The Nibbler

Dave welcomes us without Franco but with very spiky hair. It's June 4, 2010. (Nice guess, Dave!) Apparently, Dave ranked up to Baron but didn't even notice until someone pointed out that there was a thread about it. (Turns out "someone" was The Nibbler.)

Franco is late, so Dave says we should give him a hard time when he finally shows up. And now, to business.

For today, we have 2 things:


Dave didn't even number the questions because it's more than he can count. (Fortunately, the Nibbler Cave is equipped with calculators of all sizes. No task is too big or too small for the wall of calculators.)

1. Eggnog?
- Soon. Dave warns that it might not be as exciting as we're anticipating. If you're expecting something amazingly epic you might be just a teeny bit let down. (Cue the crushing of hopes and the onslaught of threads in the Tavern complaining about the buildup.)

2. When Longtail is released, can we have a content update every 3-4 months?
- Dave laughs. every 3-4 months is INSANITY. The devs are planning content updates MUCH more regularly than that... more like one significant update (new area, new traps, etc.) and one minor update (new mouse in an old location etc.) That's right, folks, we're talking two content updates each and every month! Goodbye, sleep... we hardly knew ye. The increase in update frequency is possible because MH 3.0 is built for easy updating. In the old (current) MouseHunt, getting the Balack update in took about 3 days of coding. In MouseHunt 3.0 (also known as Longtail), the same job took about 2 hours of work. And that's really what all of this waiting around for MH 3.0 has been about - rebuilding the framework so that content and features can be added more easily.

3. With the release of Longtail, will the Unstable Curd be updated to produce other cheeses when poked?
- Yes! The possible results of poking Unstable Curd will be updated to include Gnarled, Wicked Gnarly, and Limelight Cheeses. How many of each? Dave doesn't remember exactly, but it's in line with the other cheese possibilities and the difficulty of obtaining them through other means.

4. What happened to the Monday Mystery Mice and weekly events?
- They've been monitoring feedback and figuring out what kinds of events are most well received. Firesalt Friday was aimed at Knights and above, so it was well received by them but not so much by everyone else. Things that are aimed at the entire player base generally are not well received by higher-ranking players. So they're working on it, mulling it over, and constantly striving to make the game better.

SN (sidenote) 1 - Dave suggests a 'Cute Mouse' event, which would obviously include the Curious Chemist, and Nugget. Although apparently Jacob has drawn a new mouse and it's the cutest mouse in the game. It's hugging a piece of cheese... how can you resist that?

Right about here, Joel streaks FBF. Well, he's fully clothed, so we can't call it streaking, but he was visible for about that long. He said, "Hi, guys."

SN 2 - Someone in the chat room points out that waiting for the Clock su... is miserable. Dave says there's a new trap coming out that's in between the Bottomless Grave and the Clock. (Didn't we just have one of those? The Chrome Nannybot?) And no, there's nothing better than the Clockapult coming out anytime soon.

5. In crafting, does your chance of failure decrease as you gain ranks?
- Yes. Your chance of fail equals one out of the number of slots available including red. If you have 4 slots, your chance of fail is 1 in 4. They're thinking of ditching the red slot anyway, because at higher levels you never fail and at lower levels you're so likely to fail that you might as well not bother trying.

6. Will we keep the sylvan in the Jungle of Dread?
- YES. (Stop whining.)

7. Have they considered having mice drop vanilla pods so you could get more than one bean at a time?
- They think it's a great idea, and will probably add this when they add new mice to the Jungle.

8. Mobsters are dwindling due to technical limitations with the current build. They'll fix it later, but for now just accept that there might be one or two still running around but that's it.

Franco shows up sixteen minutes late. Chaos ensues. Nobody remembers to give him a hard time about being late. OK, one or two people, but they were washed away by the tide of Franco-love that hit the Chat room.

9. Will Balack drop loot, and if so will the loot be given to players who've already caught him?
- There are no immediate plans to have him drop loot. It's something they're considering, and no it won't be retroactive. If he starts dropping loot, you'll have to go back and catch him again. Unless you're waiting to go after him until he starts dropping something, and in that case you might be waiting... forever. So it was a kinda sorta not really answer. Chew on that and plan your hunting strategy accordingly.

SN 3 - Are the devs stressed? Dave says, "Nah." When they get stressed they take a break and set off some fireworks and come back refreshed. Nobody's shooting up the place, and since the only options are "shooting up the place" and "not stressed" then obviously nobody's stressed. Besides, they've been working on Longtail for longer than we've been anticipating it, so it's really pretty routine.

