The Great Winter Hunt 2011 is Coming!!!

Yeah if you found this page while looking for mousehunt related stuff, you probably will already have known that =P

Well I am bored, and really am looking forward to the GWH2011 =)

Definitely there will be traps! And perhaps Ronza (thats a very VERY BIG perhaps). Thing is, Ronza is becoming more and more redundant. I don't actually believe that. But, if you view the game in a coarse grained manner. Yes, Ronza's purpose can be fulfilled by other means and BETTER!!

So what of Ronza? What makes her a unique element of Mousehunt? Well, for one thing she is a travelling Merchant. Ther are no other merchants (oh Ponza?? nah), and it was always with great anticipation to spot her moving across the map of Gnawnia. So there is some magical about her Entrance. Again this is spoiled somewhat for convenience. Nowadays it is always a fixed place where events are held. Not quite so in the past! (Tho in order to accommodate everyone, the place is usually the meadow or some other awesomely low point and gold area =P so... it was for all intents and purposes FIXED! BUT!!! We did have the illusion that it was'nt =P)

ROnza brought L.E.!!! But now L.E. can be just earned through the event.. so next I guess =P

Ronza introduces new stuff! Firsts Splintered Wood then Moon Cheese!!! And then Charms!!! ... that might be moustachio..... but nevermind you get the idea. But now events too have new stuff, like .... I can remember the name , the lucky points or something. (where your chance of getting a High Roller mouse goes up as your points go up but once you catch something it drops to zero)

The only other unique things about Ronza I can think of is that She normally brings the BEST items. And her items or almost always bought and not earned.

It used to be that you just get enough gold and buy the thing and for many people that is the end of the event! It was for this very reason that events were stretched and we were made to jump through a few hoops to "earn" the trap and "experience" the event. I actually agree with this line of thought =) and have tried to stay in most events. I was never really for creating a special place for the events. I mean, the points chasers can jolly well stop and enjoy the events and let the ranking get a bit of a shuffle as people rush to get points (while the point chasers go have fun - which they don'y of course =P) . STILL. The is something fun about just going into a shop and buying the stuff. There is fun in having to CHOOSE what you want to buy and not just buy everything (okay I lied I LOVE to buy everything =P) but definitely, I can see people enjoying choosing what is the BEST trap to buy. Unlike now where every trap is a GUARANTEE (provided you stay active in the event). Which isn't a bad thing really.... still...


On the BEST? Well there was alot of whining and eventually the Devs caved and the best traps are now in game. This is both good and bad.

It solves alot of problems for the Devs as it sets bench marks that are FOREVER, for was long as the area is the highest level.Whereas in the past the Devs can pull a L.E. and its damage is mitigated by it temporal status (not entirely true, but if fresh blood keeps coming in L.E.'s effect will diminish with time see the first gen of traps, how many people have those... yep.) Another good thing is that, people are no longer bound to events (ironically earlier we did mention that Devs do want to bind people to events) and can rest assured that the Best is already here =P (how many Acsians caught that? lol) GWH2011 may change that of course! But I doubt. The current direction for L.E. appears to be to restrict its effect to a particular area.

Again the Devs are just playing safe, they are carving the the design space very carefully. For instance the recent Soul Harvest Trap is only the best in the Seasonal Gardens during Fall (I have doubts about that, I think the RP can put a fair fight =P) I like something the Devs did tho.

What else is special about the Soul Harvester? Well actually nothing =P Nothing else at least. See, the SH is tied to two areas. Seasonal Gardens and Haunted Terrortories. You see that? No nothing special about the first. And the second is just the same implementation as the first except that the area is temporal. And that is the magic! =D I remember once putting up an idea in the ideas section of the forum to have holiday traps where say during christmas, the trap becomes Uber good. They did'nt quite do that, but they did do in a very limited way that is still tied to the holidays (since areas like the Haunted Terrortories are tied to holidays), so I think its cool! =D

THo... having thought about that idea, I think it would be really cool if certain traps gain certain bonuses (or minuses) during certain periods, but in all areas!

...


A hunter can dream =P



Happy Hunting people and may the GWH2011 come sooner rather than later! (Though I heard the Devs are trying to get tourneys up before the hunt *shrug*)



[Edit]

Its kinda official... GWH2011 will only be AFTER the coming FBF (since the FBF will be an art session for a GWH2011 mouse =/ *shrug*)




[Update 19:49 1st December 2011]

The Winter Hunt is upon us!!!! ... almost...

apparently its a toy factory this year???














Calamity Carl is here and as of the lastest update.... 24 hrs??? could it be?? or will it be a longer wait?









Also! Vote if you like the content fast and furious(you being furious cos of the bugs hehe) or slow and (you are still furious cos its slow - see either way you are furious hence nobody care about you being furious =P)



------------------------------------------------------------------------------


2011 12 07 2300hrs...


anytime now.....!












!!!!!!! ITS HERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

8th Dec 2011

Well by now you must have Entered the Winter Hunt surely???? =)


Well you don't really have a choice do you =P I mean, the mice are EVERYWHERE!!

nah.

If only =)

Alrighty how does it work?

