A Bad Omen: Esther\'s Here!

September 13, 2016 5:23 pm

Aw, come on, how come I never get invited to do anything exciting? First Emma gets invited to speak at the Peka Glade Conservation Society Conference, and now I find out that everyone and their dog is off exploring the jungle? I can only imagine the kinds of plants and animals you’re running into out there!

Well, I’m not going to wait for an invitation, I’m just going to invite myself - I may as well kill some time until Emma comes home. Speaking of Emma, that gives me a great idea! She's always been so interested in quests of all kinds - remember her quest that ended in the discovery of Peka Glade? I’m sure she'd appreciate seeing so many people out in Subeta completing quests of their own! I think we should stick to certain quests for the sake of ease, I'll list those when you visit me.

I’ll join whichever team is able to collectively perform the most number of quests! Remember: quests will reset at midnight, so each user has the opportunity to submit their quests again and increase their team's performance!

Quest Log Here!

Esther gives your team the Weathered Traveler trait: Esther's connections with Tempest means she can ensure your team a sunny journey to the summit. Your team's weather conditions will all be favorable.

September 14, 2016, 5:49 pm by

they should of did a plot that had us all battling against the npc's mwuahah and staff MWAUHH

:} lol

September 14, 2016, 5:42 pm by

there may well be a part where we need to do that! Fight the bad and ugly -ähm- whatsoever...

September 14, 2016, 5:40 pm by

Very well said. -claps-

I absolutely abhor these events that pit the users against each other. I miss the old days were plots were not about that. I want an involved plot with story and activities and games, but I don't want to fight against my fellow users. I'd rather work with them, /all/ of them.

September 14, 2016, 5:34 pm by

/sighs

I'm really enjoying being part of a team. Everyone has been amazingly nice and I love seeing the generosity and everyone's passion toward reaching a goal. The total willingness of Team Steele members to help out one another has been fantastic to see and got me so much more invested in this event, and I have no doubts that Team Gold is similar.

But sometimes I really hate team events. While the teamwork brings out the best in a lot of us, and it's wonderful and inspiring, the competition also seems to bring out the worst in a lot of players. Everyone's scrambling to beat the other side so with things like the item donation drive, the site crashes constantly due to the massive amounts of refreshing, and there's so much stress and bitterness.

I hate competition on this site because Subeta is my happy place and it can be very stressful to have so much unhappiness going on. Not to mention disheartening -- it's difficult to want to join in on these events when they can cause so much drama. I wish that instead of teams directly competing against one another, the teams could have been working together from the get-go. Maybe with each team having to complete a set list of different tasks, and maybe doing a certain amount more than the minimum would earn the team their bonus plot points. We could have tasks that are similar or that differ depending on the team, maybe.

It might not get people quite as active due to the lack of competition, but it would probably cause a lot less drama and complaining, and get everyone to unite rather than dividing the userbase in half. I really love things like the Quest-A-Thon because I'm a huge sap and seeing everyone work together makes me ridiculously happy, especially when people commented that they had no interest in the prize but would participate to help others out. That was so, so nice.

I feel like if there weren't so much competition, people could be more focused on the actual writing in the plot, rather than defeating the other team. I know I would be. I'm enjoying this event a lot, I really am, but it's tiring to see the drama and I'm just.. tired of competitive events. They're so much more draining than noncompetitive ones.

September 14, 2016, 5:31 pm by

Also, I just want to say that it's really unfair to assume we aren't rallying our teammates or trying hard enough. We are trying /very/ hard. We even have users who are giving away gold accounts and map pieces so other teammates can complete more quests. We are doing everything we possibly can. For the users that joined Team Gold then never signed back onto the site or never went into the forums or anything, how are we supposed to rally them? We don't know who they are nor do we have anyway of finding out. And we appear to have lots of these types of users, I'm not saying that Steele doesn't have their fair share but look at the numbers. Clearly Steele has more active members, enough that we don't stand a chance in this type of contest this go around or the next.

September 14, 2016, 5:25 pm by

I completed 11/10 Wizard Quests because I got an extra one from a random event. :D

September 14, 2016, 5:15 pm by

Don't trust him, its the crypts trying to play tricks on you! 0:<

September 14, 2016, 5:11 pm by

It's kind of hard to "rally" everyone when Gold probably has a lot more new users. Plus there's that higher chance of them not socializing etc; from our forum group, all the sigs promoting Gold not getting enough attention? Yeah I don't think it's our fault? Also both teams are complaining so idk what you're talking about.

Most of Gold has been REALLY supportive with each other, since I read our group's posts every 2-3 hours. So yeah, it's hard to have any teamwork when you have possibly a chunk of users not looking around people's posts.

