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Add new way(s) to get more items
I'd like a way to get more items. Since Gowalla is a new service and there are not many users in my area yet it would be nice to have a way go get more items. I don't want to have to travel to a big city just to get more items. And it would make it more interesting if the places I create already had an item.
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The more people who like this idea, the more it gets noticed.
The company has this under consideration.
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What kinds of places do you check into the most? I'll make sure we've got sufficient items 'turned on' to be distributed in those categories. We're always working to make it better! And it has crossed our mind that there might need to be other ways to get pack items, so that's something we occasionally kick around.
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The best points from everyone
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I AGREE!! I've created many places that I don't get credited as the founder of, because I've run out of items to drop. You ought to automatically be the founder of a spot if you created it anyway. Very frustrating!
I’m frustrated
4 people think
this is one of the best points
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I agree that when you create a spot, an item should be automatically generated for that spot, or you should get a replacement item for the one you drop. I don't seem to have a lot of spots in my area (although I'll be working on that, and on getting more people around here playing!) and am not sure what I'm going to do when I run out of items...
3 people think
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Inappropriate?Yup, I've checked into a bunch of places but never find anything. Probably doesn't help that I'm the only person in town that plays!
I’m sad
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Inappropriate?What kinds of places do you check into the most? I'll make sure we've got sufficient items 'turned on' to be distributed in those categories. We're always working to make it better! And it has crossed our mind that there might need to be other ways to get pack items, so that's something we occasionally kick around.
The company thinks
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Inappropriate?I check in mostly at retail and food places. -
Inappropriate?Can you "seed" items based on the type of location we establish or check in at? I am also in an area with low participation and finding items is like hunting for a needle in a haystack.
I’m thankful for the dialogue.
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Inappropriate?Maybe if you just created a spot and are checking into it, you'd have increased odds of earning a random item if you drop something off in your inventory, so in the end you'd still have the same number of items.
This would increase the incentive to leave founding items in new spots.
Unfortunately, I didn't realize this, and gave up all my items right away. My inventory is empty and I've never been able to find another item.1 Comment Add a comment
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When I first started, I did a 'PackRat' and vaulted all five items! D'oh! I was delightfully surprised when my first replacement popped up at a coffee shop I go to regularly! -
Inappropriate?Just had a whole bunch of new stuff appear in my inventory this morning. Thanks to the magic pixies that did that!
As for visiting locations? Food shops, parks and cafes mostly at the moment.
I’m happy
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Inappropriate?I agree that when you create a spot, an item should be automatically generated for that spot, or you should get a replacement item for the one you drop. I don't seem to have a lot of spots in my area (although I'll be working on that, and on getting more people around here playing!) and am not sure what I'm going to do when I run out of items...
3 people think
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Inappropriate?Sarah,
To get more items, keep checking in... even at your own spots. Especially at your own spots! I do agree, though, with the idea that you should be eligible for getting icons when you make spots. Whether it's when you make the spot, or when you check in at the newly made spot.
I have *never* gotten an icon while checking in immediately after creating a spot. -
Inappropriate?London seems to only produce trains, clickity bricks and koi fish, with a few odd ones in dispersed. Very boring when founding spots.
I’m frustrated
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Pretty much all the items (almost all of 'em) are available in the UK. We're always tweaking item logic/distribution, though, so keep your eyes peeled. If you were going to have a London specific item, what would it be?
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A black cab! Reasonably specific to London. And very British. Or maybe (and a little more specific) a Routemaster (red double-decker bus).
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A cup of tea, the bowler hat, a monty python foot?
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A bowler hat - now that is a good suggestion!
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Like that Black Cab idea!
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Inappropriate?I think the 10 item limit is restrictive. Maybe an 'XL' version of Gowalla, with more slots for items, would be a solution to this. -
Inappropriate?I AGREE!! I've created many places that I don't get credited as the founder of, because I've run out of items to drop. You ought to automatically be the founder of a spot if you created it anyway. Very frustrating!
