If any of you have done the Defend the Gingerbread Colony mission yet, here's a scenario that happens about 90% of the time. The gate opens and usually just one of our five players takes off immediately toward the hidden present. He/She doesn't defend or kill they just head ASAP to the little green circle on the mini-map leaving the remaining 4 of us to carry on without them.
Techincally it's not a big deal, I've finished the mission with only 3 players, but I can't help wonder why the devs would insert this game dynamic into a group mission. It's only a silly cooking recipe which I have het to realize their importance, but leaving the crew behind for a selfish persuit seems kind of uncool, yet it's the Devs that created this game mechanic so it's not like they are doing something out-of-line.
So my question is why insert something that has the potential to disrupt the group dynmics in such a way that's more likely to irritate people who were doing the job at hand and denied the same opportunity to check out the hidden present? Personally something like this would have been better in the racing game so people running behind could grab a consolation price. You're already in a competitive dynamic, so another shot at something cool would be welcomed.
Anyhow I'm not saying they should get rid of the gift box, I'm just wondering why things like this are included in group mission that's supposed to encourage us to work together as a unit, yet this hidden gift box becomes an immediate deviation from that and over time just gets downright annoying. So I'm left wondering what the value of this game mechanic really is for Devs. I feel like we should be rewarded for doing a good job, not for breaking rank and doing stuff that serves only yourself; it just seems so backwards to me I just have to ask, what's the point?.
I've run the winter invasion about five or six times now, and even when it says during the mission that I've found a recipe or the present all I get at the end is a couple of ornaments. I know I'm supposed to be looking for the little green circle, but when I get there there's nothing to select, I'll just stand there like an idiot for a second and it will say "X found the Present!" or "X found the Recipe!" or something, then at the end of the mission I check my inventory and there's nothing. What the heck is going on here?
The only things I can find during the mission that I can interact with are snowball piles (which have so far only given me snowballs) and those candy stashes which only give a buff. What am I doing wrong?
Admiral Katrina Tokareva - U.S.S. Cosmos, Yorktown-class Star Cruiser Admiral Dananra Lekall - R.R.W. Teverresh, Deihu-class Warbird General J'Kar son of K'tsulan - I.K.S. Dlahath, Vo'devwl-class Carrier
It's the same with the PVP winter race, even if you do ACTUALLY place 1st, 2nd or 3rd place you still need to click a flag...which if you skid past them means someone who came last can end up getting 1st, 2nd or 3rd place.
Usual lazy incompetent coding from Cryptic.
"You know when that shark bites, with its teeth dear... scarlet billows start to spread..."
I see that now. And you want to know the worst part? The message that pops up always says that *I* found the loot. The game is taunting me because I always end up getting mobbed by snowmen and frozen before I can reach the loot. Can we PLEASE do something to make this whole event seem less like Black Friday with rewards that up to pure chance and being the jerk who runs ahead to get the one item on the map?
Admiral Katrina Tokareva - U.S.S. Cosmos, Yorktown-class Star Cruiser Admiral Dananra Lekall - R.R.W. Teverresh, Deihu-class Warbird General J'Kar son of K'tsulan - I.K.S. Dlahath, Vo'devwl-class Carrier
For me, the most irritating thing about the Winter Invasion is the "Mysterious Box of Cookies and Treats" box. It gave me really awful rewards so far; I think the devs should make it so that it always contains at least one green item. Many times I only get three common items from the box (not to mention the Frigid Lump of Coal...), which is less than what I get from the pie eating contest that lasts a mere 1.5 minutes.
I find that the snow fights give much better rewards (and much more fun); when I start by attacking the large group of snowmen at the corner of the map I can get 3 or 4 greens after the boss is defeated. (Of course before I got my first snow gun the rewards were pretty miserable; snow balls are rather measly.)
I managed to get the recipe four times in the invasion, but after breeding my winter tribble I don't see much point of the foods anymore. I see that they go only for a few thousand EC on exchange, so I guess others feel the same.
