[News] Adida Holds Scavenger Hunt

[Martyna Zmuir]

Today at 4pm EST, the 'Romantic Garden' at the waterfall north of the Shrine of Justice was the site of a Valentine Scavenger hunt held by the mysterious Adida. Many eager citizens gathered around the gazebo long before the event was scheduled to begin, waiting for her arrival.</P>

Slightly after 4pm, a woman dressed in pink appeared astride a hot-pink steed. Upon closer inspection of her clothing, I noticed she was wearing a Cloak of Invisibility and Boots of Escaping…most unusual attire. Adida introduced herself and told those gathered about the Scavenger Hunt. She then plunked down a garish pink chest filled with bright pink bags. Everyone was instructed to take a bag and follow the instructions listed in the red book inside.</P>

The chest was quickly swarmed, and the bags snatched up. Travel spells were hurriedly cast as people raced off to gather the requested items - For only five people would win this day. The items we were asked to gather were quite mundane, and easily attainable. Adida wanted: a harp, a lute, a diamond, a bow, and a slice of bacon. We were to place these 5 items along with a signed book into the bag and return them to a 'Submissions Chest'.</P>

I quickly gathered these things from merchants in Britain and raced back to the garden. After a few minutes the Submission Chest appeared, and was hastily swarmed. Alas, the chest would not accept our submissions. Adida determined the culprit was the magic linking the chest to the books, and thus a new list was swiftly created and we were off once again. As before, she wanted five items: a pen and ink, a bottle of wine, a pan of cookies, a slice of bacon, and a book of poetry.</P>

Once more, Britain was my destination of choice and I gathered all the items and returned to the garden. Another mad dash for the Submission Chest ensued, and this time people were able to submit their bags. Unfortunately, those who followed the instructions in the list book perfectly were unable to submit their bags, as the chest wanted the original list as well! (The book explicitly stated the bag should only contain your 5 items and a signed book) Several people voiced their dissatisfaction as Adida verified the contents of the five bags submitted.</P>

Fortunately for those paying close attention, Adida announced that two of the bags were duplicates from certain people and the Submissions chest was plunked down once more. I darted for it and managed to drop my bag in first. After another verification process, Adida announced the winners. Each winner received a rare pink rose in a vase engraved with "2008 Valentine Hunt Champion."</P>

Adida thanked us all from coming to participate in the hunt, and bade us farewell by summoning a herd of pink bunnies before disappearing from sight.</P> <CENTER>

<U><FONT size=+1>Great Lakes 2008 Valentines Scavenger Hunt Winners</FONT></U></CENTER> <table Align=Center border=0 CellPadding=20 CellSpacing=0 Width=0 Height=0> <tr> <td><CENTER>Lucian Starfire
Geepers
Zartan
Liesha
Martyna Z'muir</CENTER></td> <td>

</td> </tr></table></P>

<FONT color="#800000" face="Monotype Corsiva" size="5">Martyna Z'muir, Library of Sosaria</FONT></P>

 

[Guest]

ok first off Lets call a horse a horse and a rat a rat.

It wasn't a scavenger hunt. In scavenger hunt rules you get a list of items to go get everyone scatters and the first people back with the items win the hunt. This was no scavenger hunt. To the people of great lakes I will reveal the crap for what it was. This was crap. We got a list we scattered however the first 5 to return with the items were not presented with a trophy for being the quickest to get the items. Instead we were told that the item submission chest wouldn't be placed for 8 minutes. By the time 8 minutes passed everyone had completed their list and returned. Once the 8 minutes passed she put a chest in a random location. So it wasn't a scavenger hunt it was who was the fastest 5 people to the chest. This is not a scavenger hunt by any means. If you want to say the first 5 people then it should have been the first 5 people to return with the items not the first 5 people who managed to beat everyone else to the chest. I know I was there. I was also one of the first 4 people to have all of my items on the first round however due to a DEV screw up. With coding a Do over was issued. once again not a scavenger hunt. In the future if they decide to do these types of events I hope they are a little more organized. One more thing, the dev that was showed up to this event to run it. We really need to put her in her place. Not only was there a mess up on the hunt and how it was done. When she showed up she was under the stairs at first even when she put the first chest down with the bags. and stayed there until the end. Now how stupid does one have to be. Your a dev and you show up under stairs and can't get yourself out.

 

[DougAlmighty13]

How nice of them to hold this while I and just about everyone I know is at WORK! Why couldn't they hold this at prime time, to give everyone a chance? And as far as the DR goes, if that was the case, then that's pretty lame too, just a matter of who's fastest at dropping the bags, not who's faster at the actual hunt.

