Hey and Hi everyone! Is it the weekend yet?!?!? It feels like it should be lol

Anybody know how to unlock Bubbles? Been gone all day and haven't had time to search forums.

Thanks. I probably have a few drinks in my vault, will have to check. Don't have time to battle right now any way so glad it's not a limited time.

Edit: "You've found a Hidden Opponent! Bubbles challenges you to a fight in the Battle Coliseum!" And yes there is a cheap one, Sample Size Wheat Beer is selling for only 9K. Thanks for the info. ;) Maybe I can find time to try a few fights this weekend.

- if you count the visits before you get thrown out, it's the same number each hour.

Yeah, they're not always in the BHH stock, but they do show up every so often. I'll hope you find one too.

- it's Friday, that counts as part of the weekend, doesn't it? :-)

Item Drive + info:

You play against other players, so there's a part that's strategy & a part luck. You also need to try to anticipate/decypher players motivations. On top of that, you need to figure out your own motivations & at cost risk to better decide how you'll approach the day's competition.

A big factor for me is the at cost risk. The prize is 50k sp PLUS the prize item. In today's example, the item is worth approx 30k, so the max you'd want to spend/invest is around 80k to break even. Otherwise, you're losing sp.

The item is currently sold in NPC store under 500 and in user shops a bit over 1k. If you buy a lot of an item the prices go higher up once you've exhausted the smaller prices. For today, you can average around 2k per item. 80k divided by 2k = 40 items you can donate before you're at a negative profit.

Now you have to think about personal motivation. How much energy, sp, stress do you want to deal with? There might be an achievement for getting ; however, I couldn't find it while searching & I'm still tired. Sometimes it's worth just getting in the top 10 since you'll at least get 10k. Other times you'll want to be in the top 3 to get the prize. Then there will be days you might not want to play at all.

Then there are the other contenders to deal with. If not a lot of interest is shown in donators, there's a higher chance you can get into the top 10. Sometimes you get what I call a pack rat... doesn't matter the at cost ratio (usually will be losing sp just for a win) and the person dumps a large amount (often over 100 items)... even if it's a small prize. Then there are the high-value item getters... they can be ruthless. Often you won't see them unless the prize is worth a lot. They'll have a lot of the item and they can dump items at any given time so some are tougher to predict than others. Some big ticket players dump a mega amount early on in the game. They set the pace of how high the minimum to aim for... sometimes over 100 items right off the bat. Sometimes this type of player has more stashed away, other times will buy more if their position is threatened (someone dumps a similar or higher amount than them), other times they dumped what they could and can't come back so they're hoping the high amount is sufficient to outlast others.

Then you have the sneaky strategists. They can dump a bit, none, or a medium amount (usually under 70) early on. They lull the users in a false sense of security and later on in the day boom, they dump a lot more to have the best chance of getting a top 3 prize. Trying to figure out their motivation and who these contenders are is vital when fighting for a top 3 position for a big ticket item. It can be stressful, you need to have patience and you need some luck on your side too... did you get enough items? Will the computer cooperate so you can add more if needed? Will the site lag? Can you stay up till midnight? etc. You not only have to figure this out for yourself but also try your best at figuring out these components for the others you're competing against... and every time can be a different user so it's rough.

One contender I watch out for is the profiter strategist. These types of users wait till the new day and buy a whole bunch of the item, especially if the prize worth is high, and raise the price of the item to a crazy amount... like 500k per item that was originally sold around 2k. They manage to monopolize the item, and they create difficult chances to win the game. They'll dump part of their items in the item drive while trying to sell at mega inflated prices the rest. If even one (or sometimes a few... depending on how many the person bought & at what cost) is sold at the high prices, the person makes back the sp that was spent. The person might lower the price but still super inflated near the end if there's a bidding war for the prizes, take advantage of the in-demand low supply situation. Yet, if you're not in the top 2 you still risk having the person come in near the end and dumping what wasn't sold into the drive to ensure victory. Oftentimes the person will even sell the prize... for more profit. These I find the most ruthless and toughest to beat.

For myself, oftentimes I no longer play at the low prize levels. I don't often go for big prizes either... I need to be able to invest the time, energy & handle the stress if it's a big-ticket item. If it's something I find interesting, especially if it's something I'd like to use (like the plushie... went straight to my collection) then beware, game is on! If I go for it, there's a good chance I'll be in the top three... but it does happen that i have to abort the mission due to realizing I'm outnumbered & it won't happen. At that point, I sell at a lower price than what the super inflated shops sell... but I do try to at least recoup the sp loss that I spent trying to get a bunch of items. Then there are the times I buy way too many and the competition wasn't as fierce as I thought and either spend almost the same amount or more than what it's worth and I can't recoup the loss by selling at lower prices but high enough to recoup... so I wind up fragging.

There are no guarantees if you go for the top 3 you'll get in and have a prize. You can be 3rd at a min or so before midnight and somehow someone snuck in at the last min and bumped you to 4th. All of your time and investment go down the tub at that point. It's not a game for everyone... most don't play it. However, the rewards can be grand if you strategize well enough.

Today is a great day for you to practice (low value prize) & see if you like it. If it's something you're interested in doing more often, I'd say practice several times before trying the brutal big leagues when top prizes are awarded. Even then, what's most important is to learn from your mistakes and keep on trying. I've won a few nice things from there... including a graveyard potion ;)

I would count every day of the week as part of it if I could lol!