I never tried "The Fast and the Flurrious" race because it only gives tags, and I don't want epohhs. Would be nice to have an alternative reward.
Overall, I enjoy snowfights the most, but after buying two snow guns, a lirpa and a scarf I will probably run out of things to look forward. It would help if the bat'leth and lirpa would be at least account-bound and not character-bound (for my future characters). And the jackets seem too expensive for me for what they give; I would rather sell the green bells and beads on the exchange for EC. Would love to see some more variety in the clothing, like headwear.
I find that the snow fights give much better rewards (and much more fun) ...
Now that I'm through another two snow fights I have to say that the reward system is very good! When I come late and only shoot the boss, I usually get only 4 or 5 normal items. But when I feel that I'm doing most of the work in the '150' part, I usually get 10 items, and four greens among them.
Hi, I've been trying to breed the winter tribble. I put a white tribble with lowfat eggnog and stayed online for 2 hours and nothing happened. Suggestions please..
Captain Jean-Luc Picard: "We think we've come so far. Torture of heretics, burning of witches, it's all ancient history. Then - before you can blink an eye - suddenly it threatens to start all over again."
"With the first link, the chain is forged. The first speech censured, the first thought forbidden, the first freedom denied, chains us all irrevocably."
It's the same with the PVP winter race, even if you do ACTUALLY place 1st, 2nd or 3rd place you still need to click a flag...which if you skid past them means someone who came last can end up getting 1st, 2nd or 3rd place.
Usual lazy incompetent coding from Cryptic.
Actually... no. it's a race to grab the flag, not a race to cross the finish line. :P
Anyways though, the present issue seems to be a bug.
Actually... no. it's a race to grab the flag, not a race to cross the finish line. :P
Race to bunnyhop and sploit your way to grab the flag lol...
Dont know why they've moved all sources of items needed for the various prizes to group activities where the only way to get them is antisocial behaviour. At least last year, with the digging in snowpiles, those who chose to "exploit" it by constantly digging were affecting only their own gameplay. As it stands, with the Black Friday Simulation in the Gingerbread Invasion, and the Bunny Hop Shortcut race, not to mention the giant snowman boss that lives for 5 seconds thanks to all the snowpower-creep, the only way to win is not to play.
Disappointing, especially compared to the Risa event which seemed quite balanced in terms of success paths, social and timed activities.
Side note... pie eating contest is cute. But those 2 npc's blocking movement around the table are hella annoying. Also you cant see the size of the pies due to the glow. And the 15 minute timer is *way* excessive given the craptacular common rewards.
What? you don't have weapons? :P I've occasionally managed to pull off triple boss kills, and regularly get doubles. And yes, all my characters are armed.... The way I did that was by having one char collect commods to get a gun(last year) then use that to blast snowmen. Account bank the commods, buy a gun for a different char, repeat until finished. :P I already collected enough for my 3 RR chars to get boots and guns.
For me, the most irritating thing about the Winter Invasion is the "Mysterious Box of Cookies and Treats" box. It gave me really awful rewards so far; I think the devs should make it so that it always contains at least one green item. Many times I only get three common items from the box (not to mention the Frigid Lump of Coal...), which is less than what I get from the pie eating contest that lasts a mere 1.5 minutes.
This.
Really wish this gave a decent reward. Even if you do a perfect run, get all the optionals, kill the yeti and grab the present, you still come out of there with just common commodities most of the time. Think I've only gotten a green item from that 'Mysterious' box twice in around 30 runs.
Maybe we should have a doff mission to convert a large number of regular commodities into into a few uncommon ones or something.
... Think I've only gotten a green item from that 'Mysterious' box twice in around 30 runs.
Maybe we should have a doff mission to convert a large number of regular commodities into into a few uncommon ones or something.
That seems like a very good idea.