 

[Arabella]

Yea, it was messed up for sure, but still was fun. I liked the idea of dropping the bags into the chest that way, it prevented the people that had tons of stuff in thier backpack for this scavenger hunt to win. One character that won the contest, couldnt hold his vase cause his backpack was full. I did manage to get my bag into the 2nd chest, and was given the message that it was submitted, with a number 3 behind the statement, I thought it meant 3rd bag in the submission, but i suppose that was just a general statement.

The time for the event was to early I agree, it should of been held later.

I do have one question, did you fill the feedback form listed at the bottom of the event time schedule?

 

[Guest]

Yes I'm afraid that was the case exactly. Just who was the fastest to drop their bag. and as far as the peeps that had their bags full. I didn't seem to notice a problem with it. I know many people had to leave to get things including the ones who had their pack stuffed. But the turn in I will say was jacked up. Way to go Devs.

 

[Guest]

the simple answer to your question is no. If I had filled out a comment thing there would be a few more houses burning on great lakes. The event sure wasn't ran well. To top it all off, the way the turn in was done was horrid. You can't call it a scavenger hunt it was a shopping list. Here go get the items and plunk them into my chest but only after I randomly place it somewhere after 8 minutes.

Its better off I don't give the devs feedback.

 

[Arabella]

Yes i understand that it wasnt really a scavenger contest, I have done a few of them over the years in UO. But venting on the Great Lake fourms, isnt going to accomplish anything, I dont think the Dev read shard forums. Wait a day or two then when your not as angry, fill out the feedback form with your complaints and suggestion and send them in.

Heck, the fact they even held an event is a miracle in itself, hopefully they will take the feedback and learn from the experience. Anyone that has ever done an event here on Great Lakes or in the real world will tell you their first try wasnt the best and there were screw ups.

On a side not, no offense but KR looks ugly and hurts my eyes!

We do have a brand new team, that are trying to make UO fun again, but that takes time.

 

[pallas]

All you guys should send this as feedback to UO via their main page.

 

[J0KING]

The issue that I have with the entire thing is the time that the event was held. At the time scheduled, most people are still at work. It appears that it was an idea that they wanted to test out on a small scale.

From what I have read from the posts, it would seem that it would have been better set up similar to a quest chain. You have to accomplish X,Y,Z and the first to return the finished item wins. Heck, you could have made everybody a winner by allowing them to keep the final item and just have its title changed to whatever place they finished in.

 

[Martyna Zmuir]

Just thought I'd chime in again...

My articles are about what happen, from my perspective. And I *try* to do it in a positive manner (yes, spin)... I *DID* point out that there were problems with the event, but I'm not going to tear EA a new one for a few hiccups in their first LIVE event in.. what.. 3 years? I'm also not going to sing their praises when things fall short of expectations, or things don't work with military precision.

Was the event perfect? No. I'm fairly certain that ChrissayEAMythic (aka Adida) is fairly new at being the center of attention in UO. This was her FIRST event, and she has been tweaking it over the last week to make it better and fairer (account checking, multiple lists etc). This was a rocky start, but hints at a promising future - give her the chance.

Was the event fun? I had fun, and frustration. Fun from the fact that this wasn't a bot standing somewhere responding to keywords and saying very little of import. Could she have interacted more? Yes. Again, give her a chance. I'm sure the fact that people felt the need to surround her like a pack of rabid hyena is a bit unsettling. She will get used to it.. or people could show some restraint. *shrugs* The frustration came from the fact that, to be perfectly honest, the instruction book was *wrong* Example: "Deposit these 5 items, your signed book, and the bag to the return chest." There were two books in the bag, one blank and one the book with the list in it. If you followed the directions to the letter you should have taken the list book out of the bag. This would cause your submission to be incorrect. The book wasn't clear, and the literalists in the group felt 'screwed'. Initially I was one of them.. Fortunately I got the chance to correct that when the chest was dropped again for two more submissions and I happened to click faster than others. *shrugs*

If we want more events like this in the future, with less hiccups and stubbed toes, SEND IN FEEDBACK. I encourage the liberal use of the feedback form. Help make UO better!

As for KR being "ugly"... My pics are shrunk to fit the limits Stratics has on images. So the images in my stories have been 1) shrunk but half 2) dropped in color quality 3) smoothed tad 4) most of my images are taken from a considerable zoom out The client still has art issues, but things feel more like a worldly when viewed in it.. At any rate, KR isn't for everyone...

