User talk:Linsey Murdock/Questions3

Dwarves outside Boreal Station

Can you please move them closer to the portal? I was very disappointed when they decided to help themselves to the duel between me and Tjorvi Throston. Whats the point of even having the fight vs. one norn if you have tons of help?!

ADDED: I fought the other Norn down a ways from the first shrine. Woah, that has got to be the most fun my Warrior has had brawling in a LONG time. Awesome. Counciler 09:42, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

There are tons of Norn out there for you to fight without dwarven help. I'll mention it to the appropriate people, but it's not my call to change those guys since they are part of the main story line. - Linsey talk 19:47, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

Yeah I noticed that later. I figured, frivolous or not, it can't hurt to ask. Up to you guys. Counciler 20:46, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

Items?

Do the Branch of Juni Berries and Zehtukas Items have any purpose? --84.112.37.174 18:27, 29 August 2007 (UTC)

Yes - Linsey talk 18:46, 29 August 2007 (UTC)

And what? *giggle* --84.112.37.174 18:49, 29 August 2007 (UTC)

Not tellin' ;) - Linsey talk 19:03, 29 August 2007 (UTC)

But they have a gameplay-purpose and not just a "remove inventory-slots" purpose? --84.112.37.174 19:07, 29 August 2007 (UTC)

Yep - Linsey talk 19:27, 29 August 2007 (UTC)

Ok big thanks im looking forward to it =) --84.112.37.174 19:30, 29 August 2007 (UTC)

See Talk:Moa_Egg#solution??. Linsey has been busy building up suspense with all these mystery items... I love it! --Thervold 22:18, 29 August 2007 (UTC)

Okay, do Zehtuka's items have a gameplay purpose besides the bow's use as a weapon, the pack's use as a bag and the jug's use as alcohol? :D -- Gordon Ecker 03:02, 30 August 2007 (UTC)

The items you listed do have a purpose. You listed their purpose right there. - Linsey talk 19:33, 30 August 2007 (UTC)

But the horn and the juni berries will have a purpose in the feature? --84.112.37.174 19:36, 30 August 2007 (UTC)

This is where I'm going to clamp my mouth shut. :P - Linsey talk 20:04, 30 August 2007 (UTC)

;p lol the horn 2summen a moa 2 sit on the egg? lol looking for hints evrywere(shadow 20:45, 30 August 2007 (UTC))

So when do you plan on dropping the ashes of Mysterious was Linsey? This spell has had us mesmerized for quite the while now.... Counciler 22:00, 30 August 2007 (UTC)

Do they have a purpose now? Or is the purpose to be revealed with the release of Eye of the North? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 68.163.15.235 (talk • contribs) 00:06, 31 August 2007 (UTC).

Um, before I go crazy, can you only make one Incubator Kit per account? Katharine refuses to make another for any of my characters. --Thervold 12:38, 31 August 2007 (UTC)

<3 Linsey, baby black moa is cool! --Lemming 17:42, 31 August 2007 (UTC)

Moa Minipet Quest Feedback

Here is my feedback for you Linsey on your quest design. Perhaps it will have some positive impact on future quests you design.

Overall I think it is a fine quest and I enjoyed most of it, however it is not casual player friendly, which is most of your playerbase and here is why...

• Cost & Rquirments: This quest is way too costly for the casual player to do. I remember reading that some datamining by ArenaNet showed that most casual players have under 25k in their storage. My casual playing friend falls into this category as he has about 15k or so.
  • 5 plat for the Incubator. Requires 50! spiritwood.
  • Spiritwood takes 250 wood and 500 glittering dust and 5k to make 50.
  • Glittering dust will cost you roughly 10k at the trader
  • Wood will cost about 2.5k
  • Total Cost for merchant creation = 22,500 gold.

This total is almost ALL of the gold the casual player has. Now my friend, for example did have 250 wood and 250 dust, he will either have to spend a fair amount of time farming dust (casual player, 2 hours a night when he can) or pay 1/3 what he owns for dust.

