Newbie questions, Strongroom/Shop/Items

heatherm19 • 18 April 2022 at 2:48 AM

The text in the Strongroom mentions things can't be stolen from there, which implies that things *can* be stolen if not in there, but I can't find any info about how or if that's actually possible. So, can EC be stolen from you, and under what circumstances is that possible?
Also what are the advantages of putting EC in the Strongroom? It looks like you can gain interest on the amount you have in there, is that the only advantage? Is there any fee for withdrawing EC (or any fees for anything else)?
Sorry for all the questions, still figuring out this site and I'm finding a lot of things that don't seem to be mentioned at all in the Player Guide.

Orderedchaos • 18 April 2022 at 11:10 AM

@heatherm19
During some events, most notably the Dragold's Den event, some of your on hand EC can be stolen. If all your EC is in the Strongroom then that doesn't happen.

There is no fee for withdrawing EC from your strongroom. The strongroom just keeps your EC safe from certain events and allows you to collect a little bit of interest.

If you have further questions feel free to ask.

heatherm19 • 19 April 2022 at 2:51 AM

@Orderedchaos
Thank you for the answers!

A few more questions... I'm not sure I really understand what "Items" are for. I see a lot of food, book, and toy items in the shops. The only thing I can really find to explain what these are actually for is:
"Creatures gain happiness when you feed your creatures, when others feed your creatures, and when you use items (i.e. food, toys, and books) with your creatures."
So is happiness the only use for Items (besides selling/trading, I mean)? My creatures have so far stayed fully happy with just feeding, are there situations where feeding isn't enough and we would need to use Items? Or are they just fun little 'extras' and I shouldn't be putting so much thought into this?

Also a quick question about user's shops, if I put items for sale in my shop how does the transaction go? Is it automatic, like someone purchases an item and they immediately get the item and I immediately get the EC, or is there any confirmation on my side that needs to happen before the transaction is completed?

Orderedchaos • 19 April 2022 at 10:23 AM

@heatherm19
Items are mostly just fun extras, things for people to collect. They also have a chance of giving stats when used. Books give views, toys give clicks, and food gives feeds. So they can be nice to use if you've got a creature that is really close to the next stage and you don't want to wait. Items are also used for quests, which is probably their biggest use.

Transactions from user shops are automatic. Once something is in your shop anyone can purchase it without any additional confirmation needed on your end.

heatherm19 • 21 April 2022 at 2:50 PM

@Orderedchaos
Thanks again for the info!

One more question (for now, lol). When it comes to 'availability', what's the difference between 'endangered' and 'retired'? Endangered creatures were once found in the cave but aren't anymore, but they aren't 'retired', so does that mean they are still available from the game somewhere else? If so, where might they be? Or is it more like, retired means 'retired for good' and endangered is more 'retired but may come back for limited times' or something?

Orderedchaos • 21 April 2022 at 3:38 PM

@heatherm19
Endangered creatures were once common Cave creatures. Any creature that is listed as "endangered" has a chance to show up at the Leila Oasis.

Retired creatures were all limited creatures in some way. Event creatures, monthly creatures, Cash Shop creatures, ect. Non-Cash Shop retired creatures have a chance to get put in VEND pools. Cash Shop retired creatures can get released in limited amounts, like this month's Onny/Squearth release.

heatherm19 • 23 April 2022 at 11:19 PM

@Orderedchaos
Thank you again for the information!

I'm sorry to be such a bother, but another question.... I see in the Quests area, on the VEND machine page each 'reward pool' lists the amount of tokens from different quests you need. But, does it mean you have to have that many tokens on *each* of the quests, or just one? For instance, the first pool showing currently shows 80 tokens from Baked Bun Quests and 80 from Going Global, does that mean in order to get something in that pool you need 160 tokens altogether, or just 80 from one or the other?

Orderedchaos • 24 April 2022 at 11:04 AM

@heatherm19
You need all tokens listed to claim a prize pool. So for the first pool you would need 80 Baked Bun tokens and 80 Going Global tokens.

