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Chat: Update on Summer Game Shop Orders and Tips for New Players

by mariah

MY, MY, MY! Summer Gamers are off and running with the Summer Game Shop orders!



We've had OVER 640 ORDERS just in the less-than-a-week since the SG Shop opened! You're spending those points on everything from FLYING DISCS to CATNIP to SG PUPPYPANTS AND MORE!



In fact, the level of orders has been SO OVER THE TOP, that SG staff are sweating behind the scenes just to keep up with fulfillment!



So, here's an IMPORTANT NOTE -- not all orders placed this past week will be filled by tomorrow. This means you'll want to be SURE that you've gotten an EMAIL CONFIRMATION that your order is ready for pickup. Once you have that confirmation, you're golden, and you should be able to pick up your SG Shop prizes at the location you've specified.



We know that you're VERY eagerly anticipating getting your prizes in your hot little hands, so NEVER FEAR, they are COMING SOON! Just remember that the confirmation email is KEY!



...and speaking of KEYS AND TREASURES, some of you are now seasoned treasure-hunters and Summer Game players. Of course, you can chat about whatever you like on this week's chat thread, but we're going to start you off with a question:



If you are a player who's been around SG for awhile, what would be your three top tips that you would give to brand new Summer Gamers?


...and, if you're newer to the game, do you have already have some words of wisdom that you'd pass on to folks who've never played the game or might feel unsure of where/how to start?




Chime in!

Comments

Submitted by Josie Brown on Thu, 07/11/2013 - 7:59pm

Earning badges is one of the harder ways to earn points for the summer game, but they are actually kinda fun and can teach you stuff in the process. I recommend trusting your instinct when looking for a hint for a badge. Think logically, too. Also, if one search doesn't work, try a different word/s.

One of the fastest, most efficient ways of racking up points is by entering how many minutes of time you have spent listening, reading or watching something. Also commenting on blog posts (like I'm doing), reviewing, tagging, or rating an item can give UNLIMITED points.
Tag 20 items and you'll have 200 points. It really is that easy!

Submitted by cherylo on Thu, 07/11/2013 - 9:41pm

The Summer Game is all about the things you already love about your library! You can pick how much or how little you want to participate, from entering the media you are enjoying to exploring the treasures of the library you may not have known existed and on through participating in the great events the library sponsors or hosts. Maybe you want a particular piece of swag, like the famous chocolatey 'mystery' prize or something practical like a water bottle or earbuds, so you want to earn some fixed number of points. You might want the prestige of collecting badges and demonstrating your search ability and library knowledge. Perhaps enhancing the library experience for others by reviewing, tagging, and rating items is your thing. Maybe all of the above if you are a true SG obssesed fan (raises hand). Dip you toe in and see what goal or goals interest you. I promise that if you like libraries, there is something here for you to enjoy!

So, my tips are:
1) Read the blog at play.aadl.org. If you like the game, you will find lots of help and discussion as well as pointers on ways to earn points and badges. Major news arrives on Friday evenings.
2) Think about what you want to accomplish or what makes you happy about the summer game, and do that. Don't worry about how anybody else plays the game or anybody else's goals. It's your game; play it your way!
3) Share the game if it moves you. If you like the game, probably there are other people you know who would too. And new this year, you can both get points when you refer a new player.

Submitted by irenzero on Thu, 07/11/2013 - 11:34pm

three tips:

For Badges: read the clue, if you don't know the answer right away read the clue again and look for anything that seems out of place.. it's likely what is going to lead you to the answer...

Check out: remember that you get more points for rating stuff you have checked out, so go back and rate stuff in your check out history... let people know what you liked and what you didn't care for...

lists: public lists are a great way to get point... just check the other public lists to make sure you aren't making a list that someone has already done...

Submitted by beeniepie on Fri, 07/12/2013 - 11:19am

Besides reading, checking out CDs for the car, my biggest tip is to visit all the branches and look for bonus game codes. You can treat it like a scavenger hunt.

Submitted by jangmikyoung on Fri, 07/12/2013 - 11:36am

1. Tagging, reviewing, and rating books, movies, and others.
2. Completing badges and finding game codes using the hints.
3. Going to events and getting codes that are worth a lot!

