Solace Bridge Outskirts - Bloody Bones and Ghosts

Discussion in 'New Player Experience Feedback' started by Bedawyn, May 9, 2019.

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  1. Bedawyn

    Bedawyn Avatar

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    Hi, @Blarla, yes, they are two completely separate quests -- linked only by the fact that they both refer to Mistress Valdiss and both have the same problem: they can only be started by a hidden keyword. It's a simple keyword ("help"), but the fact that they have other marked keywords but not that one, while other NPCs do have "help" marked as a keyword, misleads new players into thinking that marked keywords are the only ones. I agree that this is a problem that should really be fixed to avoid confusing and leaving a bad impression with new players. Just a few weeks ago, I was helping another newbie who had found the ghosts, talked to them, but had no idea there was a quest there until I told him how to trigger it.

    I DO want NPCs to have "hidden" keywords -- the more keywords the better as far as I'm concerned -- BUT they should be limited to either unnecessary extra information, story flavor and lore that a player will appreciate but that won't harm them if they miss out on, or critical quest keywords that players are clearly lamp-posted to (i.e., a journal entry saying "I should return to X and tell them "This unique keyword"). Having common keywords marked on some NPCs but not others, and having quest triggers in general rely on anything inconsistent, is a big mistake IMO. If a newbie is using common sense and a reasonable degree of imagination and curiousity, and STILL can't get a quest to trigger without another player giving them specific instructions: That's a flaw in the game, not the player. If it's possible for someone to comprehensively explore every corner of a scene, interact with every object and NPC they can, and still not know there's a quest they haven't triggered, it's a flaw in the game.

    The Ebon Cultists is one way to get the book, but there are others. I'm not too thrilled that when they moved the location of the children over the summer, they also made the book clearly visible on the ground near them. Previously, Heloise had said that the children had a copy of the book, but putting it right there rather makes the whole quest pointless. I'd recommend at least changing the children's dialogue so that it specifies that their copy of the book was damaged. After all, they've been through a battle, a burning village, and now who knows how many weeks living outdoors in the rain, it would make sense for the book to be damaged so that they want a new copy. Much more logical than having them ask for a copy while ignoring the one right in front of them, or letting players complete a quest simply by picking up something right in front of them. And I believe strongly that once you've got the quest active, then killing Bloody Bones should ALWAYS drop the book, none of this random nonsense forcing people to grind. (Random drops are fine, I think, for people who don't have the quest active.)

    As for the ghosts, yes, there are four of them. I think part of the problem is that the first ghost many people will run into is NOT the quest-giver ghost. And if you talk to any of them before receiving the quest, you get a short, not particularly interactive dialogue which misleads you into thinking the ghosts are just there as decoration, little better than the "I don't tell my name to Outlanders" NPCs. So by the time someone finds the Forgetful Ghost, there's a good chance they're going to think there's not much point in talking to them. And then if they do talk to them, they run into the hidden keyword problem. It also doesn't help that some of the houses in the village are real while others are false facades -- every false facade a new player runs into makes them less likely to try to explore the other houses.

    As for finding the Forgetful Ghost... as you may have gleaned from the OP, I'm not big on spoilers. So I'll just say it is in the Abandoned Village, in a location that many newbies -- if they're actually roleplaying immersively and not just looking for things to kill -- might choose to skirt around initially. Certainly, based on the mob locations, I initially assumed it was more dangerous than it was, and was careful to go back there only after doing reconnaisance and picking the mobs off one by one.

    Just some of the many reasons that I remain convinced that, if they had to narrow starting areas down to one, Solace Bridge was the wrong one to pick. I still think both Highvale, despite the problems with the main Outskirts quest there, and Blood River are much MUCH better starting areas.
     
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  2. Blarla

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    Last time I played through Solace Bridge was over a year ago. So it has changed a bit and yes, the addition of the book by the children struck me as odd also.

    I know the hidden trigger for ghosts, or believe I do, but have never found the first ghost. I know it's there, I've scoured the whole village. I've actually turned every rock in Solace Bridge for hidden everything, so I am frustrated, no doubt. XD I've even read the ghosts location, but for me, today, it wasn't there. I shall persist with it again tomorrow. I'm determined.

    I completely agree about hidden triggers. I also very much want them, but also agree they should be for flavour, additional lore, players that enjoy digging deeper, like myself, but NOT for main questing. I also believe the other ghosts shouldn't appear until the three memories quest is triggered.

    Small additional, I've seen vids and read entries that say people get Bloody Bones' skull when they kill him. I didn't. I feel left out. XD
     
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  3. Anpu

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    I *believe* these only drop one time per character. However, I’ve never been able to get one to drop from another character. But I did get one from my main character a long time ago.
     
