User talk:Tennessee Ernie Ford/Shortcuts/IotW Predictions

By trophy

I just added the amount of zones in which each trophy can still be collected. Should that help you, it can be found here. Kanda 19:19, 18 April 2011 (UTC)

thanks.  — Tennessee Ernie Ford (TEF) 19:58, 18 April 2011 (UTC)

areas without trophies

I think Scoundrel's Rise still has Bog Skale Fin and Half-Eaten Blob as potential drops. 76.164.71.104 18:56, 2 May 2011 (UTC)

HE Blobs are salvage items, so I don't mind that I'm missing that (he very rarely collects that item type). I took out Bog Skale Fins b/c Nick has already requested Herring, a derivative of those. While it's possible that Nick might request both, I think it's very unlikely.

Thanks for the note; I'm sure I've borked something else so please keep me posted.  — Tennessee Ernie Ford (TEF) 19:09, 2 May 2011 (UTC)

Ah, I learned something new, the distinction of trophy and salvage item. As sneaky as Nick's been, I wouldn't put it past him to even want us to craft a weapon for him, or something. 76.164.71.104 19:28, 2 May 2011 (UTC)

That's one of the few types of things he hasn't yet requested. He seems to prefer creating his own defenses (and giving away weapons) as opposed to asking us to bring him swords or what not. But, like you say, he's sneaky.

FYI the salvage items he has collected (also in a chart at the top of the article) are: Charr Hide, Luminous Stone, Roaring Ether Heart, Maguuma Spider Web, and Pillaged Goods.  — Tennessee Ernie Ford (TEF) 19:32, 2 May 2011 (UTC)

The Shattered Ravines

I believe the Dusty Insect Carapace is still uncollected and available as a trophy in that zone. 76.164.71.104 03:16, 10 May 2011 (UTC)

Ack! a DB would really be useful. Seems there are at least 2 more potential items left there, Giant Tusk and Sandblasted Lodestone. 76.164.71.104 03:26, 10 May 2011 (UTC)

re: Dusties: Thanks. Good catch. (Not sure how I lost it, especially since I was using an Excel-type db.) Back to the drawing board I suppose...but next week. — Tennessee Ernie Ford (TEF) 03:31, 10 May 2011 (UTC)

Stone Horns

I have a funny feeling you can't collect those in the Tears of the Fallen explorable. --File:User Chieftain Alex Chieftain Signature.pngChieftain Alex 19:18, 16 May 2011 (UTC)

I think I finally reconciled the two lists... but I was using very, very poor techniques to update this page. (I suppose I thought no one else would be interested, so wasn't worth investing too much my time to set things up properly in the first place. Fortunately, it's getting easier to double-check.)

Thanks for keeping me on my toes. — Tennessee Ernie Ford (TEF) 20:05, 16 May 2011 (UTC)

Feedback

I just want to give respect to your *massive* input to this site. Your name is everywhere, and I think thousands of users would be lost and confused without your guidance. Respect! -- Sirion Shadowblade

Thank you for the compliment and taking the time to post it. — Tennessee Ernie Ford (TEF) 16:37, 24 May 2011 (UTC)

Krait skins

Krait skins have been used for a few hours before Anet corrected something, lots of people did however have time to exchange gifts so I would guess that Anet considers that one used ( but you never know :) Godis 11:26, 23 June 2011 (UTC)

We will find out soon.

We know from game update notes that Arbor Bay was an incorrect location. I can't find the exact quote, but I'm 90% positive that one of ANet's staff admitted to manually doing this or that which caused Nick to be in an incorrect location. However, no one suggested that the item was wrong (only Nick's zone). Also: ANet went through a lot of trouble to setup Nick's route and his collections, so I don't think it's a trivial as all that to change items; even though they have had months to fiddle, they also have had better things to do. Consequently, Kanda and I both (among many others) believe that when Nick shows in Arbor Bay, he will (again) ask for Krait Skin. — Tennessee Ernie Ford (TEF) 17:25, 23 June 2011 (UTC)

