Finding Artifacts

Heyo.


A long while ago I completed all of the History courses in the education tab and a bunch of them said something about 'finding (x) in the city.'
How would one do that? I.e. "find Senet board pieces in the city."

Thanks!

The same way as finnding anything, by clicking on the city.

it just means that now the item that spawns may be an artifact. its pretty rare but does happen.

*edit* I'm assuming you know the normal system for finding items, which requires you click on city links asd often as possible which may cause an item to spwan. then you go on the city map, once a week or once a month or however often suits you, and search the map for the items that may have spawned. if you wanna know if/when they have spawned then you need to install greasmonkey or tampermonkey into your browser then you need to install the City Hax script. then you get info on the city page as to how many items there are waiting for you to mop up.

In addition, use LSD to increase awareness, and max Happy PI for more Arttifact finds in the city. Enjoy the game.

Thank you. :)

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City finds are like a lottery, usually you just find crap. If you don't log in more often your chances of finding anything good are slim.

Lol, I've completed the history classes 4 years ago, all artifacts I've came across were 3-4 pawns! There's no bigger scam on this game than the city finds.

Are you visiting the city often enough?

I usually visit 6 or 7 times a day and I've found a pillow and multiple SEs since the new system was released, as well as plenty of pawns, Koran parts and coins. So I wouldn't say the city finding mechanic is broken at all.

I visit the city on average 8-10 times a day (among different hours)...

Oh really? My display case and the items I currently have sitting on the map beg to differ (and I am by no means the month prolific or dedicated city find tragic especially in recent months).

There is an element of luck involved of course, but you can find half decent stuff occasionally if you put the effort in to go through the city twice an hour for as many hours of the day as you can manage it on a daily basis over the long term.

Having said that though artifacts used to spawn much money frequently before Ched nerfed them the first time - once upon a time the volume of artifacts you would find almost reached spam levels - maybe even as many as one out of every two city finds (while it was nice tbh it was kinda stupid).

"if you put the effort in to go through the city twice an hour for as many hours of the day as you can".

That's what I do though! Let me refer to my stats...
In the last month: My most recent find was on February 5th, then another one on February 9th and nothing since. It was some cheap gun and a cd player...
In the last 3 months: I found an item on November 29th then an astonishing number of 11 items between December 27th and January 3rd. Nothing else in January until the February 5th find. None of these items were worth much, usual junk, I have the faintest memory that one of these items were good, but I'm talking less than FHC good, not SE good.

To conclude: That spike of finds between December 27th and January 3rd is probably due to my increased activity during the Holidays. But that was a LOT of activity. I would post on the forums a lot and hang around in the faction chat as well as Facebook and other silly stuff for the most part of my day, which is NOT something I have the opportunity or even want to do on a daily basis. If that's what's required in order to actually find anything more than none items in the city, then I'd officially give up on the city, as I do think it is a problem.
Also: The most expensive item I've ever found was a DP, followed by 1 or 2 FHC. Both before and after city update! I've never found a SE or anything. I'm 2450 days old. We're talking 6,7 YEARS of pure bad luck when it comes to city finds? I also spent about 2 years having merits placed in awareness, 1 year of which was like maxed?

I feel the right to complain about city finds (even if it is something I very rarely do), as I believe I've been highly unlucky and/or ignorant as to whatever else is required for me to actually start finding things (that actually have more value than a CD player!) and it's unfair. This however is an issue that I've simply accepted and in no way does it affect my gameplay or attitude towards the game I love and choose to play daily. Just wanted to let that out there :)

How is not being as active as others who are more diligent about trying to get more items to spawn in the city and having a bit of luck (or lack thereof) "unfair"?

It really is just activity and a little bit of luck - when I was going to the city 1-2 times an hour for 12-14 hours of the day my city finds spiked to pretty much 2 per day on average. Now that I'm less active (maybe go to the city once or twice in 6-7 hours out of the day) my city find rates have dropped drastically (I was averaging 14 hours per at one point, but over the last 4-5 months that has drifted out to 24+ hours per on average (over 200 items sitting on the map at the moment).

