Hobnanigans, Yule, Festivals... etc... maybe not so much HUMBUG!?

[Marancil]

I stumbled of a post where a player claimed to have gained 8000 marks, about 50 medallions, and half a dozen Seals via the Yule festival.

It is not my intention to insult festive spirits and social events, but so far my impression of them have only been "bah humbug" since I thought they only gave you some tokens, pets and cosmetics as rewards for taking part and doing stuff in them. Not interesting, much. (To me).

However, if there is some real stuff to get, like marks and medallions, maybe one should actually consider going there?

Please give examples of no nonsense items you get, and what that can signify for PvE gear and stats?

[Sheaezra]

I stumbled of a post where a player claimed to have gained 8000 marks, about 50 medallions, and half a dozen Seals via the Yule festival.

It is not my intention to insult festive spirits and social events, but so far my impression of them have only been "bah humbug" since I thought they only gave you some tokens, pets and cosmetics as rewards for taking part and doing stuff in them. Not interesting, much. (To me).

However, if there is some real stuff to get, like marks and medallions, maybe one should actually consider going there?

Please give examples of no nonsense items you get, and what that can signify for PvE gear and stats?

Yeah that was me. When I got the sack of gifts, I often got as many as 300 marks or 15 medallions. And I had 6 characters collecting a sack of gifts every single day. Very often I would get like 300 marks for one character and 150 marks for another in one day. But maybe I was just especially lucky. I'm pretty sure that I was practically at zero marks when the festival started and had close to 8000 by the time it ended. And I may have also accumulated some marks in quests and hobbit presents during that time, not sure. However the bulk definitely came from the festival.

Now a thing you can do, is just make a keg run, which only takes a couple of minutes. Once you complete that single grind, you can go up the the hobbit girl and get the sack of gifts. And you also get a bunch of XP. And also each grind gets you a pretty good amount of XP.

The items you get with tokens are just seasonal cosmetics like robes, tunics and cloaks etc. And you can also get tomes cosmetic pets called Grims. Oh and a couple of nice mounts could be bought with tokens. I took five of my toons to tier 3, so I had a ton of tokens. Most of the stuff I bought with tokens I put up for auction and made a substantial amount of gold. The Grim tomes initially sold for 15-20 gold each and I had a bunch. Everybody else was asking closer to 30 gold, so mine sold fast. So the whole thing was very profitable for me in terms of XP, marks and gold. But I also got very sick of being there. I tried to get my friend in on it, but he refuses to do festivals no matter what. I'm waiting to see what I can milk out of the spring and anniversary festivals coming up soon.

Now Hobnanigans I haven't really done yet. Every time I went there, almost no one was on the field, so I could not play. All you get at Hobnanigans as far as I know are cosmetic pet chicken tomes. But I see those up for auction for as much as 150 gold (not sure if anyone actually buys them for that much). For my initiation try out thing, where my toon kicked a chicken through goal posts (it's a very weird game) I got something called a Holding Chicken tome that I sold for 15 gold I think.

[Vilan]

There are also essence reclamation scrolls up for grabs at most festivals in exchange for a pile of festival tokens. Some of the festival deeds grant Turbine Points. The Treasure Hunt offers lootbox keys and "unearthed sacks" which are basically keyless lootboxes, so potentially you could get some gear there. I think that's about it in terms of "real" gear though. The vast majority of stuff is just cosmetic gear or steeds.

[Arnenna]

I stumbled of a post where a player claimed to have gained 8000 marks, about 50 medallions, and half a dozen Seals via the Yule festival.

It is not my intention to insult festive spirits and social events, but so far my impression of them have only been "bah humbug" since I thought they only gave you some tokens, pets and cosmetics as rewards for taking part and doing stuff in them. Not interesting, much. (To me).

However, if there is some real stuff to get, like marks and medallions, maybe one should actually consider going there?

Please give examples of no nonsense items you get, and what that can signify for PvE gear and stats?

I opened sacks at the festival on 22 alts daily. I netted more than 50K marks, and quite a few medallions to boot. Not many seals, about 40 maybe. I also earned enough tokens to get each alt an essence reclaimation scroll.

[BangoTwinkletoes]

I opened sacks at the festival on 22 alts daily. I netted more than 50K marks, and quite a few medallions to boot. Not many seals, about 40 maybe. I also earned enough tokens to get each alt an essence reclaimation scroll.

40 seals from solo festival content? What the hell is Turbine thinking.

[Arnenna]

40 seals from solo festival content? What the hell is Turbine thinking.

Well, it doesn't quite work out that way for the solo alt Bango 22 is a pretty high number of players taking part to get that gain, even if it's one at a time. It was very time consuming, even if only a few minutes per alt per day.

I can get a lot more from a ten minute flash party with the Hele dragon - on one alt.

Seals don't really have much of a use nowadays. If it were Morgul crests, I'd get the concern

[BangoTwinkletoes]

Well, it doesn't quite work out that way for the solo alt Bango 22 is a pretty high number of players taking part to get that gain, even if it's one at a time. It was very time consuming, even if only a few minutes per alt per day.