"No resetting of the system in this case. His list of locations just got a little jumbled. Arbor Bay wasn't supposed to show up for another year-ish which would explain why the final text for it wasn't in that file. Heh. Let's never speak of this again. It gives me a headache just thinking about it. "

– Linsey Murdock at 17:30, 11 August 2009 (UTC)

If she meant 2 years, then we're on track. If she meant 1 year, then it looks like the rotation was changed midstream. (Which might also mean that Kanda and I have misled everyone.) – Tennessee Ernie Ford (TEF) 16:10, 19 September 2011 (UTC)

Insect Appendage

The listed area's are Boreas Seabed and Ettins Back, neither of which are associated to the item, and are both in different campaigns to that of the item. Someone might want to change it. 90.220.83.13 14:55, 28 August 2011 (UTC)

Thanks for the note. I believe these are fixed now (along with several other problems that I thought I had corrected long ago). – Tennessee Ernie Ford (TEF) 16:58, 29 August 2011 (UTC)

Since Nicholas collects trophies used for items

I made a list of the other items and where they can be found. What I've gotten:

Sunward Marches - Mandragor Roots, Chunks of Drake Flesh, Sentient Spores

Cliffs of Dohjok - Skale Fins

Both Sunward Marches and Cliffs of Dohjok - Iboga Petals

*Arbor Bay - Patches of Simian Fur, Incubus Wings, Sentient Vines

*Even though these can be found in Arbor Bay, he'll likely want Krait Skins since he requested those when he bugged.

Since you say it's okay to edit the page and you've already added Iboga Petals, I'm gonna add these other items to the lists as well. This'll probably mean the page will be a bit... reworked, perhaps more than you would like. If you don't like it or I've screwed up your system or whatever and such, go on ahead and revert it (not that I need to give permission for you to revert your own page :P). You may have other reasons in mind to not add everything to the page. Sorry in advance if it's too much. Leviticus Lo 13:33, 19 October 2011 (UTC)

You're correct that your updates are consistent with my last edit. My first thought was... nah, that's not all that likely. On the other hand, this week's request was pattern-altering. I'm inclined to put it down to ANet not paying attention...but that same logical illogic should apply to the other items you added. I'm rethinking whether to present the derivative-trophies with past-collected derivatives differently (e.g. Mandragor Root for a trophy whose derivative has already been requested).

Short story: well done & thanks for adding the relevant items and updating the relevant item counts.

Minor note, use [[Sentient Spore]]s instead of [[Sentient Spore|Sentient Spores]] — it's easier to edit the former style, which can be used when adding any type of letters after, e.g. plurals (add s or es), gerunds (add ing), tenses (e.g. add ed) and so on. The only thing wikicode cannot handle: when the adjective comes after the noun, e.g. Chunks of Drake Flesh requires the latter style.

– Tennessee Ernie Ford (TEF) 15:46, 19 October 2011 (UTC)

Probably not a bad idea. The color code thing, I mean. It'll help figuring out which ones are less likely to be chosen than others (more prominent in Cliffs of Dohjok with both forms of trophies).

Ah, alright then. Thought there was a better way to do plurals, but I couldn't remember it. Didn't know it worked for all that, though. Thanks. :3

And sorry if my edit made your list all screwy. xD; Leviticus Lo 16:42, 19 October 2011 (UTC)

Not at all — thank you. It was a good idea and I definitely would not have done it on my own. – Tennessee Ernie Ford (TEF) 16:50, 19 October 2011 (UTC)

New pattern

It may be way too early to assume anything. Nevertheless, Nicholas has so far visited three locations that were among the first he visited last cycle (#1, #12 and today #8). Maybe this might lead to some useful farming tip someday? Just sharing. Kanda 19:30, 19 December 2011 (UTC)

Yeah. The easiest thing for them to do would be to simply scramble the order. I hope they didn't stop at that, because (a) it's tedious to check against the original requests; (b) people seem to be losing steam (judging by the Wartower thread, this wiki's Nick talk page, Guild Wiki, and Guru); and (c) some of the original requests were odd and/or more annoying to farm than I suspect ANet expected. I'm waiting to see what happens when he shows up in an area where the request was rare mat, djinni essence, or a non-local item (when there were plenty of local choices available).

