Talk:Nicholas the Traveler

Nov 9 - Guardian Moss
What's the drop rate on the moss? I've killed about 20 solo with spirit spammer and nada75.77.22.66 19:32, November 9, 2009 (UTC)
 * the farming page hosted at the pvx wiki suggests you're going to have to make multiple runs, even when soloing. Mauirixxx 19:33, November 9, 2009 (UTC)
 * I've decided to save every moss I got when vanquishing for faction and.... saved 4 in the last half year or so. O_o Took me 5 solo runs in NM with spirit spam to get the 5th, along with a dozen wallow tusks. As with all things, this is dependent on luck, but it's quite rare. It feels even rarer because you usually kill scores of wallows in the process, so it feels like you should be getting more than you are. RoseOfKali [[Image:RoseOfKaliSIG.png]] 20:04, November 9, 2009 (UTC)
 * Rose, you're not being very inspiring :P I can see skyhigh prices for this from farmers ... Mauirixxx 20:07, November 9, 2009 (UTC)
 * Lol, sorry. :P In Eredon Terrace people are trying to sell for 3k/ea, trying to buy for 2k/ea. RoseOfKali [[Image:RoseOfKaliSIG.png]] 20:09, November 9, 2009 (UTC)
 * Might as well stick to buying the gifts at 5k each then this week :( Mauirixxx 20:44, November 9, 2009 (UTC)


 * I saw one person trying to sell at 6k! (It wouldn't surprise me if they succeeded; lots of WTB and almost no WTS early on.) My memory is that the mossy conversion rates are better outside of Maishang, but I don't have a good farm picked out. Fortunately, this is the first time something I've been hording has turned out to be the request item; unfortunately, I only had 3 of 'em.  &mdash; Tennessee Ernie Ford ( TEF ) 23:58, November 9, 2009 (UTC)


 * I seem to remember last time he was in the Jade Sea area asking for Rot Wallow Tusks, the drop rate (at least for me) was also low. 193.215.199.34 13:49, November 10, 2009 (UTC)
 * Lol... Some guy bought mine for 4k each and then tried selling sets for 25k... I laughed at him. ^_^ People never cease to amuse. RoseOfKali [[Image:RoseOfKaliSIG.png]] 14:52, November 10, 2009 (UTC)


 * I think luck has a lot to do with it. I had one in storage and got seven more in 5 runs. A guild mate lost count how many runs he took to get five. It is a sellers market at the moment. I sold my extra for 3k, 3.5k, and 4k. I just sold to someone who wanted to buy them at that price.Bikeboy854 01:55, November 11, 2009 (UTC)


 * Upon killing Xiriss Stickleback in the quest Night Raiders the quest location marker points to Tahwaj Zing, who is in the same location as Nic this week, in case someone just can't seem to locate him :P Mauirixxx 21:14, November 13, 2009 (UTC)

Playing Favorites?
It seems to me that Nicholas prefers the Luxoms to the Kurzics. Last week the only way wiki described to get to Nick was from a Luxom outpost but now the ONLY way to get to Nick is from a Luxom outpost and not only that but it is almost impossible to farm the items Nick wants and get Kurzic faction or even use a rez shrine that isn't Luxom. I always end up killing half the zone because I have to run from the other side if I get a rez. Why because I have to either bribe the Luxoms and farm Luxom faction or kill them. Fortunatly the Luxom priests are easy to solo, but I still have to run across the zone when I get a rez. They are sure making it hard on the Kurzics. No wonder the Luxoms are moving in to the Echovald Forest, Nick is making it easy for them. You's almost think that the game designers are playing favorites. &mdash;The preceding unsigned comment was added by Woedin (contribs) 12 Nov 2009 4:38 UTC.


 * Nick has been in Factions 8 times since he arrived on the scene. Of those, only 4 are likely to involve Kurz or Luxon: Stone Carvings (Nick was in Kurz territory), Rot Wallow Tusks (Nick's zone almost always Lux), Tempered Glass (60% Kurz/40% Lux), and Moss (mostly Lux); in a worst case, that's 1 Kurz/3 Lux. If we flipped a coin 4 times, we would not be shocked to see Heads/Tails/Tails/Tails. So, I don't think the game is (as yet) showing favoritism towards one side or the other.  &mdash; Tennessee Ernie Ford ( TEF ) 09:57, November 12, 2009 (UTC)

You are right about the Stone Carvings I had forgot about those, but I dont feel that Tempered Glass was 60% Kurzic just because it was in the Echovald Forest when the nearest outpost was Kurzic owned and there was literally nothing to farm. The only way you could consider it that way is to say that all the people who never did the Kurzic Missions were now forced to do them or forfeit their Gifts of the Traveller. I suppose 3 out of 4 isn't exactly 'cursed by fate', if you put it that way.

Woedin Woebringer


 * I described Tempered Glass as 60% Kurz because you wrote, "the only way wiki described to get to Nick was from a Luxom [sic] outpost;" last week's nearest outpost was slightly more likely to be in Kurz hands than Luxon. If you want to consider farming instead of simply getting to Nick's location, then Luxon holds only a 2:1 advantage (since, as you say, Glass doesn't require farming in Lux or Kurz territory). Perhaps I'm not clear on what you mean by playing favorites. My point: there's no evidence of bias towards Luxon at this point.

The outpost Durheim Archives was Luxom controlled for all the time that Nicholas was in Mourning Veil Falls or at least it was the times I checked which was regularly. It just seems odd that Nick's farm or nearest outpost to Nick's location facilitates Luxom Faction farming. And that Nick creates a large migration of players to his location and the items farming location, I know I have made a lot of plat off Nick's collectables. I know how much time people spend in the farming locations and his physical location. Many people log on once a week and do a turn in then never play until the next turn in having friends farm for them or spending their savings on farmers like me. Nick is very powerful and can be very influential at least in game terms. I agree though that there is no evindence of bias at this point but it is obvious how much devastation Nick can wreak. If you can't see that either you don't view it as a problem or you aren't paying attention. Perhaps it isn't a problem, the Kurzics arent going away, it just is a problem if you are working on maxing Kurzic Faction for you skills while you are vanquishing places or farming in the Echovald forest and would prefer to get Kurzic faction for your guild while doing so because the Luxoms are sure benifitting from all this. For a long time Kurzics were on the Jade Sea so I guess just like the Luxoms did then, I will just have to get used to it.

