It’s still very much a work in progress, but I have just created @DailyGameBot@lemmy.zip with the intent to automatically post the daily game posts, rather than people need to do it themselves.
For now it’s just Connections as I’m still working out the kinks (it didn’t succeed in getting it up the first time today…I had to stop and re-run it to get it to work). But I would like to expand it to some more games later: post suggestions in the comments.
Lemmy has a setting to hide all content created by bots. If you wish to join in the Connections (and possible other future daily games), please make sure you have “Show Bot Accounts” selected.
I don’t know how I feel about the bot posting all of the games. In my opinion the mix of travle bot and real people posting games is healthy.
Communities like !wordle@lemmy.world feel very different than this one, because all posts are automated. It’s the same exact format every day.
I like that we have different people and the occasional bot posting games. Every person has a different style of posting. Some post direct links, some post pictures, some post just their result with no link. And that feels like I’m interacting and playing games with humans.
I made this because, frankly, it’s a lot of work every day for me to post Connections. It’s enough work that even though I would like to do more—like Conlextions and Categories, for example—I don’t.
I also don’t play a lot of the games that I would be more interested in that people sometimes post here, because usually by the time they post it, it’s the next day. And then I’ve got nobody to share my posts with…unless they happen to post it again when it’s the next day their time (which all too often they don’t) and I see it and have my results recorded somewhere. I’ve had that happen to me with Strands and Tightrope, and even Categories a few times.
At the moment I usually post between 2–4 pm my time, because that’s early enough that those of us in the far east can still do the game and post it in the afternoon peak hours, while being late enough to not throw off Americans too much, because it’s only a few hours from midnight. Incidentally, the screenshots I do are also to help with that time zone issue. It means if you come across a post too early or too late for you, there’s still at least some connection to it, and it makes it so that the link isn’t completely useless (because it just takes you to today’s).
Leaving it to different people posting in their unique ways is nice in theory, but I’ve personally felt cut out by it quite a few times because of the time zone issue.
You got a point. I’m not saying don’t do it. Just raising my concerns. Thanks for your perspective. I think a well adjusted mix of people- and bot-posts could work. Let’s give it a try.
And thank you for your engagement for this community!
Oh yeah I definitely don’t intend to take over everything. Just things that I get specifically asked to do, as well as hopefully a few new things that weren’t getting posted anyway.