While I too am here for the GALD, it's been less than 24 hours.

My only complaint is that Prime merchants seem to be working in Platinum. Don't they have their own set of GM's?

If not, why in the world would you run the festival in both instances at the same time?

My only complaint about this, and maybe it's because I'm relatively new to this type of stuff, is that finding information about a merchant when it happens is nightmare. I was literally in the forge when I heard about a GALD service, so I started asking around about where. I went to the shops of the said merchants, but they weren't there. By the time I found them, the raffle had already been done, and people were just being serviced. As a customer, it's frustrating to spend time trying to find details, and then to miss out on even the chance because the communication around the details were left out. We aren't all seasoned event-goers or even premium members, finding this stuff shouldn't be an exercise in frustration.

Between Lich and the Gemstone Discord ... yeah, those are third party things, but it's been pretty easy keeping up with who, what, when, where, and why. Even Wyrom is in the Discord now!

If you want stuff from the festival, stay on the festival grounds. That way, you don't have to puzzle things out after you get the announcement from a third party source, which may drop information. Especially forging, which has long rt locks. Every merchant announcement so far has included where to look for them. The only one that had no room said to find them, which meant they were in a hallway, and there's not too many rooms here.

Did you spend the first hour shopping and familiarizing with the layout, and getting the map handy? The basic layout hasn't changed from previous years maps, and any new festival you should spend time getting familiar. The first merchant was... I think 2 or even three hours after it opened.

I just don't understand complaining about a free festival. Why downplay the amount of work going into this by our wonderful sub team GMs (and likely others)? We got shops with a bunch of new, interesting items. Merchants are coming around at a pace that is much higher than a typical weekend. There are raffles being put on. I mean I get it, this isn't EG but it isn't supposed to be. It boggles my mind how often Gemstone players feel the need to gripe about being given something. How entitled are we?

Keith/Brinret/Eronderl

Keith is correct

-Wyrom, APM

Keith is correct.

-GameMaster Estild

How hard would it be to have the quest transport command be setup during festivals so that people could teleport to the room the merchant is working in?

They could turn it on, announce their service as they usually do, turn it off after they have finished spinning, raffle, etc.

Don't take this the wrong way, but I hope finding a merchant is never dumbed down to be "EVENT TRANSPORT MERCHANT". I love QUEST TRANSPORT <place>, but having automatic teleportation to each merchant is going a bit too far in the hand holding department. I agree with Rohese that tracking down a merchant after getting an announcement is half the fun, but I also put in a lot of effort by walking through the event grounds, having a map available, etc, etc.


Merchants aren't hard to find if you put in a little effort. I'll use this as an example:

A cool breeze rises suddenly, bringing with it a whisper, "Illthorn will be in the Circle of Trees by the rosewood tree to lighten items for twenty people!" The air grows still as the whisper fades.

[Circle of Trees, Ground Level]

Warm breezes consistently sweep the area, bringing with them the faint scent of brine, and rustling the leaves of the nearby rosewood tree. A woven rope hangs down from some unknown height and it sways gently with the slow, steady movement of the branches high above. You also see a vine-covered wooden list.

Also here: Illthorn

Obvious paths: north, southeast

All you had to do was walk around until you saw the word rosewood tree. There's a map of the festival available here: http://i.imgur.com/v6rkb4j.png - Add in a quick highlight for rosewood and it would stick out to you.

(A complete list of things available at the FWI Festival found here: https://gswiki.play.net/A_Midsummer_Night%27s_Festival_2017)


Take some time to seek out resources, a lot of work goes into documenting events to make it easier for everyone. Also, consider using Lich or the Discord channels, I've seen nearly every merchant location shared on one of those services.

>I personally announce so that you just have to be in Mist Harbor to hear it, not necessarily on the Festival grounds.

isn't there a way to announce to get it to all logged in premium characters instead?

Just for GM Liia:

https://twitter.com/GemStoneIVNews/status/886713115018108928

<3

---
Rohese: "... the TownCrier (tune in if you haven’t, it’s without doubt the best thing to ever happen on LNet)"

I find it a little off-putting that long-time players are poo-pooing requests to make it easier for newer players to access interesting and exciting services. I've run across multiple people who weren't even clear on how to get to the fest, let alone a specific room. One hadn't even been to the Isle yet and was trying to get to the fest overland from Illistim. Another was pleading, futilely, for help over the amunet and in the Commons. If I were one of those players or if I was a new player reading this thread, I'd come to the conclusion that Elanthia wasn't a very welcoming place.

I personally wouldn't mind the QUEST TRANSPORT verb being used to get to the fest

I feel like a new topic could be created for Suggestions to Improve Midsummer's Night Festival but since we are going down that road in this thread...

It would be great if Locker and Bank Runners would work for players in the festival grounds! I realize the jungle might be a stretch of the mechanic but the merchants use bank runners and it could be just for the rooms of the festival only. Like the sprites carved out a secret route back to Mist Harbor only they can use or something.

