Mousehunt and the rest of it.

It has been raging on like a mad disease for 1 and a half years already, but when will it stop? Yes, Mousehunt is a "game" (it does not deserve the title of a game) (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Game) on Facebook that has been "hogging" the conversation topic of many young and gullible teenagers who have too much time on their hands. On a rough estimate, o would suggest that around 80% of teenagers aged 13-14 have this application on their facebook, and 40% of those who play it are more or less addicted. Let me explain this game in detail.

Mousehunt is a game in which one clicks on a button, which entitles one to "catch a mouse" The effects of the button may result in you either catching a mouse, getting your cheese stolen by a mouse, getting pillaged AND cheese stolen by a mouse, or not attracting any mouse, with a chance of your cheese, which is used as bait for your trap, going stale. There are many mechanics of this application, though. The user must constantly upgrade his trap, by earning a certain amount of gold(the ingame currency) or catching a certain mouse to get parts to build a trap. Gold can be earned by catching a mouse, and allows you to buy a trap, which allows you to catch even better mice, which allows you to buy even better traps. Thus you see the vicious cycle of the developer's strategy to get users hooked onto the application. This has led to many addiction cases among users of the application.

Take our class as a solid example. Many people in our class play mousehunt, and there ARE some hardcore addicts in our class, believe it or not. These people almost refuse to go for their classes until the next fifteen minutes (the time taken before you entitled to catch a mouse), which results in them getting scolded or punished, because they are late for a certain period, which is not in class. BUT THEY STILL NEVER RELENT. Now you know why I am constantly late for every class in school, having to close the door before going for any class which is not in the classroom. Its tough being monitor.

And even if the lesson is in class, it means a greater amount of "horn sounds" for these addicts, with their laptops perpetually on in class, not willing to lose a single click of that button. Sometimes, I really wonder if the director of consortium was right in saying that we are trusted with our computers and are fit to be in this Future School program. This only applies to some people though.

Some people are even willing to give out their Facebook accounts to others to "help them sound the horn". This is the most foolish thing you can do with your Facebook. These people are so hopelessly addicted that they are willing to give out all their Facebook gossip and whatsoever for that Application and risk getting hacked and others using their accounts to post messages that ridicule themselves. BUT DO THEY ACTUALLY CARE? I think not, for they have already long seen Facebook as Mousehunt, Mousehunt as Facebook, and to them, facebook is the only way that they can access the application. How sad.

Do these people realise that this silly application is ruining their grades? Some people just "camp" at their computers waiting and counting every second to the next click of the horn shaped button. They claim that they are doing work, but are they? I would think not.

Well, I guess that the root of this addiction is the competitive nature of the game, for there are "ranks' or levels in the game that one must click enough of that stupid button to achieve, and there are some mice that are somewhat rarer than others. But I ask this: So what if you are a Baron or Knight in the game? so what if you have caught that Mobster mouse in the game. What does that give you? A sense of satisfaction? Bragging rights? And what after that? Is it worth trading your grades, money(for you can buy special items in the game with cash) and time all for this stupid game and for that sick sense of satisfaction? Weigh the values of these things and answer yourself.

I as a user myself, used to be in this state of addiction too (though i did not spend any money on it). I understand how it feels like, being "superior" to others in the game and laughing at people who were a much lower rank than me. But I am no hypocrite. I have changed since then and am contemplating to quit the game, now that i have thought it though and weighed the consequences. I have watched many a person's grades fall all because of this application and i do not wish to see more.

When will people finally understand that Mousehunt is a random event generator and not a game?

When will people finally come to their senses and spread this message?

When will people finally realise that what they are doing is a foolish and selfish act to themselves and their grades?

When will people finally realise that clicking that flash animated button is not doing them any good?

When will people finally realise that Mousehunt is just easy money for the developers?

I await with anticipation the day that the students from class 2O1 will not hold me back any longer to check their page or "sound their horn" (which ironically produces no sound).

Yours Sincerely,

Lim MX

The sad, sad monitor of a mousehunt infected class