1st! Be sure to get lots of Festive Feta. There are a few ways:

1) Donate!!! haha next.
2) Do... kk. Go to the comet! You will get 30 free!
3) Be sure to log in everyday, I just got my fourth day batch and i think its 30 I don't really remember =)
4) I don't think it is in gifts.... yet... But I bet it will be =)
5) HUNT! HUnt in the comet =)Brie is fine, gouda... miiiight be better but not by much, and it will be a bit of a grind, but definitely doable.


Now alrighty the plans for the bang whatever that means =P

1) Get your FF!! (as above)
2) Hunt mice!!!

Xmas mice to be exact! Simply arm your Festive Feta and the mice will come!

Simple! right? Wheres te challenge????

Alright, so the added complexity is this, you need to collect different TYPES of items.

Wood. Metal. Clockwork. Fire??. and Ghostly??

Alright I'm not sure about the last two mostly becos I am too lazy to travel to the comet.

Oh yeah you ARE still at the comet no? There is a nice UI, just float your mouse (the one on your table kid.) and you should see some interesting things.

There is a map that shows the locations of the TYPES and you will need to travel there to those areas to catch mice that drop those TYPES of parts. Wood is the easiest to get, then metal, the "ghostly??" is only at mousouleum and the catacombs. Firebulbs and and Doohickys? are only at Dracano. (I might be wrong about the Doohickey but it is definitely a higher level item).

Now for you youngens out there, you must think: OMG!!! I cannot complete then!!!! nono. You craft the toys. You can still craft the lower level toys. So you WILL be able to get the snazy! the cool!!! the very... odd looking NutKRAKEN!!! buahhahahah. oh cracker. Cool ya? =D Anyways. Thats the plan! Mostly.

So where is the best place? I seriously do not know =) For best variety, definitely Dracano. But in terms of speed of getting the receipts, if you have done the assignments for Zurreal, you must know that spamming Furoma assignments is faster than doing Advance Zugzwang Tower assignments, even tho the latter gives more points. Same concept here. The Deathbot replica may not be as fast ... But i dunno I have'nt done the numbers yet =)

Anyways have fun people!




-----------------


You can discuss it here!!!


----------------------- 20111209 ----------------------------



Something I guess would pop up once in a while:

can you hunt anywhere with any trap so long as Feta is armed?

YES!

for instance I am using this setup in Dracano:















----------------------------- [9th Dec 2011 2310hrs GMT +800] --------

there is something new yonder.....










See the gray portion? It is there on the full map NOW!!!

I guess tournaments are coming =)



....



5 minutes later...


mystery solved its the Prize Shoppe see this thread ... ah well =)



------[20111209- 2355]


Maintenance!!!!! =/ ??


----------[20111210 - 1236hrs]
ahh at first I thought there was nothing... but apparently there is this

To speed up the community drive I guess =P


-----------------[20111210 2024hrs]

9th Dec FBF!!!

or this!

as for the Hunt, if you are having problems with getting Feta and are thinking of using SB? Based on my very short one day experience, its about the same... =/

The only advantage is the advantage SB confers, and that is a non stop stream of mice, but there does not seem to be discernably better mice and the feta drops are in waves of a few hours.... same same for Brie I'm afraid. So my recommendation? Use brie, up the attraction as much as you can whilst maintening something to catch the more powerful mice.... I never thought I would hate Troll mice =P


This is my current setup in Dracano











I collect (or try to) up to 100 pcs of Feta, then I just hang in Dracono (Cats or Balacks later for the ghost cloth)

Why? Just in case there are any built in waves =)


----------------[20111210 - 2142]

interesting

Found on the forums you probably want to stay tuned at that thread

In case you did not click... its the Larry Lexicon for the Nuisance Trap =)

-----------------[20111210 - 2251]

alrighty I just bought the skin for the Digby Drillbot....









pretty ain't he =)

Probably not worth the gold tho =P


.... Alrighty which toy to craft appears to be something on everyones mind (after crafting one of each).

Dave did mention on FBF that he thought every one would go for the Draconic toy, which in theory is right. Except poor sobs like me can't get a firebulb to save my life =P I have three hickys already btw =P But that did get me thinking a bit. I still do not know what is the optimum toy to build.

But I realised one thing!

You need to know what is it you are trying to achieve. Put another the way, what are you trying to optimise?

Get Nuisance traps? Use the Ice coins to trade for stuff at the festive comet? Get the mostest of receipts????

If its 1) Well, according to the devs it is most doable, and i trust/believe them. So the question becomes how fast can you achieve this target. If you are quite high level, then I think the answer is the Draconic toy (WHERE POSSIBLE - you do need the firebulbs =P) Remember the Deathbot replica eats almost twice the number of resources
but only a bit more receipts, but DOUBLE the ice coins, which brings as to the next point.

2) Ice coins

If your optimum is maximising ice coin exploitation!! then Do the deathbot replica!! It maximises ice coins =) I intend to use it for T3 potions, do note you do need to hit 700 receipts!! But if you keep hunting you should hit 700 anyway, so you should probably go for the Deathbot.


But hey! seriously if you are not sure, just hoard till the last moment and then see if you can hit the number of receipts for your aim before you build the toys =) Just don't do it so late that you end of NOT building anything because you forgot or you were away or something =P

3) You want the mostest receipts.

