There was a 'trick' to get a doll from the Rube. No game rules were broken to exploit this 'trick.' But a bunch of people knew it and have been doing it. It appears now to have been 'nerfed.'
Damn. After putting some thought into this, I can currently see only two ways of which the devs can fix this trick - either make Rube trade offers completely random (not based on item value) OR remove the dolls. =(
alexgator - dolls are sold for what they are worth to the buyer. If the buyer has no thought on trying to obtain one from the rube using any means at his disposal, the price is fair. You cant call the sellers unreasonable for thinking outside the box.
I always figured Rube trades were random until reading this. I don't see how it's really fair otherwise. They could remove the dolls but what would that prove?
Ohhhh holy crap dude, I just saw how many dolls you've been selling. Annnnd you're flaunting it. Well, if you don't face repercussions then you are right and I am wrong! Personally, I think that is a pretty crappy thing to do and think you'll have to be pretty creative to find a way to spend all that money you've conned from other players. This game doesn't have that much stuff to spend money on.
Anyone can click on your profile and see your news feed. It shows stuff you've been doing over the past few days. Badges you've earned, levels you've gained, or stuff you've been selling.
One way they might be able to fix it without making it random or take out the dolls, is to make him not trade with you if you don't have a certain amount of items or a variety of items in your bags. Granted, one might still be able to have a large variety of expensive things and do essentially the same thing, but it'd be at a higher cost to them at least.
I do hope they will figure out a fix that does not require removing the dolls (and have a lot of faith that they will).
I shall be very sad if they take them from him, though, as I've wanted an Ayn Rand doll since it was brought to my attention in May. And as of late I've really wanted a Nietzsche. Since they put them back into Rube's rotation, I've been trying to get at least one of them (with my normal, full inventory- never occurred to me to eliminate the cheap stuff when I used the essence) in the limited time I've had to play lately, via wandering or using Rubeweed Essence once I learned Tincturing. I have terrible luck though.
I feel it's inexcusable to con the Rube out of a doll for less than 5k currants or therearound and then turn around and exploit players' lack of knowledge about these same mechanics and get hundreds of thousands of currants. That leaves a sick sick smell in my nose. :: shakes head ::
If I can manage to get a lot of dolls I plan to start giving them away. Or at least sell them for what they seem like they're worth (a few thousand currants at most). Then again there's nothing to stop exploitative players from turning around and taking advantage of my kindness / fairness and reselling them to other players for hundreds of thousands of currants......
@Pming the people who were conned out of them really shouldve been more smart and not just jumped in to paying top dollar when they JUST started being released again
If someone gets a doll this way, so what? It's perfectly legitimate. People complaining just sounds like sour grapes to me. Anyone can do this with a few thousand currants and twenty minutes or less.
If the Rube is changed to no longer give out dolls, the dolls he's already given out will go up in value pretty quickly, I'd think, unless there is another source of them.
i traded a rube cubimal for a doll, it was "expensive" but conceptually expensive. of course, all of this is conceptual, so no one is losing their livelihood over someone else selling lots of dolls! if you have 145K, i say spend it....it's virtual money anyway
@Pming what should be obvious is the fact that this exploit has been known for quite awhile now and before purchasing such an item of that worth the buyer should be doing research to make sure there not getting ripped off
Well, I just spent two tinctures and both times just got the "confused" bit. Not funny. Kept waiting for more than 5 minutes, Rube wasn't talking. No idea what I'm doing wrong, I spent a while running around with just the still, nothing. Tried my mum's glitch, using the only tincture she had, and a third time I failed.
This is really interesting - I thought I'd give it a shot, so went out with my tincture and just a couple of items around 2000 currants. The Rube appeared before I could even use the tincture, but did the confused bit and left.
Then I went back home and added a couple more items to make an assortment valued 1200 currants and up... Ran around the streets, left the world and came back, ran around some more and finally used the tincture.
The Rube appeared, offered me a still for my tincturing kit, and when I turned that down he said something like "Trade with what you have, not with what you hope to have" (this isn't a completely accurate quote, but the general idea is there) Then something to the effect of "I'll check back with you later" and he was gone.
