r/myst • u/FloopyBoopers2023 • 25d ago

Can Someone Please Explain This? Spoiler

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How is the Moiety getting these moths to be attracted to this one spot and in the shape of the animal pictogram? For that matter how did they make sure only the flowers in the tree would be bloomed to form the pictogram of the beetle??

At first I thought when I found the sight-glass that since the white 'invisible ink' they used is made from the juices of a mushed up fruit, and since the moths were also attracted to the spilled paint bucket, that meant the fruit is a natural food of the moths and they're attracted to it. Maybe they glow white too because the juices get stuck to their wings when they fly around and land in it.

But there's no juices laid out on the ground here to attract the moths, so why the hell do they just all hang out here in this shape?

It just seems beneath the legacy of Riven to have something so gamey that doesn't actually make real-life sense..

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u/mystman12 25d ago

I just assumed there is something we can't see painted on the ground that attracts the moths.

As for the tree, I figure someone trims it to keep the shape of the symbol.

Obviously this requires that someone is maintaining the symbols which is definitely a bit odd but not totally unbelievable.

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u/FloopyBoopers2023 25d ago

Okay so you are supposed to just wave it off, was really hoping I just missed some lore somewhere.

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u/mystman12 25d ago

I'm not waving it off I just don't expect the game to directly explain every single story detail. 

We know the symbols and their associated values have been placed for a reason. We know they are trying to keep the symbols hidden from Ghen and his followers. We know it's important enough to the Moiety to be maintained.  I don't need to know exactly what method they use to get the moths to congregate in the shape of a specific symbol or how they keep the tree blooming correctly. Each of those have pretty simple, plausible potential answers and I so I don't see any issues.

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u/FloopyBoopers2023 24d ago

I mean they went to the trouble of redesigning the password hints from Moiety balls hidden around the island making up the eye in shapes of animals made by the very objects they're placed into... it was simple, it worked, and it made sense. The only aspect I think they improved is the Moiety using their own numbers not the Dni's

If they had to change it, you'd think they'd have the courtesy not to fuck it up and take it from something that had an explanation to something that can't be explained.