Sneaky algorithm

[BasinCity]

The huge lag in bringing up the exchange is likely evidence that there is such an algorithm in use...

Just sayin'...

[etamni103]

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@jeffk42 wrote:

Of course, I don't know how they've designed HQ. It could be that when you put something up for sale, a sale request is sent to the server, given an id and maintained in a pool (a huge hash? idk) until someone clicks on HQ, at which point the server sends back an id reference to 24 semi-random sales.  That may be over-simplifying it. But the overhead to filter those items for every single HQ click would be significant.  Rather than just (for example) grabbing 24 hash keys, you need to get the "type" of every item in the pool, determine the needed percentages based on weights so you don't just always get 24 of your highest weighted item, and then actively seek out that many of each type of item. If the only way to get to a sale is by hash key, this becomes an extremely expensive series of operations.  And it would have to be executed on every single HQ click!  A database would have more overhead, but would allow filtering on type.  You'd still probably need to do multiple queries to ensure a properly weighted result. (apologies to the EA devs for what is probably a gross over-simplification for something that certainly required a lot of effort to implement)

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Looking to another source, I took a peek at EA's careers site to see what skills and experience they might be searching for.  Unfortunately, it isn't always possible to tell which jobs go with which games, but I did see a number of positions where experience with several different languages and database platforms was requested, so no help there.  Other than violating the Ts&Cs of the game, it might be possible to reverse engineer the client app (or packet-sniff the traffic) and gain insight into how the back end works, but it's not worth the effort for a free game! LOL.  I'd rather that they just implement a free-market commodities trading system that either has no caps on prices, or caps them very high (say, 999,999 Simoleons), effectively leaving them uncapped.  Daniel would not buy unsold items, but the sale could be cancelled and reposted with a different price.  (Discussed ad nauseam elsewhere so I won't explain it again here.)

[jeffk42]

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@BasinCity wrote:
The huge lag in bringing up the exchange is likely evidence that there is such an algorithm in use...

Just sayin'...

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No, it's not likely at all.

[jeffk42]

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@etamni103 wrote:

Looking to another source, I took a peek at EA's careers site to see what skills and experience they might be searching for.  Unfortunately, it isn't always possible to tell which jobs go with which games, but I did see a number of positions where experience with several different languages and database platforms was requested, so no help there.

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Also, in the 15 years I've been a software engineer, I don't know that I've ever once seen a set of job requirements accurately match the "actual" job requirements, lol. :-)

[Dam6]

I experienced this the other day with light bulbs.  Light bulbs are everywhere, easy ish to make and I usually have a few of them.  

Yep... I needed one for a key and, despite trying for a LONG time I couldn't find one. "Odd? There's always ligh bulbs!"  I made one and, literally after completing the task, the GHQ listed light bulbs again.

Grrrrr.

[keithroby]

As a software developer myself, I'd say that if you found a JD that matches to a T everything you'll be doing to a T within software dev, then run, don't walk away from that offer. That has legacy/dinosaur system or plodding thinkers written all over it. (o:

[etamni103]

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@keithroby wrote:

As a software developer myself, I'd say that if you found a JD that matches to a T everything you'll be doing to a T within software dev, then run, don't walk away from that offer. That has legacy/dinosaur system or plodding thinkers written all over it. (o:

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No doubt!  Again, was just hoping to see if the company was hinting at anything about the back end by posting job requirements that included references to particular platforms.  Alas, they have so many games (and so many previous acquisitions) that it is impossible to get that hint from their job announcements!

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[etamni103]

@jeffk42 

At this point, I am reversing my earlier position: I now believe that they are using some kind of weighting system to somehow decrease the likelihood that needed items will come up in the Global HQ.  The method would be similar to the sample weighting system outlined earlier in this thread.  I believe that the client app (the game, for non-programmers) is identifying what is needed and then generates a query that weights against that list, and the back end (EA's computer) is then delivering a "random" list that has been calculated per the query's parameters.

The basis for this is testing completed over the past few days.  In that testing, I first set it up so that I no longer "needed" storage expansion items.  I have enough of these to complete my next upgrade of the storage area, but I haven't done so.  As a result of this, I am seeing all three kinds of storage items on many of my trips to the Global HQ.  Often, I am seeing two or more of what were previously the most rare items.  They still sell fast, so I still see the "sold" indication frequently, but I have been able to purchase more storage bars in the past 48 hours than in the two weeks prior to this.

The next part of the test has been to systematically add residential areas to my city, but only upgrade each one a single time.  I then queue up enough of each material needed to upgrade those areas further and sell off all of my supplies of those upgrade material.  Once sold off, I check the availability of that material over and over, and found them to be pretty rare.  At the exact instant that the crafting of the material is completed, and I collect it, it becomes available in the Global HQ again.

The third part of my test, which is not complete yet, involves creating a situation where every single material is "needed" for something, with the exception of the expansion materials.  I don't know if I will get a Global HQ full of expansion materials, or just a random mix of everything, but it will be interesting.

After this testing is done, I am considering doing the following: Make a bunch of a single rare or time-consuming item.  Enough to completely fill my Trade Depot.  Rename my city to something like: PIZZA 4 SALE or NAILS 4 SALE etc. and then advertise the sale of one metal for max price.  When all of the item is sold, I'll change the city name back to its usual name.  If this catches on, and others do the same, it could make this a better game for everyone.

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[jeffk42]

Hey, believe what you want. Your tests do not convince me though. My own testing has shown me that sometimes items just aren't available for a while, whether I need them or not. I can go days without seeing a single beef, even when no beef or beef-derived item is required in my city.

So maybe not many people were selling beef, combined with the fact that I'm getting a random sampling of 24 items out of hundreds of thousands. There doesn't have to be a conspiracy. But as I said, believe what you want, it doesn't affect me in the slightest.

[jeffk42]

Just let Vu destroy a couple of buildings a few minutes ago. I needed refrigerators, and I had none. Went to HQ, at least one refrigerator was available on 3 out of 5 refreshes. One of those 3 refreshes showed a refrigerator from two separate cities. Next, I needed glass and didn't want to wait to build it. Glass showed up on the first refresh.