FAQ: The Frequently Asked Questions thread (Update Sept)

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FAQ: The Frequently Asked Questions thread (Update Sept)

Postby Morgaln » December 4th, 2010, 5:42:18 pm

Welcome to MagiStream's Official
Frequently Asked Questions

Table of Contents:
The basics
The keep
Common expressions and abbreviations

The basics:

What is MagiStream?
MagiStream is a virtual pet site. The goal is to catch eggs of various creatures and get them hatched and grown up by having other people click on them.

How do I get my first eggs?
The first eggs should come from the Stream. It can be found by clicking the MagiStream banner at the top of each page. A total of nine eggs will be there. Click on one to have it added to your Keep. Eggs that get taken will automatically be replaced by new ones, so there will always be nine eggs in the Stream.

How do I hatch my eggs?
To hatch an egg, it needs to be clicked by people. The more people click your eggs, the faster they will hatch. In order for that, you need to make clickable links of your creatures available. Go to your keep and click the 'embed' link next to one of your eggs. Copy the BBCode provided. You can also click the 'embed multiple' button in the upper right corner of your keep to embed several creatures at once.
Afterward, put the codes into your signature. To do that, go to 'User Control Panel' -> 'Profile' -> 'Edit Signature' and paste them into the box provided. Don't forget to click 'Submit' or it won't save the changes you made.

Where do I go to hatch my eggs?
Post around the forum with your eggs in your signature to have people see and click the eggs. There are also several threads dedicated to clicking eggs in the Reindeer Games section of the forum. Please note that except in those click threads, it is not allowed to put the eggs directly in your post.
You can also post your eggs on other sites, but please make sure those sites allow that kind of thing to be posted.

What is gold and how do I get it?
Gold is the currency on the site. It is used to purchase creatures from the site shops and to trade with other players.
You get one gold piece every time you click a creature unless it is frozen or owned by Nobody/Anonymous. You also get gold for every post you make. The amount of gold per post depends on the length of the post and decreases with the number of posts you make until you refrain from posting for a while. It caps at 60 gold.

What are shards and how do I get them?
Shards are a gift to those who donate real money to the site. For every dollar donated, you receive one shard. They can be used to purchase special creatures that are not available any other way. These cost 2, 3 and 5 shards respectively.


Where can I see a list of all creatures?
There are various fansites that have lists of creatures available. This thread will give you links to those sites.

When do my eggs hatch?
The exact amount of clicks necessary to hatch an egg varies per species and is secret. However, you can see how far along it is by checking the progress bar to the right of your creature in the keep. The upper bar will tell you how far along the current stage the creature is, the lower one how far until it has reached the final stage.

How many creatures can I have?
There is no limit to the number of hatchlings and adults you can own. However, you may only have four live eggs at any time. If you want to get more eggs, you will have to freeze, release or hatch one of your eggs first.

Where can I get creatures?
The main place to get creatures is of course the Stream. A number of creatures can also be found in the shops and cost either gold or shards to purchase. Some creatures can be found in quests; how to get those will be detailed in the 'quest' section further down. Several creatures are available by throwing gold in the Koi Pond. Hybrids are creatures only available by breeding certain species with each other. Finally, there are limited creatures available only through events at specific times of the year.

What is freezing?
Freezing is done using the 'freeze' button on a creature. This will lock the creature in its current stage. Frozen creatures will no longer grow, do not provide gold when clicked and do not count against the egg limit. Freezing is only available on eggs and hatchlings. Note that freezing cannot be undone.

What is releasing?
Releasing is done using the 'release' button on a creature. This will permanently remove the creature from your keep. There is no way for anyone to get that creature again.

What is breeding?
Breeding allows two of your creatures to lay an egg. Further details on breeding will be given in the breeding section below.

Can I give my creatures names?
You can name a creature by clicking the "name" button next to it. Names can be up to 25 characters long and may only include letters in the English alphabet, spaces, hyphens ( - ) and apostrophes ( ' ). Several creatures may have the same name, even if they are owned by the same person.
Please note that while renaming a creature is possible, it costs some gold. The fee ranks between 2k and 100k, depending on the rarity of the creature. Before giving a name to a creature, consider well whether it is the name you want that creature to have.

