jakubhi

As you may know, I have been super busy the last year and its primarily because I have been arranging my wedding! Well this Saturday is the day  
I'm planning to make a guest book of MD'ers wishes so if you wanted to leave me a message send it on the google form:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdZPPhiOkxAt19Nxbvgl-xmzj1WduUeSIfiKYSSuG868Ts0Bw/viewform?usp=sf_link
It was streamed and I can link you to it if you message me!
Anyway, hope you are all doing well!
Chew

Recently I went through Gateway Island as an alt account just to test and get an idea of exactly what it was and what it involved. This topic is just to compile the feedback I had as a returning player who did their best to perceive it from a new players point of view. Firstly I have to say that the island itself is good, and that the tutorial is hitting along a lot of the right tracks in terms of teaching the player to play, about puzzles and facets of the game. Where it stumbled is in the smoothness of the experience and the potential buy in.
 
One of the main things that new players encounter is the tool mechanics, though the tools have a much reduced cooldown to ensure that newbies don't spend all day collecting the required resources, however this emphasises the fact that the inventory menu doesn't refresh itself. While a refresh button is presented in the window it blends in with the text around it and is very easy to miss, and this is especially true on mobile devices. The first solution a player may find is simply refreshing the whole webpage, and not a good experience. If it is possible to make the countdown of time at least happen in real time, and the refresh button was made a slightly brighter orange, this would be remedied. Or better if the panel simply refreshed itself when hitting 0 seconds left, though I assume there are technical limitations with that?

AP Cost is an odd one here and has me somewhat confused. It seems that moving in the main handful of areas can be done even when on 0 AP, not sure whether this is a bug or intended. The other half of the areas however do require AP expenditure as per normal, except as you might imagine with only getting so few newbies the viscosity is usually around 20. Even with the Land Affinity bonus the usual AP for movement around the areas that cost it is roughly 18. Given a starter player has a bank of 200 and regens roughly 16 every 10 minutes this can get to be an issue especially since most new players will backtrack a lot as they try and put things together. This means they might start to get really excited about figuring things out... Only to find themselves out of AP and having to wait twenty minutes to move a single scene. It might be worth giving newbies more affinity for GWI to start with, or at least cap viscosity to being at max triple of the AP the scene would ordinarily cost to move to. IE if an arrow costs 1 to move, the max viscosity cost it can have would be 3, making the total cost 4. That would be much more palatable for the GWI, but probably its own discussion.

Active Days to get off the island... I get why it's there, really. But the island doesn't necessarily take that long to solve, or to exhaust the possible actions on it (depending on the player, of course). MD is a community game and GWI more often than not at this point in time is cut off from the community. Someone there can't interact with the majority of players, and without that MD loses some of its appeal. I don't see all too many players wanting to stay on the island for that amount of time because it is limiting. Left there you can't explore or necessarily find more puzzles and this is before you are able to see the deeper lore of MD... Though, suppose there may be a way off the island with less active days, not certain but the majority I've seen require it.

Finally - The Buy in. Back when I started MD you were greeted by the Story Mode, and it honestly inspired me. The story was the interweaving of lore and gave some snippet of how to think about the realm, it gave flavour and some rather odd context, the kind of thing that was utterly unique. That was what made me, personally, want to investigate and explore, it gave the curiosity to press on into the realm. That and the fascinating creatures and fights were my 'buy in', the point that I was invested enough to push through adversity or any of the rough parts of MD.
This seems to be missing in GWI. There is the introduction with a fair few interesting mentions of what is possible, but it's not really inspiring, just informative. Then the first thing you are greeted with are the tools and collection mechanics which seems like an odd choice. Don't get me wrong the tutorial is good (though the wait for the map was a bit too long), but it's not something that is going to draw people in which is what you need to start with. I'd suggest start with a mystery, some hinting at the lore and have the mystery progress with each step to exiting the island. Meet the creatures and combat second, with a shade in each location to optionally fight. Then the tools.
This way players can at least do something while waiting for things to process or AP to generate, because when most people start looking for a new browser based game, they're bored. Greeting them with a mystery and something to puzzle over as they go is not only more interesting, but also more authentic to at least how I see MD.
 
Anyway, thank you for reading my thoughts. GWI seems like a very good place to start, it just needs that buy in and polish. But the hard part is done, it's intuitive and easy to understand for those who do not leave early. At least by my own reckoning. Hopefully my perspective helps to some extent!

I have been defacto leader of UG for a while now
so i would like to have the official title to it, seeing that Lady dst doesnt seem to return to rule over SI and UG anytime soon.
As 100% of all active Alliance members agree with this decision, i now ask for the technicalities to be solved
thank you
 

Oh, I like helping with typos!

RP Reward Screen:

game . -> game.
baned. -> banned.


