Hi guys!
So I've been playing virtual town recently, and my 1st mayor just retired. I've already fixed the lake and am working on the bridge. Anyway i've been reading the forums lately and I'm curious about how to start the plot behind the mayor's disappearance. I've seen like a few spoilers about the letter and this legendary plant but idk how to start the plot. Is it like an objective that randomly pops up or do you need to do something first to start it? I wanna know why the mayor left :3

You have to start it. I'll give you a hint under the spoiler hidden text.

Mine randomly showed up...you have to become friends with a townie...

Farlee, I think the seed that you got from a townie was for a Black Orchid or some other plant. My bestie is fond of giving me common flower seeds but once gave me an uncommon seed. Lorsieab2 is asking about the Legendary Black Orchid, which is a similar but different flower than the (non-legendary) Black Orchid.

Ok, thanks. Like I saw those strange boxes in the forest area to the southeast, and i tried picking them up but i couldn't do anything. I was confused so i thought they were a part of the story.

@ aviatrix Hello out of everyone on here you seem to know the most about this game so I am asking for your help I don't want to know the whole game but I seem to be stuck I have built everything and have even made it to part with the stone circle but the last glue didn't give me any clue as to what I am to do next please help

And here I will become immensely unhelpful... keep playing and exploring!

In the cold morning light, my response seems pretty snarky. The real answer is that I'm pretty much at the same point although I do keep finding little surprises. I'm working on my collections and building up my bank balance. I've noticed that both the civic projects and house upgrades became more expensive as I did more of them, so I think I'll need coins in the future.

Thanks aviatrix at least I'm not alone I'm almost done with my collections and only have one more house upgrade to go but question for anyone is it a glitch in my phone or has anyone else seen the bug in the beach and if so how do you catch it before it goes back into the water and has anyone else grown a golden apple what is its purpose thanks

Golden apples:

As for a bug on the beach, maybe move faster to get to the general area and then sneak up on it with your net? It sounds like you're scaring it. A lot of bugs disappear before I can get to them.

My take on golden apples...hopefully this helps.

Cool tip! I have never gotten any golden apples before, so I want to try that!

I have set up a test of ViciousBB's hypothesis. It's tough to prove that it's correct but we could all test it and someone could report back if it is disproven.

That sounds great! I am going to do one myself.

I will test the theory also.

Hmmm, very interesting!

Crowd-sourcing ROCKS!

P.S. "crowdsourcing" is in Merriam-Webster, so why doesn't Windoze recognize it as a valid spelling, har har har.

Thanks! If only I could be successful with flowers...

Thanks, I am trying that.

A player who has only apple trees told me that she still gets golden apples. Although my apple only orchards have yet to produce a golden apple while my mixed-fruit orchards have produced two since this thread started, her experience suggests that hybridization isn't necessary to get the golden apples.

The first tree I planted in my game was an apple, and I left it all by itself. The first time it produced fruit, it gave me a golden apple. I did purchase the lucky rabbit's foot, so that was probably a factor in getting one the first time, but there still aren't any other trees around it.

I also believe it is random because I just got a golden apple from a stand alone tree. I had previously gotten a golden apple from a tree in my mixed orchard but none yet from the paired apple/orange/pear trees.

Now I've seen it personally: a golden apple from a standalone apple tree. I don't have the rabbit's foot.

Hmm... I guess it is random after all. I have a rabbit's foot but I never get the golden apples with my stand alone trees. It was fun to experiment though!

Okay, just got a golden apple from two apple trees planted side by side, touching as part of the experiment. I also have the lucky rabbit foot.

I know I'm late to the gardening party, but I just got my first golden apple. The first I've noticed anyway. It was from a standalone apple tree, but the fruit landed next to a random potato plant my current mayor planted when she was "helping" me garden as a child. The apple and potato were directly next to each other,no full squares in between.

I have the rabbit's foot, but I've had since the second or third day of playing. I'm on day ten or so now. So, to me, it seems random.

I got a golden apple from a trio of 3 trees. Apple Orange & Pear. I've saved the apple because I didn't know what to do with it other than sell it. What are the other possible uses for the golden apple?

The only use for golden apple is to sell it a previous thread mentioned that the townies won't eat it

Well, you could decorate your house with them!

If you have a golden apple or two (I only have apple trees, and some days I get three golden apples, although most days I get none!) pick them up and then restart the game, sometimes it gives you one or two more golden apples.
It's like the game thinks there are supposed to be 2 that day, and if you're holding them it makes two other golden apples, because there are supposed to be two.
It doesn't work every time, but it's gotten me several extra golden apples.