Seriously dude/dudette?? i did'nt know it was a comp =P

Well happy hunting people, and it seems that there are more surprises to come. I suspect there is something more sinister to the stockpile of mice made traps and PLUS there is super led!!! from the crazed Elf mouse *buahahahaha* *ahem*.

Oh did you realise the 3rd toy gift is an airship? Cool right? *winkwink*


Happy hunting!!


(-- erm if you are not high level enough to get to the areas to craft the deathbot replica, I do apologise for not having an answer for what is the optimum toy to build, but do rest assured that it should be quite doable to get the 500 receipts for the nuisance trap no matter which you craft as long as you hunt =))
----------------

-----------------------[111213 00:22hrs]

Nothing much to update as of now but I managed to crown the snowflake!!! Its the only reason I bought the winter package tho.... hmmm =/










-----------------------[20111213 0700 hrs]

In case you were worried if it is at all possible to complete the event! Heres a little nugget from the forums to assuage your fears =)

Do note that time period of estimation is if you are in the event for the whole month =) tho the completion date (as in the days you will take to hit ~500 receipts) is about 19 days (what the post said - impt post is post #11)

The gist:

1) Hunt at least once a day
2) Use your winter charms in Dracano if possible (to help with purple lootz)
3) Alternate to simpler areas if you do not have the simple toy parts

So you should be fine =) (Note that this is even without hunting in the comet and assuming passive hunting - so BAM! the things you can do with active hunting ;P)


Happy Hunting ppl!


----------------------- 20111214 0715


!!!!!


------------------------20111215 0012


well the link above was hastily added as i was rushing off to work and only saw the new at the last minute =P

anyways are the charms worth it? I would say stay away from it as an investment.

As it is the price is pretty steep (if you use cash). So the bench mark is SB price.

Now that may make out the prices on the marketplace to seem like a steal but it really is'nt.

if you use SB as a gauge at 6000 mhg per piece, then each charm should sell for 50000 mhg really.

But is that really the case?

Of course not. Just ask yourself this question are the charms as useful as SB =) ?

Now that does'nt mean the price of the charms will drop (even though it already has).

Thing is, if the charms are not in demand, then less people will buy it to sell for gold, which in turn means there will be less on the market and subsequently that will act as an upward pressure on the price. So the resultant median will be that between these two forces. The fact that cash wise the charm does have a certain cost. However its "uselessness" reduces this value (see skins for instance). THAT however does not mean that there is no market however. But it is more than likely that the source will not be primarily direct buying of charms from the donate button. Rather it will be from the free daily gifts, as well as the extras from the festive package.

IF however the utility of the charm goes up and demand actually increases then we will see the price of the charm tend to or exceed 50000mhg why? Because a portion of the community will prefer not to spend real cash and instead is willing to pay its equivalent in mhg (of which the price of SB seems more definitive).


So should you invest? No, it is too risky, plus compared to available charms the festive charm is pretty weak. 4 luck? Its only use is really for crowning snow flakes. Oh you might say 4 is greater than 3 (Super Luck Charm), but Super Luck Charm is 3 luck for 1K plus mhg, big difference.

As for the other charms, the problem with its logic is this:

Say you are short on springs, you use the spring charm, each spring charm you get is actually a chance lost for the other parts. Assuming the law of big numbers where everything should even out, you may end up getting too many springs! And you end up having to use the other charms! So that means the only logical time to use the charm is towards the end of the event where there is a shortage and not enough time for statistical norm to kick in. Can you see that the price will likely not be high? (Well at least till the end - in fact if you would like to invest? the comon toy part charm is pausible, but still highly risky -- oh and by investment I mean buying low - as far as possible away from 50000 mhg from the marketplace and not from the donate button =P)


... enough of that rambling =P

I got my 500th receipt!!!!











------------------------------------------20111217 1425











I donated!!! .... logic says I should just hunt normal with brie... which is fine, but I figured I am trying to up ice coins for T3 potions.... so.....

btw I am not even sure if it is profitable or not... likely not =/ I think the Halloween Candies were more generous!!



------------------------------------------20111218 2348


wow ... I did'nt actually think I would have anything to say today. But I have actually used the charms for about a day now so I guess that would be somewhat useful and pertinent information.


TOY PART CHARMS!!!












Now the previous logic above still holds: i.e. you probably only need charms towards the end of the event.


BUT if you are like me, you cannot wait, then you might want to try.

I was getting everything except springs and my doo hickeys wer piling up =P so i decided to use the charms. Now I bought them early and they were pretty expensive (about 17,000 mhg) so I probably made quite a big loss =/ STILL it is a loss only if i do not use it. If I do USE it, I still get it as quite a bargain as the SB equivalent is about 50,000 mhg since the only way is to buy it with cash =P Now you can get them (the toy part charms) for about 8K mhg, much cheaper really.

Now. What you actually want to know is if the charms are effective right =)

Well after about one day, my verdict is that they are rather effective. But they take a bit of time to work. You may not see immediate results. Infact my first few hunts were more of the same. But after a day I found I did actually get quite a number of spring drops and am able to use my Doohickeys =)

So, advice?

Be prepare to use them for about a day to see results, and the results are not spectacular, but you do get your toy production moving, so its not too bad.

