Finally finished Scrivener's Tale and got all excited to get to Anchorage and check it out. The stories of actually seeing mount gear recipes without raiding? Public apprentices to be helped? Fast resetting quests? I pictured a place of wonder and excitement. The hustle and bustle of industry. Well maintained streets and shiny artisan shops. Children floating on candy clouds and...well...getting carried away. But I finish everything, blow up the rocks, eagerly awaiting the Willy Wonakesque marvel that lies just feet away...or maybe even a winter theme, like Anchorage, Alaska. It would fit nicely with the Cobalt Scar. So click...zone screen... And it's a dump! I felt like I had exiled on a pvp server and was back in Haven. The quick repeatables are fun, and being part of leveling up the apprentices is fun. I just had something completely different pictured haha Maybe as time goes on it gets more built up and not the least likely space you'd want to spend time in. Hang a plant or something?
Allegedly, when the NPCs each have 7 recipes researched there will be improvements to the Anchorage. The only whispers I've heard are banker and broker though.. not anything to make the space look like more than a roughly scratched out cave.
I just feel bad. I hyped it up to those 4 people and they're like YEAH I will go work in this great new place! Then they get there and are like...thanks man, it's a cave.
I am sorry,... but what archeologists' dig ever looked, ahem,.. pretty? They are at least doing business while the excavation goes on in the background,....
To me, it is just another dark, dreary place that is hard to get to without using a guild flag or having instant travel. I don't know why DB has a thing for dreary places but it has been a well-used environment throughout the years. I realize they can't make all the zones light and airy, but I think they go out of their way to come up with darker themes just like they decided that the night should last as long as the day. I have to turn my gamma all the way up to be able to see at night. Then, during the day, everything is so bright it hurts my eyes. But gaming companies have never been considerate of player's physical and emotional limitations. I warned Sony, for years, to put up a warning about photosensitive content as it could cause epileptic seizures. They now have it but I suspect it only came after they were sued. And the use of reinforcement theory, to get players hooked on the game, has been another big issue that is now getting worldwide attention. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5023737/ and https://www.who.int/features/qa/gaming-disorder/en/ Intermittent reinforcement is the worst as it can lead to gaming addiction. "Intermittent reinforcement means that each instance of a desired behavior is not reinforced. There are at least four types of intermittent reinforcement schedules: fixed interval, fixed ratio, variable interval, and variable ratio." https://www.referenceforbusiness.com/management/Pr-Sa/Reinforcement-Theory.html#ixzz5mSjAhT6g It is currently thought that about 6% of gamers have real issues with compulsive gaming. In the US, it is estimated that over 90%, of the younger generations, engage in video gaming. Those are some alarming statistics. It has long been known that gambling often becomes addictive, and games, such as EQ2, incorporate the RNG, for rewards, way too much. Anchorage, and the Myrist tradeskill repeatables, rely heavily on players gambling that the next quest will give them the pattern or item they really want and need. This keeps players motivated to keep doing the quests even though the likelihood of getting the desired reward is slim. The broker shows just how slim the chances are of getting the most desired rewards, such as those that help with harvesting. Recipe books sell for next to nothing while harvesting gear patterns can run in the thousands of plats. Anchorage's atmosphere is a good reflection of the darker side of gambling where the house always wins. You will get a few semi-useful items but you will have to be extremely lucky to get something you really want and need.
It's always just needed to remain at least for 51% in reality. Tell about it to teenagers. For example one ear in a game, and that which hears better - outside. Also and with eyes. In generally with bodies of perception. It will save from possible serious cases when resuscitation of the player is required then. I was told about one case when some inexperienced in life programmer having put on closed glasses of virtual reality stumbled about some item of home-furnishing and having fallen, broke to death
But we did tell that one poor soul she would have ocean views. We blatantly lied to her, at least give her a painting of the ocean to look at.
Well if she ever left the cave (which she don't) she could walk to the beech from there if she could get past all those othmir they were pretty dangerous back in the day. So technically it's her fault LOL she chooses to stay in the cave. I can't believe I'm typing that you guys are right we lied to her.
Quick comment on your first and last points. Hard to get to? Sounds like you may have missed that you can buy the castle from the merchant inside and put it in your house or GH, and travel right to the zone in location? As for the rewards part, I look at the quests as the chance to get rewards, and earn the coins to buy the other recipes which I definitely would like to have. So it's significantly more than just a random chance to get something good. It's ensuring I have the right currency to buy the items I want when the research is complete.
Sounds like you should help those apprentices spruce the place up so they can make the place look nicer *hint* *hint*
Melkior There is a ton of stuff I have missed that has been added or changed in the four months I didn't play. I just got to Anchorage a few days ago so there is still a lot to learn about the place. The castle sounds like it will be very handy. I may even have it and simply didn't know what it was. I remember something about a castle but I thought it was just a decorator item. Thanks for the tip. There are aspects, of the rewards, that make no sense to me, such as the no-trade tag instead of heirloom on some of the stuff. If you have already scrolled a spell, then getting it as a reward is pretty useless and I've gotten a number of the same spells. It would be more of a reward, for what I consider to be hard work, if we could share them with our account mates. And I'd like to see far fewer books dropped and more patterns dropped. Maj'Dul is flooded with recipe books from Anchorage. But Maj'Dul isn't like the other live servers, due to its population, so maybe that isn't the case on other servers.
Almee, if you already have a castle it is only a decorator item. The transport item must be purchased from a vendor in the Anchorage. Costs 100 chits IIRC.
The NPCs in Maj'dul are now Rank II, but there is no change to The Anchorage area (no new NPCs (ie banker or broker) and no change to the zone or it's art). The assistants do not reliably carry the 'extra' items they're supposed to sell either. It's hit or miss if the extra items show up for sale each time you talk to a particular merchant.
I just took a look at the rank structure and looks like most of the visual changes and extra merchant unlocks like the building blocks etc. happen at ranks 3 and 4. Originally, it was only ranks 1, 2 and 3 but because of the ways the leveling up the system was working it had to start at rank 0 (visually 1) so everything bumped up a level and rank 2 didn't have much since it used to be rank 1. Going forward with this sort of system more will likely unlock as specific items unlock rather thank establishing ranks. Its just a bit too confusing, I think.
