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>>What is the deal with the winning? If you even get to tier 6, does the winner have the ability to pick from any tier or just tier 6? I have no use for 4x HCP armor with fusion so tier 6 isn't even appealing to me anymore.
You can tier down to any prize. You can't tier up though.
>>If the people who are in charge of these decisions aren't interested in being involved in the decision making when it goes on then why do they care about nerfing the items? If Solomon and Sirina are so busy with Dragon Realms maybe they should give someone else the job that is actually interested in doing it.
Solomon and Sirina did not have anything to do with these changes.
~Wyrom, SGM
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<<<Years went into building the quest and puzzles. Weeks went into the prizes.>>>>
I would have signed up for the quest even if there was no prize at $15. Please don't think anyone doesn't appreciate the quest aspect. But if you go and dangle a very nice prize out there it's going to overshadow the event itself.
I would have signed up for the quest even if there was no prize at $15. Please don't think anyone doesn't appreciate the quest aspect. But if you go and dangle a very nice prize out there it's going to overshadow the event itself.
>>Enchanting and further padding both have stated that combat scripts would likely not be allowed. Fusion falls under that umbrella.
If they said that, then that was a mistake. Combat scripts will be a case-by-case situation where some things might not work. I am working on getting a list of restrictions confirmed. And trust me, I'm not TRYING to add restrictions. I'm trying to get the least amount possible. But I'm also trying to document it.
~Wyrom, SGM
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If they said that, then that was a mistake. Combat scripts will be a case-by-case situation where some things might not work. I am working on getting a list of restrictions confirmed. And trust me, I'm not TRYING to add restrictions. I'm trying to get the least amount possible. But I'm also trying to document it.
~Wyrom, SGM
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>>I did just get off the phone with Solomon though. If anyone is unhappy with having purchased a ticket, please EMAIL billing. Let me stress that again. EMAIL the Billing Department.
If that means Solomon authorized refunds for anyone who wants one due to the changes, then I happily admit I was wrong. Good job.
~~k
If that means Solomon authorized refunds for anyone who wants one due to the changes, then I happily admit I was wrong. Good job.
~~k
>>I would have signed up for the quest even if there was no prize at $15. Please don't think anyone doesn't appreciate the quest aspect. But if you go and dangle a very nice prize out there it's going to overshadow the event itself.
If it were up to me, I'd stop posting prize lists to a majority of events. But we have a very prize-driven player base.
~Wyrom, SGM
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If it were up to me, I'd stop posting prize lists to a majority of events. But we have a very prize-driven player base.
~Wyrom, SGM
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<<<If it were up to me, I'd stop posting prize lists to a majority of events.>>>
I so wish you could. For me, the point of the quest should be the quest, not the "prizes." In fact, the whole concept of "prizes" for a quest of this nature seems antithetical. In what pencil-and-paper RPG does the GM list all the treasure the players will find, before they even set foot in the dungeon? (Answer: none, ever.)
<<<But we have a very prize-driven player base.>>>
The crazy responses to this have been evidence enough of that. Yikes. For what it's worth, though, those are still some incredibly awesome prizes. While I can understand some disappointment, it seems to me it's still easily worth the 14.99. But I would hope most people sign up to enjoy the quest. I'd rather go alone than with players who've already gone three times, know all the secrets and just want to whiz through and grab the biggest prizes they can get. That would be real drag.
~ Heathyr and friends
I so wish you could. For me, the point of the quest should be the quest, not the "prizes." In fact, the whole concept of "prizes" for a quest of this nature seems antithetical. In what pencil-and-paper RPG does the GM list all the treasure the players will find, before they even set foot in the dungeon? (Answer: none, ever.)
<<<But we have a very prize-driven player base.>>>
The crazy responses to this have been evidence enough of that. Yikes. For what it's worth, though, those are still some incredibly awesome prizes. While I can understand some disappointment, it seems to me it's still easily worth the 14.99. But I would hope most people sign up to enjoy the quest. I'd rather go alone than with players who've already gone three times, know all the secrets and just want to whiz through and grab the biggest prizes they can get. That would be real drag.
