Dear Settlers,
The Dev Diary for Christmas 2018 was just published and we can't wait to hear your initial impressions and overall feedback.
Thank you,
BB_Odhran
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Dear Settlers,
The Dev Diary for Christmas 2018 was just published and we can't wait to hear your initial impressions and overall feedback.
Thank you,
BB_Odhran
Two things. First there is an adventure listed in the tree drop tables named as MadHenry. Is this supposed to be Wild Mary, or is there some new adventure that I have not heard of? Second, the new gingerbread storage. In its description, it says 3x3. On test it is only 2x2 same as a standard storehouse. Has it been changed or is this just a typo?
EDIT: Also at the bottom of the dev diary in the deactivation section, it hyperlinks to and 'adventures' page that doesn't exist.
3x3 MUST be a typo. Unless it got changed or something.
Saying 3x3 is "small" must be a joke or something.
3x3 = Barrack and Scouting Post size - Hardly considered small.
According to Wikki:
http://settlersonlinewiki.eu/en/buil...bread-storage/
It says 2x2
Also- with the new improved floating residence being tradeable. They really should make the OLD ones tradeable. Since the new ones can potentially fill up ALL the water spots and we end up wrecking the old ones.
This is one of the reasons why I have always selected Village Schoolhouse over Floating Islands whenever we were given a choice in the past for Calendar reward doors. I knew there was a limit to the water spots eventually running out or tradeable island buildings.
I'm wondering if the imp-floaters being tradable isn't also a typo. As far as running out of spots for floaters, if you purchase any of the four islands that are available, a few more floater spots open up.
Looking forward to the event!
Probably a typo as the skins are already 'purchasable' in TO but the actual floaters are not. Checking test to see right now...Quote:
Originally Posted by Perwyn
EDIT: not tradeable on test server, so likely another typo.
Okay so now to some actual feedback: the Gift Christmas Tree. As a level 72 player, I can honestly say that with the exception of may be the buff table, all the white and yellow zone prizes are pretty much worthless to me. Yet as they vastly outnumber the rest, it is apparent that those are all I am likely to see most of the time. I would rather that instead of it being White: level 1+, Yellow: 26+ and Red: 51+, that it should be white for level 1-25, yellow for for 26-50, and red for 51+. That way each player only pulls prizes from their respective zones and has a better chance of getting something that actually has some value to them. There is still an abundance of prizes in each color group to ensure not getting the super high value items too frequently (and deposit refills with such high odds as to ensure that good drops are still fairly rare) that we don't really need to drown out any chance of getting a decent item within our lifetimes just because we levelled up.
Yeah, really hoping the 3x3 gingerbread storage was a typo...On test it was 2x2 and a useful storage building at 50% more than normal SH and no need to upgrade it. If changed to a 3x3, it becomes a large deco that accidentally has half the storage the 33% smaller ISH has.
*sigh*
Let's just say I'm going to wait on the potential typos and such to shake out before I get my hopes up. Seriously, if you need to hire a Technical and Content Writer to proof your stuff (I'm guessing it's the English translations that are the challenge), I've been doing exactly that for over a decade and I'd be willing to help out.
This year 'looks' like it is a small step up from previous years (the Market and Gift Tree have potential), but until we see how they're actually going to run... Multiple Gift Trees might be nice, if I'm not getting piles of Pinewood Logs or decorations every week. The Market is one of those ideas that probably looked amazing in the idea stage, but too many managers chimed in with "That's too good! Take something away!" until it was a shadow of it's former self. I've worked for a big game company, so I know how that goes.
How many players who are interested in seriously using that even 'have' an 11x11 space for it to function?
After considering Move (other buildings to make space) and Upgrade costs it's likely to be the most expensive building in the game, so far. For the 'total lifetime costs' of running it, methinks it should be a bit better than it currently is. I venture to say that the easiest fix (and repeatedly requested) would be allowing the zone of influence to be dropped anywhere on the player's Island (ie Main Island/Archipelago Islands). Not losing Upgrade levels when putting it back to Star would be another, especially since you can only get Presents three weeks out of the year, and you can't stockpile them for future moves.