But the implication is that you must plan to use it a few days before in advance to be about to accrue the effect of the charms. So say you intend to craft toys and are in lack of springs, you probably should arm 2-3 days worth of charms three days before you hope to craft the toys =)


As for ppl who have made a bad investment (I think) , so long as you bought below 50,000 and USE UP the charms, it was'nt a total waste =)

- You did get to craft the toys abit faster (so presumably you got to climb the score board for that toy a bit earlier/faster)

- And the charms do actually have an effect =) So you are using it for its purpose, so hardly a loss =)

Do try to sell or use up before the event ends though =) Once the event is over, the toy part charms are just a +2 luck charm. =P

Happy Hunting ppl!


------------------------------------------20111219 2330


I guess you must be wondering "What now?" since the community drive is done!!


well...



we wait =)



The devs are probably fine tuning stuff or we are too early, or they have something else up their sleeve... who knows????

But we can only wait. And its Christmas, so be nice =) and wait patiently =P



------------ You might also be wondering about the nutcracker nuisance trap

well we only have the blueprints, we will also need 6 Splintered wood and a L.E.D light buld dropped by the as yet elusive Crazy Elf mouse.

Which is'nt released yet =) so we wait.

So to recap stuff to look forward to:
1) The great unwrapping thingy
2) The Crazy Elf mouse (with the trap component)
3) The stuff (Wood, clockwork, Metal) /reward thing =)


Ronza? Not sure =/ As of now everything is only speculations, so don't get your hopes too high =P



------------------------- 20111220 0632


!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


3 hrs ago the King has announced!!!!


hope its good =)

here goes....::












Oki so the contents are 25 ice coins from Calamity Carl

ermmm 10 SB from Larry!

A Ronza Voucher!!!! 2012... I wonder if these become L.E. hmmm =/

Well at least Ronza is coming !! =D


The 10 SB and 25 ice coin are'nt so bad really =)

A little underwhelming when compared to the past events, but as we say in the army, ITS A PRIVILIEGE NOT A RIGHT. =P

So be thankful and well hey theres Ronza right =)

its all cool =D


In case you are still lost, this official post should be clearer =)










Pity its not in a collectible form, I probably will not open the Calamity Carl and Larry boxes =) or the Ronza... but hey its Ronza =P

------------------------------------------------------------

.... there is still the matter of the Nutcracker... =D

------------------------- 20111221 0621

Itzzz HaZZz BEEGUUNNnnn *cough* is continuing *cough* ermm started... The FORT is open!!! (what is the fort??? =/)




------------- afew moments later..



There was a news post!!!!


Basically go to the Snow Fortress, then catch three Sqeaker Claws AND find 3 shards of the LED

then VOILA!!! *I think* you get the NUTZ!!! *ahem*


That seems to be it... other questions, can we , must we use feta? What if we arm the charms... well for orthogonological reasons it should still work, but hey this is really a bunch of codes so it can/may/will screw up. The only truth is in the HUNT, so we will just have to find out for ourselves won't we =P


----------several more moments later (we live from moment to moment.. to moment... to moment.. *ahem*)











It does look a whole new area with a whole new puzzle to solve!!! Kudos to the devs, this looks like its worth waiting for =D

There is three distinct sections to work through!

I am currently arming Monstro/Cheesecake/Feta/LGS/Wooden Winter Charm

and this is my first catch:


-------->
6:32 am - Snow Fortress
I sounded the Hunter's Horn and was successful in the hunt! I caught a 6 oz. Nutcracker Mouse worth 3,000 points and 300 gold.

The mouse also dropped the following loot:
3 Toy Wood


---->

So the normal feta and all still work! =D


Also each catch will increment the count in the first section (see the HUD) by 1, so you will need to catch 40 mice in the first section =)

Which obviously means i can only tell you what happens next 40 mice from now =P


we...lll not really its

40 mice for the first section then
50 for the courtyard
30 for the keep.

What mice awaits??? Your guess is as good as mine =P




...... BTW Ronza is coming next year =) Not now. ITS. STILL. CHRISTMAS. .... event =D


---------------

Now this bit from the news post is interesting:

only a trap made from toy parts will work!

Is this referring to the Nutcracker trap? If so then *yawn* (not to be mean, but the script has been like that for a while =P) But if not and if the Devs did not slip up and actually meant "toy parts" as in screws, wood and all that doohickey. Then this gets interest/weird =)

Stay tuned!

... a few minutes later...


Darn they are referring to the Nutcracker lol

"Arm the Nutcracker Trap and capture the Mad Elf Mouse!"



----------------------- 2011 12 22 07:09


THE NUTCRACKER TRAP HAS BEEN CRAFTED (I think)

The stats are:

Nutcracker stats
Power: 3000 (Arcane)
Power Bonus: 18%
Attraction Bonus: 15%
Luck: 16
Cheese Effect: Insanely Fresh


You can read about it here =)


This is interesting =)

".... Lich mice in Balack's Cove, distracting them enough to occasionally have them surrender twice the loot when captured."


------------------20111222 1455

Just a quick tip, one quick way to get any of the basic toy part is to go to the areas with ONLY the basic toy part loots. Almost sure fire to get the loot you lack fast =)

BUT, you do give up metal, cogs and all that Doohickey!!


As for an assessment of the new trap?


