If you’ve ever watched one of my livestreams: Thank you! But also, you may have noticed flagrant supremacy in my chat. Shocking, I know. There’s been a battle raging for some time now, and I understand it may be confusing—or even confronting—to those lacking knowledge and context for what they’re witnessing. “What are these walls of supremacy emojis?” “Why is Millicent screeching at her chat like a banshee?” “What is mushroom supremacy?” “What is bat supremacy?”
The time for answers has arrived.
It was a clear day, when the heated argument began
I was playing Stardew Valley on my livestream one day (much like many other days, I suppose), and was delighted when a cut-scene with Demetrius graced my screen with its presence. Ah! It was the first time while streaming that I’d had this cut-scene. You know the one? Where Demetrius offers to experiment in the cave on your farm (weird, but we roll with it because it benefits us of course)?
If you’re unfamiliar with what I’m talking about, I’m referencing the cut-scene where he offers you the choice between growing mushrooms, or having fruit bats occasionally drop fruit in there.
As a seasoned Stardew Valley player, I of course know it’s a no-brainer: Mushrooms are financially more beneficial. They spawn more frequently, and are useful for health potions for the mines. Of course that was what I selected as my choice! Mushrooms are clearly the superior option!
Well. It turned out my chat disagreed. Actually, most of them agreed that it was financially the correct choice. However, my dear friend, Kody Ghost, was vehemently vocally opposed to my choice. Why? Because Kody believes bats are cute. As if that’s enough reason to choose bats!
The war between bats and mushrooms commences
1. Bats being cute is not a fiscally responsible choice when farming on Stardew Valley
Once I selected “mushrooms”, Kody’s shouting in my chat could be heard around the globe. He couldn’t believe I could be so cruel to the bats! How could I not choose bats?! Clearly I was a mushroom supremacist!
I had a good chuckle—I thought it was pretty funny—but I had not been prepared for how big this would become as an issue in my chat. I had not been prepared for the level of commitment Kody had for these fictional fruit bats.
Sometimes it’s nice to be able to choose something for the reason of it being cute, but it does not make it a fiscally responsible choice. In Pelican Town, choosing bats for your farm cave is fiscally irresponsible!
2. Bats being cute is also not a reason to let them kill you in the mines
As bat supremacy continued to increase in my chat, I once more found myself being shouted at when I went into the mines, and I killed the bats there rather than let them kill me. Yes. You read that correctly.
Like many people out there, I have a strong aversion to Harvey and his grifting ways. He’s Pelican Town’s local doctor, and he’s a total rip-off for his services. As such, the goal in the mines is doubly so: survive! Given bats deal damage to the farmer, it would be irresponsible to let them kill you.
Bat-slaying is vital for my Dr Harvey boycott.
3. It’s true that eating some mushrooms can kill you, but they also make healing potions and bank
I know I continue to flog the idea that choosing bats is not a sound financial decision for the player, but it’s true: you’re going to make a lot more money from the consistency of mushroom produce, than the sporadic gift from the bats.
Ignoring that though, mushrooms are still the superior choice. Although you can find mushroom floors in the mines, generally you’re going to encounter fruit far more frequently than mushrooms elsewhere in the game, and mushrooms are important when crafting potions for your adventures in the mines and Skull Cavern.
At least … this was the case when initially playing this on stream before the 1.6 update. I am a little excited about the introduction of the mushroom logs. That still isn’t enough to convince me to choose bats though!
Now my chat is ruled by mushroom and bat supremacy
This war appears to be never-ending. I love it though. It’s good fun and has encouraged community memes and interaction. As a streamer, I love seeing my chat have a good laugh together and being able to join them. I know half the time they’re laughing at my expense, but that’s all part of the fun.
It’s worth noting, this madness has now descended upon the realm of Hogwarts. I showed an “in progress” screenshot of this piece to Kody, and he pointed this out:
Yes, I’m one of those dastardly Slytherins, and Kody is indeed a Hufflepunk, and I realised with great amusement and shame all at once, that Kody was in fact correct. At least on this front! The war between bat supremacy and mushroom supremacy is not over yet!
If you want to have your say in this great war, please feel free to make your stand clear during one of my livestreams. To make your vote count, use the commands !batsupremacy or !mushsupremacy in the chat. You can watch me live on Twitch!
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