This leads to my next point Excessive Farming required in quests

• Farming: Spiritwood planks have a horrifically low drop rate. After completing the Factions campagin he had 4. I went the Kurzik route and I had about 18 or so. Now I farmed pong mei valley on my ritualist when I was expermenting with builds for about 2 weeks a long time ago and had gotten up to about 54 in my storage... and I farmed that valley for 4-6 hours per day on average (not much else to do when recovering from surgery :) ).
• Skree Wings: Semi low drop rate but not horrible. Semi Hard mobs to beat due to the healers in many groups. Still doable in a few hours.
• Skale Fins: Not too difficult for most classes to farm the lower level ones. Drop rate seemed better then the Skree Wings. All in all not bad.

Last point about this quest then final thoughts :)

• Excessive Grinding due to Randomness.
  • I guess this could be the same as excessive farming but it is cruel and bad design in my opninon to require the Journal from Zho in Magni's tournament, which many people are having problems with, and NOT be guaranteed to fight her in one of the 5 rounds. I've personally spent 1p now trying to get her to spawn with zero luck and others have reported over 22 rounds with no Zho.
  • Requiring every single Sorrow's Furnace quest to have been done by soemone to get the egg hatched and no clear indication IN the dungeon of where to get this done.

All of these points added together turn a very fun quest, and it was a blast finding the egg and getting it hardened and getting some of the other stuff, into a frustrating and expensive grind. I started out loving this quest and by the end I was glad it was over and angry at some of the requirments.

• SUGGESTIONS: This is what I would have changed/done with this quest to still keep it fun and casual player friendly.
  • Spiritwood requirement down to 10.
  • A place in Sorrow's Furnace that the last quest was not required to do, but perhaps the first one just to introduce people who skipped the furnace to it.
  • Slightly increased drop rate of Skree Wings.
  • The Place in Sorrow's Furnace clearly marked like in the falls (circle you had to stand in, name to click on etc...
  • Zho: I'd flag the player once they had run into someone in the arena until they have run into everyone at least once, whether they lose or win. That way you will run into Zho in 7 or 8 runs, not 22+.

I hope that this feedback helps in future quest designs as I did enjoy some of this and my friend started to enjoy it also until we found out some of the requirements.

Take Care Imaginos--The preceding unsigned comment was added by User:68.164.118.235 .

Long comments FTWL, she alrdy said she didnt want it to be easy. She just got hers yesterday ~ Kurd 23:24, 1 September 2007 (UTC)

Short comments FTWL, Who said I wanted it easy. I want it reasonable for casual players and current it is not. Imaginos

Edit conflicts FTL.

It's worth noting that selling minis to other players generally starts at about 20k for the white first-year presents no one's particularly interested in, and the highly prized ones can go for 100k + ectos. I'd say 22k and some collectables-farming at most or as cheap as 5k if you happen to have stockpiled the right stuff (I personally had the skree wings, half the spiritwood planks, and plenty of wood and dust for the rest) is quite a deal for a very cute green mini. Besides, if it was too cheap and easy, people who have all campaigns would be stockpiling them to sell to people who don't, and the accomplishment of having the mini would be severely devalued.

About the only thing I do partially agree on is that it can be tough to get Zho in the Norn Fighting Tournament. This is, however, somewhat offset by the fact that there are just so many other interesting encounters in that tournament. It was while I was trying to get Zho that I found the Zehtuka encounter (didn't even remember that I had the horn in my bag). A bias in the random select that you'll get at least one special encounter that you haven't already beaten per run through the tournament might help here. Not guaranteed to get Zho the first time, but at least get something. - Tanetris 23:51, 1 September 2007 (UTC)

The Black Moa Chick acquisition was never meant to be "casual player friendly" or easy. As far as the cost of the incubator kit goes, keep in mind that spiritwood planks are sold out right now because there was a massive rush on them. Normally they are 100g at the merchant. The trophy items required are easy to farm. The Sorrow's Furnace quests are awesome. The only part I actually agree with you on is that getting Zho's book in the tournament can be a pain, it took me almost 2k to finally get her, but other than that, I really disagree with you on this one. I made sure to require a lot of play time for this one. I want it to be worth something. I want to reward players who own all campaigns, who have played through a significant portion of all campaigns and been incredibly loyal to Guild Wars in general. Casual players have a ton of content readily available to them. I don't think everything has to be casual friendly. I'm not going to change a thing. I like it just how it is but thank you for coming on here and expressing your opinions directly to me. Sorry we have to disagree on this one. - Linsey talk 02:00, 2 September 2007 (UTC)