Its not so bad. Strictly inferior to the the ACRO, but with the advantage of attraction (15%) and Lich loot advantage. For hunters above Lord, this may not be too much of a big deal, but if you are like me and like to revisit areas (be it tournaments or assignments), then this Lich loot advantage is a a nice detail which you put you in good stead in future =D

The attraction? Well arcane is'nt in too many areas, so its hard to tell how useful? But IT IS at the magical 15%, which means most bases will complement it to give 20%, which is another magic number =P Go look it up, how many traps have 15% attraction? Also traps like the Ancient Spear Gun have held their own (barely) with the advantage of attraction, (until Oasis came along and blew it out of the water... I know I know) =P so yup attraction definitely is an advantage, the only thing is to find the practical application of said advantage =)



-------------------------- 20111224 00:11

so the event is practically over??? I'm not sure really but I guess so =P

Still whats a hunter to do now huh?

Well it really depends on your goals. For me I will till be maximasing my ice coin drops as much as possible.

Why? Well it is because I am currently doing the Gauntlet run, as such T3 potions are precious to me. The is the question of whether you get more T3 from using T2 cheese or ice coins. I think it is still more profitable to use ice coins. Why? Think about it this way, hunting for toy parts to get ice coins is akin to using T2 cheese to get T3 potions, except you do not have to go through T1 to get the T2 cheese!

The real question is whether the time taken to go through T1 (i.e. normal cheese to get T2 potions) plus using T2 cheese to get T3 potions , is more than the time it takes to farm ice coins to get T3 potions. I think the answer should be a yes (but I have not/cannot verify that =P - but intuitively it seems it should take longer than farming ice coins).

Hence it is relatively clear to me that I should farm ice coins =P Now how to maximise then? Previously most hunter were concern with the use of the simplex method to maximise returns. I somewhat agree with that but now think other wise...

Because NOW there is the elf to contend with =) The question now is whether going through the SNOW FORTRESS and catchinng the Mad Elf (50 ice coins plus what ever toys you craft) is more profitable than say sitting in Dracano and getting Doohickeys.

Now, I think Doohickeys still get you more than going through the Fortress. HOWEVER. The doohicky is not a guaranteed drop. STILL, the snow fortress toys are not very profitable.

Hence I will use a mixed approach if you will. I will hunt in Dracano, and get as many Fire bulbs or Doohickeys as possible, but once I get a substantial amount of metals and cogs, I switch to the Snow Fortress to build my stock of basic toy parts. That way I get closer to the mad Elf and still get my Doohickeys (remember a doohickey that cannot be used for lack of basic toy parts is still useless =P)

Hopefully I will get my Doohickeys and still get the Mad Elf loot =P

So thats my plan.


If you are not interested in the Gauntlet but want something else (like Tribal Crates) it may still be worth your while to hunt for ice coins =) I am not sure if Ultimate charms are in the shoppe =/ if they are that is another option (but i vaguely remember not seeing it in the wiki =/).

If there is really nothing you want that can be exchanged with ice coins then you should go back to what you normally do... but if there is indeed something you want that can be bought with ice coins, then it may be worth your while to farm them coins and the Christmas event is far from over =D

In any case, whatever your choice, happy hunting ppl! =D


PS: Do note that in your plans and goals you will need to factor in the state of your gold.... Ronza is coming =) Ice coins to go for Furoma runs is good, but if you spend the wole event getting ice coins but have no time to farm gold then it kinda defeats the purpose does'nt it? =P I have enough gold, hence my Gauntlet goals =) (BTW for Furoma runs you do need to have good tactical traps, else you might be better off in cats or Derr)


------------------------20111224 11:09

I also realised something... the plan above does not factor in the time to harvest feta =/

So it might be that if you factor in the time to get feta and farm toy parts you might as well be farming from T1, this may or may not be correct. I suspect feta farming is still marginally better.

Still. If you are farming feta and want to farm ice coins for T3 and want Doohickeys as well as the Mad Elf (which is what I was proposing in "The Plan" above), I suggest harvesting a good amount first THEN going into Drcano. The reason being that the Santa Claws seem to come in waves. If you are lucky you only come in during the waves but the flip side of that argument is you might come in when the waves have past, so you might end with no Doohickeys, hence I suggest getting enough feta to last you at least two days in Dracano. As of the past two days I got 2 Doohickeys... Now getting Doohickeys is all fine and good, but you need the cogs metals and other basic toy parts as well. And whatabout the firebulbs!!!

So I made a spreadsheet which you can download here:



and the editable one here:





Its a EXTREMELY simple spreadsheet just to calculate the total ingredients you need to craft ALL the firebulbs and doohickeys you have. Note this is not an OPTIMISER.

The thing is I no longer think we can simply just hoard and calculate the best use of the parts. The reason being, farming in a particular location now has opportunity costs (I think all the while there was, so you had to alternate between the areas that had only basic parts to ramp up your stock of basic parts and the "complex" areas that had cogs, metals and firebulbs, ghostcloths,doohickeys - but the problem is now compounded by the Mad Elf - a guaranteed 50+ ice coins in about 2 days versus possibly more from doohickeys/firebulbs/ghostcloths in the same amount of time). Previously it was clear that we get the complex parts, THEN get the basic parts to finish them off. Now with the Mad Elf, its not so clear.....

