The good:
Quests
I really liked having a variety of quests for a variety of players and characters. Last year sort of did that too, but since it was so Arkati-centric, I could see some characters not caring, whereas this year offered a few more "generic" ideas like saving animals or helping lovers reunite. Caligos got progressively better in that regard, coming a long way from its first year starting point of a one-track quest with no alternative.
I also really liked the quests' set pieces. The goofy alligator leg crates were delightful. Entering Elyssbeth's dream world was cool. Watching the ghost NPC descriptions change depending on the highest influence Arkati was fun while it lasted. Basically everything was good. Even building the boats was, I thought, done better than building the temple or building the village had been in prior years because of the messaging firing off.
Treasure Trove
The Trove was exciting with high end items while also not being stressful like the past year's hourly pulls. Honestly, that change alone made EG infinitely more relaxing from a player perspective than last year and I think staff has found the winning formula for at least the EG Trove. (Jury's still out for me on the best incarnation of the DR Trove. :P)
That said, I did miss finding a steady stream of raffle tokens last year in digging. Sure, I turned in almost all of those for seashells, but it was still a fun little thing to perk me up and break up the monotony. Maybe next year digging's new equivalent of T4 can just directly drop like 75-150 of the new currency. Either way, that's an issue with digging. For the Trove itself, thumbs up here.
The great:
Quest Items
Amazing. The conversions, fluff messaging, ambients, the change to be true x/days, everything. Even though I had asked in past years for there to be a way to make it non-Ghezresh-affiliated and even though it was said to be on the to-do list, I didn't expect there to be a slew of options--I just figured one Ghezresh version and one non-Ghezresh version would be enough, but instead staff went above and beyond.
I'm very happy to have at least one each of the Charl, Gosaena, Imaera, Lorminstra, and Niima versions, and even as I type this I feel a sudden tinge of regret that I didn't pick up at least one Luukos and Zelia for premium alts just in case I ever have a character concept that would work with those.
I know comparisons have always been drawn between this and the black ora heart--and, sure, the Caligos bracelets are nowhere near that mechanically. Still, it's incredible what a few key changes can do. I do expect to use them for one or two hunts per day once the Hinterwilds release, but more importantly, they're excellent fluff pieces. I'm already scheming how to incorporate them into macros and Lich scripts to create de facto two-part custom spell preps. :D
Eve of the Reunion
This item distribution method is by far the best I've seen yet for high-end EG stuff. The wording of posts leading up to it made me think it would be pure spinner luck, which probably would have led to most wins getting resold, but the actual method of picking from a list of items was thrilling and even heartwarming seeing people get exactly what they wanted.
Aside from having players pick, the most crucial aspect was the number of items, with 12 more available than the number of attendees. It could have only been 5 more if all the invites had gone out, but in future years I hope staff continues to have 10-15 more items to choose from. That's what made things so magical. Yes, I got lucky and was picked third, but I tracked what was chosen and can honestly say I could have gone last and still walked away with any of three items that were better than almost 90% of the gear I use.
I'm assuming/hoping the Eve returns, anyway. Please, please make it return. :P I'll hit trick or treating super hard if it's back.
Frankly, if it's possible, I'd love to see this distribution or something similar applied to the new version of the feeders next year. For example, maybe instead of directly digging up an item and hoping it's something we want, we could dig up invitations. Then each weekend, for the entire weekend, a room opens up for people to go and select one item. I'm just spitballing, but you get the picture: basically a way to cut out "unwanted jackpot that's cool for someone but not for me" syndrome.
Other observations:
Morning and Night Merchants
It felt like there was a shift, maybe not even intentionally, toward more morning merchants as some of the late nighters I've grown accustomed to like Farain, Jellybeard, or Tabica were missed. Even Goblyn was on earlier than usual and didn't start until halfway through merchant week.
Again, like the section title says, that's just an observation, not a complaint. EG is robust enough to have an amazing merchant week regardless, which is exactly what it did. Still, I do wish I knew in advance which merchants were and weren't expected to make appearances since I would have gone to sleep earlier most nights and been around for more hectic mornings. I'm not sure if that sort of list is even feasible to provide, but that's my thought.
Finale
I did significantly prefer last year's finale to this one, with everything going off in different locations. Yes, Veidae, Aoden, and Lucinne were technically around this year, but they didn't have anything to do besides go back home, which in any case seemed a bit silly/underwhelming when there was already a portal at the docks.
Some of the pre-finale discussion on Discord helped me understand why someone might not have liked last year's, since multiple stories could have been important to them. I like hard choices, but I get why others might not. Of course, the post-finale discussion on Discord also had people feeling like they were put on rails this year, so maybe there's no perfect solution.
