[SPOILER] Survey for those who have completed the Secret Library

haven't finished and I suspect I am far from it with both my young(level 18) and old(level 50) heroes. I think and I know now that I skipped a lot of steps having the device fully upgraded from the ruins, which allowed me to open a lot of doors very quickly. With the young hero I am still trying to realise how I can advance without the device. I met Jack very early and died very early. His identity wasn't really a surprise or I kind of expect it. The arsenal I got really quickly although it is useless since it is requiring implementation of space age. 

Until now I love it, it has all the old ingredients, especially the frustration, lol. I, for one, am waiting for more people to start playing, maybe more minds are indeed better than one or there is a hidden brainiac amongst us. 

At least i found a way to avoid Jack since I don't know yet if he can or should be killed:)

Well, done, although i used the device and I still don't know how it can be solved without it. I lost quite a lot of units unnecesarly because I wanted to make sure I can defeat him, after dying so many times. It was great, thank you, because so many things can be done in different ways. I will go there with every hero and I bet everytime I will find something new.

Thank you for a wonderful experience!

Some questions to those who have completed the Secret Library and Act I:

    Some questions to those who have completed the Secret Library and Act I:

1.     How long did it take to beat the location in general? 3/4 hrs, but didn´t completely beat the location, still 1 quest to go

2.     What is the most frustrating part of this location and which was the most fun for you? Most frustrating is that I can´t find anything in the ruins to fix the screen/terminal (or I might miss tools?). Most fun...everything is fun, because it is new, you have to figure out things, I like the story, graphics are nice

3.     How did you managed to managed to pass the forcefields? I have managed to disable energy emitter to open the forcefield door; I could blow up some terminals and others I don't know anymore, just lucky ?

4.     Did you reached the Arsenal? How? Yes, reached the arsenal by opening the arsenal door at the terminal in the middle

5.     Have you managed to fetch the information from the Data Center? How? Not all, still need to fix one terminal, replacing the GPU

6.     Were you surprised by the Jack of Swords reveal or was it expected? It was not a big surprise, maybe a bit expected

7.     How hard was the fight/puzzle in the basement? How fast did you figured it out? How much units did you lost before figuring it out? The fight was hard, needed aprox. 85 fights only hero was fighting (without units), so no lost of units. Hero never died, but after 8 rounds (in every fight) Jack died..

8.     How hard the puzzles of the location was in general comparing to other quest locations. Not that hard, but couldn't figure out what the effect was of pushing the buttons in walls

9.     How did you kill the final boss? How many units did you lost in the process? How hard was to figure it out on how to actually kill him?The final boss killed me and Jack of Swords immediately, or maybe I chose the wrong dialogue lines, I am not sure

10. Did you spare the final boss in the end? Maybe I didn't meet the final boss after all, the final boss killed me, no chance to spare her

11. What kind of items did you find in the Secret Library and it's surroundings? The usual items, not many though, 1 arithmometer

12. How many secrets did you find in Secret Library? 3 or 4 secrets so far

13. Did you find all gems in the Secret Library?No, I miss 2 gems

14. How did you like conversations in the Secret Library? Did they catch your attention or standing in your way? Are they too long/descriptive or good enough? Have you noticed the interactivity of them and various options that are unlocked in conversations depending on certain conditions? There weren't that many conversations.. and the ones that mattered, I went through them too quickly. They were certainly not standing in my way.. So need to pay more attention to them next time

15. How do you compare the Secret Library with a) previous main quest locations like Opposition Hideout/Keepers Village/Ruins of New Kyiv b) Karfafree c)Thornsville d)Gypsy Tabor e) Preddo Mountain f) original Totem Tribe locations if you played it. It is hard to compare, they all have their charme and in a way they all are unique. 

