The Mystery of the Baked Potato

No, Exterminans told us that it was a "hidden" variant. Actually, he told us that there was a hidden variant before it had ever popped up for anyone, but didn't tell us anything about what it was or how to get it. No one imagined that it would be this puzzling!

Wow, that's even better! Sorry, I hadn't seen Exterminans' post.
Hm, but if it's a hidden variant, why don't I have a question mark in the potato section of the compendium? (AFAIR, that's what you get with the Biting Dandelion.) Or is it an entirely different seed?

Just adding a couple more ideas to test if the metamorphosis can be replicated:

Shely, have you tried gifting another potato to agajol?
Maybe it's the time of day/day of the week/whatever when you collected the seed?
What other seeds did you collect in the same batch?
I noticed the seed took a very long time to sprout. Did you water it regularly, or did you let it dry out?
In order to test this last theory, we could water a dried out potato seed and see what happens.
Found one: http://flowergame.net/view/198392
And another one (the owner seems to have come back, but the seed must have been dry for weeks):
http://flowergame.net/view/198391

Originally people did have a question mark after the three normal variants, so people were breeding for a while, but got no new variants. Then Exterminans told us that it was a hidden variant that required a different means of getting, and he removed the question mark for that variant.

We really don't know WHY that potato of Shely's became baked for a short time. It may have been a glitch, but if it was, I wish Exterminans would tell us so.

Is it a baked potato, or possibly a hot potato? Because if it's the latter, the act of gifting might be a key element. Not sure.

I thought that too, but a few other people tried gifting and it didn't work. So who knows? Although I think that might still have something to do with it.

Quote from walkinslow

Shely, have you tried gifting another potato to agajol?
Maybe it's the time of day/day of the week/whatever when you collected the seed?
What other seeds did you collect in the same batch?
I noticed the seed took a very long time to sprout. Did you water it regularly, or did you let it dry out?

1. Uhm, I havn't try gifting another one to agajol yet. But I will send her a PM later and let you guys know.
2. These three should be the same batch alongside with baked potato:

And if you're interesed, the baked one was a pruple potato before it changed. I don't remember the exact time, given that I was busy those days, it is highly possible that I got them at night. So taking time differences into account, it should be somew points like before midday(Vormittag?) or afternoon, German time. However I don't think it matters...
3. As for watering. That was all because I didn't have time to water them regularly due to internship.

Quote from Ardath

Is it a baked potato, or possibly a hot potato? Because if it's the latter, the act of gifting might be a key element. Not sure.

Well possibly. The reason I call it baked potato is because that it looks exactly the same as Ofenkartoffel and I've never seen on in UK in the same way. Maybe there's a dish named oven potato since baked potato is actually another way of cooking?

I don't think it was a glitch. Otherwise Exterminans would fixed it.

For those who don't speak American English as a first language, a "hot potato" is something you have to get rid of as soon as possible (like a literal hot potato that's burning your bare hands). It could also be something that could get you into trouble. As a kid, we played a game called "hot potato", where kids stood in a circle and threw a beanbag as quickly as possible to anyone in the circle randomly. So you had the beanbag in your cupped hands and shoveled it to someone else, who had to shovel it off to someone else as soon as they caught it, etc. If you didn't catch it, you were out. Last one left wins.
So perhaps this slang is also common in other countries. And just perhaps you have to treat this as a "hot potato" and gift it, then having the next owner gift it, until it is passed around to a few others before coming back to someone who has owned it before, whereupon it becomes "baked". Worth a try, I guess.

Hm, the hot potato idiom exists in German as well, so that might be worth further testing.
Shely, thank you for your answers. Looks like I'll have to give this some more thought.
Ah, the suspense...

Was this a 'first' potato for agajol? Perhaps it only works if it's gifted t someone who has not had any potatoes at all in their garden?

That would make it so anyone who already has some (which is pretty much all of us now) could never get one. That would make no sense, because once everyone has at least one, it would prevent anyone from ever getting the rare.

I really don't think the admins would have put up a mechanic that would be that nonsensical. I would suggest the opposite - that the recipient needs to have a certain number - but since Shely started the traveling potato game when they hadn't been out long, I don't think anyone had more than four or eight of them yet.

Also, remember that the potato changed shape several times. I don't think it was in baked form in anyone else's gardens (although I could be wrong - one of them will have to let us know), but it IS in baked form now, and I think it was baked in agajol's garden for a brief time. (We'll only know for certain if it is showing in her compendium.) So... what is there different about THAT potato, that of all of them, that one should be baked? (It may not be the traveling, since Shely said that it got baked apparently BEFORE agajol took it.)

If it has to do with the fact that Shely created that forum post... then that would just be weird, because I don't think the game itself is connected to anything on the forums.

We have theories, but I don't know if anyone has tried testing any of those theories consistently. What we should probably do is pick one of the theories, and then a bunch of us say, "OK, we're going to test that theory out by all of us doing X and see what happens." Only we're just not that organized at the moment.

Ah, thank you, froglady, for explaination. And sorry for misunderstanding. It does exists in my native language and is exactly the same as 'hot potato'.

I don't know what else could make difference, but I do agree that forums are not connected to game itself.

@Mia
That potato was in baked form in someone else's garden. At least when idril gifted it backe to me, it was. So it is weird that it wasn't in baked form when at agajol's garden....

OK, I have a baked potato in my Compendium and I think it's because I took Shely's potato at some point, but I have a bad memory and can't remember. I don't know where the potato is right now to check - so, does everyone who took it have a baked potato in their Compendiums?

I would be willing to join whoever wants to test theories out - just let me know what to do!