Things that REALLY get on your nerves

[NARFNra]

Here is where you can list anything you find really aggravating about zeta flow. I started this after one of my levels(DISCOKILLAH ) was rated down from four stars to two stars after someone rated it zero, along with a few others.

THINGS THAT GET ON MY NERVES:
*People who rate zero for no reason.

Add yours.

[Mouzi]

The inactivity of the forum :P

Well, okay, it doesn't get on my nerves, but it's quite boring here.

[NARFNra]

Funnily enough, me too, but its not like I can do anything about it...
Wait, I know! I'll recommend it on fantastic contraption! haHA!

[Zeke]

Here's what annoy me:

• Empty levels. They're a waste of time and I'd like to see all of the levels with no core get deleted.
• Levels that have a forcefield around the core, and are therefore unbeatable.

I also wanted to address Mouzi's comment about the inactivity in the forum.

I typically go directly to the gallery, which I have bookmarked. I don't give the forum any thought unless my RSS feed shows that something has been posted. Maybe more people would be inclined to visit the forum and join if there were a link on the gallery page? Just a thought.

I think that anything that would encourage visitors to use the forum would be a good thing. I wonder how many people who make a level are even aware of things like "triggers" and some of the other new features that MD has added.

[n3cr0m33p5]

(Rant A) ' No Thought Levels ' : levels that ...
(1) have random pieces scattered across the screen that don't move
(2) follow no apparent plan and
(3) most importantly, don't make me move to 'win' the level.

(Rant B) ' Suicide Missions ' : 1 life on levels where one mistake = death (I know they should be challenging, but that's one thing, suidical is another)

(Rant C) ' Massive Weapon Deployment ' : lots and lots and lots and lots of weapons ( especially when combined with Rant B )

(Rant D) ' Impossible / Empty Levels ' : mentioned already by Zeke and I concur.

Can't really rant about death by lag as that is a hardware / machine issue, and while I have some control over that (keeping background programs to minimum) most of the time I'm playing at work on a basic / stock machine.

[Zeke]

I just thought of another annoyance:

Cores that are one pixel in size.

[Mouzi]

And also levels that are mainly good, but then you end up shooting a tiny core for the rest of the day.

[swartzer]

Hey, actual forum posts again! Woo-hoo!

Anyway, my number one per peeve is unbeatable levels. I don't just mean the ones where some combination of inhuman skill and a slow graphics card would theoretically let someone win; I'm talking about those levels where the core is off the screen, or surrounded by impenetrable forcefields, or anything else that actually makes it genuinely impossible to win. I always rate unbeatable levels a zero.

Another peeve are levels that don't move or track you in any way, and all you have to do is find (or make) a safe spot, lock down the mouse, and walk away. I always rate those really low.

I also have a peeve about people who take the levels from the original game and copy them with just a few changes and present them as their own.

Other annoyances:
* Tiny cores (especially if they're spraying the twinrapid coregun at you)
* Levels named something like "OMG nobody will ever beat this" when they're actually not all that hard.
* Levels where you have to spend like 50 lives shooting at one tiny little target, getting one or two hits on it each time before dying.
* Levels where someone clearly started to make something, but gave up after about four pieces, then published it anyway.

Well, anyway, I could go on, but I'm probably sounding like I really hate this game, when actually the opposite is true! I come back here pretty much every day, and even if all the new levels are disappointing, I still play one or two of my favorites.

So thanks again, MD, for making this game, and thanks to all the level designers who actually put thought and effort into it! Good design is hard.

[Fruktfisk]

*Laggy levels, Often caused by "Massive weapon deployment."
*Levels so sparkling of colours they give me seizures!
*People who dislike my levels!

[Zeke]

Hey NARFNra - Since you started this topic with your comment about undeserved low ratings, I thought I'd add this thought.

I played Wurayn's wurayn-02 The skull of death (impossible) level yesterday, and thought it was great, but it had a really low rating at the time. Today it's up a bit more as more people play and rate it. But I think it's still lower than what it should be. It was clearly labeled as an Art level, and its title made it pretty clear that it was unbeatable and was just meant to be enjoyed for the art.

Ratings level out over a period of time but it only takes one zero rating to make it take a long time for that to happen.

I thought I'd throw out the idea of limiting rating to registered users. I know it's not fool proof but it might make people feel a bit more responsible when they rate.

[swartzer]

One of those zero ratings was me, unfortunately. I didn't notice that skull level was labeled as art until after I went back to the gallery listing, otherwise I would have rated it much higher. It was really cool looking and deserves a better rating than it has.

I'm going to go in from a couple of different machines and give it a higher rating to balance out my mistake.

When I see "unbeatable" in a title I take it as a challenge, not a fact. Most levels labeled "unbeatable" or "impossible" are actually not. (on the other hand, most levels that are genuinely impossible are not labeled as such.)

So anyway, yeah, my bad, sorry.

[Zeke]

LOL Swartzer - I know exactly what you mean about the "unbeatable" challenge. Most of them can be beat!

BTW... a note to Wurayn, if you read this. It would have been better to give that level infinite plays IMHO. It really is awesome looking, and it would have given people more opportunity to appreciate its features without reloading each time, and might get a higher rating. On the other side of that coin, the way its set up now may get more plays. So perhaps it's a trade off.

[secret1]

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!!

I'm making my quantum base

Now the whole level messed up!!!!!!!!

See!!!



I'm almost done with the level!!!!

But the editor messed up!!!!

Check it yourself!

Login name: w1
Password: w1

click "My levels" and click "w"

Try to delect the pieces in the blue circle

You'll find out it is impossible

And each time I use the editor

The part no. added up by one digit!!!

First it is 1
Then, 71
Next, 718
NEXT! 7181
NEXT!! 71815
N E X T !!!!!!!! 718154




I think everybody should concern this

Something went seriously wrong with the editor!!!!!

Hope you can find out the problem and fix it

This quantum base is one of my best!

I don't want to redo it the THIRD time!

[asdasdg]

whenever the core is off the screen or their is no core to destroy.
those levels should realy get deleted. besides they are just taking up space on the avalible games list.

[NARFNra]

* Spam Bots On The Forums get on my nerves.