~ Heathyr and friends
Billing is offering refunds to those who no longer wish to use their ticket. Just drop them a line at billing@simutronics.com with your information to cancel your order.
-M.
-M.
As the old saying goes "S@#% happens", kinda sucks but oh well mistakes happen. A Tier 3 prize is the one that perks my interest the most, although crazy padded armor is always welcome. Now people just have to be lucky enough to hit tier 6 and net a padding increase/enchant slot at RtCF to get the fancy armor.
But honestly on a first run or two how likely did people think they were to hit a top tier prize? I'm not expecting to get one on the first run I signed up for.
Dissapointing? A little, and it's going to take some serious work Wyrom for that feeling to not be "the norm".
All in all still nice prizes if that's your cup of tea. I'm no puzzle master, and usual get frustrated after about 20 minutes, but I'm looking forward to the puzzles as I have shinning moments now and again.
Senglent and his wayward kin.
But honestly on a first run or two how likely did people think they were to hit a top tier prize? I'm not expecting to get one on the first run I signed up for.
Dissapointing? A little, and it's going to take some serious work Wyrom for that feeling to not be "the norm".
All in all still nice prizes if that's your cup of tea. I'm no puzzle master, and usual get frustrated after about 20 minutes, but I'm looking forward to the puzzles as I have shinning moments now and again.
Senglent and his wayward kin.
Offering the refunds was the right response. Thank you for apologizing for the mix up, and for following up with the refund offer. In all honesty, I was surprised at the price when the tickets came out. I had expected that it would be either nearly impossible to reach tier 6, or it would be a $75 ticket. Be that as it may, the offer was made and accepted, so the refund was really an important step in good customer service.
Good luck to all in the quest,
Kerl
Good luck to all in the quest,
Kerl
I'm going to throw out here that tier 6 is pretty hard to hit in general. I've participated in a run with 5 other GM's. Several of which that have helped work with GM Vanah on various parts of the quest to make sure they work right and aren't buggy. We finished it, making tier 6, within the last 5 minutes. And technically we got 3 hours and 22 minutes to run it instead of the 3 hours.
Not to say the above in a bad light. But I will be very excited and surprised to see any groups making tier 6 within the first few runs. It will be a achievement well worth the hard work, time, and maybe even a little frustration at some points. But at the end I think you will be happy and smile at completion.
~Aulis
Forums Manager
QC'er
Not to say the above in a bad light. But I will be very excited and surprised to see any groups making tier 6 within the first few runs. It will be a achievement well worth the hard work, time, and maybe even a little frustration at some points. But at the end I think you will be happy and smile at completion.
~Aulis
Forums Manager
QC'er
I plan to go. I'm excited to run it. This will be my first paid event. I didn't run Night at the Academy as the scheduling never worked right for me, even with private runs. I like Fusion, I'm hoping that CCF has an Orb chamber because I've been sale shopping for a good while. That fact makes 4x, heavy padded fusion armor pretty incredible if you ask me.
6x ECP is great no doubt, but 4x heavy and 2 fusion is a significant prize for a 14.99 prize. Added heavy padding to the 4x fusion armor off the shelf is no cheap investment in premium points.
-Geijon
6x ECP is great no doubt, but 4x heavy and 2 fusion is a significant prize for a 14.99 prize. Added heavy padding to the 4x fusion armor off the shelf is no cheap investment in premium points.
-Geijon
>>I apologize for the error, and will be taking steps to prevent any similar occurrences in the future. -M.
>How? -farmer
The biggest step will be to remove ambiguity from our internal guidelines on item creation. Improvements to communication and the item approvals process will follow as a result.
-M.
>How? -farmer
The biggest step will be to remove ambiguity from our internal guidelines on item creation. Improvements to communication and the item approvals process will follow as a result.
-M.
I think the major gripe here isn't the prize revisions. It's a minor mistake. It happens. I think most human entities understand. Refunds were offered to rectify the complaints of some customers after the initial posting.