Can my creature die?
Creatures on MagiStream do not get sick or die.

How are genders determined?
With a single exception, all creatures have males and females. There is always a 50% chance for either gender. Some creatures will have different sprites for the two genders; this is called dimorphism. The one exception is the Delroch, which is always male.

Why are there so many eggs of the same type in the stream?
Some creatures come in so-called floods. A flooding creature will have a very high chance to appear in the stream, meaning most eggs during that flood will be that creature. The most notable of those is the Lakiran Platypus, which will flood twice a day for fifteen minutes. Many limited event creatures also come in floods for several days.

What are Allies?
Allies are representatives of other sentient species found in the world of MagiStream. They can be gotten through quests. Since allies are not pets but friends, you cannot breed or trade them.


How do I breed my creatures?
To breed a creature, click the 'breed' button next to the creature. The following page will give you a list of creatures you own that it is compatible with. Click on one and the two creatures will try to get an egg. A breeding is not always successful.

Can all creatures breed?
First of all, only adult creatures can breed. Donation pets and creatures from the Koi Pond usually cannot breed. Those of them that can will only produce hybrids, never creatures of the same species. Event creatures are not always able to breed, either. Allies do not breed. Newer creatures from the Stream or shops also take some while to have the breed option added to them. Finally, the Elephant Snail cannot breed for story-related reasons that are detailed in its description.

Which creatures are compatible?
In general, creatures can only breed to the opposite gender. Most creatures able to breed can breed to their own species. There are also species that can interbreed, and many of these will produce hybrids. The fansites have lists of which species can have hybrids.

What chance is there to get an egg?
The chance of getting an egg is determined by the species of the parents. Some creatures are very likely to produce an egg, while other creatures are picky breeders and will fail often.

How many eggs can a pair have?
Each breeding attempt will give one egg if it is successful.

How long do I have to wait between breeding attempts?
Creatures can breed every three days. If your creature has been bred recently, its profile will have a counter showing you how long ago it was last bred.

My creatures refused to breed. Can they still breed again later?
If a breeding attempt is not successful, that doesn't say anything about the parents. They will still be able to produce an egg in a later attempt and will always have the same chance to produce an egg.

Can donation pets breed?
Yes, donation pets may breed. Each breeding costs three shards. Breeding is only enabled if you have three shards available on your account. The three- and five-shard pets from a given month may breed together with a chance at either a three or a five shard egg being produced. As donation pet breeding cost shards, an egg is guaranteed. If you do not receive an egg, please contact an admin. Note: This does not apply when breeding Cobalt Wyverns to Emerald Wyverns, Golden Crystalwings to Blue Crystalwings and Rewin Dragons, or Purple Crystalwings to Blue Crystalwings or Rewin Dragons as these breedings do not require shards and so have a chance to fail.


What are families?
Families are lineages of creatures that share a family name. They are all offspring of one progenitor pair. A family can be given a crest and description by the creator.

How do I create a family?
To create a family, first you need a pair of creatures able to breed with each other as progenitors. Click the 'breed' button on one of them. Before you choose the partner, click the 'Create a family' button in the upper left corner, then enter a family name in the box that appears. There is a limit of 20 characters for the family name. Afterward, click the partner. If the breeding is successful, the pair and the offspring will automatically have the family name added to them. If the breeding is unsuccessful, the family will not be created.
Family names are unique; if you try to choose a family name that is already in existence, you will get an error message and be asked to choose another one. Also note that creating a family is irreversible. Once it is created, it cannot be undone.

What special rules apply to families?
The progenitor pair of a family will only be able to breed with each other, not with any other creature. Except for the progenitor pair, creatures with the same family name are not able to breed with each other. Any offspring from a pairing that includes a creature with the family name will automatically be part of the family and have the family name added to it.

What happens if I breed two members of different families?
The offspring will share the family of one of the parents. Which one is determined randomly, with equal chance for either.

How do I edit the crest and description of my family?
Find a member of the family and click on the link to the family name in its profile. That will bring you to the family page. Click on the 'Edit' button. There you can enter the url for a crest and a text for descriptions. Don't forget to click 'Save Changes' once you're done.

Can I remove a creature from my family?
Once a creature is part of a family, it cannot be removed. Not even freezing or releasing the creature will change that. If you have limits on what creatures should be bred into a family, make sure to only give family members out to people you trust to keep the rules.


