MHWiki:Current events

Let's Put Dev Updates and Everything Else Here (up to one month, archive anything older). We'll include the newest update into the main page, and we can exclude the others using the NOINCLUDE Tag.

For older updates, visit the Archive.

Notes for Editors

• Please always put the newest news post first (if there are two from the same day, use the timestamp).
• Keep dates in DD Month YYYY format; this is an internationally recognized date format.
• The MHP Template is god-like.
• Use Template:Date so that if we ever change the date format, it'll auto-update.

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News

The Dojo Sensei Awakens!

9 March 2010

It is now week two of the MouseHunt Birthday Celebration!

For the remaining weeks in March we'll be releasing new, challenging mice in existing areas. These mice are meant to be the most powerful mice of their respective regions and act as an accomplishment for hunters looking to prove themselves to be the best of the best!

This week the Terrible Twos mouse has brought the party to Furoma where their antics and noise have awoken an ancient mouse of great power. The party is really heating up -- Keep an eye open for an increased population of Terrible Twos, Present, Birthday and Rockstar mice in both Gnawnia and Furoma.

The Dojo Sensei can be found roaming the Pinnacle Chamber. Be warned -- Hunting the Dojo Sensei is not for the faint of heart! Their swift attacks can come with a penalty of crippled courage, setting back a hunter's points, but their capture is the most lucrative of the Furoma region. The Dojo Sensei mice drop a variety of loot including a set of blueprints for a new physical weapon made of platinum and onyx which is more powerful than the Digby Drillbot!

Attracting a powerful adversary such as the Dojo Sensei is a major part of the challenge of capturing one. Their preference in bait is a strange form of Onyx Marbled Gorgonzola (O.M.G.) made by fusing together Curds and Whey with Onyx Stones using Ionized Salt.

It seems the mysteries of Furoma Onyx are slowly being revealed... who knows what other uses it may have!

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Meanwhile, deep in the labs of Digby...

Upon finishing the design of the Nannybot, the good people at Digby decided she could use a new chassis, one with a little more style and "bling". Unfortunately, the three vital components needed to upgrade the Nannybot were scattered all over the Kingdom by mischievous Terrible Twos mice. This week the first piece of the upgrade appears to have surfaced -- a "Timeout Upgrade" clock. Somehow this upgrade piece has gotten into the hands of the Dojo Sensei!

If you should happen to catch a Dojo Sensei this month then you may be lucky enough to loot a Timeout Upgrade. Digby has also sent their finest hunters to Furoma to collect a stock of parts which they plan to sell at the Harbour General store later this month (when they have collected enough to stock the shelves). These parts don't come cheap, so if you're up for a challenge and want to save a few gold coins, try testing your hunting vigor and catch a Dojo Sensei to obtain a Timeout Upgrade for free!

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Valentines from a Glitchpaw

The Nannybot seemed to attract a few Glitchpaw mice to the party causing a few hunters to be given a "Valentine from the Devs" upon constructing their Nannybots. Unfortunately, these valentines were printed on a strange, extremely bio-degradable paper and have now crumbled to dust. If you had a valentine courtesy of a Glitchpaw, it has been removed from your inventory. Don't worry though, we devs still love you! <3

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This week's release in a nutshell: - The party is heating up -- more Terrible Twos, Present, Birthday and Rockstar mice are out in Gnawnia and Furoma - The powerful Dojo Sensei mouse released in Furoma carrying a variety of loot including a new set of blueprints - A new cheese made from Onyx, Ionized Salt and Curds and Whey - The arrival of the Dojo Sensei seems to have activated the random power of Furoma Onyx... a curious hunter may just find another use for the precious stone - Digby reveals their upgrade for the Nannybot which requires three parts. The first part, a "Timeout Upgrade", is currently available as loot from the Dojo Sensei until the end of this month. This item will also be for sale at the Harbour General store (for a decent amount of coin) later in the month

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SUPER|brie+ Giveaway Competition!

The Dojo Sensei is the first of three new, very powerful mice that will be released this month. These mice pose a serious threat to the Kingdom and has the King worried! To encourage his brave hunters, the King is giving away SUPER|brie+ to whomever catches the most of these mice!

The King will be giving away SUPER|brie+ in the following amounts: 1st Place: $50 of SUPER|brie+ (3,500 pieces) 2nd Place: $25 of SUPER|brie+ (1,600 pieces) 3rd Place: $10 of SUPER|brie+ (500 pieces)

These amounts will be given out not just to hunters who catch the most Dojo Sensei mice, but also to hunters who catch the most of two more new mice that will be released later this month. That's nine winners in total!

