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Survey discussion

Hi everyone!

First, an apology: I’m sorry for my mishandling of the gender question. In its first version, it simply asked “What is your gender?” with response options “female” and “male”. A couple hours later I realized that that wasn’t good enough, and changed it the question to “Which gender do you identify with”. After a while I realized that it was still off the mark, and added a third “other” response. My reasoning behind the initial version of the question was that it didn’t really make much of a difference for the purpose of this survey, but that’s exactly the kind of mindset that can make life really difficult for people who don’t fall neatly into “traditional” gender categories. So, if you got one of the early versions of the question and felt neglected, boxed in or uncomfortable, please accept my sincerest apologies, that was not my intention. And if the final version I settled on still isn’t good enough, please do let me know for the future. I’m still learning. Thank you.

Thanks so much to those of you who filled out the survey we posted a little while ago. We got over 125 responses (!!), and it really helped us understand who you are, and how we can best steer development. Some of you typed a LOT (which was awesome) and we read every word. You guys brought up some great points, and helped us focus more on what we need now, as opposed to what would be cool someday. We’ve been thinking about it carefully, and decided that rather than announcing what was going to happen, we’d instead announce our take on what you guys wrote, and could discuss a plan from there.

There were three recurring themes that came up a lot in the “needs improvement” section, and they’re all pretty related. Short version: more games, more nuggets, more single-player.

Games
Cave In is pretty good, but having only one real game just isn’t enough. We’ve had a big thing in the works for quite some time now (you may have seen a sneak preview of some of the art a while back if you were hanging around in chat) but getting that finished is still a ways off and in any case, it seems what we really need now is a little different: more games like Cave In that are fun, yield nuggets, have a high-score board and so on. So we’ve paused work on that front for now, and are focusing on more things kind of like Cave In. And you’ll be happy to know that one of them’s almost finished (yes, this has been a priority) and another is on its way after that. (and don’t worry, the “big thing” isn’t going to vanish or go away, it’s just going to take a back-seat while we get to the more urgent “we need this now” stuff).

Economy
We’ve increased payouts for a number of things over the last few months, but the fact of the matter is if you want a full Out of the Shadows set, you need to max out 22-25 days every month depending on your luck with fishing and how active you are on the boards. That’s tough. And we’re here to be fun, not your second job. Luckily however, with the release of our next game comes a substantial increase in the daily game cap: from 2,000 nuggets to 3,000 nuggets (!) This has been… planned for a while, but it’s long overdue and the surveys really helped set the fire under our backsides to get them done ^^.

Single-player
This was a very interesting point brought up by a number of people, which is going to be harder to fix but ultimately is extremely important. Mycena Cave as it is now is very, very community oriented. This is very much by design, but the problem is that it’s almost exclusively community oriented. This isn’t so much a problem for people who know everyone already, who were lucky enough to be part of this community before it really even began here. You know each other, and diving into the forums isn’t too difficult. It’s a different story entirely for people who stumble in without knowing anybody. They get to play the games for a bit, click around, and then there’s not much to do unless they’re ready to dive into the forums and start interacting which a huge number of strangers. What we need is, without sacrificing our community focus, to develop enough of a “single player” arc such that people who aren’t quite ready to interact with everyone else still have something to keep them coming back long enough to eventually assimilate into the hive-mind :D

—————————-

Many other things were mentioned, along with feature suggestions and specific requests and so on (e.g. human character editing, pinning forum threads, other ways of interacting with your inventory, pinging people, etc etc etc etc), and while I can’t possibly address everything everyone wrote (soooooooo muchhhhhhh stuffffffffff :D) in this thread, please don’t feel like we ignored it because we didn’t. I’d be very happy to hear your thoughts on the above three points (and anything else you care to mention!), and if you feel like you made a point that would be helped by discussing it and I didn’t bring it up in this post, please do feel free to post it here. And I’m especially interested in encouraging brainstorming ideas for the single-player thing.


On a side note, thank you so much for all your kind words of encouragement. The amount of positivity that came through those surveys was amazing. Sometimes, from our perspective, it seems a lot of our interactions with people devolve into bug reports and requests and talking about things that should be different and so on — it’s a very refreshing thing to have the occasional reminder that while there is a lot still to do and a lot that needs improvement, there’s a lot here that’s awesome and a lot of happy people <3

Posted 02/13/14, edited 02/13/14

Okay first off? That apology and the fact that you’re willing to learn and correct your mistakes is the sweetest thing ever. Good on you guys! c:

Re: games! This is absolutely wonderful news! I felt a bit pushy when I mentioned this myself because I do really understand how much time/effort goes into making each game and all, but this is a really great change that I felt needed to be touched upon first and foremost. So thanks! I’m looking forward to the new games. c: I’d like to see some more dailies (like fishing) that are quick & easy when you’re just stopping in so you have a chance to make up some cash if you don’t have the time to commit to maxing out. They also give you more incentive to stop by each day and (possibly!) even stick around for more than the three seconds it takes to fish and grab interest hehe. But again, I get this takes time/planning/effort/etc sooo I understand this isn’t something that can be churned out right away.