I consider myself a casual player, but I was among the first to get the little bird (I created the wiki page). I had half the spiritwood planks from plant kills back on the Cantha beginner isle and enough wood and dust to finish the rest. So while your cost is 22.5k, the actual cost to someone who's done all the campaigns and thus has a storage of materials would be closer to 10k or less. As for the Sorrow's Furnace, it's a nice way to get people to return there. And for casual players who never tried it before, it's really not as difficult now with heroes and the slew of skills that didn't exist when it was first introduced. Yes, it will take awhile, but I'd guess for those who have all campaigns reasonably mapped and some materials in storage, it shouldn't take too much time (unless you don't have required outposts on your map yet). EotN is high level, and I'm happy to see things like this that haven't been nerfed to make it trivially easy. I think I would have enjoyed it even more if I hadn't read online where all the items were last week and was only given the journal to start with. I love quests that lack markers but give strong enough clues to point you in the general direction (also seen in Double Dog Dare), and I really hope Linsey gets to design more like this in GW2. --Thervold 06:29, 2 September 2007 (UTC)

I don't have a problem with a lot of play time involved myself but I do have an issue with stupidly low drop rates and unfun over excessive farming which your quest has now become. Spiritwood planks for drops? The drop rate on them is terrible so crafting is the only option.

Zho? I've now done the arena 34 times with NO sign of her. THIRTY FOUR TIMES. The tournament is no longer fun, it is now a boring grind that has to be run over and over and over and over to get to Zho. If you had done something reasonable this would still be fun.

Sorrow's furnace quests I did like, however the fact that the spot is not marked like the falls is not fun.

Less boring grind, more fun collecting reasonable stuff and chatting with npc's makes a fun quest. I hope that you consider that in future quest designs and that you change this current one so that Zho is obtained in a reasonable amount of time, not over 30 runs...and I'm still running it. Imaginos

You have had a really bad string of luck. That doesn't mean that it should be changed for everyone. Hundreds of people have been able to complete the hunt without so much difficulty. I am sorry that you have had such bad luck, but I will not be changing this hunt because of it. I purposely did not mark the spots where you have to go so that it is a true scavenger hunt and a community project. - Linsey talk 17:12, 4 September 2007 (UTC)

Incubator

Please please dear Linsey make another way to get Zho's Journal for the Incubator. I, as a dervish, wasted about 10 platin already for this dumb Norn Fighting Tournament. Ive never had the luck to battle Zho. Make a second way or change Zhos place so you can battle her in the first round. Please dear Linsey, please! --84.112.37.174 18:44, 31 August 2007 (UTC)

geez, I must have fought her 7+ times last weekend, and I know I didn't spend 10 plat doing it :)

Looks like you had much more luck. And as a dervish its damn hard to survive there =( --84.112.37.174 20:06, 31 August 2007 (UTC)

Wow, that is bad luck. Out of the last ten tournaments, I've faced her three times. A dervish shouldn't have too much trouble getting to round three at least (where Zho appears). --Thervold 20:31, 31 August 2007 (UTC)

Finally, after 5 more platin I got to her =) Now I finally have my Black Moa Chicken =) --84.112.37.174 21:28, 31 August 2007 (UTC)

I will not be making any other way to get Zho's journal. Try changing up your build or secondary skills. It took me about 2k to get mine, so I do feel your pain but I'm not going to be changing it or making it easier. This wasn't meant to be an easy "quest". - Linsey talk 21:56, 31 August 2007 (UTC)

To get through, use ursan blessing, Works so well, got me ranger to the bisonestoldt 05:39, 1 September 2007 (UTC)

Just gotta figure out how to get a Siege_Devourer in there and it should be a cake walk... --Fenyx 13:13, 6 September 2007 (UTC)

In-Game Miniatures?