Submitted by leehannah on Fri, 07/12/2013 - 11:38am

1. Watch a movie or real a LOT everyday and earn up to 1000 points!
2. Check out books through your library card and earn points through the history list
3. Find badges and game codes

Submitted by aittaleb on Fri, 07/12/2013 - 12:00pm

Earning badges can be really hard but when you write a review or tag an item its really easy. But the best way is to record the books you read.

Submitted by tomiwa on Fri, 07/12/2013 - 12:41pm

It's not so much about earning points as SAVING points. You should try to stock up on your points because not only do you get higher on the leaderboard, but you can get more gear later in the game. For example, if you blow 50,000 points on chocolate now, you might not be able to get that S.G Puppypants later. So the best time to spend your points is late July- early August, when the final restocking has arrived.

My second tip would be putting in books you've read, movies you've watched, etc. This adds up faster than most anything else. You can put in books you read during the school year as well, so you don't have to stick to summer. We all know it may take awhile to finish that novel you've been reading. When you have done this, tip one can be really handy.

My third and final tip is to check out the leaderboard. This way you can set point goals. Say you're 17 on the leaderboard with 72,846 points. If the person or team at 16 has 300 or so points more than you. Set a goal of 400 points or more on that day so you can "overcome" them.

Most importantly, have fun and enjoy this years SUMMER GAME!!!

Submitted by Motomori on Fri, 07/12/2013 - 12:20pm

1) The best way to earn a lot of points is to go back and look at all the books you've read and the movies you've watched and tag, review, and rate them!! You can get unlimited points for doing this. Also, if you click on a button in the upper right-hand corner that says I Finished This! Then you can put in the minutes/pages you have watched/listened/read. If you check the box that says I finished it, then you get 100 extra points! By doing this, you can get up to 1000 maximum points!!

2) Go to a lot of events. There are codes there that are worth a lot of points!

3) Finding badges is probably the hardest thing to do. My best advice is to read and reread! Read the clue and if you don't understand it, reread it!! If you find something in the clue that seems strange or sticks out, then that is what you most likely have to search!!

Most of all, the best thing to remember is to have lots of fun!!!!! Good luck to all the new players!!!!!!!!! ;-)

Submitted by crazypockets on Fri, 07/12/2013 - 12:49pm

1. Go to the events and do the special badges! They are worth a lot of points, and they're a lot of fun, too!

2. When you search for items in the catalog for the badges, why not open a few of the other results and add some tags while you're at it? I usually open about five or so records in the search results in new tabs and do tags. It's a quick way to earn 50 or so extra points each time you do a search!

3. Log all of your reading, CD listening, and DVD watching for "I read/watched/listened to something" points! I forgot to do this a lot last year, but this year I'm remembering, and it's helping a lot.

Have fun!!

Submitted by Jan Wolter on Fri, 07/12/2013 - 1:31pm

I'm curious about the privacy implications of the "checkout history" thing. I believe many libraries don't keep permanent records of who checked out which book, since if the records don't exist then they can't be compromised, either by accident, or government subpena, or by some future administration who wants to earn a little extra money by selling the records to Amazon or a some other organization. So it seems a bit odd to be encouraging people to create such a record. Or does the record exist anyway?

On a less paranoid note, I'm also curious about the assertion that it is OK to include books that you read over the school year. Are there actually rules about such things someplace? I had the impression that the rules were largely left up to the personal preferences of the participants, which struck me as refreshingly sensible, since no such rules could possibly be enforced anyway.

Submitted by messa on Fri, 07/12/2013 - 2:10pm

I don't know that I can add much to the amazing hints players have already posted, but remember when trying to get badges you don't have to just use the library's web site. Use Google and IMDB to help find answers.

@graceliu - To activate your checkout history, go to the "My Account" page. There you should see four little tabs that say "View", "Edit", "Orders", & "Track". Click on the one that says "Edit". Then click on the "Preferences" button. Scroll down until you see the little checkbox that says "Record check-outs". Make sure the checkbox is checked. :)

Submitted by graceliu on Fri, 07/12/2013 - 3:30pm

The box is checked, and I think it was when I checked things out. I'll try checking out again sometime.
Thanks!

