First, let me just say that while there will be some mention of the "unmentionables" this is not a thread directly about them nor do I wish for the thread to degenerate into complaining about them. This is more about when the manor system is more open and when it's basically locked down. Okay, now for my story:
This last weekend, I was leveling a new alt just for kicks in the DE area. I had been playing for a decent portion of Saturday morning and then it hit me: I hadn't seen any of the usual array of dwarves with silly names running around. Not one. Thinking this was odd as I hadn't seen it before, I went to check the status of the manor and incredibly there were seeds available and product could be turned in! Even more astonishing was the fact that it was only about 90 mins before manor reset at 6pm PST.
I immediately started seeding and harvesting as much as I could because this was the first time I'd been able to do it in the couple months I've been playing.
All the rest of Saturday went by and then Sunday too with still no sign of the random dwarf brigade. I harvested a lot of "indigenous product" and made a fair bit of adena. It was really, really fun and rewarding too. I'd have to say last weekend was the most fun I'd had yet because I was actually allowed to play the game and use its mechanics to my advantage for a change.
Alas, like all good things must, it came to an end on Monday and they were back in full force. No seeds available even at 6:03. So I let out a /sigh and went back to grinding quest items for a tiny fraction of the adena I had been making over the previous couple days.
Now what I want to know is where were they all weekend and does this happen to coincide with anything in particular? Were they doing Seven Signs instead of their usual manor-hogging or was there something else? Heck, even if it only happens once every couple weeks, that's still better than nothing.
I'm really very curious about this and would like to know if there is a pattern that others have seen or if this was just a (quite pleasant) fluke.
Hope that helps. :) If there are no seeds at 3 past the manor hand in full hour, then that's because the manor was not set for that day (very likely siege activity). The bots can't buy at that time any more than you can, so that's not it.
And remember - it only takes a handful of players to completely lock down the manor on a given seed, so there's no need for bots to make your life miserable trying to hand in crop. ;)
Hope that helps. :) If there are no seeds at 3 past the manor hand in full hour, then that's because the manor was not set for that day (very likely siege activity). The bots can't buy at that time any more than you can, so that's not it.
Erm. I don't get it...? I thought the manor automatically reset every day at 8pm CST unless the castle-owner changed something. Everything I've read would seem to suggest that. Also: 3 minutes early or an hour late? It's either 8 or it isn't, right? I'm so very confused by that statement, can you clarify please? (yes, I'm still new, heh)
And remember - it only takes a handful of players to completely lock down the manor on a given seed, so there's no need for bots to make your life miserable trying to hand in crop. ;)
True but I think I have a far better chance against more or less "real" players. Or, at the very least, I'd feel a lot better about it. :)
In any case, I'm just trying to figure out how I can feasibly work the manner without my whole life having to revolve around it. ;)
The manor does reset on the hour but it is "under maintenance" for 6 minutes thereafter. So you cannot sell or buy until 6:06 (your time), hence the comment about being 3 minutes too early or an hour late.
If there were definitely no seeds left to buy at 6:03 your time and the manor was set up that day then it would indicate that you have calculated the reset time incorrectly for your time zone.
To really make the most of the manor then you do need to develop a routine that works for you consistently at reset time. Personally, I often use two characters (one buying and one selling or both selling if I have a lot of fruit). But by far the most important thing is having method of knowing exactly when to click that sell/buy button in order to have the best chance against other "players". Different people have different methods but knowing about the maintenance period is the first step. ;)
Ohhhhhh, I see. I didn't know about the 6 minute maintenance thing. Also, as I understand it, the reset is 8pm CST which would translate to 6pm PST, right?
The time "6:03" was pulled out of my hat really. It may have been 6:10 but it certainly wasn't much past that. The time was only meant to illustrate "everything was gone in nothing flat".
Unfortunately, the only days I can really make the reset times are on weekends. On weekdays I'm usually still at work.