And its no bother, I'm here to answers questions. 😊

heatherm19 • 26 April 2022 at 12:26 AM

@Orderedchaos

A few more...

How long does a non-immortal creature have to stay at 0% happiness before it dies? Poking around the site for feedings I've seen a lot of accounts with users who haven't been here in weeks or months, and creatures at 0% happiness but not dead. (Haven't actually seen anything dead, do dead creatures just immediately get removed?)

Does CaveCash expire? I bought a good chunk while I have money available and planned to 'make it last' so to speak but I just got a notification reminding me that I have CaveCash waiting to be spent. Is that just a general reminder or does it expire if not used in a certain amount of time?

And I think I know the answer to this, but just to make sure, there's no rule against 'hoarding', no limit on the number of a specific creature you can have, correct? I know about the 300-creature Cove starting capacity, but there's nothing specifically limiting the amount of each creature right?

And one more, I've seen some trades specify that the creature's name is not part of the trade... How does that work? Do they just rename/unname the creature before accepting the trade offer?

Thanks again for answering all my questions, I'm having way too much fun with this game already!

viltuvitrast • 26 April 2022 at 2:28 PM

@heatherm19

Feel free to correct me if I get anything wrong @orderedchaos

I think that when a mortal creature has low health (maybe less than 10%), there is a chance that they will die every day (I could be wrong, but I think the odds are 1 in 30 or something like that). So a creature might die on the first day that they reach 10%, or it might take a while for them to die.

CaveCash doesn't expire. That's just a notification encouraging us to use the CC that we have.

No limits on hoarding. You can have as many of whatever creature you want. Coves are infinitely expandable as long as you have boatloads of EC.

Yeah, they rename the creature before they trade so that they can keep the name.

Glad to hear that you like the site 😊

Orderedchaos • 26 April 2022 at 4:05 PM

@heatherm19
@viltuvitrast 's answers are all correct. 😊 (thanks!)

heatherm19 • 30 April 2022 at 2:35 AM

Thank you @viltuvitrast @Orderedchaos !

Now, about levels and stats... Views/clicks/feeds are what's needed for a creature's 'evolution' to different stages, but how exactly are levels obtained? I see this in the guide:
A creature's level is the average of its view, click, and feed stats.
A creature's level increases as the creature's stats increase.

But I'm not sure exactly what that means, because using the 'average' of views/clicks/feeds doesn't seem to correspond to a creature's level in any way that I can figure out. Is there any specific stats/calculations/whatever to reach in order for the level to increase (ie, can we track when a creature will 'level up' the way the Archive shows us when a creature will evolve)?

And about the Archive, I see that some creatures don't show all their evolution stages and there are big question marks instead. At first I thought it was a 'newer creatures haven't been researched' sort of thing, but some creatures that have the question marks are fairly old. (And I'm not counting the creatures from the Thief Shop, I assume maybe the nature of that place is why the evolutions aren't shown.) So, is there something users have to do to 'unlock' the evolution stages in the Archive, or is it a game-side thing where they just haven't been added?

newlife • 30 April 2022 at 4:13 AM

@heatherm19

Levels and stats - Levels are determined by the average in view+click+feed stats is true, but it is additionally divided by 100. Levels used to be infinite and we got some crazy high levels, so now levels are capped at 1000, even if the average of all 3 stats is higher.

The only reason levels would matter is if you're trying to cap it (level 1000) or get to level 20, which will give your creature immortality.

Archive - Some stages in the archive are hidden to give users an incentive and interest to find the hidden stages. The archive does not update if you obtain a hidden stage though, since the archive isn't something that is unique per player. The stages DO exist though! They're just hidden publicly.

heatherm19 • 4 May 2022 at 3:22 AM

@newlife
Thanks for the info!

And a few more questions (so sorry, I'm just so into this game already and want to understand everything!)... Did level-20 Immortality not used to be a thing? I've seen some older creatures with high levels that don't have an Immortal date on their page. Is that because they reached those levels back when that feature didn't exist? Does that mean that older creatures just can't be Immortal no matter how high their level, or are they still functionally immortal they just don't have it shown on their page?