I do have 10/10 upgrades on awareness, and the psych awareness boosting course, but I do not have a job with boosts awareness passively nor do I use LSD, so I feel that my current pile of city items would be somewhat representative of the volume you might expect given similar levels of activity.

The quality is a different matter entirely and that literally is controlled by a roll of the dice - I know someone who finds less items on average over the long term than I do (even now) but has had an Amulet, a rabbits foot and a couple of SE's spawn amongst other things.

It's a numbers game in the end - the more hours of the day you visit the city on an ongoing basis the more items you will have spawn and the more chances you have for something good to spawn. There's nothing more complicated about it than that.

Because I'm plenty active. According to my schedules and my usually chaotic life, I'm too active than I'd like. But 2 finds per month yes, it sounds too little and unfair to me. And of course the quality of the items. I think there's a gap which is simply too huge between my findings and someone like you, when comparing our activity. Findings shouldn't be solely based on activity, some random chances should be added as well, among everyone that's probably active more than 1-2 hours per day total? I'm much more active than that though.

Let's get down to brass tacks then:

A) Do you have any merit upgrades in awareness currently?

I currently have 10/10 upgrades on it.

B) Exactly how many different hours in the day do visit the city page?

For me at the moment it's a minimum of probably 7-8, but on a lot of days it's at least 10-12 (sometimes more). When I first started my test run I was making a real concerted effort to visit the city for 15-16+ hours in the day every single day, which led to item spawn rates of 1.5-2 per day on average.

That's what it takes to get items to spawn on a semi-regular basis with what I'd consider to be normal levels of luck - there are players who find far more higher value items than I have in less time / less overall item spawns.

Now onto the rest...

As for city find rates not solely being based on activity, well I'm afraid I couldn't disagree with that more - why should someone who is a less active when it comes to trying to get items to spawn on the map be rewarded for not putting as much effort in? That would smack of being rather unfair in my book, but I do admittedly come from the school of thought that if you want something you generally have to work for it.

To be honest now I'm more on the short end of the stick too, as my item spawn rates have fallen through the floor - I'm lucky to get 1 item a day now and regularly go 36-48+ hours without an item spawning, but that's on me for not being as active as I was. To be honest if you really have only found 2 items in a month in total then you're just not doing it right and that's on you I'm afraid - you can't expect the game to change for you if that is the situation when what you need to do is pretty clear (and really doesn't take that much effort).

Having said all that though - are you using AquaRegia's city find haxx script? If not then I'd suggest you get it, as it is a real eye opener in terms of how often items are actually spawning (it's easy to get a false impression either way when you're just randomly searching and picking up stuff when you spot it) - I can't count how many people thought they weren't getting any items at all just to find they have been and have them waiting to be picked up.

p.s. This is the basic city find info from my tweaked version of AquaRegia's city find haxx script - these have accumulated since the beginning of May 2015:

Number of items currently in the city: 290
Notable items spawned: 46
Notable items: 9mm Uzi, Pair of Glasses, Gift Card, Goodie Bag, Tracking Device , Erotic DVD, Vairocana Buddha Sculpture, Can of Santa Shooters, High-Speed DVD Drive, Ganesha Sculpture, Pillow, M249 PARA LMG, Box of Medical Supplies, Jackhammer, Script from the Quran: Ibn Masud, Senet Board, Lottery Voucher, Feathery Hotel Coupon, White Senet Pawn, Leopard Coin, Lottery Voucher, Senet Board, Drug Pack, Can of Munster, Shabti Sculpture, Leopard Coin, Motorcycle Helmet, Florin Coin, Can of X-MASS, Shabti Sculpture, Florin Coin, Shabti Sculpture, Pair of Glasses, Can of Santa Shooters, Fanny Pack, Minigun, Pillow, Vairocana Buddha Sculpture, White Senet Pawn, 9mm Uzi, Goodie Bag, Can of Rockstar Rudolph, Skateboard, Minigun, Small Explosive Device, Wireless Dongle
Spawn rate (all time): 24.2 hours per spawn
Spawn rate (last 5): 23.1 hours per spawn

And this is the full list of item spawns (probably picked up something between 5 and 10 by accident over the test period so far):