BTW, I started to hoard the mysterious boxes instead of opening them, in the hope that the devs might improve their rewards. As of now, I really don't understand the 200-300K EC prices on exchange. Maybe I should sell them, lol. (Though in all fairness, the rare gingerbread pet drop is not bad; maybe that is what justifies the price for some.)
I compared the winter events of days past with this one, and I've noticed that the ornaments this time around are a bit difficult to acquire than the previous winter events.
Now looking at the lobi store, I've noticed that they are selling a box of ornaments for 5 lobi crystals. It was my understanding that Winter events such as these were suppose to be an occasion of fun and games. A time where players can acquire gifts of different shapes and sizes and style, for free.
Yes, with a little bit of work here and there, killing snowmen and searching piles of snow and gifts for those much needed holiday goods (Exception is the ship).
However; it seems Mister Grinch has thrown a wrench in this Winter Event holiday spirit with the ornament rarity & the optional placement to BUY at the lobi bank of Cryptic.
I am doing doff missions for the winter event which use to net you ornaments, I only seen and received one time certain ornaments, since then doffs do not net you ornaments anymore.
As with last year, the doff assignments get you the winter ornaments if you crit them.
You can't dig ornaments out of snowball piles any more, but you can get them from the pie-eating mini-game and the Winter Invasion event. So, if anything, the ornaments are easier to get than last year... As far as I know, the only things that are harder to get are the Winter Epohh tags, which you can now only get from the PvP race.
The winter commodity package was available in the lobi shop last year as well, however, I do agree with you that the drop rate seems to have been decreased. Not to mention it's impossible to get uncommons from pie-eating, and it's quite rare to see any from what appears to be the star attraction this year, the Gingerbread Colony Invasion. These things should be fixed.
To put it one way... it's basically pointless to even participate in the pie-eating contest. You'll gain enough common commodities just trying to get uncommon ones from other events that getting the extra ones from the pie-eating contest is completely unnecessary.
I have posted a DOFF suggestion in the appropriate forum for an assignment to convert common commodities to uncommons. If they won't increase the drop rate, I think they should at least consider this.
you can get beads and what ever the other item was from the recipes, criting the doff missions, the snowman event and the prices have already dropped on the exchange to less than 200k, and will probably drop further.
at this moment you should be able to buy 47 for less than 10 million. people can list them for 80-200 million all they like, but they wont sell at that price. eventually they will be forced to relist them bring the price down even further.
here's the deal. you dont have to buy your items all on day 1. take the time to play the event over its full run and you will have plenty by the end of it.
Figure the pie eating contest only caters to common oraments, and many of you are correct that the doff runs were only on crits. I also stand corrected on the lobi store acquisition, since they were there the year before.
I guess we can agree that the drops for the more uncommon ones are a bit rarer this year. As far the common ornaments, pie eating is the only way to go for quicker acquisition.
I am hoping prices drop dramatically for the uncommon ones on the exchange, as of right now they border on insanity.
The uncommons (especially beads) are definitely too rare. I have so far accumulated big stacks of common ornaments but just a few beads. And looking at the exchange prices, so has everyone else.
Since almost all the rewards require all the items, this makes the lesser ornaments basically waste of inventory space. What you can buy is determined by how many beads you have.
You can't dig ornaments out of snowball piles any more, but you can get them from the pie-eating mini-game and the Winter Invasion event. So, if anything, the ornaments are easier to get than last year... As far as I know, the only things that are harder to get are the Winter Epohh tags, which you can now only get from the PvP race.
I can't understand why people say it's now "easier" to get Ornaments now that we have pie eating and the Winter Invasion. It's more entertaining, sure, but not exactly easier.
All the gripes this year are due to Cryptic's decision to take out commodities from snow piles and TRIBBLE up the Winter Invasion implementation. To make matters worse, they left the uncommon drop rate as bad or even worse than last year. I know I'll eventually get the stuff since I play daily, but it's an annoying grind. How the heck are casual players, specially new ones, supposed to get all that Winter stuff?