Of course, I could install the client here too and conveniently take a break around 6:05 every day. :)
As for routine, I figured I would just have a character buy seeds one day and then sell the next. I refuse to two-box. ;)
If you are competing even with players, you have to be there before six past, set up your purchase, and then press at exactly six past. I don't expect to get anything if I miss it by more than one or two seconds. Every player can do it that fast.
Bots generally aren't as much of an issue as they used to be since the precision hand-ins (bots aren't that great at beating a human at precision).
I have heard too many times though...
Maline: ^^
OtherManorer: **** bots.
Maline: What were you handing in?
OtherManorer: [Seed I just got the full handin on.]
Some of the high level seeds are tough (whether because of players or bots I don't know), mostly because so few of them can be made available.
I've never seen a bot cast a seed. and since players can get 2-5 crops per seed. most people who are addicted to seeding will only play where they can get the most crops. a lot of players already have plenty of crops stashed away.
if you are couple two seconds late turning them in for a lot of the profitable crops, you are gonna be sol. not bots. manoring addicts. some people have alarm clocks.
I don't feel right if I'm not planting seeds.
and just a side note. it is ridiculous that any other melee can get more money outta mobs with manor than a dwarf spoiling. in fact, even more than a dwarf spoiling and seeding.
I've never seen a bot cast a seed. and since players can get 2-5 crops per seed. most people who are addicted to seeding will only play where they can get the most crops. a lot of players already have plenty of crops stashed away.
I'm pretty sure I have but they may have just been spoiling. The two look very similar. Though I found the correlation to zero bots being around to me suddenly having a manor I could work with to be significant but it could have also just been coincidence I guess.
I don't feel right if I'm not planting seeds.
Yeah, me neither. I also really like spoiling even though it usually doesn't yield a whole lot. I can see myself being masochistic enough to level a scavenger just for fun. :eek:
I've seen bots seeding as well as spoiling. I don't think I'm regularly beaten to the hand-in by anything other than the low material prices though (don't have the drive to manor at the moment).
My favorite thing to do in times past was go to a catacomb on my nuker with some seeds and find a room with ppl in it that don;t talk and seemto like to kill mobs. I seed those ones till the cows come home. (usually 1000 seeds or so) Haven;t done it recently since noone on kain sets up a proper/( by that i mean profitable to the seeder) manor nowdays
Precisely why I quit manoring. On Devianne it became literally impossible to beat the bots at turn in.
actually, you may have been competing with maline and myself...when i get into manor hardcore, ill lock down several types of fruits for a few days...but i havent actually logged into the game since interlude started, so maybe you guys have a bit more of a chance now ^^
they do. back when bots dropped stuff when you trained them, i once got 2k chilly coda seeds from a generously dead bot. before the mass bannings, however, they had already gotten millions of fruits stored in their werehouses so they didnt need to actually need to seed mobs to do the trade in. even as a single-account player it is possible to get enough fruits to saturate the trade in process and have some fruits to spare. my suspicion is that some of the mass bannings got rid of their saved up supplies, or at least i hope this was the case.
Last time I managed to dump full 8k load of Red Codas, so yeah, one player can lock the whole buyback for particular seed.
Get as much precise and accurate clock as possible and try it at exact XY:06 :)
Or other option is manor seeds that are not so popular, sell those materials you get - it may take a bit longer, but still can be profitable enough, You can buy materials that you need from money you receive from manoring.
Precisely why I quit manoring. On Devianne it became literally impossible to beat the bots at turn in.
actually, you may have been competing with maline and myself...when i get into manor hardcore, ill lock down several types of fruits for a few days...but i havent actually logged into the game since interlude started, so maybe you guys have a bit more of a chance now ^^
Nah, Maline used to get mad at me cause I had the lockdown on varnish. I was very good at turning in and turning in fast..speedy fingers, and I'd start clickin two minutes prior to reset..but there just came a point, after the crowds of adfddfa named "players" would crowd around the manor, that I couldn't get anything anymore.