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Magister_Returns · 10-03-2008, 11:18 AM

Eureka!, Part One

Twenty-six thousand four hundred twenty. That’s how many logs I chopped this weekend.

This number is personally significant to me, as it represents two days of casual weekend gaming. On Sunday, I had the “Eureka” moment: After chopping wood consistently since Mondain’s Legacy was released, I found my first Frostwood - ever.

Twenty whole logs. The math-inclined individuals in the audience have probably already calculated my percentage: 7.5700227100681302043906131718395e-2

For the casual gamers (of which I am one) that translates to 0.075% of this weekend’s haul. Granted, there are some other wood colors in there, most notably 2000+ heartwood (thank you, magic tree), but there is far too little Frostwood for this to be appealing to anyone who is not known as ‘The Man of La Mancha.’ For the record, included in my grand total were 60 bloodwood, or 0.225%.

Since the developers are already discussing negative perceptions of the resource system, allow me to weigh in with the following ‘Impressions of the casual gamer:’

1) The spawning system is borked. (I misspelled ‘broken’ there, then decided that ‘borked’ was a better descriptor.) There is a tree in Malas that never, ever changes from Yew. It has given ~240 Yew per spawn since day one of Mondain’s Legacy. I visit this tree regularly. I love this tree. This tree defiantly ignores resource randomization, and I admire its anarchist sentiment.

This tree tells me that the resource randomization code does not work.

2) The spawning system only helps scripters. I made finding Frostwood my personal mission. It has taken me several years to get 20 logs. This is ‘working as intended?’ I have gotten more Crimson Cinctures than I have gotten Frostwood swings with my axe. By rights, my 20 Frostwood should sell for multiple-millions of gold apiece, based on the amount of time it took me to find them. Instead, I can go to Luna and buy Frostwood for 100gp each from vendors with hundreds of thousands of icy blue boards for sale.

This tells me that resource randomization has made the rarest commodities too rare, and that scripters, not players, benefit.

Part Two of this post will detail a few potential fixes to make the system less burdensome for casual players.

~M

10-03-2008, 11:18 AM	#1 (permalink)
Magister_Returns He's Fing Matt Damon Join Date: Dec 2007 Posts: 686 Thanks: 10 Thanked 6 Times in 6 Posts	Eureka! There's Frostwood in them thar hills Eureka!, Part One Twenty-six thousand four hundred twenty. That’s how many logs I chopped this weekend. This number is personally significant to me, as it represents two days of casual weekend gaming. On Sunday, I had the “Eureka” moment: After chopping wood consistently since Mondain’s Legacy was released, I found my first Frostwood - ever. Twenty whole logs. The math-inclined individuals in the audience have probably already calculated my percentage: 7.5700227100681302043906131718395e-2 For the casual gamers (of which I am one) that translates to 0.075% of this weekend’s haul. Granted, there are some other wood colors in there, most notably 2000+ heartwood (thank you, magic tree), but there is far too little Frostwood for this to be appealing to anyone who is not known as ‘The Man of La Mancha.’ For the record, included in my grand total were 60 bloodwood, or 0.225%. Since the developers are already discussing negative perceptions of the resource system, allow me to weigh in with the following ‘Impressions of the casual gamer:’ 1) The spawning system is borked. (I misspelled ‘broken’ there, then decided that ‘borked’ was a better descriptor.) There is a tree in Malas that never, ever changes from Yew. It has given ~240 Yew per spawn since day one of Mondain’s Legacy. I visit this tree regularly. I love this tree. This tree defiantly ignores resource randomization, and I admire its anarchist sentiment. This tree tells me that the resource randomization code does not work. 2) The spawning system only helps scripters. I made finding Frostwood my personal mission. It has taken me several years to get 20 logs. This is ‘working as intended?’ I have gotten more Crimson Cinctures than I have gotten Frostwood swings with my axe. By rights, my 20 Frostwood should sell for multiple-millions of gold apiece, based on the amount of time it took me to find them. Instead, I can go to Luna and buy Frostwood for 100gp each from vendors with hundreds of thousands of icy blue boards for sale. This tells me that resource randomization has made the rarest commodities too rare, and that scripters, not players, benefit. Part Two of this post will detail a few potential fixes to make the system less burdensome for casual players. ~M