16. How do you like the size of the Secret Library in terms of content? Too big / could be split into multiple locations? Too small? Good enough? I would say good enough, preferred it bigger, but that relates more to the fact that the novelty has now worn off 

17. State any other things you have found interesting in the Secret Library, not mentioned specifically above. The interesting part of the 85 fights was, that suddenly I impressed Jack of Swords and he gave up. Perhaps it was so unexpected, because I was still dismanteling the forcefields. Jack could still go on and charge at 1 forcefield

18. What do you think about this storyline? Yes, love the storyline, keep on going and thank you for this new experience!! We have had similar surveys for the:

• Opposition Hideout
• Keepers Village and Ruins of the New Kyiv
• Karfaree
• Caves
• Dungeons
• Anomalies
• Cultural Figures
• Places of interest
• Mines
• Thornsville
• Gypsy Tabor
• Underwater locations
• Preddo Mountain
  

They were quite helpful so if you haven't filled up those, it would be great if you will do them too.

1. How long did it take to beat the location in general?  - First time round I spent easily 8+ hours due to not knowing what to do, getting stuck and exploring every aspect, searching for secrets etc.
2. What is the most frustrating part of this location and which was the most fun for you?  - The most frustrating for sure was not being able to gain hints or clues when stuck.  Even went back and spoke with Thorn, Main Keeper, Monk at Preddo, Gromus and Friends, etc.  None of who had anything much to say.     The other thing that frustrated me was death on completion of ACT, only because i had to meditate for 5 hours before I could return and finish exploring :D.  The most fun for me for sure was the final fight.  Very reminiscent of a boss level in a platform arcade game.  loved it!  
3. How did you managed to managed to pass the forcefields? I assume you refer to the forcefield across doors.  I used the gadget from ruins.  I have yet to find another way.
4. Did you reached the Arsenal? How?   I did not end up entering the arsenal.  I looked for a few ways but gave up.  I assumed data clearance needed to be obtained from Ruins.
5. Have you managed to fetch the information from the Data Center? How? Yes, but only the Social Information by completing DATA MINING quest. Is there another way? or is it possible to gain further information?
6. Were you surprised by the Jack of Swords reveal or was it expected? I thought it was a good twist
7. How hard was the fight/puzzle in the basement? How fast did you figured it out? How much units did you lost before figuring it out?  When I entered Jack killed me pretty much immediately.  The quest log says: "I need to find a way to disable it before I can confront him". Twice i entered and died. There were no fight logs.  So I assumed it is not possible to fight him at all and I must find a way to disable the forcefield BEFORE entering the room.  Spent 2 days looking around for an answer before working it out.  I wonder if Jack coud perhaps start a little further from the door?  Or perhaps the Quest log could be re-worded to something like "I must avoid contact with him before.." idk.  After that, the puzzle was not hard, but it should not be under the pressure of running :D.
8. How hard the puzzles of the location was in general comparing to other quest locations.  In general I found the puzzles more challenging than other locations, which is great!
9. How did you kill the final boss? How many units did you lost in the process? How hard was to figure it out on how to actually kill him?   I Killed the final boss by disabling forcefields and destroying healing points.  This was not too difficult to work out.  It took many rounds of fighting to accomplish.  I went in with perhaps 110 Industrial age units and came out with perhaps 50.  I lost more than necessary for sure.  I think this should be achievable for a level 15 with Med or Ren age troops.
10. Did you spare the final boss in the end?  Well, *I* did ;) I will try the other way next time
11. What kind of items did you find in the Secret Library and it's surroundings? The usual.  Consumables, Chest, Some secrets,etc.
12. How many secrets did you find in Secret Library?  Yet to return and finish the Isolation Room and Basement, however i think 3 or 4.  I noticed you added Secret Library to the "Beyond Oasis" quest, but it is not possible here to tell how many of the secrets where for the Secret Library.  Would be great if there was some way to determine how many were left in each particular location, perhaps a Quest per Location rather than combined?  Also, I notice that the Quest "Jack of All Mistrades - Finish Act 1" is not marked as complete. something for you to do!
13. Did you find all gems in the Secret Library? No, not yet, and it is unlikely I will bother.  Please increase the reward to match the effort :D
14. How did you like conversations in the Secret Library? Did they catch your attention or standing in your way? Are they too long/descriptive or good enough? Have you noticed the interactivity of them and various options that are unlocked in conversations depending on certain conditions?  I enjoyed the conversations and thought they were of the right length/level.  I have yet to enjoy finding trying some of the alternative options, and love the fact that it can change the way the story plays!
15. How do you compare the Secret Library with a) previous main quest locations like Opposition Hideout/Keepers Village/Ruins of New Kyiv b) Karfafree c)Thornsville d)Gypsy Tabor e) Preddo Mountain f) original Totem Tribe locations if you played it.   - I think Secret Library is my favourite of all of TT2 locations for overall experience.  TT1 was almost a different game in comparrison, so i dont compare.  If i had to pick a least favourite it would be Preddo given the amount of time spent randomly walking through the maze combined with the time spent growing the acorn tree.  I did however really enjoy the experience of Preddo otherwise, just not the time burning. 
16. How do you like the size of the Secret Library in terms of content? Too big / could be split into multiple locations? Too small? Good enough?  I think the size is fine when compared with the others.  Keeping in mind that we would move on to complete other ACT's within 150 days, i dont think making them longer is particularly necessary.
17. State any other things you have found interesting in the Secret Library, not mentioned specifically above.  I found the painting room maze  new & fun, it could have been bigger :D
18. What do you think about this storyline?  I am really enjoying the storyline, later down the road it would be great to see some extra divergence added where a conversation shift in ACT1 could lead to an entirely different experience in ACT 2,3,4. :D   