10. When will the iPhone app be ready? 3 months? 6 months? End of time?
- It's done. It needs a little more testing, and it needs for Longtail to be done, but that's it. It's done.

11. Will they consider making Vengeful Vanilla only attract Liches and Balack?
- It already attracts way more Liches, which is what it's supposed to do. (It's supposed to be hard, people.) You get more points because at higher ranks it takes longer to level up, so they're leveling us faster. Attraction rates, catch rates, and points are balanced for the goals of the area, and it's working exactly as they intended.

12. Are there any plans to fix the toolbar?
- A new one is built (thanks, Paul) and just needs a little testing and for Longtail to be released.

13. Why do cheese prices vary from location to location?
- Originally it was to make travel a little more strategic, so you'd have to plan how long you wanted to be in an area to know how much cheese to buy to make it worth your travel costs. (Surely, someone else remembers when it cost 19,500 gold to get to the Lab. You didn't go in there with just a few pieces of Swiss, I'm telling you!) Travel makes more sense in Longtail, and things are more standardized. You'll have to think about where you want to go and how much cheese you need - it's about strategy. Franco doubts it will make a difference, but time will tell.

14. How long into Longtail before we get Tournaments back?
- There are a bunch of Tournament updates being worked on, but they won't be ready for the initial launch. Tournaments can be improved to be a lot more fun. It's just very lengthy to program especially for the number of players we have doing tourneys. They will be shut off when Longtail is released, so get your Tourney hunting in NOW. Fortunately there will be enough new stuff in Longtail that we shouldn't go through Tournament Withdrawal Syndrome right away. (Hopefully. Some of you are serious tournament junkies, so it's hard to say.)

15. Would they increase the number of peppers we get from seeds?
- Yes, ever so slightly. The range will still be from 1-5, but the weights will be different. Or something like that - my mother in law had stopped by and I had to look away from the screen for a few minutes. Something about being range-oriented instead of slot-oriented.

SN 4 - How often do they look at the Ideas and Suggestions Forum?
- Michele looks in there all the time, and passes interesting and promising ideas on to the devs. Dave sometimes checks it out himself. At this point, Dave shares with us his morning routine:

Dave wakes up and turns off the alarm clock, which is playing music. He reaches for his phone, sounds his horn, and moves back to Balack's Cove since he got washed out while sleeping. He reads the Nibbler if there is one, and scrolls down to Ideas and Suggestions if he has time. Sometimes he'll reply to something. (All that before his feet hit the floor. Go Dave!)

There's just one question. A lot of people have been wondering for a long time the answer to this question. Franco wonders if we can guess what it is. And we can. Say it with me now:


Franco replies:

How about them apples? Franco DID shave because he expected Longtail last Tuesday, but then Murphy stopped in and dropped a copy of his Law and whammo... here we are again.

As you might expect, the chat room explodes. Dave and Franco urge us to SLOW DOWN, PEOPLE!!! This is going to be a process. They are ready and it's going to happen, and they're prepared with fire extinguishers and hazmat suits just in case there's some sort of major disaster. You won't need to keep track of your stats. Dave has done this a million times now, and it's feeling pretty routine. Unfortunately they will not be able to transfer our journals at all. So when you first log in, your journal will be blank. You'll start with a new one at your first horn. Get used to the idea now, because there is nothing they can do to fix it - but at least it will only bother you for a day or two.

There will be downtime, and plenty of it. They're planning to take MouseHunt down at 8:00am on Tuesday, June 8 Eastern US Time. It could be down for 12-13 hours. As one chatroom hunter asked, "Does this mean we have to spend time with our families :("? Well, you don't have to do that. But you might want to go to work or something, because it's bound to be a long day. Maybe they'll leave the Feedback Friday Ustream running all day so we can band together in our withdrawal. If you're fresh out of ideas, join this thread and brainstorm ideas about what to do with MouseHunt unavailable.

Here's the official News Post regarding Longtail's release. Go read it, and then come back. Or read the rest of this, and then go over there. Your choice, but don't miss it!