In any case, though, "don't do anything and don't witness anything" is a pretty hard sell. It's what I did to stay true to character and I'm happy enough with it, I guess. My character can say she's one of the few who was on the isle yet didn't go, so there's that. It did mean that the finale just came and went for me with no investment, though.
Mechanical Raffles
Some mechanical raffle types that were staples of past EGs were strikingly absent, like bane, enchanting, rune tattoos, or Retser weapons. There were definitely still some good ones like the FancyGreaves enhancives or the profession-specific censers, but overall it felt sort of like a subtle shift away and even like they were shuffled into the September raffles for FotF and the CHE anniversary (because those, on the flip side, were far higher caliber than I expected).
That's not a bad thing. It's just a thing that leaves me wondering what the future state of high end mechanical raffles will look like. They definitely don't have to be at Ebon Gate--and, honestly, maybe it's better that they aren't at Ebon Gate so it attracts fewer people entering raffles just to resell. Still, I do think this caliber of mechanical raffles should be somewhere each year. Where that venue is, I don't know. FotF and the CHE anniversary worked this year, but obviously those aren't annual. Anyway, just something to consider.
Baubles
I'm torn about how quest participation works on the player end. I'll admit it can be a nice de-stress to do even repetitive things as long as the messaging is cool enough, and sometimes it can even be a nice break from other grindy things to switch over to this grindy thing. Still, turning in items by the thousands to advance the story feels like a bit much at times. If this continues to be the format, maybe scaling back the quest items to drop 10% as often (yes, this includes in trick or treating) but have ten times the impact would be more appealing.
Lesser Moods
They weren't here this year. Please bring them back next year so I can throw absurd amounts of currency at them. ;) (Hopefully after updates so they work with water flares!)
I could probably think of more things to say. Numerous appearances for everyone to get their ghezyte (and the considerate retraction of the surcharge on UAC because literally everybody forgot there was warning last year), frequent updates to the autoflarer upon request, fantastic souvenirs and plenty of them, the elesine cloth... I'll end it here, though, and just say thank you and EG was great. :D
LEAFIARA
RARJR
Re: EG 2021 feedback (tl;dr warning :P)
11/02/2021 12:40 PM CDT
As someone who attended the first EG and many since, I am disappointed with where the event ended up. I hope the replacement isn't another fluff fest.
HAZY
Re: EG 2021 feedback (tl;dr warning :P)
11/02/2021 01:50 PM CDT
I'll tack my little bit of feedback here.
Overall, I enjoyed the festival, shopping, merchanting, fishing and live games. Thank you to all the GM's for their hard work and better than ever communication.
That being said, my character(s) had their worst luck at an EG ever for this event. 1 raffle win for two accounts, 0 T6 jackpots, no trove wins and no invitations.
I did between 250-300 runs of ToT. And over 10,000 digs winning 8 T5 tokens and zero T6 jackpots.
Feedback specifically for Eve of the Reunion and Tot.
I like that it is held on the sunken Wave Dancer. I like the experience gained releasing the "ghosts" and I love the favor.
I think the invite system doesn't really work in all instances due to community size etc., while it makes sense due to player base size in prime, not sure if it does for the other instances. If there were invites that weren't distributed via the trick or treat method and were left over just prior to the the Eve of Reunion actual event than either the odds of finding one need to be adjusted or another method used entirely. In future, I think the number of invites an account can find should be limited to one per account.
Cheers!!
GS4-THANDIWE
Re: EG 2021 feedback (tl;dr warning :P)
11/02/2021 06:46 PM CDT
For what it is worth....
19 Invitations were found in Platinum
25 Invitations were found in Prime and 2 people decided not to show
I think the balance worked out well.
~*~ Thandiwe ~*~
SGM of Events
19 Invitations were found in Platinum
25 Invitations were found in Prime and 2 people decided not to show
I think the balance worked out well.
~*~ Thandiwe ~*~
SGM of Events
MOUNTAINHEART
Re: EG 2021 feedback (tl;dr warning :P)
11/02/2021 07:09 PM CDT
In general, I think EG is a good event for quests, RP, fluff, the favor item, and in the overall concept.
My main concern is with the return on investment for ToT and the minigames.
I had ~72,000 minigames (primarily the eel pull) with 12 T5 tokens (all common: air, steam, water, void, impact, acid, lightning, etc), and no jackpots or other wins.
I did probably 400-500 runs in ToT with the main result being a handful of raffle tokens.
Here's the quick math:
Cost of a ToT run: 250k per key (since that's what it's worth in game, the same as DR)
Total return on a ToT run: 86,250 silvers (estimating ~125 seashells at 450 per for
56,250, and one candy at 30k per)
For a player, you lose 65.5% of the investment just from doing ToT and there's nothing big to invest all of the seashells in. The chance of a jackpot is too limited to include it.
