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

Mysterious Box Changes

30 September 2009

From very early on we have always welcomed the constructive feedback and suggestions of players. It's the input of players that helps make sure things are both fun and challenging for everyone.

Based on constructive suggestions, we have changed how hunters may obtain a Frozen Scroll. Going forward, every Acolyte mouse will drop a Frozen Scroll along with the Mysterious Box. The contents of the box have been slightly changed, also based on the feedback of players.

For those who have already opened their boxes, the King will be awarding them with either a Mysterious Box or a Frozen Scroll. If you have never had a Frozen Scroll you will receive one and if you have had a Frozen Scroll in the past then you shall receive a Mysterious Box. This way each hunter involved receives one free item.

We appreciate that many players liked things how they were, but we feel this is a change that is welcomed by the majority of players. Some players have asked the question: "Who are the developers? You, or the players?" The answer is both. We see the community as a member of the development team and have always reached out and welcomed the suggestions and ideas of players.

If you are hunting an Acolyte or Dragon mouse, then you no doubt have enjoyed the previous game content that lead you to these new goals. This content you enjoyed to get where you are was made in the same way, using the feedback of the players to adjust existing content and features.

A big thanks to everyone who shared their constructive suggestions! The players are what make MouseHunt great!

Along with a Frozen Scroll or Mysterious Box, players may notice another smaller, more cuddly item in their inventory. We were able to get an early supply of this item, but if you didn't get one, don't stress... We're sure a larger shipment will arrive by air sometime soon.

-- Dave Vanderburg

Dracano Feedback

30 September 2009

Hello MouseHunters!

You may have noticed the footnote at the bottom of the previous news update regarding Dracano asking for your input and suggestions. I wanted to make a post to help focus the feedback and organize the thoughts of everyone.

There is definitely some frustration in having to possibly catch multiple Acolyte mice to tackle Dracano. We're looking for your opinion on how you think it would be best to obtain a Frozen Scroll.

Here are a couple of popular suggestions that are feasible, let us know what you think.

Remove the Frozen Scroll from the Mysterious Box and have the Acolyte drop both a Frozen Scroll and a Mysterious Box. Hand out Frozen Scrolls to anyone who had previously caught an Acolyte and did not get a Frozen Scroll.

Make available another, slightly less powerful Draconic trap that can be obtained in a more straight-forward manner.

These changes may also require some adjustment to the quantities of items in the Mysterious Box as well as the difficulty of catching the Dragon.

New gameplay elements are currently developed and decided upon by surveying groups of players and then putting those changes into play testing with a group of beta testers. In the coming weeks we are going to be increasing this survey pool to include a broader range of active, passive, experienced and less experienced players in hopes of obtaining a wider range of feedback. The end goal is to include as many players as we can in an organized way.

MouseHunt has always relied on the feedback of players to fine-tune game aspects and develop ideas for new content. We're looking for your constructive suggestions on how to keep MouseHunt both challenging and fun!

If you would like to leave a response or voice a suggestion, please do so in the Dracano Feedback Thread.

-- Dave Vanderburg

Dracano has Opened!

29 September 2009

The flow of magma from Dracano has finally calmed to a level safe enough for hunters to setup traps.

The mouse that inhabits Dracano is a testament to how old the Tribal Isles are. Long ago the Acolyte mice attempted to control the Dragon mice of Dracano using a powerful spell written upon a frozen scroll.

With the Acolyte mice now locked away in their Realm and the disappearance of Plankrun, it is up to the King's most experienced hunters to prevent the Dragon mice from making Gnawnia their new roost!

---

As with every release, we welcome feedback and constructive criticism. Your feedback can result in new content being changed slightly so please do express your opinions and suggestions. If you're the type that's a bit fearful of change, you may want to wait and see what others think before starting down this story line.

-- Dave Vanderburg

New Boku Page and Feedback Changes

2 September 2009

Hello MouseHunters!

We have made the $1 and $7.50 donation packages available via Boku in addition to implementing a more streamlined checkout page. If you're interested in using your mobile phone to get SUPER|brie+ check out the Boku tab on the donate page.

We have also made a few minor changes based on player feedback.

The strength of a few mice in Tribal Isles has been adjusted. Gladiator, Guardian and all three Chieftain mice have all had their power lowered slightly. The encounter rate for Elder, Grandfather and Aged has been increased slightly when using their appropriate bait in Cape Clawed.

In the interest of making the Ancient Box Trap accessible to most hunters with the title of Knight, the points requirement has been lowered to 17,000,000.

Nibbler mice have crossed the Rodentia ocean and have been seeing reporting in the Tribal Isles region.

Finally, a few typos, spelling and grammar errors have been corrected in various crafting ingredients and mouse descriptions.

We always welcome player ideas and suggestions, so be sure to make your voice heard on the Ideas and Suggestions discussion board located toward the bottom-left of the forums page. By discussing ideas on the forums, we can quickly see which ones the community is enjoying. Remember to post in the correct discussion board section and focus on making constructive suggestions.

If you spot any typos, spelling or grammar errors please contact us directly by using the contact link found at the very bottom of each MouseHunt page.

Until next time, happy hunting and don't forget to sound the horn!

-- Dave Vanderburg

Crafting in Tribal Isles

27 August 2009

Based on player feedback, we've made a few changes to existing crafting combinations within the Tribal Isles region. Hunters may now add five Magic Essence while making Shell, Gumbo and Crunchy cheese to produce five additional pieces of cheese.

The previously crafted drop down menu no longer displays crafting combinations that hunters are likely never to craft more than once. Items such as the Dehydration base, Ambush trap, Navigation Kit and other traps and map pieces will no longer appear in the drop down. The MouseHunt Wiki is a good resource to make use of should you have need to craft any of these items again.