Re: economy! Big applause for this!! Thanks! I think that extra 1k a day will really help out.

Re: single-player! This isn’t something I thought of when I filled out the survey… but wow! What an awesome idea. As much as I’d like to delve deeper into the community and roleplay that simply isn’t possible right now. My life has gotten even more taxing within the last few weeks and I doubt this will ease up any time soon… so the idea that I can do my own thing in my free-time on here is very welcome news. I often sign in and then just kinda… sit about because I’m unsure what to do. I really, really look forward to seeing what you all come up with for a “single-player arc”. It sounds very promising! Perhaps it could help flesh out the canon lore some more?

I actually forgot to touch on this in my own survey (oh gosh I’m here to ramble incoherently some more, sorry!!), but I’d love to see more details on the canon. I have a hard time getting a feel for it with what little information we have. The backstory and first chapter were very nice reads, but they don’t expand much on the hmm… “basics”, I suppose? (not the word I’m looking for, but it is late and I’m tired) I’d like more in-depth detail about the cave itself, how the magics the sorceress weaved work, biological info on the ineki/drasilis/other cave inhabitants, what do ineki eat, what color is their blood, are drasilis cold-blooded or warm-blooded, how long ago were the inhabitants encased in stone, etc, etc. Perhaps a codex of sorts could be filled out as the site develops? A page or two every month or two or so. Maybe even bits of it could be “diary” type pages, like from the sorceress or the wanderer? I dunno! I’d just like to see more “flavor text” and info on various topics about the cave. It would definitely help me feel more comfortable playing with the canon (when life calms down and I have the time to do so, that is…). Perhaps the users could even help contribute to it?

Andddd I’d love to be able to edit human characters, ping people, and layer items on my pets. ehehe.

Okay! I think that wraps that up for now… I will shush and try to go to sleep. Anyway, thank you so much for taking the time to issue surveys and actually read and respond to them! I love that you’re all so willing to listen to feedback and work with your userbase. And thank you again for all your hard work, everyone! Very appreciated. <3

Posted 02/13/14

OuO Thanks for the update and everything you’re doing. Glad to see things coming along and the site growing with the community.

I think having an other category is good enough for me since I don’t fit in either category. :X

Huzzah! As much fun as Cave In is, I can use another game. OwO Thanks for listening and all that good stuff. Can’t wait to see what comes out.

And don’t forget about the others selling gems. Every now and then there are some players who sell gems for less. It’s nice to know I can actually get all of the items without having to play the games everyday or post a lot in the forums with nuggets. X.x I’m starting to see stones in my sleep, and for some reason, I see golden pigs. Weird.

:D Fire. Fire. Fire. Ehehehehehehehe!

Hm… I’m not sure about the last point. .-.If they post in the welcome lounge, maybe have a warm welcome for them though that leaves out the people who aren’t comfortable with posting. Maybe there can be some sort of mentoring program or newbie adoption where they have one solid person/player they can interact with and become comfortable and and and maybe after that, they’ll feel comfortable to post more in the threads.

I dunno.

*flees*

Posted 02/13/14

Chibi Envy Chan- I am EXTREMELY sorry if this comes off as rude since I’m going to be very, very blunt. Your last little paragraph hit a nerve, sorry again-
Some people don’t feel comfortable posting in forums at all. This INCLUDES the welcome threads. In fact, some people are actually very adverse to welcome threads in general. That’s why the welcome threads give out nuggets. It’s to encourage you to post in it.
I know for a fact that seriously the first welcome thread thing that I remember ever posting was actually here. On Mycena. which is not the first petsite, nor forum site that I have joined. I was just adverse to posting until this point. I am still adverse to posting in places where I do not know most of the forum members. (Example: everywhere else I am on, ever.) In fact even on Digis I only started regularly posting because I was following where Ishy posted on the forums. I was a lurker for a good… mmm.. 1-2 years? and even then I didn’t post much.

I know that maybe certain people are quite chatty, and are perfectly okay with posting said welcome forums, but I’m actually a little surprised, and again being blunt- annoyed, you expect people to be that open to you right off the bat. You’re a stranger, you’re new, and that doesn’t exactly bode for feelings of goodwill for a lot of people. Even if you’re friendly, in fact being TOO friendly can actually scare off new users as much as not being friendly enough. =\ Depends on the person, obviously but.. yeah.

The short version is: yes it’s community based but there are shy people who don’t want to jump into the pool they’d prefer to take the steps and ease themselves in and they deserve as much attention as the rest of everyone.

