Winter Magic discussion thread

[Dominionofgod]

Gotta say.. while i like the event style/set up, i find myself on the verge of being highly disappointed about how these are being ran now...

Results from my two cities. Both did all quests, got all milestones, got the 100 currency email, lvl 10 ashen phoenix bonus, and collected around the city at the same times. Basically, they both did everything possible that didnt involve spending money.

Note: it takes 260 presents to get all 9 artifacts (including milestone artifacts)

Dom:
Acquired 5376 currency.
Got 265 presents / 9 artifacts
Ended with 1 extra currency

Necro
Acquired 5374 currency.
Got 258 presents / 8 artifacts
Ended with 24 currency.

Dom got the 9th artifact, but just barley. 265/260
Necro was two presents short of that 9th artifact. He was one key short of being able to open the next box. I had 9 or 10 boxes left on the board, at least one of which was the x2 present box. So necro was either 1 single key short of the 9th artifact, or 26 keys short of the 9th artifact.

Obviously, not getting the 9th artifact is bothersome. Potentially being 1 key short is even more so... But what rly bothers me is being at this point having done everything PLUS. Both chars did every single quest available, got all milestones and collected around the city edges multiple times a day, every day. Everything the event has to offer. And on top of that, they had a lvl 10 ashen phoenix active form the first quest for bonus currency, and both got the 100 currency email.
But even with those 'extra bonuses' and doing EVERYTHING... they still came up short and close to short? I got more then the standard event offers and still came up short??? - And this event style allows for the least amount of randomness in currency/reward compared to all the other events. So that suggests to me that this was planned and designed to be this way specifically. - Which means that inno is now purposely making events that run a serious risk of not being able to get the rewards even if you do everything you can. Its one thing if bad startagy lead to not getting the reward, or not completing all the quests, or anything of that sort But to purposly design an event where its very liekly that you might not get the reward unless you pay for it... means they are right on the thin line of becoming a 'pay to win' game.

Now i have no issue with them offering extra things for a cost. But to hold back the main reward for many players unless they pay? Thats just wrong. And i think that will lead inno down a very bad road. - An event should not be made where a player that completes everything possible and gets bonus/extra currency, could still come up short on the main reward. - And while it was often blamed on the randomness factor such as extra currency form opening a reward chest, this even was very straight forward. We can see now the extent of this type of planning. Not good Inno.

 

[getmomo]

Another artifact should be available in the next FA so it's not like you can't get it. I don't have a problem with them trying to make some money. I only got 8 artifacts, but I doubt I will ever even place the building, it's pretty unimpressive to me.

 

[crackie]

Also note, the FA prizes are Tomes so many different artifacts from past winter events are also selectable.

 

[Ihrlaen]

I am in Chapter 18 in my primary city and I am glad to have picked up 2 bases. In my opinion, that is the Chromafrost Glacier's 'sweet spot' as it produces Unurium directly, like Boblin's and the upcoming Steam Golem.

 

[Moho]

Obviously, not getting the 9th artifact is bothersome. Potentially being 1 key short is even more so... But what rly bothers me is being at this point having done everything PLUS.

I always respect your opinions but I am really surprised you had trouble obtaining what you wanted. For me the entire event was more than easy. I obtained the portrait in each of my three cities. In the last days of the event, I got the Giant's hand as well. I did not plan to, but I was simply able to do it, and now I wonder if I should have hunted for the other parts of the set as well. Because I only focused on securing as many "gifts" as possible.

 

[Toran of Rymfire]

I got all four set pieces and have them put together like the picture shows, but only two of them are producing at maximum, and the one I need, Frozen Fountain for mana, is only producing to the second level (+1995) of the link chain. How can I get it to produce at the third link chain level?
Thank you!

 

[samidodamage]

@Toran of Rymfire
From what I see (Arendyll City; if that's the wrong city, this is likely a wrong answer, lol!) your Frozen Fountain is only touched by 2 unique set bldgs (Frozen Orc Vortex and Ice Mountain Troll). It is not touched by the Giant's Hand, so is not getting a link bonus from that bldg. I did a re-arrange of the buildings in Architect that will rectify that situation:
US1-Arendyll City
What I didn't look for was the impact this has on the link bonuses for the other bldgs in the set. You may have to shuffle things around to decide what layout gives you the link bonuses you need the most.

 

[OIM20]

oh thank joe pesci...!

Yes! George Carlin was awesome, may he rest in peace.