Back to the spreadsheet. How I intend to use it is to
1) roughly gauge how many days before the event ends
2) Use the spreadsheet to calculate the resources (cogs,metal, basic parts) needed based on the firebulbs and doohickeys I HAVE

3) Try to get the required amounts of cogs and metals
4) Leave Dracano once there is 3-4 day(or however many days required to get the basic toy part drops) left and enter the Snow Fortress.

That way I hope to maximise the number of doohickeys and firebulbs and yet not too much such that I cannot use them, whilst still going through the Snow Fortress to get more Mad Elfs =D


--------------------- 20111224 17:06

another spanner in the works is that there are some HINTS on FeedbakeFriday that Tournaments may be up next week and may involve a certain Nutcracker =)

So if Feta is hard to come by for you , now might not be the time to spam it on Dracano to maximise ice coins. Comet harvesting might be a good idea if Feta is hard to come by =)


But if you have the feta, well ice coins will be it I guess =P




----------------------------20111227 00:11

a small bug ... well it might not be a bug... but
if you so happen to be a Zurrealist and are gunning for Lich drops, the Nutcracker actually causes a lower drop rate of the jewel.

confirmation by Michelle here

But before you curse the MH gods, note that it may not really be a bug, but might just be the way the code is programmed.

if the "kind" of loot drops is coded in a nominal way (i.e. as separate distinct entities, in coding terms this would be a collection, or an array, or a vector).

Then throwing in a new "type" of loot drop , i.e. double loot would actually decrease the chance of getting the other loot (for instance the jewel).

To explain how this works:

the double loot could be implemented a few ways:

1) A set of "types" of loot. In this version, the normal loot might have a 10% of occuring and the double loot 2% and verious other loots constitute the remaining 88%. In this implemntation, directing adding a new type of loot will always reduce the chances of other loots. Its the same reason you hunt in the Muridae Market rather than Dracano, if you want MORE Doohickey (of course you will never do that since there are no metals and cogs in Muridae market)

2) Still using a set of types of loot, but this time there is an additional check for a possibility to just multiply the loot by 2 or something other designated factor...


Note when a new loot type is added both versions will result in other loots being diluted. However if the loot is merely doubled version 1) will have diluted chances of other loots, while version two will not see a diluted chance of other loots.

Given that there is a reduced chance of the jewel drop, the implementation is version 1.

note that I am not a dev, so this is purely speculative R.E. =P


If you have read this far... really you just wasted your time.. the gist is:

If hunting for lich loot, use NNT. if its the OTHER loots you want (like the lich jewel) then don't use NNT.


The other pertinent question now is whether the Cackle Lantern works the same way =/



[Update 23:45 28th December 2011]


So surely we must be coming to the end of the event. Hope everyone had a good Christmas =)

anyways you can read my other blogs if you are interested in my Christmas =P (actually I don;t think I wrote anything =P)

Anyways whats there si talk about now... how about some strategy??? =D

These are the current parts I have:










What i will do now is to continue hunting in Dracano. Remember that link up there which tells me how many metals and cogs I need to use up all my firebulbs and do hickeys?

Well I need this amount of metals and cogs:











As you can see I have enough cogs and metals to use up the doohickeys and firebulbs. So my plan now is to continue to stay in Dracano and try to get more firebulbs and doohickeys.

Notice I need 188 wood? and I have a severe shortage? This is where once the end of the event is known I will camp in the Snow Fortress and just bulk load on the basics. Hopefully enough to reach the Mad Elf. Actually by that time the Mad Elf will be the most economically feasible rather than taking my chances with Doohickeys and Firebulbs since those are not guaranteed (Yesterday I had NO drops =/)

And that is how I intend to maximise my ice coins drops.


Happy Hunting =)


I also realised something. If you do not want to be too involved (busy, you have a life =P) he Snow Fortress is easily the best place =) No need to worry about the reasons why you are in a particular location and ultimately the reward (50 ice coins) is'nt too shabby at all. =D



----------------------------- 111229 07:13

Tournaments are HERE!!!!

To join a tournament, go to "Teams" then "tournaments", you will be able to see all tournaments available
Hmm it seems friend horns still count! ... not sure if they count towards the tournament but I suspect they do


wait maybe they don;t I have a silver tourney horn now....


----------------------------- 111230 07:00

well the tourney was mostly a sham yesterday as MH went down about an hour into the tourney =/

Hopefully its better today =D

Hmmm I'll probably post a separate article on tournaments since this one is really about the GWH ... it just so happen the devs decided to release it now =)


Oh Festive Tournament Package!! I think it is more value packed than the 30 FB credit Festive Feta package. For 50 cred you get 100 feta and 50 champion charms (which are +3 luck and + 400? power) the 30 cred package has 50 feta.

If you want more feta, the 30 cred package is still better though =) but the Winter Hunt is coming to an end soon I think....


Also... the only way attract a snowflake mouse is using Winter Charms =)



...



