Has anyone really solved the Temple of Baa puzzle in MM6?

[tomchen1989]

At the center of the main hall, there are four doors, each with a sign holding the puzzle.

North door:
"A wooden sign reads: As the winds blow, the seasons change, and only at the end of all can the doors be opened."

East door:
"A silver sign reads: As the winds blow, the seasons change, and only at the end of all can the doors be opened."

South door:
"A copper sign reads: As the winds blow, the seasons change, and only at the end of all can the doors be opened."

West door:
"A lapis sign reads: As the winds blow, the seasons change, and only at the end of all can the doors be opened."

It's easy to find the the correct solution by using trial and error, which requires at most 3+2+1=6 failed tries in this case. The correct solution is that the player should open north (wood), east (silver), west (lapis) and south (copper) door one by one in order, whose initials spell "NEWS".

But why?

The word "news" seems to have nothing to do with the puzzle.

There are some forum topics about this matter:
https://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/41610-m ... n/61730951
https://www.gog.com/forum/might_and_mag ... ions/page2
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?di ... jmd&page=3
http://addictedgamewise.com/might-and-m ... le-of-baa/
But no one has come up with a good answer.

The tip "the seasons change" and the four materials of the signs are likely to be the key of this puzzle, I have a seemingly reasonable solution:
Normally we put the four seasons in this order: spring, summer, autumn and winter:

• Spring is where little plants (wood) start growing
• Summer usually links to sea and the blue color (lapis)
• Autumn is considered yellow - golden - red (which may resemble copper color)
• Winter is white (which may resemble silver)

So the answer should be: north (wood), west (lapis), south (copper) and east (silver).
But it's not the correct answer.

So any idea?

It's been almost 20 years since MM6's release. If it appears no one has solved the puzzle, then there's a problem with the puzzle itself, maybe the game developers mistook the order, maybe wood-lapis-copper-silver is the correct answer.

[Anubis]

Now that you mention it, I never understood this puzzle at all. During one of my playthroughs, I spent an hour trying to make meaning of this puzzle without coming to any reasonable solution. Hopefully the logic isn't something silly like that "binary number" puzzle in MMX, lol.

[Anubis]

Started a new MM6 game. Looked everywhere for clues. Closest I got was this:

Harp - A beautifully carved wooden harp.
Flute - A simple wood flute rimmed with silver.
Chime of Harmony - A set of wind chimes made of brass with copper chains. Etched along the surface of the chimes are symbols of Baa.

To be honest, I think the puzzle is just trial and error.

[Pitsu]

Although incorrect, my initial understanding of this "winds" and "seasons" and "only at the end" was that the doors can only be opened after completing the rest of the dungeon or even later in the game. With this not being the case, I simply bet on the value of the sign materials, which again is misleading. Lapis as material does not exist in later MM games, but is in earlier MM titles (worse, but more expensive than silver), however, there is no copper (but bronze and just slightly better than wood) material in older MM. Third thought was that it could be a reference to some older puzzle, for instance temple of Moo in MM3, but AFAIK no puzzle in previous MM feral sounding temples combines these materials in any way.
In conclusion, I have to agree that there either is a bug with this quest or it is intentionally made for trial and error.

[Avonu]

I didn't play MM6 a long time so I don't remember right now, but didn't Temple of Baa have a scroll with clues?
I find one with description which would sound like answer to this puzzle but I really don't remember, if it was from Temple of Baa or maybe from other location:

"Look to nature where civilization fails- the rocks and trees, the sky and earth all hold a power greater than man."

[Pitsu]

"Look to nature where civilization fails- the rocks and trees, the sky and earth all hold a power greater than man."

Monolith in Silver Cove, where indeed one needed to touch rocks and trees in order to progress.

[Avonu]

OK, thanks.

[Anubis]

Bump. I came up with something. Materials that decay.

Looking at your character's stat sheet, we have the seer's shrines: January as Might, Feburary as Intellect...all the way to the elements of Fire (August), Electricity (September), Cold (October), and Poison (November).

Wood burns (August > Fire > Fire Magic). Silver oxidizes in air (September > Elec > Air Magic). Lapis decays in water (October > Cold > Water Magic). Copper corrodes in acid (November > Poison)

Only logical solution I could come up with that fits (imo, anyway).

[Erisian]

Maybe we are reading too much into this. The clue was probably just to say that you have to click on the doors in the right order before they will open and the rest is left to trial and error. I think it would have been better if the clue was more precise but I can't fathom anything without stretching meaning to near absurd.

[rachmaelbenapplebaum]

Open them on January 1st, Wood, silver, lapis, copper. Chest with mediocre gear and a key that reads "Bathhouse Key" not sure where it goes to. beware, enemies spawn after the chest explodes in your face.

[Anubis]

That isn't what this topic is about. The solution's already known. Some of us were just curious whether there was any logical reasoning behind the solution. Also, welcome to the CelestialHeavens forums.

[Roticet]

Btw, the date doesn't matter. And I think the clues have to do with the various rooms in the Temple of Baa. Cause you have to go through a specific cycle to get all the keys to open all the rooms in the temple. But I've never actually tried to check my hypothesis. So I don't know.

[raekuul]

(lol necropost)

The solution has to do with which wind is associated with each season (but these wind associations are based on the mediterranean winds). The North Wind of the Winter brings ice and snow, the East Wind of Spring brings rain, the West Wind of Summer blows from across the Asian deserts, and the South Wind of Autumn is the only one left.

[eilacomeva]

I've always just assumed it was a small way to annoy people who pirated the game and so didn't have the small strategic guide that comes with it (at least it came with my edition)

[raekuul]

Nah, the anti-piracy check was "The Third Eye Is In The Well"