Emily only had one class today! :D

- sounds about like normal serious gaming strategies to me. Remember I play lots of longer complex board games - although I do know my opponents and we play for fun more than for "the win". Still, I have been a gamer long enough to have seen most of those players you described. Also, it reminds me a lot of restocking. Sometimes you get the chance to buy an item that will go up in price. If the new price holds, you can earn sP, but there's always the chance someone else will undersell you slightly and reap the benefits of your spending - or that someone will come in with a bunch of the item and lower the price so you can't make back what you've spent. Of course, restocking has the advantage that, if you can afford to wait when the item price drops, it may go back up again, where it sounds like Item Drive is mostly a today or not at all thing.

Today I'm busy pricing (and when I'm very lucky, restocking) achievement books with any free time No time for Item Drive (but again, similar strategies in some ways). :-) I've been lucky in that I regularly restock at the Book Nook and have a bunch of some of the now expensive books, so it's a one time opportunity to earn some sP for battle gear. :-) In all my years on Subeta, I've only had the "right" items for new achievements a couple of times.

- okay then - weekend it is! Hope you enjoy. :-)

I figured it would be one that might interest you. Keep an eye on the lower prizes and start with those.

edit: don't play today. some are going near the top max profit marge and it's not late in the evening yet. Not worth it. Keep checking low-value items (70k and under) and give it a go when it's quiet. the more practice you do, the better strategies you can develop ;)

edit: You've earned the Nightshade achievement! :D

- thank you. I'll have to see - for now I already have more leisure activities that I'm invested in than I have time for - especially on Subeta (I haven't even really begun to bake yet. :-) ) And I want to watch everything in the Winter Olympics (I LOVE the Winter Olympics!). But it does sound interesting.

Oooh - congratulations, you finally unlocked Nightshade! So how did you do that? Was it refreshing on the main page, playing the game, or a ticket???

And great job getting ten wins too!

Bug verified & confirmed the coding was correct. You can unlock it both by refreshing & playing; however, it can take a very loooong time as it's random. After trying another time to refresh (approx 10min) I then played another game... midway through that game I unlocked the challenger :D It took almost a week of refreshing & playing to get it. Ouff!

- my luck is usually bad at anything requiring dice or RNG. Guess I played enough Dark Matter Dice back before I was a battler just not to notice how long it took to unlock him. So pleased that was able to verify the code and confirm the method of unlocking so we can correctly advise new battlers. Also very happy that you finally got him unlocked.

Bug confirmed the code worked but did not confirm how to get him... just that it's working as it should. Other users confirmed they got him "recently" by refreshing main game page & I can confirm I got him while playing a game.

By the way, the info for Batwing Blade is inaccurate. It continues to scale: gives the actual hp instead of a %. I just did a test fight with Buttwing Bomber. Here are the stats for the Batwing Blade:

85 heal (Poukie's total hp is 780 so that's 10.89% heal)

Attack: 17 fire 5 dark 5 light

Defence: 5 dark 5 earth 4 water

And now you can understand better why I like to keep my Batwing :D I was hesitant and not sure it was good at first but now I wouldn't go without it ;)

By the way, I caved in and bought a Panzer Hydra Blade for 300k... it's not as good as Batwing for now but maybe later on it'll be useful. It blocks differently too so I could tailor my set in tough situations.

- sometimes you need two attacker/healers so you can use both Batwing and Panzer Hydra Blade together for now. As noted in your other thread, apparently Batwing Blade does scale past the data on SubetaLodge but it still won't be a good choice at some point due to its single mod slot and lack of big defense.

Eventually, high tier battlers look for big blockers for all nine icons. And those blockers generally have a percent heal and a good attack plus three or four mod slots to go along with at least one major icon block (and yes, they're all expensive - battlers seem to think anything that sells for under 100 million sp is a "cheap" weapon :-) ).

Two words...Shaun White!!!!! I am so exicted! I need to find out when his event is.

Hey and Hi everyone! I have been snowed in :( and the car decided now to act up. It is acting like it is haunted! It only starts when it wants to and the last time I got in the CD popped out and the emergency flashers came on and then the radio and I didn't touch any of it :( It keeps telling me all these different things are wrong with it all at once. So crazy! /rant

hum, the car isn't happy about the snow & it's letting you know. If it's just the music & wipers it's not as bad as refusing to start. My aunt winded up where the car would act up and refuse to start but when they would bring it to a specialist it would behave. Finiky cars yep yep.

- So item drive is an actual daily game? I had no idea. Maybe I need to try to play at some point. That's great strategy, by the way. Every day should be Saturday. I'm excited for the Olympics, too. I love Shaun White! That stinks about the car. They always choose the worst time to act up.

- Congrats on the DDS. I use mine from time to time.

I wish it was just the cold, and it doesn't start :(

I wish it would have waited until summer. Having to walk around through the snow is awful!

For sp vs CSC, the sp gives a chance for items to become more attainable; however, for those selling it's less profit compared to CSC so I understand both points of view.

Yes, Item Drive is a daily "game" although I'd classify it more like a competition & when dealing with high priced items it gets fierce. Glad you enjoyed the explanation & strategy tips :)

I don't have a car and I used to have a scooter; however, it isn't used during winter and I can't have it in Montreal so it's aging at my parents in a shed. Having to walk through a lot of snow is a royal pain. I've collapsed from exhaustion & winded up in an ambulance because it was too strenuous. If the city could get it's act together and do a decent cleanup job quickly it wouldn't be an issue... but noooo. I hear ya, no fun at all.

When you have a chance, can you drop by my post asking for battle set ideas/advice? I've already tested out several of the items I thought of purchasing & could really use some help just bouncing ideas of different perspective from someone that is higher up in tier than Poukie :)

Saw the post, but unfortunately I have no clue. I don't really have advice to give when it comes to battle sets :( I usually just go with whatever weapon or scroll I get in battle drops or from the battle shop.