Nope, you're not the only one Claire, but I've sent an email to David, and I'll let you know how I get on.

Hi TBC

I lost on the golf course.

I'm not sure how you could have lost your balloon? Probably best to just get a new one - it doesn't cost anything.

Once you login - your balloon colour & name appears on the top right of the home page (balloonrace.com/balloons).

Click on that - and there's your balloon page. To be honest - the balloon page is too similar to the home page, it would probably be better if it looked like a race label......

Anyway.... once you're on your balloon page you can play a game or request a link boost from a friend. When you've got some boost you can click 'see your balloon now' - you'll be zapped to a webpage with your balloon on it - use the arrows to move forward.

It is a bit confusing though - I need to make it simpler - HELP.....

Hi Claire

It is a bit like a test isn't it?

The trouble is - I've been so deeply involved in building it that I've lost the plot as what is simple and what's not....

That's why I need your help to explain where you were at - when you thought - this is rubbish and I can't be bothered, I'd rather hang a balloon bomb than play this stupid game....

Once you've logged into your balloon page - hit 'see your balloon now' and you'll be zapped to a website (you might suddenly get excited) - you can only move your balloon forward with the arrows once you've got some boost.

1 Website travelled = 1km

Hope that helps??????

Well I've got my balloon created but that's it! Beyond that, I can't fathom what you are meant to do. I tried following the tips just given to Claire below but can't work out how to get my balloon to 'visit' the websites.

Help please!

OK

Lets take this step by step (before I shoot myself).

You've already been to balloonrace.com/balloons - and hit 'get a balloon' - thought of a great name for your balloon and added a password.

Now.... when you return to the above page there's a red box in the top right - you enter your balloon name and password and hey presto you'll be on your balloon page.

In the middle, at the top, under the countdown timer - is a button (actually it doesn't look much like a button) saying 'see your balloon now!' - click on that and you'll be zapped across the internet.

Then spend 15 hours emailing your mates and the conwin is as good as yours.....

Let me know how you get on - time to open a bottle of wine.

Cheers Dave

One more thing....

There are currently 68 balloons in the race for a Conwin - only 24 of them have moved.

That's 2/3's of the players who have not got further than 'getting a balloon'.

So, "it's not you, it's me", I need to make it more simple.

Thanks David

I was beginning to get offended!!!

Hi all,

The problem I have with this balloonrace is that when I joined, a few days before the race started there were players who were way ahead, looked like it must have been at least several days of playing the 'games'. When the game actually started some players jumped ahead by a LOT of distance, obviously had a huge number of people who boosted them, after that it didn't seem worth the hassle to continue, I'm not going to bother everyone on my contact list to give me a boost.

The other thing that wasn't explained was whether the people that the boost me emails were sent to were going to be added to a database for future marketing or spam reasons, not saying they would but it is a concern.

Anyway good luck everyone.

Jim

Hey Jim

I can see where you're coming from.

I originally set up the race using a useless mail shot (not many balloons were in the race) and the finish date was 7th Feb. The leading balloons wanted to give the TBC members a chance to have a play - suggested I add another week to the race, and then sent the link to the forum - which doubled the interest in the race.

At the end of the day I'm giving away a duel split to attract some interest and find out where the race falls over.

Cheers

Dave

I must admit I am close to giving up too since there is such a huge gap between where I am at No9 and those that have been playing longer.

There are also a couple of other things that you may want to know. The first is that on my pc it runs really slowly - my balloon takes between 30-60 seconds to cross the page and that is not including the time it takes to load it all up each km. I know my internet is not the fastest in the world but I honestly think a child would lose interest pretty quickly if their balloon moved this slowly.

Another thing is that my position at the bottom of the screen is always 1 behind where the leader board puts me! Actually so does the bit above the leader board.

The only other thing I felt was a little mean is that it takes 30% of our boost to get from one side of the screen to the next yet when you have 30% boost left to start a page with you cannot get that last 1km in as you get stuck on the same page. Is there anyway the game can be tweaked so that if you actually control your balloon and avoid others you use slightly less boost to get across the page. It would certainly make the game a little more interesting and when I use the up and down arrows and avoid other balloons it does not seem to make any difference.

Obviously just my own observations and feel free to ignore them if they are only happening to me