Unholy Priest II desc:

offering -> offered
 
Remains desc:

Defensive -> As a defensive


Too Recently Attacked Prompt:

YOu -> You
it -> them
only
seconds -> seconds.


Hope that helps!

I fixed this
 
This is currently picking up the name you told the scarecrow west of GoE.    If you have not spoken with the scarecrow, it may not be working as expected.  Neither [[playername]] nor {{playername}} is working, so I left it alone.

Happy birthday

This is to confirm that @Elyssia has provided a correct solution to this puzzle, with indeed an elegant thought-pattern to accompany it, and so, has received a wish-point and mine spell-document.

Well, I will just drop my priority list:P  Hopefully it will make this more orderly.
(number one is my highest priority, should it be claimed I move to priority number two, three, etc..) 
1. wp
2. Soul Weaver (thank you for the donation Nep~)
3. angien egg
4. Rustgold Dragon
5. Winderwild Fledgling
6. gold coin

Well, I will just drop my priority list:P  Hopefully it will make this more orderly.
(number one is my highest priority, should it be claimed I move to priority number two, three, etc..) 
1. wp
2. Soul Weaver (thank you for the donation Nep~)
3. angien egg
4. Rustgold Dragon
5. Winderwild Fledgling
6. gold coin

So, the hot winderwild wings I have promised... Here is what we are gonna use: 

Namely: 
- 6-7 wings (I used 5 for this one because mine are fairly large - just means there will be some leftover sauce)
- a pinch of salt & black pepper (salt is not on this pic because I forgot)
- 4 tablespoons of honey
- about half a cup of Sriracha hot sauce from the uhh... EAST (that is about 1,1 milliliters in my estimation)
- 4 tablespoons of soy sauce
- 4 teaspoons of sesame seed oil
- 4 cloves of garlic
- 1 tablespoon of apple cider vinegar (can be rice vinegar or something else but this is what I prefer)
- some olive oil (we will need about 2 tablespoons in our frying pan)
We start with preparing the wings like so: 

Cut them in half like that... I fed the tips to the knators because they aren't the best for this recipe. 
Next up, mince the garlic: 

Now mix it together in a bowl with the ingredients listed above, and give it a good stir: 

Next up, put your wings in a bowl or some kind of food container and add about half of the sauce we have just prepared: 

Cover it with a lid and put it in your fridge for 1 hour... You can leave it overnight but 1 hour should be enough. 
Once that is done, add the olive oil to your frying pan and start frying the wings on medium / medium-high heat. We will do this for about 15 minutes. Make sure to turn the wings every 2-3 minutes, and use a lid in-between or else your stove will look like mine. 
Here how we start: 

I prefer to start with the skinny side down but it's not that important. After a while some of the wings may start to get seared, but don't be afraid, this is actually good for you:

...obviously you don't want it completely carbonated. If you feel like you are going too fast, you can turn down the heat a bit. 
After the 15 minutes is up, add the other half of the sauce to the wings. This will give it a nice glaze.

You can turn up the heat here as long as you don't go overboard. Continue to fry it until the glaze is nice and thick: 

I used less wings here so we have some more left over but we can use that as a dip for our fries or whatever. 
Here is how it should look like by the end, more or less: 

Get them out on a plate: 

...then eat it. You can use any side dish but sometimes I just prefer to eat them like this. Enjoy!
 

"There," said Fyrd as he sent the message.
"Let's see how many will catch the bait and reveal themselves. I wonder how close they are to the truth."
Fyrd stood up from the GoE stairs and scratched his white beard.
Seeing everyone idle, he decided to make his move.
 
With a few hops, he moved through the realm, arriving at the Plains of Deceit.
He smiled to himself. The name was fitting.
With practiced movements, he picked up a nearby stool and moved it next to the Marind Bell's fence.
 
Hop.
 
Fyrd landed on the stool.
 
Hop.
 
He jumped over the fence.
 
On the other side was a massive hole with a few crystals poking out of it.
Fyrd did not pay any attention to the small crystals and entered the hole.
 
After a few minutes of walking ... The path split.
 
Fyrd continued to the left.
 
Before him, a lever appeared. Fyrd pulled the lever, then returned to the main tunnel and continued through the other branch, the right one.
 
At the end of it were wooden doors. Fyrd stopped, took out a map and inspected the names close to his location.
 
A minute later, at Shaper's steps, a pair of wooden doors opened. A nearby Caretaker turned and looked at the newly arrival.
 
"Oh, hi Mur."
 
Mur closed the door behind himself and nodded to the Caretaker.
 
"Mur, Chew said he wanted to discuss something with you, he should be at the Statue Hall."
 
"Oh, really? Alright, I will see what he wants," replied Mur and with a brisk walk entered the Statue Hall.
With confident steps, he crossed through the whole hall, before stopping at the Sanctum. Seeing no one else looking, Mur quickly stepped behind the Sanctum and walked down the hidden staircase, opened by the lever he pulled earlier.
 