Array[290]
(program):55 Raven MP25, 9mm Uzi, Stainless Steel Watch, Leather Vest, Bottle of Kandy Kane, Pair of Glasses, Taurus, Lollipop, Gift Card, Stick Grenade, P90, Chainsaw, Goodie Bag, Ninja Stars, Luger, Tracking Device , Dagger, Single Red Rose, Bag of Bon Bons, Erotic DVD, Bag of Chocolate Truffles, Kitchen Knife, Xbox, MP3 Player, Box of Extra Strong Mints, Small First Aid Kit, Bunch of Flowers, Bunch of Flowers, Sapphire Ring, PCP, Mag 7, Vairocana Buddha Sculpture, Can of Santa Shooters, Sks Carbine, High-Speed DVD Drive, Gold Necklace, Hard Drive, Throwing Knife, Ithaca 37, Ganesha Sculpture, Diamond Ring, Pair of Trainers, Diamond Ring, Small First Aid Kit, Teddy Bear Plushie, Pack of Cuban Cigars, Pair of Trainers, Pillow, Fiveseven, Chamois Plushie, Tank Top, Pepper Spray, M249 PARA LMG, AK74u, MP5 Navy, Dozen Roses, Morphine, Box of Medical Supplies, Jackhammer, TMP, Skorpian, Scimitar, Pepper Spray, Script from the Quran: Ibn Masud, Springfield 1911-A1, Ruger 22/45, Box of Extra Strong Mints, Butterfly Knife, Knuckle Dusters, CD Player, USP, Big Box of Chocolate Bars, Empty Blood Bag, PCP, BT MP9, Stainless Steel Watch, AK-47, Raven MP25, Bolt Cutters, PCP, Opium, Ketamine, Senet Board, Lottery Voucher, Flash Grenade, Cannabis, Cannabis, MP3 Player, Big Box of Chocolate Bars, Feathery Hotel Coupon, MP3 Player, Bunch of Flowers, Grenade, Single Red Rose, M16 A2 Rifle, HEG, Ketamine, Vektor CR-21, PCP, Beretta M9, Bag of Chocolate Truffles, M4A1 Colt Carbine, Single Red Rose, Pack of Music CDs, Ithaca 37, AK-47, Tear Gas, Vektor CR-21, P90, White Senet Pawn, Sks Carbine, Vektor CR-21, Butterfly Knife, HEG, Hammer, Wolverine Plushie, Knuckle Dusters, USP, S&W Revolver, Leopard Coin, Cannabis, CD Player, Lottery Voucher, Bunch of Flowers, Red Fox Plushie, MP5k, Tear Gas, Morphine, MP5k, Pepper Spray, Bag of Chocolate Kisses, Monkey Plushie, Wolverine Plushie, Flak Jacket, Senet Board, Drug Pack, Box of Sweet Hearts, Bushmaster Carbon 15 Type 21s, Wolverine Plushie, Glock 18, Ketamine, PCP, Single Red Rose, Throwing Knife, Heckler & Koch SL8, Gold Watch, Diamond Ring, Box of Chocolate Bars, Knuckle Dusters, Sawed-Off Shotgun, Diamond Ring, Monkey Plushie, Can of Munster, MP5 Navy, Bunch of Black Roses, Shabti Sculpture, Dagger, Sapphire Ring, Chainsaw, Dozen Roses, Butterfly Knife, Stainless Steel Watch, Benelli M4 Super, Glow stick, Knuckle Dusters, Leopard Coin, Hard Drive, Lollipop, S&W M29, HEG, Ecstasy, Box of Extra Strong Mints, USP, First Aid Kit, Pack of Blank CDs, Motorcycle Helmet, Florin Coin, Pepper Spray, Can of X-MASS, Gold Ring, Knuckle Dusters, Knuckle Dusters, Single Red Rose, Empty Blood Bag, Chamois Plushie, First Aid Kit, Plastic Watch, Morphine, Morphine, Kitten Plushie, Shabti Sculpture, Pack of Music CDs, Stainless Steel Watch, Stick Grenade, Claymore Mine, Brick, Ecstasy, Monkey Plushie, Claymore Sword, Florin Coin, Lion Plushie, Pen Knife, Camel Plushie, Kitchen Knife, Beretta M9, Samurai Sword, Tank Top, Shabti Sculpture, Pair of Glasses, Dozen Roses, Box of Bon Bons, MP3 Player, Can of Santa Shooters, MP3 Player, Flak Jacket, Single Red Rose, Bottle of Beer, Glock 18, Silver Necklace, Pearl Necklace, Red Fox Plushie, Bag of Tootsie Rolls, USP, Fanny Pack, Heckler & Koch SL8, MP5 Navy, CD Player, Minigun, Pillow, Kitchen Knife, Sawed-Off Shotgun, Speed, Vairocana Buddha Sculpture, Claymore Sword, Ithaca 37, Bag of Chocolate Truffles, First Aid Kit, Chamois Plushie, Jaguar Plushie, AK74u, Qsz-92, Big Box of Chocolate Bars, Bottle of Champagne, White Senet Pawn, Luger, Bolt Cutters, Sapphire Ring, 9mm Uzi, Sheep Plushie, Bolt Cutters, MP3 Player, Vektor CR-21, Vektor CR-21, PCP, Ruger 22/45, Kitten Plushie, Sawed-Off Shotgun, Goodie Bag, Pack of Blank CDs, Hard Drive, Can of Rockstar Rudolph, Box of Extra Strong Mints, Panda Plushie, First Aid Kit, First Aid Kit, Camel Plushie, Skateboard, Glock 18, Panda Plushie, Small First Aid Kit, Crow Bar, Bag of Candy Kisses, Ninja Stars, Minigun, Small Explosive Device, Dagger, Bottle of Pumpkin Brew, Wireless Dongle, Flash Grenade, Claymore Mine, Ninja Stars, Diamond Ring, Xbox, Sheep Plushie, Pepper Spray, Ithaca 37, Flare Gun, HEG, Bag of Tootsie Rolls, Scimitar