The major theme in these gripes is not with the GMs (Wyrom, Vanah, Mestys, etc...), but is a recurring complaint with Simutronics. Customers pay a premium (far above market standard) for this product. Occasionally, we purchase add-ons, like these quests, for additional cash. The GMs are not the entity absorbing said money.
If you are going to change the terms of a product that people are paying money for, there should be a post from the corporate entity (Simutronics) outlining why the change was made and what is/was being done to assuage customers that may have an issue with said change (issuing of refunds, etc...). GMs should not be put as a frontline to absorb inevitable angst and hurt feelings over pay events, content additions or changes, and yet are continually used as such. Bottom line, while GMs are contractor/agents of Simutronics, I think the customer base is well aware of the separation points and any company should be out front of all angles of any mistake they made internally.
In a typical capitalistic environment, customers would vote with our dollars and cancel subscriptions or not purchase add-ons, but given that the majority of the player base (and the GMs) have invested many years in the game and the community, we're a captive audience and asides some cancelations, largely a captive customer base. Yes, Gemstone IV is a community of people that love it and work within it, but there's also a business that draws money from said community and needs to act like a company.
I've seen GMs recently pour a lot more heart-and-soul into additional content, pay events, and "more stuff" as of late than possibly in the past 5+ years. I've not seen the same visible commitment from Simutronics.
I'm an outsider looking inside, but without more clarity beyond the veil, it's difficult to not draw these conclusions. I appreciate the Return to Black Swan Castle and will still be enrolling in a future run, but I'd be blind to not understand the gripes that some people are expressing.
The major theme in these gripes is not with the GMs (Wyrom, Vanah, Mestys, etc...), but is a recurring complaint with Simutronics. Customers pay a premium (far above market standard) for this product. Occasionally, we purchase add-ons, like these quests, for additional cash. The GMs are not the entity absorbing said money.
If you are going to change the terms of a product that people are paying money for, there should be a post from the corporate entity (Simutronics) outlining why the change was made and what is/was being done to assuage customers that may have an issue with said change (issuing of refunds, etc...). GMs should not be put as a frontline to absorb inevitable angst and hurt feelings over pay events, content additions or changes, and yet are continually used as such. Bottom line, while GMs are contractor/agents of Simutronics, I think the customer base is well aware of the separation points and any company should be out front of all angles of any mistake they made internally.
In a typical capitalistic environment, customers would vote with our dollars and cancel subscriptions or not purchase add-ons, but given that the majority of the player base (and the GMs) have invested many years in the game and the community, we're a captive audience and asides some cancelations, largely a captive customer base. Yes, Gemstone IV is a community of people that love it and work within it, but there's also a business that draws money from said community and needs to act like a company.
I've seen GMs recently pour a lot more heart-and-soul into additional content, pay events, and "more stuff" as of late than possibly in the past 5+ years. I've not seen the same visible commitment from Simutronics.
I'm an outsider looking inside, but without more clarity beyond the veil, it's difficult to not draw these conclusions. I appreciate the Return to Black Swan Castle and will still be enrolling in a future run, but I'd be blind to not understand the gripes that some people are expressing.