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  4. Blarla

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    I read that, 'drops once per character'. It is a new char I am playing with. But it is an alt, not my main, but I doubt that would effect it. But maybe this item is account based. Mystery. XD

    Ah well, not to worry. I shall return to it tomorrow and see if a fresh head will aid me.
     
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  5. Bedawyn

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    Hmm. I don't think I've ever gotten more than one skull per character. However, there is at least one veteran player who made a habit of stealing Bloody Bones' kills from newbies over the summer, and other than sheer assholishness, I can't think why they'd do that if they didn't have good reason to believe they could get a second skull.

    (Personally, I'd also bar any player who's already completed all the quests from returning to an outskirts area, at least one as small as Solace Bridge. At least Blood River and Highvale are large enough to accomodate a few high-level hunters and gatherers without preventing newbies from finishing their quests.)
     
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  6. Blarla

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    I returned to Solace Bridge Outskirts with a clear, rested head this morning and very diligently covered every house in the abandoned village and found that Forgetful Ghost and triggered the quest. Yay! And the quest ran smoothly and totally fine. It was easy to do, gave you all the information you needed with story, sailed through it. I am so pleased that is done.

    The current character I am doing Outskirts with is an alt and Bloody Bones' skull has never dropped for him. I've killed Bloody Bones many times with this char. Is it a % drop, is it worth persisting? I have never had a quest for Bloody Bones either.

    SB Outskirts is still saying I have 'Quest Available' so I need to work out what I am missing. The OP said something about a hidden object and trigger words for Heloise. I shall have to investigate that further as I haven't come across this myself.
     
    Last edited: Dec 3, 2019
  7. Anpu

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    Did you get the quest from the 3 kids for a book? You have to type the word help to them.

    Also see if you have any blue markers in there on the compass?
     
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  8. Paladin Michael

    Paladin Michael Bug Hunter

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  9. Bedawyn

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    Bloody Bones Skull -- Unless you really really want it for decorative or completionist purposes, I wouldn't bother persisting. In fact, if you ONLY want it for decorative purposes, I've got one for sale in Fallin' Green. :) But there's no real point to looting it unless you want the souvenir of your own kill. If you do.... Hmm. That one character got the skull on her first fight, but most of my Bloody Bones fights have only dropped rusty gear. Then again, most of my characters aren't adventurers, so they haven't sought him out. The impression I've gotten is that it's a rare drop but not THAT rare. He's one of the ways to get the Valdiss book (the object I was referring to), but it sounds like you already got that from the cultists, so no, there's no other quest for him.

    Other quests... The newbies I've watched always skip Heloise entirely and give their heirlooms to the fence, so that's one option you might have passed over. Also, there was a new interaction added to Private Preston recently. I wouldn't call it a quest per se, but it's something to do, so maybe the game treats it as one. You trigger that by saying his name to Kinsey or perhaps other guards in camp.

    On the other hand... I was under the impression that the Quests Available just meant there were quests in the scene, not uncompleted quests.
     
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  10. Anpu

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    Just confirmed and verified the markers on farmer Filmore (created a new character). You have to click or type the keyword alpha, to turn in the Alpha Wolf Head. Click or type the Betty keyword to turn in Bettys Collar. And lastly, click or type the cotton keyword to turn in 4 cotton to him.

    All markers on him cleared.
     
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  11. Blarla

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    I do really want the skull as a deco for my house. I'll keep trying to get it to drop as I often can't afford player market prices.

    I did both versions of the Heirlooms and the only quest I found for Preston was the one about calming him down. The Preston task, the Heirloom task and all three Filmore tasks are all things that Kinsey asks you to do even if you fail to find them organically from the characters themselves.

    I have done and completed all the Filmore tasks without a hitch, just the cotton one remained in blue markers even though I had cleared it all. Repeating the collection of the cotton didn't clear it, but offering him help again, even though he said he didn't need it, did clear the blue markers from the map. So all sorted.

    I asked in game yesterday evening if a scene marker changed to 'No Quests' once they were all completed and someone who said they had done all quests confirmed that all scenes for them stated 'No Quests'.
     
  12. Bedawyn

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    Hmm. Not sure what else you might have missed then. The painting is obvious, so I assume you've got that already, and Sigourney. Kinsey tells people about Sedgwick and about the alchemist's medicine. Roslyn and Quincy? The salmon? The blacksmith will give some people a quest to talk to Annika, but not others; I haven't figured out the pattern yet. Maybe the "Quests Available" won't clear until after you've turned in the report to Stanley?
     
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  13. Anpu

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    Did you speak to the kids and type the word help and get the bloody bones book quest? You HAVE to type the word help.

