MHWiki:Current events/Archive/2009/August

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Archive for updates taking place August of 2009 in Reverse Chronological Order.
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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