@graceliu - The other thing you might need to do is to go into your checkout history (it's along the left-side on the "My Account" page) and turn that checkout history into a "List". It will only give you points on the Summer game if you've made your checkout history into a regular list. You do NOT have to make it a *public* list, just a general list.

Submitted by seadocks on Fri, 07/12/2013 - 3:31pm

My top three tips are this
1- if you are a parent check out the books your kids want to read, dont just read them at the library, you get points for the items you check out, and dont forget to rate the stuff your kids read also not just the stuff that you read or view.
2-the advanced search is your greatest help when searching the catalog.
3-although it is not for the summer game, if you do any of the points o matic when the next picture or page loads just hit tab to go to the empty space to be typed in, this saves time from having to use your mouse to click on the box, that way you can keep your hands on the keyboard and type away.
4-my added bonus tip has been mentioned numerous times, have fun and challenge your family members. I outscored my wife last year and now I am barely keeping ahead this year, she is out to beat me and now I am compelled to watch even more documentaries, read more books, listen to more cds while cleaning, and get out to more events (I think this was actually her plan to get me out of the house more and it is working). I always list the library system as one of the reasons that I love living in the most expensive city in Michigan for families, it is worth it if you take advantage of what is offered, and the people at the library have their stuff together and really love what they do and that is what makes this so cool. okay back to the badges.

Submitted by ValerieL Staff on Fri, 07/12/2013 - 3:36pm

I'm not sure what all I can add to the advice that others haven't already said, but here's a couple tips.

I thoroughly agree with Cherylo in that the game should be what *you* want it to be. You should only play as much as you want to play and shouldn't compare yourself to anyone else unless you WANT to be competitive. Some of us are competitive (or obsessed/addicted) and like to get as much out of the summer game as possible (that would be me!). Some only want to play a little and that's absolutely fine! Play as little or as much as you want. The main goal is to have fun with it!

If you're working on trying to find game codes for badges in the catalog, make sure you read the clues very very carefully. There have been several times when I've had a hard time finding something only to realize that I misunderstood the clue and was looking for the wrong thing! Utilize Google, IMDB, Wikipedia and other online sources to help you find the answers before searching for those terms in the catalog.

Be patient when asking questions of fellow players and/or staff. Not everyone can be logged in all the time and if there are many things going on at the library, it may seem like it's taking longer than usual for someone to get back to you. They WILL get back to you. Don't panic. Be patient. It's a game, not a life-threatening contest. :) It's not the Hunger Games. You're not going to lose your life. So just sit back, breathe and be patient. :) Also, when asking for help, be specific. Let your fellow players know what you've tried that didn't work and where you're stuck. It'll make it easier for your fellow players to give you clues to help you if they know what you've already used to try and solve the riddle.

I love the Summer Game. :) It's a ton of fun and I've been able to meet a lot of great patrons and get to know people through it too. :)

Submitted by i'm a blobfish on Fri, 07/12/2013 - 3:50pm

Mochimochi Land is so cute! i love it! which thing do you guys like the best? tell this---> sushimonster what part you like the best!:D

I'm confused about how to get some of the badges. Do you just figure out the answer to the question, then type in the answer as a code? Or do you have to find the actual book at the library and open it to find an actual piece of paper in the book with a code on it? Thanks.

You have to look for the right book and scroll down and if you see a label that says game code type the words under it then type them in where it says i have a game code on top of where you record the thing s you watched,lisitend, and read.

you can look in catalog for the answer to the question - it will not always be the first one listed or it may be in different media or a play on words. ..

Finding a french word, you might have to translate to english the put word in catalog.

Submitted by graceliu on Fri, 07/12/2013 - 5:00pm

@vlong
Thank you!
There was note that said points will only be awarded if you convert it.

Submitted by graceliu on Fri, 07/12/2013 - 5:04pm

@amy thomas
You to look for the item in the catalog, and if you click on the item, under all the tags, there will be a section that says "GAME CODE"

Submitted by rlmorgan on Fri, 07/12/2013 - 5:52pm

As a new player the most important thing is just to start. I've been hesitant to jump in but it really is a lot of fun. My favorite part so for is the badges. It is fun to figure out the riddles and learning new things. Already put some of the things I've run into in the catalog search on hold. But as far as points it seems like make sure you get the max 100 points a day and rate everything you read/watch.