Letting it function as a second Mayor's House (ie Storeroom and Collectibles Queue) would be a significant addition to it's value. Having to rearrange your Storehouses (ie carefully demolish, rebuild, reupgrade) to accommodate the new production chain the Market is going to require just adds to the already significant cost.
The new Geologist and Explorer look pretty good. Too bad we're back to a nearly all male slate of characters this year.
Might also want to fix that 'spoiler' tag as well...
Quote:
Originally Posted by AstrumLuxLucis
The xmas market for me anyway will be a must but only if i can get the 9k presents for the full upgrade... all ready have the space in mind thanx to the german server and tested it myself on the test server...it will keep 30 in my case gold smelters permanently buffed with +300 buff
Isn't that the key though? It's 'sort of' worth it. Not so much at L1, but really worth it at L4. So you need to get or buy Eleven THOUSAND Presents on top of everything else (another 11k for me to get all the stuff I would like), then your Move vs Star options are severely limited.Quote:
Originally Posted by hades8840
I'm guessing they think that they're 'taking the sting out' of getting it now by 'letting' us upgrade it later (or re-upgrade it as the case may be). I think that it should be one or the other - either moving is always free, or it retains its levels when it goes back to Star. As it is, we're being punished both ways. Either pay through the nose to Move it, or lose your upgrades until you can re-buy them next Christmas.
If I'm going to lose the Upgrades, then let me place the Market somewhere (at 3x3 it needs a chunk of space) and drop the Buff anywhere on the Island (not just centred on the Market).
If not, let me keep the Upgrades (that I paid 9,000 presents for and can't get back for a year) when it goes to Star. If this was the case, then the Move costs become an optional/convenience thing, and that's okay.
I'm curious to see how the upgrades will work with multiple Markets. If you get the second (it looks like we can get one from the Quest, and one from Presents), does it automatically reduce Cooldown, regardless of Level? If you put one into Star, does that eliminate the Upgrades on both...or do you have to put both in Star before losing them?
So If the Improved Residence is NOT tradeable. BUT they appear as a drop in the Improved Xmas Surprise boxes which are Giftable and Obtainable for Gems.
Does the "limit" become a factor ? If I bought all the improved residence and then buy the improved surprises, will I still be able to get more?
Has anybody obtained the new Gingerbread Storehouse yet?
Is the 3x3 a mistake? (3x3 = Barrack Size). I see we get 2 of them for free on the calendar. And can purchase 3 more. 5 of these buildings?? We barely have enough space to fit these buildings. Not to mention the space of storage is 50% less than improved storage. This must be a Trap!! Or just a bad joke.
Weird stuff happening.... visitors to my isle have .. no face on their visiting avatar...
mine just replace itself with a TWITTER bird???? i thought while visiting.. but i came home.. its still there...
???
https://prnt.sc/lt2wnf
Have you tried clearing cache and everything like that?Quote:
Originally Posted by Ciara_Belle
-BB_Odhran
Okay so if you guys internally measure 3x3 = standard size of a residence/storehouse.
What is the "internal" measurement of a Barrack? and Improved Storehouse? and Water Mill? and that of say a flowerbed.
Not sure if this has been reported yet.
But if you view the "Improved" Christmas Surprise from the gem shop.
It does NOT list improved floating residence as a possible reward.
However, if you roll your mouse over the Calendar Improved Christmas Surprise, it shows the improved floating residence as an option.
Does this mean, the one from the calendar is the only possible extra? And the gem shop version doesn't give you extra.
The buff lasts 12 hours and has a 21 hour cool down. So "permanently buffed" will require secondary buffing to maintain.Quote:
Originally Posted by hades8840
It is unclear if getting 2* of the Christmas Markets will influence their cool down period (I would assume not since the area of affect is specific to each building).
* The quest line "Spreading the Christmas Message" ends with a Christmas Market for loot and of course the merchant allows 1 purchase for presents.
Question Regarding the Permanent Skins for the various buildings.
