Since we were on the subject of the saturation thing which is something I’ve also wanted for years, but maybe with an upper and lower limit to preserve the art style and consistency, could we maybe have a lock option for the driftshrooms and the saturation thing? I have accidentally hit buttons on mobile and been really upset with myself for losing the perfect drift or growing my sprout to the baby stage when I hadn’t meant to do that.

Also like if we could save a drift that’s be awesome as well. Maybe a function where we can pay a gem and save a drift? It could be overwritable or not, but something like that would be really fun so we can keep drifting a pet but be able to keep ideal drifts. 

I’m glad we seem to be getting more stage twos and threes(I even got cursed with stage 3 once!), but now I all I keep getting are the little brown mushrooms.. I only got the water once and was able to make the salve for stage 2.

I do now have 2 of the moss, but I can’t do anything with them without the water..

Is this something that needs to be fixed, or am I just really unlucky.

We’re getting cursed so often that we’re really struggling to do *any* curing, especially curing of stages 2 or 3. Also we’ve only every found one glowing moss.

At this rate, we’ll have no trouble cursing 300 people (we’re already about halfway there), and we should be able to cure the stage 2s for the chievos as long as we keep getting grave water at roughly the same rate, but we definitely won’t be able to cure the stage 3s by the end up the event. :(

Edit: Grisleda cured us and we were immediately cursed again darnit.

Some players are stockpiling significant quantities of healing supplies and salves instead of using them, presumably with the intention of using them towards the end of the event.

Unlike our spring crafting events, stockpiling ingredients does not provide an advantage. Rather, it impairs event mechanics, adversely affecting all players. In the short term it’s a minor inconvenience: it skews the balance between the two teams, forcing more frequent rebalance events by the Bone Monster. In the long term, it becomes a major detractor for all players: if a large backlog of salves are used towards the end of the event the healable population dries up very quickly, forcing very frequent rebalances and creating a period at the end of the event where even non-stockpilers can’t use their salves at all while the event sits in a loop of waiting for the grace periods of everyone who got cursed in a rebalance to expire before almost immediately triggering another one, rinse and repeat until the event ends with many unused salves and understandably unhappy players.

As such, we ask players to please regularly use healing supplies instead of stockpiling them. In order to constrain the issue and support a smooth ending for the event, we will also be implementing two changes over the next few days:

1. A hard cap on unused ingredients

We will be instituting a hard cap on unused ingredients at 25 ingredients. A hard cap of 25 ingredients means that you will be unable to forage for ingredients if you already have 25 or more unused ingredients on hand. If you find yourself unable to forage for ingredients, you can fix the situation by using your ingredients and brewing salves.

In order to accommodate players who have a large number of unused ingredients already, this cap will initially be set to 85 ingredients and will be lowered by 15 every day until it reaches its final value of 25.

2. A soft cap on unused salves

We will be instituting a soft cap on unused salves at 5 salves. A soft cap of 5 salves means that you will be unable to brew salves if you have at 5 or more unused salves on hand and there are currently players that could be healed with salves that you have on hand. If you find yourself unable to brew salves, you can fix the situation by using salves you already have to heal cursed Mycenians.

Note that these caps cannot put you into a position where you are blocked. If you are unable to harvest ingredients, you can brew salves to fix it. If you are unable to brew salves, you can heal cursed players to fix it. If you are unable to heal cursed players, you will be able to brew salves even if you are over cap, at which point you will be able to harvest ingredients again. When implemented, both caps will be visible on your event page.

There has been some confusion about the Bone Monster healing people that are Stage 2 and Stage 3 cursed. Some time ago, I stated:

People infected with Stage 2 or Stage 3 of the Stoneskin Curse are not targeted by the re-balance events - they need to be cured by actual players (though if this proves untenable, we will revisit this)glitch

It did indeed quickly prove to be untenable and so was changed — during curse rebalances, targeted players are cursed at all three stages like normal, so preventing the reverse during heal rebalances didn’t work. Unfortunately I forgot to announce this or even tell anyone on staff, so we’ve also been telling players that that it was a mistake and would be fixed. So to clarify: this behavior is intended and will continue to happen. I apologize for causing this confusion.