Posted 02/13/14

Just wanted to touch on what Chibi and Sapphy said there real quick before bed… but…

There’s also the fact that people, like me!, are very familiar with the community (hello hi yes I’ve been around for the past five years on Digis) and are still largely incapable of venturing into the forums/spending large amounts of time there. I’m very, very shy, anxious, and introverted… I don’t do well with large groups unless I’m extremely comfortable with them and even then I need plenty of time to recharge. I’m much better with one-on-one or private group discussions. Which is a big reason I don’t venture into chat often. I think I’ve popped in maybe… two or three times? I was fairly chatty because I was with people I knew well. Just because I know most people from the community here does not exactly mean I know them well or that I’m comfortable with everyone!

Barring that, irl is crazy right now. I don’t have the time or energy to devote to social ventures at this point in time. I’m having enough trouble just keeping in contact with close friends. ;o; I’d love a way to de-stress here without having to socialize.

So. Yeah. A mentoring/newbie adoption could be a good idea for willing participants! I’m sure some newbies would really have a great time with it. However, this doesn’t help more shy or introverted types and doesn’t really help older users at all…

And honestly, yeah, the way you phrased that last paragraph is honestly a bit off-putting? As if the idea of a single-player arc would be a wasted venture because people just need to learn to chatter away on the forums.. and… yeah… no. Community based games aren’t for everyone! And people shouldn’t feel left out because they don’t feel comfortable in a community at all times. I understand Mycena is meant to be community-based, but hey, even MMOs have perfectly valid ways to play by yourself and I think that’s something that should really be worked on here. It’s a wonderful idea that I’d very much like to see one day and I’d love to help out with (when it’s not 5:30am… heh).

edit: and to re-iterate my point: just posting these last couple of posts has been incredibly hard for me because I have serious social anxiety and I will probably stress about this for the next few days and okay I really need to go to bed bye

Posted 02/13/14, edited 02/13/14

I don’t recall what I wrote on the survey, but I think all the staff are doing a great job with this site c:

I’m in the same boat as Siren, I hate posting on the forums. I know a lot of your names (heck I know most of your customs, writing styles and personalities too) from Digis but the majority I’ve never interacted with and it makes me extremely uncomfortable posting. I think a community on a website is great, but I also think it’s hugely intimidating and overwhelming trying to be apart of when it’s so close.

I’m not a fan of mentoring programs but they may work well for other users, my experience with them hasn’t been so positive. Investing in a single player system would be fantastic and it would give Mycena Cave another thing that many sites I don’t feel have.

But my two cents and c:

Posted 02/13/14

I am personally excited to know more games are in the works. Cave In is fun and all, but playing that on repeat every day is practically mind-numbing. Stating such, I’m also excited to know the cap will be raised to 3k Nuggets to help people receive full OOTS sets. (Plus allow hoarders to hoard more….*stares at Ama*)

^ That being said, I also think it would be cool if players could still play games after they reach their cap, just so they have something else to do if they just want to sit around and chat with peeps.

As for the single-player system, I think that would work not only for those that avoid boards and posts and threads because they’re new, but also for those who simply just want to hide for a little bit. I tend to fall into that category where I want to be involved on the site, but I don’t necessarily want to be chatting with a million people. Right now there isn’t too much to support that. As Siren has said, a lot of online MMO’s have different ways to reiterate an individual-playing style - whether that be plots and ‘quests’ and ‘goals’ they can follow or otherwise travel along by themselves. I, personally, think that would also help bring the community together, because if someone gets stuck there could always be a ‘forum’ dedicated to that single-player-goal-style that’s basically just a ‘help’ or ‘guide’ for them. I know that would take an insane amount of time and preparation to implement…but I also think it would be cool.

Overall, I think the fact that the administrators reach out into the community is a wonderful thing. (: I’ve never been a part of a site where the Admins were so invested in the community and involving themselves with the players. It’s refreshing, and it’s comforting. I think this, above anything else, is what will make this site work and draw more people in. Naturally as the site grows larger it’ll be harder to please everyone, but this is definitely a good start. I don’t think anyone would say otherwise.

Posted 02/13/14

Wow, what an amazing post and I’m excited for the future!

I identify with the community aspect. I’ve been here a week but unless you are ready to RP I feel kind of isolated. I would love to have something more to keep my playing the site longer than just popping on.

Posted 02/13/14

As a quick note for major lurkers, I joined Digis in January 2009, but as of now my post count on there is only… 186. I’m pretty sure no one really remembers me from there despite my account’s age, I tend to avoid forums as much as possible on most of the sites I’m on xD. I post on Mycena mainly because the community is so small. I like being able to recall most if not all of the names I see. However, I still don’t feel really ‘in the group’ so I tend to limit what I say. If that makes sense.

Concerning mentoring programs, I personally don’t feel comfortable with them (as in being mentored) but if other people think it would help them then I think it’s a good idea! If something like that helps just one person then it’s a good thing to do. c:

I’m looking forward to being able to earn more nuggets! As the site is now, I do feel slightly pressured to hit the cap each day. Not to mention, I won’t buy items if I don’t super duper like them (even though I want them), just so I have more spare nuggets for the next month.

