Three quarters of the way through unpacking Steam 5, and here is another batch of prizes. This portion of the hunt went as smoothly as the rest - there are skips, changed LMs, etc, but all the information you need is available from the in-world group. While Steam has traditionally been one of our favorite hunts, we're not feeling it as much this time around. It has always been crammed full of neat stores to explore, new places, and amazing gifts and that part of the hunt has not changed.
However this year it feels like there are a lot of "forced" minihunts that aren't really hunts at all. Several stores send you on a goosechase for clues around their sim before letting you actually find the prize. One stop even makes you chase a final clue AFTER you find all the gifts in order to get the next LM, which was packed in a gear all by itself. There was a place where every "clue" in the goosechase dumped notecards on you and every length of hunt path prims laid out along the route filled the screen with spam for various stores or rentals on the sim. Moreso than a feeling of an adventure, those types of things made portions of the hunt seem tedious and irritating and the temptation to skip those places was hard to resist. We fully understand that the stores can do whatever they want, or whatever the hunt coordinators deem acceptable, but from the hunter's point of view, it felt like being held hostage in certain places simply to drive their traffic numbers up and the impression left is not one that would make me go back there to either explore the places more fully or to shop.
We try not to say anything negative about the hunts in this blog. We try to show every gift we possibly can with no judgment as to the quality of the gift because we know *someone* somewhere is putting their time and effort into making the gifts and every gift should be appreciated.
With that in mind, please don't let our experience put you off the hunt. It only has a few days to finish, and the gifts are really amazing in most places. I think there is a certain amount of burn-out that happens when doing the really big hunts, and it tends to color the hunt experience. As the saying goes - your mileage may vary. This might be the best hunt you do all year. =)
Cheers, and Happy Hunting!
However this year it feels like there are a lot of "forced" minihunts that aren't really hunts at all. Several stores send you on a goosechase for clues around their sim before letting you actually find the prize. One stop even makes you chase a final clue AFTER you find all the gifts in order to get the next LM, which was packed in a gear all by itself. There was a place where every "clue" in the goosechase dumped notecards on you and every length of hunt path prims laid out along the route filled the screen with spam for various stores or rentals on the sim. Moreso than a feeling of an adventure, those types of things made portions of the hunt seem tedious and irritating and the temptation to skip those places was hard to resist. We fully understand that the stores can do whatever they want, or whatever the hunt coordinators deem acceptable, but from the hunter's point of view, it felt like being held hostage in certain places simply to drive their traffic numbers up and the impression left is not one that would make me go back there to either explore the places more fully or to shop.
We try not to say anything negative about the hunts in this blog. We try to show every gift we possibly can with no judgment as to the quality of the gift because we know *someone* somewhere is putting their time and effort into making the gifts and every gift should be appreciated.
With that in mind, please don't let our experience put you off the hunt. It only has a few days to finish, and the gifts are really amazing in most places. I think there is a certain amount of burn-out that happens when doing the really big hunts, and it tends to color the hunt experience. As the saying goes - your mileage may vary. This might be the best hunt you do all year. =)
Cheers, and Happy Hunting!
~Shadowed and Thanos
127. SteamBound
101. Luminous Designs
121. Dragons' Designs
107. Brain Circuit Inc.
147. Carriage Trade Equestrian Life
143. John's Ancient Treasures
123. Total Look
113. emPathy
130. PuzzleMint
126. Rag Dollz Steampunk Emporium
105. Dax Designs
133. Chav's Main Store (complete av)
149. Cummere Mayo Creations
142. Gugu Dada (fatpack of mustache colors)
112. Tamiron Forge
114. NS6
133. Chav's Main Store
121. Dragons' Designs
108. Aki-Kimono
106. Star Kindler Designs
145. Lilipily Spirit Jewelry (fatpack of finishes and lengths)
140. Gearspring Gallery
141. Happy Hippo
139. MadPea Base
137. Bondar-Foehammer Aerosteam Co.
131. Ms. B. Designs
133. Chav's Main Store
146. Texture Me True
124. Whims & Wishes
140. Gearspring Gallery
109. Aster's Builts
103. WHIMSICAL IMAGINARIUM
104. Montagne Noire
117. Malfean Visions
129. Noctis
118. Morigi Steam
132. Griss' General Store
144. John's Ancient Treasures
127. SteamBound
116. JAT/We Rise Together
150. Frosted Myst Designs
125. Tiggerworks
135. Moxie
120. Alma's Fantasy
136. Time Emporium
110. Tree House Treasures
115. Deep Blue Sea Designs
102. Izo's Shop
Thanks for deciding to go ahead and post your results for Steam. This is the third year I've hunted the Steam Hunt and there was a very changed vibe this year. I hope the coordinators read your blog and others who have expressed doubts about this year's plethora of "minihunts". I'd hate to see this Hunt go by the wayside because of over aggressive distractions from the hunt itself.
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