Talk:Skritt Burglar

Location templates

Since they are use in several places (each one of the transformation achievements, the event and the NPC) woun't it be better to place each region (Kryta, Ascalon) in templates, and then have the articles share the templates, so editing one edits all? MithTalk 14:16, 3 November 2012 (UTC)

Ok, I forgot about subpages, and instead making subpages as I actually meant, I simply made the insert links and clicked the red links, which made templates automatically instead subpages. Grnft... I'll try to fix that... MithTalk 03:21, 10 November 2012 (UTC)

Edit sections

People were editing separately the locations in each of the achievement pages without copying the locations to the main page, so I linked them all with templates. I had to make a quick-and-dirty fix with hidden sections to edit each of the locations. If anyone knows a better way to make a template section editable without showing a header, please do. MithTalk 13:11, 6 November 2012 (UTC)

I'm not sure what you mean. I removed the empty sections, and now there's no weird "1.4" in the ToC (if it existed), and the achievement pages look fine. They should also include levels, like every other NPC with multiple levels. Manifold 22:45, 8 November 2012 (UTC)

Now, people can't edit the templates from the pages, as there's not [Edit] links. I don't know any other way to add links to subpages, so I had to fake it by removing the ToC and putting those empty sections to make appear the Edit links. MithTalk 03:14, 10 November 2012 (UTC)

I found another way for now. With this you can instert a fake edit section link anywhere:

<span class="editsection"><span class="plainlinks">[[http://wiki.guildwars2.com/index.php?title=PAGE NAME HERE&action=edit edit]]</span></span>

Yay.

Unfortunately, I kind of messed when turning the Ascalon template into a subpage and made another one, and now it uses the template instead the subpage, so the template should be deleted. MithTalk 03:52, 10 November 2012 (UTC)

I remembered that you use a colon for transclusion of normal pages like templates, and fixed all links. So now the templates can be safely deleted and are properly marked for deletion. Now all that's left is a better way to add an edit link, but for now MediaWiki doesn't seem to have a better way that using external links to internal pages. If anyone knows a better way, be my guest! MithTalk 04:11, 10 November 2012 (UTC)

Those achievement pages need to be redirected to appropriate subsections of this page.--Relyk 04:26, 10 November 2012 (UTC)

Those are achievement pages, this is an NPC page, not an achievement page summarizing all those four achievements, tightly related to those achievements, but still not an achievement itself. If you redirect them here, that'll mess categories. You can't mess with categories. As I said, I made the subpages because people keep adding the locations to the separate achievement pages, the chest page, the skritt burglar page and even the event page, so I made the subpages so editing one edited all, keeping all info in one place. You can't redirect an achievement to an NPC page, as they are related but not the same thing; but I could agree with something like a "see Skritt Burglar for a list of possible locations" instead inserting a subpage, if nobody likes subpages to share info between pages like we sometimes did in GW1's wiki (check collector pages, for example). In any case, looks like there's no achievement infobox, and that makes achievement pages look bad, empty and desolate, but that doesn't mean you should redirect them as if they were not separate entities. They are. It means we need an achievement infobox to auto-categorize them and keep them nice and proper, auto-categorization is cool. MithTalk 04:46, 10 November 2012 (UTC)

Levels

It's an NPC page, we should document the levels she is in each area -_-. I can't even find where I added the level she was the time I found her, it was removed, and the templates don't have it in their history either. Manifold 16:34, 13 November 2012 (UTC)

Spawn rate?

Most of these are never up even in areas people never go. Additionally, how do you get them to turn you into an animal? I've found 3 so far and none have done it... 87.195.101.155 13:42, 16 November 2012 (UTC)

From what I can tell, the chests have a very slow re-spawn rate after they have been used. After opening a chest, my friends and I had to go searching for it again for the people who missed the achievement. It didn't turn up again at any location, so I think there is a lengthy delay. Not sure how long, as we gave up and went to do something else. --Bunny - BunnyBomb Talk 13:40, 25 November 2012 (UTC)

I have 2 out of the 4 of these achievements, first 2 were pure luck. Did a complete run of the 2 remaining areas and no chests at all to be found. Lady Elyssa 15:46, 6 December 2012 (UTC)

Snowden Drifts

Found a chest in Snowden Drifts; got turned into a Jackalope but because I was overpowered for the zone and on my necro, the buff itself did not last long and I killed the skritt way too quickly to get transformed a second time after the transformation wore off. I don't know if this is the same transformation that would qualify me for the achievement (I did not get it), I had no primary abilities while transformed. Kalea 16:25, 25 November 2012 (UTC)

Animal transformation depends on Chest Location. Is that 100% certain?

