An official Mycena Cave AMA chat channel has been created in the Live Chat, should you want to talk about the topics going on in the live stream!
Will there be any new species? What about dras variations? (We have 3 types of ineki and 1 dras!)
-drumroll-
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BABY LINES!
Are there any plans on implementing a mention system? (So that users get notified when someone pings them on the forum)
It was not meant to be a notification system, glitch made this for ease of use with raffle things. Often requested though, so maybe!
Since Mycena Cave’s story takes place in a gigantic area full of tunnels and treasure, will you add any “exploring” feature to the site? Perhaps a game relating to this?
Yes, exploration based game is in the works, but it’s definitely in the planning phase. (Veeery premature. Brainstorming. Not for a while.)
click for example (please don’t increase the number to a huge size!)
What surprised you most about how Mycena Cave has developed?
It got big faster than we expected! And from a technical standpoint it’s pretty interesting, it’s the first time glitch has run something this big. We had to take on a lot of people, that was surprising! Ideas from staff that we hadn’t planned that were implemented were cool. And it’s been a ton of fun, more than we’d expected!
What’s your pet peeve when it comes to running Mycena? Does owning a site ever feel overwhelming?
daemon’s pet peeve no. 1
- When there’s a new post in Mycena Cave Discussions, it’s ALWAYS “Who did the thing?”, never a new in-depth strategy for anything! Boo.
glitch’s pet peeve
- PONDSHROOMS. The sheer stuff in the back-end that makes it not horrible is ugh I wish it would just go away. But unfortunately we made them. We have to come up with a solution, but ugh.
daemon’s pet peeve no. 2
- People in the riddle thread googling the answers! >:(
Myla’s pet peeve
- The fact that we never make everyone happy when we do a thing, because I like making everyone happy and now I can’t make everyone happy ;3;
daemon’s pet peeve no. 3
- Too many types of people to make happy.
Is there any hope for a word game addition to the site?
It’s called Project Shark! ...Which daemon’s been working on for a year. It’s called shark because Juney made someone name a Sharpedo after daemon and he liked the noun shark. The next project, which we’re not even working on yet, is called Project Reblogging. Project Shark is almost done! Just glitch work left. Maybe in the next month. Maybe.
Were there any ideas for MC during development that were scrapped later? What were they and why?
Numerous. Phoenix in the backstory (instead of a Bone Monster). Initially a plan for a battle system, but still in development (basically, it’s not even in planning). daemon wants Auctions that make the players hate each other. <Some auction styles are pitched that will make everyone seethe.>
Are there any plans to add things/events/whatever revolving the “sorceress”?
Oh, that’s a good idea. We don’t know what happened to her, except Myla. Myla knows something will happen soon, within ten days maybe? glitch & daemon have no idea what she’s talking about, quite literally.
Will there be more chances for breedings in the future?
daemon: No. No more breedings ever.
Myla: With Valentine’s Day and Spring upcoming -Myla does a little wiggly move- and love in the air, yes, there will be more babies. But, they’re very time consuming, because customs, coat colours and items also demand a lot of time & effort. Yes, more over the next three months!
What inspired you to have this site be in a cave setting? Who came up with that idea?
Argument. Juney is Zwitserland. Myla & Daffu feel they came up with it, glitch feels he did :P <Longer story in video!>
-spontaneous buffalo song- (YOU DON’T WANT TO MISS THIS!! Go and look.)
Why are babies so time consuming?
Coming up with good ideas is time consuming! And they consist of three stages, which makes them a lot of work. Some artists really love doing babies specifically, though!
Are you considering expanding upon the idea of Ineki using magic to create alchemy games, battling systems, or magical site abilities based on the coat type/species on an Ineki?
daemon: What is an Ineki?
Myla: Did he really just ask that?
daemon: I said I would.
daemon: Not currently. Alchemy would be cool, but they’d be logic based? We’re trying to do less logic ones. Battling system is nice, we keep talking about this. Once a month. But it would be cool.
