This is...really late to be bringing this up. I'm going to ask anyways. Are there any plans to continue the AoM crafting quests? They end abruptly in the 2 cities and it just feels unfinished. Like the story should continue. It seems like it was planned to pick up from there. So I'm wondering if there will be a few more quests added to that line to lead into the next expansion, or if it is going to just end strangely?
I'm not sure why you consider the story unfinished. The original email from Ethan tasked you with finding his missing crew member Roberta. You tracked her through the Tranquil and Phantom seas, and found her working diligently to help protect Highhold. Ethan and the Far Seas Co. were happy that you completed their request, and rewarded you. Nothing in the AoM quest line is needed to lead into the next expansion. No ToV quest led to AoM; the AoM crafting questline was started with the mail from Ethan.
So that whole bit where you talk to the Duality and figure out the nature of the Shissar artifact seemed like a satisfying conclusion to you? It just seemed like a loose end that was suppose to lead into another quest. Maybe you got the ring and just stopped doing the rest of the quests?
The mysterious shissar artifact section of the questline is actually a tie-in to the adventurer signature quest. There are a couple places in the adventuring sig quest where you find mysterious artifacts and the adventurers' contact sends them to the city to figure out what they are -- which is where you, the tradeskillers, step in and actually do that work. However, the actual story of those artifacts is really a part of the adventurer questline. We just thought it would be cool for those people who did both parts to tie them together. As often happens, you only get a full and complete story when you do both adventuring and tradeskilling side. Edit to add: the quest completion text of "Final Assessment" reads: "With the Duality's help, I learned that the blank codex was a tome containing powerful teleportation spells, and the other artifact appears to be something to do with transferring magical energy. Both appear to be from around the time of Ssraeshza. I rushed this information back to Trade Liaison Wells, who will update the city's representatives and warn them that powerful teleportation spells may be in someone's possession." The FSTC had shut down the isle of refuge when they saw the dragons were poking around, assuming it must mean something of great value was somewhere on the island. The artifacts you identify in the tradeskill questline are two of several ancient Shissar artifacts that turned out to be on the island (whether buried there by someone else long ago, or whether debris from Luclin's shattering, we did not specify). The akhevans around the place are agents of the Shissar, also hunting for certain artifacts (and probably responsible for destroying the tower during that search). The codex you identify is the same one from the adventure questline, the contents of which emptied itself into the mind of Captain Greymast's son during the adventure signature quest. The codex contained information the Shissar had planned to use to open some type of portal, no doubt for reasons that are No Good. That said, you are going to ask the Duality's help again soon, so you haven't seen the last of him. But this will be for new reasons. In the upcoming expansion tradeskill questline you will also help investigate some of the things that the adventurers are investigating also, but you won't fully understand the bigger story from the tradeskill quest alone (though hopefully the portion you do see is still satisfying and you don't need to know more if you don't want to).
No, I finished the whole follow-on quests (ten times; I like being able to fly around the exploded tower). I don't, however, consider that truly part of the AoM tradeskill quest line that started with the mail from Ethan. The follow-on is more oriented (in my opinion) to pointing us towards the next expansion. I expect to get another mail in the next expansion that sends me back to the Duality for more artifact work.
I think the biggest problem I see with the Tradeskill side of this is the . . . underwhelming reward for doing the "second half" of the timeline. The first half of the timeline, in TS & PS, rewards you with a really nice tradeskill centric ear. The second half (let's call it the world tour) rewards you with . . . the ability to fly in a tiny area of the overall world where you probably don't need to fly again anyway? I found it very disappointing. When I saw the reward for the first half of the timeline, I was like "Yea! I'll do this on all my crafters". When I saw the reward for the second half I was like "Yea, I'll just do rush order writs instead."
Sorry to hear this, but do you have any suggestions on how you'd like to see it improve? We always try to make the writing entertaining, and while it's probably impossible to be witty and brilliant in every sentence, specific details or examples of what quests and writing you have particularly enjoyed are always helpful so we know what worked well.
i thought fury-merc quest line with Rafflik was awesome. I enjoyed writing/ story and hope to see more in that style. I really like how he cast his spells with a pirate flourish.
As far as writing goes I enjoyed the most Shipwrecked series, Gathering Obsession, What Dreams May Come, Artisan Epic Palace of Ancient One and Clockwork group instances, to certain extend also the Otmir quest series was in my opinion pretty well written. I'm sure I could name more well written quests, but these really stick in my mind. I understand that not every quest line can be witty, but as far as ToV and AoM quest line goes, I can't remember single memorable moment or line that made me smile, while for instance artisan epic, a series of quests with some serious writing, was quite intriguing and amusing at the same time. Raffik was truly hilarious
A truly entertaining story is based on a character that is well developed and sticks to it's origins or develops organically from those origins. Thats why these stories stand out so well to you. I'd like to add Shadows of the Betrayed to your list, it's excellent if you haven't done it you should as far as crafting. (For Adventuring a recent fun story was in AoM I really enjoyed the developing story of the erudite that had the innate ability to set of magical flash bombs, and the female sailor that worked with Greymast she was very salty I loved her dialog)
For low level adventurers, there is a benefit to continuing the questline after you get the mark... the ability to fly in the no-fly zone of Tranquil Sea.
That was my point. By the time you've completed the second half of the questline, you no longer have a need to be hopping around in that area anyway.
Really, no need to do the Tranquil Sea daily crafting quest? Must be nice to have all of the Far Seas tokens you'll ever need.
One of the best Quest lines that tickled me was the spoof on Dicken's Christmas Story. I still get a chuckle thinking about it.
Am I the only one who thought the Cobalt Scar TS line was awesome? We were acknowledged masters of our crafts, we studied materials to create our recipes, and we were making major contributions to both the Othmir home and the Combine camp! I love that whole line! I did like the AoM stuff, even though the part with the Duality might've only been a brief crafter connection to the adventurer storyline. But if the Duality ever decides to sell his current house (and all the displays in it) just let me know!
I know it's too late to do anything with this expansion, but for the future, is there any chance of seeing a new version of the artisan epic? The last thing we did was the shawl at...85? 90? I can't remember. But now that we're at 100, there should be some new "must have" for what is a momentous level. If a person makes it to 100 years old, lots of people make a pretty big deal out of it
Instead of coming up with a new "crafting epic" maybe its time to start recycling the old crafting "epics" with an upgrade quest every other expansion? Start with revamping the Earring of the Solstice in this expansion, then the crafting weapons down the line and eventually upgrading the shawl. I'd like to see all the epics retain their current clicky abilities, and just add more stats or maybe a new ability of some kind. For instance the Earring of the Solstice gives us a small run speed boost, some crafting stats and lets us see red shinnies. My idea for a revamp would be to improve on what it does a bit. Maybe add some harvesting stats, or maybe a progress bonus. Actually what I'd really like to see is a 5% chance to get 2 collectables in a single pull. An improvement on its collection-based ability. Oh, and add some stamina to it. For the crafting weapons, add a 10% bonus to critical success chance and 1% to material conservation. Equipping the weapon just makes you better at crafting. I'm leery of adding harvesting stats to this sort of item, since most crafter/adventurer types would rather equip their normal weapon for overland harvesting. Maybe if the clicky evac was revamped to be more effective in combat. No real suggestions for the shawl. It is still a great item. Maybe something involving Brell? Maybe you proc a pinch of cosgrove clay? Something to think about.
I think the best way to handle upgrading these is a new class of adornments with some kind of set bonus. There could even be two tiers of stats, one for max artisans, one for max in their craft, tinkering and adorning.