Woedin Woebringer ~ [4 tildes]


 * On the other hand, you might want to review his past collections; Nick has visited Prophecies 12 times, but graced EotN with only 3 weeks of his presence. (On the other hand, Proph has a lot more zones than EotN, so perhaps he's just mathematically predisposed to end up more frequently in the original campaign.)


 * By the way: please use ~ [4 tildes] to sign your posts; it adds your UserID and places a time stamp. Many thanks!  &mdash; Tennessee Ernie Ford ( TEF ) 18:11, November 12, 2009 (UTC)

(Reset indent) Woedin: I'm not saying discrimination wouldn't be a problem. I'm saying that there's no evidence that the game is playing favorites.
 * Nick has visited 29 times, only four of which could have had any possible impact on Kurz or Lux faction. That precious little influence to offer either way.
 * For the sake of argument, let's grant that 3 of the visits favored Luxon (even though ownership of the outposts can...and did change during Nick's visits). Let's say we flip a coin to determine the ownership (Heads: Lux; Tails: Kurz). Then there's a 50% chance in 4 visits that our coin flip will turn up 3 Heads or 3 Tails.

Consequently, I don't see there's anything at all to write about at this point; there's nothing odd about Nick visiting Lux (arguably) 3 times and Kurz only once. &mdash; Tennessee Ernie Ford ( TEF ) 08:14, November 13, 2009 (UTC)

Nov 16
I heared that he is in the waijun bazaar colleting plague idols 85.146.249.89 16:39, November 16, 2009 (UTC)

Move Time
On Monday 11/23 I started into Wajjun Bazaar before 9am CST. Sometime after 9 I disconnected and then reconnected (note: I did not leave the map). After reconnecting I ran the rest of the way to Nick, but couldnt start a dialogue. I then reloaded the map, ran all the way back, and found Nick had moved. This would suggest Nick either leaves his old location at 7am PST and arrives at his new location 8am PST (according to the article), or moves at 7am PST and not 8am PST. --Ascalon Destroyer 15:29, November 23, 2009 (UTC)
 * With the first time change since z-challenges and the Nicks arrived on the scene, we learned that ANet server clocks follow UTC, not PST/PDT or even GMT. Thanks for the correction! (Dr Ishmael has made the appropriate changes to the article.)  &mdash; Tennessee Ernie Ford ( TEF ) 17:56, November 23, 2009 (UTC)

Nick's real diabolical plan
Other rumors notwithinstanding, Nick's truly diabolical plan is to expose as many possible gaps in wiki articles as possible. With each of his visits and requests, we seem to correct another handful of misapprehensions and fill another dozen holes in our knowledge base. &mdash; Tennessee Ernie Ford ( TEF ) 20:58, November 23, 2009 (UTC)

new location in snake dance
collecting 2 Frosted Griffon Wings &mdash;The preceding unsigned comment was added by Naraphim (contribs).

Shiverpeak Manes
Best collection ever, just did a full circle from beacons and back,then walked back to nick and had a total of 21 manes.Great drop rate,at first I thought he wanted 5 per gift, which would have been reasonable,3 per is a little on the low side,but I wont complain.Durga Dido 23:21, December 8, 2009 (UTC)

Is Nicholas a collector?
I thought about categorizing Nicholas as a collector a while back and decided, on balance, he isn't enough like one.

In short, Nick the Traveler doesn't really have anything important in common with other collectors. However: there's not really a better category for him, is there? &mdash; Tennessee Ernie Ford ( TEF ) 22:42, December 14, 2009 (UTC)
 * He's an oddball, like the Moss Spider Egg. Just an NPC I think, but he does collect, and the other "requirements" for a collector aren't exactly required, so it would be intuitive to put him there. RoseOfKali [[Image:RoseOfKaliSIG.png]] 23:47, December 14, 2009 (UTC)
 * Where does Professor Yakkington fit into all this?64.20.17.245 17:47, December 21, 2009 (UTC)
 * Nicholas's only hero, obviously. :p  Nwash  [[Image:User-Nwash-Eyes.png]] 17:58, December 21, 2009 (UTC)

Jan 4 2010 torture
Anyone else as P-O'd as I am about this treck for goddamn Roaring Ether hearts? I've been at it for over 5 hours, using a 4-man team, and getting everything but the damn hearts (getting claws, lodestones, etc); man, this is a bit ridiculous. Yeah, I know it's not supposed to be a piece o' cake, but Dayaamn! GW-Susan 02:58, January 6, 2010 (UTC)
 * I gave up after about 4 hours and 3 hearts. <_< RoseOfKali [[Image:RoseOfKaliSIG.png]] 13:30, January 6, 2010 (UTC)
 * Rose, you were damn lucky to get 3 hearts in just 4 hours! I'done at least 15 runs 600/smite (thank GOD they didn't nix that this thursday) and a couple NM spiritspamming, aswell as a couple of runs through Forum Highlands (the elemental bosses there) and Hidden City, and I managed 7! Mind you, there were never a single hero along, this was for our two accounts combined :( For next week I'm requesting right outside ToA, asking for Phantom Residues! Mr J 00:05, January 9, 2010 (UTC)
 * Lol, call me even luckier. I got 2 hearts my first run through the zone, another one in the next run, and was like whoo! easy! And then I got NONE for the next 20 or so clears with only 2 heroes and myself... I switched characters, switched through 3 different zones (Lyssa, Forum, City), cut it to 2-man and a summon stone, tried offering a stack of dust for a heart... And then gave up with 3/5, first time I didn't complete a Nick week while having internet access... <_< RoseOfKali [[Image:RoseOfKaliSIG.png]] 01:03, January 9, 2010 (UTC)
 * Coincidentally, I was doing Dasha Vestibule (mission) and got 2 ether hearts :P &mdash; Balistic 02:29, January 9, 2010 (UTC)
 * Well, I stuck it out to the bitter end, taking at least another 5 hours (and I too had tried different characters, changing locations, and such). At one point, woot 2 dropped!  Oh wait, no, the second one was a roaring ether CLAW, damn it all (I got about 15 of those, of course).  What really pisses me off is that before long the anti-farming rules of the game come into play--they should turn that off, at least, for these Nicholas collectables.   GW-Susan 23:41, January 9, 2010 (UTC)
 * It better be something easy next time, like mountain roots or charr hides. GW-Susan 23:42, January 9, 2010 (UTC)
 * The sad thing is, I don't think these are subject to anti-farming reduction... RoseOfKali [[Image:RoseOfKaliSIG.png]] 00:29, January 10, 2010 (UTC)
 * Aha... you thought Roaring Ether Hearts were torture? Now he wants Ruby Djinn Essences. Nick is such an asshole >_< --Macros 19:27, January 11, 2010 (UTC) Actually, we can blame Zinn, it seems.  Maybe next time, he (Zinn) can give us a Golem not subject to condition degens.  GW-Susan 03:19, January 12, 2010 (UTC)
 * But, I've actually seen these drop much more often, even though Ruby Djinns are relatively less common than the Roaring Ethers (at least, I think so). Fortunately (for me), I had 15 in a storage character, too!   GW-Susan 19:31, January 11, 2010 (UTC)
 * I find these to be much easier (so far). RoseOfKali [[Image:RoseOfKaliSIG.png]] 19:56, January 11, 2010 (UTC)
 * And as this isn't the first time he's asked for something that was a byproduct of previous weeks farm (you've probably killed a bunch of Ruby Djinns along with the Ethers, just like we got a bunch of Mandragor Roots while feeding Toma for Juniberries), so I hope people have learnt to save stuff they get ;) Mr J 01:51, January 12, 2010 (UTC)


