Valentine's Event problem

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Irin
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Joined: Thu Nov 28, 2002 3:49 am

Valentine's Event problem

Post by Irin »

Myself and a friend just started doing the valentines day event. We killed ninjas for a while and then gave up once we realized how rare the arrows must be.

So we went to nork and talked to Valentine to get our charisma potions. We put the potions in our pouch/sack and then continue to spam click her to get the vampire heart. After that we went over by the portals and used trade enable to swap charisma potions.

Upon drinking the potions, both of us got the same message, something along the lines of "you have already had your fill". We checked our charisma's and his was still 17 and mine was still 15.

Is there a cap? I assumed it would be 18. If not, why didnt this work? Neither of us have traded anyone else for potions on any of our toons. Neither of us have drank any of the charisma potions since the event was turned on today. In fact, the other player is a brand new account, so its not like he is bugged from a previous year. We are both worried about trading anymore potions. Will they be duds too?

Would like some answers from a sysop on this.

Thanks

Irin
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Joined: Thu Nov 28, 2002 3:49 am

Re: Valentine's Event problem

Post by Irin »

Just a follow up on this problem after talking briefly with Mars. It appears I am at fault here. I didnt "do the quest in correct timeline".

I am guessing that getting the heart before trading the potion is where I veered from the timeline of the quest. I fail to understand, why it gives the heart to people if they havent done the first step of the quest by trading away the charisma potion. It really confuses me on why the quest would be put in and allow that to happen. No other quest in the game I can think of works in that manner, allowing players to screw up the quest line by skipping part of the quest.

I am really getting angry (and that is putting it politely cause im really REALLY ticked off at this point that all 4 of my characters are now screwed on this quest) with how crappy quests bugs are STILL in this game. Its been decades and the game still has glaring bugs that should be fixed. Bugs that tick off the customer base and in turn tick off and waste sysops time having to deal with the same complaints/problems repeatedly. Its getting to the point where the frustration level is not worth the amount of money being paid to play compared to other games.

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Mars
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Re: Valentine's Event problem

Post by Mars »

Many quests in the game are very specific, they must be done in exact order with exact phrases.

I will have Omni look at this one and see if any tweaks should be made

Manapua
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Re: Valentine's Event problem

Post by Manapua »

Mars and Sysops : If you know that this quest or any quest or for that matter any "feature" of the game can be buggy and fail if not done very specifically then you should post something for everyone to read. This event has been around for a very long time and with the speed that Irin got a response from Mars, you obviously know that this is a problem but gave no warning. It is not as if Irin and however many other people who are stuck now did some long convoluted "one off" process to produce an otherwise unknown bug. You know this can happen.

Drakkar is hanging by a thin thread as it is and we have multi page threads about how to save it and produce some customer loyalty which will turn in to retention and fees to Brad. This kind of thing takes a dump all over the customer.

Sure, +1 CHA is small potatoes to most people but that isn't really the point, is it. There is no hidden mystique to this quest, no long term benefit to keeping your few remaining customers in the dark about a programming error. The NPC in question hands you a potion and says "it is better to give than receive". How about following that advice and posting something when you know a quest can bug so badly that your paying player base gets screwed over. A very simple, non revealing post by a sysop saying like "hey guys, during valentines you should make sure to trade away any gifts before attempting any other event steps" would have gone a long way toward solving a problem you know is going to happen.

Easier to play the odds and just let people get screwed over instead of being proactive and looking out for the player base?

Buggy code in a twenty year old game is understandable. Anyone paying and playing for any length of time expects it from Drakkar.

Apathetic Sysops who are too lazy to be proactive about helping the few paying customers left is stupid.

For the record, I had no problems getting the +1 CHA on both of my accounts and yes, it can take you to at least 19 CHA. I want Drakkar to succeed and this kind of BS will only push away customers.

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Mars
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Re: Valentine's Event problem

Post by Mars »

[quote="Manapua"]Mars and Sysops : If you know that this quest or any quest or for that matter any "feature" of the game can be buggy and fail if not done very specifically then you should post something for everyone to read. This event has been around for a very long time and with the speed that Irin got a response from Mars, you obviously know that this is a problem but gave no warning. It is not as if Irin and however many other people who are stuck now did some long convoluted "one off" process to produce an otherwise unknown bug. You know this can happen.

The quest is not bugged. Can it fail, sure. It is like every quest in the game. If not done properly, the expected results will not occur. We do not solve quests for players nor will we post info on how to complete them. We prefer players learn on their own, that is part of the process of playing the game. I do not believe a game where everything is handed to you is worth playing, there must be trial and error and learning from it.

Irin got a fast response because of a PM in the lobby and me answering it, not because it's a "problem".

Irin
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Re: Valentine's Event problem

Post by Irin »

The way situations like this come up and are handled are why Drakkar has such a little player base compared to pretty much any other game out there. Not only do players pay more to play this antiquated game, they get less customer service. I understand that with the smaller player base comes less money and therefore less of a customer service department, but as everyone knows, when a small Mom and Pop business competes with the big franchise chains... Mom and Pop have to offer something that the cheaper, flashier franchise doesn't. In most cases, its in a superior product and customer service. Sadly, the customer service around here has the common response of "figure it out for yourself cause I'm not going to help you".

I did figure out the quest. I traded the potions which is exactly what the quest NPC said to do. In all the other games out there, quest lines are straight forward and made so you CANT screw them up. Why wasn't this NPC coded to make it so you couldn't get the heart until after completing all of the steps involving the Charisma potion? That would have prevented anyone from unknowingly doing something that would cause failure on the quest chain. People get frustrated because they expect ALL games to behave in this manner. Acting like its the players fault for encountering aspects like this is what really frustrates and ticks off people. Then seeing that supposedly the quest is working just fine, implies that the designer of the quest KNEW that players would deviate from the intended path on the quest and would get screwed out of the Charisma potion. While Drakkar has its unique points (such as long quests which take more time than the average game resulting in more of an accomplishment feeling), I really hope that the designers are not putting in quests with the intent to have some players screw them up on accident because the NPC didn't have some sort of fail-safe on completing the quest in the proper order.