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I got all four set pieces and have them put together like the picture shows, but only two of them are producing at maximum

I had wondered if I was the only one seeing this issue. The set appears to be missing a 1x3 piece, as this is the first time that I've seen a set with an odd configuration.

To be clear, so folks might understand what I'm trying to say, the set pieces are as follows:

Frozen Fountain: 2x3
Frozen Orc Vortex: 2x4
Ice Mountain Troll: 5x4
Giant's Hand: 4x3

Since the Giant's Hand sits behind the Ice Mountain Troll in the example arrangement and both pieces abut the Frozen Orc Voretx with the Fountain only touching the Troll and the Vortex, the only piece getting max benefit in the example configuration is the FOV.

When I was playing in Sinya, I used the x2 to get multiples of the 2 pieces that showed in my dailies (even shuffling, I never got the other 2; Inno got me to spend my free diamonds). Because I have 2 FOV and 2 FF pieces for this set, I can arrange it to get max from the IMT and the GH.

(Please note all abbreviations are of the set piece names, not other abbreviations that may be used in the game or for other aspects of game play. This is just to save my fingers some walking.)

If you only have the four pieces, @samidodamage's configuration works well for getting the FF piece to full functionality. But because of the way the set is sort of missing a row (column?), with only the 4 pieces, 2 of them will always be missing a link. Even with my set of 6 pieces, I'm not able to get all 6 pieces to full functionality.

Here's some screens to help decipher the connections:

<- The full set, plus 2 pieces (image via mobile app)

Spoiler: Screen captures, set piece placements

For the following images: on the left side are from mobile, on the right are from browser:

<- FF, full

<- FOV, partial

<- IMT, full

<- GH, full

<- FOV, full

<- FF, partial

(I did this so you can see where each piece is placed easily for the configuration I used.)

The 1x3 space is in the back of the roadside FOV, and you can see where the back FF overlaps in order to touch all 3 other unique buildings. I honestly don't see a way to have this set's pieces producing at full capacity - not all of them, like every other set allows to happen - without having multiple pieces which won't be at full functionality.

I don't know if Inno has done this before with older sets? Or if this is something we can expect to continue to happen, so that we have to get multiple pieces to make the sets work?

 

[Dominionofgod]

oh thank joe pesci...!

Yes! George Carlin was awesome, may he rest in peace.

So much of his work stayed with me over the years. But even I find it a little strange how that one stuck with me. Its actually becoming the default first thought in my head now.

 

[samidodamage]

I don't know if Inno has done this before with older sets?

This was the very first set released iirc. There were wide swings in set bldgs value as they refined them moving forward. It's doubtful you'll see one of these *Winter Set* bldgs that have been carried through chapters in older cities. But, you will see older cities with the *Winter Market Set* because of the Frost Carved Christmas Tree (came out the next year, I think?). It was a mana maker worth spending RR's on. They were making changes to the event structure along with this, so there were some sets that had parts as grand prizes and others as dailies. So, it was common to get multiples of some bldgs. There was also an issue of getting zero of one of the bldgs, impacting value of the bldgs you did get. There was all sorts of odd combinations you could use to maximize certain rewards.
Ex: The *Shrines of Sun and Moon Set* I didn't get the Bird God, but I got a Weasel God thingy in my first city, with 10 of the little 1x1 pieces that make seeds around it (so they each get one link bonus from the Weasel) and got a few mana makers (?3-4) so some get the 2nd link bonus. The 1x1's were dailies so you could get multiples on the days they were offered. No shuffling the daily back then; it was a one day shot at the bldg and that was it. They're some of the highest seed/sq bldgs (but that doesn't count the Weasel squares he's 4x4). Still, he gives all 3 T2 goods with 2 link bonuses; that adds to my other passively produced T2 goods allowing me to teleport my T2 factories.

 

[Lelanya]

My alt's city, and FS on EN2, is a good place to view. Lela has had an Orc Vortex and Troll, for years. By the way, was that fun to try and keep current. One of my fellows also has the Troll, and another has the precious Winter King culture.

 

[Lelanya]

Here is a screenshot, these cities are getting more difficult to find, but here is : Baroness Estrella's Masquerade, The Great Festival of Mendaci, Eldrasil's Holy Halls, Snowflake Mountain, Castle Snowflake, the original Troll with the Vortex and Fountain (plus a new Fountain from this event), The Great Auction The Spheric Stub and Herds Gathering (all originals), all in one corner of a city.
Lela has her Eldrasil's in storage, as well as two Herds Gathering (an original and one I won in the third FA iirc), but still out in the city, an original Troll and Vortex, and of course, the Spheric Stub.