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SHOPPERS ARE GO!!!! The 2014 Summer Game Shop is NOW OPEN!

by eli

The SUMMER GAME is the biggest game in town! And now, the 2014 SUMMER GAME SHOP is now open for you to spend your Summer Game Points on great AADL stuff! We've got Binoculars, Markers, Sunglasses, Pint Glasses, Bags, Frisbees, Gardening Pouches, and MUCH MORE! Check out this year's Opening Day Collection and come back every Friday for the rest of the summer for more! Contact us if you have any troubles or questions, Get started if you're not playing already, and have fun exploring your town and your library ALL SUMMER LONG! Have fun and THANKS FOR PLAYING!

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Comments

Submitted by SBNB on Mon, 07/07/2014 - 10:46pm

I've already found some stuff I want! I can't wait to see what else you library-people have up your sleeves!

@jmock
The tumblers are about 6" tall and hold 16oz. They're pretty standard pint / latte size glasses.

Also, order numbers are continuous since the start of the Summer Game Shop in 2011. Yes, there have been over 10,000 orders total since then. It just so happened that the last order from Summer Game 2013 was order #9977. And yes, we've received almost 400 orders since the shop opened about 18 hours ago. However, LOTS of players don't understand shopping carts and have placed multiple orders for single items. Don't do this! It makes the label printer cry. Put everything you want in your cart, and check out when you're done!

-[:eli]

Powell's Bookstore has a feature where if you've placed an order before they've shipped your books, you can combine the orders into one shipment (and reduce shipping costs as well). Could the library do something like this?

Submitted by erin Staff on Wed, 07/16/2014 - 4:19pm

Hi all - just a couple other pieces of information about how prizes are selected and some food for thought. We work hard to pick prizes that will appeal to the full age and interest range of our players - a pretty challenging task. We also consider the shop from year to year and we don't want to repeat too many items and want to constantly keep things fresh and new. We also think in terms of what makes the game "special" and what will appeal to more reluctant library users - since the game is a great way to attract and engage many new users. With that in mind the library already sells tote bags at our check-out desks and has offered a wide variety of bags since the summer game shop started in 2011. We have also made a clear decision to steer away from "traditional" and expected items that a library might give out - we love to engage users in the library in new and surprising ways. As to the desire for shirts/sweaters - this is a very expensive proposition since we have to buy so many shirts in so many different sizes and styles (plus store them) - we will likely do it again sometime, but not this year. Re: the coupons that get offered to the public when they finish the basic game - the variety of coupons we have to offer is entirely dependent on the whim of which business owners say "yes." The " Library Fine Forgiveness" coupon is still the most popular coupon we give out. New things will pop up in the shop later this summer - but not every week. Thanks for playing!

A way for the library to get around ordering multiple sized shirts as prizes would be to give out iron-on transfers as prizes. It would be nice to have a shirt with all the badges you've earned on it.

Maybe a clearer forum for library users' ideas of neat prizes could be established, so that we could say what we'd like, and AADL repesentatives could simply listen and make decisions from there. I thought people were just throwing ideas out. And while I appreciate Erin's having taken the time to share her/the AADL view that tote bags are not an interesting enough prize (I actually was referring to prizes for the paper game for adults, not the online game), sometimes an "unexpected" prize is just not going to be something that is library-like, or something that will appeal to library users, and sometimes library users like expected prizes, or ones that actually relate to the thing (libraries, books, and so forth) that we are enagaing with when we participate in the summer game. It might be nice to know what sorts of prizes people would like -- is the funky prize loving contingent large....or merely vocal? Would it be of interest to the adults who only play the online game to have a tote bag or other AADL merchandise prize? Nonetheless, I certainly have other ideas I had expressed than simply more library tote bags.

I think there is a need in the game for player input in a more organized fashion.

<Strong>But I think the issue that was of significant concern and confusion to several of us, was the disappearance of our previous comments when they did not contain offensive or advertising content.</strong> I was under the impression that the AADL's policy of transparency would not allow our non-offensive comments to be deleted without a trace.

