I wasn't too into it when it started but I was mostly enjoying myself by the end of it. I bought a lot of the random stuff, lockpicks, dice, slippers, and boots. I was one of the first people done with the quest and helped friends and random people to finish it when they had been having trouble. I flirted with most everyone, merchants included, but it would be out of character for me not to just because they are merchants.

>There was almost no one working during the week prime time EDT.

You must have been on the poop deck or something!

~ Haliste ~
The Forest Gnome of Silverwood Manor

>There was almost no one working during the week prime time EDT.

>You must have been on the poop deck or something!

>Agreed! There was nearly someone working somewhere on the boat or wagons pretty much throughout primetimes.

There may have been things happening during eastern primetime but it seemed few and far between. I would arrive home around 6-6:30pm EST just as someone was finishing up, or just after. From then until 10pm or so there would be a lack of things going on as I waited around. It then typically picked back up and after midnight eastern there would be multiple merchants going, judging from reading the AIM blast logs I left running as I slept.


An announcer shouts, "Introducing our new combatant, Duskruin Arena Hero Durakar al'Yari Faendryl the Captain of the Mist Harbor Militia, hailing from Isle of the Four Winds!"

I have more data points! Here are the number of merchants that worked per block of time. Not too surprising -- the services were weighted toward prime time and after-work hours. But overall coverage looked pretty good!

	Friday	Saturday	Sunday	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Total
4 am - 8 am	N/A	3	1	1	0	0	2	0	7
8 am - Noon	N/A	3	5	1	1	1	1	2	14
Noon - 4	N/A	7	5	2	3	1	2	3	23
4 to 8	N/A	4	10	3	3	2	3	3	28
8 to Midnight	4	4	9	5	6	5	3	13	49
Midnight to 4 am	1	3	5	2	4	6	2	3	26
Total	5	24	35	14	17	15	13	24	147

~Vanah

The merchants started their sessions in the listed time frames, though several were choosing customers on an ongoing basis.

Times		Friday	Saturday	Sunday	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Total
4 - 5 pm		N/A	0	4	1	0	0	2	0	7
5 - 6 pm		N/A	2	5	1	1	1	0	1	11
6 - 7 pm		N/A	1	1	0	1	0	1	0	4
7 - 8 pm		N/A	1	0	1	1	1	0	2	6
8 - 9 pm		1	2	2	2	3	2	0	1	13
9- 10 pm		0	0	2	2	1	2	1	6	14
10 - 11 pm		2	2	4	1	0	1	2	4	16
11 - 12 pm		1	0	1	0	2	0	0	2	6

~Vanah

>>There will be a serious uproar if they limit services at a pay event without a guaranteed top tier prize. Think CCF, RtCF, etc.

If there are limits at a pay event, it will be announced before tickets go on sale, and everyone can decide if they feel they wish to go.

If it were to happen at Ebon Gate, no one is going to get a prize like a top tier CCF prize. EG is just not that type of festival, and we don't want it to be. While there are mechanically beneficial items at EG, it's just not intended to be in line with the types of things offered at CCFish things.

Anyway, we can debate that in the regular merchant/event topic, or in the topics of each particular event if and when there are future limits!

~GM Liia, who is considering coding a verb that auto-bolts people who still add "S" to Ebon, thereby making her cry tears of fire and doom.
Team 3P/T&C ASGM, Events Manager


Elanthia's derpiest rolton bleats anxiously!
Speaking to Elanthia's derpiest rolton, you say, "Oh, shut it."

I can't even begin to tell you how much I love Vanah's statistics and stuff.

~GM Liia
Team 3P/T&C ASGM, Events Manager


Elanthia's derpiest rolton bleats anxiously!
Speaking to Elanthia's derpiest rolton, you say, "Oh, shut it."

You're right, of course, that it doesn't circumvent the rule itself. I guess it seems to me to subvert the spirit of the restriction, which is to give people a better shot at services instead of seeing them all go to a small handful of players. Maybe I'm just not sure why the limits are there if not to put a cap on some players' (not characters') merchant time: "At some point, if players cannot regulate themselves, we have to step in and do it for them." There really isn't a solution to players' multi-account raffle barrel stuffing or item round-robin, though, or at least not one you could realistically enforce; it's not feasible to limit on a wider scale than account-wide.

In other words, it's not you I get mildly crabby at; it's the players who cheerfully soak up hours of your time and mine by double- and triple-dipping. On the other hand, they also pay more, which is why it makes me only mildly and briefly crabby -- "Shucks, I thought there was one more cookie in the jar" crabby, not "I have to spend all day at the DMV only to find I didn't bring the right paperwork" crabby. :)

It seems silly to post any kind of crabbiness on a thread titled "Good Times," though, so I'll stop. It was, after all, a really great time!


--- Lauren, Lylia's player

>>I can't even begin to tell you how much I love Vanah's statistics and stuff ~ Liia

Seconded. Vanah can whisper sweet data points to me anytime.

Data analysts of the world unite!

