Gathering Iron Beetle Scales is insane

[Drowy]

Took me 1-2 hours to get 5 of them. There is just one spawn in the underworld with 3 of them and it takes a few minutes for them to respawn. You find a scale in about 1 out of 5-10. So if you want to do 20 quest gathering 10 scales from Zosilem tier 2 to advance to tier 3, you will have to gather 200 scales. This will take about 40-80 hours. And the most of the time is waiting for the respawn. You can try to do the other quest gathering 5 gargoyle medaillons for each quest, which will lead you to gather 100 of them. This will probably take even more time with gathering the eggs and doing Medusa.
Can we please get some improvements here. Maybe let every iron beetle drop a scale, give us more spawns of them or something else. The way it is now, its way to time consuming, especially wating.

 

[Uriah Heep]

"That's working as designed"

Everything now is kinda like a part time job.

 

[Zeke]

Seems like a lot of work for a 10 minute buff for your pet.

 

[MalagAste]

Seems like a lot of work for a 10 minute buff for your pet.

Seems to me like much of the direction the game is headed... most everything into one LONGER and LONGER grind.

But that's what they apparently "Teach" game designers now. They encourage it saying that you have to make things more difficult so people stay engaged and don't want things to come to easily .... get bored and move on... but the truth of the matter is that the grind gets discouraging and eventually if more and more things turn into a grind folk lose interest completely and play less. Without the satisfaction of feeling as though you are getting somewhere and accomplishing things where all you do is kill, kill, kill over and over and over again and search and find nothing... eventually you just quit.

Rather like why many people leave grindy tasks to scripters because it's easier to get the gold to pay for the stuff than it is to actually collect it on your own... hence why many turn a blind eye to scripting of things like ingots, wood and other things.

To me it makes little to no sense to grind out getting scales from iron beetles for a mere 10 min boost for my pet... time better spent getting a better pet than gathering illusive scales. Suppose if you had a tip top pet it might be fun for 10 min to see what damage it can do with the boost but IMO it's a waste of time. Now if it were a boost for long enough to get through something like an EM Event or Lady M run or the roof or something then yes.... it'd be worth the grind... but 10 min isn't long enough for any of that... Rather like eatting rare fish that gives you a 1 min boost... but at least those are easier to get.

 

[Tyrath]

"That's working as designed"

Everything now is kinda like a part time job.

Just to argue... I would call it a feature

 

[Uriah Heep]

Shades of Jeremey =)

 

[Dot_Warner]

I ground out these quests a couple of months ago...and then barely played for a week. That amount of grinding is insane for an mmo, especially for something that doesn't even stack (the treats).

Getting the medallions and horns is a waste of time, since they ONLY spawn in Medusa's lair...and you're lucky to get 3 of those gargoyles every run or two. Chances are they wont drop anything as well.

Zosilem is an evil, evil gargoyle...

 

[It Lives]

They could fix this by spreading the beetle to t2a or any mining area...

 

[Dot_Warner]

They could fix this by spreading the beetle to t2a or any mining area...

And having all the undead gargoyles drop the horns and medallions (the ones in the Tomb Kings).

Plus upping the drop rate to something less grindy.

 

[Yadd of Legends]

Took me 1-2 hours to get 5 of them. There is just one spawn in the underworld with 3 of them and it takes a few minutes for them to respawn. You find a scale in about 1 out of 5-10. So if you want to do 20 quest gathering 10 scales from Zosilem tier 2 to advance to tier 3, you will have to gather 200 scales. This will take about 40-80 hours. And the most of the time is waiting for the respawn. You can try to do the other quest gathering 5 gargoyle medaillons for each quest, which will lead you to gather 100 of them. This will probably take even more time with gathering the eggs and doing Medusa.
Can we please get some improvements here. Maybe let every iron beetle drop a scale, give us more spawns of them or something else. The way it is now, its way to time consuming, especially wating.