The giveaway will end on the last day of March. We'll give more details regarding an exact time as the deadline approaches.

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That's it for this week, MouseHunters! Have fun putting those extra Onyx stones to use and good luck against the Dojo Sensei!

-- Dave Vanderburg

The King's shipment of gifts have arrived but...

7 March 2010

The Terrible Twos mice have stolen them all!

Currently these Terrible twos mice are wreaking havoc all over Gnawnia and now they have been seen spreading the Kings gifts all throughout the kingdom!

Help catch the mice holding out on the goods and put them back into Hunters hands everywhere!

Added Bulletin:

- Rockstar mice have now been spotted in Digby, the training grounds and around Cape Clawed!

- A new special plush has been introduced into the game to commemorate MouseHunts second birthday!

Hurry up and grab these new, remarkable, MUST HAVE items while supplies last!

Happy hunting!

-- Franco D'Auria

Happy Birthday MouseHunt!

7 March 2010

Can you believe we released MouseHunt 2 years ago.

It has been such a journey for us here at HitGrab. We opened the game to all of facebook 2 years ago with what people thought was a silly idea. The first year was such an incredible journey, our team slept very little as we dealt with all the challenges that came with keeping the servers running and adding content.

2 years later we have almost 500 000 people joining us every month with around 175 000 coming back each day. We are blessed to be doing this still and I am blown away by how fast time flies when you are having fun. We here at HitGrab have been lucky in that you, our audience has actively engaged with us and helped us build this game.

We are extremely grateful for your support and will do our best to build the best game and community on facebook. Thanks for playing and being part of our journey.

Happy Birthday MouseHunt!

-- Bryan Freeman

Feedback Friday Recap

5 March 2010

Happy Birthday, MouseHunters!

It was a blast hanging out with hunters in a party-like atmosphere this week during Feedback Friday! We shared some digital cake, did some dancing and answered questions! Many hunters requested a quick summary like the one we posted last week. I'll break down the details below.

What's coming this month:

Gifts! The King is expecting a shipment of gifts and cake to arrive soon for the birthday party! The Terrible Twos mice are sure to have a love for presents and cake... I have a feeling the King may require his hunters to keep Terrible Twos mice under control.

There have been a few rare reports of Terrible Twos mice lurking around the Training Grounds. Larry has knowledge of a very old mouse, rumored to be more powerful than the Master of the Dojo, and is scared that the antics of the Terrible Twos mouse may awaken it. If you're in the Furoma region, have your traps ready!

If the Terrible Twos mouse continues to travel, who knows what powerful, sleeping mice he may awaken... Hope you're up for a challenge, hunters! These new mice will be permanent additions to the game, so if you're not quite ready to take them on they'll still be around when you are!

Player frustrations about releases:

Feedback Friday opened with Bryan addressing some points of frustration regarding the lack of new releases to expand the plot of the game. As the game has continued to grow for two years, adding new mouse areas and other content, and as more and more players joined, the hunt has become more cumbersome. It was clear that some major architecture changes needed to happen to accommodate the game’s growth. For the past six months, we have been focused on "Longtail" - a major rewrite of the entire game, from scratch. As you can imagine, rebuilding something that has been developed for two years, from scratch, is a very large project.

During the development of Longtail, adding content and features to the existing game became a challenge -- new content and features now needed to be added to two versions of the game, doubling the work. This is how much of the content and story being prepared came to be dependent on the release of Longtail.

We're excited to release Longtail and get back to expanding the story line of MouseHunt and adding new areas, mice, traps, etc. Once Longtail is out, we are planning to have a regularly scheduled day for content updates. The number of veteran players in the game has grown in the past six months, and we absolutely plan on releasing more areas for Knights, Barons, Counts, etc.

Longtail:

Longtail is getting closer and closer to being complete and we're getting very excited! Many of our plans for new mice, areas, traps, etc. are dependent on the release of Longtail. We asked hunters what sort of info they would like to see in progress updates. The consensus seemed to be mechanics information but no plot information.

We realise that we have not discussed too many details about the progress of Longtail, which has no doubt bred frustrations from players wondering what's happening behind the scenes and why there was a sudden slow down in the frequency of updates. We knew Longtail would be in development for months and wanted to avoid building too much hype too early on and stretch the patience of hunters. Now that we are close to a Longtail release we are more comfortable sharing progress updates and will strive to keep everyone in the loop as we work on Longtail.

We'll be keeping everyone in the loop about how Longtail is progressing, to hopefully ease frustrations about the lack of new areas recently. We have several new areas and mice (over 50 mice are ready to go!) that we're excited to put out after the release of Longtail.

---

We ended the feedback session with some rapid-fire question-and-answer covering a variety of topics.

