TOPIC: Finding enjoyment on doing multiple runs

How do you guys find enjoyment in doing multiple runs at the same con?
Do you take puzzle damage when you know what to do but there are still people in the party that want to try and solve the puzzle?

I ran e3 on Friday night and Saturday afternoon. We had a good party and were able to solve the the first three puzzle rooms on Friday.
Saturday in puzzle room 1 I made use of the scroll of common language and spent time with the npc. The npc also used that knowledge with the cloth which was fun. Most of the people in the party didn’t do the run yet. I told them if they wanted hints to let me know. We did take puzzle dmg.
I didn’t know what to do inpuzzle room 2 to keep myself occupied while they were busy trying to solve the room. They luckily solv d the room before time ran out.

I tend to offer hints if the party asks, and yes, we take push damage if needed.

I find enjoyment by playing different builds. For example!

On Saturday night, I ran a ranged wizard. Deranged wizard. I kitted out with all dex gear, and then cast Cat's Grace on myself, and slid a +2 stunning lt crossbow. Several times did damage in the 40-60 range on HC. It was amusing.

I find that people who have solved the puzzle before are too quick to give hints. I would rather take the push damage than give hints they don't want. If they ask me for a hint, sure I'll give it, but I strongly prefer not to give any puzzle hints at all unprompted.

On PUG runs I like to play Rogue if possible because it's something for me to do while they are solving and with my tools it's guaranteed to help them.

Spoiling other people's puzzle solving is absolutely unforgivable in my opinion; I will give hints only if specifically asked to do so by the people who are seeing it for the first time (and I tell them that in the coaching room).

I like to re-solve the puzzle in my head to make sure I appreciate all of the details of how it was constructed. I use the rest of my time to enjoy the beautiful set scenery, chat with NPCs if available, and/or just joke around with other members of my party who already know the answer.

I've found that I reliably enjoy running each dungeon twice, on different days, because:

* There's usually at least one puzzle that I either didn't get at all the first time, or figured out the trick too late to actually see it all the way through before time ran out
* I love seeing different NPC performances!
* unfortunately sometimes the technical effects break down, but by running twice I nearly always get to see the fully-working version of each effect at least once

This year I ran E1 a third time (Sat 9:36pm) as an experiment to see if it would still be fun. I actually did have a lot of fun, but largely because I joined a great party of other experienced people who did a LOT of joking around. We also had a top-flight Maggie and a top-flight sage who were super fun. Without those key elements, I'm not sure I would have found a third run worthwhile; I think two is my sweet spot.

David Zych wrote:
I've found that I reliably enjoy running each dungeon twice, on different days, because:

* There's usually at least one puzzle that I either didn't get at all the first time, or figured out the trick too late to actually see it all the way through before time ran out
* I love seeing different NPC performances!
* unfortunately sometimes the technical effects break down, but by running twice I nearly always get to see the fully-working version of each effect at least once

I agree with David's points for re-running a dungeon, but at this year's Gencon I personally didn't enjoy it as much doing it a 2nd time. IMO it also depends a lot on the group you're running with. Also, paying for myself and my son means it gets expensive pretty quick.

Also think that people who have done the puzzle before shouldn't give any clues at all unless specifically requested. -- I've have some bad experiences with that.

I'm a little surprised that people re-run the dungeon so many times. Is it just you want to run with different groups of friends? Or is it mostly treasure farming?

Jeff321 wrote: I find that people who have solved the puzzle before are too quick to give hints. I would rather take the push damage than give hints they don't want. If they ask me for a hint, sure I'll give it, but I strongly prefer not to give any puzzle hints at all unprompted.

On PUG runs I like to play Rogue if possible because it's something for me to do while they are solving and with my tools it's guaranteed to help them.

I think one of the best effects of getting rid of Treasure Stamp rooms is that people are no longer motivated to solve the room for the treasure. I think that often led people that knew the solution to either walk the rest through it or just solve it themselves.

EvilJohn wrote:

David Zych wrote:
I've found that I reliably enjoy running each dungeon twice, on different days, because:

* There's usually at least one puzzle that I either didn't get at all the first time, or figured out the trick too late to actually see it all the way through before time ran out
* I love seeing different NPC performances!
* unfortunately sometimes the technical effects break down, but by running twice I nearly always get to see the fully-working version of each effect at least once

I agree with David's points for re-running a dungeon, but at this year's Gencon I personally didn't enjoy it as much doing it a 2nd time. IMO it also depends a lot on the group you're running with. Also, paying for myself and my son means it gets expensive pretty quick.

Also think that people who have done the puzzle before shouldn't give any clues at all unless specifically requested. -- I've have some bad experiences with that.

I'm a little surprised that people re-run the dungeon so many times. Is it just you want to run with different groups of friends? Or is it mostly treasure farming?

Personally I re-run because there are multiple groups of people I want to see/hang out with and I cant always get them to align on a single run.

Contrary to what people tell you, treasure farming isnt really that efficient. Your almost always better off just buying the item your after, that said I'm sure there are people who do it for this reason (but probably more at smaller cons where the tickets are cheaper/more available).

In terms of how I manage to enjoy doing the same thing a second time a large part of it is that I rarely get all the puzzles the 1st time around so it's nice to have a second crack at them. It's also fun to see how things change con to con, or even day to day depending on who is running it/what breaks/or is rebalanced. It's never as freash as it is the first time, but it's also never boring

Why I do so many runs:

• Get to run with different people (hang out with more of my TD friends)
• Get a better feel for more classes (both for fun as well as to be more informed during token development)
• Get to see how different people approach the same problem (which can help me have an easier time on future year's modules)
• Get more time to look for Easter eggs and subtle things, or just enjoy the atmosphere of some of the rooms
• Get to see what changes happen between cons, or sometimes even during cons
• And yes, get more treasure!

Fiddy wrote: Why I do so many runs:

• Get to run with different people (hang out with more of my TD friends)
• Get a better feel for more classes (both for fun as well as to be more informed during token development)
• Get to see how different people approach the same problem (which can help me have an easier time on future year's modules)
• Get more time to look for Easter eggs and subtle things, or just enjoy the atmosphere of some of the rooms
• Get to see what changes happen between cons, or sometimes even during cons
• And yes, get more treasure!

All of this. In addition, I spend a lot of money on my tokens and I want to use them for more than 6 hours a year.

Milambus (Jake) wrote: All of this. In addition, I spend a lot of money on my tokens and I want to use them for more than 6 hours a year.

This. LOL!!

Milambus (Jake) wrote:

Fiddy wrote: Why I do so many runs:

• Get to run with different people (hang out with more of my TD friends)
• Get a better feel for more classes (both for fun as well as to be more informed during token development)
• Get to see how different people approach the same problem (which can help me have an easier time on future year's modules)
• Get more time to look for Easter eggs and subtle things, or just enjoy the atmosphere of some of the rooms
• Get to see what changes happen between cons, or sometimes even during cons
• And yes, get more treasure!

All of this. In addition, I spend a lot of money on my tokens and I want to use them for more than 6 hours a year.

Jake's reason is probably the primary reason I ran as much as I did at GC 2019. After getting fully invested in my build, I wanted to use those tokens as much as I could.

Treasure and running with forum members were tied for #2.