Alright alright I thought of something that is both Tourney and Winter hunt related to write =)


Oki... the tournaments now seem to fall into a few categories:

1) Snow Fortress to catch the Mad Elf
2) Feta Farming in the Festive Comet
3) Generic clean up the Festive Mice! (for toy part collecting)


1) is geared towards those who want to farm the Mad Elf (50 ice coins!!) - But I heard reset stories... so.... caveat emptor

2) is mostly hunting the normal mice in the comet... it looked really weird to me for a while, since the premise was to hunt normal mice dressed up... then i realised it was for feta farming =P

3) Well I think most fall in this category, since we are toy collecting still... right?? =P

Anyways something for everyone, so pick and choose the right tourneys =)

And remember there will always be tourneys so don't be in a rush. Also some important things to know about tourneys:

1) Friend horns no longer work, only yours and your team
2) You still get trap checks, but they do not count towards the tournament points
3) You can only join one tournament at a time and many of them overlap so you need to plan with your team =)

I think thats about it =)


Happy Hunting ppl!


-------------------------- 2011 12 31 08:25



Its New Years Eve, who would've thought this post would have lasted so long!!! Certainly not me =P


Anyways... if you are following my plans, NOW is the time to get into the Snow Fortress to use the relevant charms to make SURE your bulbs and doohickeys are craftable! AND have a chance at getting a few Mad Elfs to make it sweeeter =D

ALSO, there is actually a secondary plan! What IF, you get the required basic parts before the event actually ends???

I plan to go for yet another Mad Elf of course! And load up on the required basic parts. Likely you can get at best another 2-3 firebulbs and 1-2 doo hickeys, so I would aim to get the EXTRA basic toy parts required for those which is according to the spreadsheet:

assuming you get 3 bulbs and 2 doo hickeys
48 wood
31 Screws
22 Springs



The metal and cogs we cannot control, so thats out of the equation =) We just do our part to be prepared. As with many things in life =)


Also.



THE BIG BOOM TRAP! You can read the details here or here

Hunt wise:


catch New Year mice which drops the required charms/firecrackers, also I think the big Boom Trap is only available while the Xmas thing is still on...

" And finally, make sure to hold your own new year celebration by claiming a 2012 Big Boom Trap before the comet melts!"

the comet should melt sometime next week.... ermmm which is rather ambigous given we don't know the drop rate of the charms They seem to like to do their updates on tuesdays though (dev time)

And if you like me are in the Snow Fortress, no worries, the New Year mice are there too!! =D


Talk about multitasking! (I heard it makes you stupid, poor me =P )


Happy Hunting ppl! and Happy New Year =D



------------------------ 20111231 13:04

This is very the likely the end of this post since the Great Winter Hunt 2011 is coming to an end.... I will start a new one for New Year =)


I will still update on the results of my ice coin maximising endeavour however =)

For an assessment of THE BIG BOOM TRAP (henceforth referred to as the TBBT) and New Year Developements see this =P



I guess there are still some loose strings to tie up, with ice coins, TBBT and RONZA!

hey I did predict she might come =P well technically she is coming for new year =)

So what should you spend your ice coins on?
Lemme see:

1) Generic dumb stuff like err charm bits/radioactive sludge/runes? really?
2) Less Generic stuff but still not.too.smart. : stale SB/Scrap Metal/splintered wood???
3) Furoma Token packs
4) Tribal Token Packs
5) Non T3 potion
6) T3 potions
7) Charms
8) Skins


1) and 2) should be obvious ... big fat NO here

3) IF you have the Sphynx or RR then big yes, if you have ZFM .. maaaaybe, if all you have is the HVMT.... you are a brave hunter... if your trap is lesser than then... go away *cough cough* I dont.. want.. to .. hurt your feelings....

4) Same for 3) make sure you have traps that can hold their own in the Tribal Isles. If you want to spam gold for Ronza, pick 3 over 4 if you have the Sphnyx, RR, or maaaybe ZFM... HVMT... you are trying your luck really... but its all paid in ice coins, so its all cool =)

5) Non T3 potions, unless you are crowning something or its a comp or one of those mice owe you something in its last life, underwise naaah

6) I have something against ZE GAUNTLET!!! I WILZ RIPP it toPIEZES PIZZIES I TELLZ U!... *cough* nuff said. On a serious note (if that were possible, hey we are talking virtual mice here), 50 plus potions may take you about a week to gather, and that is with T2 cheeses in the bag. So the T3 potions save TIME. But only relevant if you want to do the gauntlet.

7) Charms. Charms you can get off the marketplace? Don't bother. Charms that take awhile like Artisans or Commanders? can consider... but "it looks expensive". Then again if you one of those PW who spam the warpath, then commanders may be your best buy here. Now Ultimate charms. These are tricky. No one really knows how good they are, but they definitely push the limits on your traps. And this is a chance to get a GADZILLION of them. *cough* oki mabbe not that much. But is waay faster than spamming the warpath =P So if hoarding for the FUTURE AND BEYOND!!! is your thing, by all means go for the ULC/UPC.

8) Skins? Depends, at the moment they are cheapy on the market so definitely no. If you don;t like skins... well did'nt you skip?



Myself? T3, plain and simple, I am gonna spam the gauntlet =)

Happy New Year ppl =)



-----------------------------------20120105 07:14



The GWH ENDS on 9th Jan (Dev time I suppose) !! Its in the ticker!!! Time to STRATEGISE PANIC !!!! *ahem*



----------------------------------20120106 06:48

its official!

