As my first attempt at Nature and from the PoV from one that has never attempted this type of challenge, I would like to give my perspective on it.
I am insulted, nae, affronted, that a scavenger hunt based on clues for individuals to find locations of importance in the land....turns into having to touch a random object within near every room in the god forsaken area to hope the item activates because, for some reason, the main room it -should- be in, is not it.
My main problem specifically is about this clue:
A once experiment gone awry, left to rot in sludge and slime, as fresh blood seeks to give it life.
I first attempted Duum, assuming the natatorium perhaps, my second guess was then Muhanlesh, as others that immediately scried me when Avechna declared I was in first place can attest. Using logic, I went to the location where life is actually attempting to be created by blood, the leader of the Nagas, the Nagabali (I believe the name) and checked the rooms therein. Nothing. I checked the other rooms, perhaps cloeir and the lab. nothing. Assuming I checked all relevant locations, I moved on.
I wasted near an hour looking for other locations based on this one clue. Later, assuming some mistake and apparently being informed that one must try every room in the area because "that's nature seal", I went and found the location to be in Muhanlesh at a normal path......This is scavenger?
I honestly assumed that perhaps the bug wherein that room overlaps the nagabali's room might have made the mixup, but it seems randomness is common. I find this insulting to the actual use of knowledge skills to have to use such randomness and frankly am annoyed of the time I took and energy I put it to have it all dismissed because randomness is a thing in scavenger hunting in lusternia.
It wouldn't have been so bad for me, but I was stuck for about 20 minutes on a clue whose answer was..The Aetherplex.
Everiine said: The reason population is low isn't because there are too many orgs. It's because so many facets of the game are outright broken and protected by those who benefit from it being that way. An overabundance of gimmicks (including game-breaking ones), artifacts that destroy any concept of balance, blatant pay-to-win features, and an obsession with convenience that makes few things actually worthwhile all contribute to the game's sad decline.
My thinking on that one was like "Aetherplex? No, that's absolutely ridiculous. They'd never make it the aetherplex." when I first read it and then "eh, you should try it if you're just siting there thinking about it."
It's my favorite clue this time around. Twisted genius.
Any sufficiently advanced pun is indistinguishable from comedy.
It wouldn't have been so bad for me, but I was stuck for about 20 minutes on a clue whose answer was..The Aetherplex.
You and me both. When they said "floating above" I thought it was actually floating above. Not talking about the portal into the manses. Doesn't help that my own manse is neither a mansion, nor a house, but a cave with a garden.
I always get those rough ones as my first clue.
Everyone is a genius. But if you judge a fish on its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.
The aetherplex was both my most beloved and most hated clue in Nature seals as I've seen them.
However, the blank faced statues one REALLY threw EVERYONE off. It's...kind of unsurprising in retrospect that the Zvoltz Order Head ended up winning thanks to that one clue, though the word "justice" should've reminded everyone about poor Zvoltz's sacrifice.
Everiine said: The reason population is low isn't because there are too many orgs. It's because so many facets of the game are outright broken and protected by those who benefit from it being that way. An overabundance of gimmicks (including game-breaking ones), artifacts that destroy any concept of balance, blatant pay-to-win features, and an obsession with convenience that makes few things actually worthwhile all contribute to the game's sad decline.
Luce was frighteningly competent, for someone that as far as I know didn't have any idea what the event was beforehand. I probably couldn't have done as well with it.
Any sufficiently advanced pun is indistinguishable from comedy.
@Luce was amazing, yes! Wouldn't have won without him.
I had an easy run-in after a very slow start thanks to rest of Hallifax having solved them all aside from the Zvoltz one. I had been too busy selfishly running around trying to play catch-up to pay attention to the clue beforehand.
I'm just going to shut up about it, but a 19 year old leading around a Demigod for Nature doesn't strike you as a bit...suspicious?
Everiine said: The reason population is low isn't because there are too many orgs. It's because so many facets of the game are outright broken and protected by those who benefit from it being that way. An overabundance of gimmicks (including game-breaking ones), artifacts that destroy any concept of balance, blatant pay-to-win features, and an obsession with convenience that makes few things actually worthwhile all contribute to the game's sad decline.
Well, Luce was good stuff, but I had a notepad with clues and room numbers scribed down as well, updating the aether on how many clues out of 20 we'd solved.
It wasn't -just- him. We were all really doing it together.
The difference is that Luce gave up his clue solving in large part, and so wouldn't miss requests for room numbers to specific locations. He also solved a clue for us on his own, I think.