 * Following up on the comment immediately above, the Jan 18th collection is for Decayed Orr Emblems, which were dropping like mad when I was doing the Gates of Kryta ZM with multiple chars. True Joy!  Almost funny and almost (note:  almost) makes up for the Jan 4 torture.  GW-Susan 17:55, January 18, 2010 (UTC)

Jan 25 - Thorny Carapaces
Anyone get any luck with these? &mdash;The preceding unsigned comment was added by 89.101.38.133 (contribs).


 * Yep, got 30 in under an hour. Spirit spam is easiest, just run around in any of the "dry" sections of the Maguuma - Sage Lands, Ettin's Back, west half of Majesty's Rest, beginning of Bloodstone Fen (mission)... they're all over the place.  &mdash;Dr Ishmael Diablo_the_chicken.gif 17:21, January 26, 2010 (UTC)

I'm using a warrior build got about 15 of em in 30 mins prity easy :D

Feb 1 - Maguuma Spider Web
Confirmed in Reed Bog, edited article to match and I'll upload a map. It'll need changing to a better one, but this one at least shows where in the area he stands. Mr J 18:38, February 1, 2010 (UTC)

Feb 8 - Bone Charms
these things are going for up to 1k a pop whats happening?? i vanquished rhea's creater and gyala hatchery and only got 2 bone charms?!?! this is a mess
 * Wasn't too bad for me. I went NM SoS N/Rt with 3 Discord-ish N/Rt heroes (no hench), and got my 15 in two clears of rhea's crater. RoseOfKali [[Image:RoseOfKaliSIG.png]] 23:38, February 17, 2010 (UTC)
 * I've been turning a sweet profit this week! Spiritfarming outcasts (NM, solo) starting from Aurios Mines and looping via Milthuran, Talous and clearing the northern area of outcasts, gives 10-15 bone charms per round and takes an hour at a leisurly pace :p Probably made 40-45k selling bone charms :D Oh, as a bonus, salvaging just the white Outcast Wrappings gives around a stack of cloth each round ;) I can't understand why people are getting so few in drops, I always go solo or duo (with a human) in NM for collectables... Mr J 02:15, February 22, 2010 (UTC)

Predict nick?
come on guys we must be able to predict where nick will be next


 * After the Arboy Bay mishap (Nick appeared there with blank text), Linsey said something along the lines of "Nick wasn't supposed to be there for at least another year, thus he still had no text for this location, and his appearance here was a mistake" (don't remember the exact wording, but that's the general content of it.) This implies that if he has a cycle, it's more than a year long at the least, and supposedly much longer, thus we won't see a repeat and won't be able to predict anything for a while. But there's nothing keeping people from trying to guess. :P RoseOfKali [[Image:RoseOfKaliSIG.png]] 18:30, February 28, 2010 (UTC)


 * "... we obviously needed to give him a lot of locations, and so we did. His list of possible haunts at launch was 137, and given 1 a week, that's 137 weeks (or ~2.6 years) of Nicholas' travels before he even considers going to the same place twice. ~ John Hargrove"


 * - this quote was posted on the official wiki on John's feedback page. I think this is material for the article. When does that put the earliest possible loop week? It also opens up for some research. How many different collectables/artisan-craftable materials/weird quest rewards are there in the game? We can figure out the likelihood of any one of them being wanted. XD RoseOfKali [[Image:RoseOfKaliSIG.png]] 13:20, March 1, 2010 (UTC)


 * Well, there are 244 trophies, not counting the 12 from Pre-Searing, so he'd barely even get through half of those. There are 40 salvage items (that aren't salvage armors) and 26 rare crafting materials (you said "artisan-craftable materials, but Amber can't be crafted by artisans, so they're all fair game).  They could easily triple his appearances without running out of things to collect.
 * On the other hand, there are 137 explorable areas he can appear in (with a few assumptions made based on where he has or has not appeared so far). That's exactly the number John quoted, which makes me think that they intended for him to visit every "major" explorable area outside the Realm of Torment exactly once.  Repeating explorable areas seems like a silly idea, as it would become much more time-consuming to find him in the first place (especially with the number of interested players diminishing).  He hasn't repeated any so far, but we're barely a third of the way through his initial rotation, so that may not mean anything.
 * I'm thinking that as time goes on, it will become easier to predict where he will be as the number of unvisited areas dwindles, but what he will collect will remain wide open. &mdash;Dr Ishmael Diablo_the_chicken.gif 15:55, March 1, 2010 (UTC)
 * I still don't think that all rare materials are fair game, since amber (and jade) can be reliably farmed via faction, thus they are closely related to the "craftable" category. Fur should also be fair game due to Mrs. Sedgwick in Ascalon. But I am not convinced that all rare mats are fair game until he collects any Monstrous parts, ecto, shards, onyx or diamonds. Not sure about rubies and sapphires, as they are technically available from a collector, but there is no source of trade contracts once you complete the quests once, so I'd put them in the no-no category.
 * On a related note, I think it would be hilarious if he collected feathers this week. XD
 * The 137 explorable areas is indeed an interesting bit of information and validates the quoted number. I guess with the number of items out there, they could very well make a second list, so that he appears in each area exactly twice (I think we have enough "stuff" for that?), but that would totally be up to John's inspiration, and after 2.6 years of Nick, he might have had enough. :P RoseOfKali [[Image:RoseOfKaliSIG.png]] 17:45, March 1, 2010 (UTC)