You can watch the recorded version of Feedback Friday here: ustream.tv/recorded/5204827

-- Dave Vanderburg

MouseHunt Celebrates its Second Birthday!

2 March 2010

Greetings, MouseHunters!

It's that time of year again, when spring is just around the corner, and MouseHunt celebrates another birthday! That's right: the magical world of Gnawnia is celebrating its second birthday, and to celebrate, there will be special content releases, one each week for the next four weeks. The first release will be a birthday event that lasts for a limited time, and the other three releases will stay on as permanent additions to the game.

This week, the Terrible Twos Mouse is wreaking havoc, trashing the town of Gnawnia and creating mayhem wherever it goes. Upon discovering this threat, the King immediately sent word to Digby, telling them to send a fleet of Nannybots, the only weapon known to be able to subdue a rampaging Terrible Twos Mouse. Unfortunately, a group of mice ambushed the Nannybot shipment on their way to Gnawnia! Rumor has it that Nannybot parts have been seen on various mice in the back alleys of the city.

Once you have collected all three parts of the Nannybot you may assemble them here: apps.facebook.com/mousehunt/nannybot.php

The King's guards managed to push the Terrible Twos Mice out onto the Meadow, but the King needs all the help he can get from skilled hunters to keep the little terrors at bay. The Terrible Twos Mouse is in the Meadow for now, but the guards think that if it can't go back into the city, it may well decide to do some traveling. This could mean serious trouble for the rest of the Kingdom!

Well, that's all the news for now. Until next time, Happy Hunting!

-- Dave Vanderburg

MouseHunt's Birthday Celebration Starts Soon!

1 March 2010

Hey, MouseHunters!

It has almost been two years since the battle against mice began and we're getting ready to celebrate the occasion!

MouseHunt turns two years old on March 7th. As the date approaches, there have been a few rumours floating around Gnawnia about a mischievous Terrible Twos mouse that is on the loose, causing trouble across the kingdom! Although the king's guards have not yet seen these little terrors, we'll be sure to inform you the minute they are spotted so that you can help capture them and restore the peace.

Though the festivities have not officially started, a few of the mice are already in the mood to celebrate. See if you can spot a which mice are dressed up and ready to party.

The celebration will officially start when the Terrible Twos mice arrive sometime Tuesday, March 2nd (EST). The official time is unknown, but we'll be sure to announce their arrival via the news section.

Get ready to party MouseHunt! We're turning two years old soon! YEAH!

-- Dave Vanderburg

Feedback Friday Recap

26 February 2010

We've received a few inquiries after this week's Feedback Friday, and so, due to popular demand, we're posting a quick text-recap of the video!

This week's feedback was divided into two segments: "News for Your Face", "Quit Askin' Us!". News for Your Face was some direct answers to current questions floating around the community. Quit Askin' Us was a few of the questions we have been asked week after week. Afterwards we did a quick rapid-fire question-and-answer where hunters asked a variety of questions.

News for Your Face:

Q: How long do we have to open our Tiger Heart Chests?

A: The form to open the chests will be available for the next two to three weeks.

Q: What's up with the new Facebook discussion board layout?

A: The layout was recently changed by Facebook and seems to have introduced a couple of bugs (such as lacking the ability to read beyond the first page of a thread). Love or hate the new layout, we hope the discussion boards are functional again soon. We'll be considering off-site forums further after the release of Longtail.

Q: Some of the times in my journal are not correct.

A: Facebook obtains your computer's time zone settings upon login. If your time appears incorrect in-game, all we can suggest is logging out of Facebook, clearing your browser's cookies and logging back into Facebook.

Q: How is Longtail coming along?

A: We've been working hard on Longtail and it has been progressing nicely. We are currently working on implementing tournaments (with a few changes) and migrating over user data. We're planning on some large scale beta testing next week. The storyline of MouseHunt has been somewhat "on pause" while we work on this huge release, making us excited to launch Longtail so we can get back to progressing the story line and creating some new challenges for hunters.

If you're wondering what Longtail is, you can read a little more about it here: apps.facebook.com/mousehunt/updatepost.php?upid=328

Q: What's planned for MouseHunt's second birthday?

A: Our birthday is March 7th! The first week of March we'll be kicking off an event where a mischievous little mouse is wrecking havoc on the Town of Gnawnia. Player's will have to build a special trap to catch the pest and help restore order to the Kingdom. As with any birthday, there's sure to be plenty of tasty cake!

In addition to the event for the first week, we're planning on doing three content releases during March -- one each week. These three releases will be permanent additions to the game.

