Word of advice for the future events.

Ghic

Please don't make the item drops RNG dependant, make the events give the recipes and motifs gradually as you complete the quests, and in order for that to be harder make more quests or make the quests harder or longer. I don't want to make more than 100 quests and not get a single Hissmir Fish-Eye Rye Recipe while other people gain 2 or oven more from that same number of runs and sell those at ridiculous prices (I bought the game less than 2 weeks ago and I am only level 23 now so I don't have much money), I am a completionist so I try to get all the achievements I started, I *** up the whole questing experience, gone way over the level I should be at and gone in places I shouldn't be in yet just so I can get that last recipe to no avail, for me this event kind of ruined the experience and I hope you'll make better decisions than to just give the recipes to random *** based on luck (I say *** because some *** swindled me of 10k gold for the drink and not the recipe, although I know it was my fault for not noticing sooner). Next time make the quests difficult or long, instead of repetitive and give the items to those that complete them because relying on luck sucks.

Dracindo

Couldn't agree more. There's no problem in having repeatable quests to farm materials for a new motif, but it's not really fun to farm these if you don't have the motif and you're not even guaranteed to even get it. Some people got a motif on their first quest, others are soo lucky they've scored more than one, etc...

Events should have a safesure way to score all these special events items AT LEAST ONCE for every account. Like "complete 10 repeatable event quests - earn recipe X" or "Complete the event quest line to earn the X motif". THEN, you can still hope to be lucky enough to score a copy and choose to sell or have another one of your characters learn it.
These safesure ways don't need to be easy, heck they may even seem impossible, but at least then we know how long we have to endure before we get what we want, rather than hoping you get what you want and thinking about the fact that you may not even get it, no matter how hard you tried.

TheShadowScout

Agreed. The gods of the die roll are cruel, sometimes... I got half a dozend extra runeboxes, and not a single fish rye recipe on the gold drops... meh. Still, I expect the event to come back next year, so I guess we will all get enother chance at this...

GaldorP

I agree, for the achievements, there should be no rare item requirement. If the Hissmir recipe was just another blue or green recipe like the others or had at least the same drop rate, many more players could have earned the achievement. The runeboxes, on the other hand, were maybe a bit too common, this time (market prices dropped down to like 1k on PC EU).

Onigar

I believe in RNG for ESO although it is sometimes frustrating when there is a particular item you need and you don't seem to be able to get it.

One approach towards a middle ground on this is for ZOS to introduce an Event reward coffer given from one quest or quest series that contains a "mimic" item. Using mouse controls you would then be able to convert this mimic item into any one of the Event rewards.

Stats: At the start of the Event I spent 4 days to get Glory of Magnus on my 8 characters. In that time I got 2 Hissmir recipes. I traded for 2 more and the remaining 4 I bought at 15k each which I thought at the time was expensive but with the current pricing (NA PC) between 23 and 30k it was probably not so bad.

Epona222

Or if you want the drops you could put in as much effort as I did and run all the quests on 9 characters per day most days.

I do have more runeboxes than I know what to do with at this point, but no-one can complain that the event has given them inadequate opportunity to collect everything. It's been going on for far too long if you ask me.

Ghic

Epona222 wrote: »

Or if you want the drops you could put in as much effort as I did and run all the quests on 9 characters per day most days.

I do have more runeboxes than I know what to do with at this point, but no-one can complain that the event has given them inadequate opportunity to collect everything. It's been going on for far too long if you ask me.

I've been playing ESO for a little bit over a week now, and the first days I did quests to get the hang of the game, then a friend told me I should do the event, ever since then I did the dailies without fail for a whole week, and for the last 3 days I also did it with 2 extra alt characters because time was running short, I can't be blamed for not trying hard enough, and also, I want to enjoy the story of the game, not repeat the same quests every day for a single drop, it spoils the fun. And we weren't given the same opportunity, some claim they got their recipe after a few tries, and even got copies, while others (including myself) didn't get it after more than 100 boxes. My only fault is that I didn't start playing the game earlier so I can start the dailies faster, or to make enough money to buy the recipe.

Daraugh

The Witch's Festival was handled much better, it actually felt festive with everyone running around in every zone. Frustrating at times, trying to get enough damage in on a boss before it melted, but drops were generous so it wasn't as grindy. I've been sick through most of the New Life Festival, but when I was able to play, it was mind numbing after a couple runs. Hopefully the next festival will be a blend of the two, where xp boosters can't be abused, the drops are generous and it has the world-wide feel again, not an on the rails feel.

DiteHart

I feel like it really could have benefited from making the merchants include some type of exchange system--kinda like the Crown Gems, but useful), where you could exchange the holiday items for some type of (hopefully tradable) currency that allows you to buy other holiday items. Me and a couple of guildies were doing all the quests on multiple characters for most of the event, and after getting our stuff, and giving other guildies what they need, a few guild members still need some Fish-Eye Rye recipes. (And, yes, they run through the quests themselves, as well.)
Yesterday, we set up a guild to hold all the Holiday Event items (from both events, and any future) in a bank, and we're almost at 400 items leftover from only 3 or 4 of us. No Fish-Eye Rye recipes, but over 20 Snow Bear Glow-Wines, and over 10 Colovian Fur Hoods.
They also gave us way more of those disposable items than most people would ever need. I quickly had to destroy those for personal bank space.

Honestly, I'd love it if they made it a year-long merchant. And made sure the prices were fair. I mean, the Fish-Eye Rye should be worth at most 100 green recipes. Probably something like:
White items could be exchanged at 50 for 1 token. (Festival and style items)
Green items give 1 token.
Blue items give 5 tokens.
Purple items give 10 tokens.
Gold items would give 50 tokens.
They would each cost twice as much as they give. So, if someone comes into the game in February, they might not have to wait a year or pay a boatload of gold (for the rarest items) before they can complete their collection. They still won't be able to get the achievements related to the actual events (and therefore, not the titles), but they could get the lasting items.

Really, they should even make the Crown-exclusive style items purchasable. Even at a higher price (maybe 100 tokens for 10). The styles themselves can stay Crown-exclusive, but at least the items would have some way to be earned in-game. And stay related to Holiday Events.
That way someone doesn't have buy Crown Mimic Gems to give someone else the style. They would just require that person to supply the style mats.

This probably wouldn't happen, but I think it could definitely be a good way to do it. That way, ZOS wouldn't really have to much (as far as the collectibles go; continuing to make enjoyable content is a different story)-- as long as they continue the trend of adding a holiday-specifc container (pluner skulls, NLF gift boxes) that always contains one holiday-specific item and can be earned multiple times a day (Skulls could be 1 every 5 minutes; gift boxes were 9 per day), the RNG could be the same. (Just like with most year-round stuff, people with bad luck may have to work longer, but it would always be doable.)

ArnoTerranova

Wise words, agree !