    I actually do not know how to get the medicine quest, other than from Kinsey. BUT if you have finished the main quest here, she will never give you that quest (I just tested that). :/

    Have you also spoken to the Alchemist for the zombie gland quest?

    I should make a list of all the quest in that zone...
     
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  14. Blarla

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    Oh, Kinsey did give me the medicine quest. I've done the questing a few different ways in this area over the years, this time I did them one by one from Kinsey, rather than going around and talking to people. Once Kinsey stopped giving quests, that's when I went hunting. So the quests up to and then from Kinsey gave me, in order is:
    - Seek Private Garridon
    - Meet Captain Kinsey
    - Talk About Heirlooms
    - Recover Heirlooms for Corporal Heloise
    - Tell Preston to Calm Down
    - Offer Help to Lord Langston
    - Recover Liliana’s Painting
    - Enter Shack
    - Give Painting to Proper Owner
    - Sell Heirlooms to Hartley (I have sold Heirlooms to both parties. Once to Heloise, then one to Hartley, then one more to Heloise).
    - Look for Rhoswen and Quentin
    - Learn Fate of Private Quentin
    - Investigate Source of Blood
    - Deliver Quentin’s Final Report
    - Offer Help to Sedgewick
    - Give 4 Maple Wood to Sedgewick
    - Give 5 Iron Ore to Sedgewick
    - Give 6 feathers to Sedgewick
    - Offer to Help Farmer
    - Kill the Alpha Wolf
    - In Memoriam of Betty the Chicken
    - Deliver 6 Pieces of Raw Cotton
    - Ask Alchemist for Medicine
    - Obtain a Fresh Zombie’s Olfactory Gland
    - Deliver Medicine to Kinsey
    - Search the Village for Kinsey’s Scouts
    - Tell Kinsey of Her Scouts’ Fates
    - Tell Kinsey about Ebon Dawn Ritual Master
    - Give Report to Stanley (Which I know is Soltown but because I got it in Solace, I went a completed this to check)

    Quests I have then gone and found are:
    - Get Ballard of Bloody Bones
    - Deliver Bloody Bones
    - Talk to First Memory of Three
    - Help the Ghostly Child Memory
    - Talk to Second Memory of Three
    - Help the Ghostly Adult Memory
    - Talk to Third Memory of Three
    - Help the Ghostly Wounded Memory
    - Return Memories to Forgetful Ghost
    - Talk to Annika in Soltown (Which again I completed just because I picked it up in Solace and wanted to see if clearing it would remove the 'Quests Available').

    Other small bits and pieces I've done that aren't technically 'quests':
    - Make arrows as instructed.
    - Salmon for Fleta.
    - Getting Fishing Guide, Utility/Free Attack/Deck Building Guides.
    - Killing Bloody Bones (MANY TIMES No skull drop sad times)
    - /flirt emote which I already had from my main char which I can't trigger on an alt

    So that is everything I have done and now most likely the most comprehensive quest list for this area on the internet lol But it still says 'Quests Available' on the scene Infobox so I must be missing something and I must know what it is. Please halp XD
     
    Last edited: Dec 4, 2019
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  15. Anpu

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    Thank you for posting that list! And yes, you have completed every single possible quest in there.

    I believe your original question was, solace bridge outskirts still shows quests available?

    Also, do you have any remaining blue markers when you go in there? Just wanted to check that.
     
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  16. Blarla

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    Well that is amazing news! I was close to pulling hair out XD I was sure I had done everything.

    I have no blue markers in there at all. Or journal entries for the area. I did have blue markers for a completed quest, but they have since gone, so I wasn't worrying about it.

    Yes the scene Infobox on the Novia map still tells me I have Quests Available in green. What I might do is send my main char back there. I don't think I have done all quests with her in this scene. Can't hurt to check it all over with her and see if it changes to No Quests.

    Thank you so much Anpu and others for helping me with all this, it is seriously appreciated. ^^
     
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  17. Anpu

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    The outskirts should show no quests now, in the overland map. That’s definitely would be a bug. I’m going to replicate that and report it later.

    You can now head to the other outskirts if that’s what you are going to do with that character. Can just head to the next one, or speak to Arabella, as she will direct you then to the next outskirts.

    Also, feel free to make a post about the other outskirts areas. I also know them very well.
     
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  18. Blarla

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    Think I found the reason to farm Bloody Bones, I am currently doing it to see if I can get this skull, I just got 5 Obsidian Crowns from lol
     
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  19. Blarla

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    Whereabouts can I get to your place? I might just take you up on that offer lol
     
  20. vulcanjedi

    vulcanjedi Bug Hunter

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    I have gotten 3 bloody bones skulls as drops when killing him on 1 character. I did set the skull as deco in my house so I didn't have it in my inventory each time.

    vj
     
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