Architect Archive

No, this ones not a bug. I was mis-informed. It wasn't "new artwork" in less then a day, it was "looking for new artwork" in less than a day, which means it should now be possible to go out and vote for another artist. The next painting won't be "available" for two weeks. And yes, those double quotes around available are deliberate!

EnigmaBSc

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EnigmaBSc wrote:
Well, apparently we'll have a new painting on Infinity in "less than a day". Any news on whether this one should actually work, or should I not bother and assume that the painting will simply be bugged again?

EnigmaBSc

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These things are sent to try us...

A while ago I sent (another) ticket in asking about the Bestine Museum quest:

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CS Ticket:
This ticket relates to the Bestine Museum Painting quest.

Hi,

Several times over the last few months I have submitted tickets and bug reports about the Besting Museum Painting quest as it appeared not to be operating correctly on the Infinity server. I have just heard a rumour relating to this topic and would like to know if you can confirm or deny it and, if true, what action, if any, can be taken.

First some background. This is how I currently understand the Bestine Museum Painting quest to operator. There is a two week period during which any player may visit the Bestine Museum and be sent on a mini quest to choose which of three painting they like best. On returning to the Museum they can inform the curator of their choice. After two weeks of voting the painting with the most most votes is made available for any player to purchase, although only Architects can use the schematic. The painting remains available for two weeks after which voting begins for a new painting.

I have been following the quest for a long time and the last painting we had was available to purchase for less than 12 hours, not the full 2 weeks I expected it to be available for.

Now the rumour. It has been suggested on the Architect Forum that there is actually a hard limit of 250 schematics and that one player on Infinity has made a habit of purchasing all schematics in order to corner the market.

First of all, are you able to confirm or deny the hard limit of 250 schematics (or indeed any hard limit, whatever the number)? Secondly, if there is a hard limit, is the purchase of all or most of the schematics by a single player considered a form of griefing (denying contect to other players) or simple business sense?

Thankyou for your time,

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Eventually, after an additional comment and resubmission of the ticket I got this response:

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CS Ticket Reply:
CSRJamesS at your service! I want to thank you for contacting customer support for Star Wars Galaxies. I have read your ticket and understand you have a question regarding the painting in the Bestine museum. There is not a limit on the schematics as suggested, but there may be something involved in the quest that is not being done to qualify you to receive this schematic.

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(See this thread for the full set of replies.)

When my friend informed me (mistakenly) that there would be a new painting in less than a day and that people were camping the museum I submitted another ticket:

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CS Ticket:
Greetings,

This ticket is in reference to the Bestine Museum Painting quest on the Infinity server.

Background - The Bestine museum quest involved a two week period where players may partake in a mini-quest to choose one of three painting. The painting voted for by the most people is then made available to anyone to purchase for four weeks.

Problem - On the Infinity galaxy (and more recently other galaxies) the painting is available to buy for only a few hours. Some players believe that the painting schematics are "bought out" by a small number of opportunistic players.

The Current Situation - A friend has informed me that the Museum Curator is currently telling people that the next painting will be available in "less than a day". He also says that there are many people camping the museum to try and get a schematic.

More Background - I have sent in several tickets over the months about this issue. I have had several CSRs assure me that there is no limit to the number of schematics and that it is not possible for a player or group of players to buy it out and prevent others from purchasing the painting schematics. I have not been able to purchase a schematic for over six months.

My Question - Is it possible that the CSRs I have spoken to previously have been misinformed and the number of painting schematics is indeed limited, as is apparently believed by a reasonable number of players to the extend that they are camping the museum waiting for the change? If it is possible that the number of paintings is limited, would the purchase of all schematics by a limited number of players with the intent of preventing other players purchasing the painting schematic be considered good business sense or a form of griefing (denying content to another player)?

Thankyou for your time,

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And recieved this response:

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CS Ticket Reply:
I have reviewed the information that you have given me and cheked on this quest. All players that complete the quest are able to get the painting schematics. If a number of players complete the quest then they could buy the number that is set out for sale. It is not considered and exploit to camp time quest out since they all have to complete the quest. If you feel that this quest is not working correctly then please submit a bug report so that the developers can gather the information to better your experience.

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which pretty much contradicts the previous CSR response. Dvnce, please, for the sake of my sanity if nothing else, can we get a clear explanation of how this quest is supposed to work from the devs. This quest and the associated paintings are (to my knowledge) the only ongoing content specifically for Architects.

Oh, and just to top things off the quest on Infinity is now even more bugged. I spoke to the curator and he gave me the names and locations of three artists, but none of the artists will converse with me. CS advised me to wait a while. I've waited 48 hours. No change. I went back to the curator and he gives me the names and locations again, but the artists still won't converse. I bug reported it for all the good that will do. Can this quest get any more broken? I half expect that next time I go the Bestine Museum will be missing or something...

EnigmaBSc

Message Edited by EnigmaBSc on 11-24-2004 11:16 AM

I was pretty sure there was no requirement to do the quest, but having not been able to buy a schematic for about six months the only thing I could be absolutely sure of was that doing the quest did not guarantee you a schematic. The fact that this problem started off only being evident on Infinity is what makes me suspect that there isn't a limit on the number of schematics since I would expect the larger servers to run out first in that case. One possibility is that the number of schematics is tied to the number of people who vote, so I'm encouraging everyone on Infinity to vote this time in order to test this out.

Incidentally the painters were not conversing properly on Infinity to start with. CS told me to wait a while, but nothing changed until the server crashed and rebooted. After this they conversed just fine. Have any of the other servers noticed anything similar to this? I suspect it's due to the lack of server maintenance and the painters aren't set up correctly to update without a reboot.

EnigmaBSc

Cant buy the schematic on Sunrunner, didnt notice if the painting was on the wall or not, but he doesnt give me an option to buy it.

OK, enough is enough!

I estimated that the painting would be available sometime over the weekend on Infinity. I therefore checked morning and night. I suspected that it wouldn't change until a server restart, so I wasn't surprised when it didn't change and the curator kept talking about the voting. This morning I went there and the curator said that they were looking for works of art, to which I responded "I've already voted". I logged on this evening just in time for the server to crash. After it came back up I rushed over to Bestine hoping that this would have triggered the painting. No painting on wall. No opportunity to purchase a schematic from the curator. "How long until you look for another work of art to feature?" "Oh, it will be more than a week before we begin the search for our next featured work of art."

Can we please get a DEV response on this Dvnce? Please? Pretty please? With a cherry. It's been broken for over seven months now!

EnigmaBSc

I haven't been able to buy the painting on Valcyn for a few months. I haven't tried to do the quests, but normally I can just buy whatever the current schematic is.

Not anymore!