Linsey, I know how much you enjoy scavenger hunts... Is there any chance of another mini, attainable in the same way as the Black Moa Chick, being added to the game? I just love minis. estoldt 07:42, 1 September 2007 (UTC)

Yeah I would appreciate a minipet such the one green moss-thing in the Nightfall CE Artbook... It looks so cute =/ --84.112.37.174 07:46, 1 September 2007 (UTC)

yeah, i was talking with Gaile, she loves the idea, i made suggestions for mini's from each campaign that would acquirable in-game [its all here]

Moa's!

Your killing me, what are they for? ~ Kurd 22:05, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

My lips are SEALED - Linsey talk 22:25, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

You learn to ride them around like Chocobos.  ;) --Rainith 22:32, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

aaargh!!!, We will find out!( BTW, can't you add something like: "The item has no value" to stop the scams ~ Kurd 16:40, 27 August 2007 (UTC)

While it is pretty outrageous to sell a moa egg for ton of money, if you buy something you have no idea what it does, that is your prerogative. Not really a scam, more like a racket. I'd rather not clutter up the item with a message like that. Besides, who says it doesn't have value? Or it doesn't turn into an ultra rare pet? Or a unique minipet? Or a giant dragon of doom who eats your face? Not me, certainly. People are going to have to wait until Eye of the North comes out to find out what it does until then, let the speculation continue! I am seriously getting a kick out of it; I love how close some people have gotten and how very far from the mark others are - Linsey talk 19:00, 27 August 2007 (UTC)

OMG the GWO thread is up to 31 pages! Awesome. So awesome. I love me a good scavenger hunt! - Linsey talk 18:10, 28 August 2007 (UTC)

She loves seeing us suffer :p ~ Kurd 20:25, 28 August 2007 (UTC)

No, of course not! I like seeing everyone get so into one of my babies. Just like I love how everyone has taken to the Rabbit Hole in Drakkar Lake (wait... no, I do like killing people there). The cross-chapter scavenger hunt is one of my precious little babies, I <3 it. I am glad other people <3 it too. - Linsey talk 21:01, 28 August 2007 (UTC)

I went into the Rabbit Hole and didn't die! It's so pretty down there though. :) - BeX 21:05, 28 August 2007 (UTC)

You know I was kinda disappointed that nothing else than a lot of pop ups happened when I entered that hole. I didn't shrink, I didn't fall into anything... :-( I was shouting on vent though: "Do NOT follow the rabbit!" --  (CoRrRan / talk) 21:06, 28 August 2007 (UTC)

Aww, I'm sorry to disappoint. There is a very rare random spawn for that encounter that no one has found yet. It's pretty funny... - Linsey talk 21:35, 28 August 2007 (UTC)

I actually got that one...suprised no one else mentioned it yet. Instead of the Vaettirs, aggressive bunnies spawn in their place. I was definitely LMAO when that happened. --Valshia 21:44, 28 August 2007 (UTC)

YAY someone did get it! I had so much fun redoing those spawns with the bunnies. Just too hilarious!! - Linsey talk 21:47, 28 August 2007 (UTC)

Haha when my boyfriend saw the rabbit he was going, oh no, if I follow that something terrible is going to happen isn't it? He was convinced the rabbit was going to go Monty Python style on him until he saw the other two in the bottom, and then he was like oh no, it's not that, what's going to happen? I just told him to keep walking as I laughed evilly on the inside. - BeX 21:10, 28 August 2007 (UTC)

I'm silly : D The moment I saw it, I thought, "Zomg, Rabbit pet! Wohooo! Hey, wait, come here little rabbit so I can Charm you! C'mon...Crap!"*party wipe* I really like that kind of thing - it adds a lot of fun when exploring (oh, and I love the guys summoning the Imp boss, who talk about what's written on their summong scroll; the boss encounters on GW:EN so far have been great). Erasculio 21:19, 28 August 2007 (UTC)

Loved the white rabbit too! After doing it my first time I escorted two of my friends into that trap. Their reactions were classic. Wish you could've heard 'em. (@Erasculio - They both wanted to charm the rabbit too) Drakkar lake was my favorite zone in the preview event. The spawn and pathing of the mobs in the lake itself worked great with the debuff for standing still. If you took too long killing any one group more ended up patrolling into you. They all swirled around Myish, Lady of the Lake like she was the eye of a storm... Anyways, it was brilliant. Thank you. Fenyx 21:27, 28 August 2007 (UTC)