Has anyone else had a similar experience, or is this something new for the Rube?
For folks who get a confused Rube - try having several items in your inventory, not just a still.
I carried a still, a grinder, a chamber, a firefly, orb. Rube went for the still on first try.
I also went through several streets before calling Rube - this is to (apparently) make sure the servers have my light-weight inventory correctly recorded.
I'll keep trying for dolls so long as this exploit is available.
I think the only con going on here is the one by the evil, powerful Brewery and Alcohol company, that hired the Rube as a henchman.
Think about it:
1.) Throw something on the market (dolls!), which in fact has absolutely no worth and usefulness at all.
2.) Tell people that those dolls are RARE!
3.) Start a rumor, that those dolls are "limited edition" and that they might be out of supply soon!
4.) Then tell the public, they can purchase such a RARE doll for the price of just a tiny, little Still.
5.) Sit back, wait and watch how people are selling their expensive stills.
I am pretty sure, very soon street vendors suddenly will stop selling stills, and we all have to buy our overpriced, monopolized hooch from the evil Brewery and Alcohol Company (Ltd.), that started the whole plot.
I encountered a "confused Rube" when I had several items in my inventory. Hmmm... ?
But when I decided to give the still method a whirl, he only offered me cubimal boxes. He wasn't confused, though.
Oh no! I really hope they haven't. I was so excited that I might finally be able to get a doll; I've wasted tens of thousands currants-worth of essences of rube trying to get one ever since the original topic was posted :(
Sigh. I just want a Nietzsche doll, and got the confused Rube both times I tried with rube essence D: Not fun. I had a still and two chambers in my inventory. What annoys me the most is that it was a waste of the rube essences. Fortunately I made my rube essences and didn't buy them, but still, that was 5 rubeweed, which would have become 10 seeds. And those dolls are insanely expensive on the auctions.
I'd be happy if they fixed it by just making the dolls a lot less rare.
I got my doll fair and square never even new about this and won't even try it
It was last week or before I got my Ludwig doll for fancy pick
I actually don't want the dolls taken out but If it's the price to pay for the economic market to be right again and for rube to get some rest then I think dolls should be taken out
1. Five different items + Essence in your inventory - get rid of bags also.
Make it items of varying values
2. Move through different streets (w/ your just for Rube inventory).
3. To be safe, reload or restart your computer before contacting Rube.
Steps 2 and 3 are so that your inventory is probably recorded by the server before initiating contact with Rube.
"2 - If all you are carrying is a still, sometimes he wont trade because rube is programmed to not ALWAYS offer great trades/rare items. So if he didnt intend on trading you rares, you cant force him to."
This doesn't sound like an exploit, per se. More of a game mechanic that backfired. Easy way to fix it is to make Rube trades more random in value, so that he won't be more likely to offer something great if everything you're carrying is expensive. I mean, I've gotten some really good offers for things like cheese and spices; I'm surprised to see it isn't the other way around as well.
Definitely nerfed. Followed all the suggestions, had a variety of goodies ranging from a Fancy Pick on up to a cauldron and Rube was confused three times in a row. Fourth time, had same collection of goodies plus 6 piggy meats I'd just harvested and Rube offered me a fruit salad for a meat 5 times out of 5.
Too bad. I have crap luck at all the chance-related aspects of the game (my fave example is that I have bought 12 cubimal boxes and received 11 piggies and a chick...that's really terrible fortune; the best I ever get from spinning wheels are music blocks though I did ONCE win a cubimal box...and it was yet another pig, and my garden is very, very stingy with RKs and music blocks--usually the best bonus I ever get--but overly generous with sesame oils and crudites and oats), and it would have been nice to have gotten one awesome game goodie before it was "fixed," but it was not meant to be.
Since I am lucky to see Rube MAYBE every 3-4 real world days (another example of my dire luck), I realize that I am probably not going to ever win a doll naturally. I'm going to have to grind some more and keep buying them.
EDIT: On the other hand, I have fairly good luck finding seam street keys and free guano because I an insomniac and tend to mine during off hours. So, there's that.