The Nibbler

* Ticker Time!

The Harbour Chrome Nannybot parts stock is running low... if you need some stop by soon before they're gone!

What could it MEAAAAAN??? Well, let's stop panicking for a moment and take it bit by bit. No, that sounds too hard. Go back to panicking. And while you're at it, buy your Nannybot Upgrades if you still need them, because they're going to be gone soon.

*And you thought YOU could hoard cheese...
Ever since the Tribal Isles opened, hunters have been hoarding certain supplies and cheeses. We've seen runs of 180 Inferno Havarti and runs of I don't remember how many Crunchy Cheese in Derr Dunes. But this one takes the cake so far: Clifford "Most Patient Hunter Ever" Lim has managed to stockpile 3,000 Magical Havarti. As Ryan Russell said, "Thats insane. 3000 Magical Havarti = 1300 plants (roughly on average) = 2600 Blue Seeds = at least 4000 Shell = 6000 seashells! Insane." Our sentiments exactly, Ryan... but we have to admit it's pretty darned impressive. Follow Clifford's progress in this thread!

* Fun (if pointless) things to do while you are waiting for the horn:

#41. See how many people with your name are ahead of you on the scoreboard.
All you have to do is go to the scoreboard, type in either your first name or your last name, and see how many more of "you" there are, and where you rank amongst them. Then hunt like a maniac while you try to take them all down.
(Editor's note: I pity the fools named "Jessica." Sorry about that, ladies.)

#33. Make meaningless (but fun!) observations about the person above you in a thread.
It's more interesting than it sounds... just go to the thread and ogle the profile picture of the last person who posted. Then post what you thought about when looking at the picture. (If you have a mean or very dirty mind, you might consider some self-censorship, just to keep yourself from looking like a donkey.)

* Feedback Friday*!
*Check it out here if you don't believe me.

We're back for another Feedback Friday with our hosts, Fabulous Franco and Dashing Dave.
Today, they have FIVE groups of questions, and they look like this:

Feedback Questions
Mailbag
Quit Askin' Us!
Artsy Time
Longtail

In the interest of brevity*, they're planning to keep each section to less than four questions.
* Feel free to cackle like a maniac. The track record on 'brevity' is not good.

First up - Feedback Questions for us to answer:
1. There are lots of questions about Limited Edition (LE) traps. In general, how do we feel about them? Like 'em, hate 'em, don't care? How about the ways they're obtained - crafted, sold, etc.?

Apparently we love them. We like the variety, and we like the limited edition-ness. We wonder if the old ones will ever come back, and Dave explains that the answer is really, really NO. No, they won't. This doesn't mean that something with very similar stats won't show up, but if you're wishing for the Polar or the Magma base... you're out of luck.

2. What did we think of the T-shirt contest? Did we like taking part, watching, and seeing what people came up with?

We thought it was a lot of fun seeing the creativity of the designs. The devs thought so too, and apparently everyone in the office ordered at least one of the shirts. Maybe they'll all wear their shirts on the same day for a Feedback Friday... stay tuned for that. The shirts are sold through CafePress, so they can probably be shipped anywhere. Apparently we* want some girly shirts, and some with Dave's face on it.

* I don't know which "we" wants a shirt with Dave's face on it. I think Dave should be very, very scared.

Section Number the Second - The Mailbag! Questions we have for the devs, which they are kind enough to answer for us.
1. Are there plans to change the way the map, the inventory, or the travel page look and/or work?

Short answer: Yes. In Longtail, there will be individual thumbnails for each map piece, and they will be very cool. The map itself is a whole new interface, and in addition to the regular "Map" tab, you'll have a separate tab where you can view the map pieces you've collected. It will be awesome and glorious and fun.

NS*1. If the devs were sent a rainbow mohawk wig, Franco is pretty sure someone would wear it for a Feedback Friday.
*NS = Non-sequitur. 1 = the first one. I'm sure more will come.

2. Are there any plans to add a quantitiy for the "discard item" option? Dave has a good chuckle about this.

The short answer is, "No." But apparently, quite a few hunters* wish they could have the same number of certain items in their inventory. Dave explains that if you're OCD enough to need the same amount of every item, they can only help you so much. In fact, in Longtail the discard option has been removed. Hunters might eventually be able to sell off certain items in shops, and manage their inventory that way. In fact, did you know that you can currently sell your Splintered Wood at the Training Grounds' General Store? Quick! Go try it!