 * Eh, I guess I'll concede that point on the rareest crafting materials. I made that comment just to point out that he's already collected a mat that couldn't be crafted at artisans, which was a minor point anyway.
 * Still, that doesn't really change the fact that there are about twice as many collectable items as there are visitable areas. They could decide to have him visit every area twice, but like you said, I doubt John would feel up to writing another 137 dialogues for Nick.  Or they could decide to have him do a quick run through the Realm of Torment, maybe as the "final challenge" of his travels or something.  &mdash;Dr Ishmael Diablo_the_chicken.gif 19:03, March 1, 2010 (UTC)

(Reset indent) Feel free to continue the other conversation, I'm just moving this out so it can be seen. Getting back to the original point, whether or not we can predict Nick's location, basically the answer is not yet. There are no recognizable patterns to his visits, other than that he usually stays in one continent for a few weeks at a time before moving on. We can't even say for certain what continent he'll be in: he's been in Cantha for 2 weeks now, but he's stayed there for up to 4 weeks before, so there's no way to say if he'll move on this week or not. The order of continents isn't even predictable, as he used to go Tyria - Elona - Cantha, but he changed that up back in December and started going Tyria - Cantha - Elona. Unless anyone else can see a pattern that I missed, there's not much we can do to predict Nick's movements. &mdash;Dr Ishmael 19:03, March 1, 2010 (UTC)

1st March 2010
Official wiki is down, any idea of the new location ? 81.246.170.227 19:00, March 1, 2010 (UTC)


 * If we knew, it would be on the article. &mdash;Dr Ishmael Diablo_the_chicken.gif 19:04, March 1, 2010 (UTC)

There has been a picture uploaded but it has been unavailable for over 2 hrs now. But i guess the system will update eventually

Update times?
"His location and requested items change on Mondays at approximately 15:00 UTC (7 AM PST). "

Any chance the change could be posted closer to the times specified or change the above to read "or thereabouts"? It is usually around 3PM EST before some changes are posted instead of 7AM PST.

On another subject, spent 6 hours a day last week farming for amber chunks and never got one or anything that could salvaged for a chunk. Probably a good thing because when I found out what they are worth and what the value of most gifts has been it didn't make sense to give them to Nicholas. Got plenty of experience killing stuff though. &mdash;The preceding unsigned comment was added by 71.62.66.42 (contribs).


 * But a gift is more expensive than 3 amber chunks. Unless you are referring to some other worth. &mdash;The preceding unsigned comment was added by 85.19.140.9 (contribs).


 * Nick moves at 1500 UTC, we have no control over that. And we don't magically know where he is as soon as he moves - someone has to go out and find him, which usually takes a few hours.
 * If you were farming amber by killing things, then you were doing it wrong. &mdash;Dr Ishmael Diablo_the_chicken.gif 19:21, March 1, 2010 (UTC)

Yet again, torture (March 3rd 2010)
In the time (4 or 5 hours) it has so far taken me to get one of the goddamn Pillaged Goods, I have gotten: 2 green drops (crappy, but green) Shak-Jarin the Justicebringer's sword and Pehnsed the Loudmouth's spear; 5 behemouth hides (as I go back and forth between the Mines and the Holdings) and which I don't want; over 20 Minotaur horn's; and even five of the damn giant's jaws--in other words, everything except (almost) the item needed. Just like the Jan 4 2010 torture, I've now tried different chars, different areas, gone away a couple of days, and always a four-man team. Why can't they check out the drop rate and choose something more reasonable. Again, I am not asking for something where 1 trip does it, but 4 or 5 hours for just ONE?!?! Really, Anet--this is a bit ridiculous, considering your claims that this game is not about grinding (which, of course, it is). GW-Susan 03:38, March 4, 2010 (UTC)
 * Wrong wiki to be talking to ANet, luv. But yeah, I hear ya, I got one and said "screw it" for this week. RoseOfKali [[Image:RoseOfKaliSIG.png]] 17:34, March 4, 2010 (UTC) Yeah, just bichin, ya know (screaming at the wind, so to speak)  GW-Susan 02:59, March 6, 2010 (UTC)
 * Ever persistent, I'm still at it--have gotten 2 more Shak swords (so 3 of em, and naturally can't sell them), doubled the number of horns, jaws, hides and have more Cobalt talons than Stolen goods, even though I only fight a few Mokalies to get to the area where the Giants are.  And, oh yeah, another couple of hours.  Will keep at it, just to see how bad it is (so far, far worse than the Jan 4th crap, too, which I had thought was pretty bad...).  GW-Susan 06:38, March 5, 2010 (UTC)  Oh yeah, forgot to add:  down to a 3-man team, too.
 * 3-man? o_O Take a spirit spammer from Mihanu Township, the plants and beetles in Holdings of Chokhin are easy to get through (avoid the Skree, they're annoying), then you just kill all the giants on the west side, using the portal to Vehjin to reset.  I got 3 Pillaged Goods in about 2 hours that way.  &mdash;Dr Ishmael Diablo_the_chicken.gif 15:13, March 5, 2010 (UTC)
 * I spirit spammed my way to two in I-don't-know-how-many hours. Either these giants are poor thieves or they are very good and not giving up their ill-gotten goods. That 5k price tag people are selling for in Mihanu Township is looking less and less expensive.Bikeboy854 22:45, March 5, 2010 (UTC)
 * At which point you just buy the gifts straight up... RoseOfKali [[Image:RoseOfKaliSIG.png]] 02:32, March 6, 2010 (UTC)
 * Well, finally got 5. Along way, the damn giants dropped 18 jaws (so, nearly 4 to 1, so they must be holding onto the Goods with their teeth--see above 2!), their bulls dropped 56 horns, and the behemoths dropped 17 hides (as I went back and forth between Vehjin and Chokhin), in addition to other drops (most worthless, but did get some jeweled daggers that gave up 2 rubies, so that helps a bit).  And, it only took me about 8 or 9 hours!  Now, why can't those Silverwing bows or Voltaic spears drop like the Shak swords....? Truly ridiculous.  GW-Susan 02:54, March 6, 2010 (UTC)
 * Ishmael, you got 3 in 2 hours? I've been solo spirit-spamming for 7 hours now, and I haven't gotten a single one.  This is getting more and more ridiculous.  Also, people are selling them for 10k now in Mihanu.  And people are buying them.  So people are actually paying EXTRA just to get their gifts on their own?!?  Anyway, this is beyond ridiculous.  Ailina 01:13, March 8, 2010 (UTC)
 * 10k when gifts cost 5k? People never cease to amuse... But hey, new hunt is about to begin! Let's what it is this time! I predict... Skull Jujus. XD RoseOfKali [[Image:RoseOfKaliSIG.png]] 01:38, March 8, 2010 (UTC)