Posted 02/13/14, edited 02/13/14

Oh, one more thing — if you identify as a lurker, pretty pretty please make an exception and post in this thread, if only to say “I’m a lurker” if you like. Or send me an echo. In the near future I’d like to start a private conversation up with self-identified lurkers, and discuss how we can help make Mycena Cave something you can enjoy as well. I know this request is probably outside your comfort zone, but it will help me represent your ideas as well as those posted by people comfortable talking in forum posts such as this one, so I hope it will be worth it :)


edit: i’d love for everyone to participate in this discussion, not just lurkers. I just especially want to know who considers themselves a lurker so I can reach out to them later :)

Posted 02/13/14, edited 02/13/14

I don’t mind posting when it comes to business, but in general I tend to just lurk
I feel I have a hard time connecting with people so I don’t even bother that much anymore lol
A more single player oriented experience would benefit me greatly, I felt very left out of the Halloween event because I was too shy to post my writing
Yet there was no alternative for earning Halloween goodies :(
Anyways, I’m definitely in favor of new games, cap raise and more individual content

Posted 02/13/14

I.. am not a lurker. : D Sorry guys. Probably everyone knows me (and probably everyone hates me :D;) on this site, and back on digis. But I am very aware of the fact that most people don’t. In fact, Deddo and I joined the same exact time but I haven’t a clue who she is (my bad if you’re not a she. As pet sites usually are overrun by girls, I default to she.) And I doubt other people know who she is either, but they probably know me. So yeah, I know you weren’t asking for non-lurkers but I thought I’d point it out.

Anyway, I remember I didn’t say much in my survey, but I am so relieved about the economy. When I first heard economy, I was scared that cave in’s max out would be lowered. See, I didn’t come back to this site until January. So I’m kinda riding on.. 1k nuggets. While everyone else has so many nuggets. So I thought the amount of nuggets everyone has was being a problem. I’m glad it’s actually the opposite as the problem! Now maybe I can save up to get some old coats!

Posted 02/13/14, edited 02/13/14

*squeaks* I’m so excited about the new game!!! <3 I don’t believe I suggested adding new games in the survey, but I must say that was mostly because I was sure it would happen at some point regardless! I have been hoping for one, though! Oh hooray! Also, the increased daily nuggets that comes along with the new game will help me an insane amount! I try to buy a male and female of every monthly coat, but that leaves me with no extra nuggets left over for items. D: This will allow me to buy some lovely get-ups for my pets!!!

As for the single-player, I think the idea is fabulous. I really do love how community based Mycena is, but I also struggle with posting on forum boards. I’m pushing myself here to try and… integrate myself more in this community. The majority of other sites I’m on, I lurk and keep very much so to myself. Here, the community seems a lot more accepting. Perhaps because of size. :3 It’s so small and cute. But yeah… A lot of people have difficulty reaching out to the community, especially when so many people already seem to know each other. Single-player stuff would be really neat!
I’d also just like to say that I adore how very active the admins/mods are in the community. <3 You guys are all so wonderful and fun; it really helps set Mycena apart and makes me feel more comfortable posting on the boards myself. *blows you all lots of happy Ny-kisses*

Posted 02/13/14

Oh shh, Shima. We love youuu. <3

I all honesty, it might come to a big surprise to some of you, but I’m actually a lurker on most petsites besides Digis and some other small communities. I actually didn’t post for the longest time consistently on Digis due to the fact I was afraid of not fitting in or no one would find me interesting enough to even read my post. I sometimes still get those pressures, but right now it’s more or less about posting too much and the feeling I’m annoying everyone. I think I’ve cut back on posting due to that, to be completely honest.

But the point that I’m getting at is that having a single-player arc is a very appealing idea. Especially since the last six months I’ve been school bound and sometimes don’t have the time or energy to even pop on daily. Even on days that I have time, I might look at recent posts and just… not feel like really sifting through forums for much else. But I enjoy MC enough that I want to spend more time here.

As for an actual idea, I do tend to like quests that yield some type of points to buy prizes in a shop? I know we don’t have a lot of items or places to explore yet, but given time it would be neat if there was a story that pushed you to “give x to this NPC” or “visit this part of the map at this time of day” or “earn x amount of nuggets playing this game.” Once you get those points you can exchange them for some nice things. But it would have to have a good balance of what things are worth… Like I would want to work for it, but I don’t want to get 1 point a day and it takes me 100 days to get that nice potion.

I think another nice thing, as others mentioned, is some dailies that make me want to visit daily.

That being said, I can’t wait for the game in the making! As much as cave-in is a good game, it does get mindless and I tend to be the type that doesn’t have the attention span when the payout isn’t the best.