After going all the way down, Mur entered a room with a metal table. There, only two items laid. A massive crystal with what seemed like wailing souls, one of them bigger than the others, wearing a suit and hitting the crystal from the inside with his walking stick.
 
The other item was a massive sword with the words "Magic Duel" inscribed upon it.
 
Taking up the sword, Mur smiled.
 
"Time to catch another one."
 
 
After a while, a particular Caretaker entered the Statue Hall. They could see a figure at the end of it. The figure turned to face them and they recognized it.
 
"Hey Chew! Mur should be coming, I informed him."
 
Chewett nodded.
 
"Mur already visited and we managed to fix the problem. Thanks for telling him."
 
"No problem Chew. Say, the sword you are holding, is it not.."
 
 
Another few minutes later, a figure resembling Fyrd jumped over a particular fence and set the stool where it was supposed to be. Just like the other items. And a new addition to the crystal, new identity.
 
Sadly, another person decided to take a "pause" from the realm, and in the future, will only appear from time to time.. When his presence is needed.

I think that it would be a serious mistake to get rid of the mist until we figure out what it can be used for. Therefore I suggest we collect it into containers. I have designed a device that could be used to collect said mist. Here is how the prototype would look like, more or less:

How it works:
I would capture it like I'd capture gas in a chemical experiment. We'd need a big outer container, inside which there is a smaller, upside down glass cylinder. Both of these are filled with water. 
The idea is to get the mist inside the inner glass container, where it "bubble us" to the top, displacing the water into the outer container. This is based on the assumption that the "mist" is lighter than water, but more dense than air (which is probably true, given that it hovers above ground). 
Of course, the mist won't be getting into our container on its own, so the device has an elastic tube attached to it, that ends in a bulb pump (the kind you see on older blood pressure monitors, or maybe more relevant - gasoline hand pumps) and a funnel. 
Pressing the pump creates a vacuum, which after releasing it will suck in whatever is inside the funnel. After which it goes straight into the inner glass cylinder through the tube. 
The inner container even has a cap on it so that we can remove the mist when we need it for something (experiments, storing it in even larger containers, etc.). The cap can also be used to release any air accidentally sucked into the container - since it is lighter than the mist.
As you can see the device is quite large, it even has shoulder straps. This is because I want a single person to be able to collect a large amount of gas, since we don't know how much of it will show up and where. 
Materials needed: 
The outer and inner containers would be made of thick glass, kinda like a big alembic. I have previously thought about using some kind of metal but then we wouldn't be able to tell how much mist or water is inside. That said, the parts holding the inner container in place could be made out of metal, to make it more durable. Both glass and iron exist in MD, and there is precedent for various alembics and such in the lab. We just have to make bigger ones. 
The shoulder straps could be made out of ropes that can be found on GWI or a similar material. 
The funnel can be made out of metal too (iron ingots?). 
The water needed to fill up the containers already exists in the realm. 
The only part I'm not sure about is the tube and the pump, since both of them would need rubber which I have yet to see in the realm. But I'm sure we can figure something out. 
How to collect the mist: 
I'd pay a few people to use my device to collect mist until we figure out what it is and whether or not it is harmful. Like I mentioned before, the device is this big in order to enable few people to do a lot of work with it. But we can make it smaller later if necessary, maybe even a handheld version
If the mist proves to be harmful we will be forced to deal with it on the "government" level, which means paying for its collection won't be my problem anymore. 
If it proves to be useful, people will collect it without incentive. 
If it proves to be harmless and useless we can just leave it be. 

Somebody dressed up a knator with big ears and a cotton-ball tail, and trained him to take around Easter eggs.  He emerges from his hiding place at the top of the hour and takes a specific route, dropping an egg a minute until restarting the circuit (he zips through the labyrinth in a flash and jumps walls, but avoids indoors and scary places like NC).  Spot the knator’s nests to get eggs.  Spot The Easter Knator himself and get better ones!
________________________________________
Length: April 15 (anniversary festival day 2) for one week
Difficulty: Easy to get a few eggs, harder to track the knator to all sites.
Starting Location: Get daily basket @ 3_1x1_1 (Labyrinth entrance in MDA territory).
Requirements: None, but access to LR and GG needed to get all eggs.
Rewards: Melty chocolate eggs and blue candy peeps left hourly in each nest are sugar bombs, to continue the hunt.  Each site at which you spot the knator wins you a colored Easter egg, which can be traded for more stable cake and candy with -- see the Muffin Man (at the hut north of Wind's Sanctuary).  He’ll keep track and if you have spotted the knator in all 60 sites, he’ll give you a wish point.  If you don’t finish in time, you can continue next year!