Luce didn't actually decipher any of the clues himself. At least not that I recall. What he did do was organize the clues that the rest of us figured out. In short, he worked as a secretary. And you don't have to be knowledgeable about Lusternia to be a secretary. You just need to know how to copy-paste the provided clues into a notepad, and append the room-numbers as we call them out.
And even if Luce *is* an alt, who cares? I'm not gonna treat him any differently just because of that.
Everyone is a genius. But if you judge a fish on its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.
I think you should be able to pass on a clue. Even if it means you have to wait five minutes before you can get a new one. I got the Justice one very early on and it pretty much ended it.
Blank faces guard an empty sanctuary, justice taken of its once dweller.
I disagree that justice is that specific of a hint. As written, it could be hero or villain.
The item shouldn't give hints about distance if it actually doesn't judge distance. At least with mine it said 17 every time I checked it.
The Zvoltz temple entrance, on Avechna's peak, half way up the secret pathway between Nature and Life. Zvoltz has a bunch of blank-faced statues in his god realm and sacrificed himself to empower the Justice seal that one time.
I basically got destroyed on the muhanlesh clue because fuck me for not checking a normal path in a scavenger hunt for specific locations.
I swear I think I may not compete in scavenger event again simply on principle.
All I can say to that is to live and learn. You should've alerted Mags or Crux to your thinking it was Muhanlesh and swept the whole area. I personally would feel obligated to do so if I was certain it was Muhanlesh, so that I wouldn't be accidentally feeding false information to a clue (whether saying the clue is definitely there or no, don't look here, it's not in ANY of these rooms). That actually happened to Hallifax today -- one clue was falsely identified, but we corrected it later down the line.
And in retrospect, a "sanctuary" could be considered a godrealm.
Blank faces guard an empty sanctuary, justice taken of its once dweller.
Empty sanctuary is the godrealm. Zvoltz (who once dwelled therein) has always lorded his sense of justice over others. blank faced statues fits in with Zvoltz's obfuscation and mutability (he is Mysrai's brother, after all).
I mean, I won't disagree that this is something a Hallifaxian would be the first to pick up on. It was a combination of a little privileged closeness and the fact that Zvoltz's sacrifice happened more than a year ago, and was kind of a rushed event.
"oh no justice seal is cracking!"
*zvoltz rises out of hallifax and jumps in the seal after a brief farewell, something something mysrai*
*life resumes as normal*
EDIT: At the same time, I know Arcanis figured it out on his own around 10 minutes after we did. It wasn't a serious make or break clue, unless you factor in that we had figured out everything else already and Ushaara just had to sprint to the finish line.
Zvoltz knowledge helped make the connection yes, but I think what helped me solve it more than anything else was past experience in a scavenger hunt where I didn't get past my first clue.
Forget the wording but it was a similar type clue with the location being Ayridion's empty fulcrux. "Once dweller" got me thinking about other lost gods, and "justice taken" was enough to persuade myself that it was Zvoltz related.
You really have to check each room, because the clue itself might be an allusion to the verbose room description. There was this one Nature Trial where the room in question happened to be "shimmering walls of mica".
It's a shame I missed it - I wanted to get the nature trial toy.
Viravain, Lady of the Thorns shouts, "And You would seize Me? Fool! I am the Glomdoring! I am the Wyrd, and beneath the cloak of Night, the shadows of the Silent stir!"
And in retrospect, a "sanctuary" could be considered a godrealm.
Blank faces guard an empty sanctuary, justice taken of its once dweller.
Empty sanctuary is the godrealm. Zvoltz (who once dwelled therein) has always lorded his sense of justice over others. blank faced statues fits in with Zvoltz's obfuscation and mutability (he is Mysrai's brother, after all).
I mean, I won't disagree that this is something a Hallifaxian would be the first to pick up on. It was a combination of a little privileged closeness and the fact that Zvoltz's sacrifice happened more than a year ago, and was kind of a rushed event.
"oh no justice seal is cracking!"
*zvoltz rises out of hallifax and jumps in the seal after a brief farewell, something something mysrai*
*life resumes as normal*
EDIT: At the same time, I know Arcanis figured it out on his own around 10 minutes after we did. It wasn't a serious make or break clue, unless you factor in that we had figured out everything else already and Ushaara just had to sprint to the finish line.
This seems a bit more like prophesy shoe-horning. It really doesn't matter how much it makes sense after the fact and I don't mind if a clue is likely to make sense to members of one org as long as that is true of other questions.
All that aside, I still haven't heard anyone state that they feel it would 'hurt' things if you got a pass or two on questions (with either coming back to the same question or being the first to solve x out of y).
I haven't seen a message from the Charites urging people to make their submissions for Beauty. Are we supposed to wait, or go ahead and send them?