Finally, I want to give a huge thank you to all the staff, because you guys take so much time to listen! And it’s really obvious you guys care a lot for us, and that makes me feel warm and fuzzy =w=

Posted 02/13/14, edited 02/13/14

It’s cool to see a discussion thread about the survey :) I’m interested to know what kinds of things others want for the site. It’s also refreshing to see consideration for nonbinary genders there, glitch.

I’ll be real here…I don’t think it occurred to me that single-player accommodations would even be considered. I’m guilty of comparing mycenacave to digis in the survey due to the similarities, aesthetically and community-wise…but this is something that would set mycenacave apart in a big, positive way. I am still trying to get engaged and active in the community, but being the kind of person I am I don’t usually post if I have nothing to say on a topic. Safely I could identify as a lurker, since that is what I do most of the time. I’m the same way on aywas nowadays, even though I used to be heavily involved with the community over there too. Flight rising as well. I sometimes make a post but usually am content to read what other people say and play the games. This was a problem for me on digis(if you’ll excuse the continued comparison, sorry!) where there weren’t too many reasonable options for making currency besides posting. If I remember, games were gamble-based(where you were likely to lose currency instead), daily chance(like the fruit tree bird) or…what was it, the number game? I don’t remember what it was called, but that game was a nightmare for me. I’m sure I’m not the only one.

Well anyway, I expected similar when I came here because that’s where this community started, but I was pleased to find options like cave-in and fishing. The fishing is a no-brainer, but then it even led into the crafting feature, so we have to be careful of what we automatically sell off and whatnot. So cool! I’m not very good at cave in but it’s still a decent source of nuggets for me if I play enough games. I still think mycenacave is very community-based and friendly, so none of this led the site in the direction of being impersonal or automated. A single-player thing wouldn’t either, I believe. Rather than feeling forced to interact with strangers, newbies could get a start in the game while still lurking. They might feel inclined to get involved with the community later on down the line as people become familiar to them. Or they might not at all, but at the very least I think openness to these type of ideas pushes the site away from ostracization towards hesitant community members.

I’ve been a newbie on petsites many times over, and whether it’s a big community or small, it’s intimidating. Big communities can be looming and scary, you might not be sure who to turn to and you could easily have a bad experience. They’ve turned off many users who felt more comfortable in close-knit, smaller communities. But games with big communities have their strengths, they’ve managed to make the game playable without the need for involvement simply because they’re too large for that level of involvement to be necessary. I don’t think any of us want mycenacave to get to that point, but I think it could benefit from the concept a little. I’ve found that small communities can be just as intimidating for a new user, especially someone who is shy or has social anxiety. It’s like walking into a party and holy crap, everyone knows each other already, they’re being nice but I’m not sure, oh god I’m just going to stand by the snack bar and pet this dog. Some newbies here might find it easier to stand by the snack bar and listen to the conversation first while petting the blue, three-tailed magic dog.

And of course, there are users who are too involved with other things in their life for roleplay and community stuff to be an option at the moment. That’s okay too! I don’t think it would be detrimental at all for mycenacave to be inclusive of different types of players, rather than to say “this might not be the right game/community for you, if you can’t get involved in the same way as everyone else.” Mycenacave still might not be, but at least we could say you tried to make it a fun experience to get into.

A mentor program is a good idea too, though. That’s another way to get people feeling included, if they’re not adverse to that kind of thing. I could see people volunteering for one-on-one mentorship and letting newbies come to them, or the other way around- a newbie could talk about themselves/their interests and a mentor could open up a conversation with them about whatever they like while giving them important pointers, or introduce them to other people they might like through echoes. The forums are a good way for people to get involved in open discussion, but I could see mentorship being beneficial for people who are better with individual interactions.

I might lurk a lot, but this sort of thing seems really important to me. I enjoy the community, even though I have trouble remembering names…it’s cool to see people around and newer, more unfamiliar faces join the crowd. Eventually I think I’ll start to be familiar with people again.

On the survey, I think the only thing I suggested was sudoku. That’d be a cool game to have at some point. I like puzzles, hehe. Whatever the new game is, it’s sure to be good. Options are good. A little break from seeing staggered blocks when I close my eyes…

Posted 02/13/14

glitch, you beat me to the punch. D;

I would just like to state that I wrote this response at six in the morning. I DO NOT DO THIS FOR ANY OTHER SITE I PLAY ON! I was supposed to be sleeping! I am now posting it at a more reasonable hour in the day.

I know I stated in my survey that I felt the site needed more games (I kept my short and sweet because I was on my phone). I DO understand the time, effort, coding, and art that go into them, and I just want to thank you guys for making more for us in the near future. ~<3

The 1k+ difference will save my life! As a full time uni student I find it hard every day to max out in cave-in, let alone even playing it. I cannot tell you how many coloration’s I missed out on because I could not come up with the funds by the end of the month. And I understand that users sell gems cheaper than market price (I buy from users whenever I can), but even with the lower prices I was still finding it hard to afford an item set or even a monthly pet.

