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All of the latest Mists of Pandaria newsBreakfast Topic: How's Noblegarden going so far?
by Allison Robert 
Apr 27th 2009 at 8:00AM
The title seems self-explanatory; are you enjoying Noblegarden? How many people are participating on your server? Do you already have the achievements done, or are they a work-in-progress?I have to admit I'm writing this expecting a lot of comments to come back noting that it's pretty hard to get this holiday done when spawn points on the eggs are camped 24/7. For my part, I vastly underestimated how much of a nuisance that was going to be on the live realms. That aside, Noblegarden does seem to be one of the more efficient holidays, particularly if you get lucky with item drops, and I think this is also the first time Blizzard's made it possible to get all the achievement items you need as purchases in the event that Lady Luck spends the week being an indifferent mistress. The ability to buy achievement items certainly settles what was by far the biggest complaint concerning Love Is In the Air. For that holiday, your ability to complete the meta-achievement was ultimately determined by the RNG, to the point where Blizzard hotfixed the drop rate on a key achievement item after the forums went kaboom.
This time around, you don't need to worry about that as long as you can get enough Noblegarden Chocolate. Time to knuckle down, plunk a frosty beverage at your side, and tell that jerk who's camping your spawn to go find his own friggin' eggs. Ahhhh, the holiday spirit!
Filed under: Events, Breakfast Topics, Achievements
Reader Comments (Page 3 of 12)
SarahTheGnome Apr 27th 2009 8:29AM
Well I thought it was a shame that people kept camping spots, since it kind of defies the whole 'egg hunt' thing. I didn't camp and I got everything done very fast, and managed to buy my tome of polymorph. I had to pick up 240 eggs to get all drops. I ate 100 chocolates, then got 100 extra for the tome. By that time I still needed the flowers, which cost me 50 chocolates, but when I got my 240th egg, the flowers were in there, so that saved me a few minutes.
I don't mind it being this fast to be honest, children's week is starting so it feels good to be done with this holiday already.
Eyvindr Apr 27th 2009 8:29AM
The girlfriend and I both snagged the title, and I managed to get every achievement related to the holiday (all the clothes dropped from eggs as well) yesterday afternoon. All in all a pretty humdrum holiday, but it was nice that it was so simple and didn't have a level requirement. I understand the reasoning behind having a pseudo level-req through the use of top-level dungeons and whatnot, but it's been frustrating for my girl to not be able to participate in past holidays and get the associated titles due to her not having a top level toon yet. Either way, gotta dig the title, even if it's going to be a very common one in the near future.
dan Apr 27th 2009 8:30AM
i finished the entire holiday by 9 am on sunday. i had absoloutly no problem with eggs. i found it possible to get 225+ eggs an hour, if you know where to look. ;)
FenSat Apr 27th 2009 8:31AM
I'm done on my main, and I doubt I'm going to try to get it done on any of my alts, beyond grabbing the pet. Some aspects of the event have been fun, but the poor design of the egg-gathering portion event has brought out the worst in player behavior on my server.
At first, I (like most people) was running around grabbing any unclaimed egg, but most of us figured out pretty quickly that the number of spawn spots, in an already confined area, was pretty limited. You ended up having to make one of three choices: find an open egg and camp it, come back later when fewer people were around, or start swiping eggs right from underneath the noses of campers. I opted for the first choice, having gone to Dolonar because "no one" goes to Darnasty.
With even the out of the way areas such as Dolonar and Azure Watch full beyond the carrying capacity of the number of spots available, chaos soon ensued. General chat became an argument between some of the campers complaining about the poor manners of the egg-jackers, while the egg-jackers made lame excuses rationalizing their behavior. (Queue the argument between those who think good manners should still be observed even in a video game versus those that think that anything goes when they have the ability to be anonymous.)
For next year, either the size of the area eggs spawn in should be increased to support more players and/or the spawn locations should be much more randomized. (Basically, have eggs spawn randomly within a given area in any spot that's not inside another object.)