Brr, this brings back bad memories ... absolutely not worth the time and in need of a change

 

[Acid Rain]

Its been like this for 7 yrs and now we gather to complain? hahaha.
I farm Medusa and by 'farm' I mean 12-15 Medusa's in a row 3,4, or 5 times a week.
I get plenty of horns and medallions and do the quests all the time.

The 1st time I completed the quest line it took me about 3 months.
I have since finished it on 2 more characters in about 3 months total for both.
Getting the scales takes awhile but its far from 'Insane' and its not meant to
just blast through in a couple sittings.

Go kill some Navrey's then on the respawn break go kill some iron beetles.
Its that simple. It's not 'Insane' nor difficult. It just takes some time.
Don't make me post an "Easy Button".

 

[Spock's Beard]

I farm Medusa and by 'farm' I mean 12-15 Medusa's in a row 3,4, or 5 times a week.

The 1st time I completed the quest line it took me about 3 months.
I have since finished it on 2 more characters in about 3 months total for both.

Even if we assume that gathering the eggs and soloing Medusa takes less than an hour in total, at 12 to 15 kills 3 to 5 times per week, you're sinking more time into this one thing than regular people spend working a full time job. And even then this quest took you months.

Maybe you should ditch the "easy button" talk, go sit down somewhere, and let the normies talk. Because there's no earthly way you're holding down a real job, having a meaningful family/social life, AND spending 30 to 50 hours per week JUST farming Medusa in Ultima Online.

 

[Acid Rain]

Medusa takes 8-9 mins flat to kill so under 2 1/2 hrs to farm 15 rounds consecutively.
I can get 15 sets of 4 eggs in under 2 hrs. Roughly 4 hrs for each 15 rounds, eggs included.
That's around 12-18 hrs per week on Medusa. Being an insomniac does help .

As for a real job... I worked 24 hr shifts in a station for years (1 day on 2 days off), often getting
in a round here & there of Medusa before having to go on a call.
My family & social life are none of your business but rest assured its all good. Thanks
for your concern .

 

[Spock's Beard]

You are a liar.

 

[Spock's Beard]

Haha OMG even taking you at your word that's a bare minimum of 140+ hours to complete one quest. But hey eventually you worked it down to 70ish.

Jesus.

 

[Acid Rain]

You are a liar.

Not sure what you doubt but everything I said was true. Care to elaborate?
My guild mates can confirm what I said & your welcome to join me on a run if u doubt.
You seem to have trust issues Sir. Anytime you want to do a trust fall.... I'll catch ya bro.

Haha OMG even taking you at your word that's a bare minimum of 140+ hours to complete one quest. But hey eventually you worked it down to 70ish.

What 140+ hours are you talking about? There is no 'one quest' that takes 140+ hrs. The OP's quest is part of a Tier
Quest that involves literally dozens of repeated quests to hit the top tier. I'm just saying.... fact is this
quest has been the same for 7 years. Either take the time to work your way to the top tier or don't.

 

[Drowy]

Its been like this for 7 yrs and now we gather to complain? hahaha.
I farm Medusa and by 'farm' I mean 12-15 Medusa's in a row 3,4, or 5 times a week.
I get plenty of horns and medallions and do the quests all the time.

The 1st time I completed the quest line it took me about 3 months.
I have since finished it on 2 more characters in about 3 months total for both.
Getting the scales takes awhile but its far from 'Insane' and its not meant to
just blast through in a couple sittings.

Go kill some Navrey's then on the respawn break go kill some iron beetles.
Its that simple. It's not 'Insane' nor difficult. It just takes some time.
Don't make me post an "Easy Button".

So if I decide to get a Vial of Armor Essence which lasts for 10 mins and it takes 2-4 hours to gather the iron beetle scales, not to mention the Leather Wolf skins and Boura skins and if I would do Navrey it would take even more time, for me its an insane amount of time. I dont want to do things over and over. I also dont want an easy button, but it should be reasonable. I mentioned that every iron beetle could drop a scale which by far wouldnt be an easy button, but more towards being reasonable. In my eyes its far of of that, so its something the Devs should have a look at.

