NPC Spawn Issue: Blackburrow Cask Mobs (Gnoll Brewer/Master Brewer) Are Way Too Common

[loramin]

I've been leveling an alt in Blackburrow recently and I noticed that something seemed off. On live I spent a lot of time leveling my Barbarian Shaman there, right when Velious first came out ... and I do mean a lot: this was my first time playing EverQuest, and everywhere was scary so I leveled in the zone as long as possible. Plus, my leveling was really inefficient: I killed slowly, died often, ran back to town a lot, etc.

Despite spending all that time there I remember only seeing the gnoll brewer a handful of times, and the master brewer almost never (I honestly can't remember if I even saw him once when leveling that character). People used to sit there and camp the brewer like any serious named mob, yet in maybe eight hours of playtime here I've gotten three casks without even trying (I only grabbed him when I saw him up, so it's not like I got anywhere close to all of the spawns in that time) ... and two of them came from master brewers.

One more thing: when I did see the brewer on live (or, more often, no mob just a player camping his spawn point) it was usually next to the water, on the opposite side of the bridge/overspan from the collection of barrels (where the brewer usually spawns here). On P99 there is "a gnoll guardsmen" who spawns at about 30, 40, and I think that was the placeholder because I specifically remember at least one cask camper sitting on the nearby rock while they waited. Also I remember that placeholder being a slightly lower level mob.

But of course memories are fallible, so I went looking for evidence and at first only found some weak stuff. Here are two rogues on Nov 2, 2001 listing some of their fond memories. As I said it's a little weak, but no one remembers a quest enough to mention it a memory thread unless it was difficult enough to actually form memories:

Originally Posted by http://sanguineblade.yuku.com/reply/3556#.WSB3C-vyvcs

Getting tells from young Rogues with questions about thier class...guiding a newbie Gnome Rogue to his hidden Guild in Ak'Anon while camping the Cask in Black Burrow.

...getting a Blackburrow cask from Condril so I could finish my Burning Rapier.

Then I found this thread on Allakhazam from 2002: http://everquest.allakhazam.com/db/item.html?item=703

The cask I traded to a shaman for a Large Tailored Bag full of Studded Collars and Cracked Staves.

That's a lot to trade for an easy-to-get item. More importantly:

This is not a quest for the casual gamer. I am lucky if I can play 10 hrs a week. The worst part was Blackburrow. I must have spent 40 hours doing this quest - 30 of it farming BB Skins and the Cask. I am a level 47 rogue so I did it for the pure experience of doing it

But then I hit the jackpot with this lovely little ditty, from the rogue forum (The Safehouse) on 06-07-00:

Originally Posted by http://www.thesafehouse.org/forums/forum/main-house/the-fireplace/424-blackburrow-brewer-blues

:::Bayler gestures at the bard, who begins to play a harmonica.:::

I’ve got the Blackburrow Brewer Blues.
I’ve got those Blackburrow Brewer Blues. (oh my!)
I’m waiting on the cask; my ration stack won’t last.
‘Cause it’s Lonn’s path to redemption that I choose.
I’ve got to pay the toll so I’m waiting for the gnoll.
I’ve got the Blackburrow Brewer Blues.

One hundred and one gnolls have gone by.
Every now-and-again a young’n will give ‘em a try.
I’ll save the chap from dying if it doesn’t disrupt my timing.
If I miss my spawn, some wiz will suck it dry.
I’m the hero of this underworld, in eighteen minute intervals.
One hundred and one gnolls have gone by.

The price of a cask is really getting me down.
For that kind of money I’d need a Froglock Crown.
I spent all my money on pottery, so I’m playing the Gnollville Lottery -
that’s why when you see me I wear this tired frown.
My competition’s a level 5 woodelf male who’s got a full suit of Ravenscale.
The price of a cask is really getting me down.

I’ve got the Blackburrow Brewer Blues.
I’ve got the Blackburrow Brewer Blues.
A guy in Highpass wants his drinks; my spirits are in the sink.
Can anyone make Ol' TJ's fierce brew?
My next stop is Mayong’s bungalow where I’ll be doing the Mistmoore Mambo.
(But for now) It’s the Blackburrow Brewer Blues.


A_nervous_bard00 says, "Can I have the antidote, now, please?"

Bayler says, "Sure thing!"

Bayler says, "Has anyone got a sealed vial I can borrow, so I can make the antidote for this guy?" Bayler

What I said about memories goes at least 10x for writing songs about EverQuest: it's not something you do for an quick/easy camp. Also as a side note, the song mentions a respawn time of eighteen minutes; not sure if that's the time here or not.

The responses to the song also back this up:

Did the same thing for 15 hours straight, not one cask

I had to camp this spawn for 20 hours straight before I finally got my cask. I fell asleep once and missed the spawn and what should I learn when I get back? Hehe, it was the master brewer himself. I couldn't stop laughing. was way too tired to be mad.

When that last quote talks about missing the master brewer after falling asleep at the camp, he sounds more like a pained soul camper than a low level rogue in Blackburrow!

Finally, as for the placeholder's location, I found this in an Allakhazam post (http://everquest.allakhazam.com/db/item.html?item=2742), which unfortunately is from 2005:

Been camping this guy for a few hours...location is +30,40 +37.20. THis by the pool of water to the NE of the boulder next to the bridge after the Ramp. Either Brewer/Master Brewer or PH (Guardsman) pops every 20 minutes.

I know the date is past classic, but which is more likely: that my memory is wrong and they changed the location of a placeholder in a low level dungeon for no particular reason between Velious and 2005, or ...

[nilbog]

Fixed, pending update

There were two spawns, when it should have been one, that paths after a time then pauses indefinitely.

[loramin]

Awesome, thanks! And presumably the new single spawn point will have a lower chance of producing brewers/master brewers and/or a lower cask drop rate? I'm not sure what the exact frequency should be, but I just know that with the current frequency it's rather unlikely anyone could go 15 or 20 hours without seeing a cask (as reported above).

Not trying to make life harder for low-level Qeynos characters, just trying to keep it classic.