diff --git a/basescript/basescript.py b/basescript/basescript.py
index 3ad8a2b..4fc090b 100644
--- a/basescript/basescript.py
+++ b/basescript/basescript.py
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@ def __init__(self, args=None):
 
         self.subcommands = self.parser.add_subparsers(title='commands')
         self.subcommands.dest = 'commands'
+        self.subcommands.required = True
         self.define_subcommands(self.subcommands)
         self.subcommand_run = self.subcommands.add_parser('run')
         self.subcommand_run.set_defaults(func=self.run)
@@ -37,10 +38,13 @@ def __init__(self, args=None):
             if self.args.metric_grouping_interval is None:
                 self.args.metric_grouping_interval = 0
 
-        else:
+        if not self.args.log_level:
             self.args.log_level = 'info'
             self.args.metric_grouping_interval = self.METRIC_GROUPING_INTERVAL
 
+        if self.args.metric_grouping_interval is None:
+            self.args.metric_grouping_interval = self.METRIC_GROUPING_INTERVAL
+
         self.log = init_logger(
             fmt=self.args.log_format,
             quiet=self.args.quiet,
diff --git a/basescript/log.py b/basescript/log.py
index ecc203b..0b3a806 100644
--- a/basescript/log.py
+++ b/basescript/log.py
@@ -16,7 +16,6 @@
 _GLOBAL_LOG_CONFIGURED = False
 
 HOSTNAME = socket.gethostname()
-METRIC_GROUPING_INTERVAL = 1 # one second
 METRICS_STATE = {}
 METRICS_STATE_LOCK = Lock()
 
@@ -242,11 +241,9 @@ def define_log_renderer(fmt, fpath, quiet):
     # it must accept a logger, method_name and event_dict (just like processors)
     # but must return the rendered string, not a dictionary.
     # TODO tty logic
-    if fmt == "json":
-        return structlog.processors.JSONRenderer()
 
-    if fmt == "pretty":
-        return structlog.dev.ConsoleRenderer()
+    if fmt:
+        return structlog.processors.JSONRenderer()
 
     if fpath is not None:
         return structlog.processors.JSONRenderer()
@@ -326,9 +323,10 @@ def metrics_grouping_processor(logger_class, log_method, event):
         for fk, fv in fields:
             favg = sfields.get(fk, 0.0)
             favg = (favg * num + fv) / (num + 1) #moving average
-            state['num'] += 1
             sfields[fk] = favg
 
+        state['num'] += 1
+
         METRICS_STATE[key] = state
     finally:
         METRICS_STATE_LOCK.release()
@@ -439,7 +437,7 @@ def init_logger(
     fpath=None,
     pre_hooks=None,
     post_hooks=None,
-    metric_grouping_interval=METRIC_GROUPING_INTERVAL
+    metric_grouping_interval=None
     ):
 
     global LOG
diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index 09df9cb..bad528f 100644
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ def get_long_description():
 
 long_description = get_long_description()
 
-version = '0.2.4'
+version = '0.2.5'
 setup(
     name="basescript",
     version=version,