 * Since he switched campaigns last week, it's very likely he'll stay there this week, which makes prediction a little easier. Generally, I'm gonna predict somewhere in Kourna.  If I have to be specific... Heket Tongues in Sunward Marches.  &mdash;Dr Ishmael Diablo_the_chicken.gif 20:28, March 7, 2010 (UTC)


 * Maybe they'll take pity on these poor fools and collect horns in Vehjin Mines :P I'd keep those horns ftm. Oh, and @Sarah, if they were holding onto them with their teeth, you'd probably have more considering how many jaws of theirs you've ripped out --Gimmethegepgun 02:31, March 8, 2010 (UTC)


 * Rofl. And Ish, you missed my point... RoseOfKali [[Image:RoseOfKaliSIG.png]] 11:19, March 8, 2010 (UTC)
 * I predict the Ebony Citadel of Mallyx. Right behind Mallyx himself, of course. Wanting 1 armbrace per gift. Nick has finally realized people are willing to do anything, go anywhere, and trade anything, for some of his homemade hunter's ale. --Macros 14:37, March 8, 2010 (UTC)
 * It would be nice if the rare gifts became less so for harder trophies--after this one, I feel I deserved both a Yakkington mini and an EL cottontail (neither of which, of course, I have or got...sigh). GW-Susan 00:35, March 10, 2010 (UTC)

March 8 2010
I got lots of Demonic relics when doing the different quests inside the Vortex. Grodis 19:07, March 8, 2010 (UTC)
 * Yep, these were easy. I did the A History of Violence and its followup, resulting in enough relics. Thank god! (or:  Thank the Five Gods). GW-Susan 00:29, March 10, 2010 (UTC)

March 22 2010
Slaughtering the area a few times should do it right? Fleshcrawler  Soban  20:33, March 22, 2010 (UTC)
 * yes Yc grizzly 21:23, March 22, 2010 (UTC)

Unregistered contributor
Dam Unregistered contributor what are they doing? --   † F1 ©  Talk  18:41, March 29, 2010 (UTC)
 * In the Hall of Monuments Lieutenant Thackeray and Gwen underwent some dialogue, in which Gwen said she would have Nicholas pick up some Jacaranda seeds for Thackeray. If this coming week he collects Jacaranda seeds, we may have a way of predicting his coming collections.67.182.24.195 16:57, April 2, 2010 (UTC)
 * That's a preparation for something on Gwen's Birthday, Thackeray is already collecting things. Jacaranda seeds were irrelevant to the players, as Gwen made the tea for him. The official wiki has documented much more of it so far. RoseOfKali [[Image:RoseOfKaliSIG.png]] 20:03, April 2, 2010 (UTC)

1st repeat week
Isn't the statement "his first repeat visit will be on December 5th, 2011" inaccurate? I seem to recall there being a repeat once sometime many months ago for a couple hours after an update, where Nick was erroneously/buggingly moved in the middle of the week. Even though that quickly corrected with an update a few hours later, wouldn't that have technically been his "first repeat visit" 65.80.39.92 23:58, April 3, 2010 (UTC)


 * No, because it was a bug and unintended. That don't count.  &mdash;Dr Ishmael Diablo_the_chicken.gif 02:59, April 4, 2010 (UTC)

Fishing hooks
Nice tie to the herrings she gives, and maybe it's time to start getting over Mary? :P RoseOfKali 18:18, April 26, 2010 (UTC)

Week May 17 2010
Interesting week for the people watching Gift of the Traveler prices. This is the first merchant item so it's a flat price. Bottle 20:18, May 17, 2010 (UTC)


 * There have been many other weeks when it was comparably cheap to get the items, so it was again limited by the cap of 5 gifts per account per week. Quizzical 21:20, May 17, 2010 (UTC)


 * Comparatively cheap != flat price, which was Bottle's point. &mdash;Dr Ishmael Diablo_the_chicken.gif 21:45, May 17, 2010 (UTC)


 * 30 bottles of ale. Sheesh! Do you think he is going to share any with Yakkington? Bikeboy854 12:45, May 19, 2010 (UTC)

24 may
Nick is collecting 2 Roaring Ether Claws for 1 gift. He is at The Garden of Seborhin. Nick's position is at the top middle of the area - to the right of the rez shrine - emesis
 * Time to finish nightfall to open that zone up (it's Nightfallen Garden atm) Random Time  17:59, May 24, 2010 (UTC)


 * Could you upload a screenshot of his dialogue and location? No one's posted it to Guru or Wartower.de yet, and one of them usually finds him first.  &mdash;Dr Ishmael Diablo_the_chicken.gif 18:07, May 24, 2010 (UTC)


 * The location is correct, but no screen. --Ondast 18:15, May 24, 2010 (UTC)

 Here is one. DaveBaggins 18:17, May 24, 2010 (UTC)


 * Yep, saw that already, unfortunately Guru doesn't allow direct linking to attachments so that link doesn't work (unless you already have it cached in your browser). Here is the post that includes the attachment, though.  &mdash;Dr Ishmael Diablo_the_chicken.gif 18:33, May 24, 2010 (UTC)


 * What bloody luck! I had these saved up from the roaring ether heart debacle not so long ago (when the claws were dropping five times faster than the hearts--I actually had 15 of the claws, and a couple dropped while vanquishing the area to get to Nicky [kill two birds with one stone, so to speak]).  GW-Susan 13:48, May 25, 2010 (UTC)

Better Map
I tried to insert this map into Nic's page but probably screwed it up:

woot got it

2010-June-07

Dreadnaughts drift looking for Azure remains

http://www.guildwarsguru.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=61424&d=1275928697
 * Oh FFS. Definitely not bothering with him this week. --Franzwald 21:47, June 7, 2010 (UTC)

06-14 Vajaar Fells
East of the entrance to Shrine of the Raven Spirit, collecting 3 Moniir manes &mdash;The preceding unsigned comment was added by 213.64.28.151 (contribs).


