So, I've managed to complete all the steps, but didn't get a chance to do it Friday (away from the computer all day) or Saturday (driving all day long and not arriving in our hotel until after midnight NST due to unexpected delays), so the first chance I had at doing them was on Sunday (19th). I was at 2000% before they reset the counter, and I'm kinda OK with that, as I've hardly had any time to keep up with things for the last few weeks. I had really hoped they would wait until after the GMC to start things, but...obviously they didn't.
According to the JN guide, there's a much more complicated (and devious) way that we were (presumably) supposed to figure out which letters to click on in our letter mess. I was actually impressed with the complexity of it. If TJNT hadn't randomized the letters that weren't the right ones every time, it would've taken everyone a more significant amount of time to get through that step. If you haven't read through how we were
supposed to figure it out, you should.
As far as the weapon goes, I'm with Daze. I'm glad it was downgraded. The initial weapon was WAY too overpowered for an essentially freebie item. As it is, the 11-16 icons is still pretty hefty for a practically freebie weapon.
I also remember how awesome it was to work your tail off and get a RotL. Even though I have a HCC, I keep the RotL equipped (even though I never get around to using it), because I like the icons on the RotL better, even if it's .5 less, and because I like the reminder about the LDP every time I battle.Rant section (ignore if you wish):
I am super bummed to see that JN reported this (and I was able to find it myself) but that TJNT seems to have included an achievement for visiting the hub page every day of the event.
Source code of Achievements page wrote:
visit hub every day
Completing this helps you move up the ranks in the Resistance.
For short events, like the Faerie Festival, DD, GMC, or Faerie Quests, that's one thing. For plots that span months and really get started the weekend before a major US holiday? Really kinda upset they might include this. Does it mean if we didn't check for new dialogue every day from when the Faerie Festival ended, we're out? Or was it only once the first actual "step" happened? I'm hoping that TJNT will address this potential plot achievement when they're back in the office. I know there's been a number of people who have already missed a day, because they checked elsewhere, saw there were no updates, and didn't go to the Neo page.
I guess I'm mostly miffed they'd do this with a plot, because while we've all come to expect it with events, it's not been something with plots (that I can recall, at least).
/endrant