I think a lot of people were hoping to charm the bunny. Which is exactly what I wanted. It is a trap and I've been giggling since I came up with the idea when I think about people going "omg a bunny! I wanna get a closer look!" The biggest killer in that encounter is panic. If you just stand and take all the mobs, it's really not that hard. In hardmode it'll be beastly though *giggle*

I am sooo glad everyone loves Drakkar so much, I hope the two EAs I did that weren't shown are just as cool, but I have a feeling that Drakkar was my crowning achievement. :D - Linsey talk 21:35, 28 August 2007 (UTC)

Giving Shadow Vaettir Mark of Subversion was just as mean. :) Kuddos on Drakkar though, although I still don't understand all the Symbioses-spirits being created by the Modniir, the infrequent occurrences of a Modniir Shaman doesn't justify the too frequent use of this spirit by the Modniir at all. And any decent PvE team has a fair number of enchantments with him/her. I ended up running round with 1k+ HP just a little bit too frequent. --  (CoRrRan / talk) 21:54, 28 August 2007 (UTC)

Who wants to begin poking Linsey to figure out what are Budger Blackpowder and his kegs supposed to do in Drakkar? I took him around trying to destroy half the walls in that map : D Erasculio 22:18, 28 August 2007 (UTC)

(Reset indent) Starts poking Linsey. (Which can't be that bad to do... ;) ) --  (CoRrRan / talk) 22:35, 28 August 2007 (UTC)

I actually didn't do the Budger Spawns, that was Colin. Oh and for the record, neither penguins nor Kevin Bacon have anything to do with anything. - Linsey talk 23:07, 28 August 2007 (UTC)

Wooot I love this. Totally need more of it. It's cool how everyone's guessing and betting and the conspiracy theorists are looking for tinfoil hats at their lokal armorers... <3 for that, the bunny, and the doulbe dog dare. Zomg! --zeeZ 23:59, 28 August 2007 (UTC)

Hehe, hooray for scavenger hunts! Keep up all the good work guys, and some of you are getting pretty darn close but you're not quite there yet. And yes, I am reading along, but I don't have IRC :( - Linsey talk 00:46, 29 August 2007 (UTC)

Oh, we can fix that, but you did very well in the crowd of random chatter, you're welcome, but shhh.. don't let them hear me talk positive about someone or my authority will be lost --zeeZ 02:25, 29 August 2007 (UTC)

I knew it. I knew that the Rabbit thing had to be your touch when I stumbled upon it. More brilliance from my favorite Quest writer and monster spawner Nietzsche 22:12, 29 August 2007 (UTC)

yay im loving the scavenger hunt especly that its for a moa and i liv in new zealand lol but how many things are we looking for and can i hav a clue ;p (shadow 13:07, 30 August 2007 (UTC)) user Seth warmonger

Sorry to everyone that had multiple nesting materials waiting to be given to other characters or guildies or whatever. This scavenger hunt was always meant to be for those who own all chapters, and with the nesting materials tradable it meant you did not have to own Nightfall and it would have been the runt of the group. It was a tough decision to make, but John (Hargrove; the Man O' Items who was my partner in crime on this one) and I decided to make the nesting materials not tradable in order to stay true to the original intentions of the hunt. I know we annoyed quite a few of you with that change and I am really sorry that it had to be an update to the item and that it wasn't like that from the start. Not being able to trade them between character on the same account is a sad side effect of them being made not tradable. Luckily, Skree wings aren't too hard to farm up in Vabbi. Happy Hunting! <3 - Linsey talk 18:18, 30 August 2007 (UTC)

Grrr...I had just moved all the items to a mule just before the update to make some space in storage too.  :( --Valshia 18:28, 30 August 2007 (UTC)

I just traded as a present for an ingame wedding a nesting material and moa egg about 1 hour before the update, kind of lucky here :p But then, why doesn't the Moa Egg and hardened Moa egg also not tradable ? Now you just have to have Nightfall for the 3 items since the egg's are still tradable... Leybi 18:32, 30 August 2007 (UTC)