This is the basic reason ToT has only a few people doing it, compared to Duskruin. The Duskruin arena can generate at least 110% return on value at the same price point for tickets. (You can buy a 50ct book at 12.5m, make 13,750 bloodscrip, plus 1 million or so silvers from pawning the loot, plus the rare RPA drops, etc), and then spend the bloodscrip on useful mechanical features or x/day items, enchanting potions, etc, making it a FAR better return on value.
In order to get a return on value, and to pull more people to do ToT, the rewards need to be 2-3x higher in seashells. I would recommend simply making it 28-30 'knocks' instead of the current 8. That would also result in much better experience, although the number of fights could move to the ~25% range. One piece of candy, one raffle token or bauble, a chance at an invitation, etc, those may change, but it's not as big of a deal as the basic RoI for seashells.
For comparison, if you put that 250k cost of one ToT run into mini-games, you end up with roughly 746 seashells (335 per was what my average ended up as).
Mini-game RoI is not bad, since seashells maintain a 350 silver or higher value overall in the player economy so far. However, I would recommend increasing the drop rate of common flare tokens there by around 3-5 times. The limit on rare ones and jackpots makes sense, but not the common ones. Most are simply sold to the trove attendant now for 2500 seashells. The current drop rate limits tokens to people with tens of millions of silver to drop.
Anyway, those are economic criticisms, not RP ones. Hopefully we can find a good balance so that spending the Simucoins on ToT doesn't feel like a loss.
~Player of Fulmen Soulforge, Hammer of Eonak.
My main concern is with the return on investment for ToT and the minigames.
I had ~72,000 minigames (primarily the eel pull) with 12 T5 tokens (all common: air, steam, water, void, impact, acid, lightning, etc), and no jackpots or other wins.
I did probably 400-500 runs in ToT with the main result being a handful of raffle tokens.
Here's the quick math:
Cost of a ToT run: 250k per key (since that's what it's worth in game, the same as DR)
Total return on a ToT run: 86,250 silvers (estimating ~125 seashells at 450 per for
56,250, and one candy at 30k per)
For a player, you lose 65.5% of the investment just from doing ToT and there's nothing big to invest all of the seashells in. The chance of a jackpot is too limited to include it.
This is the basic reason ToT has only a few people doing it, compared to Duskruin. The Duskruin arena can generate at least 110% return on value at the same price point for tickets. (You can buy a 50ct book at 12.5m, make 13,750 bloodscrip, plus 1 million or so silvers from pawning the loot, plus the rare RPA drops, etc), and then spend the bloodscrip on useful mechanical features or x/day items, enchanting potions, etc, making it a FAR better return on value.
In order to get a return on value, and to pull more people to do ToT, the rewards need to be 2-3x higher in seashells. I would recommend simply making it 28-30 'knocks' instead of the current 8. That would also result in much better experience, although the number of fights could move to the ~25% range. One piece of candy, one raffle token or bauble, a chance at an invitation, etc, those may change, but it's not as big of a deal as the basic RoI for seashells.
For comparison, if you put that 250k cost of one ToT run into mini-games, you end up with roughly 746 seashells (335 per was what my average ended up as).
Mini-game RoI is not bad, since seashells maintain a 350 silver or higher value overall in the player economy so far. However, I would recommend increasing the drop rate of common flare tokens there by around 3-5 times. The limit on rare ones and jackpots makes sense, but not the common ones. Most are simply sold to the trove attendant now for 2500 seashells. The current drop rate limits tokens to people with tens of millions of silver to drop.
Anyway, those are economic criticisms, not RP ones. Hopefully we can find a good balance so that spending the Simucoins on ToT doesn't feel like a loss.
~Player of Fulmen Soulforge, Hammer of Eonak.
MOUNTAINHEART
Re: EG 2021 feedback (tl;dr warning :P)
11/02/2021 07:13 PM CDT
In terms of increasing seashell demand, there needs to be some more things to spend seashells on in the Junker, so there should be a few more good items to buy, perhaps some great EG-only scripts to unlock.
For example, horror-themed fluff scripts like greater moods that could be added to items, horror-focused skeletal battle scripts that do things like activate "Grasp of the Grave" (etc) on flares for armor or weapons, some "bless-style setting the dead to rest" battle scripts that boost damage vs undead and improve defense against Sheer Fear.
There could be more unlock certificates for Voln armor or items to resist Sheer Fear, adding enhancements to Greater Undead Bane, adding Sanctification, and adding Bless or Holy Water Flare alterations for neat customizations.
There could also be a new "Bless" script that adds holy water or holy plasma flares to a blessed item or otherwise stacks with undead bane, or other functional things for 100-500k seashells via certificates in the Junker.
Some nice heavy-duty script items for Lorminstra and the "Ebon Gate" would be cool too. 1x/day self-chrism items...things like that.
Adding the WPS wagon at EG for seashells would also be great.