 * This is Nick's 3rd-longest dialogue ever, only beaten by his first 2. &mdash;Dr Ishmael Diablo_the_chicken.gif 16:30, June 14, 2010 (UTC)
 * This is just so hilarious. "so if you are interested in my wares and find a way to convince these centaurs to part with their hair, consider this a work order for 3 Modniir Manes, and good luck to you!" Wut, you mean like, kill em? Arnout aka The Emperors Angel 21:05, June 14, 2010 (UTC)


 * Srsly. Nick is such a weenie when it comes time to actually fight anything.  I mean, yeah, he's got balls for traveling to all these locations in the first place, but why can't he lift a finger (or a hoof, in Yakkington's case) on his own behalf?  Heck, the Professor could probably teach these Modniir a thing or three about trampling.
 * More trivia: This is also the first time Nick has been to an EotN area twice in a single rotation. &mdash;Dr Ishmael Diablo_the_chicken.gif 22:34, June 14, 2010 (UTC)

Update between the Updates?
While I agree it's not critical to update the page between 0700 PST Monday morning and when the Nicolas is next found, I've seen it go several hours before the location is found and updated. In the meantime if you are using the template or look at the main page you might be working toward the wrong goal. I'm wandering what others think about incrementing the count and setting it to Unknown until the actual location is found? --  Glamtre  (Contribs) 00:06, June 29, 2010 (UTC)


 * The template already does that. There's a "default" branch in the #switch: function (the line below the "Insert new stuff here" comment) that will display unknown after 1500 UTC on Monday.  And now that I've updated the "current location" section here to use the template, it will automatically update itself, just like the Main Page.   &mdash;Dr Ishmael Diablo_the_chicken.gif 00:28, June 29, 2010 (UTC)
 * Thanks for the detailed clarification. I looked at the template in detail and I see how it works now.  My misunderstanding was based on how I was using it on my User Page.  I had a typo in the template call the resulted in the template on my page not updating for several hours after the actual update, hence my thought that it did not automatically update at the right time and would benefit from a manual update. I respectfully and humbly withdraw my suggestion. --  Glamtre  [[Image:Axe-icon-right.png]] (Contribs) 03:09, June 29, 2010 (UTC)

29th of June
No map so far. Previous one has an error. 82.26.217.140Supa Rat


 * Click on the thumbnail to see the full image.  There was a new version uploaded later yesterday, so your browser is probably just displaying the old thumbnail from its cache.  Force-clear your cache (IE: Ctrl+F5; Firefox: Ctrl-Shift-R) and you should get the new thumbnail.  &mdash;Dr Ishmael Diablo_the_chicken.gif 14:20, June 29, 2010 (UTC)

5th of July
I found Nick and put the stuff in his past locations page but wasn't sure how to update this page and didn't want to screw anything up.&rarr; Qelsi710  15:54, July 5, 2010 (UTC)
 * Nevermind, I think I figured it out.&rarr; Qelsi710 [[Image:Qelsi_Qompas_sig.png]] 16:12, July 5, 2010 (UTC)

July 12
Has anyone else been experiencing any timeouts or lag trying to enter Haiju Lagoon or Zen Daijun (outpost)?&rarr; Qelsi710  14:56, July 13, 2010 (UTC)
 * Not I nor anyone in my 200+ person guild. Peeps are routinely being "taxi'd" into Haiju from Zen; no issues. Sorry you are having trouble. &mdash;Tennessee Ernie Ford ( TEF ) 16:36, July 13, 2010 (UTC)
 * I ended up using a less populated server and didn't have any more problems. This is just the first time I've ever had Guild Wars time out on me.&rarr; Qelsi710 [[Image:Qelsi_Qompas_sig.png]] 17:10, July 13, 2010 (UTC)
 * Sure wish I could trade copper and silver crimson coins for gold at the Crimson Skull Bank. Bikeboy854 13:19, July 16, 2010 (UTC)
 * I agree, I was standing in the Monastery, when someone was asking for better than starter daggers. I gave him useless CS coins and told him to go find the collector.&rarr; Qelsi710 [[Image:Qelsi_Qompas_sig.png]] 15:11, July 16, 2010 (UTC)
 * Useless? Salvage them into iron ingots, which can be sold to players for about 3x the value of the coin itself. (During Nick's visit to Haiku [ sic ] Lagoon, it will only take 200 coppers to match one gold. What's that you say? Faster to farm the golds themselves? Oh, nvm.) &mdash;Tennessee Ernie Ford ( TEF ) 16:18, July 16, 2010 (UTC)
 * I have been experiencing the same issue as you, except even worse; I also couldn't get into about 70% of other towns/locations as well for about 2 days, several other players from my alliance reported the same. New gw.dat or anything like that didn't seem to help, then after some time the issue fixed itself. My guess is that it was a problem on some servers since it was a "lag" issue. (On a side note, guild can have only 100 members at maximum :P) (On another side note,I know you meant alliance, but gotcha!) [[Image:EM Signature.jpg]] ***EAGLEMUT***   T  A  L K 18:28, July 16, 2010 (UTC)


 * @Eagle: you had connectivity issues after ANet dealt with the borked server farm in Europe? Yuck! (FYI sometimes I find it helpful to use the -update command line, it seems to fix problems with gw.dat. I also find that calming down my old modem helps, too.) Regardless, I hope you filled out a support ticket; that's the only way that the powers that be will learn to be more proactive about uptime. (On the other note: yes, gotme! My alliance thinks of itself as a single guild, so almost never says, alliance. The reason for expanding in the first place was to deal with the guild-size cap.) &mdash;Tennessee Ernie Ford ( TEF ) 19:15, July 16, 2010 (UTC)


 * Well this what I was talking about was after the borked server, but when that server was broken I surely had a lot of lag too, I'd say this was even worse though. Also, some people from the alliance who were from America had the same issue. On the lines.. yeah I also tried that, along with -image and even -repair, neither solved the issue :( By the time I wanted to try changing something with my connection it was already fixed. Since several people from my alliance already sent a ticket I didn't feel like it's necessary. (Another reason is that I would have to learn how to send a ticket..) [[Image:EM Signature.jpg]] ***EAGLEMUT***   T  A  L K 20:28, July 16, 2010 (UTC)