@willow et al - The deleted comments were an accident. Because of the way Drupal (the content management system upon which aadl.org is built) handles comments, when you click "reply" to a comment, it considers the comment you place a reply to the one on which you clicked "reply", even if you are just replying to the thread at large. Unfortunately, Drupal automatically deletes all replies to any comment if that comment is deleted (along with points for that comment). So at some point someone clicked "reply" to a comment that we considered spam. When we deleted the spam comment, all of the replies to it (and the replies to the replies) were also deleted. While moderating comments on the site, Drupal gives us no way to know which comments are "replies" of a comment we are about to delete. We try not to let it happen, but sometimes it does. So this is a limitation at the core of the system in which we are working. We heartily agree that it sucks. Please place your comments again if you ever see that happen.

Rest assured that AADL does not delete comments intentionally unless they are spam, intentionally offensive to other aadl.org users, or a clear attempt to "earn" points by making many comments in a row/comments that in no way contribute to the conversation. We have no desire to edit or censor anything anyone has to say. We're YOUR library!

-andrew

Having a "reply" function that does not contribute anything useful (e.g. arranging comments in order to group conversations) does not seem very useful and perhaps it should be removed?

@willow - Actually, I do find it useful. If I'm answering someone's question, I click on reply, and in doing so, I'm able to see their comment while I answer their question. It makes things a lot easier for me.

Good point about being able to see the original post in replies, SBNB, but I don't like what happened with the deleted comments, and the way that it comes out doesn't make the fact that something is a reply at all obvious, so this feature should be either improved or eliminated. As it stands, it doesn't seem to be as beneficial as it could be.

I finally remembered to pick up my tumblers. Hooray! And Latitude, I agree with you about the shiny cooler thing. It looks very retro in a space age sort of way. I didn't imagine it like this, for some reason.

....heartbroken to report that, within an hour of taking them out of the box at home, one of the tumblers broke, seemingly for no reason, while sitting on the counter. I am deeply saddened that they are so fragile. At this rate, I won't have any left by the time the summer game ends.

Sadly, when looking closely at one of the remaining tumblers, I see that it has a hairline crack in the same curved shape as the one that broke yesterday. I find it troubling that two of my four tumblers have cracked before even being used. I hope others' tumblers aren't breaking when breathed on. Clearly not going for a re-order on these.

One of mine is kind of chipped/cracked near the rim. I noticed it when I took it out of the dishwasher the first time. But I don't know if it was like that when I took it it of the box.

Submitted by Naverick22 on Tue, 07/08/2014 - 10:58am

Eli, I think you either need to have the secret shop running again or make a veteran's shop, because I've got 6 tokens and nothing for them. Even the last secret shop was taken down (even though I did find somethin' else).

Submitted by Bookbird on Tue, 07/08/2014 - 1:21pm

It's open! I was worried that something I want might be sold out before I could get it, but I can now relax and shop at my leisure! The erasers are super cute! Great choices AADL staff! :)

Submitted by Zekicmom on Tue, 07/08/2014 - 1:54pm

My guess is that they all start 10___, which would make your order number 357. My order was also 10000 and something.

My order was 10374, and assuming there was one order per person per family playing the summer game, 3 to a family, then that would make it 374*3= at least 1122 items bought from opening to now. Right?

Submitted by SBNB on Tue, 07/08/2014 - 8:14pm

I'm guessing the color tubes are pretty small, right? They look to be around 6 inches tall and 2 inches across. Is that correct or are they bigger? It would be cool if they were jumbo pencils.

Submitted by eli Staff on Tue, 07/08/2014 - 10:10pm

@latitude not a new kit, but the badgey bag kit is likely to return. Stay tuned.

@willow That would be great! But our cart system doesn't offer that feature. Because we don't really have direct shipping costs, it just means a bit more work for the fulfillment team when players place multiple orders.

@SBNB No, these are pretty small. More like .75" wide by 4" tall. The pencils are golf pencil-sized. The pencil sharpener is a standard size if that helps!