Does the Permanent skin change apply to ALL levels of the upgrade? Are we seeing various upgrade stage changes? Or is it one graphic only for all levels. And if we apply it to level 1, and then we upgrade to level 2, does the skin disappear.??
BB_Odhran can you please clarify if having two of the Christmas Markets cuts the cooldown time in half as it does with other buildings like the Training Field. Thanks!
Besides what has already been pointed out above concerning the new Christmas Market and how its usefulness maybe effected due to location difficulties...
"Gift Christmas Tree and Christmas Market are locked in test-environment in shop for all players." -- fylla
See: [ https://forum.tsotesting.com/threads...onment-in-shop ]
So we cannot test to see where this new building can most effectively be located or what it actually will buff...!
Does the "Bonus Buff" it provides add to a building's existing Buff's bonus, replace it, or have no effect if a stronger buff already exists? What about Island-wide Zone and various Area-effect buffs?
Will its buff work on basic Workyards only? Will its buff work on an Epic Workyard or Forge? What about other buildings, Provision houses, Endless Mines, Improved buildings, Industrial buildings, etc. -- exactly what buildings will the Christmas Market "Bonus Buff" effect?
Why doesn't BB make these type of building upgrades (i.e. difficult/expensive and/or time limited upgrade windows) permanent building upgrades to facilitate island modifications and expansions that require building movement/tear-down and production chain reconfiguration to meet the intended purpose of the Christmas Market?
Permanent building upgrades should include any Token building upgrades also or Tokens should be refunded when a building is torn down...
Also having to rearrange Islands to accommodate the best use of a new event building is problematic at best... This should have been considered!
This Christmas Gifting tree interface could have been better designed.
My GOD!
Clicking on it pops up a BOMB icon. Do you think you can just get rid of the bomb icon and make it appear like a normal building, I mean we can always blow it up using the tools from the building menu. For example, a frozen manor or a witch tower doesn't have a bomb icon.
When clicking on - it glitches between the bomb and then when I managed to get the gift, I accidently clicked on something and have NO idea what gift I got.
Maybe the gift should be MAILED to us instead so I can actually tell what I got.
This Christmas Gift Tree was just poorly thought out. I'm surprised nobody gave any good feedback on this during testing.
ALSO- There is no timer or countdown on when I can get my next gift either.
They share a cooldown timer and it reduces with each further building. So having two gives it a universal cooldown of 10h30m. (This was confirmed by BBs on the test forums as well as this is how it works on test). For me, this means that I will upgrade one to its fullest and use the other as a battery to speed the cooldown timer thus eliminating the need to upgrade/find a proper place for it at all.Quote:
Originally Posted by Perwyn
Thanks!
its +1 to both numbers. this was explained in detail when the island build space was changed a few years ago.Quote:
Originally Posted by RonEmpire
no idea what for example dark castle measurement is though :D
This seems to happen every year ... but the Christmas collectibles are very sparse, again.
It would be nice if (behind the scenes) every player was assigned a number or letter code (a, b, c, etc) and each code was slotted to get more of a given Collectible.Quote:
Originally Posted by Eriond
So I might be an 'a', and you might be a 'b', and someone else (ie one third of players) would be a 'c'. Then the 'a' people get more Candy Canes, the 'b' people get more Gingerbread, and the 'c' people get more Bells.
It forces us to work together, without unbalancing the game.
As it is, it looks like this year Bells are the rare one and Canes are plentiful.
I must be a "C" cause so far Gingerbread is overflowing, Bells are almost nonexistent.
A day in (no missed spawns) and I don't have 25 of anything yet.
12 Bells, 18 Gingerbread, 24 Candy Canes,
OK, some feedback on the event so far:
Overall, great. Lots of new stuff and shiny things to choose from and play with.
The Advent Calendar is very generous with good buildings we can choose, free of charge.
Having a Quest that lets us earn a Christmas Market (or a 2nd one for those purchasing one with presents) is also very generous.