What is trading?
Trading allows you to give or receive creatures and gold from other players.

How do I trade?
Here's a quick guide how to operate the trade system:
1. Find the user you want to trade with. Find a post of theirs, and click Trades under their avatar. Alternately, go to your trade panel and enter the username of the person you want to trade within the box.
2. Click the creatures you want to send to that person. That will make the fade out a bit. Enter the gold amount you want to trade to the other user in the box provided. Do not use a dot or comma to separate digits (i.e. if you want to trade a thousand gold, write it '1000', not '1,000'.)
3. Click 'Save Changes'. The trade should now show the creatures/gold added to the trade.
4. Enter your account password in the box and click 'Confirm Offer'.
5. You will now have to wait until the other side adds their side of the deal and confirms the offer.
6. Once the offer has been confirmed by the other side, enter your account password again and click 'Confirm Offer'. The trade will now be concluded.

Can every creature be traded?
Unfrozen eggs cannot be traded to prevent people from exceeding the egg limit. Allies cannot be traded either, since those are considered friends, not pets.

What do the different messages in the trade panel mean?
A trade will tell you who started it and who it is currently waiting for. If the trade says 'from you to _____', then you created the trade. If it says 'from _____ to you', it was created by the other side.
If the trade is 'initiated', the one who created it hasn't entered their password yet.
If the trade is 'waiting for response', the creator entered their password and is waiting for the recipient to do so.
If the trade is 'waiting for confirmation', the creator needs to put in his password again to finish the trade.

The Keep:

How can I sort my creatures?
There are two ways to sort your creatures. Default sort will put them in the order they were released, with each species sorted as adults / hatchlings / eggs. Custom sort will allow you to put your creatures in any order you choose. In addition, you can create tabs in your keep to put creatures in different groups. To put creatures in default sort, click the 'Default Sort' button at the top right of your keep. Default sort will only apply to the tab you are currently in. To custom sort, click the 'Custom Sort' button. You will then be able to drag and drop the creatures in your current tab. Please don't click on the image of the creature but next to it, or the drag and drop will not work.

How do I create tabs
The first tab of your keep will be titled 'Main'. Next to it, there's a plus sign. Click it, then enter a name for the tab in the box provided and click 'Yes'. The limit for tab names is 24 characters. You can have a maximum of 50 tabs.

Can I sort my tabs?
You can move a tab by clicking on it and dragging it wherever you want it to be. The order will automatically be saved once you let go of it.

How do I move creatures between tabs?
Click the 'Toggle Move Links' button at the top of your Keep. That will show links to the different tabs next to each creature. Click on the link to the tab you want the creature to be in and it will be moved there.

Can I rename tabs?
No, a tab cannot be renamed.

Can I delete tabs?
Except for the main tab, all tabs can be deleted. Go to the tab and it will display a small 'x' next to the name. Click on that, then choose the tab to move the creatures in this tab to from the drop-down menu provided and click 'Yes'


What are quests?
Quests are small stories you can play through. They will usually require you to do things and give you a special creature at the end.

Where can I find quests?
Quests can be found in the World. Most will start at the Keep, but require you to go somewhere else later.

What requirements do quests have?
Starting a quest doesn't have any requirements. Most quests will need you to have certain creatures or a specific amount of gold to proceed, though. If these are eggs or hatchlings, those creatures will be taken from you. Adult creatures required by a quest will usually stay in your Keep, though.

What do I need for this quest to proceed?
Most quests will spell out for you what creatures you need to move on. Some will make it a bit more difficult, but the text will always contain hints about what you need.

The quest doesn't take the eggs/hatchlings I got for it. What is wrong?
All eggs and hatchlings required for quests need to be unnamed, unfrozen and not be part of a family.

Is there a time limit on quests?
A quest, will never go away. You can take as much time as you want and the current step will stay until you decide to proceed.

I finished the quest and didn't get a creature! Is this a glitch?
Some quests don't give creatures but unlock other areas on the site. Look around if you can find anything new.


What are societies?
Societies are groups of like-minded magi that dedicate themselves to one aspect of the magistream world. That may be creatures of a specific element or another aspect.