And a question about expanding your cove past the initial 300... When you buy a cove space is it permanent? Like, if I had 300 creatures and bought 1 cove space and got 1 more creature, but then I traded/gifted away some creatures to put me below 300, would I still have that extra space and still have a total of 301 spaces? (On a similar note, I haven't tried to buy extra spaces yet but my cove is growing quickly, do you have to wait until you get to the 300 limit or can you buy extra spaces at any time, even if you aren't close to the limit?)

cranberrycat1 • 4 May 2022 at 7:47 AM

@heatherm19

Level 20 immorality use to not be a thing. But the older creatures who have passed 20 but don’t state that they are immortal are still immortal (99% sure)

When you buy a cove space it is permanent and you can buy a cove space anytime. But the prices can get expensive pretty fast. (100% sure)

sparklefox • 4 May 2022 at 8:00 AM

@heatherm19 - Creatures without an immortality date became immortal way before the tracking stuff (date hatched / immortal) was a feature, so that data simply doesn't exist anymore - they're still immortal though. Immortality itself didn't become a feature until about 2011 (but we didn't have the dates on the profile yet), which is probably partly why the much older creatures are as rare as they are.

Cove spaces are permanent, yes (which reminds me, I'll really need to buy more soon). You can buy cove spaces before you hit the limit too.

heatherm19 • 11 May 2022 at 4:21 PM

Thank you to everyone who has answered my questions and helped me understand the workings of this game!!

And yet another question: I'm going to need to make a side account soon but I'd like to be extra-sure about the rules. I know we can't do "daily activities" from side accounts, and I understand what that means, but what about feeding other creatures for EC? Are we allowed to accumulate EC through feeding from our side account?

cranberrycat1 • 11 May 2022 at 5:01 PM

@heatherm19 nvm

Orderedchaos • 11 May 2022 at 5:02 PM

@heatherm19 @cranberrycat1
It is perfectly fine to feed creatures from your side accounts.

heatherm19 • 11 May 2022 at 5:06 PM

@Orderedchaos
Thank you! And just because the wording is making me pause, a double-check that we mean the same thing: When you are logged into your side account, it's okay to earn EC on that side account by feeding other user's creatures?

(I'm sorry if I'm bugging you guys, my anxiety makes me extremely nervous about any possibility of breaking any sort of rule and I always want to check!)

Orderedchaos • 11 May 2022 at 5:07 PM

@heatherm19
Yup, that's correct.
And don't worry, I'm always happy to answer questions. You're not bothering me. 😊

heatherm19 • 16 May 2022 at 7:04 PM

@Orderedchaos Thank you yet again. 😊

And this question is something I technically could find out by just going ahead and doing it but I don't want to risk it if it wouldn't work.... Can you buy a CC voucher and then redeem/use that voucher yourself? Is there any sort of restriction on using your own bought vouchers?
(I'm having a hard time rationing my CC and had the thought that if I bought a voucher and kept it in my Strongroom it might be easier to resist temptation but I'd still have the CC when needed....)

Orderedchaos • 16 May 2022 at 9:26 PM

@heatherm19
You can totally buy and then redeem your own vouchers. 👍

heatherm19 • 26 May 2022 at 1:57 AM

@Orderedchaos Thanks again! I ended up buying plenty of vouchers to store in my Strongroom. Out of sight out of temptation, hopefully.

Aaaand another question.... I've noticed that there don't seem to be art credits noted with the different creatures, whether on individual creature pages or their archive page. Some archive pages have the name of whoever wrote the description, but I don't see credit for the art itself anywhere. Which makes me wonder, who actually does the art for all the creatures? Given the similar style of many creatures I figure a lot, if not all, is done by the same person or few people. Is there a specific staff member who makes all the art, or do users who come up with the creature suggestions make the art (and if that's the case why don't they get credit anywhere?).
... Oh wait, I am seeing 'design concept' credit on some archive pages (like Tasma). But that seems to be the minority.