September 14, 2016, 4:57 pm by

Yes! Would be a good SP sink too since it wouldn't be giving any SP back either :)

September 14, 2016, 4:55 pm by

Dear Staff;

Please try to find a fair way to balance out these NPC contests. Team Gold may have more members but Steele has more /active/ members. It's extremely hard for us to compete and I'd rather not have to rely on glitches to enable us a win. I hope I'm not coming off as a sore loser, I just want things to be fair and balanced for /both/ teams.

I think we all (or at least the majority of us) enjoy the questing more than the donating but if questing is the way the NPC contests are going now I fear Steele may win them all.

September 14, 2016, 4:47 pm by

Saggi may have left the Millionaire Center but Blake seems to be running the Crypts Treasure Room still unless the Treasure Room Blake is a figment of my imagination.

September 14, 2016, 4:46 pm by

theres so much I want to say but I'll keep it to myself lol don't want to come off as rude. xD

September 14, 2016, 4:44 pm by

I'll second I'm not big on team efforts, but anything to get me to do my quests is great. Gods know I need to do them more often.

September 14, 2016, 4:27 pm by

To be honest I just don't find Team plots very 'fun.' I'm just not a very competitive person. I love plots like the Tempest and the Excavation with Steele where you can participate individually and at your own pace without worrying about not being able to participate as much as others. It's impossible to make teams equal/active unless people themselves are allowed to create and moderate their own teams but in the end it's just a game. I hope the trail portion of this plot ends soon, aha.

September 14, 2016, 4:23 pm by

The Saggi giving quests is a hologram. Notice how he only says the same thing over and over.

September 14, 2016, 4:17 pm by

I was hoping people would see the double meaning (part of why it's in quotes). I felt like some levity was needed here, maybe to break up the tension. ;)

September 14, 2016, 4:13 pm by

"Both alike in dignity" made me chuckle because the line means of equal social standing/wealth. Which, considering both Saggi and Blake are wealthy, it was very fitting :P I mean this with complete love and I totally agree with your post.

September 14, 2016, 4:10 pm by

Not sure if your reply was a response to my comment or just a general comment, but Motivation =/= loyalty ;)

Since you mentioned loyalty, loyalty is faithfulness to a cause/group. But what if it's not a cause/group you align with or feel strongly about? Why would you expect loyalty from someone who was forced to join that group? I'm not going to spend a lot of effort on something I don't feel strongly about (which also isn't the same as saying I'm going to do nothing. Or that I'm going to sabotage the team. However, more than likely, what effort I put in will be more for my benefit than the team's.) Ultimately, my belief is that people who WANT TO do something for someone will work harder than those who HAVE TO do something for someone. It's the same in real life. I'm not going to spend a lot of time participating in something I don't care about. I will work harder for a team I choose to be on than a team I was assigned. That's all I'm saying. =) Nothing about balance or not playing :P

September 14, 2016, 3:59 pm by

I'll just say this -- I have seen my fair share of whining from both teams. Whichever team is losing, there are always vocal whiners. So putting down either team for whining is pretty hypocritical. As with everything, both sides are prime examples of all behaviors. Both Team Gold and Team Steele whine when behind, and both Team Gold and Team Steele brag and cheer when ahead. And I have seen how both teams are very supportive of each other. It is basically the way that the game is played. I'd like to see "both alike in dignity" rather than both alike in snark.

September 14, 2016, 3:46 pm by

I'll say it again. It never fails, the team that falls behind complains at the way the plot is run. I've been on teams that win and teams that loose. It's the way the cookie crumbles... Buck it up and try harder, increase your team work and you'll win next time. It's all part of the fun. Stop complaining and enjoy the fun.

September 14, 2016, 3:35 pm by

I don't want to sound snarky or anything, but maybe Team Gold should spend more time trying to rally their group together instead of complaining when they fall behind.

Team Steele has been nothing but encouraging to each other, even when we are falling way behind in the trail legs and in the last donation challenge.

