Change drop rate/location for snake vertebrae/head collectables

tomaO2

Sodbuster
So, grind is an issue with some players. Personally, I haven't minded it, but your mileage can vary.

There is one item that I feel is unnecessary annoying to get though, the snake vertebrae. This is in contrast to the snake head. The snake head can be acquired in three locations, whereas the vertebrae can only be found in a single location, but you need two vertebrae, as opposed to a single head. Making the head, the object you need only one of, more common than the vertebrae, of which you need two, seems just grindy for the sake of it.

Moreover, one of the locations for the snake head is the same location as the vertebrae. I dug up the snake head multiple times while digging for the vertebrae, and I still don't have any additional copies of the vertebrae, even though I have multiples of every other fossil. The Ginger Island fossils are mainly there just to explore the various aspects of the island. There is no need for both the snake head and vertebrae to both be available on the western beach. I would go further and say that the head should be a fishing item only, since it's the only fossil item that can be fished in the first place.

I feel if you altered the locations where these two items drop, it would make the search a more enjoyable experience.
 

imnvs

Local Legend
Um, not to nitpick, but the snake skull isn't the only fished fossil. Both the fossilized ribs and spine can both be fished too.

Still, I get what you're saying. The snake vertebrae are almost always the last for me to find (unless it's the bat), and it is because of there only being a solitary location in which they can be found and because of all the other things that can be found at that location.
 
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tomaO2

Sodbuster
The wiki says that the vertebrae can only be gained from the dig spots, and the parrot said that this is what you have to do to. I also spent some time fishing and never pulled up a vertebrae.

To make that statement I assume you speak from personal experience. Regardless, the point stands. At least the issue with the bat seems to be a bug, but when fixing that, I think the drop rate for the snake part could be increased a tad. Getting two of those things was the last item on my Ginger Island list, by a large margin.
 

imnvs

Local Legend
No, I'm not saying you can get the vertebrae from fishing. You said the skull was the only fossil to be got from fishing:
I would go further and say that the head should be a fishing item only, since it's the only fossil item that can be fished in the first place.
I'm just making sure you know that that isn't true. The ribs and spine can both be fished too. Both have at least another way to find them as well, but both can be fished, just like the skull can be but is also found elsewhere.

It's something of a distraction from what seems to be your primary complaint, though, that the vertebrae are frustratingly difficult to collect... and I agree with that complaint. Either the bat or vertebrae is always the last for me to find too, and most of the time it's the last vertebra that is it. I think that having the skulls not be able to be found in artifact spots on the west side of the island would be a good thing, because having them available at the island farm dilutes your chances of getting the vertebrae... and the skull can be found in at least two other locations, and isn't uncommon at those locations, in my experience.
 

Bilqy

Greenhorn
I found the vertebrae annoying too, and seeing a skull pop out of the ground instead looks like a troll face. Artifact spots being the only way to obtain vertebrae felt like the game was asking me to not use the new farm because it would reduce potential artifact spot spawns. Even then it felt like I was getting maybe 3 artifact spot spawns per week, tops. I may have just been unlucky, though. The tiny dig site on the north side seems to spawn an artifact spot just about daily, I wish the island farm did too.
 

tomaO2

Sodbuster
To get the spines, I was scanning the beach every day, and there were a number of days without a single worm spot. Meanwhile, the dig site is the single most plentiful spot to find worms in the game. Getting anything that spawns there is easy.

Anyway, since the snake skull is the only fossil you can fish in the ocean, I would just move the snake skull as a fishing thing exclusively. Just give all the fossils their own exclusive area. The goal, as far as I can tell, is to make you explore all the areas of the Island, so just lean into this a bit more.

As was said though, my primary complaint is how rare the snake spine pops up, so I don't super care what method is used to increase it, just do it. I'm saying this as someone that will defend the vast majority of the grind as being fun as well, but the snake spine (and auto-petter), is my exception.
 

ReneeChanlin

Cowpoke
So, grind is an issue with some players. Personally, I haven't minded it, but your mileage can vary.

There is one item that I feel is unnecessary annoying to get though, the snake vertebrae. This is in contrast to the snake head. The snake head can be acquired in three locations, whereas the vertebrae can only be found in a single location, but you need two vertebrae, as opposed to a single head. Making the head, the object you need only one of, more common than the vertebrae, of which you need two, seems just grindy for the sake of it.

Moreover, one of the locations for the snake head is the same location as the vertebrae. I dug up the snake head multiple times while digging for the vertebrae, and I still don't have any additional copies of the vertebrae, even though I have multiples of every other fossil. The Ginger Island fossils are mainly there just to explore the various aspects of the island. There is no need for both the snake head and vertebrae to both be available on the western beach. I would go further and say that the head should be a fishing item only, since it's the only fossil item that can be fished in the first place.

I feel if you altered the locations where these two items drop, it would make the search a more enjoyable experience.
All of this and ALSO....if you get excited about your new farm and plant a ton of renewing seeds, you lose potential artifact spots. I've got a play-through where I'm stuck on zero snake vertebrae for years, despite having mods out to auto-collect the artifacts. Enthusiastically planting out your new crop fields in a farming game shouldn't be punished by getting stuck and never progressing.
 
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