Lootblox: Confusing Dialog

Operating System:
Windows 10

ISP:
Charter

Type of Internet Connection:
Cable

Internet Connection Speed:
338.7 Mbit/s Download, 6.79 Mbit/s Upload

Date & Time:
March 23rd, 2023
7:35 PM CST

Frequency:
Always

Character Name:
Elliander

Race:
Race of your character when the issue occurred.
TarutaruM

World:
Siren

Main Job:
WHM, Level 96

Support Job:
Black Mage

Area and Coordinates:
Daval

Party or Solo:
Solo

NPC Name:
Lootblox

Steps:

First click and press enter on lootblox for something like the following dialog.

Lootblox: What is it, kid? Ya got somehing to ask me?
- select Hourglasses from the options -
- select Hourglasses again from the options that opens up immediately after -
Lootblox: Did ya know that some items have their own soul? After passing through the hands of hundreds of people, not to mention the paws of bus beastmen, some items are transformed through contact with all those thoughts and feelings.
Lootblox: hese transformed items have the ability to focus mysterious powers. Us Goblins often come across this weird phenenom... phemomeno... stuff in our travels.
Lootblox: Ya know, if ya really want the prismatic hourglass, I could sell one to ya for the right price.
Lootblox: But let me tell ya, kid. Only us Gobs can tell if an item is souled. Not even other beastmen --and definately not you people-- can tell the difference between normal junk and priceless artifacts.
Lootblox: Makes me laugh to see you mugs throwing away those items like they were garbage. A souled item is worth a fortune, and ya ain't gonna get one cheap.
Lootblox: 50,000 gil, and not a single gil less! You got a problem with that, kid?
So if ya want one, stop dawdlin' around already and hand me over some money.
Lootblox: What's that ya got there? A timeless hourglass!? Ya got unusual tastes for a person.
Lootblox: Got no clue what ya been doin' with it, but I bet ya gots no use for it anymore. What say I lighten your load in exchange for, say, 500000 gil?
Lootblox: So whaddaya waitin' for? Hand that timeless hourglass right over and let's make a deal.

...

Now, after that I was rightly confused so I went back to my Moghouse, scoured for a timeless hourglass, couldn't find one, so I had to do multiple internet searches to figure out what was going on which led me to this page:

https://forum.square-enix.com/ffxi/threads/28992-Unable-to-obtain-Prismatic-Hourglass.?

That's when I learned I could ignore the thing about the timeless hourglass and just trade him 50k so I went back to him, went through the dialog again, traded him the 50k and got the prismatic hourglass key item.

So anyway, if it endedup working, why the bug report? Well, the dialog is confusing. It causes a player to immediately assume they need an item that isn't even in the game anymore. For returning players they will think they have it, or wonder if they had it but that it disappeared, etc. I do vaguely recall having spoken to an NPC about buying the timeless hourglass for 500k, but I don't remember if I actually bought it or if I was just going to buy it. That adds to the confusion because the dialog makes me think I must have bought it.

I don't think the Gobbie should outright tell the player to trade him an item they don't actually have and cannot obtain in the game. It should either make an offer if they find one or not even mention it if there isn't one on the account. If there's a flag on the account because the player at one point had the item then someone should look into if the item disappeared or something.

ALSO: Weirdly, if you talk to him again after getting the key item he gives the exact same dialog. I was curious, since you should only be able to have one of a given key item, so I tried trading $50k to him again and... thankfully nothing actually happens (whew), but it's weird that he keeps offering to sell a key item the player already has while offering to buy an item the player can never obtain. Shouldn't the dialog for an NPC vary in response to what the player actually has?

Quote:

So anyway, if it endedup working, why the bug report? Well, the dialog is confusing. It causes a player to immediately assume they need an item that isn't even in the game anymore.

This dialogue exists because people may posess the item from before the system was changed.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alhanelem

This dialogue exists because people may posess the item from before the system was changed.

Other NPCs are able to have different dialog depending on what the player has done before so that's really not much of an excuse. As far as I can tell, this NPCs dialog doesn't change at all no matter what you do - even if you already have the key item he's selling - which isn't something I'd expect a game NPC to act like.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Elliander

Other NPCs are able to have different dialog depending on what the player has done before so that's really not much of an excuse. As far as I can tell, this NPCs dialog doesn't change at all no matter what you do - even if you already have the key item he's selling - which isn't something I'd expect a game NPC to act like.

It may not be "much of an excuse," but it is the exact reason it is worded this way, because that's what it's for. He will buy back hourglasses bought for Old Dynamis since they can't be used anymore. That is why he says that.