Some people have speculated radiation/mutation kinds of strains (because of the monthly collection theme), but yeah I'm not really sure myself. I have enjoyed the previous themes though, the art team is pretty creative with them.

So close... It will be this week... I can't wait to bite people 👌😩

Radiation zombies would be pretty cool....maybe glowing and drippy :)

I might not be exactly ready but my avatar is ready

bring on da zombies

Ay, my HA is ready too! Less of a zombie hunter, and more of just a zombie. :P I'm using two of the strain doses! (We desperately need more of those wearable doses. They're amazing.)

I forget about the wearable doses!

I'm hoping it starts very soon.... Mostly just wanting something more to do on Subeta... D:

Same! I love having all the extra holiday stuff going on.

This will be my first Survial, super looking forward to it! I'm a little confused though, what's the difference between VIP and just getting bitten by an infected user? :0 And does getting bitten while you have a virus interrupt it?

I am so ready for Survivial! Bring on the new strains :D

Hopefully this explanation is correct and makes sense. Anyone feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.

In order to get infected at all, you need to sign up for a strain using VIP, because it's an 'Opt-In' kind of thing. If you don't want to get infected with anything, you just don't sign up. Unless you end up using one of the vial strains from uh, I think 3 years ago?...(that might not be right) You drink one, and I believe it will infect you with its particular strain on its own.

For any of the old strains (last year's and beyond) you will need to still sign up for them. Basically, when you choose a virus from VIP, you are put into a queue and it will take potentially a few hours for it to show up that you are infected. However, during this waiting period, users that already have the virus skin (or have progressed far enough in their strain) can bite people who are looking for that particular strain. When you post on the forums there will be options under the avatar that will say you want to be bitten, and users with your desired strain can click that to bite you. The more bites you receive, the quicker it will take for you to become infected. Those who are looking to be infected but receive no bites will still get the strain eventually, it will just take longer. After you are infected, the strain will progress at a regular pace and you are no longer able to be bitten.

Regarding this year's upcoming strains, you sign up for one of those during VIP and it is just a waiting game for VIP to infect you on its own, since no one has been able to receive one yet, hence no available biters to speed up the process. There is an option at the bottom of the VIP page (a terracoon npc I think) where, instead of choosing to sign up for a particular new strain, you pay more to get a random new one, but you don't have to wait in the queue to become infected.

ah, i'm so excited ;o; i just realized i'm only 107 kisses away from my just gotta remember to stay out of contest threads until i get my achievement o3o praying for a den steel right arm once again looking forward to all the new items, and the new sweethearts. hope we get a yaherra ;o;

got most of it -- you drink a vial or you sign up with the volunteer infection program, you pick out and pay for your infection, and you either wait or go out and look for bites. you get an alert once you're infected (you've been matched with an infection specialist! or something like that), and then you're set. once you progress far enough (second to last stage, iirc), you'll be able to bite other users looking for your strain, which means you can go after your biter achievement/forum title >:3

Oooh, okay, makes sense! Thank you both so much!! <3

A plot would be amazing this year. I feel like we haven't had one in so long. I love the puzzles (even though I bitch about them) and I love restock wars and I love battling and I love the team aspect.

As for my readiness, the HAs have started - my current one is a take on Pride and Predjudice and Zombies. I thought it was a fitting time for it lol.

I'm not really expecting anything to happen before tomorrow, but I'm still checking the ID at regular intervals, just in case of cheeky early start. It's been known to happen.

Oh, man. An early start would be amazing! I know I previously hypothesized Thurs, 2/15, as the earliest potential date, but I'm actually going to be at a concert that evening! Getting back and realizing I've missed the start of the event would be so sad! (Assuming it begins that evening.) Perhaps I could just bribe staff to start it before 6:30pm or so. :P

I’m excited. Watching the strains develop is the best part of the season.

I definitely wouldn't complain about an early start, but sometime between tomorrow and Friday (at the latest) I think is more likely.

Hope it starts soon...I've been waiting since Luminaire ended.

I'm gonna say the 15th is more likely for the holiday to commence than the 14th, and even then it has commonly been set up during the evening (subeta time) for previous years. Regardless, I'm just going to take off my skin now and start being human, so I can be prepared for VIP and in case there is an early start in the works. Course it could be late too, which at this point is okay I guess.