 

[DougAlmighty13]

Don't get me wrong, Martyna, I wasn't flaming your news post. I always enjoy your posts, and understand your duty as a news manager. I was only pointing out my opinion on the timeframe and responding to the DR. I also don't believe any of the posts are meant to disrespect you, they're just sour about how the event was run, is all.

If that truly is her first event, I hope it's the first of many. This game really needs more interaction with the devs and GMs, in more ways than one. Now that you've shed some light on the situation a bit more, it's more understandable how things came to pass. I wasn't even there, as you may have guessed by my post, hehe, so I can't really offer a true account on how it went down, so once again, my apologies. Keep up the magnificent work, hon.

 

[Guest]

I too hate KR you know Martyna... nothing against you... but Gods my char looks HORRID in KR.... But that's just me.... And yes she started under the stairs.. not good... I have a ton of feedback from the event but I'll leave that to EA ..... overall I'm just glad they did something.. would have liked a better time but I guess that worked out well for those like me working "bankers" hours.

 

[imported_herc]

<blockquote><hr>

Don't get me wrong, Martyna, I wasn't flaming your news post. I always enjoy your posts, and understand your duty as a news manager. I was only pointing out my opinion on the timeframe and responding to the DR. I also don't believe any of the posts are meant to disrespect you, they're just sour about how the event was run, is all.

[/ QUOTE ]

Well said.

 

[imported_herc]

<blockquote><hr>

The time for the event was to early I agree, it should of been held later.

[/ QUOTE ]

I'm ok with the event being held during the day. I'd be ok if it was repeated at night or at server up or whenever. I'm just thankful the events are back.

 

[Martyna Zmuir]

I don't feel flamed at all. No worries!

The time was a bit odd, and there were technical issues. I don't blame anyone for feeling unhappy.. They should leave feedback for EA though.

Its just nice to see an actual event again. I'd forgotten what they were like

 

[DougAlmighty13]

Aye, it has been quite a while. I remember being ecstatic over being in the BNN news article about gargoyles attacking Minoc from the north-east, I even got my photo taken.

I was so proud! Hehe, that's me in the shadow armor, black cloak and red shield, I forgot what guild I was in then, but black and red were the colors, and they had a keep somewhere south of Trinsic in fel. I also remember the occasional spawn around the TUR guild castle, demons spawnig right outside their door, west of minoc by the crossroads. Fun times...

People, even though we might not be completely happy with the way this one turned out, maybe we should consider encouraging EA to keep up the pace. Maybe if they see us more satisfied, and, well, not leaving, it will send them a message that they're going in the right direction for a good, profitable product. UO rising from the ashes? One can only hope.

 

[Guest]

Don't get me wrong I was pretty miffed about the whole ordeal. I did take your advice and I did leave some feed back as everyone stated and I unloaded on them. However in the future maybe instead of just imbelishing the truth we can get an honest account of what took place. If you only look to the good side of things no one will ever get the whole truth... The truth is the truth weather good or bad it is the truth. Hurtful or not it shouldn't matter I for one would want to know the truth about everything rather then a sugar coated ball of crap!

 

[Lady Lava]

I was most unhappy with the time slot also. Rather than be annoyed I just go with " It was not meant to be ". Hopefully there will be more in the future and at varied times.

 

[Guest]

Ya know, the thought had occurred to me, if the PVP Club were to get rolling pretty good, to go about trying to get the devs to sponsor a super tournament, something along these lines. It may be just a pipe dream, but I'd be willing to try! If they do try to do these events more often, that would be a great one to be sure!

 

[Martyna Zmuir]

I understand the feelings about the event. It wasn't perfect. I was rather upset about the whole faulty instruction thing. Hopefully things will be improved with the next event(s). Your feedback will help, and I applaud you for speaking your mind to EA.

As for the sugar coating… *shrugs* I write in-character RP articles. My character is naturally up-beat, the hole in my library notwithstanding. I expressed the…issues…with the event in an in-character way. I'm not about to blast the new event person on her first event publicly. If you read my article carefully, you will see that I was subtle in my criticism. I mentioned the problems with the first list, the ease at which the items were obtained, and the pointlessness of the submission chest as a way of 'winning'.

Live in the present, hope for the future, but don't dwell on the past.

 

[Arabella]

Glad to hear your gonna send in the feedback form. Hopefully the Dev will take the feedback and learn from the experience.