Jonathan Carroll's dashboard

A comment on the problem "Very VERY questionable check-ins" in Gowalla:

Oh, we are paying attention. And responding. – Jonathan Carroll, on March 09, 2010 17:46

Jonathan Carroll replied on March 04, 2010 21:34 to the problem "Empty Pack: 20+ Check-ins, 13 days, ZERO bonus items." in Gowalla:

Just wanted to mention to/inquire of everyone still having item issues: you *can't* receive a bonus item if you have 10 items in your pack - it's full at that point. Several folks have mentioned that they didn't have anything in their packs, so I don't mean you all! =^) Anybody else, though, if you feel like it's been awhile, double-check that you have pack space for bonus items to drop into. That might sound overly elementary, but we actually fail to do that ourselves even here at Gowalla HQ. Just wanted to mention it.

We are definitely listening, and we truly appreciate each one's input!

Jonathan Carroll replied on March 02, 2010 22:15 to the question "How do I get more items?" in Gowalla:

One more thought: be sure you have pack space! If you have 10 items in your pack, you can't receive bonus items. You can either found a spot by dropping one at a location *without swapping* or you can vault an item you like.

A comment on the question "How do I get more items?" in Gowalla:

You can find bonus items when you check in a spots (new or previously visited). The odds vary, and obviously a number of folks here have had several check-ins with no items *found* but it's still the best (only?) way to get more items: keep checking-in. – Jonathan Carroll, on March 02, 2010 22:14

A comment on the question "How do I get more items?" in Gowalla:

Not at all: We are re-shuffling items for future value adds, not because we thought there were too many of a particular item. That is definitely a concern we hear from people across the world, that they see too many of fill-in-the-blank in their community. Hopefully less of that happening will be an incidental benefit of some of the enhancements we're making with items, but it's definitely not the motivation or the 'why'. Gowalla is for discovering places and things, and for sharing with friends, and we want the items to complement and further enhance that purpose. There will definitely be more news in the coming weeks as it relates to items.

Thanks for rocking Gowalla. – Jonathan Carroll, on March 02, 2010 22:04

A comment on the problem "Empty Pack: 20+ Check-ins, 13 days, ZERO bonus items." in Gowalla:

Aaron: That's definitely a variety of categories! But yeah, I'm not placing any blame on 'bad luck' at all, that was just a suggestion to mix things up. If you go to 10 places (or even 20, I suppose) and don't get an item, at this point that is no longer an indication that items are borked. We are working to add more value to items, and in the process are definitely changing random item drops. Collecting items is a great part of Gowalla, and we hope to make it even better in the coming days and weeks. We'd rather have real value in those items than spots teeming with unwanted bowls of noodles and espressos. You'll be hearing more about this in the near future. – Jonathan Carroll, on March 02, 2010 21:38

A comment on the problem "Empty Pack: 20+ Check-ins, 13 days, ZERO bonus items." in Gowalla:

Actually, Austin is no more heavily weighted than any other locale. In fact, it does *not* have as many items as some other cities do. But definitely, use Gowalla in a way that fits for you! Items are a fun aspect of the game, and we are tweaking them so that their value will be much more apparent. – Jonathan Carroll, on March 02, 2010 21:02

Jonathan Carroll set one of Jonathan Carroll's replies as an official response to "Empty Pack: 20+ Check-ins, 13 days, ZERO bonus items." in Gowalla

Jonathan Carroll replied on March 01, 2010 18:26 to the problem "Empty Pack: 20+ Check-ins, 13 days, ZERO bonus items." in Gowalla:

Good news: This is actually *not* a problem! =^)

Explanation: we are always tweaking Gowalla and working on new ways to better enhance the experience, both for people who have been using Gowalla a while as well as those people just joining the party. We recently tweaked some items, and are still in the process of doing so. An immediate and noticeable result is that items are not firing as frequently as they have previously. 1:20 is a bit high, but I'm betting that's just an unlucky draw. Items are firing correctly (at appropriate levels, post-tweaking) for all versions of the app. One immediate benefit to all of us is that this will substantially help with the the issue of too many [ITEM YOU SEE TOO MANY OF IN YOUR AREA] items clogging up the pipes and foundry slots.

One tip, if you find yourself checking in at spots repeatedly without receiving a bonus item: Make sure you are checking in at a variety of categories. This should help your odds of receiving a bonus item.

We really want items to become an integral part of Gowalla, and we're constantly working to make this feature better. Thanks for hanging with us while we do!

Jonathan Carroll set one of Jonathan Carroll's replies as an official response to "How can I cancel my account? Why can't this be done on the site??" in Gowalla

Jonathan Carroll replied on February 22, 2010 17:17 to the question "How can I cancel my account? Why can't this be done on the site??" in Gowalla:

This account has been removed now. Sorry for the delay!

Jonathan Carroll set one of Jonathan Carroll's replies as an official response to "Incase Pin of Glory?" in Gowalla

Jonathan Carroll replied on February 20, 2010 18:18 to the question "Incase Pin of Glory?" in Gowalla:

You need to vault the Incase items first. Looks like they're still in your Pack. Vault those bad boys and you should see that sweet Incase trophy pretty fast.

A comment on the question "Elite street team selection" in Gowalla:

DOH! (slaps forehead, clicks STE button *for real this time*) – Jonathan Carroll, on February 17, 2010 20:39

A comment on the question "Elite street team selection" in Gowalla:

Ask again, plz? =^) live {a t] gowalla dot com – Jonathan Carroll, on February 17, 2010 20:38

Jonathan Carroll set one of Jonathan Carroll's replies as an official response to "Elite street team selection" in Gowalla

Jonathan Carroll replied to "Elite street team selection", but it was removed. see the change log

Jonathan Carroll replied on February 17, 2010 18:09 to the problem "cant find my added friends" in Gowalla:

Is it possible they haven't accepted your friend requests yet?

Jonathan Carroll set one of Jonathan Carroll's replies as an official response to "FOWA + Gowalla" in Gowalla

Jonathan Carroll replied on February 16, 2010 22:52 to the idea "FOWA + Gowalla" in Gowalla:

Because BB and Brasher are so freaking awesome: http://gowal.la/s/3VeJ