Are you familiar with the strange apparatus?Follow

i sure as hell am. i think they are broken... hear me out.

when the strange apparatus was first introduced (rather, activated) on my server, very very few people knew the score. i had determined that you most likely match up the chips with the core, and take to a corresponding machine. so, i was among the first purchasers of a core.

i had heard a rumor that the arcane flowerpot came from these things. i am an avid gardener, and i had no clue on the odds. i just wanted a pot.

the infinity core were selling for around 80-90k each. there were only a few up there, and only a handful had been sold. i sold everything i had to spare (including the shirt off my back, my jujitsu gi) in order to pay for just one chance to do this.

on my first and only attempt, i went to gusgen mines. i traded the yellow chip and core, i got a rune chopper. i was baffled... had no idea what this item was. i asked a friend to do a price check, and they said it wasnt posted. hm... some item someone else didnt have? i was excited at the idea of making money. i hit space, tab, went to items so it was in auto translate, and did a shout to jeuno. i said i had it in bazaar for anyone to look at. i put it up for a million gil as a joke. just... trying to make it out of reach, so it could be seen. i was examined so many times, and asked so many questions, i just put it up at the AH. posted for a million gil, never expecting it to sell.

went off my roomies computer, came to my computer, and posted about it here on alla. by the time i got back to my roomies computer, it had sold for a million gil. i was shocked, to say the least.

so... i decided to invest some money in things i needed, give some to friends, and use a bunch to experiment more on the strange apparatus.

i tried a variety of them, under a variety of conditions. i tried using the machine that matched the day, on the day of the element. i tried matching the machine to the current weather and day. i tried at different times, and in different orders.

the only thing i learned was that i was getting complete random stuff. i was getting either 8 cermet chunks, 2 adaman nuggets, or 6 rune arrows. once, and only once, i got an arcane flowerpot. i sold all of these (excluding the pot, i still have that) to fund more experiments.

however. when i used the same machine twice in a row (4 different times) EACH time i received an elemental cluster. so, i avoided using the same machine twice in a row. actually... i hadnt used any shortly after another.

here is where i think it is now broken.

the last 10 or so times i had tried, i ended up with elemental clusters. as did 4 of my friends. EACH time they did it, they got elemental clusters, nothing else.
it used to be that i only recieved clusters occasionally, now i recieve them each time i do it (including last night).

this is my theory:
i think all the machines are either linked, or done seperately. i think the machines have a "charge". when left alone, they charge up. when used, the charge drops to zero. the amount of "charge" it has determines your odds of getting something good.

here is the list of items i received, in order of value, least to most. (also in order of frequency, most to least, excluding the clusters).

elemental cluster
cermet chunks
adaman nuggets
rune arrows
arcane flowerpot
any rune weapon/bangles

i used to recieve the others everytime i tried, with no encounters of the clusters. now, thats all anyone is getting.

some thoughts:

[li] infintiy core used to go for 80k a piece. they are now down to 4k each. people are losing out heavily on these...

[li] the amount of rune weapons at the AH have not increased at all. some are still well below 10 postings. the ones that did show up showed up with in the first couple weeks after the activation. they are still just as valuable, because of the lack of new additions.

[li] infinity core have dropped dramatically... that means far more people are buying them. far more people are doing the "quest", yet the "good" results are not showing up nearly as often. most people are only getting clusters, as i have heard when i talk to them.

[li] if your odds remained constant... wouldnt there be more rune weapons, the more people did it?

[li] the ONLY times i used the same machine twice in a row, i got an elemental cluster EVERY time. yet the first time i ever used the machine while no one was using it, i got a rune item.

[li] the password has nothing to do with it. i repeat, nothing. for reference, the password i entered when i got the rune chopper was my birthday. ive used friends names, random numbers, everything. always assistant status.

after much thought on the matter, i think the machines have to be left alone to recharge, so to speak. when someone uses it, it decreases the "charge" and the odds of someone getting something good out of it/them (still dont know if its isolated to each individual machine, or if its linked).

this is the only explanation i can think of. if this is the case, its no longer profitable, as your odds are miniscule of getting something decent. 25k for an earth cluster is just too much to handle.

ive spent well over 2 million on these things, and done them many times. ive witnessed strange behaviour on these machines part.

as a side note, i believe the password will be implemented in the CoP update. then, they will become worthwhile. stock up on infinity core now, i predict they will rocket in price when the true value is known.


Edited, Sun Jul 11 21:53:33 2004 by AmanoJ

well... the decrese in results happened between patches, not instantly after one.

Sounds like we wont be seeing many rune weapons around...

I read your first post about the strange apparatus. I gathered up my gil and bought the supplies I needed. I could only go to the Dangruf Wadi apparatus because I was only lvl 34 and thats the only place I wouldnt get aggro.

So I got me a red chip and an infinity core and went to the machine. I didn't use it on firesday (per your advice) and I got 8 cermet chunks. >_<

I almost broke even after selling the chunks. Seeing as I still have lvl 40 gear to buy, and my ls doesnt like to gamble, it will be a while before I try again. I would really like an arcane flowerpot though...

at this point, ninerman, i wouldnt recommend doing it at all.

that was the idea behind the thread. i think there is something wrong. you could consider the cermet chunks a "good" reward, at least you didnt take a huge monitary hit. however... now, you will. the liklihood of getting cermet chunks again is far lower now for some reason. its open to speculation, but this is my theory.

I personally don't have any experience trading stuff to the machines.... I've wondered what they were for though. Now if I had been lucky enough to come across this axe, then put it up for 1 million in the AH only to have it sell in like 3 minutes....
I would be soooOOO!!!! upset with myself. It sold so fast ... I wonder how much you could have gotten for it. I bet 5 million at least.

lol... that would drive me so crazy ><

I read your origional thread as well, and just recently (yesterday in fact), I went to try it out myself. Crawlers' nest, Iceday, blue chip and infinity core. Tried about 50 passwords, from random numbers to words, but to no avail. I guess I didn't expect anything to work anyway heh. I ended up with 6 rune arrows but at least it was fun. ^^

I think you're right about them not being active until CoP as well, seeing as how the goblin that sells colored chips talks about being from the Underground... which could be referring to the new underground goblin city in CoP? Who knows, anyway thanks for the information, I bought a few infinity cores as well just in case.

I got my Arcane Flowerpot on the 4th attempt in Outer Horuto Ruins at 13:00 on Lightsday ^^