Just curious: How many players solve puzzles all by themselves?

Discussion in 'General Discussion' started by Kara Brae, Aug 12, 2018.

Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.
  1. Kara Brae

    Kara Brae Avatar

    Messages:
    3,872
    Likes Received:
    12,189
    Trophy Points:
    165
    Gender:
    Female
    Location:
    Bavaria
    It would interest me to know how many people solve the in-game puzzles all by themselves and how many, like me, rely on spoilers.

    I am really grateful for the players who provide the spoilers. For me those people are like extraordinary athletes. I deeply admire their accomplishments but I have no interest or ambition to do what they do.

    Private message to the players who provide spoilers:
    Hugs and kisses!!! xxxxxxoooooo
     
  2. Canterbury

    Canterbury Avatar

    Messages:
    1,458
    Likes Received:
    3,874
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Gender:
    Male
    In many games (so I'm not talking Shroud specifically here), I try and solve puzzles that interest me for some reason. Might be the story line, might be the nature of the puzzle itself.

    In Shroud itself, I never found the overall story line very interesting or any puzzle like content, either. I just wanted to get through it. So tended to use spoilers a lot when playing.
     
  3. MFWalter

    MFWalter Avatar

    Messages:
    117
    Likes Received:
    212
    Trophy Points:
    18
    Gender:
    Male
    Location:
    Texas, USA
    I always try the puzzles. More often than I like I end up looking for hints and solutions online. Tonight my group and I were in Boreas Colossus and we spent like 30 minutes on a puzzle before we gave up and Googled it.
     
  4. oplek

    oplek Avatar

    Messages:
    1,238
    Likes Received:
    3,017
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Gender:
    Male
    I usually try, but often get stuck.

    Middle downs... I couldn't make heads or tails of it. Spent hours (and was a little ticked when there was no reward at the end).

    Boreas Colossus... the one that got me was the chess part. I didn't know which way was "forward".
     
  5. FrostII

    FrostII Bug Hunter

    Messages:
    5,884
    Likes Received:
    11,033
    Trophy Points:
    153
    Gender:
    Male
    Location:
    Pacific Northwest
    There's a blessing at the end, IE +5 AdvLvl - for 3 days....
     
    Cordelayne and Kara Brae like this.
  6. FrostII

    FrostII Bug Hunter

    Messages:
    5,884
    Likes Received:
    11,033
    Trophy Points:
    153
    Gender:
    Male
    Location:
    Pacific Northwest
    My guild has a number of people who LOVE quests, and jump on them as soon as they're available.
    So, I generally just leech the spoilers off them........ :D
     
  7. Steevodeevo

    Steevodeevo Avatar

    Messages:
    1,431
    Likes Received:
    2,806
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Ashamed to say I'm not a puzzle guy, so I seek the rewards by immediately going to the solution online.

    Then I get annoyed with myself as quite often the solution is, in retrospect, self evident from the clues (sunless barrens), but my brain is not worked that way so maybe it's only self evident when I complete it.

    For example....
    I didn't notice the obelisks in sunless barrens, apart from the one on the island which I thought was just deco.
     
  8. Kara Brae

    Kara Brae Avatar

    Messages:
    3,872
    Likes Received:
    12,189
    Trophy Points:
    165
    Gender:
    Female
    Location:
    Bavaria
    It's interesting that you mention Middle Downs. That quest was the straw that broke the camel's back for me.
    I spent a whole day running around from mound to mound trying to make sense of the stones before finally resorting to the spoiler instructions. I then turned on shadows in my graphic settings and tried to see the shadows that were described. I spent days of in-game time trying to recognize how the shadows would point to a specific symbol on a specific mound at a specific time of day, but I couldn't see it. Finally, I just used the spoiler solution to solve the puzzle. The reward was not worth the time I spent trying to get it. I can't remember there being a blessing at the end, but I think I logged out of the game for over a week after that unenjoyable session, so I wouldn't have benefited from it anyway. I've started an offline game parallel to the online one, and my offline avatar just arrived at Middle Downs. The first thought that came into my head was "Nope! I'm not doing that puzzle again!"
     
    Cordelayne, FrostII, Brugas and 2 others like this.
  9. Lazlo

    Lazlo Avatar

    Messages:
    1,497
    Likes Received:
    3,223
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Some I do and others I don't.

    I like switch puzzle kind of stuff like Kiln Cistern because you're getting feedback while you're doing it, so trial and error has some value even though you'll finish much faster the more clever you are.

