News
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Site Update
Welcome to the merry month of May!
As the saying goes, April showers brings May flowers, and we have plenty of fresh treats springing up.
This news post is going to be very big, so be sure to set aside some time to read it from top to bottom! ;)
New pets are all abloom in the GP Shop!
While the creatures in the BP Shop are aglow with glee!
If you colored one of these adorable pets, please contact Kyu (#1010) for your payment!
Make sure to include your PayPal address if you are opting for the USD option.
We will also be collecting pet PSDs directly from the thread, so you no longer have to send them in. However, please make sure you keep the links active for two weeks (at least until mid-May) so we have time to snag 'em for science!
Soak up a new month with the Essence of May 2016!
This golden apple potion will turn your active pet into a random monthly coloration from the assortment above.
This month's premium item is the Small Bronze SCC Pen, which allows you a 25% chance at uploading one of your finished Sketch Breeding Coin babies! Let's hope that a lot of new species spread their wings this month~
We kicked off a brand new Lunaris set and calendar last month!
The Beaver Lunaris is with us throughout the month of May!
Visit the birthday link on the anniversary of your glorious birth to receive a gift from Aywas!
June Monthly Pets - BP Shop: Enter
June Monthly Pets - GP Shop: Enter
June Monthly Customs
Theme: Rainfall
Good luck with your entries!
Coding Corner
A monthly update from behind the scenes!
Yasu has told us this month will be spent focusing on the back-end of the game. It shouldn't be possible for one user with a bot to lag the rest of the site through Adventure, for instance, so he's going to be focusing on re-writing some functions to better serve a larger userbase. Fortunately, he knows what's causing these problems and will be tackling them!
Further, he's said that he wants to focus on getting the new forums up. If you recall the new forums are something we endeavored to complete a couple years ago, but had some issues popping up that prevented it. If we are successful in getting the new forums up, we can look into possibly implementing new forum-based features, like vistas or a more robust blocking system. No promises, but we'll see if it's something the users would want if the forum recode is completed.
Here's to some lovely progress throughout the month!
Some new Jeweled Pets have come out to play! Let's give a big hand for our featured artist of the month, Shawnee!
Remember, you can try out to be the new featured artist of the month on this thread! Looking forward to seeing your applications!
Who's excited for the incoming Teo Madness? You can start looking at the Teos that are being stocked by going to this page. They will be stocked throughout May. The event will happen on May 30th!
Be sure to get your keyboards and mice ready for that day, it's always a madhouse! Also remember that during Teo Sales, only purchases you make during the sale can be used to claim an bonus egg.
Antiquity Staves are stocking in the GP Shop until May 15, 2016 at 11:59pm AST! Also remember, you can expect a new raw pet to debut on June 1st, in case you missed the change!
We aren't yet ready to open the SCC Feature because some users still need accommodating from when SCCs were handled manually, but we're ready to start accepting some artists!
SCC Feature artists are paid a flat $20 for all items listed in the feature. Deadlines are one month for completion with a minimum of one pet a month. You can apply to become an artist here.
Soon as the remainder of the manual-SCC users are handled and we get a nice crop of artists, we'll have the feature open for those of you with SCCs (and some of the new items will be released too!).
May is PSD COLORING MONTH!
Let's get those PSDs colored!
The goal of May is to get as many PSDs colored as possible. Whether you are taking MDT requests, USD commissions through the USD panel, GP commissions, BP commissions, or simply coloring PSDs for free, you're an artist who's eligible to post your PSD coloring and claim a raffle ticket!
For every PSD you color and post the resulting PNG on the Event Thread:
1) You, as the artist, receive a ticket to the pot of PSD Coloring Prizes!
2) The user who's coloration you posted has a small chance of having the pet uploaded for them! Special upload days are on Tuesday and five pets will be chosen per Tuesday.*
* Must not be a predict
Read more about the Event here on the Event Thread!
Here are some fun site-wide goals for you guys:
1. Reach 1000 PSD colorings by the deadline and the userbase can move one Raw Pet to either Ay or Ara. There will be a vote.
2. Reach 2000 PSD colorings by the deadline and the userbase can vote on which common/uncommon species make the next two hybrids, for release in July.
Have fun and get your wrists ready for some coloring!
The Faux Box is sporting a new theme!
Submit a Plants/Nature Faux Set (themed edits and themed colors for all five pets) and earn an extra Faux Net.
The TFE and Alidae Egg queues are running a little dry lately, so they've been discounted to $40.00. If you want to buy one, grab one quickly! They'll be discounted until May 8, 11:59 PM.
Let's talk about the Art Gallery! Lately we have been seeing a decrease in submissions to this feature, to the point where virtually no one is participating.
What can we do to make this feature more exciting for you? To make you want to submit to it? Respond in the comments below!
