[RFC] Lawbot HQ restock barrels: the new "one-Fog rule"?

[QED1224]

I'm in the midst of a mini Toontown (Rewritten) comeback, mainly focusing on advancing my Lawbot HQ suit (my toon's name is Qed The Third, if you'd like to run some offices). Admittedly, it has been a long time since I've thought about the details of completing offices—I originally maxed it back in 2006 (I was too young to really remember any of this, though) and haven't been back to the facility in a serious capacity since.

That said, I've noticed (over the course of a few dozen D offices) that it's widely accepted to "come back to" restock barrels instead of using them immediately. Here's an explanation of the logic behind the decision:

The logic behind coming back for restock barrels before the next floor is to use the gags you have so that you gain more from the barrel. For example, say you have 2 fogs and there’s a barrel before the next battle. You pass the barrel and continue to the battle, use 1 fog, and then come back to the barrel before boarding the elevator. This gives you an additional 2 fogs (3 total) instead of an additional 1 fog had you grabbed the barrel before. This can come handy if sound misses or you just want to sound through more battles. Hope that explains it. -- GraciouslyJane; Reddit.

(Note: While I probably could have summarized the logic in a similar fashion myself, I believe that seeking out the opinions of others on matters that you disagree with is almost always a beneficial exercise—especially when you're trying to formulate an argument.)

The above explanation, in my estimation, is both thorough and valid: by waiting to use restock barrels, you guarantee yourself n <= max more gags where n is the number of battles completed prior to restocking.

Gag conservation and the makings of an inefficient strategy

The problem, in my opinion, isn't how the strategy works; it's the reasoning for why you'd actually want to do it:

This can come handy if sound misses or you just want to sound through more battles.

That's all well and good, but what if I simply want to finish the office in the most efficient manner possible? Ultimately, there are a lot of possible goals someone could have for a given office, but I think finishing quickly is the only one that can be reasonably assumed for everyone.

So, given the assumption that we're trying to finish the office as fast as possible, this "bbl" strategy starts to look a lot like one of the most infamous strategies in TT's history: The Bullion Mint's "one-Fog rule" (FWIW, I was one of the first people to publicly question that strategy way back in 2012).

Before we examine the similarities between "bbl" and the "one-Fog rule," though, let's review the basic tenets of efficient gag strategies:

1. Efficient gag strategies minimize the chance of taking damage, thereby minimizing the need to use Toon-up and/or endure cog-attack animations.
2. Efficient gag strategies discourage the use of all SOS cards (their animations are too long).
3. Efficient gag strategies emphasize the importance of achieving forward progress (e.g., defeating cogs or moving through rooms) in the fastest manner currently available without regard to future circumstances.

In summary, don't waste time by trying to save it.

A comparison of strategies

Now, let's review why the Bullion Mint's once-popular "one-Fog rule" is no longer looked upon favorably:

Cons:

1. It actively increases the chance of taking damage (a violation of tenet 1). More specifically, potential damage == bad and long animations == bad.
2. It emphasizes conserving a certain gag track (Sound) over defeating cogs quickly (a violation of tenet 3).

(Supposed) Pros:

1. The ability to use Sound in more battles.

Conclusion: inefficient strategy.

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Similarly, here's an analysis of the "bbl" restock barrel strategy:

Cons:

1. It actively increases the chance of taking damage by necessitating the running of obstacles 3 times (which is time-consuming in and of itself): through the room, back to the barrels, and back out (a violation of tenet 1). More specifically, potential damage == bad and running 3x distance == bad.
2. It emphasizes conserving a certain gag track (whatever the barrel is) over progressing through rooms quickly (a violation of tenet 3).

(Supposed) Pros:

1. The ability to use <insert gag track> in more battles.

Conclusion: inefficient strategy.

QED. Let's go home.

Not quite yet: An experimental analysis

The above argument is rather theoretical and fails to provide actual empirical evidence—so I'm sure some people will remain unconvinced (which, to be clear, isn't unreasonable).

WIP: to be continued.

[whatsupdoc1]

Agreed, and hopefully my following comments are welcome here.

In my recent experience at LBHQ, there have been a few times where people really test the limits of this so-called efficiency. A D office floor with a fog restock at the very beginning, in the room with 4 stompers and the barrel in the middle, lights all around. Following that room was puzzles, another obstacle room, the diamond battle room, then the end battle/elevator. The group insisted we do both battles, then go back for the barrel. The running itself took a good few minutes, in which we could have done the entire next floor. 3 minute floors are possible.

From my experience, if it takes the group 15 seconds to decide which gag they're using, sound is no more efficient than anything else. Any given set of cogs in an office will take one round to destroy with sound, 2 rounds without. It makes more sense to communicate strategy and gag choices prior to entering battle, to avoid time sitting with the clock running down attempting to communicate through telepathy. The more-well-known-as-of-now attack the cog in front of you strategy makes this better, but once people start running out of gags that can kill a lv 11, things fall apart.

Back in the day (2015 or so) a group of friends and I were able to get a D office done in under 20 minutes, even going back for 2 barrels and making a few strategic mistakes. All about communication.

Obviously very little of this is possible with a group of randoms from ToonHQ, but most people don't want to max law twice, so all of my friends are on to other things.

I'd be curious to see what time difference it actually makes - a group of randoms going back for barrels vs. a well-thought-out time-focused group. If you're interested, I'm still working in LBHQ.