The gingerbread storehouses are a creative workaround to the problems of moving a storehouse. I intend to keep at least 1 in my star menu. If I decide I want to rearrange an area and have to bomb an existing storehouse, I can plop my GBSH down somewhere first and not lose storage while I rearrange and rebuild existing storage. So a very useful item.
The improved Floating Residence is beautiful. Nice artwork.
The new Explorer is a nice boost, like picking up 4 more tavern explorers. Thanks!
Christmas Market: I'm actually pretty excited about this thing. It looks like I'll be able to center it amongst all my production buildings that use titanium, salt/gunpowder, & platinum and buff them all with either a X3 or X4 buff as the situation warrants. This is awesomely powerful and frees up those red flying settlers and rainbow snows for other uses.
A complaint: There's a big lack of documentation/understanding of how the Market actually functions. Some of my friends and guildies may end up not getting one because they hesitate to make such a huge present investment in something they don't understand totally and can find no information on. The fact that we're currently locked out of playing with them on test makes it kind of frustrating and furthers peoples reluctance to invest in one. Maybe some comprehensive Dev Notes are in order before too much more time goes by. Making them accessible on test would also help a lot.
So all in all, really good stuff. Please make it easier for people to comprehend how good the Christmas Market is.
A few people in guild had similar questions so I threw together some screenshots from test server and my notes about the behavior into a Google Doc: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1...O1L4e3pYQ/edit (short link https://goo.gl/npGTbj ) Maybe this will help until/if more description is provided.Quote:
Originally Posted by Perwyn
On last login (today) to the Staging Test server, the Christmas Market was still available for a fish in the Test Environment tab in the Merchant. It is locked to 1 limit so I cannot test how 2 behave. But earlier in this thread we have mention that they do compliment each other:
Quote:
Originally Posted by Trialgame
I agree...sort of...Quote:
Originally Posted by Perwyn
The Calendar is at least as good as any previous year, with only one or two real head-scratchers for choices. Christmas Eve is the only real pondering for me, because those are all different, but equally 'good' options over time. Christmas day might be for some who are willing to chance guaranteed Pop for something else. I'll take the Pop. :)
I like the repeat of the Quest getting us a useful building, with the option to buy (or get both). This was a win at Halloween and I like that it is sticking around.
The new buildings and people are all looking good. Maxed out my Candid's speed to make him more useful. Let's see what he brings back tomorrow.
The Market - really does need clear instructions. Several Guilders are still wondering if even the Quest one is 'worth it'. It really needs a well written Dev Diary with examples, including examples of how it works with one or two, and how it interacts with Building and Zone Buffs.
It's a completely new style of building, so it warrants more than just 'Here is is, good luck!'.
But here's the thing... 24hrs in and my Quests have stalled. I'm waiting on the 'Wait for the 2nd Week' one, and that's tying up the Market one. Slow drops of Collectibles have me idling on the third one.
No Advs dropping Presents means no ongoing activities (Searches don't count, they go out anyways, Event or not).
Seriously folks, it's the biggest Event of the TSO year and I'm sitting here doing the exact same things I was doing last week because I can't do anything that gives me Presents. For a guy who wants to spend at least 22,000 Presents this year, that's annoying.
Thanks Kevlaar. Excellent overview!
Given that your screenshot shows "Buildings:1" "Speed:100%", it seems pretty certain that the design is the same as other similar buildings which indicates a 2nd market will cut cooldown in 1/2 as Trialgame has stated.
I guess the only other question I'm hearing is are there any restrictions on what can be buffed by the Market. I know epic workyards aren't buffed by it but I've not heard of any other restrictions so am thinking all production buildings other than epics will work with it.
A question I have: does it act the same as a storehouse in regard to placement/time? In other words, does a building on either side get a 6 second travel time (24 seconds total), offset buildings top and bottom get 8 secconds (32 total) or a straight line up top and bottom 10 seconds (40 total).