I can get a lot more from a ten minute flash party with the Hele dragon - on one alt.

Fair enough, but that it's even feasible to obtain seals by doing festivals is just wrong.

[Arnenna]

Fair enough, but that it's even feasible to obtain seals by doing festivals is just wrong.

I slightly disagree

If it were "only" festivals that awarded seals it would be wrong. Thankfully, there are many other avenues that provide players with choice. I kinda found the seal award one of the most disappointing on the sack rewards, with them having little use. I'd rather of had festival tokens on those days to be honest.

[Tarlywyn]

I got quite a number of seals this year across my 5 accounts too - more than I remember getting in previous years, although it was extended. You were also able to get Tier 1 Stat Tomes, Tomes of Extraordinary XP (100% extra on all XP), and Level 100 SA symbols from the Yule festival hobbit gifts.


An alternative to the keg run is the snowbeast cheer - you're working on your Firebreath emote at the same time.


Also, the level 10 wood trolls for the Yule firewood quest count towards a dwarf's racial trait troll count.


During the upcoming Anniversary festival, mobs have a chance to drop Steel tokens which can be bartered for 20 marks each - a great time to work on low level slayer deeds.

[Tarlywyn]

[QUOTE=Arnenna;7549488]I kinda found the seal award one of the most disappointing on the sack rewards, with them having little use. QUOTE]

I thought the same - maybe they'll be coverted when they raise the level cap.

[Roberto_the_First]

Most of my festival bags gave me festival tokens. I got a tome of will 1 once.

[cdq1958]

The Yule Festival is my favorite of the LotRO events.

Yule Festival Drop Statistics*

 Festival Tokens 35/67 52% 50/100 50% 78/156 50%
 	2 Tokens 18/67 27% 26/100 26% 42/156 27%
 	5 Tokens 11/67 16% 16/100 16% 27/156 17%
       10 Tokens  6/67  9%  8/100  8%  9/156  6%

Skirmish Currencies 29/67 43% 44/100 44% 66/156 42%
	      Marks 22/67 33% 33/100 33% 49/156 31%
	       	150 14/67 21% 21/100 21% 28/156 18%
		300  6/67  9%  8/100  8% 13/156  8%
		500  2/67  3%  4/100  4%  8/156  5%

	 Medallions  5/67  7%  8/100  8% 13/156  8%
		 15  3/67  4%  6/100  6%  9/156  6%
		 30  2/67  3%  2/100  2%  4/156  3%

	      Seals  2/67  3%  3/100  3%  4/156  3%
 		  2  2/67  3%  3/100  3%  4/156  3%

	  		Cosmetics  1/67  1%  1/100  1%  5/156 2%
   Spiral-horned Snow-beast Cloak  1/67  1%  1/100  1%  2/156 1%
		  Wintry Yule Cap  0/67  0%  0/100  0%  3/156 2%

	 Stat Tomes  2/67  3%  5/100  5%  5/156  3%
  Tome of Agility I  2/67  3%  4/100  4%  4/156  3%
     Tome of Will I  0/67  0%  1/100  1%  1/156  0%

Special Crafting Ingredient	Symbol 0/100 1/156 0%
Blemished Symbol of Celebrimbor	       0/100 1/156 0%
All other items no drops
*Rounded to one significant digit and the results may not sum to 100 due to rounding

Keep in mind that it took me running the festival every day over the time the festival was up. Also consider being able to play over the 6 or so weeks the Yule Festival ran this time and also running some 4 dozen alts through it.

[Marancil]

Never had a Seal.

Time to Partie I guess

[Theozor]

I've been doing the Yule fest daily grind every year since they started it. It can be a goldmine for marks and medallions, but only if you have enough alts to run each one every day. By doing the keg quest and daily quest every day on 11 characters this time around, I ended up gaining almost 20k marks and close to 1k medallions, plus a few seals, the occasional tier 1 stat tome and a couple 2nd age symbols. I don't bother with the other festivals because I don't particularly enjoy them, but I make the time for Yule fest.

[Marancil]

Got 6 Characters. Currently we have Hobnanigans, any suggestions?

[Olgomil]

Currently we have Hobnanigans, any suggestions?

There are several interesing items in hobnanigans barterers, from cosmetics to emotes, from decorations to food recipes or chicken pets, but all the items are costly, you need to play a lot of matches or multibox.

Sergio :-)

[HardestyGrimwall]

I stumbled of a post where a player claimed to have gained 8000 marks, about 50 medallions, and half a dozen Seals via the Yule festival.

It is not my intention to insult festive spirits and social events, but so far my impression of them have only been "bah humbug" since I thought they only gave you some tokens, pets and cosmetics as rewards for taking part and doing stuff in them. Not interesting, much. (To me).

However, if there is some real stuff to get, like marks and medallions, maybe one should actually consider going there?

Please give examples of no nonsense items you get, and what that can signify for PvE gear and stats?

so let me get this straight, you are complaining about them trying to keep game a little fresh

okay then

[Marancil]

so let me get this straight, you are complaining about them trying to keep game a little fresh

okay then

No. I am just saying I am not much in to the festivals, but if there is real profit usable for how I play the game, like Marks and Tomes, I might do some time in it.
Put on your glasses, have some coffee or a snickers, and then re read my original post, or just keep out of my thread.