I know EG isn’t supposed to be DR, but that doesn’t really work for player interest or the willingness to spend money on simucoins. There has to be more of an economic draw.
~Player of Fulmen Soulforge, Hammer of Eonak.
For example, horror-themed fluff scripts like greater moods that could be added to items, horror-focused skeletal battle scripts that do things like activate "Grasp of the Grave" (etc) on flares for armor or weapons, some "bless-style setting the dead to rest" battle scripts that boost damage vs undead and improve defense against Sheer Fear.
There could be more unlock certificates for Voln armor or items to resist Sheer Fear, adding enhancements to Greater Undead Bane, adding Sanctification, and adding Bless or Holy Water Flare alterations for neat customizations.
There could also be a new "Bless" script that adds holy water or holy plasma flares to a blessed item or otherwise stacks with undead bane, or other functional things for 100-500k seashells via certificates in the Junker.
Some nice heavy-duty script items for Lorminstra and the "Ebon Gate" would be cool too. 1x/day self-chrism items...things like that.
Adding the WPS wagon at EG for seashells would also be great.
I know EG isn’t supposed to be DR, but that doesn’t really work for player interest or the willingness to spend money on simucoins. There has to be more of an economic draw.
~Player of Fulmen Soulforge, Hammer of Eonak.
ATALYCUS
WORDMAGIC
Re: EG 2021 feedback
11/02/2021 10:22 PM CDT
Highlights and thoughts
Very grand: Eve of the Reunion
Thank you for offering this event instead of Whale of Fortune, it is substantially more palatable. Even though I was not a lucky winner from my giftbox runs, it was fantastic seeing many non whale names win an invitation this year. This was really heartening to see the love spread around during the high end event for Ebon Gate, thank you for all of the time and preparation that went into this new system. What a huge improvement over last year in this regard! Two thumbs up.
I am also dying with glee over the storytelling box. What a fantastic Illistim elf trinket! Mega squee at this. <3 Thank you to Melivn for gifting such, tickled pink.
Very grand: Fishing
The ability to turn in those T5 eel flare messaging vellums for seashells made me return to fishing at Ebon Gate. While it happened quite late in the month, I supremely enjoyed that last week of fishing and seeing all the brilliant sorcerer spell preps that came out presumably last year. Really lovely preps, I am having a difficult time even choosing which ones to use! Super kudos on redeeming the other T5 option into something any player could use, just like the egg had always been. This became a really enjoyable bright point of my last week participating in EG.
Pretty good: Merchant Week
This year I bought a single service pass and didn't have very good spinner luck at all on Treeva. For a clarifying example, this year I ended up with just under half the services of past years, with similar hours put in. Thankfully, my playing partner Melivn bought multiple passes and as a result, I finished my alter list with a couple days to spare thanks to his amazing giving nature and huge hours spent.
There were a good amount of merchants no doubt, so I'd extend ready praise to this. Multiple of our usual dedicated merchants were just as amazingly devout and attentive. It seemed really focused on earlier morning hours this year though, even during the weekdays proper. This is not prime time, and definitely not a window most players have available to actively merchant/play.
I very much missed Retser merchants, and general night merchants, it felt more quiet than usual after 10pm ish, est. Veola's were ridiculously fabulous as per usual, Oirisu is somehow always on top of her alter game, even hours deep into a session.
Okay: Raffles
Several of the staple raffles I was expecting to see such as bane, enchanting, custom familiar, were not present. It seemed like raffles were a bit low compared to last year, and hearing it was 20 below last year isn't surprising. That was noticeably felt. There were some really excellent staples that did go out, such as custom verbs and swears, and in fairly good volume. Thank you kindly to to GMs who kept their raffle prices reasonable, keeping in mind that not everyone has millions to casually dump gambling on raffles, and the spirit intended is to be viable for even a casual player to enter without angst.
Didn't participate: Digging/Minigaming
After being burned for 4 years straight investing in far too many weekly gaming passes, I skipped this entirely and felt hugely better about Ebon Gate as a result. I slept more, I spent time playing different games actively instead of watching repetitive screen scroll. My Path of Exile league character is 85! I bought seashells from other players at 350 coins per and considered these silvers well spent.
Didn't participate beyond giftboxes: ToT
The return just isn't here, and I strongly dislike the gambling on a layer of gambling. DSD didn't do it for me either, and I remain genuinely amazed players spent money on this.
Bummed: Finale
Last year I had a blast doing the finale with Lucinne and the other few Luukos interested attendees who were present. It was small and intimate, had great 5th element threads and felt like I could actively participate and follow. This year seemingly you had to attend the eel finale to participate on the 31st, and my character had no desire to assist with eel jesus. My MHO was splendid and faithfully posted the initial highlights leading up to the game crash, so I lived a bit vicariously through this.