Comments
Techincally it's not a big deal, I've finished the mission with only 3 players, but I can't help wonder why the devs would insert this game dynamic into a group mission. It's only a silly cooking recipe which I have het to realize their importance, but leaving the crew behind for a selfish persuit seems kind of uncool, yet it's the Devs that created this game mechanic so it's not like they are doing something out-of-line.
So my question is why insert something that has the potential to disrupt the group dynmics in such a way that's more likely to irritate people who were doing the job at hand and denied the same opportunity to check out the hidden present? Personally something like this would have been better in the racing game so people running behind could grab a consolation price. You're already in a competitive dynamic, so another shot at something cool would be welcomed.
Anyhow I'm not saying they should get rid of the gift box, I'm just wondering why things like this are included in group mission that's supposed to encourage us to work together as a unit, yet this hidden gift box becomes an immediate deviation from that and over time just gets downright annoying. So I'm left wondering what the value of this game mechanic really is for Devs. I feel like we should be rewarded for doing a good job, not for breaking rank and doing stuff that serves only yourself; it just seems so backwards to me I just have to ask, what's the point?.
The only things I can find during the mission that I can interact with are snowball piles (which have so far only given me snowballs) and those candy stashes which only give a buff. What am I doing wrong?
Admiral Dananra Lekall - R.R.W. Teverresh, Deihu-class Warbird
General J'Kar son of K'tsulan - I.K.S. Dlahath, Vo'devwl-class Carrier
Yup, thats it right there.
It's the same with the PVP winter race, even if you do ACTUALLY place 1st, 2nd or 3rd place you still need to click a flag...which if you skid past them means someone who came last can end up getting 1st, 2nd or 3rd place.
Usual lazy incompetent coding from Cryptic.
I see that now. And you want to know the worst part? The message that pops up always says that *I* found the loot. The game is taunting me because I always end up getting mobbed by snowmen and frozen before I can reach the loot. Can we PLEASE do something to make this whole event seem less like Black Friday with rewards that up to pure chance and being the jerk who runs ahead to get the one item on the map?
Admiral Dananra Lekall - R.R.W. Teverresh, Deihu-class Warbird
General J'Kar son of K'tsulan - I.K.S. Dlahath, Vo'devwl-class Carrier
I find that the snow fights give much better rewards (and much more fun); when I start by attacking the large group of snowmen at the corner of the map I can get 3 or 4 greens after the boss is defeated. (Of course before I got my first snow gun the rewards were pretty miserable; snow balls are rather measly.)
I managed to get the recipe four times in the invasion, but after breeding my winter tribble I don't see much point of the foods anymore. I see that they go only for a few thousand EC on exchange, so I guess others feel the same.
I never tried "The Fast and the Flurrious" race because it only gives tags, and I don't want epohhs. Would be nice to have an alternative reward.
Overall, I enjoy snowfights the most, but after buying two snow guns, a lirpa and a scarf I will probably run out of things to look forward. It would help if the bat'leth and lirpa would be at least account-bound and not character-bound (for my future characters). And the jackets seem too expensive for me for what they give; I would rather sell the green bells and beads on the exchange for EC. Would love to see some more variety in the clothing, like headwear.
Now that I'm through another two snow fights I have to say that the reward system is very good!
"With the first link, the chain is forged. The first speech censured, the first thought forbidden, the first freedom denied, chains us all irrevocably."
Anyways though, the present issue seems to be a bug.
My character Tsin'xing
Race to bunnyhop and sploit your way to grab the flag lol...
Dont know why they've moved all sources of items needed for the various prizes to group activities where the only way to get them is antisocial behaviour. At least last year, with the digging in snowpiles, those who chose to "exploit" it by constantly digging were affecting only their own gameplay. As it stands, with the Black Friday Simulation in the Gingerbread Invasion, and the Bunny Hop Shortcut race, not to mention the giant snowman boss that lives for 5 seconds thanks to all the snowpower-creep, the only way to win is not to play.