Stockpiling? Who’s stockpiling! Well of all the most silliest things I’ve ever he—

<.<

Been trying to get grave water and glowing moss so I can craft the more powerful potions. D: Sadly I’ve been getting mostly the shrooms or I’ve been cursed before I can get any.

Edit: Why am I constantly at stage 1 whenever I’m cursed? I’ve been at stage 2 a couple of times and one time at stage 3 though all these times were rather short lived since I’m healed once the cooldown ends.

People have such huge stockpiles :O How, am I doing something wrong here?!

On another note, I actually spend about 5 hours at a Stage 3 curse last night before I had to go to bed (so maybe more afterwards), so it seems there aren’t as many high level salve yet or people are saving them maybe >.>

glitch
At this point, it feels like we might as well have the site playing the game for us. XD

As far as I’m aware, this particular type of game (humans vs. zombies) was not designed to be played long-term. All the matches I’ve ever seen have lasted no more than 15-20 minutes, if that. Not to mention that the playerbase is too small, and the site itself has always been focused on RP, so likely a lot of people are playing the way their characters would. Forcing people to play a certain way makes it even more frustrating. Right now, what seems to be happening is a lot of continually tweaking and artificially extending something that wasn’t meant to run this long, until the event ends with many unattainable achievements and understandably unhappy players. >.>

The reason some people are stockpiling supplies is because of the extremely high stage 2/3 healing achievement requirements. In order to do those you need 80 brown mushrooms, 60 water, and 40 glowing moss. And those achievements are more than a fifth of the total possible points, which means not getting those is a huge loss. I know shop prices are going to get recalculated, but will that take into account the people who get screwed by rng? The event is half over and I have only found one single glowing moss this entire time. :/ Even with increased rates, unless they go up drastically, even trying for those achievements is a huge waste because if you use all those supplies on higher end salves, and don’t make it to the next achievement, you basically have lost everything you gathered anyway. Especially when it takes hours just to collect those supplies.

Are achievements/points going to be re-calculated along with shop prices? D: Right now, the achievements themselves are likely deterring people from using cures. Because as it stands, there’s no point curing people, especially at higher stages, unless you know you can get to the next achievement.

...On a completely unrelated note, earlier, Myla inexplicably gets revenge for me laughing at a typo she made 5 years ago. :|

[00:50:34] Ashlar: https://www.mycenacave.com/forums/permalink/33299 lol
[01:03:21] Ashlar: ..XD and Myla just cursed me lmao
[01:03:33] Ashlar: the timing :|
[01:10:34] Ishy and Sapphy: A+
[01:11:11] Ishy and Sapphy: Beautiful timing at work lol
[01:16:07] Ashlar: seriously XD

I’m jealous of the people who have been able to stockpile at all! I’ve still not gotten any moss, and cant remember the last time I got water haha

I’ve been spending much more time in this event than past events, and its gotten me barely any reward, with only 70 points, I don’t see how I’m ever going to reach my 400 minimum for everything I want.

Ashlar
HvZ can definitely be played long term. At my old university, we used to do it annually, and the match ran for a whole week. In the three years I was there, there were always humans left over, even though it ended in favour of the zombies (and there wasn’t a way to switch once zombified.) Granted, there were a couple hundred players in that case, and I can’t speak as to how many people are playing here, but the point is that long-term HvZ can be done. Even so, we’re far from letting the site play the event for us. I can only speak for myself, but of the 65 times I’ve been cursed, only 8 of them were from the Cave. It’s a similar ratio for healing.

(I’m not responding to your other points because I am largely in agreement. I’ve been doing pretty well in the event, but I have also only seen a single moss, to the point where I don’t even bother stockpiling ingredients because the chances of me pulling one are so astronomically unlikely that I might as well not even bother.)

For scale, Sapph and I have put in a minimum of 64 and a half hours into the event between the two of us and have pulled four glowing mosses during that time, and twelve grave waters.

We def feel like we’re doing better the last 12 hours or so than previously, tho!

~I

My stats to date: (I’ve been healing in batches of 5 or 10 with the stage 1 cures however I heal as soon as I can craft a stage 2 or 3 cure.)