And do not fear, because all that waiting will most definitely be worth it. Longtail (soon to be known only as MouseHunt 3.0) will launch with a new area called the King's Gauntlet. It's the king's personal challenge to MouseHunters, and it's going to take some work. Dave explains that you'll work your way up floors of the tower using cheese that you gather at each level, to hopefully get the big guy at the top. Kind of like Furoma, but "bzzzzzssshhh." (We assume that means "with a high-powered elevator.") And that big mouse at the top will be worth some serious bucks - 379,000 points and 300,000 gold (plus or minus 10). In order to reach the top, you'll need to face mice of every power type in the game (except Parental) and your chances for completing the quest only get good when you're a Hero or above. Players of any level can access the area, but without the higher-level traps they're likely to dash out with their heads down and their tails between their legs.
Dave says it will be a great challenge. He muses to himself that if you were really, REALLY lucky you could catch the big guy in as little as 8 hunts, but that the chances of that are .000000something. This little comment sparked quite the discussion on the boards, when hunters heard "8 hunts" as "8 months" and got a little hot under the collar. Let us clarify:

Dave said that the absolute minimum number of hunts needed to catch the Big Baddy would be 8. And that there is a .000000x chance of doing it in 8 hunts. So yes, possible but highly, highly, extremely highly and did we mention highly unlikely. In short, it will take a while to catch this mouse, but not 8 months. So breathe deeply and relax, and just wait to see what comes next, OK?

Needless to say, the news about Longtail's imminent release spread like wildfire. Questions about the version upgrade are many. Here are some that the Nibbler Mice managed to bring in before press time:

Question: Will we need to re-enter all of our crafting recipes?
Answer: No, they'll all be pre-loaded.

Question: Will there be trapchecks during downtime?
Answer: Nobody knows, but it's not likely. Watch this space for further info (we hope)

Question: Can we still use our mobile phones to access MouseHunt after Longtail is released?
Answer: None official, but given that it's still a facebook application you should be able to access it through facebook on your phone, if your phone supports any sort of browser.

-JCS, off to get some sleep before the new stuff comes out.





MouseHunter of the Day

Herman Didier Ng
Mousehunter of the Day
Herman Didier Ng(Or Hermbeh)
Hunter's Title: Knight(1%)
http://apps.facebook.com/mousehunt/hunterprofile.php?snuid=1819495306
1. If you were a mouse, what type would you be and what would you do to escape the traps set out for you?
- I would be the Shelder, resisting the urge to come out to have some cheese... *spies Gouda* hang on awhile, please.

2. How much cheese do you eat in a day? Which MH cheese are you most likely to eat in real life? Would you ever consider crafting cheese at home?
-Here's to all Zombehs out there- MEH LURVES CHEESE! DOUGHNATE ME SOME!!
Crafting? Bleh. Mee iz too lazies.


3. Have you skipped anything important just to sound the horn (ie school, work, sleep)? Did you enjoy it?
-*takes out dictionary, zombeh can now spell properleh*
Err, skipped a few cups of Coffee? :O


4. Which mouse would you most like to meet? (Assuming the mice could talk, of course.) What questions would you ask that mouse in an interview?
- I would like to meet Walter. I mean, he's ancient but still really fit.


5. When was the last time you caught a mouse in real life?
- None with my BHT(Bare Hands Trap) yet, but hopefully my CNT will be completed soon. The Trapsmith really has slow hands.


6. What is your favorite trap in the game and why?
- CCT. I'm the only one in class who has it xD It got my hydra, and it once went 9/10 against Derr Big 3


7. Do you think you could beat an Aged Mouse at chess?
- I've beaten my dad like 2/100 times so.... yeah.


8. What was the last occasion where you caught a rare or difficult mouse with a ridiculously low amount of cheese?
- I caught my Acolyte with 16 Runic, Dragon in 28 IH and Shelder in 10 Gouda. Consecutively!


9. What has been the worst decision of your MouseHunt career, in hindsight?
- Buying the Snowglobe, although it helped me get all the loot for CCT in 2 days


10. If the Ornament Mouse, Bottled Mouse, and Lambent Crystal Mouse were having a fight, who would win and why?
- Staring at the wall would be more interesting. Really. Even a white wall. With nothing on it. Seriously.

The Forum Enrichment Center
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This contest is very straightforward. The Nibbler likes it when the forums are a-hoppin' with threads that are a-rockin'. So we're going to PAY people who help bring the goodness to the forums. Yep, it's true! Here's how it works:
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There is no limit to how many times you can submit, or be the one submitted. But you CANNOT SUBMIT YOUR OWN THREAD (OR POST)! This is not a popularity contest... And besides, the best Nibbler mentions are the unexpected ones! 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"!

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