Bummed: Arena of the Abyss
At least I saved a whole lot of seashells going far, far less hard this year.
In summary: Fare thee well Caligos Isle! May the next grounds not have water tunnels that break groups and may the prize wall be insanely more abundant and compelling for whatever the next seashells are. Please offer less gambling methods to obtain items desired, and more straightforward paths to item rewards via playing the game in an immersive fashion.
Praise be to the staff who continue to run Ebon Gate. It is an event unto itself, and I hope that tradition continues.
~Amanda, player of Treeva
Very grand: Eve of the Reunion
Thank you for offering this event instead of Whale of Fortune, it is substantially more palatable. Even though I was not a lucky winner from my giftbox runs, it was fantastic seeing many non whale names win an invitation this year. This was really heartening to see the love spread around during the high end event for Ebon Gate, thank you for all of the time and preparation that went into this new system. What a huge improvement over last year in this regard! Two thumbs up.
I am also dying with glee over the storytelling box. What a fantastic Illistim elf trinket! Mega squee at this. <3 Thank you to Melivn for gifting such, tickled pink.
Very grand: Fishing
The ability to turn in those T5 eel flare messaging vellums for seashells made me return to fishing at Ebon Gate. While it happened quite late in the month, I supremely enjoyed that last week of fishing and seeing all the brilliant sorcerer spell preps that came out presumably last year. Really lovely preps, I am having a difficult time even choosing which ones to use! Super kudos on redeeming the other T5 option into something any player could use, just like the egg had always been. This became a really enjoyable bright point of my last week participating in EG.
Pretty good: Merchant Week
This year I bought a single service pass and didn't have very good spinner luck at all on Treeva. For a clarifying example, this year I ended up with just under half the services of past years, with similar hours put in. Thankfully, my playing partner Melivn bought multiple passes and as a result, I finished my alter list with a couple days to spare thanks to his amazing giving nature and huge hours spent.
There were a good amount of merchants no doubt, so I'd extend ready praise to this. Multiple of our usual dedicated merchants were just as amazingly devout and attentive. It seemed really focused on earlier morning hours this year though, even during the weekdays proper. This is not prime time, and definitely not a window most players have available to actively merchant/play.
I very much missed Retser merchants, and general night merchants, it felt more quiet than usual after 10pm ish, est. Veola's were ridiculously fabulous as per usual, Oirisu is somehow always on top of her alter game, even hours deep into a session.
Okay: Raffles
Several of the staple raffles I was expecting to see such as bane, enchanting, custom familiar, were not present. It seemed like raffles were a bit low compared to last year, and hearing it was 20 below last year isn't surprising. That was noticeably felt. There were some really excellent staples that did go out, such as custom verbs and swears, and in fairly good volume. Thank you kindly to to GMs who kept their raffle prices reasonable, keeping in mind that not everyone has millions to casually dump gambling on raffles, and the spirit intended is to be viable for even a casual player to enter without angst.
Didn't participate: Digging/Minigaming
After being burned for 4 years straight investing in far too many weekly gaming passes, I skipped this entirely and felt hugely better about Ebon Gate as a result. I slept more, I spent time playing different games actively instead of watching repetitive screen scroll. My Path of Exile league character is 85! I bought seashells from other players at 350 coins per and considered these silvers well spent.
Didn't participate beyond giftboxes: ToT
The return just isn't here, and I strongly dislike the gambling on a layer of gambling. DSD didn't do it for me either, and I remain genuinely amazed players spent money on this.
Bummed: Finale
Last year I had a blast doing the finale with Lucinne and the other few Luukos interested attendees who were present. It was small and intimate, had great 5th element threads and felt like I could actively participate and follow. This year seemingly you had to attend the eel finale to participate on the 31st, and my character had no desire to assist with eel jesus. My MHO was splendid and faithfully posted the initial highlights leading up to the game crash, so I lived a bit vicariously through this.
Bummed: Arena of the Abyss
At least I saved a whole lot of seashells going far, far less hard this year.
In summary: Fare thee well Caligos Isle! May the next grounds not have water tunnels that break groups and may the prize wall be insanely more abundant and compelling for whatever the next seashells are. Please offer less gambling methods to obtain items desired, and more straightforward paths to item rewards via playing the game in an immersive fashion.
Praise be to the staff who continue to run Ebon Gate. It is an event unto itself, and I hope that tradition continues.
~Amanda, player of Treeva
LUXELLE
Re: EG 2021 feedback (tl;dr warning :P)
11/02/2021 10:22 PM CDT
Ebon Gate Feedback:
Caligos:
This was the most unexpected venue and storyline, and I have been delighted and horrified by it from the moment I stepped on the Isle the first time. It gave Luxie time to learn more of, and consider, her Ashrim bloodline. It gave her an opportunity to grow more in tune with Ancestors whose stories she never learned before.