Overall I really enjoyed the entire Secret Library. Awesome work.  I am sure it will provide more fun on revisits with new things to find.  I am already moving on with my 19 day old hero to try it without advantages!  A bug to fix.  Jack is still alive and in the basement after the Final Fight is complete :D

1.How long did it take to beat the location in general? 3 days, but 1 day lost cause I couldnt log in due to update issues 

2.What is the most frustrating part of this location and which was the most fun for you? Clicking on everything without finding anything lol! And the resurection part (s) ! The fun was with the items to break  made me smile! 

 3.How did you managed to managed to pass the forcefields? Using the gagdet and in other ways using the terminals.And pushing something we already found in dungeons.  

4.Did you reached the Arsenal? How? yes, found a switch I think. The point is often I've figured out something without not really looking for  - serendipity! 

5.Have you managed to fetch the information from the Data Center? How? Yes, and completed the quest Data Mining. Only 1 info available tho.  After using the gagdet on a terminal I was oblige to go back somewhere to find the missing item. 

6.Were you surprised by the Jack of Swords reveal or was it expected? Expected but suprised how it happen.I will definitely pay more attention in Thornsvile next time.  

7. How hard was the fight/puzzle in the basement? How fast did you figured it out? How much units did you lost before figuring it out?  2 days to figure it out - it was under our noses the solution and you gaved us some hints! But I think everyone is looking for complicate solutions! Died twice in the begining. Jack was impressed and he spared me- and the loops fights started until I've figured out how to desactivate the forcefields. No units losts.  

8.How hard the puzzles of the location was in general comparing to other quest locations. More difficult definitely . i still have 2 forcefields activated , no idea how to desactivate them.

9.How did you kill the final boss? How many units did you lost in the process? How hard was to figure it out on how to actually kill him? The final boss killed me, Jack and my 72 units! In less than 5 secondes!!!  I will have a conversation with Mr. Thorn next I'll see him lol 

10.Did you spare the final boss in the end? N/A 

11.What kind of items did you find in the Secret Library and it's surroundings? Usual ones, manuels and crystals. The 8th pen droved me crazy and the reward in the chest didnt worth it! I was hoping to find the blue key  to open a door but nope! I hope that key is not in one of those spots to dig! 

12 .How many secrets did you find in Secret Library? 3 or 4 I think, 1 BP and 2 or 3 arithmos 

13. Did you find all gems in the Secret Library?Missing 1 . Congratulations for the red one particulary well hidden :) The rewards must be increased when we find all of them   

14.How did you like conversations in the Secret Library? Did they catch your attention or standing in your way? Are they too long/descriptive or good enough? Have you noticed the interactivity of them and various options that are unlocked in conversations depending on certain conditions? Not many conversations there and the one with the final boss turned very shortly. I hope we will have more explanations in chapter  2 or next ones, cause for now I am a bit lost. I will try other options with my next heroes. 