Are we 100% certain that "type of animal is always tied to the area" as it has been assumed. Does that info come from a dev? Is there no chance the transformation can be random? The reason I ask is, a couple of months ago (Jan 22) I came across the Rata Pten chest and I seemed pretty sure it transformed me into a Raccoon (not a Siamoth). (I added an entry for Maguuma in the Behind he Mask section at the time, but it was deleted and later re-entered under A Waddle to Remember.) --Alad 11:11, 5 March 2013 (UTC)

Those events things are most probably set manually. It that happens, it's possible that there's 4 different versions of the skritt, one for each event, with a different version of the transformation skill. In that case it could be perfectly possible that when they were putting the chests, they used an Ascalon one instead a Maguuma one in some cases. But without a screenshot to prove it, it'll be hard getting that in the page, as all the other chests follow the rule. MithTalk 14:59, 5 March 2013 (UTC)

At-a-Glance

Primary article: User:TEF/Guides/Skritt Burglar (list)

I've created at-a-glance version of the data from this article as of June 2013.

• Organized by Achievement (same as current version).
• Table format (since most of the current notes are the same for each bullet)
• Uses a linkable nearest landmark, instead of an area (making it easier to find, share with others)

As of today, the map links are red because I've assumed a non-existent file naming convention. The current article has only a handful of maps and each is titled using a different style. I plan to:

• Add the current inconsistently-named files. (done: turns out, there are only three that are still valid)
• Propose we establishing a naming convention — if it uses my style, then less work for me. If we adopt a different arrangement, I'll update the tables in my user space accordingly.
  • Proposed convention:

    File:[Achievement] ([area])].jpg, for example

    File:Jackaloping Along (Bore Lynch).jpg

    • Pros: the convention is extensible, the names should be unique, are easily distinguished, and following current wiki practices (main idea → parenthetical disambiguation).
    • Cons: it might turn out that the achievements aren't zone-dependent. Also, it's not as simple as File:Skritt Burglar (zone - area).

– Tennessee Ernie Ford (TEF) 16:36, 21 July 2013 (UTC)

Looks good, but… By my reading of the API events dump, there's approximately 13 versions of the event more than you have listed. --Claret (talk) 16:59, 21 July 2013 (UTC)

Oh? Good to know. If it's easy for you, can you dump the event ID + event names for all the ones you have? I can meld that info into my table. (I could only go what was posted on the main article, all of which was researched prior to the release of the public API.) If it's not easy for you, I can get it later. I've been relying on other people's API-based apps to grab data, so haven't yet figured out how to make the API sing for me personally.

Either way, thanks for the heads up :) – Tennessee Ernie Ford (TEF) 17:07, 21 July 2013 (UTC)

Locations

I don't feel like going through and researching and fixing them all at the moment, but I'd like to encourage every one to add locations as all other NPCs have locations listed. That means listing areas. Not PoIs she's near, not what words she's close to on the map, not what landmark she's near. Manifold 03:17, 25 July 2013 (UTC)

I am against that method of listing as it's much less intuitive for most people trying to locate a JP, an event, or a skritt burglar spawning location.

Most players have no idea where these "areas" are, but everyone is familiar with PoIs, Waypoints, and other such landmarks. Further, PoIs and WPs can be linked via chat and areas cannot. Further, while playing, you can identify the area you are currently in, but it's not at all obvious where one area ends and the next begins.