Chad, player of a few

<I find it a little off-putting that long-time players are poo-pooing requests to make it easier for newer players to access interesting and exciting services. I've run across multiple people who weren't even clear on how to get to the fest, let alone a specific room.>

<It's those long-time players who are making the maps and doing inventory of the festival. Are you saying those things don't make it easier?>

Of course what players are doing over on the wiki is hugely beneficial. I don't think JGALT22 was attempting to minimize that, however they have a very good point that where the entrance of this festival was could very well be quite daunting for someone that hasn't played for decades to find... esp if the person in question hasn't had a reason to visit FWI previously.

Heck, every time there's something going on at FWI I have to spend 10-15 minutes flipping between the wiki and the game while hunting it down and I've been playing for 21 years. Most of the time I don't even bother because I know I'm not going to find the room in the Villa or correct garden/npc home before the merchant spins.

Starchitin

A severed gnomish hand crawls in on its fingertips and makes a rude gesture before quickly decaying and rotting into dust. A gust of wind quickly scatters the dust.

For those depending on the current wiki page the first 2-3 days of a festival, it's really not a good idea. If you're wondering why the page is not "easily findable" (e.g. featured on the front page), it's because I didn't want the site traffic to make it impossible to add to the list. This is the first year since 2014 that I am home for the fest, so it is the first time it is getting the same attention that EG gets. Only 6 different people, including 1 GM, actually made any edits on the page, only 3 inventoried any shops. People who inventory at non-EG festivals are people who are likely skipping opportunities to get services in order to get the list up as fast as sanity allows, please keep that in mind. And while there is a script to get the base of the inventory, it will only automatically add information for weapon base, container size, and worn location, if the item is even inspect-able (much less common these days), and if the setup of the shop even allows for the script to be run.

I don't believe this applies to anyone who has posted in this thread, but if you're the type asking for shop inventory listings 2 hours after the fest opens, you might want to consider looking into how to contribute to speed up the process.

>Why not ask for a Sprite quest for new premium subscribers that walks you through going to your local premium hall and picking out a transporter, using said transporter, and then getting to Gardenia Commons, and then back? For festivals, a DIR Festival command that helps you navigate to festivals would be really helpful.

This is a really great suggestion. I hope that it is considered.

- Overlord EK

>You now regard Eorgina with a warm demeanor.

>If someone versed in how it's done now might give me a crash course?

welcome back, I'll send you an email :)

> Somehow, we got from a person who was off doing another activity and was scrambling last second to get to a merchant to new players who don't even know the basics of their account.

That player (me) was both. I was scrambling because the information given in-game, which I expect to be the most complete and informative, was lacking. I've literally never been to a festival before, so my basis for context was nill.

Tangentially related: it's amazing to me to see people praising the game for all the new players and the uptick in participation which is in part because of accessibility. Then, on the other hand players resisting MORE information be provided from the supposed source of truth (the game). As someone suggested earlier, a sprite quest would be great to go through for new premium members. Leaning on third parties for information provision may be good business, but it's bad service.

<Fairly hard. Especially when you factor in that there could be 3-6 merchants working at once. Premium fest I think 3 is the highest I've seen, but EG it's common to get up to 6 some nights. Also, if it gets messed up, it'll go horribly, horribly wrong. So in order for things to be brought down to this level, we'd pretty much only have 1 merchant at a time, EVER, and it would be a senior GM only.

Overall though, it's not about how hard or difficult it is. It's about the fact that there's been a lot of work put into crafting the grounds and you should really go to the grounds in order to participate in the festival. Find the rooms where people are sitting. Talk, or not. But participate.>

I think you took the wrong tone from my post. It was meant to ask would this be something difficult to complete. Not, DO THIS NOW IT'S SO SIMPLE!


http://i.imgur.com/lsWPzG9.gif

My only real complaint that hopefully can be fixed or improved for next year:
- The noun for the entrance to the Monsoon Jungle interior to get to the path to the festival is not obvious enough, in my opinion.

It is 'passage', but I swear that noun does not appear in the actual description of the room. (Or, if it does, it doesn't seem to stand out enough as being the obvious noun.) I'm not sure if this is intentional or if it maybe can be rewritten to be a bit more obvious in the description.

I have been to this festival before and I am a veteran GS player - I knew the room where the way to get into the interior of the jungle was, but could not remember or find the noun to get to it. I must've read that room description 10x. I can't imagine how new players to FWI might feel - at least I knew it was out the south gate, through the fence, up the rocks and up the path. But I needed some help to get the last few steps. Heh.

I'm visually impaired IRL and obviously don't have the benefit of maps, so I have to navigate the old fashioned way. Vague entry descriptions are the bane of my existence, as I don't have the benefit of looking for nouns that are clickable like in StormFront.

I agree with others who said familiarizing yourself with the grounds is the best bet. With EG, I usually spend the first night/day of the opening finding where everything is. I didn't do it this time with the FWI festival, as I didn't intend to be too gung-ho about things. But for pay fests especially it's important.

And to round this lengthy post out:
- I have much enjoyed the festival so far, even though I've only spent a little time there. Kudos.

Thank you, Thandiwe! It's good to see you around as well!

Gretchen

Meeting Nilandia: http://gsguide.wikia.com/wiki/Nilandia
AIM: Lady Nilandia

Hope everyone enjoyed their fan fiction :D