But maybe in the meantime, we should mark up the original list to show which farms were the worst, e.g. the top 10 things to store. – Tennessee Ernie Ford (TEF) 02:59, 20 December 2011 (UTC)

Well rare materials are easy enough to buy, especially while it is not item of the week. As for the worst farms, it may depend on the build used; however, djinni essence and roaring ether claws/hearts sure are on this list. My top list would also contain truffles, guardian moss, and of course pillaged goods. Kanda 20:45, 20 December 2011 (UTC)

Yeah, by worst, I meant the ones that are hard to farm no matter what build you use, where you go, or who's on the team. I assume you've seen Guild Wiki's item-of-the-week farming guide; it has a lot of tips covering our least favorite ones. – Tennessee Ernie Ford (TEF) 20:58, 20 December 2011 (UTC)

Desire for a Black Moa Chick

You've cleverly noted that Nic might be interested in hatching a Black Moa Chick and posited that he might need something to help him navigate Sorrow's Furnace. I note he collected Enslavement Stones (and doing so was one of the off-zone exceptions) ... maybe those stones could help? In his dialog at the time, he suggests his reason is "I have a good friend among the Deldrimor Dwarves who seeks to break the Stone Summit's hold over the Dredge." Couldn't contributing to that effort earn some friends who could help navigate the way to the Furnace? Just a random thought during my enjoyment of imagining Nic's possible motivations. It sure would be fun if he does ask for Moa Eggs ... perhaps instead of Tempered Glass Vials when in Mourning Veil Falls. -- ZeeWabbit 02:45, 20 December 2011 (UTC)

Re: enslavement stones. That's a fair point. The Dredge should be able to help him sneak in/out safely. (My observation about the incubator items was more wishful thinking: it would make a good story.) – Tennessee Ernie Ford (TEF) 03:03, 20 December 2011 (UTC)

Yep! The Moa Chick would make a good story and my observation is just to further your wishful thinking: since Moa Eggs need hardening, the perfect place to collect them is where you do just that. Not a big change on Anet's part, but a neat one. (Also note Moa Eggs fall pretty much into the same class of "drop" as Red Iris Flowers.) It would be really exceptional if, after all the pieces are collected, magically a Black Moa Chick appeared at Yakkington's side. -- ZeeWabbit 04:13, 20 December 2011 (UTC)

That would be fun, especially if it only appeared for ppls who had delivered all the necessary pieces. (And I do wish the Yak did something other than nuzzle one's hand.) – Tennessee Ernie Ford (TEF) 04:16, 20 December 2011 (UTC)

Feathery Items

Another feathery item that hasn't cought Nicks eye is the Feathered Crest... makes you wonder if some feathers in GW are more fitting as quills than others. But maybe he just enjoys scalping birds, for whatever reason Gaudy Gourd God 18:31, 18 January 2012 (UTC)

Nick reminds me of a tourist: he seems to take on faith anything the locals tell him...and spend a lot of effort to obtain every little geegaw or tchotchke that they mention (and then, he never seems to remember to hold onto them long enough to amortize their value). So maybe it's just that no one ever mentioned that type of feather to him. (Regardless of Nick's reasoning, thanks for the note; I've updated the article accordingly.) – Tennessee Ernie Ford (TEF) 09:42, 19 January 2012 (UTC)

LOL, I like that: Nicholas the Tourist. You're very welcome for the little note. I discovered these last time he wanted those Feathered Scalps on Shing Jea island, and in my naivety I thought the feathered crests were the same (could have told myself it couldn't possibly be that easy) Gaudy Gourd God 12:45, 19 January 2012 (UTC)

Most Annoying

Pillaged goods >> all the others lol. such a low drop rate. File:User Chieftain Alex Chieftain Signature.jpg Chieftain Alex 16:49, 31 January 2012 (UTC)