How do I join a society?
Each society has a quest associated with it that will make you a member if you complete it.

What are the benefits of a society?
Joining a society will give you access to the specific shop of a group, which contains unique creatures that can only be found there. These creatures will in some way be associated with the society in question.

How many societies can I join?
You can only be a member of one single society at any time. The quests to join any other society will not show up for you as long as you are already in one.

Can I leave/switch between societies?
There is a quest in the Etainian Desert called "The Face Changer" that will do nothing except remove your affiliation from a group. Please note that this comes at a quite steep price, so choosing to join a society is a decision that shouldn't be made lightly. Once you are no longer member of any society, you can complete any of the society quests, even ones for those you have already been a member of previously.

What societies are there?
Currently, these are the societies available:

Dark Brotherhood: specializes in dark creatures
Society of the Trident: specializes in aquatic creatures
Herbalists: specializes in plants and nature

More societies are always in the works.


What is gifting?
During certain holidays, gifting will be enabled. During that time, you can send eggs as presents to other users which they will be able to open at a later date.

How do I gift?
There will be a 'give' button next to eggs allowed to be gifted. Click that, then fill the form that comes up. You have to enter the username of the person you want to gift. You also have the option to send a small message with the gift, and you can make the gift anonymous if you don't want the one you gift to know it came from you.

Can every egg be gifted?
As a rule, frozen eggs cannot be gifted. Other than that, it depends on the event. Some gifting events will allow every kind of egg to be gifted, others will have special eggs to be gifted during that event. If an egg doesn't have the 'give' button, it cannot be gifted and vice versa.

How many gifts can I give?
You can send out as many gifts as you want, there is no limit. However, no person can receive more than 25 gifts total, and you cannot gift a single person more than three eggs. If you try to gift someone who is already full, you will get a message telling you so and the egg will stay in your Keep.

How do I know how many gifts I have?
Scroll down to the bottom of your Keep. There will be a message that will tell you how many presents you have received.

How do I open my gifts?
Gifts cannot be opened until a certain date that will usually be mentioned in the announcement. Once that date is here, go to the bottom of your Keep. It will still tell you how many presents you have. Click the link next to that saying 'open one' to open a present. You can do that until you have opened all your presents. You can open presents even if you already have four or more eggs.

Do I get anything for gifting?
First of all, you'll get that warm, fuzzy feeling that you have done something nice for others. Other than that, once you have given out a certain amount of gifts (which can vary from event to event), you will receive a small badge in your public Keep that will tell people you participated in that particular event. Some gifting events will also provide you with a special creature if you gave out enough gifts. The respective egg will be among your presents.


What do all those differently colored usernames mean?
Regular users have black usernames. Blue names are admins, responsible for the running of the site. Teal names are moderators who keep the peace on the forum. They are aided by forum moderators, who have red usernames and are responsible for only certain parts of the forums. Green names are artists, who create the creature sprites and other art for MagiStream. Purple are donators, people who have donated at least 10 dollar to the site. Finally, orange are NPCs; these are characters from the world of MagiStream that perform various site-related functions.

Who is this "Master Belmos" I keep hearing about?
Master Belmos is an NPC and heads the Nursery of the Keep, the place where creatures that have no other home get cared for. Master Belmos will take in any creatures you no longer want, you only need to send either him or NurseryHelper a trade with the creatures you want to get rid of. Master Belmos is able to unfreeze and unname any creature, which means even frozen eggs and named creatures are welcome.
Those creatures are then later used in special Nursery events by Master Belmos, which can usually be found in the Merchant District.

Is there a way to change my username?
You cannot change your username yourself. If you want a new one, send a polite message to Morgaln and ask for your username to be changed. Make sure to provide the new name you'd like to have. A username may only contain English letters and numbers, no other characters. You can get one name change every six months.

What are those 'bots' I see in the user online list?
Names in white followed by [bot] or [spider] are search programs used by sites like Google and Yahoo to take information from the internet. They are completely harmless.

Who are Anonymous and Nobody, they seem to own a lot of creatures?
Creatures listed as owned by "Anonymous" have been released. Creatures that are owned by "Nobody" are currently in a trade.

I found someone breaking the rules! What do I do?
If it is a post, report it by using the report button. It can be found in the upper right corner of every post. You can also PM a moderator. A list of moderators can be found here.