Do babies tend to be influenced by the stories about the parents?
Depends on the artist! Myla enjoys incorporating this, for example :) But otherwise, sometimes they’re just based on the parents’ coats, or inspiration the artist has!
Why “Mycena Cave”? Who came up with the name? And where there other options you were considering?
<missed> (Something with glowing mushrooms.)
Will there be more dailies added besides Fishing in the future? (Or at least are there any being considered?)
We try not to go down the road of ‘here’s a set of dailies, click a thing every day’; Fishing is kind of an exception, there’s no real game to it. So: Don’t really have an answer, except that the number of things you can do every day will go up eventually. We’re working on things, but maybe not click a link once/ten times a day.
Do you have any plans for non-forum based activities? I’ve turned into a bit of a lurker and would love some features that are just click based. As much as the forums are a great place, I’m a shrinking violet here.
We realised forums (or chat) are not an ideal place for all of our members. We’re trying things, but nothing we’re writing code for yet. But yes, we have ideas for other things that can be happening.
When will a forum search feature be added?
daemon: When Google buys us.
glitch: The easy way would be to just add in a Google Search :P We did Echo search.. Maybe some time!
daemon keeps pointing at the screen fiercely. glitch instructs him to point more at the middle of the webcam.
Can has jigsaw puzzle game?
daemon finds this boring. But it might be a good idea! glitch asks what the challenge would be if you have the same pieces every time; Different shaped pieces? Different amounts of pieces? ...Maybe.
How did you guys get into online pet games? How long have you been interested in them?
daemon liked Neopets, so he was sort of the first one, and then glitch told him about Mycena, and he thought it was kind of cool, so they started working on it. Myla started with pet sites on Gaia, followed by Digis, followed by Mycena :D She tagged along because her friends were playing.
Are you open to the idea of letting users “customize” the site colors? Like I remember on another pet site you could pick between 3 color schemes for the site BG and stuff
It’s an idea. We played with that a little bit for Halloween a long time ago. We worked on it for quite a while, but then glitch discovered he was doing it all wrong, so he has to redo it completely. So, he decided to work on other things instead! (It’d just be a lot of work.)
daemon announces that the poptart question was his, and that everyone downvoted it, and that he will find ALL of you.
What does MC look like behind the scenes? Do staff play crazy pranks on each other? How many db tables are there?
85 database tables.
<Poptart crispy edge intermezzo>
Behind the scenes it’s basically just us sitting & writing code & making art & good conversations during lunch. We don’t work on the site full time, we just happen to work [thesis work, that is] in the same place.
Are random events possibly going to be added?
daemon: Sure, maybe.
glitch: It’d be easy. Could be!
Myla: Like, the Bone Monster…
Boys: Vomiting bones everywhere!
Will/may we have more crafting recipes in the future?
Yes. We’ve been neglecting crafting. daemon apologises for talking with his mouth full. glitch does not. <Poptart intermezzo> We basically only have one way to give out items consistently/steadily, and we’d love to do more, but we have a lot going on at the same time (plotting/planning), so it’s been left hanging for a while.
What is something you’d love to add to mycena but for whatever reason just can’t right now or even ever?
Everything. We’d love to add more action-y games, but it’s hard to write it in such a way to stop people from cheating. It’s very difficult to keep a score for these games that’s not easy to cheat at. Or perfect information games, they could be calculated ahead of time (e.g. Mushroom Meals). And cheating can easily mess up the economy :( And otherwise, battle systems!
Will there ever be the chance for the unlucky to purchase breedings?
We’ve talked about it, but we’re afraid if you pay a lot for a breeding you might expect a certain amount of edits. Things that you can pay for shouldn’t be worth more than random things.. So we want to, but have to put more thought into it to keep it fair.
When will the Mushroom Meals game officially be out of the beta stage?