It can buff any building that can be buffed with a steak (so no epic workyards). No, it does not act as a storehouse unfortunately (despite much feedback asking for that). Its buffs are just regular buffs, not zone buffs, so any building in its area that has a still active buff will not be buffed by it a second time. The cooldown is indeed 10h30m with 2 but the buff lasts 12 hours so no waiting if you want to just use one over and over. You can activate the buff on the second one after the 10.5 hours if you wish, to have both going for the 1.5h overlap, but when the first expires you would then have to wait 9 more hours to re-establish it.
(Note that these behaviors are from test and while it looks like nothing has been changed, that doesn't mean it couldn't have been)
So apparently the following is true about the Christmas Market: (Please correct me if I am wrong about anything...)
Building Size: 2 x 2 (normal building size)
The "Bonus Buff" Does Not Add and also will not override existing buffage -- even if it is a lower % buff...
The Christmas Market can be moved for a moving cost that varies with upgraded level.
At Upgrade Level 4 the Christmas Market's +300% buff area will cover an area that can encompass a radius of 2 adjacent normal size 2 x 2 buildings.
See detailed information & Buffs Distance Graphic here: [ http://settlersonlinewiki.eu/en/buil...istmas-market/ ]
Having a fully upgraded Christmas Market building can provide continuous +300% buffage (e.g Zombie, Stadium Snack, Rainbow Snow, etc.) for effected buildings (see above post by Trialgame...)
For players that have a set schedule and can regularly log in to activate the buff on time this building will be useful.
For players that have a variable schedule and cannot regularly log in on time to reapply the buff this building will be less useful than having a buffing partner in-game (this may be especially true for buildings that are important enough for higher percentage bonus buffs up to and including Stadium Snack, Rainbow Snow, etc. in order to maintain continuous production buffage...)
The collectible drop rate seems low this time.
Not Quite. There is absolutely zero value to upgrading the second one. Doing so would imply you intend to use both functionally, however since the cooldown is shared, you would only be alternating between the two. That means area A would be buffed for 12 hours and then unbuffed for a minimum of 9 hours while the counter cools down from using the buff in area B. Then area B would be unbuffed while it counts down from the use in A. That would mean either leaving each area unbuffed for awhile each day or using other buffs from star to fill the gap. Neither is a good choice.Quote:
Originally Posted by Pteris
Instead only upgrade one to level 4 and stick the second off in a corner somewhere. The second one will just be a speed booster to cut the timer in half, allowing you to set off the next buff every time the first one wears off in the area you actually want buffed. (Area A every 12 hours)
It 'might' make sense if you had many buildings you wanted Buffed and two levels of importance. I know I have a pile of Elite Buildings that I only run periodically, but some lower level ones I would run Buffed all the time. If I were getting and upgrading both, I would put my 'always on' ones around one CMarket and run them nearly 24/7. Then when I need the Elite Chain run, I would be willing to let the regular one sleep for a day or two in order to get the blanket Buff on my Elites.Quote:
Originally Posted by Trialgame
Might only really make sense for the L60+ players who have the investment in the game, but there is a use for it.
Thank you... I edited my post to reflect this ;)
I understand it doesn't act as a storehouse as far as increased storage. But what about in regards to building placement? Is a building placed on either side going to have a 24 second turnaround? Or is it going to have to go to a storehouse somewhere and get an elongated turnaround time as a result?Quote:
Originally Posted by Trialgame
I already plan to work a storehouse into the setup farthest away from the market, but am wondering about the area directy surrounding the market and how that's going to work.
No storehouse functionality whatsoever. You will still need to have an actual storehouse nearby for drop-off points.Quote:
Originally Posted by Perwyn
[Excerpt from the Gift Christmas Tree:]
The gifts you receive will be adapted according to your player level, to ensure you can use all your presents. For example, level 26 players will not receive adventures for players of level 36 and higher. (Level ranges: 1-25, 26-35, 36-50, 51-75)
Received my first gift and it is a Witch of the Swamp :(. While technically usable, it is in fact useless to me. Could we fix it so that we don't get the stuff that is outside our level range (above and below) instead of just above. The tree is a great idea and a nice prize for the event, but if we get too bogged down by the lower stuff the we level past the need for, I fear that this item will also become useless and be relegated to the star menu.