Lab Cells: Get ready to cook in our test kitchen!

 

Hello hello, beloved Eyewirers. As you may be aware, we finished our Countdown to Neuropia in July, and we’ve been tracing some “bonus cells” while some more data is prepared. The ultimate plan for that is to do another cell countdown! Now, today does not mark the start of that countdown, but we would like you to know that starting with the October marathon cell this week, we are going to switch from our bonus cells to testing out 35 new cells from the currently planned “Countdown 2” area. Many of these cells may be more challenging than usual, so we’re testing how long they take to complete. We’ll also be figuring out what tools might be necessary on EyeWire to effectively perform an entire countdown with cells of this nature. Therefore, because we’re experimenting, we’ll be calling the 35 cells “Lab Cells.”

Things you should know before we start

• Cubes on the Lab Cells will be difficult primarily because they have lots of dust and high potential for mergers. Now is the time to brush up your skills on handling both!
• Regarding dust: don’t worry, you do not need to add every single little bit. You can if you really want to, but it’s not critical to your accuracy. Admins will be going easy on missed dust when we reap. This means Scythes should also go easy on it. Add enough dust to get a general idea, but (as always) it’s much more important to spend time on finding missing branches and nubs.
• Even though cubes may be harder on average, they will also be higher volume. These are busy little cubes indeed. That means you should expect higher than average scores per cube! Woohoo!

Again, the first Lab Cell will go live on Thursday 10/29 at 10:00 AM when we start the October marathon. Afterward, the remaining 34 cells will be traced and completed at whatever rate everyone can manage. We hope you’re as excited as we are to see how this goes! We believe in you! FOR SCIENCE!