I would agree with rlmorgan that you shouldn't be afraid to just get started, but it's also totally fine to start small... my first year (last year) I only earned a few badges and didn't do any commenting or lists or events at libraries and only a few tags, reviews, and ratings. Mostly I just entered things I'd read, plus I did points-o-matic (points-o-matic is really fun, as well as easy, I find! :D ). This year I am WAY more into the Summer Game! It's fun, but like I said before, you might want to start out not doing so much.
I don't actually pay that much attention to the leaderboard. I feel like the main thing about SG is to have fun, and, of course, to earn points, so who cares whether other people are earning more then you. Just do your own thing. But for some people it could make it more fun to be more competitive, so it really is up to you. Just try not to get TOO stressed out about being high on the leaderboard! :D

Submitted by Blackberry Elf… on Sat, 07/13/2013 - 3:23pm

What do the Points-O-Matic points do for you? My sister said they show up on your career points, but I don't see what those do. You can't use them to buy anything, because they don't get added to your regular points, so I don't know what the use is..

Submitted by walbridge602 on Mon, 07/15/2013 - 9:42am

read a lot of books
try points-o-matic
go to the library to collect game codes

Know a lot of books to star,tag,etc
Earn all the badges
Remember to have fun and not be too competitive. After all, it's still a fun summer game for all

Don't spam
Have patience when your comments are loading
Try not to go off topic unless you have permission.

if you can't do that, then don't comment. swallow it and let the other person get the last word, but know that you have not commented off topic and they have.

Submitted by chasehyatt99 on Wed, 07/17/2013 - 2:05pm

The badges are fun to find and you can get some serious points from them. Event codes are worth a ton and it is really fun to attend these events.

Submitted by pk on Wed, 07/17/2013 - 6:38pm

many good tips so far and I'll reiterate:

if you can't figure out a clue, look for a word or phrase that seems out of place or awkward - that may be what you want to put in your search.

Use online search engines as well as searching the catalog. Sometimes you get there faster that way.

As to the badges/quests: make sure you use this as a chance to learn about new materials or cool things you might not have run across before at your library. You learn a lot about using the tools the library has to offer. Great way to get new book ideas, too.

As to the paper game: I'm a paper gamer from way back. Yeah, it's easy to read 10 (or 5) books. But I like to use it as a personal challenge. My rules for me: all of them must be read in summer. None of them can have been read in the last 5 years (or not a book I've read a bazillion times). I'll challenge myself to read stuff I think is "too hard". All non-fiction one year. All classics another year. It's fun to challenge yourself this way!

Submitted by Jan Wolter on Wed, 07/17/2013 - 8:23pm

I notice you can earn badges for tagging, although the badges are invisible and don't appear on the "Badges" page.

The best way I've found to generate good tags fast, is to kind of do it backwards. Instead of picking a book and then thinking up a tag, think up a good tag for a broad but useful category, and then search for things that fit that category in obvious and non-obvious ways. This way you don't have to type the tag each time - instead you just paste it in to each page. This seems like a bit of a cheat, but I suspect that it's actually useful to have the same tags appear across many books.

Tagging can be an easy way to earn points because you can often do a reasonable job of tagging books you haven't read. Doing a decent job of rating or entering reviews requires that you've read the book and remember it. The remembering part is always hard for me. Things fall out of my head as fast as I put them in.

"but you only get 10 points for tagging, and it's a one-time thing for every book..."

Don't underestimate the value of tagging. As far as I can tell, the points and badge bonuses for tagging are the same as the points for rating, so if you can manage to tag 1000 items, that is1000x10 + 100 + 500 + 1000 + 1500 + 2000 = 15,100 points. That's more than you can earn in two weeks of reading/viewing/listening. I managed 1000 ratings. I think 1000 tags will be easier. Of course, it's my first year playing this game - these get harder in successive years. Sort of a beginner's bonus.

