STAR-013 Stars Reference 3 min read

How the Current Orbit Works

A 14-day cycle counting only the Stars you give during it. Everyone's orbit runs on the same clock, and it lives on your Galaxy's right rail.

The Current Orbit is Buddzy's fortnightly cycle. It counts only the Stars you have given during the orbit that is running right now — everything before it is set aside.

You may still hear friends call it the Championship — same thing.

The basics

  • 14 days, then it resets
  • Counts Stars you give, not Stars you receive
  • Everyone starts each orbit from zero
  • Orbits are synchronised across all of Buddzy — you and your friends are always in the same one

That last point matters. There is no personal start date and no orbit that begins when you joined. Everyone's cycle turns over at the same moment, so when yours ends, your whole circle's ends too.

Where to find it

On your Galaxy, the right-hand rail carries a Current Orbit control. Tap it and a sheet opens with your standings as a top-three podium.

A few things live in that sheet:

  • The podium — your three most-starred friends this orbit, with an animated crown on first place
  • A champion chip at the top showing who took the Last Orbit
  • A one-line explainer of what an orbit actually is, for when you forget

It follows whoever's galaxy you're in

Open the Current Orbit control on a friend's galaxy and you see their standings, not yours. If you happen to top their podium, it tells you so — "You're their #1 this Orbit".

That little reveal is one of the nicer moments in Buddzy, and you only get it by visiting.

The ENDED pill

When an orbit has just finished, a tappable ENDED pill appears next to the Current Orbit control.

Tap it and you get the closing sequence: an animated podium celebrating the finished orbit, and then the star decay — the removed Stars floating up over the planets of the friends whose bonds decayed.

It is worth tapping rather than dismissing. It is the only time you actually see the decay happen instead of just noticing smaller numbers later.

What happens when an orbit ends

  1. Your top-ranked friend is notified that they were your number one
  2. 10% decay hits all-time totals, on friendships already above 10 Stars
  3. Orbit counts reset to zero
  4. The finished totals are kept as Last Orbit

See When an Orbit Ends for the full sequence.

What it's actually for

It is a fortnightly reason to be generous again. An all-time total rewards years of history; the orbit rewards the last two weeks, which means someone who has just joined your circle can top your podium as easily as someone who has been there forever.

Strategy, such as it is

Spread your Stars. The podium is per-friend, so ten Stars to one person makes one podium spot and ten Stars across ten people gives ten friends a reason to notice you.

And if you want to be someone's number one this orbit, the honest answer is: give them Stars. There is no cleverer route.

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