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Next Year: Can we have Halloween Rares on Oct. 31st?

Discussion in 'Release 35 Feedback Forum' started by Poor game design, Oct 31, 2016.

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  1. Drocis the Devious

    Drocis the Devious Avatar

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    Getting Halloween Rares off of mobs on Halloween night seems like a no brainer. :)

    Also, I'm hoping there's something special that goes into holiday related "stuff"...like special coal.

    Having a special Turkey recipe would be nice too.


    Anything that is super rare and you have to get by participating in the game is what I'm after. I love hearing stories about old UO and the coal that eventually got turned into some kind of rare armor component. We should be trying to replicate that.

    EDIT: And while I'm thinking about it...how about some holiday constellations that give a crafting bonus?
     
    Last edited: Oct 31, 2016
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  2. The Hendoman

    The Hendoman Avatar

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    i think they were all add on store items ;( No headless horseman no monsters, just flaming jugglers and other (used-less) stuff

    THE HENDOMAN
     
  3. Quenton

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  4. Black Tortoise

    Black Tortoise Avatar

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    The problem with limiting rare drops, or similar in game holiday bonuses, to the day of the holiday is the pressure it puts on people to play. I say this as someone with a lot of freedom of when and how often I can play SotA, its a difficult expectation to meet to be present on every holiday. There should be at least a 5 day window.
     
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  5. Odin BloodBayne

    Odin BloodBayne Avatar

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    I loved how you could trick or treat from merchants in that other old game from 1997. Be cool to bring that over. :D
     
  6. Drocis the Devious

    Drocis the Devious Avatar

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    I understand.

    The problem I have with the 5 day window is that it makes it a lot less rare. I'm ok with missing a holiday rare if it means things are really rare.

    It's like the thread where someone was complaining about dragon neck bones not being frequent enough. Well there's a reason for that, not everyone is supposed to have bone armor, that's what makes it special. I don't have a dragon neckbone. It's not that big of a deal. But if I really wanted one I could form a party to go dragon hunting, or just buy one off the open market.

    It's only when we start to give everyone a participation trophy that this stuff becomes meaningless. I'm not saying that we can't all share in the fun more often than not. But if there's nothing special in the world, then what's the point of all this? I want this to be a world where you just don't know what will happen next. My you'll get a dragon neckbone, maybe you'll miss out on a holiday rare. What's important is the stories that are told afterwards.
     
  7. Vagabond Sam

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    I believe the whole point of a season event is to reward everyone for participation.

    I also believe ultra rare items that reach near legendary status due to difficulty to achgieve or rarity in game are fun to play with.

    However, combining two good ideas is not always a good idea.

    For example, restricting this to Halloween day would mean it is a Monday event in Australia and we, by and large would miss out on the majority of it.

    Global games should have global sensibilities and is why most games celebrate Halloween for sometime up to halloween and not just during PDT.
     
  8. Drocis the Devious

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    Halloween would be on a Monday for everyone in the world, not just Australia. I think what you were trying to say was that Halloween CDT (Austin, TX time) would be on a Tuesday in Australia? But that's really besides the point. There are plenty of people that would just be out of luck. It's a lot like limited housing, not everyone is going to get it.

    I just happen to be home on Halloween this year so I could take my kids out trick or treating, where normally I'd be traveling for work. So I probably would miss out on some of these things. That's ok! The point is that they're rare and they have more meaning. When everyone gets the same thing, that's when we lose the meaning, that's when everyone's story is the same. This type of scarcity breeds diversity in story, and that's great for roleplaying.
     
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  9. Aimend

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    Halloween is on the 31st, every year. It isn't always a Monday and you would eventually be able to get something. Sometimes you would potentially have an advantage over me to get the item because it may fall on a weekend day for you and a working day for me....and it's not even your holiday. ;)

    This is also a US-based game. You have to expect to be dealing with some time zone issues if you live elsewhere. If up for a 24 hour period for a one day holiday event, you would have as much waking vs. sleeping time to get the rares as I would.

    I agree with the general idea of the thread. I'm pretty tired of the fact that anything really fun in the game is add-on store based. There have been some improvements with the crown vendors, the bone armor, and some of the newer furniture....but I think the game is still really lacking incentive to play. Super rares help with that. Would be fun if it were quest-based, too.
     
