New Event:Desert Diplomacy

[Pickles]

Congrats, CW! And I agree. I don't think there's any fun in just going and looking up the answer - puzzles are for solving!

BTW, TNT has now specifically stated that giving out answers is not allowed.

*** THIS TOPIC HAS BEEN LOCKED! ***

Giving out the answers to the Logic Puzzle is not allowed. Do not ask for, nor post the answers to either of these unless it is after the contest is over.

SunnyNeo had an answers guide up earlier today (I found it by chance after I'd already submitted my answer), but they have since taken it down. I would imagine that giving nudges towards clues that might need to be revisited might be OK...but be very careful how much you assist.

[Siniri]

Yay, glad you solved it, CW! Thanks for the info, Pickles. Guess I won't confirm anyone's answers for them (you can do it for yourself -- just reread every single clue, and if there are no conflicts with your solution anywhere, congratulations -- you have the correct solution). And if anyone here needs help (again, doubtful, but just in case), you'll have to tell me generically where you got stuck ("for guild X, I have a method and a time, and for method Y, I have an item and a choice of two times"), and I can try to suggest which clues you should reread.

[Blue]

I think I solved it as well. I thought about running my answer by you Siniri since you're the wiz at these things, but, I just double checked my spreadsheet (yep, made a spreadsheet ) and went with it. I did have to make one guess along the way which was wrong, but on the 2nd time around, it appeared to be OK... I guess I'll find out in about 48 hours.

[Jelani]

Prizes are out. If you didn't submit your answers on the first day, there are two items you might not have gotten (the Staff of the Bewed and the Oasis Tonic). I've been getting conflicting reports as to which prize you miss if you miss the first day, though.

I really liked the references to the Lost Desert Plot in this event (happily, I'm rewriting the Neodex article on the LDP currently). If you missed them:

• Among the daily prizes were the unobtainable scrolls from the LDP;
• The Elegant Scarab Whistle refers to the fate of being buried in scarabs by the statue of Nuria;
• Nabile's missing wedding ring appeared in and was a prize for the LDP.
• If you completed all the Neocash parchment bits (which had three of the hieroglyphs on from the LDP), you discovered they were all parts of Amira's grand announcement that was interrupted by Jazan and then dropped into a hole of forgotten plot elements.

Not to mention the reprised cast and re-used art (the Cobrall dagger, for example, is re-used from the LDP trading card of the same name).

Neodex article on Desert Diplomacy

Much love,

Macbeth

[Blue]

Hmm... I didn't know there was a bonus for first day submissions. I don't recall which day I submitted, either, but based on my post above, it was the 3rd to last day.

My prizes:

The Crime Is Solved!

Princess Amira drew these items from her royal treasury to reward you for your effort on the case. She also promises her undying gratitude, but that's not exactly something you can price at the Shop Wizard.

Elegant Scarab Whistle
Non-Illuminated Menuscript
Anubis Thief Plushie
Oasis Tonic

Further, for naming the exact circumstances that enabled the royal guards to track down the culprits, you have earned an additional treasure. “We couldn't have done it without you,” Princess Amira admits, handing you this item personally.

Honorary Guard Tunic

P.S. Awesome Neodex article, Jelani!

[Siniri]

Different people are missing out on different prizes. I submitted my solution fairly quickly on the first day. I suppose TNT was trying to reward people for solving it on their own quickly and assumed people who waited later were probably getting help, but that's a dubious assumption -- especially since they didn't take down answer-sharing Neoboards until fairly late into the first day, so people who didn't want to bother trying by themselves were more likely to get the answers early vs. those who said, "I know this is solvable, and I'm going to do it myself."

Ah, well, it's not the first time TNT has rewarded people for being fast, and it won't be the last time. I suppose it's a subtle encouragement to get on the site more often (= more ad views and more page views -- which can lead to higher ad revenues).

I was too busy with real life stuff to take the time to try to buy the probably-now-unbuyable scrolls I should have gotten for my gallery (maybe? I don't even know which ones those were). Ah, well. I'll be too busy for the next several days, too, but I guess at some point I'll look at the prize list and see if there are any gallery items I can still get for a discount...

A lot of people are griping about not getting all the prizes, not getting a site theme/avatar, not having "more" to this event, etc. I personally thought it was pretty fun and well-written. I liked little touches like the weirdly named "Menuscript" (I "got it" as soon as I looked at the picture of Amira's guests) -- and that the Menuscript was one of the prizes. I'd love to see more of these types of things. While I like full-blown plots, it can be daunting to try to keep up for so long. I wouldn't mind having several of these mini-events more often, especially if they could be connected into a larger story.

[Pickles]

Woot, got all the prizes. I'm happy to say I was able to solve the puzzle on my own even though I didn't have to, as well.

Siniri, a quick glance shows that the scrolls aren't unbuyable yet - the two I checked off hand were 12k and 25k. If you need help with finding them cheapest, let me know, and I'll SSW them.

Will add more commentary later, possibly.