Hey, gang...saw the listing for the Mystic Circuits external modules in the Eurorack section, and while they don't exactly fit there (after all, you could use them for much more than Eurorack; think, say, VCA-based AM of some other appropriate-level device signal or something similar), they're still
1) frickin' brilliant, both in idea and execution, and
2) they DO fit under the whole umbrella of what MG's about.
The problem, it seems, is how do you treat them? They're not 'stomp boxes', since they're designed to go into in-line functionality as a single module circuit and they're not a 'whole device', such as a delay line, etc. But they're still synth modules, albeit highly-mobile ones and not fixed into a rack architecture. Definitely a confusional set of little boxes...but, when looking at the video for one, I was reminded that there are a lot of other 'externals' in synth usage, such as various multiples, control devices, pickups, reverb tanks, etc etc.
So why not put together, sort of in the same way the stomp box section exists, a subsection specifically for external synth devices? This, of course, wouldn't be layout-based like the other sections; my thought is that the user could build something of a 'bag of tricks', picking, choosing, and listing external devices to build up an ancillary lineup of things usable along with their builds in the other sections of MG. This is also where the Shopping List function (currently hidden) could come back into play, if users were allowed to merge shopping lists for different builds across all formats into a 'master list' that could show total cost outlay for that user's specific picks.
This could also be a way to integrate racks into the process on MG, with listings in this same section for racks for different formats so that, when the shopping lists are all merged, one could have EVERY cost in-hand. And, in theory, anything that's not a module could be made to fit into this by making the resulting 'bag of tricks' lists more spreadsheet-ish, allowing for multiple amounts of items to be picked. Something of this sort could actually 'close the circle' on MG, making it quite literally the reference destination for ALL aspects of modular synthesis, modular processing (500 series, stomp boxes, etc) and such. Granted, yes, it sounds like a total pain in the ass to code, but my bet is that the rewards...for MG, its user base, and the myriad companies whose data it houses...would be worth it.