Orderedchaos • 26 May 2022 at 10:56 AM

@heatherm19
All the art, creature and otherwise, is commissioned from various artists most of which don't have accounts on site. Ian is the one who does all the finding and commissioning of art.

heatherm19 • 7 June 2022 at 8:15 PM

@Orderedchaos
And none of the artists want to be credited on-site? That's interesting.

A few more 'is it okay or not' for side accounts: I take 'daily activities' to mean the cave, asteroid, and probably the games like Site Trivia and Alkub Racing and such. I know we can't do those things from a side account. What about bidding on auctions? I assume trading through side accounts is fine since many people have side accounts specifically for 'UFT' creatures, but is it also okay to bid on auctions through a side account (or make auctions)? What about buying stuff through the shops, I figure that's probably okay?

Also, are there any sort of restrictions about moving things back and forth between your accounts? For example, is it okay to move hundreds of creatures from one account to another at once? What about moving creatures back and forth (for example, if you can't decide which creatures you want on which account...)? Is it allowed to make a shop on a side account and sell items?

(I think all my concerns about side accounts are because the only other adoptable game I've really played has a very strict 'one account' rule so the whole idea of being able to play on other accounts is kind of foreign to me...)

Orderedchaos • 7 June 2022 at 8:59 PM

@heatherm19
Again, I have nothing to do with the art side of the site, that is all Ian. I do not know what contracts he has with the various artists.

You are allowed to make and bid on auctions from sides. However you are not allowed to artificially inflate the price of an auction with your sides. Example: having your side bid on an auction set up by your main in order to drive the final bid up is NOT allowed and would be considered a form of scamming

It is also fine to buy things from shops on your sides. Setting up a shop on a side is fine as well.

There are no restrictions on how many creatures or how frequently you transfer creatures between your accounts. If you want to move a dozens of creatures between your accounts a dozen times a day that is fine.

heatherm19 • 18 June 2022 at 3:22 AM

@Orderedchaos Thank you so much for the ongoing help and explanations, I'm really enjoying it here!

In the 'Mail' section there is the option to 'archive' selected messages.... Where do they go? I can't seem to find any actual viewable message archive anywhere, is there a way to view archived messages?

And just a curiosity question, is feeding completely randomized in how much ec you get and how much happiness the creature gains? I've fed creatures with the same happiness level and it went up different amounts so I'm assuming it's random, but there could be some other variable that I don't know about. And my feeding sprees have probably made me 'notice' ec-gain biases that probably aren't actually a thing (for example, more than once I've thought that waiting until the page fully loads to click the feed button gives more ec but logically I know that's probably not true).

snowywinter • 26 June 2022 at 4:31 AM

@heatherm19 You asked some amazing questions in this thread! I ended up bookmarking it! ❤️
(I'll have to come back and read it again when my brain isn't complete much. I keep reading it in pieces.)

For now... "is there a way to view archived messages?"
I have never seen this answered, but I've seen it asked about a dozen times. I'd like to know as well.

The amount of EC and happiness from feeding IS completely random.

And one more thing on 0% health creatures... dead is not necessarily dead... just expensive. (and I *think* they get new "Stolen" dates and egg IDs - the number that identifies them in the urls.)
Even though the resurrection stones are mentioned, the process isn't talked about often. And even some long-time players don't even realize you have to actually click on it in the Cash Shop to see the 'graveyard.' It's not in an easy convenient place like the right-hand tabs or drop-down menus. ...So some players might not even realize they still have all these creatures.
https://eggcave.com/cashshop/resurrection

heatherm19 • 3 July 2022 at 7:29 PM

@snowywinter While I don't have any dead creatures (thankfully!), it did take me awhile to realize how people were seeing their dead creatures... I see some profiles listing dead creatures they have available for resurrection and I was like wait I don't see any dead creatures where are they? That's not really explained anywhere except when you click on the resurrection stone.

So..... @Orderedchaos Is there any way to see 'archived' messages?

And a new question! Because apparently I just can't believe things stated rather plainly... The strongroom says you can have an unlimited amount of items there, but is that *really* true? I'm closing in on 1,000 and I'm just curious if it's actually unlimited or if there is some sort of cap (or maybe a fee to expand past a certain point like with coves and shops?).