Quit Askin' Us:

Q: What's this I hear about an Onyx Mallet Trap?

A: As hinted at in the description of the Costumed Tiger Mouse, there are plans to release an Onyx Mallet Trap. The stats of the trap and origin of the blueprints are not being released ahead of time but look for this new trap to come out sometime during March.

Q: Will there ever be a new shadow trap?

A: A new shadow trap is in the works, but not planned for release in the immediate future.

Q: When is the iPhone app coming out?

A: The iPhone app is still being worked on and is progressing nicely. Look for it after the release of Longtail.

Q: When's Ronza coming next?

A: Ronza is off in far and distant lands taking a much-needed vacation (no doubt spending all the gold she made selling wares in Gnawnia!). She will most likely not be returning anytime soon.

That's it! You can view the recorded Feedback Friday session here: ustream.tv/recorded/5022500

-- Dave Vanderburg

Heart of the Tiger Party Ends

22 February 2010

The Heart of the Tiger Party has been going strong for more than two weeks, but the time has come for the the music to turn off and to start cleaning up!

The magic seal on Tiger Heart chests has now faded and hunters who were able to find both the Heart and Tiger key will now be able to open their chest.

If you have a chest and two keys, open your chest here:

apps.facebook.com/mousehunt/hotpclaim.php

The party may be over, but the delicious creations of the Dumpling Chef mouse were so popular that the chef decided to take up permanent residence in Furoma. If you're in still the mood for dumplings head over to the training grounds!

We hope everyone enjoyed the party! Happy Hunting MouseHunters!

-- Dave Vanderburg

Horn Problems Resolved

19 February 2010

We have some good news for the players that were having trouble sounding their horn! Since the pesky, noise-loving Glitchpaw Mice have been tracked down, the unsuspecting hunters that lost their horns should now be able to start hunts normally.

A few of the Glitchpaw Mice are still on the loose, in various locations across the Kingdom. They are most densely populated in the Gnawnia and Burroughs regions, including the Heart of the Tiger Party. Help end their destructive rampage by tracking them down and catching a few! Despite their nasty behavior, Glitchpaws dislike confrontation-- expect them to slip back into hiding within 24 hours.

The Heart of the Tiger party is also slowly starting to wind down. The party will end on Monday, so if you're looking to catch some of the unique mice there, head over to the party sooner rather than later.

-- Dave Vanderburg

Tiger and Heart Keys

14 February 2010

The Heart of the Tiger Party has reached its peak of excitement as both mice and hunters celebrate the new Lunar New Year while handing out candygrams and valentines at an alarming rate!

The Year of the Tiger is upon us and it seems to have brought Tiger mice to the party who have managed to find one of the keys to open the Tiger Heart Chest -- a Tiger Key.

Cupid Mice have been also been diligently searching for a way to open the chest and have found the Heart Key.

It seems however that the chest is sealed by more than just two locks. The magic of the party has sealed the chest until the Heart of the Tiger Party has come to an end. The stash of SUPER|brie+ that the chest contains is the perfect party favor to remember all the fun times had at the Heart of the Tiger!

Quick Summary:

• Red Envelope mice are dropping a Tiger Heart Chest that contains a stash of the always delicious SUPER|brie+.
• Tiger mice have arrived at the Heart of the Tiger Party who are dropping the Tiger Key required to open the Tiger Heart Chest.
• Cupid mice are dropping the other key required to open the Tiger Heart Chest -- The Heart Key.
• The two keys and a little patience will be required to open the Tiger Heart Chest -- The chest is magically sealed until the end of the Heart of the Tiger Party.

Good luck hunting down your keys. See you at the party MouseHunters!

-- Dave Vanderburg

New Mouse and Tiger Heart Chests

12 February 2010

Hello MouseHunters!

Due to all the excitement surrounding the Heart of the Tiger party, a few details have slipped through the cracks, leaving some hunters confused. This week during Feedback Friday, we asked hunters if they would like some clarification about the Heart of the Tiger and the response was an overwhelming yes.

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Here's a quick run-down of who's at the party (including one new mouse) and what goodies they've brought with them.

Romeo Mouse:
Always the life of the party, this mouse brought DLU+ heart shaped candies to charm the lady mice with.

Romeno Mouse:
The other mice seem to keep their distance from the Romeno mouse. Between strike-outs with the ladies, he is also snacking on DHU- heart shaped candies.

Cupid Mouse:
Cupid mice have made a return and are randomly firing their arrows at partygoers. They leave behind a trail of heart shaped candy with the words "Attraction Bonus" written on them.

Costumed Tiger Mouse:
This costumed mouse is dancing wildly at the party, celebrating the Lunar New Year. The Costumed Tigers have brought plenty of spare Tiger Masks to help get everyone in a celebratory mood!