[Olgomil]

No. I am just saying I am not much in to the festivals, but if there is real profit usable for how I play the game, like Marks and Tomes, I might do some time in it.
Put on your glasses, have some coffee or a snickers, and then re read my original post, or just keep out of my thread.

Probably the only Hobnanigans items useful in normal PvE play are the festival food recipes.

Check all items available for to barter, here: http://lotro-wiki.com/index.php/Hobnanigans

Sergio :-)

[Marancil]

Thanks Olgomil, I should have checked that, but one never knows how updated the Wiki is, or how accurate. Nothing of interest. No seriously, from what is posted in the Wiki, nothing of any interest at all whatsoever. For me, as I play the game. Some seem to need that underlined in order to not get upset.

[Olgomil]

Thanks Olgomil, I should have checked that, but one never knows how updated the Wiki is, or how accurate.

Yeah, Hobnanigans page in the wiki is updated, items available in the barterers are the ones listed in wiki.

Other option is play Hobnanigans, barter items, sell for example chicken pets in the AH, and get gold and purchase items useful for your play style. I remember i sold 3 chickens last year in 1000 gold.

Sergio :-)

[cdq1958]

Thanks Olgomil, I should have checked that, but one never knows how updated the Wiki is, or how accurate. Nothing of interest. No seriously, from what is posted in the Wiki, nothing of any interest at all whatsoever. For me, as I play the game. Some seem to need that underlined in order to not get upset.

For me, the most generous events are the Yule Festival and the Anniversary event, in terms of getting generally useful drops. For me, Yule, the Anniversary, and the Spring Festival are much better than the rest.

[Laerien]

40 seals from solo festival content? What the hell is Turbine thinking.

The epitome of ignorance. Read about the drop rates before continue embarrassing yourself.

What they are thinking?, I don't know, maybe give those seals -devalued to please a bunch of no lifers- back to those who soloed group content on level. Or maybe a little reason to do something different, like festivals, to those losers who wander crying on internet talking about things they know nothing about.

Btw, there is "forced grouping" right now in Bree fields, I know it goes with your agenda.
----------------

On topic

I stumbled of a post where a player claimed to have gained 8000 marks, about 50 medallions, and half a dozen Seals via the Yule festival.

It is not my intention to insult festive spirits and social events, but so far my impression of them have only been "bah humbug" since I thought they only gave you some tokens, pets and cosmetics as rewards for taking part and doing stuff in them. Not interesting, much. (To me).

However, if there is some real stuff to get, like marks and medallions, maybe one should actually consider going there?

Please give examples of no nonsense items you get, and what that can signify for PvE gear and stats?

"Real stuff", "no nonsense items"... Yeah you are showing very well your intention to not insult festive spirits and social events

Answering you question, Essence reclamation scrolls (according your definition of "real stuff") are available in all festivals. The amount of tokens needed for one probably depend the festival, in my opinion is too high considering the time needed to get the tokens and the value of the scroll in the market.

Also, people use to barter their tokens for "nonsense items" and trade them for gold, then they use that gold to buy "real stuff". I know it may sound complicated but, believe me, it is not. The only problem is many people do these activities flooding the market with "nonsense items", so the prices go down.

[Sheaezra]

I opened sacks at the festival on 22 alts daily. I netted more than 50K marks, and quite a few medallions to boot. Not many seals, about 40 maybe. I also earned enough tokens to get each alt an essence reclaimation scroll.

That is sincerely amazing. Makes my achievement seem pretty small potatoes

Fair enough, but that it's even feasible to obtain seals by doing festivals is just wrong.

I myself only got 4 seals from the festival. Have gotten 6 more since then from skirmishes.

Most of my festival bags gave me festival tokens. I got a tome of will 1 once.

Yes for the most part I got tokens. I believe I got 2 tomes of will. Plus 3 snow beast cloaks (bound) and the (coveted?) hobby horse.

Plus it was a lot of fun. Had a lot of fun joining in on stuff with the other players. I got to go up on stage several times for the Frostbluff Theater and act with others performing emotes and that was a blast. Especially getting pelted with rotten fruit from the audience aha.

[Marancil]

First of all I am aware that many US players might not have been online, this was at my regular play time, GMT evenings, while those guys over the pond are still busy rallying votes for Trump and the end of civilized world.

But I was just standing there looking a bit over the fields, going back and forth between the party area and playing fields. I saw about half a dozen players in one filed, they were standing STILL, suddenly one inclined over some kind of pole, then he stood STILL and nothing happened. And there was this jerk riding around disrespecting the field, or maybe it was intentional. I did not see any other "action".

I know that Yule is in a different area that you have to port to, much like (forgive the comparison) The Möörs, but the Festival Grounds north of Bree are there. You should be able to see what is going on? I took part in a few horse races so I know that involves some kind of instance, but the other activities?

Laerien, yes you are right, my true feeling shone through. Sue me.