As someone who is a complete introvert, this idea actually makes me very happy. I play on pet sites all the time, but I usually lean towards a more single-player base style. Which is why chat is actually hard for me. I think I only hopped on twice in all the time I’ve ever been on, and even with just two to three users online I just didn’t know what to type. I fully understand that Mycena is a community base, but it will be nice having more to do whenever I get free time on my hands instead of lurking around the site. ;;

And adding more to what everyone has said before me, I am an introvert as I have stated above. Even if I have talked to someone countless times before, I am still unsure of how to communicate with them. And I am not new to the community either. I have been on Digis for 6 years, and as the community grew I found myself unable to have a voice. When I first started I made a few friends, they encouraged me to chat in the forums and even helped me with my characters for future role-plays that we agreed upon, but after a year they vanished. I didn’t know what happened to them and my only source of contact was on Digis. So you can imagine my surprise when they came back after years of hiatus only to not respond to my MMs. After that experience I became rather distant from the community, and I know just that one experience shouldn’t have driven me to be distant, but I really felt as if I was no longer welcomed. And as the site grew I felt like this was true. Whenever I got the courage to post again my post were usually ignored, but if I won something I was recognized. That was really heart breaking for me, not to mention it also felt as if you had to role-play in order to get a glimmer of friends. I am not comfortable with my writing, and I do not feel comfortable role-playing with people I do not know, so Digis was just not the place for me even if I would have liked it to be. And don’t worry, I know pretty much EVERYONE, because I was a huge lurker on there and I would like to say that I have opened up a bit more on Mycena. Still not enough to get me posting (because I would really like to talk Winter Olympics with everyone, but I don’t have the slightest clue where I would even make this thread, let alone if a vast majority of the user base is even watching the Winter Olympics/reading articles online). Also as a side note it was not until recently that I actually started talking to someone outside my friend. If she didn’t encourage me to start talking to her, I probably would have just lurked her more on here. ;;

Also, I forgot to mention this in my survey (because it is insanely hard to write on my phone), but I was wondering if in the future there will be other ways to pay for things on here? As someone who does not have access to a credit card or debit card I rely on gift cards or gaming cards if I ever want to buy anything online, and I was just wondering if this would be an option in the future (mostly gaming cards)? I understand that it requires research and time so it is not something I would expect to appear soon, but it would just be nice to know if it is a possibility for those of us who want to buy things with real life money but can’t (such as gems, items, coloration’s, customs, etc).

Shima, Pfft, what are you talking about? You are totally awesome! :D

edit: Oh my gosh this came out longer than I thought it would. Sorry everyone. :x

Posted 02/13/14, edited 02/13/14

First off I want to say that I haven’t read everything, I’ll do so later, but I read the first post and skimmed the rest.

Personally I’m a bit of a lurker, I know the community and some of you may know me from back when I was in Digis’ AIM chat a lot, but I guess you could say things were a bit rocky with some people and one of my biggest draws to chats with this community no longer talks to me, SO I’ve been a bit wary to jump back in, feeling mostly like an outsider and keeping to myself.

Anyway, this isn’t about all that, I was just expressing my current standing as far as the community goes. I think my biggest… Issue? With the site, is that I WANT to be on often, I want to do things here on the site… But there’s nothing to do besides cave in and fishing, and with both of their limits I’m done in an hour or so and then that’s it, even the forums aren’t all that active.

Obviously the answer to this is to kick myself in the butt and go hang out in chat instead when I have free time, but I haven’t quite made it there yet :D;

Posted 02/13/14

Not sure if I consider myself a lurker or not.  I mean, there certainly are times that I tend to post more, but that’s mostly on my role-plays replies.  Yes, I was a member of Digis since January 2009, and I felt left out occasionally, but I stuck with it.  I’m guessing it’s because I was in my freshman year of high school and…  was an actual “otaku” around that time.  Not to mention I invited my cousin and IRL friends to Digis and we talked about it pretty much every time we met.  However, that didn’t really help me with meeting others in the community.

However, I feel like Mycena gave me a fresh start with all of the previous Digis users.  It’s also much easier to meet new, non-Digis users here, too, which is great.  I don’t miss the invite system of Digis like I thought I would.  We’re still a fairly small and tight-knit community.

Since a lot of us came from Digis, it may be harder for newer users to jump in and join the conversations we have since a lot of us are fairly close.  I strongly support a newbie helper/newbie adoption system.  I mean, one thing that kept me on Digis was the fact that someone helped me get my first pet.  (That first 500 GCC was hard to get!)  It doesn’t necessarily mean that you’d have to give up your nuggets or gems, but just be kind and open to helping new users. 

I also love RPing, so I’d love to see more RP events in the future.  Also, I would suggest more canon information.  It’s still a little too vague, in my opinion.  More specifics on cave lore would be great.

