Improving the VEND & questing experience!

snowwall • 16 December 2019 at 10:59 PM

@caylith
>>I have a suggestion in this, I thing fair. Set a minimum price and a maximum price for the items/travels. A minimum (say, the shop price x2) and maximum (not bigger than 20k). This way the items will be possible to buy for us even if "the jokers" imediatelly set 20k.

Do you know that some items cost far more in shops than those 20k? Say, Cup of Magic Tea from Bean Sack - 35,000 EC.
Also, some items are rarity 40, shop price 600, but unobtainable since it's a retired item. Like Dark Chocolate Savarab. As a collector's item for feeder-collectors, it can well be worth half a million for some people. Of course, it should not be in the questing pool in the first place, but do we really want a two-tier shop pricing system that looks at retired-unretired and caps your pricing options accordingly?



I'd like a simplified searching, stocking and pricing system, though.

As it is, each quest involves:
1. Searching if I have it in Stronghold - if yes, getting it from out there
2. Searching if it exists in user shops - if yes, find it in Eggcavity to see if those 50k are a reasonable price
3. Searching if it exists in Trades - if yes, find it in Eggcavity, lodge an offer and pray the owner is online
Looks quick in writing, but is tedious as anything.

On the other side of the barricades, each shop restock involves:
1. Searching if an item is abundant in other shops.
2. Searching if an item is a retired rarity from the past.
3. Searching what the shop price is and what would be a reasonable pricing (it doesn't correlate with rarity at all).
4. Above 3 repeated for every item bought afterward the initial stronghold cleanout. And for every item in stronghold initially - which is why I touch neither the shop nor the quests.

caylith • 17 December 2019 at 7:13 AM

@snowwall

But noone, who has to gather 4x80 tokens will buy the item at that price (or much higher set by the user) - even as rare as you mentioned for such a price😊 It is far more better to quit the quest and wait for somethin possible to gather. All I want is some reasonable price cap. Admins will for sure know what shoud have a high price from the start, but at the same time - reasonable one. If there is no one here on the game able to pay 1million ec for an item, hell, 100000 or 50000, there is no sense on setting the price as high and make angry the guys who search the item, find it and have to quit for some scam decided just for fun to want a million for a stupid cup of tea;D
If the admins decided about the min. and max price on the items in all the shops depending on their rarity - it would be finally obtainable and not as frustraitin as the VEND with its randomnes aleady is. It should be fun, not making people sad, because they try so hard and they got... well, nothing, givibg away all they have and their time.

Deleted • 17 December 2019 at 7:26 AM

@snowwall is making another good point, though. I really wish the questing system would made easier - I'm not saying it should be super easy or something, just to make simpler searching and buying items, since questing takes away LOTS of time for a try that could in the end make you sad and disappointed and make you want never try it again. On the other hand, If a price cap was to be implemented it could hinder the search of items collectors that don't quest and stuff... I want a possibility that improves the questing system without making harder other aspects of the game. Maybe a price cap according to the original price of the item in shop would be a good idea (es, If an item costs 200ECs to buy, cap should be around 2000ECs at max, an item that cost 20k could be sold for not more than 40k and so on), but I don't really know how much work in terms of coding that could be...

I second a "quick" button to get the item, while questing... something like, "you have this required item in your strongroom, remove it?" ... and with a click you can get it or find it in a user's shop. Right now, even searching for items in shops, trades and your own strongroom is tedious and take time - one need to copy / paste to search, since many items (like the cherry cookies) have similar names... I honestly sometimes get very confused with how messy is the items organization...

ravensong • 17 December 2019 at 8:29 PM

@kimichanx3 Hi! I have a question for anyone really. How exactly does the vending machine work? I have 40 tokens from Miserable Meltdown, and I want a creature from Autumn Goodness...so do I need to get 40 more tokens from the other quests too? And if I do, when I get all of them, do I spend 120 tokens, and possibly get one creature? I'm sorry everyone but I'm not sure how this works...

lexicon • 17 December 2019 at 8:34 PM

@ravensong

Yes! So Autumn Goodness requires 40 tokens EACH from Baked Bun Quests, Going Global, Gourmand Quests, and Miserable Meltdown. That is 160 tokens total for one try! And the creature you get is totally random but is ONE of those 4 from the prize pool (in this case, for the Autumn Goodness: Leyma, Trenka, Perukey, or Tawny). That's why people are upset because it's a lot of work and you might not get the one you want /:

Let me know if you have any other questions 😊

lexicon • 17 December 2019 at 8:44 PM

@ravensong

For example, if you have 50 tokens for Miserable Meltdown and it only requires 40 and you use the machine, you get to keep the 10 that are not used! It doesn't take everything you have, only what it requires.