* I laugh at this, but I secretly wish I had the same number of Belt, Shard, and Fang tokens. That would just be awesome. And who hasn't tried to craft peppers or other items in exact multiples of six and missed?

NS2. On the topic of crafting supplies, where do you buy Cheesy Fluffs? Not the Salt Mines... that's where Ionized Salt comes from.
NS3. Why doesn't the Candy Cane base have an LE badge? Perhaps, just maybe, it might be that... it's not actually a Limited Edition trap component. Which means it might, just might, perhaps maybe, make another appearance in the future. Sometime.
NS4. Bryan Shows up and we all have a brief discussion of lunching in Singapore.
NS5. JCS takes a phone call. Details might be missed right about here.
NS6. Bryan is considering a trip to Australia. Bryan sits down. Now we're less dizzy from craning our necks to look up at him.
NS7. If you're in England, visit Michele. She's the HitGrab office over there, and she rocks. (Make sure you add extra 'L's to her name.)
NS8-13. Bryan says they're in Canadia. It snows year round and you have to watch out for polar bears and it's just terrible. Dave knocked over a moose on the way to work one day, and then he had to fight a polar bear and that was bad... and that's why they can't sell action figures.
NS 13.5. The polar bears and the grizzlies were fighting this year, causing global warming and less winter. But they still can't sell action figures. Bryan is going back to work now. And we're discussing... MouseHunt!!! We're somewhere* in the Mailbag.
* I did the best I could, people. I think we're on Mailbag 3.0, but I could be off by a percent or two.

3. The Harpy is now attracted to Radioactive Blue Cheese in the Lagoon.

It was supposed to be this way all along, but apparently it wasn't working as intended. (Read: they forgot to turn that part on.) Dave found this out by hunting there with RB himself. At any rate, the problem is now fixed - if you're hunting in the Lagoon with RB, you'll occsionally attract a Harpy. Not that this is a good strategy, but there you have it.

Section Number Three: QUIT ASKIN' US!!!
1. Are you going to update the contents of Unstable Curd or Mysterious Boxes? Yes. Put your ideas in the ideas and suggestions section, and then QUIT ASKIN' US!

2. What can we do with Eggnog? What can we do? When can we do it? Give us a hint!! Dave's only response is: QUIT ASKIN' US!

3. What's the possibility of making plushies, toys, and other real-life novelty items? Short answer: "Probably not." The devs are coders, programmers, artists and customer service specialists... not bear stuffers. They wouldn't even know how to begin such a task. But their ears are always open, so if you know how to do it or know someone who does, they're open to the idea.

4. Can we expect new Scoreboards in Longtail? YES, and the devs are excited about it. It won't happen right off the bat when LT launches, but yes. So be patient and QUIT ASKIN' US!

Section Number Four: Artsy Questions!
1. Are there any plans for doing further competitions like the T-shirt contest?
Yeah, sure! The contest was a sort of trial, to see how it worked out, and the response was fantastic. They'll definitely consider doing it or something like it again. Someday.

4*. Are there any plans to animate traps?
Probably not in the game. They like to leave some things to the imagination. Also it would take a lot of bandwidth**. If they do animate a trap, it would be for something like a cutscene or something of that nature, rather than an in-game feature.
* Sorry, best I could do. There were guys inspecting my sewer line and things were not going well.
** I made that part up. It would make things run more slowerly, and I thought 'bandwidth' sounded better than 'slowering.'

5. Can they make different backgrounds for our traps? Sort of like the backgrounds they have for the different locations, but behind the trap setup area. Answer: They've considered it, but it's harder than it sounds. If you are an artist and want to try it, please feel free and then tell the devs how it goes.

NS14. Franco assures us that Longtail will be out in the next 5 years. Dave cringes at his assurance and postulates that we might all get sucked into time as it folds in on itself, and we'll wake up tomorrow to find that it's the year 3090 and Longtail is 1080 years overdue. This is why they don't give dates... we'd be REALLY disappointed if it was 1080 years late.