By the way, tauren and dwarven females...yeah...they are rare.
Zanathos Apr 27th 2009 1:31PM
While I myself have spent some time camping egs and can understand people getting annoyed by people running by and grabbing them, I don't really think you can make this an etiquette issue. This is supposed to be an egg hunt, after all. If anything the campers are the ones who are going against the spirit of the game. I'm not saying campers should stop camping, because that often is the most efficient way to collect eggs, but complaining about someone running around doing the event the right way is not defensible.
Now people who come and stand on top of your camping spot and compete with you that way are a more obvious etiquette breach, but if that's the only way they can compete, what else are they going to do? (Aside from try it later) The real failing of this event is that there's not a better system (or any) to discourage camping. Because having done it both ways, actually hunting is a hell of a lot more fun, if not more efficient.
FenSat Apr 27th 2009 1:42PM
Honestly, what seemed to disturb those of us who camped most wasn't by someone who just happened to zip by, snag an egg, and go on their way, it was when they resorted to basically try to horn in on a camp and see who could click the fastest. I can't see that as defensible behavior, and if every last spawn point is camped (and I don't doubt that's the case in a place such as Goldshire), you just go back later.
That being said, I would much rather have had the event structured so that camping wasn't possible or efficient (it was very efficient for my lock), but that's really the point I'm driving at: the event is setup to cause people to irritate each other, and that didn't have to be the case. Hopefully, the event will be improved next year by implementing some of the improvements suggested by myself and others in this thread.
yenaled Apr 27th 2009 8:56AM
Honestly, I've felt it's all a bit of a non-entity.
A few hours of running in circles around Camp Bloodhoof and I'm all done with it. Half the raid yesterday had the Noble title already.
It's all fun but didn't need extending to a week.
Tricia Apr 27th 2009 8:33AM
I really enjoyed it. I had my title and meta-achievement in like 4 hours, and now I'm proceeding through it on some alts. For some reason I enjoy running in circles looting eggs. Must be why I like fishing too :-)
I'm glad the minipet was buyable this time. I spent an insane amount of time on Love is in the Air and never got Peddlefoot on my main, but my alts got him, some a few times. :-(
Radiophonic Apr 27th 2009 8:36AM
Pretty disappointing really since the egg campers spoil the event. I'm not sure if it was the same in previous years since I never bothered with such a short event. Although it seems like one of those incredibly easy achievements to get (my entire guild got the title in just a couple of days), it doesn't seem to be well thought out in regards to the gathering of items.
Deadly. Off. Topic. Apr 27th 2009 10:20AM
It wasn't. The eggs actually spawned all over Elwynn forest. Spread out far and wide and they had long respawn timers (at least longer in comparison to this event).
Aurendar Apr 27th 2009 8:38AM
By far, the WORST World Event ever. I got to Goldshire and picked up my basket along with the quests. Around the Inn and other egg spawn points was someone camping the spawns. You literally couldn't hunt for any eggs.
If I stood too close to someone, I would start to get rude and vulgar whispers to get the (ahem) out. This holiday is worthless. If Blizz wants to do this right, make the egg hunt realm-wide.
Needless to say, over an hour period, I managed to pick up 3 eggs. After that, I abandoned the quests and headed back to Dalaran to do my morning dailies.
Anjelle Apr 27th 2009 8:41AM
I managed to finish on my main without too many issues. In fact, it was quite a party. Of course, I started it as the event was just starting. It was very busy, but the jerks hadn't shown up yet.
I'm now working on it for my alt, as she is a mage. I wasn't going to bother.. but decided I couldn't pass up the bunny polymorph. My experience has changed tremendously.. and not for the good. I've remained quiet and not bothering anyone by simply sitting at a spawn point. I've been harassed, slapped, tormented, IMed and called named, etc. It's really sad.. considering how FUN it was early on.
My two complaints....
