I don't think the release date one actually gave much of an advantage. All the relevant info is a pretty easy google away. True of the second one though; I should've given the hint at the start I think.In post 12, kdowns wrote:Let's take Three House as an example for this one. THere was a distinct advantage if you knew even a little lore about Fire Emblem games, like the Release date idol, or the sword idol. While yes, it's a bit advantageous to the person who is able to find it. I like the White Heron Cup idol where the person who received it had to give it away when they got it so that they couldn't personally use it on themself.
If we are talking about the PD Idol that was hidden behind the person who could get the best score in Donkey Kong. I didn't really like that idea either, as it clearly put a target on the back of the person who was the best at flash games. There is just not a good balance when it comes to the idols. I do like the idols though that have to be hidden behind a block forum, which people know that it's there.
On the topic of the thread, those idols were all supposed to feel meaningfully different from each other and reward different skills. I'd say this was fairly successful given no one person found two. One had the hint element and involved noticing stuff we'd been posting in front of your faces all game long. TBH, I'm surprised no one thought the swords were suspicious prior to the clue going out. One was a pretty standard find 'n' puzzle. One was just handed to an essentially arbitrary person for challenge performance. And one was meant to be easy to find (after all, we pretty much literally said there would eventually be something hidden in Anna's Shop) but require social finagling to actually get, though my design was thwarted on that one.
I think finding stuff is a meaningful piece of the game. It's a different skill than the social/strategic/challenge elements and some people aren't good at it (myself included) and that's okay, imo.