Currently, the best way to farm mats for episodes 17.2 (varmeal tickets), 18 (amethyst fragments), and 19 (Flower Petals) is by farming the maps/dungeons. That's because farming the maps have increased drop rates for these materials while the quests themselves seem to have the original values for the rewards.
I would be surprised if anyone actively does these side quests after finishing the episode. I would be even more surprised if anyone did these side quests as a means of farming those materials.
My recommendation is to increase the amount of rewards for completing the side quests.
My goal here is not to make side quests overshadow farming in dungeons. Rather my goal is to make doing side quests a viable alternative way to farm these materials.
Additionally, these rewards should be increased after a certain reputation amount as to not make it so that people get a significant amount more from finishing the main quest for the first time. e.g. Once you complete all of episode 18 and its side quests once you get to 1000 reputation. So after 1000 reputation you should be able to gain the additional rewards from the side quests.
No change to rewards for the main quest.