15.How do you compare the Secret Library with a) previous main quest locations like Opposition Hideout/Keepers Village/Ruins of New Kyiv b) Karfafree c)Thornsville d)Gypsy Tabor e) Preddo Mountain f) original Totem Tribe locations if you played it. They are all nice and different, not easy to compare as they are really uniques. The original TT is totally different. I prefere Karfaree personally. 

16.How do you like the size of the Secret Library in terms of content? Too big / could be split into multiple locations? Too small? Good enough? Good enough 

17.State any other things you have found interesting in the Secret Library, not mentioned specifically above.The maze with pictures and the books area are nice. 

18. What do you think about this storyline? I like it and I cant wait to see what's next. I found that the SL is closing nicely the chapter 1 and open lot of opportunities for the futures chapters 

Once again, well done team,thank you for the hard work!

I have spoken with many people now who have completed the Library, and not a single one has managed to find the Blue Key!  I hope it is just well hidden and not a bug.  Please Bers can you confirm it can be found?

Some questions to those who have completed the Secret Library and Act I:

1. How long did it take to beat the location in general? Probably 2-3 days
2. What is the most frustrating part of this location and which was the most fun for you? Most frustrating was final fight with Jack, trying to disable forcefields between fights. Most fun was new mazes, and shock at the end
3. How did you managed to managed to pass the forcefields? Able to overload them
4. Did you reached the Arsenal? How? terminal opened those doors
5. Have you managed to fetch the information from the Data Center? How? Yes, retrieved terminal from school in ruins
6. Were you surprised by the Jack of Swords reveal or was it expected? I was surprized when Thorn became Jack, guess, I won't seduce Thorn in Thornville again lol
7. How hard was the fight/puzzle in the basement? How fast did you figured it out? How much units did you lost before figuring it out? I lost no units, as I fought solo. Died 3 times before I was successful
8. How hard the puzzles of the location was in general comparing to other quest locations. by this point in the game, was able to think a bit outside of the box, but enjoyed the challenge
9. How did you kill the final boss? How many units did you lost in the process? How hard was to figure it out on how to actually kill him? same as #7, Because I had seduced Thorn previously, I only fought Jack for final fight
10. Did you spare the final boss in the end? I did and died anyway
11. What kind of items did you find in the Secret Library and it's surroundings? same gems, manuals, tool for wires
12. How many secrets did you find in Secret Library? 3 or 4
13. Did you find all gems in the Secret Library? don't think so, never checked
14. How did you like conversations in the Secret Library? Did they catch your attention or standing in your way? Are they too long/descriptive or good enough? Have you noticed the interactivity of them and various options that are unlocked in conversations depending on certain conditions? I initially was confused using gadget on terminals and getting same message. Finally clicked on them instead and able to proceed
15. How do you compare the Secret Library with a) previous main quest locations like Opposition Hideout/Keepers Village/Ruins of New Kyiv b) Karfafree c)Thornsville d)Gypsy Tabor e) Preddo Mountain f) original Totem Tribe locations if you played it. Of course, left me wanting Act II
16. How do you like the size of the Secret Library in terms of content? Too big / could be split into multiple locations? Too small? Good enough? I liked the size. I find it hard to believe, we will be able to complete at level 15, but will try with new hero
17. State any other things you have found interesting in the Secret Library, not mentioned specifically above. Ending was a surprize, Hope you get to Act II to find out who next villianess is
18. What do you think about this storyline? Have loved the precursor story from beginning to end

     We have had similar surveys for the:

• Opposition Hideout
• Keepers Village and Ruins of the New Kyiv
• Karfaree
• Caves
• Dungeons
• Anomalies
• Cultural Figures
• Places of interest
• Mines
• Thornsville
• Gypsy Tabor
• Underwater locations
• Preddo Mountain
  

They were quite helpful so if you haven't filled up those, it would be great if you will do them too.