Section Number Five and Final! Longtail specific questions:
1. Will the Longtail interface be more or less friendly to 3rd party scripts? The short answer is: "No change." The devs don't officially endorse any of those scripts, because they aren't developed by HitGrab and therefore they can't be 100% certain how they all work. Anything that refreshes the page or plays the game for you will land you in the Stockade. Other scripts are potentially harmless. So in short/long, they'll still be usable but not endorsed by the devs. Do your homework and stay safe.

2. They mentioned a higher-level area for everyone above Legendary rank. Dave says that it'll be the second or third release after Longtail debuts. Hunters want to know if that means about 3 months? Unfortunately it's just too soon to know, but they certainly hope it will be less than three months.

3. Tournament chests and tokens will be the first content release after Longtail launches.

4. So... Longtail. How's it going, devs? Dave assures us that things are going well. All of the major features are in and running, and the beta testing team is busy hunting down bugs so the devs can continue streamlining and polishing it up for the open beta. Right now it's comprised of a random pool of testers, who are randomly cycled. This means that if you aren't a beta tester, tomorrow you could be. Likewise if you are (or were) a beta tester, you might log in one day and find that you no longer have access. It looks a lot like this:





This is not a personal thing and it's not done to peeve you... the devs would just rather spend time actually developing Longtail for release than spend time developing a Beta Tester Application process. So if you get to test, test while you can. Very soon, they'll be ready for the open beta and everyone will be able to come check it out prior to the final release.

Finale: Rapid Fire Q and A
- Monday Mystery Mouse... maybe this Monday!
- Franco is trying to look more homeless, so he's not shaving until after LT is released.
- The Silth is hard to catch because he's a difficult mouse. Otherwise he'd be easy to catch.
- The Acolyte can be caught with the Acronym.
- Monster Mice are still out.
- The Devs are asked for SB, but they are not allowed to give it out or sell it.
- The old toolbar is gone. It was crashing the servers and it must be shunned.
- Can we sell potions in LT? MAYBE.
- There's no notification if you're selected for beta testing. Just check. It's an informal beta.
- Franco likes plain pepperoni pizza and hunting in the dojo.
- The Hope mouse is still out, but is very rare.

This concludes the "brief" 45-minte Feedback Friday session. Stay tuned next week, when Dave remembers Franco's name.


Quote of the Day goes to Krystle Hale:

"http://apps.facebook.com/mousehunt/chat.php"

MouseHunter of the Day
New questions and answers coming soon to a Section Two near you. Check out the Weekend Edition for more details!








A very Nibblery selection of always-useful links
Over time, we hope to expand this section to include a lot of links that would be useful to hunters of all shapes and stripes. Pretty soon, the standard shrug-off reply to forum questions won't be "Check the Wiki", it'll be "Check the Nibbler"!

Official Links -Sound the Horn -The MouseHunt Wiki -MouseHunt app info page -Feedback Fridays (on USTREAM) -MouseHunt Chat	Nibbler Links -Our Fan Page -Submit a News Tip -The Nibbler on Blogger -The latest 20 editions	Tools and Resources -Pooflinger's MouseHunt Tools -MouseHunt Analytics -MouseHunt Google Spreadsheet -Forbidden Grove tracking thread -Tribal Isles Cheatsheet
Guides -The MouseHunt Guide by Jester Nim -MouseHunt for Dummies -JP's Concise MouseHunt Guide -Spheniscine's MouseHunt Walkthrough -Sean's Guide to MouseHunt	MouseHunt Records -Most catches (single breed) -Most consecutive (single breed) -Heaviest catch (single breed)	Organizations -AN/AM -MHK -MHGSC -MHA -MDS -MGOTL -SBPI -TBP
Forum Information -Recent News and Updates Guidelines -Newcomer's Lounge Guidelines -Support: Read this first -Tournament suggestion topic	Useful/Interesting Threads -The Wiki Support Thread -MouseHunt Comics by Trevor Hastings -Determining the role of Luck (also here) (Got another? We'll post them as they come in!)	Useful/Interesting part 2 -Protecting yourself from scams (courtesy GIH)

If you've got a link that you think is missing, then be sure to let us know.