Posted 02/13/14
Awww, Asgard, you’re sweet. Thank you. I do remember you though, you were.. Tikushi, yes? Also, as a word of advice, if you want to post about the winter olympics, Jibber Jabber or Real World Discussions would be the best place. Also, if you want someone to talk to about it, talk to Ama (aka Amaterasu). Ama won’t shut up if you get her on the subject. (I love you Ama<3)
Posted 02/13/14, edited 02/13/14

To answer your question, glitch, I guess I’d consider myself a bit of a lurker. I do post on occasion; I wouldn’t say I’m uncomfortable with talking. But, I do think I am an introvert and therefore it takes energy to talk to people and being social requires effort, heh. Though I like talking just as much as the next person, I just haven’t felt the drive to try and get into the forums here, and I’ve probably been in the chat all of two times. I think I just pick bad times but the chat is just hard ‘cause I feel weird when conversation dies, or no one responds. ^^;

As for the rest of the stuff in the original post, I’m so excited for a new game and I’m also super looking forward to the extra 1k nuggets a day! I do manage to max out mostly every day but the extra will really help me get some extra things, like the other two basics. c: Also, I do tend to enjoy the more single-player stuff, so I’m really happy to hear that more of that is coming, too! In regard to the other things people have said, I really love the codex idea, or just fleshing out the backstory more in general.

And as a last note, Avis, I’ve set aside time every single night to watch the primetime airing of the Olympics on NBC. If you made a thread I’d more than likely come by and post because I looooove the Winter Olympics. (;

Posted 02/13/14

Yes don’t worry Shima, I am female. c: I did go by a different username back then, I think I went by RukiaGH when I joined Digis. Not that that’s much help x3. I did participate in the 2010 event… I remember being on the winter team, though not much else. I’ve always been too shy to PRP with people I don’t know in real life, I opened up a little during the event but didn’t post at all afterwards until very recently.

Also it’s going to sound dumb but I didn’t really realise Mycena had a chat xD. I can see it now. I normally just refresh the latest replies page though, I don’t really feel I have much to say in a chat. It’d feel intrusive to me o3o.

Posted 02/13/14
I’m really happy that the question about your human profile character came up. For those of you who know me, I’m all over the map in what’s boy and girl. ( I change my persona pretty regularly because of this ._. ) What I was wondering was, maybe make a third option. Perhaps even just a blacked out base with a question mark on it for the ‘other’ option. Even better, if we can use our pets/humans for our avatar on the forums, why not have it to where you could also use pets for your profile?
Posted 02/13/14

Ishy and Sapphy

From my perspective, it is rude since it’s completely misinterpreted.

My post is suggesting to start in the introduction forum, however, there are some people who are uncomfortable posting anywhere so therein lies the conflict. My suggestion is to have some sort of mentoring or friendship thing where they can feel comfortable around a player. It can be a friend they’ve known from a different site. I’ve brought a few people to different sites and have helped them to understand what’s going on.

If you want to discuss this further, feel free to send me an echo.

Anyways I wouldn’t say I’m a lurker, but at the same time, I’m extremely nervous when I post since I don’t know if I’m being too blunt or offensive. It’s hard to tell with people I don’t know. I tend to write and rewrite things when I’m new to a site. Sometimes I write it and don’t even post it since well… I don’t want to cause any trouble or something like that. It doesn’t take a lot for things to escalate as I know from personal experience. It tends to become messy. This is probably worst case scenario, but that’s how I feel at times. I’m the type of person who imagines the worst case scenario, and I don’t want people to dislike me or hate me. It’s frustrating, because I want to post something, yet, I’m hesitant on it.

When I’m with people I know, I find it easier to talk with since they know what to expect from me and I know what to expect from them. We’re comfortable around each other and it’s easier to understand the conversation. Maybe there are people who feel the same way. I’m not sure since I’m going off my own experience.

By the way, I rewrote this post three or four times.

Posted 02/13/14

Like I said, I knew I was being blunt and responding that way because part of that paragraph hit a nerve. It’s why I apologized before I even started. So again, I do sincerely apologize for coming off that way. And.. Apparently getting your meaning wrong? I reread it and the tone is the same but it does mention the mentoring thing. So there’s that.

I think multiple play styles should be supported, not suppressed. A wide userbase will cause the site to grow and flourish. Granted we can’t cover EVERYONE but something as basic as people who prefer to be at the sidelines and those who prefer to be in the midst of everything can definitely be done.

I’m.. 50/50 on this whole mentor idea that’s sprung up. I know for a fact that I’m not usually a fan of such things. If they come up naturally- great. But I wouldn’t really.. Force it like how it is sounding to me. :\
If it’s a friend from another site/IRL that’s the natural thing I am meaning because I’m expecting your friend is gonna help you get set up and stuff. The fact that it is being tossed out to make an official thing out of it kinda.. Confuses me and seems a bit ridiculous.