July 19
Location: Jahai Bluffs

Collecting: 5 Elonian Leather / Gift --Ondast 16:13, July 19, 2010 (UTC)


 * If E-leather follows the trend of previous rare mat collections by Nick,
 * Although rare mat traders will say they're out of stock, with patience you can still buy (maybe 1 try of 10);
 * Players will sell stacks for less than they could get at the traders (I suppose for the convenience of not having to request a gazillion quotes to sell a stack).
 * And this week, it's cheap to make your own: if you have the rare mats, it's only 50 to make each square. &mdash;Tennessee Ernie Ford ( TEF ) 16:38, July 19, 2010 (UTC)

Template for dialogues?
Shouldn't we also use a template for the dialogues? That way, the dialogue will get blanked on Mondays along with the collection data. &mdash;Tennessee Ernie Ford ( TEF ) 16:15, July 19, 2010 (UTC)
 * Possible, the template would be big, though (and I mean Big) --  Random Time  16:24, July 19, 2010 (UTC)


 * The template? Naw, we already store the dialogue. The template would just have to grab it from that page (I suppose there might be some reformatting involved). &mdash;Tennessee Ernie Ford ( TEF ) 16:37, July 19, 2010 (UTC)
 * You suppose, do you? --  Random Time  16:39, July 19, 2010 (UTC)


 * Changing the current dialogue history into a table wouldn't be that hard. What I didn't realize (until Doc Ish mentioned it) is that wikia doesn't really support that kind of parsing, so doesn't sound like a lot of work for marginal benefit. &mdash;Tennessee Ernie Ford ( TEF ) 16:46, July 19, 2010 (UTC)

With a small change to the dialogue page (using headlines instead of dd tags, and adding the ID number), this is easily (hah!) automated. See Talk:Nicholas_the_Traveler/Past_Dialogues/tmp for a demo. So yes, Wikia does support that kind of parsing. -- ◄mendel► 21:08, July 19, 2010 (UTC)


 * Huh, looks like I never got around to commenting on this one earlier. If you're only trying to return a single value, then yes, this works.  I had considered creating a #switch-based template for it back when I originally created Template:Nicholas the Traveler, but never got around to it, then finally decided it wasn't worth copying all that text in two places.  I briefly considered using DPL in exactly this fashion, but the "not worth it" part of my brain overrode that idea.  &mdash;Dr Ishmael Diablo_the_chicken.gif 23:27, July 19, 2010 (UTC)

26 July
http://i62.photobucket.com/albums/h119/authaeros/gw003.jpg

202.33.109.230 12:18, July 27, 2010 (UTC)

Template for dialogues!
Guess I never got around to mentioning: Thanks to Doc Ishmael et al for creating the new template that allows us to more smoothly acknowledge Nick's weekly speeches. Reminds us to change on Mondays, will (one hopes) update correctly 138 weeks later, and is either a dessert topping or a floor wax, too (can never remember which). GJ! &mdash;Tennessee Ernie Ford ( TEF ) 21:45, July 28, 2010 (UTC)

Sept 6 (Spiritwood)
Why does it say "Nicholas the Traveler is currently collecting 2 Charr Hides in Pockmark Flats." for this week. I've scoured the zone and located no one. Not to mention that charr hides have already been collected in a previous week in a different location...

How is it that bad info is actually placed up instead of just "unknown" if he hasn't been found yet? - dts
 * Where does it say that? On the main page and this page it lists Nick with the correct location.  Maybe you are referring to last years Sept 6th...?--Łô√ë [[Image:Gigathrash_sig_G.jpg|Roar.]]îğá†ħŕášħ is hosting a Card Creation Contest!  01:54, September 7, 2010 (UTC)


 * IP is right &mdash; someone put bad info up originally...as a prank. Look for confirmation on the talk page (which I shoulda posted when I updated to spiritwood early &mdash; my apologies). &mdash;Tennessee Ernie Ford ( TEF ) 02:01, September 7, 2010 (UTC)


 * Perhaps we should protect the template from anonymous edits. &mdash;Dr Ishmael Diablo_the_chicken.gif 03:28, September 7, 2010 (UTC)


 * Yes. Anons who have the location can post on this page's talk. (I think GWW protects their equivalent on Mondays, but I could be wrong.) &mdash;Tennessee Ernie Ford ( TEF ) 03:34, September 7, 2010 (UTC)

eastern frontier
he doesnt spawn if u have the quest the last day dawns active.


 * Correct. He generally does not appear if active quests would spawn nearby red dots (and sometimes if they spawn any foes at all). (I'll double-check that the notes make that clear.)  &mdash;Tennessee Ernie Ford ( TEF ) 02:00, September 24, 2010 (UTC)

Maxed Titles Affect Present Drops?
I maxed the drunken title right after the Halloween event, and since then none of the gifts that I have opened from Nick have contained any alcohol. Could the maxed titles on the character that opens the gifts affect the drop? Or is this just a big coincidence? Bikeboy854 22:30, November 22, 2010 (UTC)
 * Big coincidence. I have maxed drunkard a long time ago, and I still get booze, when all I want is candy/party. Arnout aka The Emperors Angel 22:34, November 22, 2010 (UTC)

3/1/2011
http://www.guildwarsguru.com/forum/showpost.php?p=5349937&postcount=4607 found by someone on guru (I R Find and Seek but cba login in haha) --86.175.186.16 17:26, 3 January 2011 (UTC)

24/1/2011
Ok, I had a strange thing happen. Went with a friend to find Nickolas and he wasn't there. Neither was the Scorched Loadstone collector. So friend went back to guild hall and I rezoned and he was there and accepting Stormy Eyes. So got my friend again, and once again there was no Nickolas while my friend was in the party with me. I tried it with two other friends that needed gifts tonight, and he was there both those times. Is this a bug or is there some sort of odd quest or something that has to be done before he spawns for certain characters? BTW: I also went with this same player's character to Dragon's Gullet and we got Nick to spawn correctly that time. This is the first time I've seen this problem. Nylana Greymoon 05:55, 25 January 2011 (UTC)
 * Does your friend have some quest in quest list that affects Pockmark Flats? From the article: "If he fails to appear, check to see whether you have an active quest that affects the foes spawning in the area." Altho the Pockmark Flats does seem to have something fancy going on with the Lodestone Collector spawn.. Yujiko Ineluki 10:34, 25 January 2011 (UTC)
 * It seems to be a peculiarity of the area. Just takes zoning in and out until you see Nick. It isn't related to quests. You might see him once, then not the next time. --Alphastream 12:15, 25 January 2011 (UTC)


