Q&AWill our pets be transferred over to the new site or will we all be starting from scratch?
Yes, absolutely. Your account, pets, posts, baubles and all will still be here when you return.
If people stopped checking in, would there be a way to notify them about the new site going online? It also seems strange that the building would take almost a year, but i have no experience with programming or maintaining a website. What will the bulk of the time be spent on? This is purely curiosity and you don't have to answer.
In the couple of months before relaunch, we will engage in a "get the word out" campaign to let everyone know. I also have the ability to send an email to everyone who's signed up, and we'll post updates about it here on the site.
As for development, the main reason it takes so long is because I have a full time job. I have to work on this in my spare time and on weekends. And to do it right and implement all the same features we have now, plus the new ones we want, all pretty much from scratch, will take time and diligence.
Will you still be able to buy baubles? Will there be any Bazaar releases?
You will still be able to buy baubles, though we are not planning on releasing anything new in the Bazaar during the hiatus. The avian items and extras will still be there throughout, no sense in taking those down, but the pets will be taken down on schedule.
Will the new site feature the release of the features like item trading, Thorn's Cottage and Bastion's Heart?
Yes, definitely item trading, and Thorn's Cottage/Bastion's Heart in some form as well.
Is there any other sites you would recommend to help satiate our pet-collecting appetite until the re-launch?
A few great places to enjoy a similar experience while we work on the new site can be visited below~
Gothicat WorldFlight RisingMagistreamChicken SmoothieSubetaDragon CaveIf there are some freebies released will they be left up for the term of downtime or limited and if so what might be the expected duration?
You might want to check in on Christmas, New Years, etc. Whatever we release will be left up for a reasonable amount of time (not a single day or anything), but not the full duration of the break.
Okay, so will there be adopts on Dec 1st or not? Why not just wait until the new year to start it?
Yes, there will be monthly releases for December, those will be the last for now. That's just the timing that worked out best, I didn't want to engage in another event right now because it would ultimately set us back from our long term goals, which are more important to the future of the site.
I noticed in the archives every anniversary has a glasswork representing the site's progress, such as the beta glasswork, delta 1, etc. Will one be released next year, too, or will there be a year missing in the collection?
We kind of fell off that wagon this year, but I'm hoping we can continue the tradition next year. It all depends on when we come back up, so we'll have to cross that bridge when we reach it.
Do you have a list of features that will be added or things that will be changed? It would be kind of nice to know what we have to look forward to.
Basically, the whole site is being re-written. Layout and theme will be changing, numerous convenience/quality of life features will be added, and we're looking at also adding item trading and a re-release system like Thorn's Cottage and/or Bastion's Heart. There's more stuff that we're discussing internally, but I can't go into any of that until it's definitive.
Also, will there be a way to switch the background back to what it is now in board preferences? The art at the top is lovely, and the palette in the forums very well put-together.
You can see a preview in the
Screenshot I posted. The colors you see there are likely going to change because we haven't nailed down our color scheme quite yet. Rest assured though, we are quite fond of the above art as well, so I'm hoping art like that can play a bigger role in our new site's design. And yes, we will have multiple themes probably a while after the initial launch.
Will the overall color scheme be the same, or similar?
Probably, since so many seem to like our current scheme. We haven't worked out the colors yet, but we do plan on having multiple themes in time.
Do you know about which month it's going to open on?
Nope, can't say. Shooting for later in 2018, but it's hard to make accurate predictions on this. If you check in on here from time to time, you'll have a better idea of how far along things are.
Will the pets have different line art?
No, we're not planning on changing any line art right now.
What about the forum post layout? Will any of that change, or will it stay mostly the same?
The forum layout is going to be pretty similar since we will still be using phpBB. It's just that the whole site won't be phpBB as it is now.
Will there be an easier way to locate the lore of past events, or will new users still have to find it in the forums?
Yes, we do want to make it easier for new users to get into the lore without having to scour through forum posts. The lore being scattered in the forums is a poignant symbol of our evolution and need for a new site.
