Missioning Mayhem! Episode 2: Butterfly Supply

Welcome to another episode of Missioning Mayhem! Today I will be playing two different missions. I have many reasons for why I'm playing the missions I picked out. One, I wanted to review a SmallWorlds released mission, and two, I was suggested to play a certain mission by a reader. If you have a suggestion for something you want me to do or review (hey, that rhymed!), please leave a comment down at the bottom of the web page. It gives me something to do with my days! Now back to the topic at hand, let's go see some butterflies!

The first mission I played was the SmallWorlds released mission, Bill's Butterflies II, by Mission SmallWorlds. Oddly enough, I distinctly remember playing the first mission in the Bill's Butterflies series, but couldn't find it in the missions tab. Has it been removed? Regardless, this mission has 41,093 plays with an average star rating of 4.6 by 519 users. The average time to complete this SmallWorlds Approved mission is around 23 minutes, so let's not delay!

The first thing I noticed upon entering the space was this:

I have never seen crystalists this big. What are you growing, Bill? A giant butterfly army? Is this why I'm here, to stop this madness? To begin the mission, you'll need to select 'Mission' on the mission play button in the space. You begin by being totally confused about your surroundings and calling out into the darkness to see if anyone is around. I'm not blind, I can see the man riding the giant butterfly just around the corner... oh and his outfit, right on time with the spirit of fantasy month! I like it. You continue talking with Bill, who is the man riding the giant butterfly, if you haven't guessed. He tells you that in order for this place to thrive, it needs butterflies and that someone by the name of Nad WorldSmalls has captured them all. I didn't realize this until now, but Nad is Dan spelled backwards. (D'oh emote) You proceed to light up the place and do some detective work around the park, leading you to a cave entrance which takes you directly to Nad, how convenient. And- OOOoOoOoooOOoooOhhhHhh,

What is that staff? I love it! With the looks of the Imperial Amethyst Staff (the exception being the green gem in place of the original purple) and the animation of the Dark Mage Staff, I am really liking this hybrid combo. But I shouldn't be giving props to the bad guy here. Once in Nad's lair, you're instructed to stop him, and in doing so you free the butterflies from their jars and partake in some black magic. And then my worst nightmare actually came true:

I don't want to talk about it. Conspiracy theory: Bill is actually growing avatars in those crystalists I saw before. Anyways, the mission ends with Nad proclaiming that we won't be able to stop him next time, blah blah blah. I feel like every villain has some sort of line like this during their demise. Overall, excellent mission!

When I first look back I noticed one prominent misconception. It said that the mission took an average of 23 minutes to complete, which I'm going to debunk right now. If you're a decent typer and know what to look for while reading directions carefully, this mission shouldn't take you more than ten minutes. It was simple in all of its schematics, and the NPC interactions were fun and really drew you into the story. I really like doing SmallWorlds released missions for a couple reasons. First, they're always simple and basic to complete, which makes it easier for everyone with their different missioning skill levels. Second, there is most likely a rare mission reward that is given to you after completing the mission. For this mission, it was the rare Butterfly in Jar. And third, you can always spot a SmallWorlds exclusive or unreleased "easter egg" item within the mission or mission space. If you haven't played Bill's Butterflies II yet, give it a try by clicking here!

This next mission was suggested to me by Andrew A. in the comments! I'm particularly excited to play The Butterfly, by Hannah Maydew, because I can tell just by looking at the space it's set in that this one is an oldie. And I love oldies for many reasons, but mainly because of their developed storylines. That's one thing that is hard to find in missions today. With 51,119 plays and an average star rating of 4.8 by 18,022 users (which is absolutely insane and is a massive accomplishment), this SmallWorlds Approved mission will take an average of eight minutes to complete. And the pay to play fee is only five tokens! Awesome!

Like I said before, the first thing I noticed upon entering the space was that this mission was going to be an oldie. It might even make my Classics List, but first we must play to find out! The scrolls laid out before me in the picture above was the traditional way to start missions before mission play buttons were released. And get your socks ready because they're about to be blown off. There are three different scrolls because THE MISSION CAN BE PLAYED IN THREE DIFFERENT LANGUAGES. It's offered in English, French, and Portuguese! This is such a big deal to me because it shows that such a bigger audience can take part in the mission, and somehow eliminates a bit of discrimination. Surprisingly, this wasn't all that uncommon back in the good ol' days. Often missions went above and beyond by being offered in two different languages, most often English and Spanish. This was a good idea because, like I said before, it expands the audience that can play the mission, ultimately gaining the mission creator more mission plays. But I'll get off my soap box, and start the mission by clicking 'The Butterfly' on the English inscribed scroll.

The mission begins with you in place of the old man in the story line, walking through the woods. You come across a cocoon (shivers) on the ground with a butterfly struggling its way free without very much success. To gain ideas about how to help the little butterfly out, you ask some very sassy and attitudinal trees that all give very amusing answers. I always appreciated the addition of comedy into any storyline. You then get the idea to help the butterfly escape using a method of your own. To find out what happens next, try the mission for yourself here!

*breathes* Oh. My. God. This mission almost made me cry, no joke. I'm so glad I played it, thank you so much for suggesting it Andrew! No question about it, this mission has made my Classics List, which I just made up writing this article. To see my Classics List, click the tab at the top of the page listed as 'Classics List'. As it states in the mission's end card, The Butterfly was based off of the original story by Nikos Kazantzakis. It played out just how I remember oldies playing out, finding creative ways to use SmallWorlds items as props in the story. This is a prime example of an oldie. With simple text tasks and button pressing, the player sees the mission unfold before their eyes as the landscape comes to life. Who knew rocks were filled with so much wisdom? This mission takes on a very intellectual tone, having the player read carefully through every mission card to determine what the next task is. I highly suggest you find the time to play this mission, it is beautiful in every way. Once again, to experience it for yourself, click here!

This has been another episode of Missioning Mayhem! Have a specific mission you want me to try out? Leave it in the comments section below! Until next time, look out for more blog posts, and thanks for reading about my virtual life!

-Ted

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