Their are events in Prophecies, Factions and GW:EN that require you to own the chapter. All will be revealed tonight at midnight for release! - Linsey talk 18:34, 30 August 2007 (UTC)

Mourning Veil Falls where you harden the egg is deep inside Kurzick territory. Players/characters who do only the Luxon side can't get to it without at least getting the 10,000 faction for Befriending the Kurzicks. Not being able to have a Kurzick friend or a character with Kurzick access would be difficult for a number of players. --Valshia 19:10, 30 August 2007 (UTC)

It's not exactly meant to be easy. If as we suspect you need to see the NPC on the Luxon side in Gyala hatchery then it means you need both. Which makes it fair if that is an issue. It is probably easier getting 10,000 kurzick faction then it is to get the collector drops for some of those other items to be perfect honest. --Lemming 19:13, 30 August 2007 (UTC)

Yep, that is intended. This is not supposed to be easy. - Linsey talk 19:26, 30 August 2007 (UTC)

Patience, my friends! Patience! Less then a day left to go and then I'm sure you'll all find out what is needed very fast. You all are smart like that - Linsey talk 19:35, 30 August 2007 (UTC)

Maybe its been mentioned before, but perhaps the egg has something to do with the Sylvari. We are supposed to witness their birth in GW:EotN, and Linsey just said that all will be revealed when the game goes live.

On a side note I was born about 10 minutes before midnight so its kinda like the release GW:EotN is my present from A.Net, even though I still have to pay for it... oh well it will still be worth every penny. --Broodling67 21:43, 30 August 2007 (UTC)

(Reset indent) I am going to have shoot some1 if the Sylavri are going to be born from a Moa Egg ~ Kurd 21:54, 30 August 2007 (UTC)

Is that really what you want the first Sylvari to see when it is born, someone bleeding vigorously from the head? Some animals do put their eggs in the nest of another species and let them incubate so perhaps the Gods thought Moas would do the job just fine. --Broodling67 22:18, 30 August 2007 (UTC)

No worries, it's not about the Sylvari, it's about Moas. Just go, get the book from Zho and read it ;) Xelonir 08:51, 31 August 2007 (UTC)

Dunno how they found it out, but they did -->Black Moa Chick ~ Kurd 12:16, 31 August 2007 (UTC)

The first clue is Zho's Journal you get after you beat her in the Norn Fighting Tournament. Now I understand what you meant with but I WILL make you read. I absolutely loved this kind of scavenger hunt! People, don't wiki the whole thing, you'll miss all the fun :P --zeeZ 16:33, 31 August 2007 (UTC)

Yay! Someone has completed it! This is a one per character deal. Yes it is hard and I require you to have done a lot of playing to get this. I am happy it has been completed, and within the time frame I had guess too! (around 4 hours) - Linsey talk 18:25, 31 August 2007 (UTC)

SO linsey, do you have one yet? How about Gaile? Does she? I'm having a grand ole time trying to get spiritwood planks...estoldt 00:58, 1 September 2007 (UTC)

Yes I got mine this afternoon. I don't know about Gaile - Linsey talk 02:23, 1 September 2007 (UTC)

The Sorrow's Furnace was a nice touch at the end, didn't think I would ever see the inside of that place again, lol. --Lemming 02:27, 1 September 2007 (UTC)

(Reset indent) For the record, the drop rates for Skree Wings and Bog Skale Fins were not altered one teeny tiny bit during the making of this hunt - Linsey talk 20:12, 6 September 2007 (UTC)

Would it be possible to allow players to get a new copy of Zho's Journal whenever they defeat her without one in their inventory? -- Gordon Ecker 05:09, 11 September 2007 (UTC)

As per Linsey above, this is a 1 per character deal, if you can get more than 1 journal then you can get more than 1 Moa, so I'd have to say no. Dargon 13:35, 11 September 2007 (UTC)

Is there any chance of making Zho spawn more often in the norn tournament? I did complete the tournamen over 30 times today and still have to face Zho. I did some shorter runs on the norn tournament before but still have to face Zho. - Damadmoo 21:34, 16 September 2007 (UTC)