If people just stumble across Mycena like via VPL this does indeed Pose a problem. Information should be readily available and they shouldn’t NEED to ask anyone if they read the help section or the rules in the seprate forums.

It’s a fine line that needs to be looked at closely because I do enjoy our community centered base. But these single player-minded people I’ve noticed are often the ones driving the economy in a lot of cases. :/
You can’t just… Leave them out or only give them the option to ‘integrate’.

P.S. sorry if this is hard to follow-wrote on iPod right before class.

Posted 02/13/14, edited 02/13/14
I usually spend my online pet-site time on Subeta, so I don’t mind dropping in to do daily activities quickly. Lurking is fun because I’m bad at creating topics, but I have not really role-played at all, so it’s pretty difficult to jump in to certain parts of the forum. My suggestion is a place for forum games that doesn’t require extensive text-posts unless the user wishes to make them.
Posted 02/13/14

I have to agree about it not being a forced mentorship and mulled over some ideas on it. Rather than pairing them off with someone, maybe there can be a list of people they can reach out to. Volunteers who are willing to answer questions and guide them. That way no one feels pressured to do anything. I can see it helping the single player as well and not for the purpose of posting or integration. Maybe they have questions and don’t know who to ask or are shy about sending an echo to a random person.

Also as things are implemented, the help section can be updated to include them. If there is a question not answered there, that can be added too.

Just a thought.

Posted 02/13/14

I just wanted to chime in and say YAAAY for the increase in daily nuggets. It’s so heartbreaking to see my bank account drop so drastically each month after getting the OotS set. And some months, I wanted more than just one of each item, and I just had to go without because I simply couldn’t afford it. :c Not everyone can spend money on the site. Honestly, I really wish I could. I’d love to help support the site I adore so much by contributing some money, but I simply can’t. ; n ; So, this is really nice news to hear about, not only for me, but for the other people who don’t/can’t spend actual money on the site. c’:

Also, I know it may not seem like it, but I am quite shy. It took me a LONG time to finally start talking on the boards over on Digis. It was easier here, because I know a lot of the acvive members. Even still, I get all kinds of anxious when I post, even though I know a lot of the people here and I think I’m generally liked, though I can’t be certain about that. ^^;;

There was something else I wanted to talk about, but I forgot. D: I’ll post it if I remember. Maybe re-reading this thread will jog my memory. ^^;;

Posted 02/13/14
I’ll second the request for a forum-games section, I want to participate more in the community but due to frequent migraines and other health issues, I’m an unreliable RP partner. Since most people seem to prefer very regular posting on such threads, that makes it a bit harder to really feel like I’m part of the community here. A games forum is usually more relaxed, with lower expectations as far as post frequency per individual, and one person vanishing for awhile doesn’t usually stall a whole thread there. It can also be a good way to make some friends on a new site without the pressure some people (myself included) can feel with making an post in an Introductions forum.
Posted 02/13/14

I personally think that as a member of a community you should be willing to answer questions from newbies, but.. that’s my two cents? I can see where maybe a list of.. not exactly mods but sorta designated helper peeps could be useful. They’d have to make sure they know their stuff though. =\ and they’d have to be active.

I agree the Help section should probably updated ASAP when things are implimented. Possibly an FAQ can start being compiled or a guide thing that stretches a little past the getting sarted? (This latter one possibly only user made like a googledoc or something <3)
Possibly more just “Here’s how I play” kind of thing to show how there’s different play styles. =)

Taamma of course you’re liked! fjdskf silly nana-Tama.

I’d be all for a forum-games section? As long as it was..well looked after and didn’t degenerate into loads of spam. I’d also sorta like if it was left out of the recent posts or had an option to remove it like the Trading posts do now currently. =)

Posted 02/13/14

I think Aria did our survey, so I have absolutely 0 idea what she wrote (although I’m sure I would have agreed with all of it).  So, I’m going to use this as a time to my thoughts too.

I would love a more of single player mode. Maybe in the future, I’ll feel more comfortable with the community but for now - we pretty much log in, play cave in, fish, and sometimes debate naming our pets (although we did get on chat the other day and that was fun). We’re not even buying really monthlies at this point (mainly because of my HUGE pet peeve that the pets don’t appear correctly until I’ve named them… I don’t want to name them right away and it makes me so twitchy that they don’t appear pretty… that would have been the #1 or #2 thing on my survey :-P).

I also really like games. I like games of luck or chance. I would love a spinning wheel that gives out prizes because I am easily amused. I also would prefer more click-based site events. Roleplaying isn’t our thing.

So my thoughts: 1) yes single player mode 2) PRETTY PETS WITH NO NAMES 3) yes gamessssss 4) click obsessive events

~ Stevie

Posted 02/13/14, edited 02/13/14
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