Submitted by LuckyDuck on Wed, 07/09/2014 - 6:11pm

Is there going to be new items each week or is it a once in a while release?

I am curious what the process is for choosing items for the shop. I assume availability, cost and the ability to put the logo on things are all factored in. Any thoughts on some book related prizes? Bookends, bookmarks and little clip on reading lights all come to mind.
But again, thank you AADL staff and the Friends of the Library for the game as well as the swag.

I think Zekicmom has a great point -- additionally,I think some more low "priced" items like pencils, pens, erasers, rulers, plastic cups, stickers, placemats even, would be nice especially for kids, and some small bags (could be used as pencil bags or inside a purse) would be handy instead of only big tote bag sized things. Or maybe a library themed blanket to curl up under once summer is over?

Another idea for shop items would be A2 City related:
Free entrance to Ellsworth drop-off/compost station
Discount coupons for canoe rentals, pools, etc,
Coupon for Friends bookstore
Coupon for PTO Thrift store

Thanks for the shop item ideas, all! We work with several vendors on this stuff and your input helps us decide what to get each year. However, @sara, please know that AADL is not a part of the city government. We can ask the city about things like this, but there's really nothing in it for them. As for the friends, that's something we can talk about with them!

Submitted by adrianaponce on Mon, 07/14/2014 - 9:18pm

I hope the Summer Game Shop eventually includes some shirts or sweaters with the AADL logo :)

Submitted by Obi Ilozor on Mon, 07/14/2014 - 10:00pm

The summary above clearly states to 'come back every Friday for the rest of the summer for more!' but it's Monday, and I'm wondering why the summer game shop still isn't updated. I've been waiting for a whole weekend to see what new stuff there is! The glass tumblers are pretty cool; love the box. I like the new shop too, but I wish they kept some, a lot actually, of the old items. This shop is pretty small, and for me, when a shop is small, the stuff in it should be really high demand, high quality, and to die for. The shop's new inventory isn't really that; the old shop was bigger and had better stuff but some of the stuff in the new shop is cool.

Submitted by beeniepie on Wed, 07/16/2014 - 2:17am

Maybe I've been working on badges for too long, but I thought I had posted something about putting the summer prizes in a display case. And willow thought it was a good idea. Maybe I dreamed it all. My comments seemed to have vanished. Weird. Maybe this is a sign that I should stop working on my pokemon badge and go to sleep.

Beeniepie -- the same thing happened to me. I wanted to edit my post, and it told me I didn't "have permission" to do so; I fiddled around and when I tried to find my comment again, I couldn't. (I also checked at https://www.aadl.org/tracker , under My recent posts, to be sure.) I also do not see the 50 points for my comment in my game scorecard. I think our comments have totally disappeared. I too find that puzzling at best, and earth-shattering at worst -- the AADL Summer Game running 1984-style deletion?! Say it ain't so!

I had responded to your idea by saying if they couldn't put in a physical display, how about photos of them on the tv screens, and that I would prefer more library-related prizes for adults (Ypsilanti gives adults a tote bag) instead of a coupon to a local business. I have not found the coupons highly interesting, whereas I do find the online game lots of fun.

Okay, that's weird. My comment is gone too (I had agreed with beeniepie and willow, saying it was a good idea.) And now - where is it? I don't know. AADL? What happned?!

Submitted by beeniepie on Thu, 07/17/2014 - 3:46pm

@andrewjmac

Thank you for explaining what happened to our comments. I wonder if we could get the Drupal limitation to automatically delete all of the horrible reviews that seem to explode during the Summer Game. ;-)

As for my comment that was deleted, it was in response to the feedback concerning the surprise of the size/look of some of the summer game items. Would you consider putting up a display case of some of the prizes so that players can see them in person? It might even be extra incentive for players to visit the various branches if you scatter the items on display. I think @willow mentioned hiding game codes in the display.

I too was surprised by the size of the colored pencils, but my 3.5 year old and his friends love them. I love that AADL tries so hard to find different prizes that will please the various types of players. Thank you!