| I think the major gripe here isn't the prize revisions. It's a minor mistake. It happens. I think most human entities understand. Refunds were offered to rectify the complaints of some customers after the initial posting. |
| The major theme in these gripes is not with the GMs (Wyrom, Vanah, Mestys, etc...), but is a recurring complaint with Simutronics. Customers pay a premium (far above market standard) for this product. Occasionally, we purchase add-ons, like these quests, for additional cash. The GMs are not the entity absorbing said money. |
| If you are going to change the terms of a product that people are paying money for, there should be a post from the corporate entity (Simutronics) outlining why the change was made and what is/was being done to assuage customers that may have an issue with said change (issuing of refunds, etc...). GMs should not be put as a frontline to absorb inevitable angst and hurt feelings over pay events, content additions or changes, and yet are continually used as such. Bottom line, while GMs are contractor/agents of Simutronics, I think the customer base is well aware of the separation points and any company should be out front of all angles of any mistake they made internally. |
| In a typical capitalistic environment, customers would vote with our dollars and cancel subscriptions or not purchase add-ons, but given that the majority of the player base (and the GMs) have invested many years in the game and the community, we're a captive audience and asides some cancelations, largely a captive customer base. Yes, Gemstone IV is a community of people that love it and work within it, but there's also a business that draws money from said community and needs to act like a company. |
| I've seen GMs recently pour a lot more heart-and-soul into additional content, pay events, and "more stuff" as of late than possibly in the past 5+ years. I've not seen the same visible commitment from Simutronics. |
| I'm an outsider looking inside, but without more clarity beyond the veil, it's difficult to not draw these conclusions. I appreciate the Return to Black Swan Castle and will still be enrolling in a future run, but I'd be blind to not understand the gripes that some people are expressing. |
Well said, and bears repeating. In general, the current crop of GMs is great. It's somewhere back behind the scenes that something is wrong. Wwe used to blame Solomon and Sirina, but apparently, they had nothing to do with this. Either way, it is very similar to the past patterns of SIMU misrepresentation and poor business practices.
-Taakhooshi, and Me
For the Story of Taakhooshi:
http://www.gsguide.net/index.php?title=Taakhooshi
| I think the major gripe here isn't the prize revisions. It's a minor mistake. It happens. I think most human entities understand. Refunds were offered to rectify the complaints of some customers after the initial posting. |
| The major theme in these gripes is not with the GMs (Wyrom, Vanah, Mestys, etc...), but is a recurring complaint with Simutronics. Customers pay a premium (far above market standard) for this product. Occasionally, we purchase add-ons, like these quests, for additional cash. The GMs are not the entity absorbing said money. |
| If you are going to change the terms of a product that people are paying money for, there should be a post from the corporate entity (Simutronics) outlining why the change was made and what is/was being done to assuage customers that may have an issue with said change (issuing of refunds, etc...). GMs should not be put as a frontline to absorb inevitable angst and hurt feelings over pay events, content additions or changes, and yet are continually used as such. Bottom line, while GMs are contractor/agents of Simutronics, I think the customer base is well aware of the separation points and any company should be out front of all angles of any mistake they made internally. |
| In a typical capitalistic environment, customers would vote with our dollars and cancel subscriptions or not purchase add-ons, but given that the majority of the player base (and the GMs) have invested many years in the game and the community, we're a captive audience and asides some cancelations, largely a captive customer base. Yes, Gemstone IV is a community of people that love it and work within it, but there's also a business that draws money from said community and needs to act like a company. |
| I've seen GMs recently pour a lot more heart-and-soul into additional content, pay events, and "more stuff" as of late than possibly in the past 5+ years. I've not seen the same visible commitment from Simutronics. |
| I'm an outsider looking inside, but without more clarity beyond the veil, it's difficult to not draw these conclusions. I appreciate the Return to Black Swan Castle and will still be enrolling in a future run, but I'd be blind to not understand the gripes that some people are expressing. |
Well said, and bears repeating. In general, the current crop of GMs is great. It's somewhere back behind the scenes that something is wrong. Wwe used to blame Solomon and Sirina, but apparently, they had nothing to do with this. Either way, it is very similar to the past patterns of SIMU misrepresentation and poor business practices.
-Taakhooshi, and Me
I agree this needs repeating, and this is what I meant by serious work Wyrom. It's not the GM's we deal with on a regular basis that is the problem, albiet you poor souls take the brunt of these situations. I don't think it's in the powers of any of the GM's we interact with regularly to actually fix this problem sadly.
Senglent and his wayward kin.
>The biggest step will be to remove ambiguity from our internal guidelines on item creation. Improvements to communication and the item approvals process will follow as a result.
-M
Communication has always been one of the biggest banes of this game. Fixing that would certainly help.