She brought all the tales home in her heart. It changed her.
I thank you for the time spent on expanding this lore and making her backstory even deeper. I'm waiting to be able to choose Ashrim culture ANY WEEK NOW for the bardess!
It was with both a sense of loss and a sense of relief that she greeted the Stormlord's cleansing of Caligos Isle. Again.
STUFFS:
Luxie stalked Keilipso around and sang to the artist's paintings for a number of years. It was quite the connection, at least in Luxie's heart.
Much <3 for her, and for the other loresongs of Caligos with their incredible history. I know some disappeared by the last year, but ... Luxie knew where they belonged.
I was especially appreciative of the return of beloved and familiar merchants to this new EG Venue. Some I might only see once a year, but they are STILL SPECIAL :) Plus, now we made new favorite merchants to look forward to for the next Festival Grounds!
The communication, for the most part, was transparent and very clear this year. I do not know about anyone else, but that sure helped MY stress level at the Festival. so thank you ever so much.
Extra love for Bards at Caligos: bringing back the animated music stands and master instruments for bards only was absolutely wonderful!
I felt like I got spun more times this year for GALD/merchants than last year, but that may just be my perception.
The People:
I saw acts of extraordinary generosity, kindness of spirit, and great fun amoung the festival goers. It makes my heart all warm and fuzzy!
The Junker:
Thanks for it! I think it actually may need more stuffs in it! I came home this time with nearly 10,000 seashells still in my pockets!
The Trove:
By the time the last week of EG 2020 got there, I was ready to burn the Trove down. Thank you for the once a day drawings this year. It might be awesome to have it continue for more than 10 days next time, though.
The Quest/s:
There were so many quest options this year it was confusing. I mean, I lived through it, figured it out, dealt with it. But it really was a lot.
That said, over the 5 years at Caligos, I went from feeling irritated and betrayed during year 1 ... to hopeful at year two. Luxie made RP decisions early on based on what was learned during the loresongs she heard that first year. I generally did not participate in the actual questing times, it is just the wrong time of night for me. But I kept a watch on it all! I remained hopeful until this year when the news broke that those bracelets could be de-eelified. And if that was ALL that happened this year, it would have been a great success.
But not only did we get to save the village this year, we were able to help save the wildlife, restore Jothi and his Captain (ohmygosh, that was sweetest thing ever!), free the unicorns (someone tell me again why Lord Ronan was not in on the bracelet, He'd SO care about that dream-mess and the unicorns!), and coax folks to safety.
I was already getting misty-eyed about leaving before the last night, and I kept checking on Keilipso, but we were down to the one last stormy night, and there she was, still painting. I tarried for a while. Mister Corpip joined me. I left for errands. An hour or so later, I returned and he was still there with our Artist of Truths. And she was still just painting away, paying no one any attention.
Until she was. And I got to witness the most cry-worthy scene of all of the Ebon Gates ever. She refused to go with Mister Corpip. I mean, several of us tried really hard. No. She had something to do that was important, hinting that she had been giving instructions from the Moon about how to stop the Eel. And bade the Little Dragon farewell. And charged us with keeping him safe. All I could do through my tears was recognize her self-sacrifice and promise to get him to safety.
And her part in that night remains yet an unknown in all the finale stories of that even. Thank you all for making that interaction special. I certainly was no little dragon, but I was very invested in the artist who painted with the truth. There, I am going to get misty eye-just thinking of her and Mister Corpip. Onwards!
The Eve of Reunion:
I thought your distribution of invitations was as fair as any other way to do it. Maybe 25 was sort of too few, but I had no complaints.
The Raffles:
There was ONE I had my heart set on. But it was not to be. I felt like there were fewer raffles this year, though. The high cost of 2020 raffles trickled down to my raffle participation this year and I did not buy many tickets. I only purchased a raffle ticket for things I measurably cared about. Luxie's bank account thanks you for both the reduced prices and her new outlook on raffles.
The Candy:
Ohmygosh, I am not sure whether candy is more of a brain twister or a wrist breaker. I gave up on it the first year, and just sell my bag of candy to someone. It is WAY too complicated and drudgery-inducing to deal with. I should not need to learn how to cross reference a matrix to earn a reward for knocking on doors. Please make candy easier to deal with. Pretty please.
The Merchants:
When over 100 people show up for a single GALD ... maybe there are not enough merchant visits during the year. Aside from that observation, the Merchants were enchanting and delightful. You know, except for the ones who were not supposed to be. Then they were ... enchanting in their own special way? :)
Seashells:
I still don't see enough things to spend seashells on for those of us who are not high-rollers and working on 6 digit seashell piles.
Digging and Games:
I bought a single week's gaming pass this year. No regrets. I'm strictly a casual digger/mini-games player. But I DO wonder if there is a place for a month-long game pass for casual use. Maybe good for X/day digs/games? Then you do not feel like you must do all your digging one week.