    I'm not so much into stuff like decoding a note, which turns out to be a riddle, which gives you some vague direction, which may or may not lead you to find some well hidden switch, etc. I don't like that kind of stuff so much because sometimes you have no idea if you're anywhere close to the right track up until you figure it out. I don't have any problem with that kind of stuff being in the game, but I don't personally have the patience for it like I used to.
     
    Kara Brae likes this.
  10. oplek

    oplek Avatar

    Messages:
    1,238
    Likes Received:
    3,017
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Gender:
    Male
    Yes, I got that. Not really a reward for the amount of time I sunk into it. A casual visit to any number of POTs with that devotional would accomplish the same thing. I would have been happy to get the 20g cash equivalent, if it was available.

    Even for a lower-level character, it should have been at least 3-5k gold, or equivalent value. And, of course, a one-time quest so it couldn't be farmed.

    Yes, if there was a ball of lint at the end, I suppose you could call that a "Reward"
     
    Kara Brae likes this.
  11. oplek

    oplek Avatar

    Messages:
    1,238
    Likes Received:
    3,017
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Gender:
    Male
    That was probably the first/only time that the game genuinely pissed me off.
     
    Kara Brae likes this.
  12. Steevodeevo

    Steevodeevo Avatar

    Messages:
    1,431
    Likes Received:
    2,806
    Trophy Points:
    113
    I think I would put more of an effort into puzzles from time to time if I was absolutely certain that they worked and worked as intended.

    This may seem slightly unfair and negative, but I've been playing since 2014-15 and I'm still a bit wary about investing time into puzzles and quests that I found in the end were broken.
     
  13. Spoon

    Spoon Avatar

    Messages:
    8,403
    Likes Received:
    23,554
    Trophy Points:
    165
    Gender:
    Male
    Location:
    Sweden
    I'd say about 75% and the other 25% by spoilers.

    Usually where I draw the line is when it is not puzzle solving anymore but instead tedious search through a scene kinda thing, which to me is more of a time sink.
    Typical example would be the virtue student quest. I would never do that on my own.
    While if there is a genuine thought process or a labyrinth to solve or such then I really want to do it myself and only go for spoilers when I'm truly stuck.
     
  14. kaeshiva

    kaeshiva Avatar

    Messages:
    3,054
    Likes Received:
    11,752
    Trophy Points:
    153
    Gender:
    Female
    I don't really do the puzzles here, because I find them less "puzzle" and more "vague running around finding obscure things."
    I'll give them all a good go, but when it becomes evident (as it usually does) that the puzzle is less about thinking/solving something and more about lawnmower-combing a zone looking for a well hidden clickable, my interest ebbs pretty quickly.

    I'll give examples:
    In Oracle Colossus, the first doorway puzzle, where you're meant to match master trainer names to elements and figure out an order - this was cool, engaging for a few minutes, and fun.
    In Oracle Colossus, the subsequent parkour-over-the-little-ledges-and-hit-levers bit I did once and every subsequent trip through there I skip it, its tedious and annoying and not fun.
    In Oracle Colossus, the third puzzle in the lava? Never done it, looked to be a pain the butt. I run through lava and heal through it.

    In Shaminian hills, the factory where you have to turn the doors on/off with the crystals? Mixed feelings. Liked doing it but was complete cheese if you went and picked up more crystals or had more players with you. Also, standing around waiting for the sun or shadow to hit a particular place is NOT ENGAGING GAMEPLAY. Its right up there with 'player schedules'. Nobody wants to wait 15 minutes doing nothing because of these mechanics. And don't tell me"immersion" - it is not immersive to tab out and play a browser game while you wait for annoying mechanic, that's the opposite of immersion.

    Then there's the "cilck the pillars" puzzle used in sequanna colossus and highvale outskirts and likely eleswhere....again, the only "puzzle" element of this is figuring out the order of the 4 elements on the door from the clues, which takes seconds. Then you spend 30 minutes combing the scene trying to find the statues and execute them in the right order. Yawn yawn yawn.

    I though the puzzles in Boreas Colossus were good. I found having a ghost corpion on your tail while trying to figure out one of them a bit unnecessary, didnt have time to stop and read anything. They were more thinking, less run around and find the thing to click.

    In North Drachvald Spur, (which is one of my favorite scenes, visually) it was same thing, run around and find the things and click them.

    In Shattered Hills the thing with the different colored power orbs? I spent hours in that scene, only ever did find one of them, the green one. I went through all the underground and even explored all the buildings/forest/etc. outside the crater and kept accidentally running out of the scene in the process...at this point I had pretty much made the decision that most of these puzzles awarded, at best, a 3 day blessing and a chest with <100g worth of loot so I didn't even bother with the spoiler for it.