Now I have been lucky with the Senet boards and the Skateboard, but really the moral of the story here is that if you put the effort into visiting the city often enough you *will* get items spawning - certainly more than 2 in a month anyway. Whether you get stuff that is half decent or mostly crap really is the bit that is the luck of the draw though as it should be, but control over the actual volume of item spawns you get is largely in your hands.

Many people seem to forget the impact of happiness: I stopped renting PIs for a bit more than a week and had no finds at all during that time, whereas when I'm on a PI, with 3k happiness more than in my mansion, I get at least one a week.
After that, the probability of it being an artifact is low, but that seems fairly normal.

Edit: my item spawn rate since I've moved back on a PI is around one every 50 hours (I have few merits in awareness but use LSD.)

Lots of ppl complain about not finding enough high quality stuff. I was like that in the past. But after all its free shit, so why complain about that.
Its like a lotto.drop some merits on awareness and roll the dice....

Happiness has no effect whatsoever on item spawns afaik - I used to sit on low happy for days after a xanax OD and it never seemed to affect my item spawn rates.

I've also found items while on low happiness after an OD, so I agree with you on this. Also I'm sorry for not answering sooner, I thought I did but I guess I only did mentally!

I guess after reading your posts it makes sense that no more items should be randomly given out because what you get with high activity is already too much imo. I guess had I been trying harder to find items I would have, but I don't think that part of the game is something I want to focus on right now. I don't have any merits on awareness currently, but I did up until last time i had a reset done, half a year ago or so. My conclusion is that there's no point in putting merits in it if you're not planning on making it a thing to click city twice an hour every hour you can, and that's why I am not doing that right now. Lastly, no, I don't have any items hiding away from me as I do use the city hax as well :)

I read the other posts in the thread, but haven't been online much in the last few days and today is the first visit to the forum since my post above.

Just wanted to comment. I finished the History bachelor less than 2 years ago I think, maybe less than 18 months.

I have found 2 senet boards, 4 or 5 Quran Scripts, 4 or 5 statues and a few senet pieces.

I have the Psychology bachelor, 7 awareness merit pips and take LSD as soon as my EB fills and the last cooldown ends.

I do find a whole load of 'junk' of course, same as everyone else. But I have also found a couple of SEs.

Point being that I deffo dont see any scam with regard to city finds or the History bachelor.

City finds are definitely a scam...I mean, free stuff...who wants that?

Same thread, different day