Summary:
- The Great Winter Hunt ends on the 9th of Jan
- The Festive Comet will become the Vacant lot, Festive Shoppes will stay open for a few more days ONLY. Don't wait too long =)

They did'nt mention if you will still be able to craft toy, i.e. whether you can craft everything AFTER the GWH is over. So until confirmed in this week's FBF I would suggest crafting what you want before it ends. The left overs can be left to chance I suppose (there will bw left overs if you, like me, are going to hunt to the last hour =))


Happy Hunting ppl!

PS: This really must be coming to the end of this post,the only thing I can think of is to update the number of ice coins which at this time is ... pretty high =)

Oh ... wait I guess I could update on the hunt =) I am STILL in the Snow Fortress, getting the basic toys, but this will be my last run, I am currently in the Courtyard, so I guess I should complete the run by tonight or tomorrow morning. After which every hunt up to the end of the Winter Hunt will be in Dracano, for the metals, cogs and Doohickeys oh my!

Happy Hunting ppl (again =))!!!


------------------20120107 15:59


just got a confiirmation/clarification on the forums that you will be able to continue crafting toys for a few days after the event ends on the 9th! Which was the news I wanted =) But there will be no more toy part drops, which is fair =)


------------------20120108 22:57


i really thought I would have nothing to say for the GWH seeing that it is now ending, but I guess now the biggest questions are:

1) What do I spend it on
and oddly ...

2) What is the optimum combination of toys to craft?

1) I will not say too much as I have addressed it above and it has'nt changed.

2) is a little more interesting as it changed as the event progressed.

In summary:

Stage A:
When the event first came out, most ppl were using optimisers. As the areas where the best ice coins\receipts with respect to toy part was known; where to collect toy parts was not an issue. What to craft was the main question. Essentially, there was no probability problems. You got the toy parts you got, that will not change. So the only question is "what is the optimum combination of toys to craft" - the material are fixed.

Stage B:
Enter the snow fortress. This threw a hammer in the works. Now is the Snow Fortress more profitable or Dracano? If you are unlucky, SF is better, but on a good day Dracano, with its Doohickeys and Firebulbs will beat SF hands down. So there was probability involved and that was when my strategy changed to hunting for Doohickeys and then shift to SF for the basics. However it turned out we had more time. But while Dracano is swingy, SF is not. So I chose to get a sizable amount of Wood,Springs and Screws and left two and a half days to "get lucky" in Dracano. (Alternatively I could have gone to Dracano then SF, but I feared not getting enough metal or cogs or worse have unused Doohickeys and Firebulb)

Stage C:
The Aftermath. Again optimisation is in vogue, once the event ends, you will, again, got the parts that you got. That, again, will not change and the only question is the optimum use of it! =) Hence I now present to you my own optimiser! =P

Well... its not very friendly. It is in ODS format. Open Office or LibreOffice can open it. The nice thing about it is that, if you know how to run macros it is just going to the macros and running the requisite macro, and you do not need to run the solver manuallly (and enter the constraints one by one by one zzzzzz)

I programmed it in VBA, have fun =)


You will need to download it, Google docs does not recognise the macros, but if you download it, it will still contain the macros. Just follow the following instructions to run the macro:

1) Key in the amounts of the toy parts that you have collected










2) Open up LibreOffice Basic as shown (OpenOffice should also be able to... but I am not sure how =P -- but definitely it can run the macro!)












3) Select as shown and click "Run"









4) You will see the solver run













5) The result will be as shown, but you may need to round off =)











---------------------- 20120109 07:11


Brainfart... i did'nt save the VBA code in the optimiser I wrote luckily I posted the source somewhere and here it is! And I have corrected the link in the previous update as well =)


Enjoy!and Happy Hunting! =D


--------------------- 20120110 06:45


This must truly be the end of this post for the event is now officially OVER! =D


It was fun =) But i could'nt wait for closure, you know, when you can actually cash in the ice coins? ;) Well at least I had to wait till the end since I wanted to capture this:











4074!!


In hindsight, I guess I cold have tried to make the solver take into account integer (there might be something wrong with the way it treated non-existent sources =/)

Anyways with my final count of raw materials

The Solver predicted: 984

I got 971. Its likely the non- integer issue, but its close enough =P

I also had 15 screws and 164 Springs leftover!!!

What a waste... I totally misjudged it =(

I should have gotten more wood and screws =(

I had initially thought the bottle neck was screws, (that was close) but it really turned out to be wood.

Goes to show that when you analyse something, you need to do due dilligence to get the best possible result! =/ Thankfully this is just a game, a fairly cheap lesson ;)


Anyways. The Festive Shoppe is closed.... kinda (its now red) ... so you can't access it directly. HOWEVER, when you go to the vacant lot, the individual stores are still there, so you can still access general store, etc, etc.


It will be open for only a few more days so do quickly craft your traps and trade in your ice coins!

Incidentally i traded mine in for 407 T3 potions and 1 sludge to give me a single ice coin left as a piece of MH history =P

Given that I got my last 1000 ice coins in the last few days, I suspect really dedicated/loony? hunters will get far far faaaar more. Now thats scary =P


Anyways thank you if you have followed this post so far, it is now over =)


On to the GAUNTLET!!