Still continuing to hunt pears, mostly for the fun of the seek-and-find.
Tangent first: One of the stupidest things I've heard recently (ignoring the usual troll crap) is that I'm a "mod keeping players from finding pears and ruining pear hunting for them by finding all of them".
Also accused in PMs that I'm "abusing my mod powers" to find the pears. Quite regularly.
You know, when you're some random person who suddenly accuses someone of something in PM, don't expect the nicest of responses. That I
only got sarcastic with him, he should be happy about. He deserved much worse for doing something this downright stupid. This was only the latest of the boneheads to try and claim mods had some super ability to do something that's a normal part of game play, certainly not the only one. (Oh, and this is the kind of nonsense that makes me limit who I speak to in-game btw, people like this are too pathetic to want to have anything to do with, and sadly they're in abundance):
[PM from *****: You abuse your power for pear eh?]
(Yes, name is removed to protect the ignorant. First thought: who the hell are you, and you're sending me this accusation when you obviously know nothing?)
[PM to *****: Yep, I speed hax, use pear finders, and run around checking harvs when the finder tells me the map. I abuse... oh wait, anyone can do that.]
(That's my standard response to such an accusation. Sarcastic, but actually answers how it's done despite the accuser not really being worthy of any decent response.)
[PM from *****: speed hax doesn't check all the maps in 15 min...]
(They have to take their lack of knowledge one step further, claiming to not grasp the concept of "random". FTR the pear on this occasion did take about 15 minutes, but that was also 37 pear finders used and about 60 harved items before finding the right one. I got lucky to find it so quick as it has taken up to 1.5 hours at times before. Even on the small map I found this one on, it could still have taken me another 30 minutes if I hadn't randomly stumbled on it so soon as there was much more to check.)
[PM to *****: This'll require thought... the pear is in a random map, does that mean you have to check *every* map? OMG...]
(Stating the obvious. Adding an OMG because I can't believe just how ignorant the last message was.)
[PM from *****: don't get an attitude with me burn...]
[PM from *****: was just a question]
(Eh... "I can give you attitude and accuse you of things, but you can't get sarcastic at my lack of knowledge!" will never work with me. Mod or not, there's nothing saying I have to put up with such incredible stupidity, and I won't.)
[PM to *****: [PM from *****: You abuse your power for pear eh?] <-- Your lesson for today. How *NOT* to ask a supposed question.]
[PM from *****: It's a question professor, question mark?]
[PM to *****: It's an accusation.]
[PM to *****: accuse a person, expect to not get a hand-holding coddling response.]
(Exactly. No, I don't put up with the stupidity of others. I have no obligation to accept the unfounded accusations of others, especially from people that no matter what you say to them will continue to believe the accusation.)
[PM from *****: accusation is still a question, not a statement or declarative sentence]
(Look at the wookie! See the wookie!)
[PM to *****: I'll speak to malameo and see what you've accused him of. Not a mod but has more pear finds under his belt than me.]
(Fact: Malameo is a regular pear hunter who I have engaged in some friendly competition with. He started pear hunting long before I chose to give it a try so he has found many more than I have, and continues to find them. And yes, I'm very curious what power he's abusing to have found more than me, seeing as he's not a mod.
Yes kids, the person who has found the most pears since finders were added is NOT a moderator. Let's find out what power he's abusing...)
[PM from *****:You abuse your powers anyway, we have had this argument before... ]
[PM from *****: anyhow, you annoy the shit out of me so your going to ignores]
(Look at the wookie! See the wookie! I say again... this person's accusations have no basis in any actual fact, so twice when told facts they go on a different route with semantics or yet more false accusations.
I do not recall any "past arguments" before with this person, so if there was one it was obviously too insignificant to recall. I'm more inclined to believe they're part of the "troll collective" who think any time they violate rules they should be allowed to get away with it, and call it mod power abuse when they don't.
And considering the false accusations sent as shown above, they're probably the type that actually believes the other false accusations posted by other trolls.
As for going on ignores... yippee! I wasn't the one who had false accusations and inclination to actually PM them. I didn't request contact with this person nor have I wanted to contact them. That's one less troll to bother with.)
Oh and more random nonsense from another who doesn't grasp the basic concept of random:
[********** @ 6]: guess no reason too buy pear finders as it seems only one person finds them
That one person would be malameo (as stated above, still has more finds than me)? Me? Finja? Maxine? Josefine? Marvel? Those are just names off the top of my head that I recall finding pears.
Wanna know how they found them? They actually tried. Difficult concept I'm sure, but it's no different than saying you never win the lottery when you never actually buy a ticket. Due to the incredible randomness of the pear location, even if I am hunting there's always the chance of someone else finding it first. A map like Palon Vertas for example, has tons of harvestables. There's over 500 wood branches on that map alone. Anyone's chance to randomly start checking closer to the pear than I am.
I'll stop there, since if I'm needing to explain the concept of "random", perhaps pear hunting isn't something you should do.