Teamwork is important ~

September 14, 2016, 3:15 pm by

I'm pretty sure this one was decided at midnight last night, based on who would be able to do double quests. Unfortunately that left me out due to family obligations. I'm not going to whine though, because staff did emphasize the importance of being here at 6pm each day... although I would like to see events that are a bit more open to all time zones in the future. :(

September 14, 2016, 2:34 pm by

I feel really bad for a website whose players wouldn't play if they were assigned a team. Talk about a lack of loyalty. You wouldn't be loyal to your team just because it wasn't your choice, even if it meant that the same number of players from the same timezone and time of joining were distributed evenly onto both teams? Sorry, but that sounds like a lot of talking talk to me. Nice try, you can talk your talk all you want, but I'll take a perfectly balanced plot over an unbalanced one any day. Splitting the site evenly onto both teams from the beginning would be highly beneficial in creating early balance. And there would be no discussion about certain types of players joining a certain team because of a profitable promise. I would certainly be upset to be fighting against my favorite character and the team I preferred, but kicking that character's butt all the way up the mountain can be fun too. ;)

Also, Ziorac, the team I joined has nothing to do with my feedback in regards to something on the site. Last time I checked, one players team decision has nothing to do with future plots and suggestions for how to improve them.

September 14, 2016, 2:19 pm by

Both teams have dead weight players, though I will admit the 'more sP turn out' probably encouraged a different crowd to join Team Gold. But that was predictable from the start. -shrugs- Still, what I find very interesting throughout this whole plot so far is that whenever Team Gold is behind, there is a lot of discussion about unfairness and dead weight and unbalance and yet when Team Gold is in the lead there is no such debate. I checked. I read the news posts when Team Steele is in the lead and vice versa. Perhaps Team Gold has fewer Gold members (ironically enough)? Perhaps Team Gold's members don't care about quests as much? Who knows. Do keep in mind, that for all the talk of dead weight and unfairness, Team Gold has won two legs of this race, while Team Steele has won one. Gold has Sephora (arguably the best NPC so far) and Steele has Wesley. Team Gold is in the lead. Esther's fair weather will probably only balance out the 10% speed boost a little bit, but who knows. Talk dead weight all you want, Team Gold is winning as it stands now. So yay Team Gold.

September 14, 2016, 2:01 pm by

I feel bad for people who cannot be active during the week. They would probably want to help with this, but may not be able to get on. And with the short notice, they may not know to even come on to help with this (since, unlike donations, the rest of the group cannot over compensate for them this time).

September 14, 2016, 2:01 pm by

I've been trying my hardest all event long to help Team Saggi or Team Gold if you prefer ^_^. All I've seen are blank white pages, 502 errors, 504 errors, 520 errors and we'll be right back pages every few page views. I'm still working hard doing all I can to help the team and will continue to do so until the event is over ❤.

Questing is taking longer than usual because of errors I run into but I'm doing my best to be patient ^_^. Looking forward to the rest of the event to see what will happen is curious

September 14, 2016, 1:56 pm by

Hm. I have mixed feelings about this whole thing -- on the one hand, I'm so glad it was questing and not more donating, but on the other it's really frustrating to find out that we have so many people not contributing and there's no way for the rest of us to try making up the difference. >:c

September 14, 2016, 1:54 pm by

Okay so what about this scenario? A person is all gung-ho to participate. So they're sorted into a team. But oh! Life suddenly happens, and then they're not able to participate! They wanted to so badly, and they help when they can.

So my question to you is: How on earth is staff supposed to tell who's really going to participate and who isn't?

Both teams have people who aren't going to be going all out. That's just how a team of hundreds is.

September 14, 2016, 1:43 pm by

If I was assigned a team and it was a team I wouldn't have chose on my own, I'd probably wouldn't work as hard with donating, questing, etc. Who I'm playing for is a big part in my motivation.

September 14, 2016, 1:41 pm by

If it's fun to get to know players and meet wonderful new people, then it would be just as fun to be assigned a team and to meet new people on the team you were assigned.

Completely even teams with each new person starting the plot being assigned to one team, and then the other. You get the same number of players from all timezones, you get the same number of players who start right away, and the same number of players who start late. Less choice, but higher chances of a completely even playing field and user participation.

September 14, 2016, 1:37 pm by

Quote

OMG.
The Saggi that we have in the Omen Islands is not real!!</p>
<p>The quest Saggi - the real one - is still in his house in Centropolis!!

That is possible. I have already started a topic about this and also other possibility's. Click.

On the other hand Rosemary Kelly is now at the Millionaire Center. It surprises me I have heard nobody else about this yet.

September 14, 2016, 1:34 pm by

so not true. I took my time, deciding. I also never join right after the news are out, since I am hardly ever on then. Living in a different time zone makes it sort of hard to be online during the main time. 6 p.m. subetatime is midnight where I live. I have to get up at 4.30 - 5.00 a.m. to get to work (meaning 11.00 - 11.30 p.m. subeta time).

I know that a lot of european users where (again) not able to use the reset. Yes that sometimes frutrates me a bunch - but then - this is a game based on US time and a game... My RL i way more important.

