News
Search Options ►Ghoulish Gala - Trick or Treat Vote
Events
Hello!
I just wanted to touch base with everyone about this year's Ghoulish Gala!
As some of you may have noticed last year, I struggled quite a bit to get the old Trick or Treat system up and running. This was largely due to suddenly finding myself as the site's coder (as outlined in a later news post). At the time, I was trying to untangle years of old code and get it working without the understanding of the site's structure that I have now. That meant I was debugging, fixing, and overhauling the system on the fly just to get the event functional.
It definitely wasn't the ideal way to approach things, but my priority was making sure everyone still had a event to enjoy. In the process, I ended up rebuilding much of the Trick or Treat system behind the scenes while keeping the overall concept and feel of the event the same.
Now that things have settled down, I have a much better understanding of how the site works and is structured. That leaves me with a choice for this year's event, and rather than decide on my own, I'd like your input.
I still have the original Trick or Treat system, and with what I've learned over the past year, I could restore it to work much as it did before.
At the same time, I know the newer system introduced several improvements that many users enjoyed.
Rather than assume which version everyone prefers, I'd like to ask now while there's still plenty of time before October. That gives me enough time to repair, polish, and test whichever direction the community would like to see, instead of trying to make major changes at the last minute.
So, what would you like to see this year?
Vote in the poll below, and if you have ideas or suggestions, I'd love to hear them in the comments!
If you vote for a merge of the two systems, please let me know which features you liked from each version so I can work toward combining the best parts of both.
Thank you, and I look forward to hearing what everyone thinks!
Posted by Kandria
(#111) on Fri Jul 17, 2026 4:51pm
- OceanRain
(#74236)
-
Posted on: Mon Jul 20, 2026 10:15pm
Never understood karma in this either like the others, this last year I felt like trying to get bootatoes in adventuring had worse drop rates? Trick or treating didn’t feel too different to me other than there was more people showing as online to where I went to knock it then said their actually not online.
Ghost poop didn’t seem to really do anything this time around as I never saw it float around the screen like it used to, other than that I also don’t really know the differences well between the old and new so it’s hard to really vote without a good comparison
- koda bear
(#11713)
-
Posted on: Tue Jul 21, 2026 8:41am
As long as I can catch new pets, and buy them with enough holiday currency, the other parts of the holiday dont effect me and I ignore them.
- Tee Hi <3
(#39846)
-
Posted on: Wed Jul 22, 2026 10:12am
I also don't understand the whole Karma thing, but I also don't let it affect me; I just treat and ToT and figure it'll all come out in the wash. Plus, I always end up with waaaaaaay too much candy, anyhow, so having candy stolen and/or negative Karma really doesn't affect me.
My main observation is to second Sunny's comment about the Cauldron-- It's been literally YEARS since there've been more than a handful of pets to go in. And I do know it's just cause players don't sub to the relevant thread, but perhaps Aywas has to make it worth player's while more; maybe a special type of payment if one's pet(s) end up in the Cauldron?
- MaDovahVhenan
(#82939)
-
Posted on: Thu Jul 23, 2026 6:41pm
I joined rather recently so I do not have experience with either system, but I wanted to say that whichever of the two works more intuitively and offers the most options for different interests/gamestyle of the two would be the best option.
Also, based on what I've read and heard, I myself would prefer nothing that requires real time action for an interaction (people knocking at doors) unless there is a spot designated for users to go to in order to communicate with each other in there (as everyone present in the moment would be actively aware of the posibility of interaction.
I am a player that leaves the tab open and checks in to do things and play around whenever I get a moment, so it'd be impossible to keep an eye out for somehitng like that unless I specifically know to be present at specific times that I will know I will be available to.
- OKami_hu
(#23130)
-
Posted on: Fri Jul 24, 2026 3:00pm
One year, I found myself an online stopwatch and set it to warn me once it was time to check who came knocking. It worked, but... I'd prefer it if the event didn't require me to be constantly on edge. For the past few years, I stuck to visiting NPCs, except for the ones that would take candy, not give candy, or dealt out effects. My karma was always in the green, so IDK. Also, hunting for plants in the gardens is a pain, both because of the chances and the timer. Maybe if we could _trade_ them for items of similar rarity? If we had good things brewing in the Cauldron, it might lighten the item amount the site has to keep track of (if that is even an issue.)
- PrayingMantis[LL]
(#81132)
-
Posted on: Fri Jul 24, 2026 6:03pm
I truly appreciate all of your hard work! Please do whichever version of the event that is easier for you. May I please keep the floating Spoopycorn year round....I have 3 floating around and I love them. Would it be possible for the assorted candy apples to work?
- Haru
(#46917)
-
Posted on: Sun Jul 26, 2026 12:09pm
To me, having no karma meter would be the best because of the danger of having good karma (green) flipped by certain NPCs. I'm not sure it could be flipped by ToT'ing as well? Also, a minor annoyance for me were floating ghost poops after we were tricked. I would be fine with tf they went straight to our inventory or DB.
Another thing is the witch's garden - I remember barely being able to harvest herbs, even the most common ones last year. That, and the cauldron page itself lagging just before (amd after) the pet reveal T_T
Posted on: Sun Jul 19, 2026 11:37am
Anyone know how to switch off the ghost poop animation? Been having a stubborn one zooming across my screen every time I get on Aywas. Doesn't matter which page I open on the site; it's still there. I've been tolerating it every day since last year's event, but am kind of annoyed by it. :(
Also, with regards to the whole karma thing - I never understood the mechanic. I kept get red-zoned no matter how much I treated others, and it affected my entire experience with the event. Normally I'm very happy with the events on the site, but that one was quite confusing and a bit of a downer because I wasn't sure how the whole karma-system worked. :\
I do appreciate all the hard work that you've put into holding the site together during the event though! Thank you very, very much for all of your time & effort, Kandria! :)