Submitted by sara on Thu, 07/17/2014 - 7:15pm

Since clicking "reply" to a comment does not create a visual thread for the users, just use the "new comment" button every time you post a comment, and your comments should not be deleted. (I had wondered why there were reply buttons when our replies did not seem to link to the posts to which we were replying.)

On comments, I thought that clicking reply just posted your comment at the end and it was only on some earlier posts that the comments were "shelved" under the comment that people clicked reply to. Would be nice if the new comments were posted at the top instead of the bottom. I really enjoy reading the conversations/suggestions and it would be more convenient for the' reply to the post in general' if you could read all the comments and at the end there was the reply to the post 'reply' button. Just saying, since getting to the top is pretty fast but we usually click the nearest reply button for help with badges posts anyways (or at least I do).

Submitted by camelsamba on Fri, 07/18/2014 - 9:33pm

Question for anyone who has seen/held the tumblers: the description says they are sturdy. Are they the same heft as the tumblers that Grizzly Peak gives you when you eat there on your birthday? (perhaps this is their standard water and/or beer glass)

Submitted by Bookbird on Sat, 07/19/2014 - 12:29pm

@Latitude
Thanks for the review! I take it that you were very impressed by the shininess and redness of the cooler?

Submitted by beeniepie on Sat, 07/19/2014 - 9:46pm

@SBNB

If you got the tumblers, those are in a box that's separate from the white plastic bag, and I had to ask for the librarian to check in the back for my tumblers. Good luck!

@beeniepie - The tumblers and some sharpies were all I got. The rest of the stuff should have been in the bag with the sharpies, but it wasn't there or even listed on the label. I sent an email through the "contact us" link, but I haven't gotten a reply yet. Probably because it's Sunday?

Submitted by beeniepie on Tue, 07/22/2014 - 10:01am

@willow and @Zekicmom

That's unfortunate about your set of tumblers. I haven't had any problems with the two sets I received. Hopefully the problem is isolated to a certain batch number. If you save one of the cracked tumblers and turn it into AADL, they might be able to send it back to the company.

@aadl staffers, any chance on contacting the company you sourced the tumblers about the defect?

I already threw the broken one away but still have the one with the hairline crack in the same spot. I'll hold on to it for another few days but unless someone at AADL expresses a particular interest in examining it or having it, I will plan on throwing it away too.

Submitted by Beth Manuel Staff on Tue, 07/22/2014 - 4:11pm

We LOVE our tumblers! I ordered two sets in case any break, or may give some to friends just for fun. We've had all sorts of beverages in our tumblers and each one tastes better than the last! The tumblers look especially rad with red drinks; amazing with amber drinks, great with golden drinks,and magnificent with milk!

Submitted by SBNB on Tue, 07/22/2014 - 10:19pm

Dear Library People,

I still haven't heard back about my missing items. Any tips for solving this issue (preferably before the items I ordered are sold out)?

Thanks.

Submitted by Fevvers - STAR473 on Fri, 08/29/2014 - 12:20am

@ Latitude - Thanks for the review and update. I was wondering if I really need another water bottle...and now I think I do. Might have to wait for next year now, though. I did love the look of the turquoise one.

Submitted by Kadydja13 on Tue, 08/05/2014 - 3:22pm

When this came out i was happy

Though i have to admit, last years shop was a little better

I got: AADL glass tumblers, the color pencils, erasers, and other things

I miss last years earbuds though
But i still loved this shop!!!

Shop closes on August 31st.
Yep, same here!
Chocolate is next!
they're pretty tall, like normal tall cups i guess.
Cracks on you're tumblers? UH oh:( were u able to get another one?

Submitted by asopijw65 on Sat, 08/16/2014 - 1:01am

I got a pretty big haul today that included the glass tumblers and the beanies. I really like the beanies and the tumblers are great quality!

Submitted by makharris on Wed, 08/27/2014 - 11:03am

Personally, I thought that this year's Summer Game Shop wasn't that amazing. I mean, to me, the only cool stuff was the sloucher cap, the binoculars, Puppypants, the space cooler, and the glass tumblers. Last year they had these ear buds and other COOL stuff.

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