---

>>You slay me woman! ~ Wyrom

http://gsguide.wikia.com/wiki/Rohese

When IS the next CCF style event?

<<You're right, of course, that it doesn't circumvent the rule itself. I guess it seems to me to subvert the spirit of the restriction, which is to give people a better shot at services instead of seeing them all go to a small handful of players. Maybe I'm just not sure why the limits are there if not to put a cap on some players' (not characters') merchant time: "At some point, if players cannot regulate themselves, we have to step in and do it for them." There really isn't a solution to players' multi-account raffle barrel stuffing or item round-robin, though, or at least not one you could realistically enforce; it's not feasible to limit on a wider scale than account-wide. >>

Item passing doesn't always mean multiple accounts, obviously it does some of the time. But some people don't have a lot of items they need worked on, or need a particular service, but are willing to use their allocated slots/time to help out friends.

I was trying to get a set gizwit hand/foot wraps unlocked. I had several friends who were willing to give me the slot if they were selected (they never got picked. what terrible friends!)

>When IS the next CCF style event?

Once the AED systems show up in the SimuCoins store ^_^

---

Check out who's dying any time! https://twitter.com/GSIVDeathLog

Vanah's post,

I think I see where you're coming from, and I think a limit around 35ish isn't really that bad an idea (something like 10-15 would be disappointing). I have always felt that raffles should be a 1-per event, regardless of the "quality of the raffle." I know people don't like the idea because they don't hold all raffles to the same quality, but while an unlimited donut box may not be the most amazing win for player A, it is for B... and the idea of losing out on weighting if they won said donut box might make that person think twice about entering.

I know that at last EG I managed 38 services on my main account and by the time I hit 30, I was just completely out of ideas and things to work on so it came down to unlocks. I just worried that we'd end up seeing a limit somewhere in the 10s and at an event that big...

People are always going to cry that spinners are rigged and raffles are rigged, its one of the easiest cries when frustration hits. But it was very evident, to me, that staff went out of their way for this festival to be easy to work with, understanding and patient. Even when items were denied, it was often expressed why and if possible a verb or adjective was submitted to QC to be worked on. So these things are huge positives for me, since in the past a simple "NO" without reason or understanding has been given to what felt like, again in my opinion, item ideas well within genre and scope.

Really though, I can't say enough positive things about my time on the Spitfire. Everyone was really great and it was a very enjoyable festival!

(Bristenn takes a hold of Riend by the arm and swings her in, pulling her into an armored embrace. And, without further ado, he kisses Riend like he means it. Deffo means it.)

One of us read Riend's comments incorrectly...I don't recognize a complaint about people with multiple accounts.

~Vanah

Unfortunately, I was only able to be on a few nights (sort ofish) for the Spitfire, but it was fun and a good escape when I needed a break from my current online course. All in all it was fun, even when getting struck by that weak lightning before walking the plank. I was surprised how many folks were being a pansy and raising a fit when they had to spin the wheel and had to walk the plank.

Thankfully.. no halflings, or other magical creatures were doing this song... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XaWU1CmrJNc


__________________________
- Kobold in Disguise Falvicar, Blade of the Night

You swing a silver-edged black veil iron katana at Sevynne!

* Sevynne drops dead at your feet!
* Sevynne just bit the dust!

>To me, this is one of the biggest problems with festivals and events, and it sort of ruins the experience for me. People are so greedy.

When you go to a brunch buffet, you absolutely can choose to load up your plate with bacon. No one's going to stop you from doing it. The restaurant is used to serving people like you and will always have more bacon to go around for patrons who take a couple of strips, though those diners might have to wait for more bacon to come out of the kitchen. It's expected, even, that there will be at least a few bacon-hounds during any given brunch service. You paid for it, and you can certainly enjoy it.

I will, however, quietly consider you a little selfish for making others wait for their bacon. Not a bad person, not someone who needs to be banned from future brunches, not a cheater, not someone I'd shun or vilify -- just someone who's a little selfish. It doesn't ruin my brunch, but I reserve the right to give you some mild side-eye if you make me wait for bacon.

That's how I feel about multi-account holders who cheerfully and obviously soak up multiple merchant services. It's not banned or wrong or terrible; they pay for those extra accounts. I do think some people are sometimes a little selfish, yes, but in the grand scheme of things, it shouldn't wreck your overall experience. We all get a lot more bacon than we used to. I think I got more merchant services in my first three months back in the game than I had in the last two years before I left in 2001-ish.

I think the problem here is not enough people walked the plank.

-
Retser

>Does that still happen? I thought merchants kept track of account names they have worked for in that same session.

It still happens if we do room order sometimes because it takes time to check. I remember the LAST time the Spitfire came, I worked for like 3 hours lightening and deepening for all comers. I happened to check the person I was working on and saw that they had received 5 services on their account already. And when I declined them additional work, they complained that others had much more. It's hurtful to work so hard to serve as many people as possible and realize people have been taking advantage.

Since then, we've clamped down on this with spinners, lists, and room order lists that automatically check. But if it requires the GameMaster to manually check, then yes, this still happens. A lot.

~Vanah