Jackpots and Prizes:
... I am rarely lucky enough to win these things, but much of the fun seemed to have been sucked out of digging and mini-games with the stripping out of all but the top wins the last couple years.
Trick Or Treat:
I did not do as many keys this year as last year. It ... was more fun than diving and searching, though!
Treasure Piles:
Please consider some way to be able to buy a thing you want from the 3 smallest piles, or even the 2 smallest ones, instead of standing there for hours, hoping for a notecard. (I found one notecard.) :( Also, on the subject, the treasure pull rooms need a wastebin. And items from them are marked as not pawn-able. :( So much sad about that.
Unlocks:
I think unlocks of Ebon Gate items need to be made more plentiful. I know many are on the Junker already, and that was a great move. But waiting, and not getting spun, for single visits by merchants was not fun.
Schedule of Merchants:
I was so happy to see quite a few schedules of merchant visits in advance this year, but it would be so much better of a festival if we knew when to expect THAT SPECIAL MERCHANT, so affairs out there in the real world can continue as normal. Or as normal as they can be during Merchant Week :)
Communication:
There were a couple double-take moments of short notice towards the end of the storylines and quests which nobody was prepared for. I certainly had never been to an Ebon Gate where all the activities were not supported til the closing day. Advance notice from the beginning of the festival about such deadlines would have made that a lot smoother for those affected.
SimuCoin Shop:
Someone left money on the table with the early closure of passes for sale.
All in all, these observations are small details that are easy to fix. If this is the worst list of "complaints" someone can have about a huge event ... you are REALLY doing something right!
Thank you to all the staff for an incredible run on Caligos!
And a HUGE Thank you to the TownCrier Team members that kept us updated with the headlines every day and made it possible to for anyone interested in the goings on at Ebon Gate to stay well informed.
/Signed:
L&K,
She who is the soul of Luxie
--
ESP TUNE TOWNCRIER or ;tune towncrier
Web: http://gstowncrier.com/
Daily Email: gstowncrier.com/subscribe/
gstowncrier.com/where-to-find-the-towncrier/
Send in news: https://bit.ly/2ISsz2l
P.S. Help Wanted, Inquire Within
Caligos:
This was the most unexpected venue and storyline, and I have been delighted and horrified by it from the moment I stepped on the Isle the first time. It gave Luxie time to learn more of, and consider, her Ashrim bloodline. It gave her an opportunity to grow more in tune with Ancestors whose stories she never learned before.
She brought all the tales home in her heart. It changed her.
I thank you for the time spent on expanding this lore and making her backstory even deeper. I'm waiting to be able to choose Ashrim culture ANY WEEK NOW for the bardess!
It was with both a sense of loss and a sense of relief that she greeted the Stormlord's cleansing of Caligos Isle. Again.
STUFFS:
Luxie stalked Keilipso around and sang to the artist's paintings for a number of years. It was quite the connection, at least in Luxie's heart.
Much <3 for her, and for the other loresongs of Caligos with their incredible history. I know some disappeared by the last year, but ... Luxie knew where they belonged.
I was especially appreciative of the return of beloved and familiar merchants to this new EG Venue. Some I might only see once a year, but they are STILL SPECIAL :) Plus, now we made new favorite merchants to look forward to for the next Festival Grounds!
The communication, for the most part, was transparent and very clear this year. I do not know about anyone else, but that sure helped MY stress level at the Festival. so thank you ever so much.
Extra love for Bards at Caligos: bringing back the animated music stands and master instruments for bards only was absolutely wonderful!
I felt like I got spun more times this year for GALD/merchants than last year, but that may just be my perception.
The People:
I saw acts of extraordinary generosity, kindness of spirit, and great fun amoung the festival goers. It makes my heart all warm and fuzzy!
The Junker:
Thanks for it! I think it actually may need more stuffs in it! I came home this time with nearly 10,000 seashells still in my pockets!
The Trove:
By the time the last week of EG 2020 got there, I was ready to burn the Trove down. Thank you for the once a day drawings this year. It might be awesome to have it continue for more than 10 days next time, though.
The Quest/s:
There were so many quest options this year it was confusing. I mean, I lived through it, figured it out, dealt with it. But it really was a lot.
That said, over the 5 years at Caligos, I went from feeling irritated and betrayed during year 1 ... to hopeful at year two. Luxie made RP decisions early on based on what was learned during the loresongs she heard that first year. I generally did not participate in the actual questing times, it is just the wrong time of night for me. But I kept a watch on it all! I remained hopeful until this year when the news broke that those bracelets could be de-eelified. And if that was ALL that happened this year, it would have been a great success.