    I think my favorite puzzle in the game was the one in Brittany fields with the clues "Invitiation to the Game" and you don't even get a reward for that really other than the papers and a handful of gold, it was just fun to do. Unlike most puzzles instead of 'arbitrarily stumbling across' the location you need you actually had clues, you know, something to solve, a puzzle.

    In conclusion, I find most of the puzzles in this game are not actually puzzles, they are 'go find the right spot through mostly arbitrary means and click something'. I'll spend a certain amount of time doing this, but keeping in mind that the potential rewards are often worth the same as what you'd get killing 3 mobs or less, I'm hesitant to invest more time in them, especially if they feel like chores and are not fun.
     
  15. Helvig Ingvildsdottir

    Helvig Ingvildsdottir Avatar

    Messages:
    609
    Likes Received:
    2,212
    Trophy Points:
    93
    Location:
    Helboer in Kahli
    I as a player hate puzzles. My character is intrigued by them, but really I myself cannot be bothered wasting my time trying to solve them. In other games, I get my husband to take over when there are puzzles to be solved that annoy me. Here, I am lucky and usually play in a group. Both my character's brother and her boyfriend love puzzles, so I simply tag along, roleplaying that I'm interested in the puzzles, while they have fun solving them. When they are not around and I need to solve one, I look in the forums and on youtube for spoilers. I'm grateful for them!
     
    CatherineRose, Olthadir and Kara Brae like this.
  16. Rinaldi

    Rinaldi Bug Hunter

    Messages:
    1,623
    Likes Received:
    3,792
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Gender:
    Male
    Hi Kara Brae!
    I enjoy solving the puzzles, and try to solve them without spoilers. Every now and then one stumps me :D.
    I test most of the puzzles in QA to help make sure they work before public release.
    Sometimes I do the puzzles alone, and sometimes I join a party and solve with others.
    I agree with @Spoon: I am not a fan of puzzles/quests that require you run to multiple zones to find some randomly placed items. I prefer puzzles that require some deductive thinking.

    Puzzles are not everyone's cup of tea, and trying to solve them can often lead to frustration and wasted time, which is why the Solutions to Puzzles & Treasure Hunts thread was created (thank you to all the puzzle solvers who have contributed so far!).

    @DarkStarr, @Lord British, @Chris
    Also, I wish they would give something more worthwhile for completing the puzzles. A few puzzles give 3 day blessings or a banner, but i think all of the puzzles should award something more worthwhile.
    The puzzles could award a unique crafting ingredient in each "treasure room", and one puzzle could reveal a unique recipe.
    The recipe and the unique ingredients would be used to craft a unique item (maybe a deco item that cannot be obtained any other way).
    Also, if you complete a certain # of puzzles, then you get a title (such as "Decoder" or "Puzzle aficionado").
    In essence, completing several puzzles would be a miniquest that would encourage players to seek out and complete these puzzles.
     
    Last edited: Aug 12, 2018
  17. Spoon

    Spoon Avatar

    Messages:
    8,403
    Likes Received:
    23,554
    Trophy Points:
    165
    Gender:
    Male
    Location:
    Sweden
    This is a grand idea.
    That a bunch of different smaller puzzles all give a clue about a Puzzle Master - like an historian with such an interest, like the one in Veritas.
    When you talk with the Puzzle Master you get a quest to complete X number of puzzles and then report back.

    Thus each puzzle in and of itself wouldn't need a big reward. Instead the puzzle master questline could give one at the end.
     
  18. Steevodeevo

    Steevodeevo Avatar

    Messages:
    1,431
    Likes Received:
    2,806
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Neat! 'The Puzzle Master'
     
  19. Fei Akhart

    Fei Akhart Avatar

    Messages:
    213
    Likes Received:
    674
    Trophy Points:
    30
    Location:
    Norstead
    I try to solve puzzles and when I get tired of doing this, I ask my wife who loves puzzle games to help. *lazy person* :D
     
  20. Floors

    Floors Avatar

    Messages:
    4,265
    Likes Received:
    6,621
    Trophy Points:
    165
    These kind of puzzles worked well in the days before the internet, because the only way you could beat them is if a game magazine talked about them or word of mouth

    (people used to play Ultima IV at my public libraries' Apple II computers in the late 80s for hours and sometimes we'd just go watch.)

    But now, yeah people just look them up on youtube. That's what I did, not ashamed to say.
     
Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.