What do I do when I found a glitch?
Either post it in the thread about site errors, or send Tristan a PM.

Why do my images not display properly?
Try to clear your cache. This thread will tell you how.

My question wasn't answered by this thread. Where do I go?
You can post your question in the Support and Suggestions forum.

Common expressions and abbreviations:

Referring to the site:
MS: MagiStream
MD: Merchant District
AH: Auction House

Referring to creatures:
SB: Streamborn or shopborn; designates creatures acquired directly from the stream or a shop (as opposed to being bred).
QB: Questborn; designates creatures acquired directly from a quest (as opposed to being bred).
GB: Giftborn; designates creatures acquired directly from a gifting event (as opposed to being bred).
Hybrid: A creature that can only be acquired through breeding.
DP: Donation pet

Sales and auctions:
k (preceded by a number): a thousand; e. g. 1k = 1000, 5k = 5000.
SB: Starting bid, the first bid in an auction.
AB: Autobuy, an automatic win in auctions.
MI: Minimum increase, the minimum amount a bid has to exceed the previous bid by.
QS: Quicksale
LTB: Looking to buy
LTS: Looking to sell
LTT: Looking to trade

RP: Roleplay
Mining: clicking large amounts of creatures to earn gold
Keep mining: clicking through keeps of people with a lot of creatures
Image-free mine: A list of links without embedded images to make mining faster
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Re: The new Frequently Asked Questions thread

Postby ay4u » December 4th, 2010, 6:56:18 pm

Thank you Morgaln! :woo:

The 'Common expressions and abbreviations' section really helps :D

And the "Allies" Section is great! I had no idea why Allies "Didn't really do anything" :haha: Makes SO much sense!
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Re: The new Frequently Asked Questions thread

Postby umbreon241 » December 4th, 2010, 7:34:33 pm

:wave: You forgot "CD" for Community Discussion.
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Re: The new Frequently Asked Questions thread

Postby cyberus151 » December 4th, 2010, 8:47:30 pm

Don't forget Doni for donation creature,
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Re: The new Frequently Asked Questions thread

Postby TwoThousand » December 5th, 2010, 8:48:57 am

Morgaln, The whole user-color-name thing, Admins and Mods KINDA look similar...When I first saw them I thought, 'whats the difference'? But by now I know. Tristan should really change some of the colors for the slightly color blind. D:
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Re: The new Frequently Asked Questions thread

Postby HaltingTime » December 5th, 2010, 1:16:52 pm

And probably the first question:

Do quest accept lineaged creatures?
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Re: The new Frequently Asked Questions thread

Postby MadHattery » December 5th, 2010, 2:06:32 pm

Dragonfang wrote:And probably the first question:

Do quest accept lineaged creatures?

Nope, they do not. They did before but Tristan fixed it.
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Re: The new Frequently Asked Questions thread

Postby TNHawke » December 5th, 2010, 2:06:47 pm

Thanks for updating the FAQ, Morg!

I did see one discrepancy. There are two exceptions to the two gender rules. You got the Delroch in, but forgot to add that the Mermaids are always female.

You should probably also mention that when trading, the page needs to be allowed to load fully, or it won't add the creature/ gold.

Under renaming tabs, there's a 'work around' where you create the new tab name, then delete the old one. The system asks what tab you want to move the creatures into, and you can tell it the new one.

I always thought the forum mod names looked orange, not red...

Dragonfang wrote:And probably the first question:

Do quest accept lineaged creatures?

It says they can't be part of a family.
The quest doesnÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t take the eggs/hatchlings I got for it. What is wrong?
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Re: The new Frequently Asked Questions thread

Postby Mukumuku » December 5th, 2010, 6:52:10 pm

Naw FAQ is lovely, just noticed it. xD;

Thanks Morg for your efforts. <3

B-but. Table of contents...! ;A; For ease of ctrl F to the article in question and stuff. Or just to give someone whose skimming an overall idea of the location of what, and what sorts of questions are asked/answered. idek OTL.
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Re: The new Frequently Asked Questions thread

Postby Zovesta » December 7th, 2010, 7:51:06 pm

I'm confused about lineages. In order to get anything past 1st gen, you have to inbreed, right? o3o

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