I’m frustrated
4 people think
this is one of the best points
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Inappropriate?I too am completely out of items, and therefore have created spots but cannot be the "founder" anymore. As a brand new user, it's frustrating and makes me want to give up on what could potentially be a great system...
I’m frustrated
1 person thinks
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Inappropriate?We're always tweaking icon logic and distribution, so hopefully you'll find that finding bonus pack items gets easier and stays interesting. As it is we want to keep the creator and founder status separate so more people can be involved in a spot's history, and it is definitely supposed to cost you something to become a founder, which is actually harder to do than creating a spot (in that you must have items and you must willingly part with them simply for the glory of it all...and the possible Pin of Glory). But we do want to make it easier to find extra pack items, and we have noticed it bit of a drag lately that we're trying to rebalance.
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Inappropriate?meh ... well, it's not quite so fun in the US that way ... I'm in Memphis, and I'm just not sure there are that many people playing it here. Obviously, there are some, because I'm seeing places available to visit it that I did not create.
I would think though that you would not want to have people frustrated, but having fun instead.
Perhaps "founder" is not the right word to use. Usually founder refers to a person who started something. If the person who created the spot is not the person who started it, I don't know who is.
Perhaps "charter member" would be better. Usually this refers to only a certain number of people, who were there when something started. So, perhaps for the first week after a new place was created, those who checked in there would be "charter members" of that place, and after a week, the charter period would be closed.
Just an idea.
I’m undecided
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I agree, the person who created the spot should be the founder, whether or not he or she has any items to drop there. Other people who also drop items at the spot should be called something like "contributing member" (or something more creative along those lines!)
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Inappropriate?I'm all for changing the terminology... I don't really care if it's founder or charter member.. but I disagree that there should be a time limit on being one. Right now, one small way we have to "rate" spots is to become a founder. It isn't an absolute way to rate a spot - I've dropped icons at spots that are just "eh" but I definitely drop them if I like the spot.
Right now (I think) it's limited to the first 10 people that want to be a founder. I think it should stay that way. (although at&t park has 11 founders... what's up with that?)
Maybe the more popular spots could have a few more founders based on how many visitors they get. I can't imagine what the exact ratio would be, but just for an example - a spot gets 10 founder spots until it hits 35 unique visitors... then it gains 2 more spots; at 60 visitors, it gains another 2 spots, etc.
Of course, I'm also happy to leave it as it is now - the first 10 people that want to be founders/can be founders do so and that's it. But I don't think there should be a time limit.
I’m apparently against time limits. :)
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Inappropriate?I am an early adopter and have played a LOT in various places. Best app around. Recently it seems that is has been harder to get any items to pop up, resulting in fewer opportunities to vault items and to found spots. (Apparently there had been a tweak in the algorithm recently)
Yesterday I drove north to check in at spots another player had made in her home town and to drop off a few items that I had found on a trip to the Seattle Zoo. Only one item turned up, which I used to found one of her spots. I also founded spots with the three items I had brought along.
It seems that there is a narrow boundary between fun and frustrating ~ i.e. when it was reported that the Tea Pot was turning up at sushi places, I began to check in...sadly, after nearly 30 check-ins, it appears my spots are non-productive.
I don't know what the solution to this might be ~ there do seem to be more items turning up in my general vicinity, as there has been consistent checking in for the past four or five months, but is there a way to keep things fresh for newer players?
I’m happy to keep at it ~ things are bound to freshen up sooner or later.
2 people think
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Inappropriate?Heya, just wanted to add a "me too" to this. I'm in Adelaide, Australia, and so far there are only four spots.. of which I've added three. I'm happy to keep adding parks and the like whenever I'm walking around the city, but I'll fast run out of items in that case.. we have a lot of parks, nice buildings, restaurants and cafes. Plus we're the city of churches :) Obviously you guys want us to be out there creating spots and dropping items but right now there isn't any real reward for doing that.6 Comments Add a comment
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Hey Damien - welcome to Gowalla! Keep adding those spots - and keep checking in to them to pick up more items! The more you create and check in to, the more item drops you'll get. It worked for me!