Ties in to one of the other questions. Solvers are everywhere, and we can see that there are people that are cheating, and it would probably still need a lot of work either way. Maybe it’s too hard, but.. So yeah, we haven’t removed it, but whether it will ever become a viable way of earning nuggets, we don’t know. <Suggestion in chat: How about if you click outside the window, it locks> We’ve thought about this, but our players like doing things in the background. And, we don’t want to false positive anyone actually playing legit :(
Will there be another “any edit goes” custom raffle/auction/prize?
Yes, possibly with the release of the new species!
Favorite wacky story from Mycena Cave?
Mycena Cage! We loved this. We’re not doing anything for April 1st this year. -shifty eyes-
Where do you think Mycena Cave will be a year from now? What kinds of additions or changes do you think will be made?
Same location! mycenacave.com, still a cave! ...Hopefully bigger. Hopefully a few more features that we’ve been talking about! We wanted to have the Shark game up, but glitch & Myla got a dog.
What the heck is the Plural form of Drasilis?
Drasillis? Drasillii? Drasillisesis? <Roommate is asked.> Drasillae. DRAH-sill-ae.
Will there be other ways to obtain Glowing Changeshrooms other than raffles?
Actually.
<Dog intermezzo> glitch & Myla got Mishka, a puppy, who is pretty much the best dog ever. She looks like a meatloaf with legs. And she’s on a diet.
We have something (weird Myla arm movements and glitch eye wiggles and shared arm movements). Well. In answer to the question, yes. Tune in later for how.
<Dog intermezzo> We don’t know because it’s a rescue dog, but it’s a mix involving Golden Retriever and a Chow Chow and maybe some other things. More dog talk.
Edit: Mishka pictures!
Can you give us any hints/sneak peeks of the upcoming event?
daemon: [Bullshitting everyone daemon-style :D]
Myla: Spring event, beginning of April! Similar to last year’s Spring event, collecting things, putting them together, et cetera, new items! Nothing for Valentine’s Day, but cool things will happen! Unless you have plans. But some of you won’t, because you’re awesome. We’ll probably be on Mycena on Valentine’s Day :D
Myla, will you impersonate a buffalo for us?
Myla: Sounds like a macaw. Myla becomes very red. Everyone makes buffalo sounds.
How far in advance do the artists usually start making the site pets?
OotS: We have sign-ups months in advance, up to July right now, but they’re due a week before the month begins. Some artists send them in months ahead, others on the deadline, depends on the artist & how busy they are.
Is it possible to order baby customs?
Perma-babies: In discussion. We’re still saying maybe. Lots of vague reasons. Canon-wise it’d be very weird :(
Will games that require Flash/Java ever be allowed or created?
No, never. Too many vulnerabilities. But insecurity isn’t the only issue, there’s just.. Flash is just too insecure, it opens up your computer to all the hackers, and it’s a dying technology. A lot of platforms no longer support it. <HTML5 Ascii?> Nethack like would be cool!
If you break a Karass with babies…what happens? Secondly, Could you then mate the parents to their kids? Or can you add kids to their parents’ Karass? (Kinda creepy, just kinda curious if there’s anything in the coding preventing this because that’d be impressive)
Not possible to do this at the moment (as in, not possible to break a karass with babies with a Lone Mushroom). Very interesting question: But we haven’t worked it out yet :( If you want to break a karass like that, you’ll have to contact glitch. But yes, you could put babies in a karass with the parents. A karass is not sexual/romantic/gross, they’re bonds.
Which site mushroom (item) is your favorite?
glitch: Disguise.
Myla: THAT WAS MINE. I also like the ghosts a lot.
daemon: Right boot. Rabies is fun. Draccko.
glitch: I also like the ghosts!
daemon: Except Oliver, he sucks.
glitch: Jerk. I also like the Leaf Hat.
daemon: Okay, for the mushrooms…
Myla: Purple Gilded Spider Mushroom, it’s super intricate!
daemon: I like the Lone Mushroom!
glitch/Myla: You’re supposed to pick a coat mushroom.
daemon: Oh, Tribal Flame Mushroom, then.
glitch: Crowned Crane Mushroom
glitch: Incidentally, you can get some information from the mushroom about the pet itself; Ineki mushrooms look a little different from Drasillis ones, but for Ineki mushrooms you can tell from the glow what type it is (dog/cat/fox)!