 

[Acid Rain]

Ok... so while we're at it... I'd like a boura skin to drop on every boura to make that part of the tier quest move faster. I'd like a treefellow wood to drop on every treefellow to make that part of the tier move along quicker. I'd like a leather wolf skin to drop on every leather wolf so I don't have to spend so much time on that one either. All undead gargoyles should drop horns or medallions (preferably both) & not just the ones inside Medusa's Lair. Lastly, infused glass staves should drop on each putrid undead gargoyle and the spawn timer should be removed so they spawn around the clock.

These are all items needed to progress the Tier Quest. Some only spawn at certain times of the UO game day. None are guaranteed drops. Again, its been like this for 7 yrs and no one has ever complained. Either spend the time to hit the top Tier or don't.... its up to you. I understand your point and acknowledge your request to have the Devs look into this..... I respectfully disagree.

 

[Drowy]

Ok... so while we're at it... I'd like a boura skin to drop on every boura to make that part of the tier quest move faster. I'd like a treefellow wood to drop on every treefellow to make that part of the tier move along quicker. I'd like a leather wolf skin to drop on every leather wolf so I don't have to spend so much time on that one either. All undead gargoyles should drop horns or medallions (preferably both) & not just the ones inside Medusa's Lair. Lastly, infused glass staves should drop on each putrid undead gargoyle and the spawn timer should be removed so they spawn around the clock.

These are all items needed to progress the Tier Quest. Some only spawn at certain times of the UO game day. None are guaranteed drops. Again, its been like this for 7 yrs and no one has ever complained. Either spend the time to hit the top Tier or don't.... its up to you. I understand your point and acknowledge your request to have the Devs look into this..... I respectfully disagree.

Well you only need 5 Boura skins for the quests and the High Plains Bouras respawn fast enough, so that there is no waiting time. So it takes like 5 mins to gather 5 skins. There are also enough areas where treefellow guardians spawn, so it doesnt take that long to gather 10 wood. Leather wolfs have at least 3 spawns and since they call other leather wolfs for help, you got enough chances for the skins and the respawn is reasonable. So for 10 you also just need a few mins. The horn and medaillon quest I always saw as a bonus quest, because you dont really need the Infused alchemist gem or the verite metal conversion potion. You do a Medusa here and there and sometime get a bonus quest done. Infused glass staves drop pretty often and the spawn is often enough. I normally get more than 5 staves from the spawn until it ends and the quest can only be done once in 24 hours.
In my eyes all these drops are reasonably timed, so you cant compare it with the iron beetle scales.
And people have already complained about it about 5-6 years ago. And since the devs did quite a good job lately and listened to the players and I was dealing with it again, I thought I bring it up again.

 

[Yadd of Legends]

You are a liar.

Whoa, kinda harsh even for Spock, isn't it?

 

[Acid Rain]

Well you only need 5 Boura skins for the quests and the High Plains Bouras respawn fast enough, so that there is no waiting time. So it takes like 5 mins to gather 5 skins. There are also enough areas where treefellow guardians spawn, so it doesnt take that long to gather 10 wood. Leather wolfs have at least 3 spawns and since they call other leather wolfs for help, you got enough chances for the skins and the respawn is reasonable. So for 10 you also just need a few mins. The horn and medaillon quest I always saw as a bonus quest, because you dont really need the Infused alchemist gem or the verite metal conversion potion. You do a Medusa here and there and sometime get a bonus quest done. Infused glass staves drop pretty often and the spawn is often enough. I normally get more than 5 staves from the spawn until it ends and the quest can only be done once in 24 hours.
In my eyes all these drops are reasonably timed, so you cant compare it with the iron beetle scales.
And people have already complained about it about 5-6 years ago. And since the devs did quite a good job lately and listened to the players and I was dealing with it again, I thought I bring it up again.

Now that's a well thought out & straight forward reply !
You've swayed my opinion.
@Kyronix maybe ya'll could look this over and bump up the spawn or something as the OP suggested.