But not only did we get to save the village this year, we were able to help save the wildlife, restore Jothi and his Captain (ohmygosh, that was sweetest thing ever!), free the unicorns (someone tell me again why Lord Ronan was not in on the bracelet, He'd SO care about that dream-mess and the unicorns!), and coax folks to safety.
I was already getting misty-eyed about leaving before the last night, and I kept checking on Keilipso, but we were down to the one last stormy night, and there she was, still painting. I tarried for a while. Mister Corpip joined me. I left for errands. An hour or so later, I returned and he was still there with our Artist of Truths. And she was still just painting away, paying no one any attention.
Until she was. And I got to witness the most cry-worthy scene of all of the Ebon Gates ever. She refused to go with Mister Corpip. I mean, several of us tried really hard. No. She had something to do that was important, hinting that she had been giving instructions from the Moon about how to stop the Eel. And bade the Little Dragon farewell. And charged us with keeping him safe. All I could do through my tears was recognize her self-sacrifice and promise to get him to safety.
And her part in that night remains yet an unknown in all the finale stories of that even. Thank you all for making that interaction special. I certainly was no little dragon, but I was very invested in the artist who painted with the truth. There, I am going to get misty eye-just thinking of her and Mister Corpip. Onwards!
The Eve of Reunion:
I thought your distribution of invitations was as fair as any other way to do it. Maybe 25 was sort of too few, but I had no complaints.
The Raffles:
There was ONE I had my heart set on. But it was not to be. I felt like there were fewer raffles this year, though. The high cost of 2020 raffles trickled down to my raffle participation this year and I did not buy many tickets. I only purchased a raffle ticket for things I measurably cared about. Luxie's bank account thanks you for both the reduced prices and her new outlook on raffles.
The Candy:
Ohmygosh, I am not sure whether candy is more of a brain twister or a wrist breaker. I gave up on it the first year, and just sell my bag of candy to someone. It is WAY too complicated and drudgery-inducing to deal with. I should not need to learn how to cross reference a matrix to earn a reward for knocking on doors. Please make candy easier to deal with. Pretty please.
The Merchants:
When over 100 people show up for a single GALD ... maybe there are not enough merchant visits during the year. Aside from that observation, the Merchants were enchanting and delightful. You know, except for the ones who were not supposed to be. Then they were ... enchanting in their own special way? :)
Seashells:
I still don't see enough things to spend seashells on for those of us who are not high-rollers and working on 6 digit seashell piles.
Digging and Games:
I bought a single week's gaming pass this year. No regrets. I'm strictly a casual digger/mini-games player. But I DO wonder if there is a place for a month-long game pass for casual use. Maybe good for X/day digs/games? Then you do not feel like you must do all your digging one week.
Jackpots and Prizes:
... I am rarely lucky enough to win these things, but much of the fun seemed to have been sucked out of digging and mini-games with the stripping out of all but the top wins the last couple years.
Trick Or Treat:
I did not do as many keys this year as last year. It ... was more fun than diving and searching, though!
Treasure Piles:
Please consider some way to be able to buy a thing you want from the 3 smallest piles, or even the 2 smallest ones, instead of standing there for hours, hoping for a notecard. (I found one notecard.) :( Also, on the subject, the treasure pull rooms need a wastebin. And items from them are marked as not pawn-able. :( So much sad about that.
Unlocks:
I think unlocks of Ebon Gate items need to be made more plentiful. I know many are on the Junker already, and that was a great move. But waiting, and not getting spun, for single visits by merchants was not fun.
Schedule of Merchants:
I was so happy to see quite a few schedules of merchant visits in advance this year, but it would be so much better of a festival if we knew when to expect THAT SPECIAL MERCHANT, so affairs out there in the real world can continue as normal. Or as normal as they can be during Merchant Week :)
Communication:
There were a couple double-take moments of short notice towards the end of the storylines and quests which nobody was prepared for. I certainly had never been to an Ebon Gate where all the activities were not supported til the closing day. Advance notice from the beginning of the festival about such deadlines would have made that a lot smoother for those affected.
SimuCoin Shop:
Someone left money on the table with the early closure of passes for sale.
All in all, these observations are small details that are easy to fix. If this is the worst list of "complaints" someone can have about a huge event ... you are REALLY doing something right!
Thank you to all the staff for an incredible run on Caligos!
And a HUGE Thank you to the TownCrier Team members that kept us updated with the headlines every day and made it possible to for anyone interested in the goings on at Ebon Gate to stay well informed.
/Signed:
L&K,
She who is the soul of Luxie
--
ESP TUNE TOWNCRIER or ;tune towncrier
Web: http://gstowncrier.com/
Daily Email: gstowncrier.com/subscribe/
gstowncrier.com/where-to-find-the-towncrier/
Send in news: https://bit.ly/2ISsz2l
P.S. Help Wanted, Inquire Within