Feel free to message me any more questions so we don't spam the thread! 😊

Deleted • 18 December 2019 at 3:13 AM

@ravensong it seems @kimichanx3 alredy covered the basics! That's exactly how the VEND machine works... for now. I honestly really hope to see some positive changes being made to it in the near future. 😊

This morning I had to reject two quests (the ones I needed most tokens from, too) because the item required wasn't to be found anywhere. Of course it's an hour waiting time for something that's not my fault. It's... quite frustrating. It would be really nice If the item asked could be found (in shops or usershops) at the time the quest is given, at least... ^^"

captaincookies • 18 December 2019 at 12:41 PM

You can make the questing experience a lot cheaper for yourself by buying the things you'll need ahead of time. I have 5 of most travels just chillin' in my strongroom ready to bee boop on out when I accept the quest. I don't like the idea of changing quests at all. Rejecting quests is just a fact of life, there's always going to be something you can't find in the shops, etc. etc., but that's because there are thousands of items that can be asked for, there aren't enough players on EC to cover them all.

Deleted • 18 December 2019 at 12:50 PM

@captaincookies

Another good point.
I do that a lot... I usually buy a couple items from the shops and keep them ready in the strongroom to use. Still, If you don't have enough time do stalk the shops consider an user could only try to search them in usershop, finding a 2000ECs worth item being sold for, like, 400k. We're not asking to make the questing system super easy, just a bit more affordable for people with less time, with faster restocks, a better search & find system, and possibily a shorter waiting time when rejecting a quest. If the creatures in a pool were spread in a more reasonable way to avoid people totally wasting their hard work and effort, it would be nice too. Even being asked only one item when questing, like in the Miserable Meltdown ones, would make things nicer. 😊

EDIT: Just tried the VEND for the first time. I had only for 2 tries (worked super hard to gather these tokes) and received a canige and a vitta. That I alredy had. And I alredy have clogged enough accounts. I feel stupid and disappointed, really... this questing system makes one feel like everything they've given in time & effort was wasted, because it's so random. It is not like a questing / reward system / game should work, in my opinion. I mean, it's ridiculous... I spent time & effort for what? Nothing at all... I'm not even sure I want to keep questing anymore. :/

icedragon3000 • 19 December 2019 at 4:25 PM

@wererage This is true. Got two times a Perukey from it. >.>

After I read the topic I had an idea: You said the creatures are in categories. How about to spent more coins (max. 50) for a higher chance to get the super rare and less for the not so rare.

Sorry for my bad english, but I hope you can understand what I mean. >w<

Deleted • 19 December 2019 at 4:32 PM

@icedragon3000
Thank you very much for your feedback! ❤️
And I understood perfectly! An option like "bet a bigger amount to tokens" towards a particular creature from the pool, right? I like the idea a lot... it's a dare kind of thing, though, so I personally wouldn't be able to do it because If I get a peturkey in the end I'd be double disappointed, but I think many people would like it. 😊

icedragon3000 • 19 December 2019 at 4:40 PM

@wererage Yes, that´s what I mean and I´m glad you like my idea.^^

Hm yes, that would be still a problem. I hope there will be a solution for this 'problem'.

Deleted • 19 December 2019 at 4:44 PM

@icedragon3000
Well, an improved chance is still better than none at all, in my opinion!
And I hope so as well... thank you very much for stopping by and giving your input! ❤️

icedragon3000 • 19 December 2019 at 4:46 PM

@wererage You´re welcome. I hope the best as well. 😊

Deleted • 19 December 2019 at 8:56 PM

@wererage

Everyone has amazing ideas here!! Thought I'd throw in something @bockbock and @kimichanx3 and I were talking about, might help maybe? ❤️

Suggestion 1: The Token Trading Machine!

Trade your tokens, for another Token! Not x5 for x1 tokens, just a 1x1 token machine. (With an added option to trade more than x1 token in, of course!)

Not gonna lie...I've got so many Miserable Meltdown tokens that I don't know what to do with! c': (The rest of my Tokens are either depleted or getting there lol)


Suggestion 2: Quest Difficulties! (Easy, Medium, and Hard mode)

Easy Mode: Asks for x1 item only, get x1 token in return.
Medium Mode: Asks for x2 items only, get x2 tokens in return.
Hard Mode: Asks for x3 items only, get x3 tokens in return.
(The Randomizer: Any x item for x tokens. Can ask for ANY items, and get ANY tokens in return. This is a random chance option, you can either hand over more items for less/more, or hand over less items for more/less, etc.) Example: The person you are questing for asks you to find them x1 item, and you can be rewarded with x3 tokens in return.