95 cursed
70 stage 1 healed
4 stage 2 healed
4 stage 3 healed

Does that seem like the correct ratio or do I have bad RNG (which is common for me)?  I currently have 1 glowing miss, it’s the grave water that seems to be holding me back. As it stands I might be able to max out curses with some luck by the end of the event but if I do it will be to the detriment of being able to progress through the stage 2 and 3 cure achieves.

Edit: I’m not sure if I imagined it or not but I was at 70 level one heals and when I healed a level 3 I was suddenly at 71 level one heals. I’ve evened myself up to 80 so I’ll keep an eye on it for next time.

I’m actually the opposite of you Malis! I can’t seem to stay infected long enough to get my infection total up, which isn’t a huge deal because the healer seems objectively more difficult what with the crafting aspect of it.

Cursed: 61
Stage 1 Healed: 90
Stage 2 Healed: 9
Stage 3 Healed: 3

I have gotten a pretty even ratio of things, though I actually got more of the glowing moss and grave water at the start of the event than I have been getting now. Which is fine, moss seem to be in demand, I get a pretty decent amount of gravewater still!

66 total healed
11 Stage 2
1   Stage 3 (it’s the only moss I’ve ever gotten)

147 cursed

I keep getting cursed just when I go to salvage. Literally got cursed while I was on the giant collection image page and when I went back got the “you can’t salvage while cursed” message and screamed lol.  But yeah, for me the moss seems nonexistent

The glowing moss is a myth and you can’t convince me otherwise! I’ve had all of one.
Interestingly, I’ve actually gotten less grave water since stage 2/3 was implemented, but I’m pretty sure that’s just my perpetually janky RNG luck

Stage 1 healed: 81
Stage 2 healed: 2
Stage 3 healed: 3

Infected: 63

All in all I’ve definitely spent more time as a healer

Healed;
Stage 1: 46
Stage 2: 4
Stage 3: 0

Cursed: 38

Help me T0T :’)

Spent more time as a healer, but still no luck with the moss or much with the water! Someone wish me luck!

I go hours without getting cursed and when I get cursed I get healed rather fast, so please curse me XD At the beginning of the event I got switched more often between being healed and cursed.
So far I only got two moss.
healed: 146
Stage-2 healed: 16
Stage-3 healed: 2
cursed: 80

Edit: Found another moss.

I’ve been keeping track

.

I tend to agree with Ashlar in this case. If the number of players we cure/curse is managed by an automated system, and we’re told we must act in specific ways regarding the crafting/healing — then what are were actually doing as players? Obviously this is a learning thing, and everyone’s doing their best, I know the points at the end will work out. I’m not mad/hurt/whatever about it or anything, just a little bored by the lack of agency.

Jacq
I’m sitting at roughly the same, if I look at both curses and heals. My point was, it makes up a relatively small percentage (12%ish, if my maths isn’t horribly off) of the curses/heals that I’ve actually had. I would rather there not be an automated system at all, of course, but it’s also by no means the bulk of the event.

I haven’t found that there’s a lack of agency at all, but I had the opportunity to play the week-long HvZ at my old uni. You might as well say there’s no agency in that because it has rules. (EG, I had no agency in playing because I could only convert people on campus between lectures) From my perspective, this is just a more ping-pong-y version of that. There are definitely improvements to be made, certainly, but I don’t think there’s anything wrong with the base mechanics (or rather, the base mechanics as they were intended, if not necessarily implemented.)

I haven’t found a single glowing moss the entire event.  So my totals are:

Stage 1 cured: 55
Stage 2 cured: 6
Stage 3 cured: 0

Cursed: 67

I really wish I could get at least 1 moss and get those 10 points.

My current tally is:

Healed: 103
Stage 2 Healed: 10
Stage 3 Healed: 3
Cursed: 67

I seem to get Glowing Moss like once a day. Grave Water seems to pop up in batches lol

I FINALLY got another grave water and was able to heal a stage 3, and then got a another glowing moss.

But I’m still drowning in little brown mushrooms, that’s almost all I ever get.