 * See Talk:Nicanor Gannel. It's definitely something weird with that specific location, not just Nick.  &mdash;Dr Ishmael Diablo_the_chicken.gif 14:55, 25 January 2011 (UTC)


 * Someone just posted at the official wiki the likelihood that there are multiple spawns. They didn't mention any correlation with the permanent and traveling collectors, but I suspect that further research will show a connection. — Tennessee Ernie Ford ( TEF ) 22:06, 25 January 2011 (UTC)

7/3/2011
Nick is currently in talus chute, hanging around the grawl camp to the north. (head out of camp rankor, go east and north, he's right in the middle of the camp) Im terrible at formatting, so I cant really add any info. But he's there all right. Collecting 5 mountain troll tusks. (seems the professor isnt so keen on trolls)

March 28 2011 - Iboga Petal
Quest "Scholarly Affairs" helps with spawn for the farm for Iboga petals

How about a verbal description of location in the area?
Since a map showing his exact location, in the area of the week, hardly appears soon enough, how about allowing a verbal description -- something like: "In Area X, near Boss So-And-So in the Northeast"  or "In Area Y, near the Southwest Rez Shrine" that narrows down our search a bit better? When a map is ready, it can be added in. GW-Susan 19:23, 11 April 2011 (UTC)


 * If someone has the time to do that, then they have the time to take a screenshot, crop it, and upload it. It doesn't have to be "perfect", someone else can always upload a better one.  &mdash;Dr Ishmael Diablo_the_chicken.gif 19:27, 11 April 2011 (UTC)


 * well, it does not seem to happen (the screen) very soon, and yet the location is filled in, as it is today. GW-Susan 19:28, 11 April 2011 (UTC)
 * It's not hard to create an account and upload a photo for him. Ariyen 23:09, 11 April 2011 (UTC)


 * In (temporary) lieu of a map, I've altered the caption to describe the location. Does that work? — Tennessee Ernie Ford ( TEF ) 00:00, 12 April 2011 (UTC)
 * I like that as it doesn't hurt the page. Ariyen 00:42, 12 April 2011 (UTC)


 * The problem now is that someone has to remember to remove that next Monday. &mdash;Dr Ishmael Diablo_the_chicken.gif 00:45, 12 April 2011 (UTC)


 * Someone has to remember every week to update the map. Perhaps someone clever with wikicode could update the Nicky template so that the map1text caption can also be DPL'd: if there's a map, it says Nick collecting [item] in [zone]; if there's no map, it supplies the caption text. One stop shopping and means that the person updating Nick's location doesn't have to remember to add the map. — Tennessee Ernie Ford ( TEF ) 01:56, 12 April 2011 (UTC)


 * So, shall we allow a caption until a map is uploaded? And by the way, I find it IS difficult to upload a picture, as the instructions on how to do so and make it a reasonable size are none too clear.  Far easier for a regular user like me (= non wiki expert) to just give a verbal clue as to where he is on the map.  And, again, it obviously does take time to get a map up.  GW-Susan 03:14, 12 April 2011 (UTC)

Map for week of 25 April
I tried to fix it... hopefully someone who knows what they're doing can correct it. RabidCoqui 23:27, 25 April 2011 (UTC)

Geesh, Totem axes are as common as the Behemoth Jaws!
I got the same number of Totem axes as Behemoth Jaws (5) doing runs in the Falls! Geesh, and can hardly sell them anymore! GW-Susan 17:28, 10 May 2011 (UTC)


 * Ouch! — Tennessee Ernie Ford ( TEF ) 20:00, 10 May 2011 (UTC)


 * Eh, lemme guess, they're not the 5k they used to be anymore? --[[Image:El Nazgir sig.png|Talkpage]]El_Nazgir 20:04, 10 May 2011 (UTC)

Sentient Lodestone farm
for getting this stuff, may work out better to go from, gate of desolation and farm some of the shards in the area. would be easier and safer. J1j2j3 17:17, 20 June 2011 (UTC)


 * That would be easier, but they drop the wrong lodestone. Enchanted Lodestones only drop from the elementals in Kourna.  &mdash;Dr Ishmael Diablo_the_chicken.gif 01:27, 21 June 2011 (UTC)

Dec 5 – Cycle Repeating
It looks like the cycle is repeating. Nicholas is back in regent valley asking for the same stuff. It's too bad, I was hoping to be playing GW2 by this point, but at least there's no more hide & seek with Nick every week.&rarr; Qelsi710  17:04, 5 December 2011 (UTC)
 * He does have different dialogue this week. Arnout aka The Emperors Angel 18:40, 5 December 2011 (UTC)


 * Looks like all the SMW/templates rolled over just fine, except for the map in the infobox, which I was able to fix easily. I also added the new dialogue while archiving the old dialogue.  &mdash;Dr Ishmael Diablo_the_chicken.gif 21:23, 5 December 2011 (UTC)


 * The infobox appears to only display the first date, e.g. Quetzal Crest, Red Iris Flower, etc. (I've lost track of how all the magic works over here, otherwise I'd try to troubleshoot it myself.)


 * On a digression: I far prefer this method of displaying Nick requests to that of GWW: the official wiki treats Nick as a collector, even though he requests a different item every week, never appears on the u-map, presents a dialogue rather than a merchant/service window, and 99% of the screen real estate used to display the data doesn't change. In contrast, GWiki's method provides a simple one-stop-shopping view, which has the added advantage that we can tell with a glance if the item is/was on Nick's list. → In case I didn't mention it before, well done. — Tennessee Ernie Ford ( TEF ) 10:13, 30 December 2011 (UTC)


 * That's because just displays the date that is entered as the 'traveler date' parameter, it wasn't coded to do any fancy calculations on it.  Going forward, I'm not sure if it would be better to remove that completely or to start updating each item with the last date the item was collected.  &mdash;Dr Ishmael Diablo_the_chicken.gif 15:32, 30 December 2011 (UTC)