Here's the next part of this suggestion: Item Rarity. Common items go within the Easy tier, Uncommon items within Medium, and Rarer items go within the hard quests.

For people who like to stock up, and have the items on hand, it'd be easier for them to obtain the creatures they want AND allow others to have a chance in stocking up on Tokens for certain quests. ^^

Deleted • 20 December 2019 at 12:07 PM

@wereage I think that we should as have some kind of swapping coins feature. Some people might have a lot of one coin, take the pink one for example and they need to an extra blue to be able to have the coins needed. Then someone else has a blue coin and needs a pink coin, those two people would just swap there coins.

Deleted • 20 December 2019 at 1:54 PM

@achimenes
Thank you for your input! ❤️ I really like your idea, both of them actually! I hate how with the fact in MM only one item is asked, I always end up with more MM tokens I need and, like none at all for Manjul and Arkimedes, that are the most difficult ones price-based (jeez, had to buy a book for 25k today 'cause I was desperate...). To swap tokens and to be able to choose the quest difficulty would be amazing, and also @bockbock... you mean a swapping machine or to trade tokens between users? That'd be super neat! *w*

Amyways, I'm gonna step down this topic as I won't have much time to follow it anymore. ;w; I hope you guys can still find it and give some feedback... let the staff hear us! 😊

I thought it might be a good idea to ping some regular users that do quests (saw this via the leaderboards). Sorry for the random ping, guys, but might you be interested in giving us an opinion about your experience with the questing system? 😊
@anzica @mindassala @cartel @synxity @dusskfall

dusskfall • 20 December 2019 at 11:18 PM

I think they should pay attention to the actual rarity of a creature and make it uniform across a vend catagory. that way even if you don't get what you want, at least you don't get something so common that there's no way you can even trade it for another one from the same catagory.
Also totally agree that the cost is too high. the amount of tokens you have to get, and the price to get them is so out of proportion to the cost of most the creatures that it's just not worth it.
i really want the foo.. but i'm looking at what else is in that catagory of vend.. and.. if i don't get the foo, i'm out of all that time and ec for something i already have. none of which are worth the cost

Deleted • 21 December 2019 at 6:07 AM

@dusskfall
Thank you very much for giving us your input! Glad to see more people supporting the improvements idea. 😊 It is indeed a bit risky as the pools are right now - I don't want to hinder your desire to try, but I had enough for just two tries, and was hoping to get a foo. I got a canige and vitta I alredy had, and nobody would trade a VEND foo for a VEND canige. It made me so distressed to see I bascally wasted all my hard work to get tokens now I am questing a bit but I think I'll never munster the courage to try the stupid random thing again unless I have, like 20+ tries... c':

More random pings (sorry):
@schelke @inarivixen @calenlass @jenlou

jenlou • 21 December 2019 at 5:15 PM

Many interesting points in this thread ! I think the ideas I'd really like to become a reality are :

1. Having more ways to get items for questing by playing mini games.
2. Being able to swap a kind of token for another one.
3. Quicker restocks in the shops.

Those would really help people to be able to get the creatures they like without having to change the VEND machine system !

Also, maybe it could be interesting to make the chances of getting the same prize from a pool prize less likely ! Personnally I find it very frustrating to try 4 times a pool and get 3 times the same creature !

Deleted • 21 December 2019 at 5:29 PM

@jenlou
Thank you very much for your input! 😊
I like the idea of making the chance or getting the previous creature less likely, but a person might want to try to hoard or try for more than one of a certain creature, so consider it could maybe also hinder the VEND experience for someone else, instead.

jenlou • 21 December 2019 at 5:35 PM

@wereage That's a valid point ... maybe then if it was an option you can choose to activate or not on the VEND machine would make it better for everyone !?

Deleted • 21 December 2019 at 5:37 PM

@jenlou
That would be better, yes! 😊

pouncessoftly • 26 January 2020 at 1:48 PM

I apologize that I haven't posted before now. I've really just been questing in the past month, so I didn't want to post an opinion before I'd gone through it a few times .. if that makes sense. xD I also have not read all the posts - my bad if I bring up something already discussed.

My first comment would be - please, please, PLEASE reduce the amount of times (or better yet eliminate entirely) the amount of incredibly expensive travels that Manjul asks for. PKS? Please! I'm sorry, I'm just not going to spend that kind of EC on a quest items. Just in the past couple of days, I've been asked for a Goldentree Meadow travel several times. A cap of perhaps 5000-8000 EC would be much appreciated!

Second - if you're not willing to reduce or eliminate those extremely expensive items, how about reducing it to ONE item per quest, like Miserable Meltdown?

Third - an hour is an excessive penalty when you have to quit a quest. 30 minutes would be much more reasonable.