Technically, for this article, the locations listed on the page aren't the locations of an NPC, the are the potential spawn locations of a chest. That chest, when triggered, will spawn an NPC. (Incidentally, since all such locations have a different event ID, it's possible that these aren't the same NPCs — ANet likes to recycle NPC names, even when that's confusing to players — although, I think it's more likely there aren't 80 different NPCs, maybe 4, one for each transformation or 16, one for each zone.)

Shouldn't the goal of listing locations be to make people and things as easy to find as possible? When it's just a list of "who's in the zone," dividing by area is a perfectly fine way to list. But I think it's easier for players if we point out the nearest linkable landmark. I'm okay if people really want another column with the area name, too, but I don't see the value myself. – Tennessee Ernie Ford (TEF) 23:10, 25 July 2013 (UTC)

It's not easier to find in many cases. I'm not saying there can't be any description after the area name, but "go left in the cave" or "a bit below the 'r'", are subjective and may not make sense depending on where you enter the cave from. If areas aren't included it's a randomly sorted list. You can see area names by looking at your map. You have to mouse over every PoI or waypoint until you find the right one. I think fewer people know how to use chat codes than what an area is. Ideally, I'd like to see each zone with its own map, including area borders and a symbol where chests can spawn, and any description in the "locations" hierarchical list only telling how to approach it: "ascend the mountain from the east". Manifold 23:32, 25 July 2013 (UTC)

Most of the locations start off by listing the area. Only a few don't and that's easy to add. They're already listed and sorted by region and zone (not alphabetically but that's not an issue). Or did you mean something else? (I don't get it). --Alad (talk) 23:40, 25 July 2013 (UTC)

Indeed most are. But this page gets a lot of IP edits, and I noticed some recently that were not and hoped to prevent it. Manifold 00:24, 26 July 2013 (UTC)

A compact table using landmarks can be easy to navigate, include linkable landmarks, and offer plenty of room for helpful directions. Every time we do a guild JP session (e.g. 30 people over 12 JPs in 60 minutes), a group event achievements (e.g. grab all the kites), I can get the whole guild to the same location much faster by pasting the link codes. If I'm not around, people still coordinate quickly because I can point to the tables that include the target + the link code. In contrast, it takes forever to get everyone to the same spot by providing zone and area names. "Go to Burrows of Moledavia" earns replies like, "where is that?" and "are you sure that's in Diessa and not Plains, because I don't see it?"

Linkable codes do not require any mouse over or any prior familiarity with the map. They don't even require that your character has uncovered the area. Area names require reviewing the map and are inaccessible if your character hasn't uncovered that part of the map. They also are vague, as many areas cover caves and cliffs, lakes and hills, and so on. The borders are unclear except when you cross an area border.

I agree with you about directions that make too much use of "turn left then right" and "go to the fork in the road," because those can be ambiguous, especially if someone makes a wrong turn. I support the idea that directions should be written with the assumption that the player isn't familiar with the location and isn't necessarily good at following directions. And that's exactly why I want to see linkable landmarks to start off the "getting there" notes. I have nothing against including areas, but I don't think that areas are sufficiently helpful or even necessary in helping people reach a location. – Tennessee Ernie Ford (TEF) 17:47, 26 July 2013 (UTC)

Bag of Loot no longer contains loot?

Is anyone else not able to open the Bag of Loot dropped along teh way? Is this since September Feature Pack? Or earlier? Adeira Tasharo (talk) 03:02, 24 September 2014 (UTC)

What level were you and what zone were you in? —Dr Ishmael 03:44, 24 September 2014 (UTC)

Players have been reporting these since the FP, usually at low level locations, such as Queensdale. I wasn't able to get one yesterday, while in Gendarran Fields. --Ventriloquist 20:17, 24 September 2014 (UTC)

I had heard low-level characters in Queensdale couldn't open them, something to do with "interactive objects" being a level unlock - I have no clue about the veracity of these claims, though. —Dr Ishmael 20:35, 24 September 2014 (UTC)

I wasn’t able to interact with the bags on my level 80 characters either though. The only thing I could pick up was the final loot bag when defeating the skritt. poke | talk 20:37, 24 September 2014 (UTC)

(somewhat of an edit conflict) Exactly why I found it suspicious; I was on a level 35+-ish character, and I've held many bundles before. Don't Bags of Loot work same as Steel Chests from champs? Since we can loot those, I'm guessing this is just an unrelated bug that people assumed was connected with the Feature Pack. --Ventriloquist 20:39, 24 September 2014 (UTC)

The WvW Bag of Loot is like a Wooden/Steel Chest, yes, but the Skritt Burglar's Bag of Loot is an object with an "Interact" action.