Myla: For the backgrounds, too! (e.g. cat mushrooms have bubbles in the background)
glitch/daemon (chorus): Whoa, I didn’t know that!
Can a pet be in two karasses?
glitch: No. A pet that is not in a karass cannot propose to a pet that is in a karass. A karass can also not propose to a pet that is in a karass, or propose to another karass.
What are your goals for this new year? That can be personal, site related, or anything else!
glitch: Oh, you sound like my parents.
daemon: I’d like to make more games, and do cool stuff, and play games.
glitch: Graduate some day.
daemon: I’d like to be a year closer to graduation.
Myla: Finish my thesis!
What is your favorite book/series? Who is your favorite author?
daemon: Neil Stephenson, Neil Gaimon; Book: Cryptonomicon, Death Game cycle; ... daemon has a lot to say about books
Myla: His Dark Materials series. Pretty much anything science fiction. Ender’s Game, The Martian. Ready Player One.
glitch: Christopher Worth (long book names). Terry Pratchet, Vonnegut.
<More book talk, check out video for more details!>
Self-critique is important in just about every aspect of life. Rate your work on Mycena so far with a scale of 1-10. How proud are you of your accomplishments? (if you feel bragging is warranted, go ahead now’s your chance)
daemon: 3. I haven’t done much lately. But it’ll go up!
glitch: I’m super proud of it, but it’s not on my public resume.. If my advisor would find out, there’d be hell to pay. But to normal people, I talk about it all the time!
What games other than Mycena Cave are you guys playing right now?
daemon: Spelunky, Crusader Kings II
glitch: War games.
Myla: No, that was a movie we recently watched!
A while back in some suggestion thread, I remember someone mentioned the idea of having a sort of “premade custom” shop. Is there any chance of this ever happening?
That’s kind of why we started doing the premade customs in the raffles. The shop is a nice idea, but there are a lot of things that don’t really work for it (details in video). Therefore, raffles seemed to be more fair :)
What other projects are you working on besides Mycena? Anything you plan on working on/creating? Any collabs with other sites/people?
We all have our graduate studies, and daemon has a start-up in an incubation phase. glitch is trying to get some papers published to the world.
Do you think there will ever be more ‘dailies/freebies’ added to the site other than collecting interest and fishing?
Answered this previously!
Would you even consider giving the option to have players own houses in Mycena Cave? If so, then would you consider implementing a neighborhood-like feature to get players to interact more with their communities?
glitch: I don’t think we’re big enough. But, maybe as we grow. We do like the idea!
daemon: We have to be careful not to make it too clicky. These are the things we worry about.
Will we ever be able to make custom decor?
Do they mean site colours? Or items? Well, in short: Maybe.
Are there plans for other colours/types of pondshrooms?
glitch: No, no, no. Okay. Well. No! We just need to do something with the pondshrooms to fix them, and we’re thinking about it, but it needs more thought!
Will you guys ever need more writers/moderators?
As we grow, maybe! <Lengthier answer in the video, missed>
Are the characters of the Mycena Cave Story NPC’s? I would really like to see what they look like, and maybe some backstory and/or relationship trees on them to help follow the story better. They could be the Bone Monsters pets!
Myla: We’d like to add them! For example like the profile we added to Aliza [Halloween Detective Plot], she’s on the Bone Monster account :)
daemon, will you scream like a lemon for us?
daemon: No.
Will you publish a list where the chances of getting each item from Fishing is stated?
The recipe, left boot and the pondshrooms are the rarest!
Wrapping up! We had a lot of fun, thanks for your questions, and HAVE A NICE WEEKEND!
