Board Thread:Wiki Running/@comment-3225604-20150222122308

So this is going to be put up for you to vote whether it is going to be implemented or not. Remember: This proposal is very critical to the wiki's future, and should be taken seriously.

Basically, the main purpose of setting up "extremely hard" difficulty is to reduce the number of insanely hard levels we have at present and redefine the difficulty. The present situation is that we now have 40 levels under the difficulty "insanely hard". Some of them are on the margin of downgrading, which occupies approximately 3% of all levels in Candy Crush Saga. In my opinion, I think this figure is a bit overwhelming, as I think 1-2% is the most I can accept. I will list levels which will qualify the difficulty below, and should be able to lower the percentage to about 1%.

So back to the newly proposed difficulty: Extremely hard is a semi-automated difficulty. Therefore, it can be voted, but it can be achieved through several circumstances. You cannot vote a downgrade to extremely hard from insanely hard, but only very hard from insanely hard. You can vote an upgrade though, but also you can vote for an upgrade to insanely hard from very hard. The difficulty will not be available to be voted in polls. If the level fulfills one of the circumstances, but not all, the level will be upgraded from very hard to extremely hard or downgraded from insanely hard to extremely hard:


 * 1) The level must achieve 70% of votes of insanely hard in the poll (at least 20/30 votes) of that level.
 * 2) The level must be one of the existing candidates in the Hardest Levels in Reality/Dreamworld poll, or a to-be candidate in the Hardest Levels in Reality/Dreamworld poll. (If the level is going to be eliminated, then the level can be insanely hard, extremely hard or very hard.) If the level only fulfills this requirement, the level will not be upgraded instantly from very hard, but will be downgraded instantly from insanely had.
 * 3) The level must achieve at least 60% of votes of insanely hard in the comments.

If the level meets one of the requirements and continues to meet one of the requirements for 3 days, an automatic upgrade will result. On the contrary, if the level does not meet all of the requirements and continues not to meet all of the requirements for 3 days, an automatic downgrade will result.

I think most of you will have some comments on this plan, but I'm going to list all the possible advantages it will bring and rebut some of your concerns.

Advantages

 * Implementation of extremely hard difficulty will largely decrease the number of insanely hard levels, redefining the definition of insanely hard, which is almost impossible to pass the level, and massive amount of luck and skill is requisite to pass the level. Insanely hard levels, although, not to be limited, the number should not be too much, or the significance of "insanely hard" levels will be meaningless.
 * Implementation of extremely hard difficulty will also prevent an abuse of the very hard difficulty and narrow the gap between levels of the same difficulty. The very hard difficulty may become a scope of different layers of difficulty since some insanely hard levels may be downgraded to very hard. However, some very hard levels are claimed not to be as difficult as the newly downgraded difficulty. Compare level 92 and level 566 - there is a gap in difficulty. The newly set difficulty may be able to minimize the gap between levels in the same difficulty. If the comments show 60% of insanely hard votes, or a poll showing the result, level 566 will be upgraded to extremely hard.
 * Implementation of extremely hard difficulty will stabilize the insanely hard difficulty. Nowadays, insanely hard difficulty is sometimes in force for some days. For level 549, it was once only graded as insanely hard within a week or two. Extremely hard difficulty will prevent levels from changing difficulty often from time to time. In this way, players will know how an insanely hard level is.
 * Implementation of extremely hard difficulty will redefine the insanely hard difficulty by public. Since the newly proposed rule will give more restrictions for a level to be insanely hard, the number of insanely hard levels will decrease, showing what a true insanely hard level is. The redefinition will help players know which levels are almost impossible to pass. Insanely hard difficulty will also become semi-automated, or even quasi-automatic.

Disadvantages

 * Implementation of extremely hard difficulty will be time-consuming. However, in long run it is not so time-consuming. A lot of functions will need to be added in different systems, but that isn't really time-consuming since the syntax is not so complicated. It may take some time to add in syntax for different templates to "know" that the difficulty "exists". In long run, time is saved for not always discussing about downgrading to very hard and upgrading to insanely hard, since a "between" is added.
 * People don't want a new difficulty. However, if nothing is to be done, the number of insanely hard levels will still be on a rise, and the stability of a level to maintain the difficulty will be a doubt. Ongoing arguments may happen. The insanely hard difficulty will also be perceived as very very hard, but not almost impossible. There is a necessity to add this difficulty, and it will definitely take time for people to adapt to a new difficulty.
 * The difficulty is complicated. However, it also considers other people's opinions. Since it is in between the two difficulties, it contains some elements of both sides, which may fulfill the people who have different opinions on the difficulty of the level. Moreover, this difficulty will add in objectivity of grading the difficulty, since we are not based on which side we are taking. Although it will take more time to look at the circumstances mentioned above whether it fulfills or not, it will help grade the difficulty at the most objective we can.

Levels which can still maintain to be insanely hard:
 * 1) Level 210 (Facebook) (Poll required)
 * 2) Level 347
 * 3) Level 437
 * 4) Level 445
 * 5) Level 461
 * 6) Level 716 (Poll required)
 * 7) Level 734 (Nobody's voting)
 * 8) Level 751 (Poll required)
 * 9) Level 755 (Poll required)
 * 10) Level 762 (Nobody's voting)
 * 11) Level 237/Dreamworld
 * 12) Level 272/Dreamworld
 * 13) Level 289/Dreamworld (Poll required)
 * 14) Level 341/Dreamworld (Not enough votes)
 * 15) Level 384/Dreamworld (Not enough votes)
 * 16) Level 385/Dreamworld (Not enough votes)
 * 17) Level 425/Dreamworld
 * 18) Level 430/Dreamworld (Poll required)
 * 19) Level 434/Dreamworld (Poll required)

The list can still be going since some levels do not enter the hardest level in Reality/Dreamworld poll which can be achieved easily.

Please state your stance and explain why. I will try to answer your standpoints if I can, and I may make amendments. 