@Jan, I think the tagging badges are not fully realized yet and are probably meant to be part of this coming Friday's badge drop. The image links for the ones I have been awarded are broken, and the badges are not yet appearing on the badges page. I am sure this will be ironed out by Friday.

I completely agree with your suggested approach to tagging. Any tags on catalog entries become searchable keywords for subsequent searches, so this can be extremely valuable to other library patrons, especially when tagged intelligently by players/patrons with some expertise on the materials.

Submitted by Lmd3577 on Wed, 07/17/2013 - 10:00pm

The three top tips I could give are

1.) read a lot and record your mins on your game card and then when your finished with your book type in the complete number of pages also because that gives you big points also.

2.) try to complete as many of the e-badges as you can

3.) and lately give as many reviews to the books,music, and videos as you can because that racks up the points also.

Submitted by messa on Thu, 07/18/2013 - 1:13am

When you do the read, watch, and listen, take a minute to rate the item before hitting the I've finished this button. The extra 50 points add up quickly.

Submitted by sophas on Thu, 07/18/2013 - 2:22pm

when you read listen or watch always write your min./pg. and click I finished it (if you did finish it) that way you get your full points

actually, if you just click I finished it, then you would have 100 points. to get the rest you have to look to see how many pages are in the book and enter it. Maybe it would be more helpful if we didn't have to do that?

That's true Bookbird, but it's not always simple for the aadl site code to figure out that that information. There are a fair number of items in the catalog that do not have a page count (e.g., some unpaged graphic novels), or don't have a time length (many CDs). For some picture books or graphic novels, it is possible a reader would spend more time in minutes than there are pages in the book, if the drawings are especially complex or interesting, and so the number of pages would not reflect credit correctly. I don't know for sure that the decision was made to not populate the minutes/pages on purpose, but I could see that being the case.

BTW, for items that do not list length or pages, Amazon and/or Wikipedia can often supply that information if you don't want to count or use a stopwatch. :)

The thing that perplexes me most about the Read/Watch/Listen thing is the list of categories. Both the things that are on it, and the things that aren't. What is a "Pass"? How do you "finish" enjoying an "Art Print" or assign it a number of minutes? If I watch a movie on DVD or Blu-Ray I can get points for it, but what if I go watch the same movie in a theater? What if I go watch a live performance of a play instead of watching a DVD of a live performance of a play? It's all a bit weird, but I suppose there have to be some limits. After all, I don't get points for living a life instead of reading about someone else living a life.

But never mind. If things weren't a little weird, I wouldn't like them half so much.

@Jan, there is a program where you can get free museum or park passes, so that's what the "Pass" is. I agree about 'finishing' being a problematic concept in some instances, including passes and art work, or even reading a web site. I don't check the 'finished' box when I record such things if it seems unnatural.

I wonder about the distinction between 'downloads' and 'streams' and think finishing bonuses for certain materials seem out of proportion.

I happen to listen to podcasts by downloading them to my tablet and playing from there, so I call those Downloads, but I could stream them just as well. OTOH, I will often stream "Music Download" albums from their library catalog pages, so I list those as a Stream not a Download unless I actually played a local copy I have made. A minor pet peeve of mine is you only get 10 points for rating a "Music Download" because it's not something you check out. I absolutely love the "Music Download" service, btw.

If I watch a TV series by streaming, I can get more finishing bonuses than watching on disc because I will probably be counting each episode separately, whereas a DVD or Blue Ray disc will have 2-8+ episodes of a series on it and is not finished until I watch them all. Some of the podcasts I listen to regularly are 3-15 minutes per episode, e.g. Daily: Marketplace Morning Report, Marketplace Tech Report, Michigan Radio's Jack's Take column, Engines of our Ingenuity, etc., and weekly: NPR Sunday Puzzle podcast, and 99% Invisible. Getting 100+ points for finishing each of them seems ludicrous, so I often lump a bunch of them together when I enter points.

Maybe the "Finished" option was intended for mainly books, since it is more ______ to say you finished a book rather than saying you finished an Art Print. Can't think of the word to fill in the blank with.