Fact check:
1) A moderator is still a player. None of the commands we have give us access to anything that allows us easier play.
2) I have no means to keep others from finding pears other than finding them first. Malameo, Josefine, Finja, and others who have found pears (even while I was hunting them) can attest to that. The fact that I'm a moderator has absolutely nothing to do with that I happen to be good at finding pears.
Let's see... how do I find them? Right: pear finders, luck, and knowledge of the maps. How about that, not one of those things is exclusive to moderators.
Pear Finders - currently go for 240gc each, available to be purchased by anyone. And there's always been plenty available on bots along with individual sellers on market. I go through these like candy.
That I use them and others don't has nothing to do with me being a moderator. They can be used by any player in the game.
Knowledge of the Maps - One thing I've said many times ad nauseum over the years in newbie support: "The single most important no-level skill in EL is exploration, learning the maps."
Over the years, I've studied each individual map, getting to know it like the back of my hand. Learning where most all the harvestables are, not just "closest to storage" that most learn. This in turn has led to a certain ease in hunting out the pear once the map is determined with a finder.
That I've taken the time to learn the maps has nothing to do with me being a moderator. That can be done by any player in the game. And I've even told people to learn the maps repeatedly.
Luck - In the end, it also boils down to this. How many are hunting the pear, how long it takes them to find the correct map, and for most maps which person finds the correct harvestable first. Idaloran, White Stone, Dra Syn... with so many harvables it's anyone's chance.
If mods had any more info on where the pear was, a) there would be many more mods finding it than just myself and Maxine, and b) it wouldn't take me up to 1.5 hours sometimes to find it.
This whole "Mods have extra play benefits" idea hit a new low with the I-won't-name ignorant person who stated this.
You want to find the pear? You actually have to look for it. Don't go whining and saying mods have some secret way of finding it when you don't even try to find it yourself. That's just pathetic.
You don't level without training/mixing. You don't find a grape without kicking critters. And you don't find the pear without actually looking for the right harvestable item.
Three other "secrets":
1) Speed Hax - A potion anyone can buy (or mix if you have the levels). Allows you to go through maps faster to find the correct one with pear finders. Also useful when checking harvestables on maps where the harvs are spread out... Tahraji Desert with all the spread out cactus for example. (Less helpful on maps like Arius where the harvs are abundant and you don't go far to the next one.)
Although a warning here: If you don't know the map thoroughly, you have a higher chance of overlooking a harv under a tree or such if you're speeding around. Know your map if you're going to hax your way through a pear hunt. Even I with my knowledge have had this trip me up once.
2) Determination - Especially on a map that has a lot of harvestables to check. Not skipping a single harvestable... it can just as easily be in that random wood branch on the ground as it could be in the garden full of vegetables.
3) Patience - I've found it 10 minutes into the game day through luck, and on other occasions it's taken me up to 1.5 hours (checking the entire Thelinor map for it to be in one of the last few harvestables to check, speed haxed at that).
Er, and also be prepared to be annoyed... not every harvestable can be reached to actually harvest. And yes, the pear can be in one of those. It has happened many times, which means noone gets the pear that game day.
An example of an unreachable pear: The pear was in VoTD gold cave first level. Several gold spots in there but relatively speaking not much to check. Once everything else was checked it was determined that the pear was in an unreachable area of gold that's fenced off (tele to range won't work either):
There's at least 9 pieces of gold there, possibly more as they can be hidden in the walls as well. Pear is lost for that game day.
But enough of that. I've now given away all my supposed secrets to pear finding, and as can be seen they're things that any EL player could figure out themselves. And enough of showing you the complete nonsense I have to put up with on a regular basis that makes me regret speaking to certain people should I actually dare to respond to them.
I'll finish off with some of the interesting locs I've found the pear since my last post:
Thelinor - For a second time. This one at least didn't take me 1.5 hours like last time I found it here.
Tarsengaard - Magic School Garden - Second time I found it on this map. First time it turned out to be in 1 of 4 unreachable items so never got it. But the second time...
Trassian - Dra Syn - A very difficult map to check, lots of harvs, and as well lots of stuff hidden in the walls not normally visible. Fortunate to find.
Valley of the Dwarves - Gold Mine Second Level - This map has quite a few unreachable items as well. Fortunately it turned out not to be in one of those.
Egratia Point - A new record, 6 minutes and 55 seconds into the game day! Despite that 32 pear finders had been used before determining the map (yes, with speed hax and good map skills you can check that many that quickly). Probably one of the simplest maps as there's only a small number of harvestables and none known to be unreachable. Once it was determined, I found it in the very first item I checked, a branch on the ground.
Sedicolis - This is where I was accused of "abusing mod powers" to find the pear in the above text. I found the map, then checked harvs inside the city area first. I was about to leave the city area and almost forgot to check this branch leaning against a building. Fortunately it managed to catch my eye as I was running out of the city and I ran back to check it.