-farmer
-M
Communication has always been one of the biggest banes of this game. Fixing that would certainly help.
-farmer
>>I'm going to throw out here that tier 6 is pretty hard to hit in general. I've participated in a run with 5 other GM's. Several of which that have helped work with GM Vanah on various parts of the quest to make sure they work right and aren't buggy. We finished it, making tier 6, within the last 5 minutes. And technically we got 3 hours and 22 minutes to run it instead of the 3 hours.
Being part of the test group, and someone who enjoys puzzles, I thought they were hard and fun. I will say this though, you need a group that works well with each other and communicates thoroughly.
~Wyrom, SGM
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Being part of the test group, and someone who enjoys puzzles, I thought they were hard and fun. I will say this though, you need a group that works well with each other and communicates thoroughly.
~Wyrom, SGM
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Also, I'd like to clarify to the Platinum group that went tonight. There weren't any bugs, as some are claiming there were. There was a minor issue with one thing in the beginning, but it did not prevent any progress to happen.
The GM test group that went did not code this quest, nor were we the QC team handling BSQ (though some of us had a hand in helping with some aspects). We were simply the beta testers (not to be confused with those who did countless alpha testing). I keep hearing that we were. But we weren't, not sure where that's cropping up.
Running a "scripted item test" script will not really get you anywhere, as it's not really a "guess the verb" quest. Each quest marker requires certain steps.
Please keep the forums clean of the puzzles and their solutions though.
~Wyrom, SGM
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The GM test group that went did not code this quest, nor were we the QC team handling BSQ (though some of us had a hand in helping with some aspects). We were simply the beta testers (not to be confused with those who did countless alpha testing). I keep hearing that we were. But we weren't, not sure where that's cropping up.
Running a "scripted item test" script will not really get you anywhere, as it's not really a "guess the verb" quest. Each quest marker requires certain steps.
Please keep the forums clean of the puzzles and their solutions though.
~Wyrom, SGM
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| There was a minor issue with one thing in the beginning, but it did not prevent any progress to happen. |
Not completely true. It was about a 20 minute delay before the GM fixed it, thus delaying us 20 minutes out of our 3 hours. To be fair, though, with 20 extra minutes we most likely would not have gotten any further.
-Taakhooshi, and Me
For the Story of Taakhooshi:
http://www.gsguide.net/index.php?title=Taakhooshi
Wyrom's post
My comment stems from Aulis post, and I still hold to my opinion in that regards. Even if it was made on another Forum concerning this game.
As far as giving anything away, I think we know the rules by now, and no one has done so even on a different forum concerning this quest (that I am aware of anyway).
Do I still feel like I got robbed of 3 hours of my life? Yes I do.
Senglent and his wayward kin.
My comment stems from Aulis post, and I still hold to my opinion in that regards. Even if it was made on another Forum concerning this game.
As far as giving anything away, I think we know the rules by now, and no one has done so even on a different forum concerning this quest (that I am aware of anyway).
Do I still feel like I got robbed of 3 hours of my life? Yes I do.
Senglent and his wayward kin.
Oh, and don't pull a bait and switch with prize lists after tickets sold out in the future as well. Given the difficulty you could very easily have left the prizes alone, then adjusted them when no one hit tier 6, which I don't see happening for these first few runs. Screwing with the prize list was just insult to injury.
-Richard/Fjalar.
-Richard/Fjalar.
If we have to do things in a certain order, make it so we can't skip past to some other step we won't be allowed to do cause X wasn't done so we can't do Z yet.
Not sure if that was part of our problem or not, but I'm going to guess it was.
Some sort of a clue here or there, maybe a painting or tapestry or something with a scene. Or something to cause visions like getting in the vault (think citadel in rr)
And per History and comments on the boards playing "Guess that verb!" or it's ugly step sisters normally just annoys most players. Why staff always thinks it's a good idea when the complaints have always far outweighed the kudos.
I'm no puzzle master, one reason I went with people how are a lot better at it then me. I get lucky now and again and think of something. So idk I'm still to annoyed to give BSC much thought.
