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Site Update
Good evening everyone! It is with a heavy heart that I come to you now. Unfortunately we have to make several financial changes rather quickly. I want to be completely open about everything, so I am going to try to address all of the points that I feel need to be discussed.
I was discussing finances with Slash recently and he discovered a major source of the financial issues that we have been having are due to the site making 30% less income these past few months than in previous years. This is understandable, as many have noticed the active user count has gone down substantially last year, and many countries are in a pretty bad state economically and people are nervous about spending. There is a lot of concern about the stability of the site with how behind several aspects have become.
We have been working on catching up on these things to try to earn your faith back. We are in the process of more changes to help streamline background productivity (such as getting breeding helpers, the commission panel fees, etc). We know that it won't happen over night, and that many of our changes will also upset the user base. We do not want to disregard your feelings, but please understand that everything we do is to benefit the site in the long run. We have a lot of damage to repair, and it is a very long and tedious process. I personally spend almost every waking moment when I am not at my offline job, investigating options and discussing changes with the staff to keep pushing forward.
That being said, some of the changes we are making are:
- Alidae Egg, Transitional Fossil Egg, and Grand Edit Potion are having their Prediction Payout dropped to $10. When an Egg and a Grand Edit Potion are combined they will pay out $15. Any breedings submitted before Tuesday February 14th at 11:59 pm will not be effected by this pay change.
- Offering different payment options for USD breeding teams.
- Shrinking some of the larger USD breeding teams. (However, if we end up with enough artists taking different payments we won't have to do this!)
- The GCC and MDT teams will be shrunk. If you are on one of these teams and are interested in receiving GP or working out another payment system please pm me, Kaiyo (#489). If there are enough people willing to accept different payments I won't have to shrink them.
- The monthly site contests are going to have the USD pay dropped starting next month. It will still be offered but it will not be the same amount.
I appreciate everyone reading this, and I apologize again for these changes. Many of them will be temporary, such as the artists adjustments. Over time we may be making more adjustments, but we hope that these changes will be enough to cover the expenses, and we may be able to bring on another artist or two with the new payment methods for some of the backed up breeding teams.
If anyone has questions please feel free to ask, send me a PM if you would like, I will try to answer whatever I can. I want to be completely open about this situation, and withholding information does nothing for any of us. However, due to certain restrictions, there is some information that I am not permitted to share.
I do not come to you today with only bad news, however! The Commission Fee Panel is now live! You are now able to pay your own fees, select which ones you pay and when. There is a minimum of $5, so if you don't have that much in owed fees you won't be able to pay it yet!
It will work the same way it currently does in regards to dates, and all fees of the prior month must be paid within one week of the new month. So January must be paid within the first week of February, February within the first week of March, etc. Of course, this month is an exception since the feature is new and did start late, however please make sure January fees are paid quickly!
If you have any questions regarding your fees, please send me a pm! Only ping to the news comments if it is a general question about how something works.
Posted by 🐼Kaiyo🐼
(#489) on Fri Feb 3, 2017 2:19pm
- Gone x2
(#550)
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Posted on: Fri Feb 3, 2017 5:26pm
Also - the gambling rule. I brought it up with a couple of friends, and I can see it's a problem... But if I recall correctly (mind you I haven't actually read the law in years) doesn't this only take place where you're giving money for potentially nothing? In that case... Why not just create a new exclusive item or a minor payout that -everyone- gets, while offering higher shiny items as "chances" or "one of every 5"s?
- 🐼Kaiyo🐼
(#489)
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Posted on: Fri Feb 3, 2017 5:28pm
Opaline Dragon (#550) All good, the lack of stuff to do is a major complaint we get so we have been trying to work on this. We are actually going to be adding new games shortly too. Re: your secondary suggestion, I'm really not sure that would work well. I think that would may be a bit too close and so a lil too risky.
Oiseau (#1570) We do plan on reviving those, the Story Telling game kind of died on it's own, there was so few submissions every week that we had to news post repeatedly asking for more submissions for everyone.
- Quit
(#10084)
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Posted on: Fri Feb 3, 2017 5:35pm
I remember awhile ago that some users were willing to offer up customs to the site for the USD auction feature. Though, it's been turned down every time, I know some of us may be willing to still do so?
Also, could always just put out Mystery Box tickets for an amount in the USD shop permanently. People get addicted to chance items, so it may sell really well? (I know theyre used for event sales, but I think they'd sell well outside of it?)
- Voluspa is on Hiatus
(#67552)
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Posted on: Fri Feb 3, 2017 5:38pm
If people are put off by the "why do you want to join?", would it be possible to phrase it more like a multiple choice question? Or is it the actual individual writing you need...? Otherwise you could put in some things like "I have friends who play and wanted to try it too" and so on (and maybe a "other" - and a fill in box?)
just another thought from someone who should have gone to bed ages ago :P
- 🐼Kaiyo🐼
(#489)
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Posted on: Fri Feb 3, 2017 5:39pm
Creek (#10084) This is somwhat in plans, however it's still just a band-aid fix, which is the concern. The Mystery Box cannot eveeeer be a permanent feature as when it is around it actually crashes the economy for many of our higher end items.
- 🍀Allysun🌈
(#317)
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Posted on: Fri Feb 3, 2017 5:55pm
Another idea, how about a USD-exclusive variant of a silverpaw balloon that excludes clothing items? Still the gamble for good things, but since there is a wider variety, I imagine it wouldn't negatively effect the economy like mystery box tickets.
- Mars
(#128)
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Posted on: Fri Feb 3, 2017 6:12pm
Thanks so much for the update. It's lovely to see things moving forward, and all the changes are understandable. I'm very happy and relieved that the site is being worked on and the goal is to keep it around for years to come. Long Live Aywas!! <3
- Mars
(#128)
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Posted on: Fri Feb 3, 2017 6:19pm
🎁❄Kaiyo❄⛄ (#489) Kaiya, you mentioned in a comment that you are a bundle of nerves and that writing this news post took a lot out of you. I wanted to tell you, reading this News Post, I was really struck by your consideration and kindness. This was a difficult topic and you handled it beautifully. <3 I hope you have a wonderful day and that things calm down for you. You deserve a drink and chocolate ice cream!! ;) <3
- Draylin (Saphire)
(#407)
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Posted on: Fri Feb 3, 2017 6:19pm
ooh, I really like 🌈Allysun🍀 (#317) 's suggestion a lot!
Posted on: Fri Feb 3, 2017 5:24pm
In line with another user's suggestion, there are a lot of features that are just dead, like the Art Gallery and Adopt a Custom, which could use reviving. The Story Telling Game also seems to have died again. Making features like this actually consistent would be a great way to keep the site alive. I'd volunteer to help out with at least one of them if these are the sort of things that volunteers can help with.