Hi gang! So we learned a lot this week, yes we did. We now know that Aikar himself will sometimes go out in the wastelands to spy on us hoping to learn our mining techniques, shocking isn't it? A little more serious: a little while ago Aikar mentioned somewhere else how he noticed that there was still some pretty good loot to find in the wastelands. All of that in the discussion on the upcoming wasteland reset. In that same discussion I commented on how so many people ignore coal, dirt and gravel even though these often hide valuable stuff. So while mining today... But wait, it gets worse: Then I noticed that I was pretty close to the outpost and suddenly I had this idea... We all know the drill, right? If you go out for mining make sure to put distance between the outpost, blah, blah, blah. <conspiracy mode on> So what are they hiding?! </conspiracy time> I figured I'd do some investigation of my own: what ores can you find directly near the outpost? Talk is cheap (and pictures or it didn't happen) so this is what I'm talking about: Can't get any closer than that! So what did I find? Well... Iron: Iron, notice the 'no permission' when trying to dig into the wall? Lapis Lazuli: And even gold: And even, you never would have guessed in an Extreme Hills biome, but yeah: Emeralds: So yeah, sure that we need to go as far from the outpost as possible? I'm beginning to have some doubts here to be honest There's even plenty of redstone but unfortunately... Yeah, the redstone requirements from the staff don't come from creative at all. I has proof! They actually "steal" it from us by having their outposts confiscate the redstone so that we can't get it: Proof! Small disclaimer time - In case it wasn't obvious enough: the previous paragraph was pretty much filled with the most amount of nonsense I've put together in a single paragraph so far I kept digging around the outpost for a little while when I suddenly ran into this: Notice the lights? It's not as if I'm in untouched territory, I've merely dug down a little deeper and started accessing places which other players simply didn't care for. Plenty of (torch filled) caves around me which have all been dug out by others. Obviously there's not much loot to gain there. This is also where I eventually stopped exploring; there was a huge lava pool ahead of me and I didn't have any potions on me which I could use. So yah.. Another problem was that my inventory began filling up pretty rapidly, and because I had a dragonstone fragment (from an enraged skeleton a little earlier) I didn't feel like challenging Murphy more than I'd have to. And what I managed to collect? Well... It's not the extreme loot you might be looking for, but it also isn't too bad I think. Especially considering that I've been exploring in an area where most certainly everyone has already been before me. Now... One small, more serious, disclaimer: my story here holds truth but it's only fair to mention that it's easy for me to talk because the tools which I use (pick, shovel, axe, etc.) will never give out on me. That's the advantage which you get when you keep voting for the Empire. So I realize like no other that it's pretty easy for me to say: "you should have cleared out that dirt pocket" where you could find more ore. But if your shovel is already heavily damaged and you also need to make your way back to the surface then I can well imagine that you'd rather leave the dirt and instead use your shovel to dig your way out again. But yeah; Outpost Challenge... What lies near the outpost? Well, plenty of loot as far as I can tell. For the record: this was on SMP2, /waste south.