Senglent and his wayward kin.
Not sure if that was part of our problem or not, but I'm going to guess it was.
Some sort of a clue here or there, maybe a painting or tapestry or something with a scene. Or something to cause visions like getting in the vault (think citadel in rr)
And per History and comments on the boards playing "Guess that verb!" or it's ugly step sisters normally just annoys most players. Why staff always thinks it's a good idea when the complaints have always far outweighed the kudos.
I'm no puzzle master, one reason I went with people how are a lot better at it then me. I get lucky now and again and think of something. So idk I'm still to annoyed to give BSC much thought.
Senglent and his wayward kin.
| In the interest of improving future quests, why do you feel this way? |
Now that a day has gone by, and I am a bit calmer, I think I can reply to this:
first, there was a bugged thing right at the start that prevented us from going any further, until a GM had to fix it. That wasted 20 minutes. The worse effect of it, however, was that it made us question every other puzzle as to whether it was bugged or not; it introduced that doubt in there, which was a killer.
Second thing that was incredibly annoying was the slimy tunnel (I don't think I am giving anything away with that that had RT stacked upon RT stacked upon... If the GMs can take nothing else from the infinite discussions on this forum is that we, as players HATE (with a fiery passion HATE) stacked RT. And that tunnel had it, end upon end.
Third is that there were conveyances or areas (that's vague enough, I hope) that could not be used when another grroup was using them. I mean, if you ended up splitting up the groups, one group was stuck waiting for said conveyance to return before they could go forward. And it was a LONG wait. VERY LONG. (Yes, I generally hate it when people use all caps for emphasis, but I believe it has been warranted in these cases). So, you think the take-away here is to never split the group. Well, there are earlier spots in the quest where you do have to split the group, as one or two folks need to get to an area by a certain means (which then breaks) so that they can open the area up for others.
Fourth, RT. Stacked RT and excessivly long RT. Get rid of it, or cut it in third.
Fifth, bugs and changes mid quest: one door we picked with a cappped, well equipped picker later turned out to be something that was a puzzle, and was not meant to be picked. Well, it changed after it had been picked, when we came back upon it, and needed to go through it again. Annoying, but I suppose that's what happens when you are the first group through in a (paid) beta test.
Sixth, did I mention RT?
Seventh, it seemed to be a game of find the verb in many cases. Maybe not, I am not privy to anything in the back end, but from a players perspective, it sure as heck appeared to be 'find the verb'. Perception is reality.
Finally, RT. I think I may have mentioned that in passing.
I will not be doing this quest again, even though our group only got to tier two. It was not enjoyable, and while the prize I got from tier two is nice, the time spent was certainly not worth it, and I generally enjoy puzzles. It was an un-enjoyable three hours, all told.
PS: RT.
-Taakhooshi, and Me
For the Story of Taakhooshi:
http://www.gsguide.net/index.php?title=Taakhooshi
The thing in the beginning didn't end up helping you guys in the long run anyway. No one was exploring anything else in that 20 minutes. I get that the issue was something we had to fix, but it was also not preventing progress.
A lot of RT actually depends on certain grouping aspects. The more you work together, the better things will be. A lot of times, we were seeing only ONE of you performing actions, or people splitting off without helping the group.
But the puzzles are just that, puzzles. Clues were everywhere, some are just less obvious. And most things have multiple ways to solve them.
But I can understand the frustration in being RT stacked.
~Wyrom, SGM
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A lot of RT actually depends on certain grouping aspects. The more you work together, the better things will be. A lot of times, we were seeing only ONE of you performing actions, or people splitting off without helping the group.
But the puzzles are just that, puzzles. Clues were everywhere, some are just less obvious. And most things have multiple ways to solve them.
But I can understand the frustration in being RT stacked.
~Wyrom, SGM
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I ran on a number of these types of Quests in DR. I can tell you this, they were all doable, if you payed attention. I have no idea what Black Swan is like yet, but I plan to go.