Obviously I have no problem with trial and error in games. I constantly push my personal envelope and get killed going to places I am just not ready for. That is trial and error. Losing out on a once a year event is not the kind of trial and error that players should be forced to endure. And just to be clear, its not about +1 charisma. Its about how the buggy quests are ignored and not fixed and how the situations are handled with the usual "tough, we don't care attitude". I am not asking to have my hand held. I am asking for quest to function in the proper order so that people can complete them without issues like this arising. I have played this game on and off for more years than I care to count. I completed the longest/hardest quest in the game, King's Quest back when it took YEARS of non-stop playing to complete it, so I am pretty sure I know how trial and error works and don't need my hand held.

Manapua
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Re: Valentine's Event problem

Post by Manapua »

Mars-

Let me start by saying as a sysop you are a representative of Drakkar and flippant remarks about how YOU think the game should be played should be left at the door. I dont care what you believe as a person Mars any more than you care what I believe. What I care is how a situation is handled by a representative of the game while interacting with a paid player of the game. That is a business transaction, Irin pays for access on however many accounts and with however many "perks" each month and I am sure he expected a professional response from the employee of the business who handled the issue. Regardless of your status as a non paid employee or not, that sysop tag makes you the representative of the company.

Moving past that, no one has asked for you to solve the quest for them. At least not in this thread. I recommended that since you are aware that this is a problem ahead of time, you could have posted some kind of vague warning that would not have ruined the "experience" of figuring out the event.

Irin got a fast response from you that was along the lines of "you did it wrong so you failed the quest", not a quick response saying you would look into it or would research it. That is because you know this is an issue with the event and I am certain it has come up over and over since it was added 10 years or so ago.

Also, lets be clear...once a year events are not like every other quest in the game. With only a few exceptions if you do a quest wrong you can just redo it with the loss of maybe a day or two worth of work. In this case, Irin and everyone else who didn't magically do it in your version of the proper way, get to wait a year assuming they bother with the game for another year.

As far as learning from it as you put it, the only take away anyone will have from this is that yet another thing in the game bugged out and the sysops don't care. The only in game NPC message is "you have already had your fill" or something along those lines. As a player, a PAID player, what exactly is the learning experience in that? That is the generic response given if you were to try to drink more than one potion, not that a step was skipped or that something was done out of order.

You have handled this very poorly from a customer service stand point which seems to be par for the course. It is not as if Drakkar has people knocking down the doors to pay to play. Some consideration for Brad's few remaining paying customers should be the driving force behind any statement you make in your role as a Sysop here on the boards, in game or in the lobby. You make it sound like Irin is asking for a hand out, it doesnt even sound like he cares about the +cha.

As a paying customer on two accounts (gold with UGH) and recently NL for both, I expect better from employees when dealing with us. I would suggest that you allow a more seasoned Sysop or Brad himself to respond to these types of requests if this is the best you can do for customer support.


[/quote}
The quest is not bugged. Can it fail, sure. It is like every quest in the game. If not done properly, the expected results will not occur. We do not solve quests for players nor will we post info on how to complete them. We prefer players learn on their own, that is part of the process of playing the game. I do not believe a game where everything is handed to you is worth playing, there must be trial and error and learning from it.

Irin got a fast response because of a PM in the lobby and me answering it, not because it's a "problem".[/quote]

Tirith
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Re: Valentine's Event problem

Post by Tirith »

Mars-

Let me start by saying as a sysop you are a representative of Drakkar and flippant remarks about how YOU think the game should be played should be left at the door.
It is not how HE thinks the game should be played... its how the game has ALWAYS been played.. if you want all the details of everything in the game given to you, then this is not the game for you. As Mars has been with the game longer than you have probably been alive. respect should be given. He is the #1 authority below Brad. Posts like this just do not get your point across in an intelligent matter and will be ignored.

Manapua
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Re: Valentine's Event problem

Post by Manapua »

Tirith-

The grown ups are talking, you should wait until you learn some reading comprehension before spewing up an opinion. No one in this thread has asked for the details of anything to be handed out. Try to reread the posts or maybe have someone explain it to you.

I happen to know exactly who Mars is, and when he started playing which is years after I started. His in game knowledge is outstanding, but his attitude sucks.


Mars-

Thanks for resetting the event, I am guessing Irin and the others who were bugged can now get it completed.

Irin
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Re: Valentine's Event problem

Post by Irin »

Yes the event was reset. I am guessing due to the Ninja spawn having stopped. Mars sent me a PM as soon as it was reset asking me to try the event again. I did so and was able to trade for a charisma pot. I thanked him and that was that.

Regardless of me getting +1 charisma, my original point still stands. Quests should be fixed so this sort of thing doesn't happen. So this sort of thing doesn't happen year after year, causing frustration and extra work for both the players and the sysops.

Skip
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Joined: Wed Jan 22, 2003 4:06 pm

Re: Valentine's Event problem

Post by Skip »

Cupid in Frore says the black robed guys who stole his arrows can be found "above ground, as well as below"....

The above ground Black robed Ninja guys are missing again this year :(

~ Buzz/Skip__KAM ~

Irin
Posts: 82
Joined: Thu Nov 28, 2002 3:49 am

Re: Valentine's Event problem

Post by Irin »

Did you check in the Chaos Caves as well as DT?

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