rarity status of travel

snowywinter • 1 week ago

Why is Star of Bethlehem not (r100) Unobtainable like other Ark Victory Day travels? (currently r95)

I think I may have asked before and there was a vague answer about it's still technically obtainable, but it was years ago and it seems like the answer could have changed. Things are more uniform now, and even the new releases are (r100). Maybe it's just an oversight?

Seems rather unfair that it can be destroyed by the laser like objects that are still in the shops, and it's not eligible to be in the prize pool for random Donation Center finds, when the only way now to get it *is* from Ark Victory Day prizes.

maybe @mastergemma could answer? (I've been so shy with pings lately. Feel free to forward this to whomever would have the most info in the Department of Small Details and Cogs : ) )

minnie298a • 1 week ago

@snowywinter
Hmmmm......... I think I've always known it to be listed as "Retired", so the rarity isn't as important. And if it wasn't than it has been for a long, long time. In saying that, if I remember correctly, the SoB was originally gifted via the Advent Calendar before the plot. It was then added to the prize pool for the Ark Day thing, due to being so popular and pretty, or some other arbitrary reason. So that could also be a factor.

As a side note, being listed as "Retired" should make it immune to the Coal laser.

snowywinter • 1 week ago

@minnie298a

ah, thank you! I keep having these derp moments where I forget about the smaller text in the restock price area.
With so many newer items clearly in one category or the other, I forget that there can be the mixed version items. (even though they existed for the majority of my time here.)

spookyfrog • 1 week ago

@snowywinter The travel Star of Bethlehem was originally available in the Travel Agency from 12/25/2010 to 09/28/2011. On various occasions (2012, 2017, 2018) it was given as an Advent Tree reward. It has remained available in the Ark Victory Day prize pool, and may also be obtained from the Advent Tree.

I'm currently working on a guide to seasonal items. you can check it out here. i am still gathering the information for the halloween section, and then i have to get the footnotes and color coding figured out but it's good so far, if you want to use it as a reference in the future.

If you want a more spreadsheet-type look at the item database, you can go to this link at myriadium's Cavegg. https://sites.google.com/view/cavegg/item-index

snowywinter • 1 week ago

Thanks @spookyfrog : D
stand alone, I find stats like that very interesting, but it's hard for my brain to traslate it into "story" format in a way that correlates to the question. (I vaguely get "it" but brainfog does a number on cognition.)
(Like I *think* you're pointing out that S o B has returned to the Advent event a few times, and thus it's not "Unobtaintable" as it would still have the potential to show back up. Not getting my hopes up, just pointing out the technicality.)

spookyfrog • 1 week ago

@snowywinter yes, what i am trying to say is that the Ark Victory Day is the most reliable source of getting these Star of Bethlehem travels. In the past, they have been obtainable through the Advent Tree, and that may happen again, but the victory day the current best source for it.

minnie298a • 1 week ago

@spookyfrog
Ah, being in the shops first does make the rarity number understandable. I could just remember it showing up in the Advent Tree a couple of times, before being added to the Ark Day pool. But in my defense it was a long time ago, and a lot of things have happened since (and I'm feeling very old typing that).