Some of the DR puzzles literally took an hour or more per, but we always finished with enough time. My favorite puzzle in DR is the Kanton's Dagger where you have to plant the right plants in each area. It's a pain, and if you don't get all the clues, it takes even longer, but it is doable.
The Maze in the gnome quest is a stone cold... well you get the point, but even that is doable. I had to solo it once when one of the people in the quest group announced ooc to join up and pay attention, cause he only had 20 minutes to play and was just going to fly threw the whole quest. He wanted to ignore all the fun parts, and just use a script he made to do it.
I am telling you, to get Tier 6 you have to jump 3 times, spin around, touch your nose, moo like a cow, then chant out loud " Bippity boppity boop!" in the foyer of the castle. This of course will change slightly with every quest run.
That, or when you get to the end, an NPC will ask you to give them something no one ever carries with them, and does not drop during the quest. (I need a table leg and a rusty doorknob to open the portal you have 30 seconds to hand them to me.)
Honestly my only real complaint isn't a valid one. It was too hard... for me apparently. The bottom line is that we got tier 2, I don't think we were going to get any further no matter how much time you gave us and the only solution I can think of is next time I need to bring someone smarter than me to figure this stuff out. The frustration factor for me is that I honestly left feeling "stupid" or "inferior" and that's just my own problem. I'm torn in that part of me wants future groups to do awesome and show me that it can be done and another part wants them to do just as poorly so I don't feel like I was just a moron here.
Overall the quest was "too hard" or "not intuitive enough" for my group. As we were the first group only time will tell if that's a problem with the quest or with us. I'm not sure I'm going to be happy with either answer...
Keith/Brinret/Shiun
ATTENTION: Monks were only designed to reach level 39. Please check into the nearest Inn and choose the retire option immediately before you break the game completely!
Overall the quest was "too hard" or "not intuitive enough" for my group. As we were the first group only time will tell if that's a problem with the quest or with us. I'm not sure I'm going to be happy with either answer...
Keith/Brinret/Shiun
ATTENTION: Monks were only designed to reach level 39. Please check into the nearest Inn and choose the retire option immediately before you break the game completely!
If there were numerous clues, then we were uniformly bad at noticing them, not to say interpreting them. While I had fun on this quest and hope to get a chance for another crack at it, I also found it very frustrating. While I can admit that there is definite room for improvement in the way my group worked at it (I think we wandered apart haphazardly too much--when we split up it should have been into definite teams with their own jobs, and that when split up we needed much better communication amongst our groups), I also have criticisms.
The roundtime stacking already mentioned was annoying, but really I consider it part of the larger problem of timescale. Even the GM group that tested apparently went some 20 minutes over the allotted time before finishing the quest and that's not trivial, it's greater than 10 percent over-time. The transport issue alluded to is another difficulty that plays into this, as it also seemingly took a huge chunk of our allotted time without yielding any actual progress.
The original Black Swan Castle quests were 48-hour events, and while this edition may well be more streamlined, three hours remains an awfully short time to doing all the time-eating things mentioned above.
In addition, Wyrom, you say "Clues were everywhere, some are just less obvious." Well, most of them must have been pretty obscure to us, and that's a bit part of why we spent way too much time playing guess-the-verb: we simply couldn't think of what else to do.
--Hal
The roundtime stacking already mentioned was annoying, but really I consider it part of the larger problem of timescale. Even the GM group that tested apparently went some 20 minutes over the allotted time before finishing the quest and that's not trivial, it's greater than 10 percent over-time. The transport issue alluded to is another difficulty that plays into this, as it also seemingly took a huge chunk of our allotted time without yielding any actual progress.
The original Black Swan Castle quests were 48-hour events, and while this edition may well be more streamlined, three hours remains an awfully short time to doing all the time-eating things mentioned above.
In addition, Wyrom, you say "Clues were everywhere, some are just less obvious." Well, most of them must have been pretty obscure to us, and that's a bit part of why we spent way too much time playing guess-the-verb: we simply couldn't think of what else to do.
--Hal