That's all for May... for now! Let's see if we can get those PSDs colored and have plenty of fun this month!
Posted by JAK
(#15) on Mon May 2, 2016 3:23pm
- Dandy
(#41210)
-
Posted on: Mon May 2, 2016 4:54pm
Hmm... My birthday is on the first of May, I received the April Lunaris when I claimed my birthday gift, which was 1st May my time, but still 30th April server time (I was impatient... oops...) I'd like to switch it for the May one if at all possible, who do I talk to about this? o3o
- LA's DarkFireWolf
(#34528)
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Posted on: Mon May 2, 2016 5:07pm
1. Give us MORE than one week to make and submit something. Even if it's digital.
2. Let us know what the prize is ahead of time.
3. Make a bigger ta do on the news page about it.
4. Put someone in charge of the art gallery (perhaps being their only thing) the art staff seemed to be so over booked as is that the newsposts AND judging the gallery is too much for anyone person at a time. And has not become regular.
- Sporkie
(#68471)
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Posted on: Mon May 2, 2016 5:09pm
Oh wow, love the teo's thus far!
Art Gallery: The biggest reason I don't enter is because I forget about it! Which is kind of my own fault. But like a lot of people have said, the themes aren't kept up to date. There have been a few times I've gone to enter, but the themes are a few weeks old so I don't know what to do, so I don't do anything then forget again.
In terms of prizes, I always assumed that the multipul winners all got the same prizes, so I think that's fair. Maybe a trophy system could be implimented for say, entering 5/10/20/50 art contests?
And telling users what the prize is....well, it could help? I guess it could help motivate people to enter. However I do like that SP is part of the prize.
- Nazz
(#60039)
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Posted on: Mon May 2, 2016 6:05pm
omg no, i had a sketch for the cut-throat kitchen art gallery theme and i totally spaced on finishing it ><
idk why it doesn't draw people in, the prizes are great and personally i love it ;-;
- wolfsgazeinthenite
(#32012)
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Posted on: Mon May 2, 2016 6:17pm
I'm working on finishing an edit/color commission, and I have another edit/color in my queue, would those still count for the coloring event or it just needs to be color/no edits?
Art Gallery: Honesty, with the added time (2 weeks instead the 1 week deadline) it's great for the procrastinators, but for the times when it's a theme I have no interest in, I forget about it, and I forget that there might be a theme I am interested in the next round. At least with the 1 week deadline, it remained pretty firmly in the mind of the players that are interested in participating in the art gallery, now it kind of drops by the wayside in favor of more immediate events, either site sponsored or user run.
- _naruto_
(#5053)
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Posted on: Mon May 2, 2016 6:21pm
Help I missed my Birthday.
It was my 21st and I forgot to claim my gift can I still get it? When I go to the "It's my Birthday" and click it just says its not my Birthday..
- Vixen
(#66196)
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Posted on: Mon May 2, 2016 6:22pm
I've entered the art gallery a total of one times. I've wanted to submit more but there's two big things stopping me
1. Prize should be announced when the theme is. There have been gallery prizes that are unexpectedly more costly than others (where I say to myself "Well darn, would have entered if I knew that was the prize) and others that are just complete flops. People will work harder when they know what they're working for.
2. Time limits should be rethought. First off, I think one week to make a custom piece of art is a bit rushed. Something like 2 weeks per theme is a bit of a better pace. It also bugs me when the gallery gets extended. I didn't have enough time because I thought I only had a week, but oh now there's an extension. It's just... ugh. Make it 2 weeks ALWAYS regardless of the number of entries. If that week doesn't get any entries just move on instead of delaying the other themes and messing up the schedule.
- Vixen
(#66196)
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Posted on: Mon May 2, 2016 6:27pm
Oh wow just noticed a #3
Updating the gallery page to actually show the correct themes would help.
"Current Theme: February 14th - February 20th: Valentine’s Day*
Upcoming Themes:
February 21st - February 27th: Wibbit*
February 28th - March 5th: Chinese New Year*
March 6th - March 12th: Cut Throat Cooking
March 13th - March 19th: Aywas Coffee Shop
March 20th - March 26th: Easter*"
Um, not sure how many people are going to enter when they think it's backed up to February/ March. It's not enough to have it in the news post, it has to be updated on the actual gallery page too.
- Issa
(#804)
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Posted on: Mon May 2, 2016 7:18pm
Ooh going off of LA's DarkFireWolf (#34528) I like the idea of maybe a panel of judges. That way it's not just one artist deciding which should win but maybe three artists of different styles/levels of experience voting together? Would make more rounded winners?
I agree with Vixen (#66196) 's points too! Or, if there's worry that announcing prizes will make some contests have not enough entrants, just make the prizes more uniform in value?
Posted on: Mon May 2, 2016 4:47pm
katiebean! :D (#7198)
Look at my comment post