From: Robert Winkler [mailto:curiousredmonkey@yahoo.com]
Sent: Thursday, April 13, 2017 11:51 AM
To: help@drakkarzone.com
Subject: Upcoming Primal Nork Event

Hi,

I've been talking with people about the upcoming Primal Nork weekend.  And even though they were very excited about it when it first came out, many are cool to the idea now.  At least that is what they say; we will see what their actions are.  Anyway, I think if you are aware of their thoughts you can address them preemptively.  And continue to improve on one of the BEST events you have released.

There are four reasons they say they will pass:

1) Parties do not earn experience points (sidekicked or not).  I cannot confirm this because I was 99.9% solo, but if that is still true then I can see it being a big deal.  I don't have enough data from them, as to the composition of the party members, to illuminate how it happened.  If you fixed it already then letting them know would be cool.  If you haven't then ask for people's help, to stomp it out.  You have a willing community, they just need to know you are going to stomp fast and furiously on their behalf.

2) A weekend is too short a time-frame.  Some said because of Easter and others said because of challenges.  I can see what they mean on the challenges front, because of dieing so easily and it takes time to get good gear.  Maybe a statement about its frequency should be posted - so they can predict and plan for it.

3) Gear decays.  They really got demoralized when their hard earned Lair gear went away.  Some over the easy stuff, like random stats items.  I would reconsider the decaying.  If it is making an out of balance issue then maybe a post about how that is true.  This could be a hard sell, but I am sure you had your reasons and if they are still valid then just make your case.

4) Too many bugs.  I do not agree with this one, because it was your first pass at new content.  Bugs are to be expected.  And do not know what bugs they are talking about.  But I can find out more if you like.  Obviously, as you post fixes, then their confidence will come online.

I hope this has not put a damper on your desire for the event.  I am personally looking forward to it.  And I bet others are too.

Thanks
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From: Brad Lineberger <bil@drakkarzone.com>
To: 'Robert Winkler' <curiousredmonkey@yahoo.com>; help@drakkarzone.com
Sent: Thursday, April 13, 2017 9:11 AM
Subject: RE: Upcoming Primal Nork Event

Thanks for the feedback!

Regarding #1, first I’ve ever heard of this, and doesn’t make sense.  So if that’s a bug someone needs to send specifics.

Regarding #2, I’m sure its always going to be considered too short.. its just an event..

Regarding #3, Some people just don’t get the temporary gear thing, there is nothing I can do about that.  It lasts a very long time in-game, and a decent amount of time in other scenarios.  They should consider these “stock up” events.  BUT, that said, if they are just turned off by temporary gear, I’ll never appeal to them. (Whether it lasts a week or a month or a year).  Grab 10 crazy rings, have a couple weeks of crazy hunting after the event goes down in other scenarios, that’s the goal here.

Regarding #4, If bugs=unscaled content, those will get fixed over time (not messing with it now, too much other stuff going on, and players can just ignore unscaled content).  If bugs = real bugs, then we need to know about them.
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From: Robert Winkler <curiousredmonkey@yahoo.com>
To: Brad Lineberger <bil@drakkarzone.com>; "help@drakkarzone.com" <help@drakkarzone.com>
Sent: Saturday, April 15, 2017 2:07 AM
Subject: Re: Upcoming Primal Nork Event

I hope you haven't cancelled the Primal Nork Event.  I for one wanted to play there again.

Regarding the bullet points:
1) Parties do not earn experience points (sidekicked or not).  I still cannot confirm this.  So, I pulled out my slot 3, a 31/24 fighter-mentalist, from moth balls.  I haven't played him in years.  I am playing him in the current 8x Uber Cobrahn event, to see if I can at least experience the bullet point.  If I can then I can nail down the conditions for it.  So, last night I played in a party of 3 and another of 5.  All were within 10 experience levels of each other and all earned xp and skill.  I will try a party with a bigger spread next time.

2) A weekend is too short a time-frame.  Yeah, I get your point.  However, one thing that was different about the PNork event was that it lasted for weeks.  I loved that.  I and others really had a hard time figuring out how to survive and then thrive there.  By the way, re-visiting PNork for a weekend once a month until March Madness occurs again, sounds cool.  The once a month thing because let's admit it, Nork is why we got hooked and it is just plain fun.  And we get to grow our characters like heroes (die often and grow crazy fast when we survive).  Also, because of the decaying items.  It gives us a chance to replace those poof'ed items we grew to love (or improve upon them).  And the yearly March Madness for new blood (grow alts or have the "up and comers" join us).

3) Gear decays.  I do not recall my gear from other events ever decaying.  My Christmas globe vanished once.  But I figured that was because someone picked it up (when I left it in the Upper Guild Hall for a while).  And I have been wearing other event gear for months.  However, maybe all my other event gear has such a long shelf life, that by the time they decay I have repaired them or found better gear.  My PNork helm and boots that I wore on my thief poofed after a few days of exploration in Refuge.  That decay rate might be a bit too fast, even if you have a monthly PNork event.  Maybe make its decay rate be a few weeks.  And people will itch to go back to PNork because it is next week?

4) Too many bugs.  My further conversations produced some specifics (ignoring the bitches by some).  It was the combination of earning no experience points in a party (multi-boxers) and their lair items going poof, combining together to make the event seem too "alpha" for them.  There were a few other things they mixed in here, but I have sifted those out (they were just related to you tweaking the event).  So, the only real bug I can discern here is bullet #1.   And the rest were complaints and not actual bugs.  So, I will see if I can reproduce it before you bring PNork back.
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From: Robert Winkler [mailto:curiousredmonkey@yahoo.com]
Sent: Saturday, April 15, 2017 5:50 AM
To: Brad Lineberger <bil@drakkarzone.com>; help@drakkarzone.com
Subject: Re: Upcoming Primal Nork Event - finding stat items

Oh and I forgot to mention the rate of stat gear in PNork was 1% for me.  I had to search (on average) 100 items to find one stat item.  And most of those items were too low to be of value.  It eventually wore me out.  If you keep the decay rate as it currently is, then consider upping the percentage by a lot (25%).  Then a person might eventually have the 10 crazy rings like you mentioned, after March Madness.  Over the course of one weekend, I would hope to find a few good items when hunting a few hours each day.

Leather rings were the only thing my Thief could double click on to know that the leather ring was special.  Other stat gear had the same coin value as non-stat gear (a non-leather ring was a non-leather ring, a helm was a helm, a chainmail was a chainmail, etc.)  So, he had to sense gear to know that it was a attribute modifier.  My barb never had a clue.  He left stuff for my thief to sense.