  10. The Hendoman

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    lol i think the 'super rares' are 30 minutes of gametime without some bug or lack of feature annoying the heck out of you. It drops now and then.

    THE HENDOMAN
     
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  11. Aimend

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    Talking about theoretical super rares that aren't in the game currently. There is very little in the game that qualifies for that now. ;)
     
  12. Berek

    Berek Portalarian Emeritus Dev Emeritus

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    A great idea, will let the team know! I'm not sure how much work it would take to get items in-game like this on a temporary basis, but we'll see.
     
  13. Cassandra Corax

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    That is very sad..... we all love a bit of excitement that cost only your time. I do spend real money in stores but it is too easy just to click and buy. I like what they are doing now in UO you have to go round and say "trick or treat" to all the NPCs to have a small chance of a rare item
     
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  14. Wintermute of CoF

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    It doesn't need to be. Instead of a just 0.1% chance of a rare drop on the day itself you could have a 0.05% chance that day, 0.02% the day before and after and 0.01% chance on the days either side of them. Gives more people a chance, retains the rarity.

    (Numbers are made up and not necessarily mathematically accurate)
     
  15. Drocis the Devious

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    I see what you're saying.

    I guess I feel like if you have a one day event you're promoting more of a social environment that supports roleplaying. I mean, Halloween isn't a 5 day thing, it's a one day/night thing and it's special because of that. After I took my kids trick or treating I had plenty of time to sit down for a few hours last night and be a part of Halloween in New Britannia. If we stretch that out to 5 days, it's a lot like the 15% black Friday discount, does anyone really care that it's about black Friday? No, because it's months long. It's not as special and there's very little actual connection to black Friday anymore. Yes, more people can participate, but the excitement is gone.
     
  16. Black Tortoise

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    [STRIKE]Ok, I agree with all of that, but let me emphasize the "holiday" aspect of what I was positing. Lets take christmas day, for example - plenty of players wont have access to their computers on that day. Or New Years Eve. Or 4th of July or whatever national holiday occurs in one's respective nation, etc. Youve made me focus on the fact that I am less against it just being available for one day only, and only have reservations about that one specific day being a holiday that most players observe. Im also picturing that "5 days" (or however many) would just lead to a few players figuring out how to get way more rares than intended, so thats not an ideal solution at all. Would something like "The Thursday before a weekend holiday" or "two-days-before and two-days-after a given holiday" work?

    I personally dont work traditional hours, and by trade typically have access to several computers wherever I am at, so could could reasonably be expected to sign on for an hour and grab my rare easter egg if I want it. I am sitting here thinking though, if I had a big family, or often traveled away from a game-capable computer on big holidays, Id probably have to do some mental juggling to keep it from occupying my mind somewhat while trying to be present IRL at a holiday happening.

    Then again its a slippery slope, cuz a large window makes things not-so-rare, and an arbitrarily off-holiday rare doesnt automagically work for everyone either (re: housing rush of R32...).

    Ah fiddlemewitz, maybe I should just accept it as is :).[/STRIKE]

    Oh, this is not a bad idea - scaling up to and down from the actual holiday-day.


    I diddnt read this sentence clearly the first time... ok I am sold on this :). Excellent viewpoint, I think I am in agreement now.
     
    Last edited: Nov 1, 2016
  17. Vagabond Sam

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    Without focusing too much on the specific details of this Halloween, in general one day events exclude or often conflict with

    Countries with different holidays
    Shift workers
    Retail workers
    Casual players that may miss announcements a we don't have a detailed launcher with upcoming news and events.
    People who play more then just shroud of the avatar and have schedule conflicts
    People who use specific holidays a family time

    The cool aspect of a day where more people log on concurrently is not in dispute.

    What i take issue with is putting the desire for some to have cool one day events over the ability for everyone to participate by arguing for a short term event that is difficult to plan around as opposed to making it 7 days long to ensure everyone has aweek to work with.

    People who can play daily aren't the only ones who have backed the game and i would hope the reward for them is inclusion in events.

    Rate items should be handled with exceptionaly difficult encounters, intense crafting and other non seasonal mechanisms.

    People shouldn't have to wrestle with whether they have to log into a video game during Christmas day
     
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