Pondering floured bread boards.

[TullyMars]

As I got my umpteenth floured bread board today...I was pondering the speed that a new item loses value.

My thought and request to the devs is...whats wrong with regular items for rewards?

Don't get me wrong I love the new items, but let's say that in the future for a system or event (or an overhaul) you consider some regular items that people use for rewards and proportion a set amount say 25% to 75% (depending on the system) of these rewards to the regular items.

I would imagine that if I got 50 regular gems or 100 ingots or 100 arrows, instead of a now devalued floured bread board every time, I'd maintain more interest in this quest that you devs spent so much time programming for my enjoyment. If the difficulty is higher you could even use commodity deeds of something. That would be neat if we could get a commodity of 200 horned leather for a more difficult quest. Make it stuff that people use much of. I really like the termur museum curator quests for just this reason. And every time I do the puzzle board I am hoping for resources and such

This could go for any recurring system...like smith bods... at the low end intersperse some ingots of varying quanty and color with the picks and shovels. I know an outcry would be heard if you messed with any of the higher end stuff like bods that give PoF but I am pretty sure no one would mind having a 50% chance to get something else besides a pick or shovel.

And the point is it doesn't have to be special. You don't have to take valuable bug fixing time to introduce new items for rewards...you just give out some resources. You take the table/formula and if say 75% of the time you would get floured boards and kneading bowls you add into that area the chance to get say 50 ambers, or 50 of any common jewel, or commodity deed for 500 arrows, or 5 of the special gems from mining, or 20 bales of cotton, or 100 recall scrolls, etc etc. You can add so many things in to the system quickly and give such a variety that will increase interest and maintain that in the system. It doesn't have to be a brand new item...just a different item...something the toon could use...or at least sell. Load it up with 40 to 100 different rewards so no one has it figured out in 20 minutes and posted on a forum with all the results.

It must kill you to spend all that time programming death trap halls and puzzle boards to see no one doing it and rewards filling trash cans (or worse being hoarded and adding to server load in hopes they hit a spring cleanup) everywhere. I know many will say that if you brought back the 3.0 SoT's that it would increase their interest, but I am not suggesting high end items that scream come figure out an exploit for me, just some variety.

 

[Mairut]

That's a neat idea. I wouldn't mind at all getting gems or leather or ingots every once in a while; heck, I wouldn't mind if it was 75% of the time.

 

[TullyMars]

Yeah me too.
Now with resources I am not talking about a large amount that would, for example, swing miners from mining to just doing a certain quest...but a little here and there always helps.
The only thing new I might add is an easter egg like a shirt that says "I did the puzzle board and all I got was this lousy shirt" hehe

 

[Potgut]

I just hope these dusty pillows, bread boards, and that other brown thing will be turn ins for a future spring cleaning events or-like events.

One reason these were devalued fast were cause of the exploit, I'd often find a bag full of dustly pillows, floured boards, and brown things laying next to minoc bank before the 3.0 SoT fix, but now I havent seen any.

 

[Shelleybean]

I think having consumables is a great idea for rewards. That's something that keeps the solen quests going after all these years. Pet balls and bags of sending need to be replaced periodically and of course the powder gets used up. It's really a shame that the puzzle quest was exploited. I too enjoyed the 3.0 sots. I haven't bothered with doing the puzzle since the lucky coin was added.

 

[Fink]

As I got my umpteenth floured bread board today...I was pondering the speed that a new item loses value.

If it puts them within the reach of the average chef, then it's a good thing.

 

[TullyMars]

If it puts them within the reach of the average chef, then it's a good thing.

It puts them in reach of the average chef, the below average chef, the brand new player who just arrived in haven, the orcs at the orc cave, and I think I have even seen a few mongbats say I have enough of these.

 

[Maplestone]

They could always make bread boards themselves consumable - either through a quest, a craftable, a collection or simply adding code that allows them to trigger some event.

*imagines rampaging gingerbread men*

The problem is that too many deco items are a dead end in the game (aquarium rewards have always been my pet peeve - I like them as a source of SoS bottles, but I end up throwing out most of the other deco after I've filled up a box and throwing stuff out just bugs me). As we've seen with plants, systems can be revitalized by creating a sink that consumes deco ... I think that listing a proposed sink for an item should be requirement on any new-item design.

 

[TullyMars]

Aye consumable is great.
I even find a use for some of the aquarium rewards themselves. Fishing poles to the brit library and boots to some tailor bods etc. It builds up slowly and I figure if UO is around in ten years I might get something from the brit library collection hehe. But dead end items in themselves are a pet peeve of mine as well. Any thing that can be quested I save for a rainy day to turn in. Some items are well thought out and have a complete life cycle and multiple uses and ends with no item left on the server so the cycle continues again, but alas floured bread boards and kneading bowls have one use, deco and once you get one your done.