1) Bliz needs to extend the spawn area out.. perhaps to the entire zone vs just right around the central cities. This would help a LOT with the frustrations and harassment going on out there.
2) I worked REALLY hard to get my elegant dress last year. Same with the little black dress at Valentine's Day. These were once special items.. that I loved to wear around town. Now.. they are just.. eh.. whatever.. *everyone* has one. I think they should have used a different dress and tux now that they are so easy to obtain.
Cyrus Apr 27th 2009 11:54AM
"1) Bliz needs to extend the spawn area out.. perhaps to the entire zone vs just right around the central cities. This would help a LOT with the frustrations and harassment going on out there."
This might sound good, but then you'd have to run back and forth all across the zone to find eggs. Ride from Kharanos halfway to Gnomeregan (or Razor Hills halfway to Sen'jin or whatever), only to have someone get there right before you, and then you ride the same distance in the opposite direction...
I'm taking it slow. Relatively slow, at least. I got halfway to the Chocoholic 100-egg achievement and realized that if I do the daily quest through the rest of the event I'll probably get most of the achievements just by looting 20 eggs a day. So now I'm not going to buy anything from the vendor until the last minute. Most of the problems people are having could be avoided by not trying to do the event right when everyone else is.
Kitita Apr 27th 2009 11:26AM
I found Female Orcs a rare thing on my server. So I was popular for a while and even the Alliance appreciated my dancing...
The Tux Shirt and Pants are going to be the bane of my existence though, over 400 eggs looted and neither of them dropped though I now have 5 spring and 4 elegant dresses.
Watching everyone doing 'basket' fueled laps around Razor hill is pretty funny, even if I am joining in.
AyaJulia Apr 27th 2009 12:31PM
You don't need to get the tux parts from an egg for the meta. You can just buy them from the vendor, equip them long enough to do Blushing Bride, and sell them back. :) Sunday Finest and Dressed for the Occasion are not in the meta, due to being "too luck based".
Of course, if you just want achievements and don't care about the meta, that's different.
Bardo Apr 27th 2009 8:41AM
I was in Razor Hill on Whisperwind within 30 minutes of the event starting on Saturday night/Sunday morning and, when I tried to loot an egg that was at a spawn point which some awesome guy apparently decided was his (one of three he was seen bouncing between), I was promptly told to "quit being a ni**er" and find my own place to camp.
In light of the absolute absurdity that is some complete jerk getting that upset, that quickly, I decided to say "screw this holiday" and go back to raiding.
Blizz, did you really not think this through? Do the Kool Kids all get to be assholes to everyone else because they can go egg hunting in the middle of the night? For me, the spirit of the "holiday" was torched and destroyed within my first few minutes.
Quill2006 Apr 27th 2009 10:20AM
Yikes. I hope you reported them, that's just despicable.
My server had a mix of campers/runners. I camped a few spawn points since running around in circles even on the computer tends to make me sick, but I kept my cursing and annoyance when I'd miss one (or several) to myself. The eggs weren't mine just because I was standing there.
I hope you give it another shot; one a****** shouldn't ruin it for you. It's actually a pretty fun and easy event, and doing the achievements with friends is a blast! Where else can I see my GM turn into a rabbit and lay an egg?
Todd Apr 27th 2009 8:41AM
Done. Finished in just a matter of hours.
Cathaoir Apr 27th 2009 8:42AM
The run I made into Ironforge on my troll shaman to find a female dwarf was one of the greatest highlights of all the years I've been playing. Even my guilds first kills on a couple of the bosses in Ulduar later last night weren't as exciting and entertaining as that was.
Not to mention my male troll dancing around Dalaran with his dress and bunny ears on, earing all the females that run by. I love this holiday.
Ametrine Apr 27th 2009 8:43AM
will whoever's in charge of filling the eggs PLEASE stopp putting sticks in mine? I've gotten seven - yes, SEVEN - Blossoming Branch drops in three hours.