Hunting Tips by Larry have been added to Cape Clawed, Elub Shore, Nerg Plains and Derr Dunes. If you're confused about what type of trap or cheese to use where, Larry hopes he can guide you in the right direction. He may have quite a bit to say, but the Tribal Isles are a fairly complex place to hunt!

Finally, the power and luck of the RhinoBot has been slightly boosted. The increase is only slight, but every little bit counts. Remember that power and luck effect the chance of catching a mouse, but not attracting one to begin with. If you need to boost the attraction of your bait perhaps experiment with a base yielding a high attraction bonus.

More experienced hunters will no doubt be interested in a new base that is now being stocked by the Trapsmith in Cape Clawed. Its large power bonus is sure to come in handy when using a weapon with a higher power value. Its power bonus comes with a sacrifice of luck, so consider your options and try to find a hunting strategy that best suits you.

Here’s what we're working on next...

The uses for Tournament Tokens and Champion's Chests have dramatically expanded since their initial design. Based on player suggestions on the discussion boards as well as those voiced during Feedback Friday, new bases, as well as a new type of cheese will be able to be crafted using Tournament Tokens. We wanted to create a special use for this cheese, one that will give good motivation to those who compete in tournaments but also allow a way for those who choose not to compete to achieve the same objectives at a slight disadvantage.

It may still be a bit too early to go into more detail but we wanted to give an update to tournament players who have been eagerly awaiting an update.

Reports from the Jungle of Dread indicate that more Chieftain mice than normal have been making the journey to Dracano to make offerings of cheese to their so-called deity mouse. It seems all the new hunting activity in the Tribal Isles has angered the powerful resident of Dracano. Oddly, reports have also been coming in from the far and distant Acolyte Realm of the mice acting even stranger than normal, as if preparing a massive defence. Acolytes are guarding their Mysterious Boxes even more so than usual. Whatever secrets may be locked away in those boxes are sure to be plentiful, so start stocking up! Everyone needs more mystery in their lives.

-- Dave Vanderburg

Jungle of Dread

11 August 2009

While diligent hunters have been setting their traps in the various villages of the Tribal Isles, some have noticed movements through the thick foliage of the Jungle of Dread. Occasionally, menacing snarls and the intimidating sound of heavy footsteps can be heard. What heroic MouseHunters will have the courage to venture into this dangerous jungle?

The Jungle of Dread is the first area with a Hero title requirement and gives home to some of the most powerful, hard-to-catch mice released to date. The mice dwelling within the Jungle of Dread all share a love of Havarti cheese, each preferring theirs with a slightly different flavour. The Elub, Nerg and Derr long ago discovered these preferences, learning to grow peppers that can be used to spice Havarti. So, fine-tune your farming skills, hunters, and let the harvest begin!

The General Store and Trapsmith in Cape Clawed have some new stock to aid hunters with their exploration of the Jungle of Dread.

For all you avid Tournament players, an update that will reveal a use for Tournament Tokens and Champion's Chests is still in the works. We have been working on both the Jungle of Dread and Tournament updates in teams simultaneously. The Tournament update still needs a little more art and development to be where we want it to be before release. Some teams have been doing an excellent job of hoarding tokens, many with over 150 tokens and one team with an amazing 332! Chests seem a little harder to come by with most active teams having somewhere between three and five chests, the lead goes to one competitive hunter who has managed to obtain 33 Champion's Chests!

We have also added a surprisingly often requested feature to the crafting section of the inventory. Beside any item that cannot be sold back to a shop is a "discard item" button that will permanently remove the item from a hunter's inventory. Although being able to clean out a cluttered inventory will sooth craicompulsively organized hunters, we realize this is something not many hunters will wish to do, so please take care when choosing to discard an item as it cannot be undone!

-- Dave Vanderburg

Breeds Caught Statistic

5 August 2009

Today's update is a small, yet frequently requested, statistic: "Breeds Caught".

You can view this statistic on any hunter's profile page. It will appear near the top underneath the hunter's name. Breeds caught does not include any rare, prize or special event mice. Instead, these mice are listed under "Rare Breeds Caught". If you're looking for an easy way to view your own profile, click the MouseHunt logo in the top left corner of the game.

The rare breeds are: Black Widow, Cupid, Hollowhead, Elf, Birthday, Glitchpaw, iTunes, Mobster, Master Burglar and Leprechaun.

For those concerned that the iTunes and Master Burglar mice are no longer available we have plans to make these mice once again available in the future. However, the iTunes mouse will most likely be renamed.

Should a hunter's total number of breeds caught plus rare breeds caught exceed the number of normal breeds, they will earn the "Bonus mice badge" which is displayed on their profile. Right now the badge only stands as an achievement but this week's Feedback Friday will ask players if they think it should have an in-game use.

Another small change to the profile page are the breeds listed at the bottom. They are now listed by generic difficulty, from most power to least.

We hope everyone enjoys the new additions to the profile page and good luck catching those mice!

-- Dave Vanderburg

Scoreboard Returns

4 August 2009

We have optimized how the scoreboard works so that it will run quicker and more efficiently.

To do so we had to clear the scoreboard. The scoreboard updates once an hour to include players that were active in that hour. This means that until the scoreboard is fully updated, some players may be missing from the scoreboard until up to an hour after they return to the game. You may notice your position shift slightly until the majority of frequent players return to the game. After this, you will remain on the scoreboard and your stats will update periodically.

We are still working on further improvements to the scoreboard for the future.

Thanks for your patience while the scoreboard was unavailable.

Good luck and happy hunting!

-- Dave Vanderburg