Still I participate as much as I can. I don't think it would be fun to be forced to join a team, just because I live in a differnt time zone. I already miss a lot of chances because of that.

I am happy the way it is - and with my team. It's always fun to get to know more players and find out how many nice peopel are on here.

September 14, 2016, 1:34 pm by

@Cresenta

That would also help with so many of the items onsite that staff was worried about.

September 14, 2016, 1:15 pm by

***active players

I don't tend to count the dead weight as actually being part of the team. That's like counting a rock that slipped onto your wagon somehow as being one of the horses pulling it. Sorrynotsorry dead weight players.

If players were assigned a team from the very start, it would balance things out more because the players who join first are usually the ones who are online often and are ready to participate. If those people were split evenly into the two teams, then it wouldn't be as it is now, with one team carrying a number of dead-weight players that shouldn't even be counted as part of the team.

September 14, 2016, 1:09 pm by

- the teams are really close in numbers, but Saggi has more members, so I'm not sure that the numbers of quests done for this quest drive indicate the team member numbers at all!

September 14, 2016, 1:00 pm by

Even people who don't participate much are going to still do quests even if they aren't doing them for the event, so this was a really clear indication of which team actually has more players. I think in future events the staff should work to keep the teams even, regardless of the fact that it may mean that players don't get as much choice in which team they join.

In any case, getting to do quests an extra time was nice. And of course auto-pricing my shop just as this started raked in some nice profit as well. Feel free to incorporate quests resetting into as many plots, events, and holidays as you like. ;D

September 14, 2016, 12:55 pm by

LOL so richness is bringing you the multitasking ability xD

but it still doesn't make any sense, what happens to all the items that we are giving him, does Team Gold needs to take them all the way to the mountain?!

September 14, 2016, 12:51 pm by

lol who knows :P

Maybe the guy who sent the letter and the map is the fake Saggi in the camp :P My theory is that it's Elwood xD

September 14, 2016, 12:51 pm by

he’s rich enough to do quests wherever This isn’t for your personal score, this is just trying to get the NPC to join your team to make the trail easier (which might help you get more points if you beat the other team to the end!)

September 14, 2016, 12:27 pm by

is it a mistake or is it a clue? crime show music

September 14, 2016, 12:23 pm by

OMG. The Saggi that we have in the Omen Islands is not real!!

The quest Saggi - the real one - is still in his house in Centropolis!!

or you did a big mistake here and forgot to put a different NPC to deal with his quests because it's not possible that he can be in 2 different places at the same time xD

September 14, 2016, 12:23 pm by

Do we get more personal points for doing all the quests or does it "only" help the whole team?

September 14, 2016, 12:15 pm by

Even though I am not a quester, I love this change. Donation drives can be won by just a handful of rich users or hoarders donating a TON of stuff, while this type of event requires that all your team actually participate. It seems a lot more fair to me to do it this way - and encourages more participation. I almost never do quests, but I'm slogging my way through a second round of all these quests. flops lol Go Team Steele!

September 14, 2016, 11:29 am by

Ah, was hoping we'd win this, too many freaking monsoons. -_- Team Gold, we should have been all over this one. Not only the SP from questing, but the item rewards we can sell for MORE SP towards questers.

September 14, 2016, 11:02 am by

It's over around 5:30 pm. The bar doesn't really indicate the progress apart from the number

September 14, 2016, 11:01 am by

Yea this one definitely won't favor our team unless by some miracle every person on our team thats no participating decides to do them. Hopefully this isn't what we have to do the next time because I rather have new things to do that way its not as boring.

September 14, 2016, 10:53 am by

Hey now, don't rub it in. If he's too lazy to do his shopping but wants to fork over some of that cash to replace shovels on my team, I guess I'll let him. I can't imagine what he's doing with all those weird shoes he wanted this time anyway. :P

September 14, 2016, 10:32 am by

Why isn't this over Team Steele's bar is done! When is this over!

September 14, 2016, 10:12 am by

This command feels much better than some kind of an item drive. It is now really a matter of good co-operation and clever strategy + dedication.

Good work team Steele. You worthy opponents I can respect that.

Go Team Gold!

I'm still moved how helpful some of our team members are to each other.

This is much more nice to do than a donation drive.

September 14, 2016, 10:09 am by

Someone had this great idea (that I really think they should implement if they plan on making every NPC gaining activity a quest-a-thon which I honestly hope to god they won't because it doesn't look like Team Gold will win any of those based on how this one is going ;__; but still) that after 15 quests each we should still get to do as many quests as we want only for no SP or item rewards at all and that number should count towards our team total too.

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A Bad Omen: Esther\'s Here!

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