Working with stock

[Jotunbane]

First off. I want to figure this out myself. So please dont respond with a solution.

Im trying to get the book "working with stock", I have absolutely NO idea as to how and where. But Harnquist seems like a good start.

The following conversation is probably very funny if you know how to get the book. (I dont)

Me : Hello
Harnquist : Greetings traveller. Quality arms and armor you'll find at my shop. Can I help you?
Me : give me the book
Harnquist : Books are very entertaining... especially the magical books with the moving illuminations, don't you agree?
Me : yes
Harnquist : Sorry, can you use a simpler but complete phrase?
(Personal note : when NPC's ask a question, yes and no should be valid responses)
Me : hmm, no (I cant make it any simpler than "yes")
Harnquist : Sorry, can you use a simpler but complete phrase?
Me : working with stock
Harnquist : Sorry, can you use a simpler but complete phrase?
Me : aaarrrggggghhhh
Harnquist : Sorry, can you use a simpler but complete phrase?
Me : give me working with stock
Harnquist : You're going to have to be more specific than that
Me : give me the book working with stock
Harnquist : Maybe try the library? Books can be found in many places.
Me takes Harnquist out back and kills him.

So, the library eh?? Off I went.

Jayose : Welcome to Jayose's Librams and Codexes. I hope your visit is an enlightning one.
Me : give me the book working with stock
Jayose : If you're looking to borrow a book. I'm afraid i cannot allow you to do that at this time. But you may certainly read them here. Please enjoy.
Me commits suicide right there in the library.

My question is. How did anybody get anywhere in this game??? I have the same problem with ALL the quests I have tried, and it's just not funny. I could do the obvious thing, and ask somebody ingame, we could even roleplay it. But there MUST be a way to figure this out ON YOUR OWN, but right now, I don't see it.

Like the quest "Harnquist needs tin"... do you really expect me to find this on my own?? I found iron, but only because I noticed other people digging, and I haven't seen anybody dig anywhere else.

[Irgendwer]

Perhabs some pointers:

• Don't expect any NPC to actually make a real conversation. It looks like they shoul be able to, but they aren't.
• Some information, e.g. the mining location for raw materials gets revealed to you through quests (and not nescessarily the quest, you need them for).  Asking one of your fellow human players is a viable alternative. Some might even show you around.
• Some NPC have more than one quest to offer, but you can only have one quest active per NPC at any time.
• Try to finish that tin ore quest first before trying to obtain the working with stock book. Maybe asking some NPC can give you a clue, when you ask them about tin ore.

[Addeline]

Let me get this straight.

You want to get hold of a book that you don't know how to use, but know the title of, somehow, and are annoyed that a drunkard blacksmith won't help you?

Too many "shrooms" 

[Bguy]

Why do you expect people to just give it to you? You might as well ask anyone to give you their hand or foot since it is so necessary.

[Thoss]

I've gone through similar "humorous" conversations with the NPCs also...starting out, but have since learned the following:

NPCs will rarely give you what you want if you specifically ask for it, unless you are working on a specific quest.

If an NPC asks you to go to so-and-so and ask them for a book, then do it, it will probably work, but to go and randomly ask an NPC for a book you want isn't going to happen.

If I am not in a quest specifically my conversations with NPCs consist of:

"do you have a quest"
"do you need anything"
"can I help you"

and the really handy........."about [insert noun]"

and that is pretty much it.

I too agree that if an NPC asks you a yes or no question, yes or no should be a valid response, but things look to be soon improving.

Give this thread a read:

http://www.hydlaaplaza.com/smf/index.php?topic=35016.0

Have a look for Thoss or Aarnir in-game if you like.  They'll try and help without giving too much away. 

[Jotunbane]

Give this thread a read:

http://www.hydlaaplaza.com/smf/index.php?topic=35016.0

Oh good, so its not just me
The way it works now gives me flashbacks to 1984, playing Planetfall and Zork. They where fun... 25 years ago.

and the really handy........."about [insert noun]"

Ehmmm, thats not a "complete phrase". I would never ever have tried that.


So... what...
I found the tin ore (if anybody cares), but only after asking around in IRC. I still dont see how I was supposed to guess that the tin mine was at that spot (no visual clue, nothing). So the question remains, who was the first to discover the mines, and how did they do it?

Did they just make the ultimate dig macro (/dig iron /dig tin /dig gold etc.) and tried it everywhere??

Did they scan the source for clues?

Perhaps they simply asked one of the developers?

Anyway, thanks for the "help" (I know, I asked for it). I now have something to go on, and that should make questing a tad more managable. (I actually had to petition to get out of the tutorial, the question was "I'm thinking of a word, it begins with an 'R', can you guess what it is?"... answering "yes" or "no" to that can really give you grey hair. There is simply too much text in the tutorial, so you have to scroll the window up and down, which lands you right in the "focus problem" (the game seems to loose focus somehow, and when I refocus it I get a stop error from windows, and on reboot (forced) im told that it is "related to my sound driver").

[Bguy]

So... what...
I found the tin ore (if anybody cares), but only after asking around in IRC. I still dont see how I was supposed to guess that the tin mine was at that spot (no visual clue, nothing). So the question remains, who was the first to discover the mines, and how did they do it?

There is a quest in the Winch area, where you are asked to get tin and bronze, and both have their locations revealed. I know that you'll say, "I've never even been to the winch!" but all I am saying is that their locations ARE revealed by npcs, even if it is hard to achieve the source. Also, in real life if I asked you for a metal, I would have no idea where to mine it, so you'd ask other people. It is somebody's job to find all these spots and end up spreading them around, I remember trying to find a Cobalt or a Zinc mine, or trying to find a place to fish for sharks and trout.

[verden]

There is simply too much text in the tutorial

Way too much text in the tutorial. You could cut 50% of it and still have the tutorial.

[Oomi]

The tutorial is currently being rewritten. That is all the info I have for now.

[enjaze]

I've been trying to get the book by doing quests for harnquist, and now he wants 2 stock of steel. How am i suposed to get that without the book? short of buying I mean? currently I'm gathering the ore and am going to ask someone else to make the stock.

[Morla Phlint]

I've been trying to get the book by doing quests for harnquist, and now he wants 2 stock of steel. How am i suposed to get that without the book? short of buying I mean? currently I'm gathering the ore and am going to ask someone else to make the stock.

That's the right thing to do actually. Since Harnquist has several quests, for the moment he doesn't always give them to players in an order so they can do everything themselves. Asking fellow players for help is the way to go. After all PlaneShift is a multiplayer game