twelve hours once skins finalized.

Every single user who had a skin redeem in that moment (and was online) would rush to get a new one, understandably so, and the user-provided services who help bite others to speed up infections would be absolutely overwhelmed.

Even now, when the stages are randomized, there are distinct heavy times over a half day or so when everyone's skins redeem and the activity spikes on site. Consider if all that happened within a one hour period.

I recognize lots of people do sign up at random times all through Survival, so not everyone would track at the same time, but there are a large number of users who do rush the gate because we all do want to maximize our time and they would be pretty close together.

So while I get the frustration and share it, I think logistically, it's kind of a good thing our stages are a little scattered.

However, I also wouldn't be opposed to the new skin times getting capped at, say, 14 hours or so. Especially since it seems as if every year there's an issue somewhere with delays in taking the skins off. It would certainly provide an incentive for people to sign up for the new ones rather than stick with old ones first. To be honest I thought that, at one point, that was actually the case. But this year it does seem like the new strains are progressing exactly as fast as my Classic Virus strain. confused shrug

I think the current time frame for new viruses is fine (it gives everyone an opportunity to experience all the stages and dress accordingly, or whatever they’d like to do with them.)

BUT I do think strains from past years should go much faster, like twice as fast. I mean, trick-or-treating has this feature near the end of the event, I believe dancing times do as well, why not viruses? Otherwise, it’s a very daunting and discouraging task if you’re a new (or even new-ish) player. And it’s not like there’s any monetary advantage to collecting skins, so idk.

The viruses can't be redeemed as skins the moment they reach the last stage though, you still need to wait a few hours until you get the event that tells you that the virus became a skin and only then you can start a new one, so maybe this step can actually be slower and by a certain time frame a fixed amount of users will get the event and be able to redeem a new one?

Or apparently the skin just disappears entirely, knowing full & well it's actually gone and however many days was wasted on nothing.

How about that for progression :|

For older strains, the minute you hit the last stage you get the notification you can take off the skin and go get a new one. For the newer skins, I think I remember a couple of years ago there was a half day delay (or it might have been a day) because the skins needed to be hand-coded (or something, I'm not a coder and don't remember the details) to be able to take them off properly, which I think may be what leads to the delay you're talking about in general. This might have been addressed at some point, not sure, but in the past it's been an issue for new skins.

I think you have a seed of an idea that might work, although there'd need to be a really clear way to phrase it so people wouldn't think they're being punished just because their strain randomly ended before someone else's. It also doesn't really help the fact that when the cooldown ended, you'd still have a massive herd of people running for re-infection which is the core of the problem as I see it.

I don't think I have a solution, necessarily, just wanted to point out that maybe a simultaneous "everyone gets the same stage time" might be a bit problematic.

Thanks for posting that info! Really helpful :)

I like the variation and don't think it's unfair.

Everybody's immune system response to infection is unique. Response to some kinds of infections vs others is also unique. Variation in times may not suit you in terms of abstractly collecting filthy cannibalistic abominations fun skins, but it's good imaginary roleplaying. From a meta level, if everyone's strains changed at exactly the same time, the site would sooo crash.

I don't think there are any Achievements for collecting zombie skins, so if everyone's collection remains incomplete you will keep on coming back for more. It's the inherent "unfairness" of any game.

I honestly think I misunderstood about the times. If it has to be done this way so as not to crash the site then I understand that. I wish there were a different way but by the sounds of it maybe this is the way it has to be? I will lock up the topic being the wrong info is the OP anyways :) Thank you all for the information about how progression works.