Some questions to those who have completed the Secret Library and Act I:

1. How long did it take to beat the location in general? It took me a long time to find the last pen.... 2-3 days or so to complete 2 out of 3 quests.
2. What is the most frustrating part of this location and which was the most fun for you? finding the gpu was stressful, because my ruins are infested with dragons and I don't have the updated gadget, so I didn't have easy access. I had a great time with Jack in the basement.
3. How did you managed to managed to pass the forcefields? I deactivated those I could, operating on PCs
4. Did you reached the Arsenal? How?  No, I could not find an alternative entrance.
5. Have you managed to fetch the information from the Data Center? How?  Yes, I picked up a gpu from the supermarket ruin.
6. Were you surprised by the Jack of Swords reveal or was it expected? No surprise, I always suspected it.
7. How hard was the fight/puzzle in the basement? How fast did you figured it out? How much units did you lost before figuring it out?  I did not lose units, I always went alone. The first time I died I realised that the combat log was missing. I realised I had to ‘do something else’ . It was not difficult, but I suffered the pressure  :)
8. How hard the puzzles of the location was in general comparing to other quest locations. The puzzles are tough, I haven't solved everything yet.
9. How did you kill the final boss? How many units did you lost in the process? How hard was to figure it out on how to actually kill him?  I did not get to meet the boss. Jack is really too strong for me, he killed me in 3 rounds.
10. Did you spare the final boss in the end? I have not yet had the pleasure of meeting him.
11. What kind of items did you find in the Secret Library and it's surroundings?  many interesting things: marble, wood, gems, crystals, bricks
12. How many secrets did you find in Secret Library? 3
13. Did you find all gems in the Secret Library? No
14. How did you like conversations in the Secret Library? Did they catch your attention or standing in your way? Are they too long/descriptive or good enough? Have you noticed the interactivity of them and various options that are unlocked in conversations depending on certain conditions?  I cannot answer precisely yet, because I have not met the boss. The interaction with Jack was very interesting. I look forward to trying different answers.
15. How do you compare the Secret Library with a) previous main quest locations like Opposition Hideout/Keepers Village/Ruins of New Kyiv b) Karfafree c)Thornsville d)Gypsy Tabor e) Preddo Mountain f) original Totem Tribe locations if you played it.  SL is beautiful and difficult as ruins. Much harder than all the other places, infinitely harder than the totem tribe original (I played it two days ago and almost finished it in a day). I love it. Great job, Bers!
16. How do you like the size of the Secret Library in terms of content? Too big / could be split into multiple locations? Too small? Good enough?  I guess the dimensions are right. But I like it so much that I would like it twice as big.
17. State any other things you have found interesting in the Secret Library, not mentioned specifically above.  the gloomy atmosphere is magnificent and consistent with the graphic appearance of the bronze sphere. It conveys well the idea that something terrible is about to happen. It is emotionally ‘exhausting’ and I liked that a lot. I would have appreciated new, apocalyptic music  :)
18. What do you think about this storyline?  I love it. I am curious to see where you will take us    :))

Some questions to those who have completed the Secret Library and Act I:

1. How long did it take to beat the location in general?

A few days, at some point I left it alone to focus on other quests

1. What is the most frustrating part of this location and which was the most fun for you?

Figuring out what to do after I first died! I think the opening doors / disabling force fields would be fun, but I had the device so it went too quickly

1. How did you managed to managed to pass the forcefields?

Device, but I found some ways that only later I realized were for those that didn't have it. I thought the location would be harder so waited until I had the hero well developed (also, at the beginning there is little to do than visit caves, ruins, etc. so it's easy to first get it and then go with the main quest)

1. Did you reached the Arsenal? How?

Got security clearance

1. Have you managed to fetch the information from the Data Center? How?

I found the missing computer part in some ruin (I thought this was required to move on with JoS, didn't notice it was a side quest)

1. Were you surprised by the Jack of Swords reveal or was it expected?

Not really...