 

[PlayerSkillFTW]

The drop rate of Iron Beetle Scales, Boura Skins, Gargoyle Medallions/Horns, Infused Glass Staves, etc are influenced by Luck. With about 2,200+ Luck at the time, i'd get an Iron Beetle Scale, Boura Skin or Infused Glass Stave about 1/3 of the time.
A couple years ago, i farmed the Tier Quests out, and unlocked Tier 3 of the Alchemist quests. The Iron Beetle Scales definitely took awhile, since it takes a couple minutes for them to respawn. Their spawn is also tied with the Wolf Spiders that spawn with them, so if you lure the Wolf Spiders away, then kill the Iron Beetles, the Iron Beetles won't respawn for a long time.

I did this with my Mage/Tamer. The best pet i found for killing them at the time, was a fully trained Bane Dragon. He'd tank the Iron Beetles and Wolf Spiders, he'd DP all of the Iron Beetles with his poison skin, and i'd Meteor Swarm all the Wolf Spiders with a Spider Slayer spellbook equipped. Pretty easy to kill the spawn. During this, i recorded the stats of all the Iron Beetles i'd seen, and submitted it to the Stratics Hunter's Guide. Iron Beetle - Hunter's Guide - UO Stratics
One interesting thing about the Iron Beetles, is that while it takes a tamer to tame one, they don't require taming to own or control. They're one of the beefier pets that a non tamer can use, although they take 4 Control Slots.

 

[Drowy]

The drop rate of Iron Beetle Scales, Boura Skins, Gargoyle Medallions/Horns, Infused Glass Staves, etc are influenced by Luck. With about 2,200+ Luck at the time, i'd get an Iron Beetle Scale, Boura Skin or Infused Glass Stave about 1/3 of the time.

I pretty much doubt that, because its about the drop rate I already have without luck.

 

[DifferenceDifference]

The excessive grind is unbearable. I come back to UO every so often. Sometimes it takes 3 months to come back, other times it takes 3+ years. I just recently reactivated one of my accounts and I am just overwhelmed.
The gist is: I don't want to do any of those things.

My 1st thought is: How do I buy stuff with US $ that I can sell in game for in game items so I don't need to have to grind 20h / week?
2nd thought:
Well, does not seem to be worth spending even more $.

Looking around at WBB, Luna on several shards... tells me: Some other people feel the same about the grind. Even the unattended miners seem to have gone.

It doesn't matter to me how any of the grind problems is being solved. Higher loot rates, faster respawn, more spawn points, I don't care. But *something* should really be done about this.

Also, I dislike the word "difficulty". It's not difficult to grind many of those things. They require little knowledge and only very little skill. All they require is endless endurance for incredibly mundane tasks. Tasks that often yield little to no rewards even after dozens of hours of gameplay. Why, Mesanna, do you want me to suffer? I don't want to suffer. I wanna play.

This game could be so much more fun to so many people. IMHO.

 

[Finley Grant]

Stupid question. What Quest are u talkng about?

 

[Ox AO]

I was nearly finished with that quest about to get my first tasty treat. What I call the longest quest in all gaming history. Takes most of us about two years to complete. Then I transferred the character to and from a few shards wiping all quest longs and had to start over.

 

[Drowy]

Its a quest chain starting with Thepem in the Royal City. After you did enough quests of tier 1 and 2 you can go to the quest chain from Zosilem where you have to do enough quests from tier 1 and 2 to reach tier 3.

 

[Ox AO]

Stupid question. What Quest are u talkng about?

Tier Quests - UOGuide, the Ultima Online Encyclopedia

 

[Troll The T Hunter]

"We have increased the spawn rate of the Iron Beetles and it will be adjusted when Publish 95 is released WW."

well here you go.

 

[Drowy]

Yeah, I asked for it at Atlantic meet and greet. It seems if you have valid arguments they have a look and maybe have a change. What surprises me is that it happened so fast.