Disappointing, especially compared to the Risa event which seemed quite balanced in terms of success paths, social and timed activities.
Side note... pie eating contest is cute. But those 2 npc's blocking movement around the table are hella annoying. Also you cant see the size of the pies due to the glow. And the 15 minute timer is *way* excessive given the craptacular common rewards.
The doors, Mister Scott!
My character Tsin'xing
This.
Really wish this gave a decent reward. Even if you do a perfect run, get all the optionals, kill the yeti and grab the present, you still come out of there with just common commodities most of the time. Think I've only gotten a green item from that 'Mysterious' box twice in around 30 runs.
Maybe we should have a doff mission to convert a large number of regular commodities into into a few uncommon ones or something.
That seems like a very good idea.
BTW, I started to hoard the mysterious boxes instead of opening them, in the hope that the devs might improve their rewards. As of now, I really don't understand the 200-300K EC prices on exchange. Maybe I should sell them, lol. (Though in all fairness, the rare gingerbread pet drop is not bad; maybe that is what justifies the price for some.)
Now looking at the lobi store, I've noticed that they are selling a box of ornaments for 5 lobi crystals. It was my understanding that Winter events such as these were suppose to be an occasion of fun and games. A time where players can acquire gifts of different shapes and sizes and style, for free.
Yes, with a little bit of work here and there, killing snowmen and searching piles of snow and gifts for those much needed holiday goods (Exception is the ship).
However; it seems Mister Grinch has thrown a wrench in this Winter Event holiday spirit with the ornament rarity & the optional placement to BUY at the lobi bank of Cryptic.
I am doing doff missions for the winter event which use to net you ornaments, I only seen and received one time certain ornaments, since then doffs do not net you ornaments anymore.
My character Tsin'xing
You can't dig ornaments out of snowball piles any more, but you can get them from the pie-eating mini-game and the Winter Invasion event. So, if anything, the ornaments are easier to get than last year... As far as I know, the only things that are harder to get are the Winter Epohh tags, which you can now only get from the PvP race.
To put it one way... it's basically pointless to even participate in the pie-eating contest. You'll gain enough common commodities just trying to get uncommon ones from other events that getting the extra ones from the pie-eating contest is completely unnecessary.
I have posted a DOFF suggestion in the appropriate forum for an assignment to convert common commodities to uncommons. If they won't increase the drop rate, I think they should at least consider this.
you can get beads and what ever the other item was from the recipes, criting the doff missions, the snowman event and the prices have already dropped on the exchange to less than 200k, and will probably drop further.
at this moment you should be able to buy 47 for less than 10 million. people can list them for 80-200 million all they like, but they wont sell at that price. eventually they will be forced to relist them bring the price down even further.
here's the deal. you dont have to buy your items all on day 1. take the time to play the event over its full run and you will have plenty by the end of it.
I guess we can agree that the drops for the more uncommon ones are a bit rarer this year. As far the common ornaments, pie eating is the only way to go for quicker acquisition.
I am hoping prices drop dramatically for the uncommon ones on the exchange, as of right now they border on insanity.
Since almost all the rewards require all the items, this makes the lesser ornaments basically waste of inventory space. What you can buy is determined by how many beads you have.
Not True... Those Common Ornaments can be converted into enough GPL to last the character through all of next year...
I can't understand why people say it's now "easier" to get Ornaments now that we have pie eating and the Winter Invasion. It's more entertaining, sure, but not exactly easier.
People use GPL?
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People are upset the digging is gone and said who cares if a few used macros.
What I hear from my fleet is just get the boots then stop, it takes too long to get the other stuff.
One recipe per RUN is being compared to the STF drops, and complaints how one in five get the reward.
I would say they have done good job at nerfing this year interest for Winter Event in my fleet.
Last night we had 15 played less online than normal I can only think its due to a bad Winter Event .