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Oh, so once created spots generate items? I thought they only had the items that people dropped there.
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There's two ways of picking up items. First, by swapping with one that's been left by another player and leaving one of your own. Secondly, after checking in, sometimes you get a bonus item. You can then choose to keep this item and vault it, or leave it at a spot as a 'founder'. I know the help on the app isn't great, but you get the hang of it pretty quickly!
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Ok, thanks Lee. It does sound like there's less chance to get items then if you're in a new area like I am.. so there's not many people creating spots, and thus less likelihood of finding a bonus item while wandering through the city. I wonder if they could tweak the item dropping depending on how many spots there are in the area.
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Well basically, the more spots that are created, the more check-ins, the more item drops. I was the first one playing in my area, so I gradually built up the spots to collect bonus items, to 'found' spots I had already created. I now find that if I want some more items for my pack, a run through the spots gives me enough items to take to another area. This way I keep creating and 'founding' spots.
The other bonus for creating and founding spots is that you get Pins of Glory for checking in at x amount of spots, creating x amount of spots & founding x amount of spots. -
And you really should create an 'Historic Landmark' spot at that gum tree!
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Inappropriate?Just like Lee said - the more you check in, the more icons you get. Parks especially usually give a lot of icons. Keep checking in! You don't need an item to create a spot. Keep making spots, keep checking in and pretty soon you'll have enough icons to start dropping them. It's a bit of a Catch 22, but in a good way :)1 Comment Add a comment
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I've also found that pubs & coffee shops produce frequent item drops as well. As Gina says - you don't need an item to create a spot, only to be a 'founder'. Vault your unique ones too - details of the available items are here:
http://www.bluwiki.com/go/Gowalla:Icons -
Inappropriate?I just wanted to check in here and leave my own voice.
I'm one of the first people (and by far the most active) in my area (Rochester, NY). I've been creating spots left and right... I never realized I WENT so many places on a semi-regular basis. I've been playing for about a week, and have been out of items to drop for about 4 days. I vaulted 2 items on the first day while playing with new features... so that shot myself in the foot when I realized you couldn't unvault them :( I check in to a lot of places as well, but have only found 2-3 items by checking in places. Although I'm having a great time making new locations, the item drought I'm experiencing is quickly becoming frustrating. I've created spots for 2 liquor stores, a post office, 3 banks, a gym, my work, 2 grocery stores, 2 restaurants and a library, and have checked in a total of 19 times between those places.
It would be nice if the game gave you a small multiplier based on the number of spots you've created, or something similar.
I’m a little frustrated
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That's interesting, and I'm not surprised you're a little frustrated. I thought the drop was about 1 in 4 check-ins, but maybe that's not happening for you. That's certainly what I'm getting and sometimes it's better than that!
Hopefully Team Gowalla will hear your voice on here and adjust things for you. -
Vaulting items on your first day is a way better move than founding/dropping your stuff -- then realising how hard some of those initial pack items are to come by and spend days trying to get them back again! :)
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After a complete review, I've actually found 5 items, they were just all at the very beginning. So 19 check ins and 5 items does work out to be about 1 in 4, which ultimately seems reasonable. I've just had this drought lately.... created 4 spots today and 4 yesterday without finding a single thing, and was frustrated that I couldn't be a "founder" of any of them. My brain decided to ignore that I DID find one almost every other check in right at the beginning. Maybe that was my downfall, that I kept expecting that kind of item "income"! Ah well, my suggestion of upping the multiplier for those who are seeking out and creating new spots still stands!
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Inappropriate?It would be ONLY if you could vault and unvault at will.
I’m not happy with vaulting.
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Inappropriate?I hardly ever get new items, either. There only seems to be 4 or 5 people playing here with me having created the majority of the spots. I usually check in a food and retail spots most often.
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