A Stream would be audio or video media that you consume but do not download, such as YouTube videos, streaming internet radio channels, NetFlix videos that are not on disc, podcasts in some cases. As another example, coursera.com (an online massively-open online course provider) class video content are streams, similar to YouTube.

Submitted by sara on Wed, 07/24/2013 - 8:43am

Just wondering if the library would like to re-use the bags our prizes come in- if we peel off the stickers?

would also be useful if separate orders were put together, then if you had three or four separate orders of small stuff they will be in the same bag and not four large plastic bags.

The plastic bags can be recycled or you all can continue to keep using them until they fall apart and then recycle them. Bookbird: if you're concerned about the orders using separate bags please consider only doing 1 order instead of several small ones.

Submitted by cherylo on Tue, 07/30/2013 - 9:42am

First, notice that there is an advanced search and see how you can use it to limit things. Next, notice that for a given search in the upper right corner there are some links that will narrow the search by age range, type of materials, language, etc. Read the clues carefully for clues to ways you can limit your search and make it more productive. Practice and see if you can get a small pool of items instead of a huge list when searching for materials you know. Try different keywords, and pay attention to words that might be more rare.

If you know how to open a link in a new tab in your browser, that can make things quicker to check. Once I have a search I am pretty happy with and I need to check items for codes, I will leave the search results page as is and open items to check in separate tabs, usually 10 or more at a time. Then I will switch tabs one by one and check each item, closing the tab if it is ruled out because there is no code on the item. Then if the code is not found at first, the search is still there in the original tab and I can check another set of items. And when I do find the code and click on it, I still have the original tab of searching so I can go there to change the search parameters for the next item.

Submitted by Motomori on Thu, 08/01/2013 - 12:27pm

I have one more tip: Google and wikipedia will help you a WHOLE lot while searching for badges, so make sure to have those up and ready to go!!

Good luck and have fun!!!! ;-D

Submitted by bchapman630 on Sun, 08/04/2013 - 4:07pm

Search the catalog using the advanced search
Search Amazon/wikipedia/imdb etc. to narrow it down
DO STREETSCAPES! They're harder, more rewarding and very addictive :)

Yup. I watch Japanese with english subtitles. I started watching in July, and have finished about 150 episodes and the 1st movie
Japanese name is Meitantei Conan, or Great Detective Conan. It was shortaned to Detective Conan on the website where i watched it.

......................no comment...........my friend is like Conan and Shinchi are so cute, cool, and smart....blah, blah, blah....................................

I pay more attention to trying to solve the cases on my own.....
It's kinda hard since I can't actually be there to find evidence.....
I'm not THAT obsessed....
Though I find the ways to murder a person and leave no evidence.....staggering...

Submitted by estermyer on Wed, 08/14/2013 - 2:01pm

i have been doing the summer game for 3 years now this year, and i would say for the new players that if you don't know where to start:\
1. try starting to do badges that look like something you would like/ look fun
2. (to get points), read/watch/listen to something (you can get a lot of points doing that)
3, go to the library to get the building codes etc &
4. if you are old enough volunteer at the library, i have heard that you can get a lot of points doing that

@Bookbird: If I remember right, there was an announcement on the AADL home page about it, or you could just ask at a branch of the library. I would have volunteered, but, sadly, I'm too young. :(

Looking back over the aadl home page, I can't find the announcement anywhere. And yet I'm sure I remember seeing it, reading comments on it... I don't know what happened to it! Maybe it was somewhere else on the website that I saw it? I'm very confused!

Submitted by mwallagm on Tue, 08/20/2013 - 5:47pm

1) BRANCH OUT! - go to library's you don't usually go to! you get more codes and find many cool new things!!!

2) READ! - you gain a lot of information by reading...and a lot of points!

3) HAVE FUN! - it is summer, after all :)

Submitted by beeniepie on Thu, 08/29/2013 - 8:04am

Another tip -- subdivide your checkout history into different public lists. I check out themed books for my preschooler -- going to the dentist, Thanksgiving, first day of preschool -- these are themes other parents would find interesting, plus it's helpful.

Submitted by Makie Kaehr on Wed, 06/17/2015 - 5:58pm

The prizes are awesome! So start collecting points! I like the messenger bags from the game shop. Check out the points-o-matic to get points.

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