Actually, I just realized that I've encountered something similar: in Oldgate Clearing, one thing you can do to complete the heart is to pick up Land Mines set by separatists. But I couldn't do that last night - the yellow "Land Mine" nameplates appeared when I held Ctrl, but I couldn't target them or interact with them at all. Made the heart extremely annoying to complete. (Character was L80) —Dr Ishmael 21:22, 24 September 2014 (UTC)

Just to confirm both of those things: Neither of the two characters I've created since the shake up have been able to claim the skritt bags and those land mines are definitely busted - that heart took a good half hour to complete (the separatists spawned by the ambush quest don't count). Poop. — snograt 21:41, 24 September 2014 (UTC)

@Dr. Ish - If I recall correctly, I was in Fields of Ruin on an engineer that has been level 80 since prior to SFP. But then again, that engi has been mapping lately. Adeira Tasharo (talk) 19:13, 28 September 2014 (UTC)

Profession - NOT Mesmer

I'd just like to make a point that she isn't a Mesmer, which finally got it changed to just skritt, HOWEVER I believe she is an engineer due to having Elixirs and an endless supply of bags. I really don't like it when people mis-use Evidence for serious reasons. Now if they said she was a Mesmer because she appears to fly uncontrollably, I'd be perfectly fine. 92.40.249.68 10:48, 4 March 2015 (UTC)

Or she doesn't have a profession, like 99.9999999 with a lot of 9s % of NPCs. Honestly, why do we even have that perimeter? Konig 11:25, 4 March 2015 (UTC)

As far as I can tell, NPCs that did not have profession skills seemd to be set to some profession by default. In GW1, that was warrior. They sometimes changed the profession to monk, probably to make them more squishy. It would not surpirse me if that was the case in GW2, but we don't know in either case. And just like we didn't put a profession for a character in GW1 unless we saw them use skills of that profession, we should not do the same in GW2. And in GW2 is much harder to know which skills they are using unless they use them on you, since there's no skill activation progress under the character's health bar. So, we have to go with inaction here, although she seems to be and engineer, throwing potions and using gadgets, she isn't using any player skill. MithTalk 14:17, 4 March 2015 (UTC)

Your argument makes sense until the point when Anet explicitly stated that NPCs don't have mechanical professions. In GW1, they did - because that's how the system was - but in GW2, they don't, and most skills used by NPCs are uniquely made skills (defined as "monster skills" in GW1). Konig 15:06, 4 March 2015 (UTC)

I always thought they meant they were not giving NPCs player skills anymore, not that they had changed how enemies get properties like profession and race. MithTalk 10:39, 5 March 2015 (UTC)

They still have race and affiliation (or by Anet's terms, family and army), but they don't have professions - this allows them to use whatever items and skills Anet wants them to have. There are some NPCs that mix town clothing and armor, or different tiers of armor (heavy and light for example). Konig 17:08, 5 March 2015 (UTC)

Oh, and GW1 they never were limited by that for skills. Remember there's some enemies with skills from 3 professions without using effects to 'switch' their builds like Chromtic Drakes and Monoliths have. And I understood NPCs had 'pre-made' models. They use the 'parts' players have, but with their modeling programs to make a model that then gets stored to load and use as one, that way players don't have to load custom info like with players. Still, if there were no checks on equipped gear, an NPC of a certain profession could potentially have equipped an item without getting it removed. Since there won't be a check n equip as they already have it equipped. NPCs do not follow the same rules as players after all. MithTalk 00:57, 6 March 2015 (UTC)