Re: Feedback and pictures from the testers
Posted: Tue May 24, 2022 7:53 pm
The updated version has now arrived to the testers and here is the feedback from Crazy:
Hi friends. As a Ruby prototype tester, I wanted to provide an update based on my experience and feedback so far.
Over the past month, I have been working with Revo HQ to provide feedback and design suggestions for Ruby in an attempt to improve upon my previous complaints. I want to applaud Sophia for providing the testers with consistent updates and timely answers to our questions. Furthermore, I want to say that I really appreciate Revo HQ for carefully considering my feedback and suggestions to improve the puzzle experience and difficulty.
Today I solved the new version of Ruby and carefully investigated certain parts of the maze. I have been working with the new puzzle all day today and have just compiled my complete feedback and suggestions and sent it to Revo HQ. I hope to receive a response to my feedback tomorrow.
I received the updated Ruby last week, and within seconds of playing with the puzzle I found myself in a soft-lock situation. The puzzle was completely jammed and I was unable to move more than 1 mm side to side. I had a shiny new paperweight brick. Situations like this are exactly why I believe prototype testing new puzzles is important. After receiving a response from Chris today, I was able to escape with a (destructive and damaging) solution. With this in mind, I then proceeded to solve and open the puzzle.
I will not give a solve time as it is will not be representative of any metric. This is because I was already very familiar with the new maze design.
I can report that I am very excited about the progress Ruby has gone through since the first prototype version. It really does feel like an entirely new puzzle. A puzzle that is truly deserving of a hard difficulty. The new version has a combination of, and I would give it a rating of 90/100 or 95/100 with a big asterisk.Spoiler:
That all being said, there are some areas that require attention in my option. One of them is the jamming issue that I mentioned above. Chris said that this issue has already been addressed, but there are a few new issues that I have reported to Revo HQ that I hope get resolved before final production. I have provided my complete feedback to Revo HQ and will continue to be in communication to do my best to help make this the best puzzle it can be.
In a previous message, zakatak mentioned that this puzzle the testers have received may be the final production version. While this was the original thought, I hope that this is actually not the case. I asked Revo HQ to ship testers an updated version early before sending out production versions so that we would have the chance to test the new design before it is finalized. Revo HQ agreed to send these versions before the rest, so I really hope that the new feedback can be considered.
I understand that the delays are frustrating. However, I have seen monumental improvements with regards to Ruby in the time since and I am hoping that we will think the wait was worth it.