1. How hard was the fight/puzzle in the basement? How fast did you figured it out? How much units did you lost before figuring it out?

I lost only the hero, but multiple times before I figured out I could run fast enough, lol. After I died the first time and the quest said I need to disable his force field I thought I needed to find some way without getting into the basement. There should be some clue that you need to go in there.

1. How hard the puzzles of the location was in general comparing to other quest locations.

Easy.

1. How did you kill the final boss? How many units did you lost in the process? How hard was to figure it out on how to actually kill him?

After the basement it was easy to figure out, and I took a lot of cavalry so that he didn't last more than a few secs each time... Nasty surprise for all my horses at the end though :(

1. Did you spare the final boss in the end?

Yeah, he was my ex non-con lover, so what else could I do...?

1. What kind of items did you find in the Secret Library and it's surroundings?

A few secrets with useful items, but I gave up on finding the blue key

1. How many secrets did you find in Secret Library?

2 or 3, don't remember

1. Did you find all gems in the Secret Library?

Missing 1 or 2, but I didn't destroy all the crystals, so maybe there are some there?

1. How did you like conversations in the Secret Library? Did they catch your attention or standing in your way? Are they too long/descriptive or good enough? Have you noticed the interactivity of them and various options that are unlocked in conversations depending on certain conditions?

I never focus too much on conversations, and Mr JoS never explains anything anyway, so I pressed skip, skip, skip...

1. How do you compare the Secret Library with a) previous main quest locations like Opposition Hideout/Keepers Village/Ruins of New Kyiv b) Karfafree c)Thornsville d)Gypsy Tabor e) Preddo Mountain f) original Totem Tribe locations if you played it.

It was good (better than Karfaree for sure...) but I liked some of the previous ones better (NK, Gypsy and Preddo)

1. How do you like the size of the Secret Library in terms of content? Too big / could be split into multiple locations? Too small? Good enough?

Too small

1. State any other things you have found interesting in the Secret Library, not mentioned specifically above.
2. What do you think about this storyline?

I think it kinda reveals what will happen in the next acts, but in general it's nice. I like it's connection to ruins and to anomalies.

When I like something new in this game, which is almost every time, I say it, so I want to say too when I don't like something: Secret library was terrible on almost every aspects, I really, really wish you work on something else than act 2, the set of locations like dungeons and ruins are also terrible to me but not as much, I really didn't like any of the story locations.

1: It took me almost 2 months to finish because I tried a lot of very imaginative ways to not have to use the phone, then I gave up and used it, what shall be done to skip it must be much less fun and logical than all I tried.

13: I missed only 1 orange gem and I don't care, I don't like hidden objects, so then why did I collect almost all of them you might wonder ? Because this way I can see if I'm missing a part of the location, and here clearly this gem is not anywhere I can see so I'm sure I'm missing a part of the location, but since I'm also missing other things like the GPU, what the bubble where the sphere was does, what the terminal that require specific inputs would do, how to increase the power to high, how to access the hidden map piece, what does pressing all stones in the walls, how to connect the wire with the big gap, what's the point of those 7 little rectangular purple things near the entrance that I never seen elsewhere (I'm still not sure if they do have a purpose or if I lost my time searching because they would be there just for show, if they are there for show I have no idea what they even are supposed to be, I though about trash cans or, I don't know, safety bollards ? but inside a library...) and probably more, it's not like I'm missing just that so I don't care and there is no way I'm gonna try more and more to "solve" those things, I spent too much time trying already and it's not fun, and I want to play Totem Tribe not Myst. At least all those things are optional so it can make sense that they are very hard to solve since they are most likely secrets, but progressing without the phone, which is the intended way, is mandatory so it shouldn't be as hard as a secret.

17: To finish my review, something nor good nor bad, just neutral: for a place called "library", it sure doesn't have many books, but I'm completely fine with that, I understand that it is this way to improve the gameplay rather than realism, just like the ruins locations really don't look like what's left of old cities.