Everiine said: The reason population is low isn't because there are too many orgs. It's because so many facets of the game are outright broken and protected by those who benefit from it being that way. An overabundance of gimmicks (including game-breaking ones), artifacts that destroy any concept of balance, blatant pay-to-win features, and an obsession with convenience that makes few things actually worthwhile all contribute to the game's sad decline.
Supposed to wait for the announce and if you send in yours early it will be deleted, along with the design and the cartel it originated from. And then any associated orgs, for good measure. And all Shaddus alts.
Comments
I am insulted, nae, affronted, that a scavenger hunt based on clues for individuals to find locations of importance in the land....turns into having to touch a random object within near every room in the god forsaken area to hope the item activates because, for some reason, the main room it -should- be in, is not it.
My main problem specifically is about this clue:
A once experiment gone awry, left to rot in sludge and slime, as fresh blood seeks to give it life.
I first attempted Duum, assuming the natatorium perhaps, my second guess was then Muhanlesh, as others that immediately scried me when Avechna declared I was in first place can attest. Using logic, I went to the location where life is actually attempting to be created by blood, the leader of the Nagas, the Nagabali (I believe the name) and checked the rooms therein. Nothing. I checked the other rooms, perhaps cloeir and the lab. nothing. Assuming I checked all relevant locations, I moved on.
I wasted near an hour looking for other locations based on this one clue. Later, assuming some mistake and apparently being informed that one must try every room in the area because "that's nature seal", I went and found the location to be in Muhanlesh at a normal path......This is scavenger?
I honestly assumed that perhaps the bug wherein that room overlaps the nagabali's room might have made the mixup, but it seems randomness is common. I find this insulting to the actual use of knowledge skills to have to use such randomness and frankly am annoyed of the time I took and energy I put it to have it all dismissed because randomness is a thing in scavenger hunting in lusternia.
It's my favorite clue this time around. Twisted genius.
I always get those rough ones as my first clue.
<:-P
However, the blank faced statues one REALLY threw EVERYONE off. It's...kind of unsurprising in retrospect that the Zvoltz Order Head ended up winning thanks to that one clue, though the word "justice" should've reminded everyone about poor Zvoltz's sacrifice.
Ushaara won it, Lavinya.
I had an easy run-in after a very slow start thanks to rest of Hallifax having solved them all aside from the Zvoltz one. I had been too busy selfishly running around trying to play catch-up to pay attention to the clue beforehand.
Thanks everyone who helped!
It wasn't -just- him. We were all really doing it together.
The difference is that Luce gave up his clue solving in large part, and so wouldn't miss requests for room numbers to specific locations. He also solved a clue for us on his own, I think.
And even if Luce *is* an alt, who cares? I'm not gonna treat him any differently just because of that.
Signature!
Blank faces guard an empty sanctuary, justice taken of its once dweller.
I disagree that justice is that specific of a hint. As written, it could be hero or villain.
The item shouldn't give hints about distance if it actually doesn't judge distance. At least with mine it said 17 every time I checked it.
And hey, that justice one was my -first- clue. I basically had to chill until Ushaara finally figured it out.
I swear I think I may not compete in scavenger event again simply on principle.
Blank faces guard an empty sanctuary, justice taken of its once dweller.
Empty sanctuary is the godrealm. Zvoltz (who once dwelled therein) has always lorded his sense of justice over others. blank faced statues fits in with Zvoltz's obfuscation and mutability (he is Mysrai's brother, after all).
I mean, I won't disagree that this is something a Hallifaxian would be the first to pick up on. It was a combination of a little privileged closeness and the fact that Zvoltz's sacrifice happened more than a year ago, and was kind of a rushed event.
"oh no justice seal is cracking!"
*zvoltz rises out of hallifax and jumps in the seal after a brief farewell, something something mysrai*
*life resumes as normal*
EDIT: At the same time, I know Arcanis figured it out on his own around 10 minutes after we did. It wasn't a serious make or break clue, unless you factor in that we had figured out everything else already and Ushaara just had to sprint to the finish line.
Forget the wording but it was a similar type clue with the location being Ayridion's empty fulcrux. "Once dweller" got me thinking about other lost gods, and "justice taken" was enough to persuade myself that it was Zvoltz related.
You really have to check each room, because the clue itself might be an allusion to the verbose room description. There was this one Nature Trial where the room in question happened to be "shimmering walls of mica".
It's a shame I missed it - I wanted to get the nature trial toy.
All that aside, I still haven't heard anyone state that they feel it would 'hurt' things if you got a pass or two on questions (with either coming back to the same question or being the first to solve x out of y).