Dumpling Chef Mouse:
What's a party without good food? In addition to catering the party, these mice have brought fun Ox Masks to celebrate with.

Dressed Up Mice:
Many mice from other regions have traveled to the Heart of the Tiger Party to celebrate! The White Mouse, Dwarf Mouse, Archer Mouse, Student of the Cheese Belt and Master of the Cheese Claw have arrived and are dressed up, ready to celebrate! The Master of the Cheese Claw has brought a third mask to complete the set -- The Rabbit Mask.

Red Envelope Mouse:
This swift little mouse has been pillaging the pockets of MouseHunters to stuff red envelopes full of gold! If you're lucky enough to catch one, they may just drop one of their envelopes. The Red Envelope mice have also managed to get their hands on some special Tiger Heart Chests containing SUPER|brie+. The chests are locked tight, so if you recover one you'll need to find the right set of keys to open them up. Hopefully the keys will turn up sometime before the end of the party.

All of the candies, gifts and masks are fun collectibles to help everyone celebrate, and make hunting more fun!

Happy Heart of the Tiger everyone, and we’ll see you on the dance floor!

-- Dave Vanderburg

Heart of the Tiger Party

9 February 2010

Hello MouseHunters!

The mighty pool of water that was once the Festive Comet has recently been acquired by the King and turned into a party venue! If you're the type who can't get enough of a good party then you're in luck. The King (who seems to be blaming Larry) has accidentally double-booked the party venue for both a Valentine's Day party and Lunar New Year party! Twice the party, twice the fun! Party!

So slap on your party hats and head over to the Heart of the Tiger Party where there are a few party mice who are ready to party. The mice at the party have also showed up with a few party favours so keep your party eyes open for some party collectible loot drops. Party!

The Gift Shoppe has reopened with a few fun party collectible items that are sure to spice up the Heart of the Tiger Party. The Gift Shoppe is expecting to keep the party going with a few more items that shall arrive in a few days for the party. Check back from time to time during the party to spot when the new party items are available.

Although the addition of collectible items has been welcomed by most everyone, it has led to a little disorganization within the inventory. With the launch of Longtail we are planning to organize these collectible items better within the inventory as well as give players the ability to showcase their collectibles on their hunter profile. Party!

Let the party begin and watch out for those Romeno mice seen crashing the party... They're an easy catch but do not make good company.

Have you been counting how many times I said the word "party"? Well... in case it wasn't enough... party Party PARTY!!!

Happy Party Hunting! Get out there and hug a tiger!

Heart of the Tiger Event poster image

-- Dave Vanderburg

Sneak Peek at MH Longtail

6 February 2010

Hello MouseHunters!

For the past couple of weeks we have been making mention of an update we're working on that we have code-named "Longtail". Longtail will update many of the interfaces within the game, as well as make MouseHunt faster and more robust, allowing us to develop content (mice, areas, traps, etc) quicker and easier.

Enthusiasm seems to be high within the community and so we thought we would share a couple of screenshots of the progress being made on this update to give everyone an idea about what's going on behind the scenes.

First up, the camp page gets an overhaul. Hunters will be able to switch their base, weapon or cheese via controls available under the image of their trap all without needing to reload a page.

Clicking a thumbnail below the trap image brings up the menu to select a new component Component menu paginates, scrolling thumnails left/right Clicking a thumbnail arms that component, without reloading the page Trap Selector image

Second is a reorganization to the mice page. As the number of mice grew so did the lack of organization on the mouse page. We have grouped together the mice in a variety of ways to better organize them based on similar weaknesses as well as location.

Mice can be browsed by region or by group. Mice are grouped together by power-type weaknesses Still a work-in-progress is a sortable stats tab to quickly see what mouse you have caught the most of, etc. Mice Page image

Longtail is still a work in progress but its development is something we want to include the community in. As progress is made on Longtail we'll be reaching out for feedback via Feedback Friday sessions as well as videos on the application page.

That's all for now hunters, happy hunting!

-- Dave Vanderburg

Protect Your Personal Info

3 February 2010

Hey Hunters,

Just a heads up that we have recently seen a large increase in reports of account hijacking.

Remember to keep your Facebook login details secure and never share them with anyone.

Please take extreme caution when downloading anything MouseHunt or Facebook related. We have seen several programs circulating recently that claim to help you in MouseHunt but actually steal your user name and password.

Remember to always think twice before downloading, installing or using any third party software or website. If you're not sure if something is safe, it is probably best to avoid it.

Stay safe out there MouseHunters!

-- Dave Vanderburg