Its a me, Dew! @dew-fr - Tumblr Blog

Pinkerlocke: City of Angels Master Post

Here is a master post of my Pinkerlocke: City of Angels for easy tracking and consumption. I will update this when I can.

If you want to be added to a ping-list or what have you, let me know.

Ao3

Link

Art

Original Trio /

Pings

@highland-gem-guardian

#dew's pinkerlockes #pinkerlocke: city of angels #master post

schnuzrising

woman and her orb #HerOrb

flightdescending

Spring Sailfish is so cuuuute. (Accent is Ancient Garden by Psi)

flightstalling

Sending your dragons on vacation for more valuable children. Totally unintentional.

888-fr

FLIGHT RISING REFACTOR: No, you're not going back.

I am seeing a lot of people ask for a toggle or a way to go back to the old site design, in a way that implies such a thing should be easy to implement. It does sound easy to implement. We have three different colour modes we can switch between, right? We can go between mobile view and wide view? They have all the old code and assets, why can't they just let people pick in their settings to look at the old site again? It's not how it works. It doesn't really matter what your feelings about the refactor are, and I'm not going to give my opinion on it here. I just want to help people understand what exactly happened yesterday and why it's pointless to ask for it to go back.

i. HOUSE

Imagine a house.

It's an old house. It's been around for a while. It was built many years ago, and it's creaky and weird but it's our house, and we like it. There's leaks and the wood is a little aged and it stands out in the block of modern flathouses, but it's still our house.

As much as we love this house, there are issues with the house. Not everybody can get into the house, or navigate in there while they're around. There are things about this house that we can't change while it's made of the same materials that it is.

This is a structural flaw inherent to the house. The house is two-storied. Not everyone can get to the second story. In terms of the site, there were features that were unfriendly for people with visual impairment, people who could only play on their phones, etc.

ii. DARK MODE & INTERFACE

What did the old site look like? Why couldn't we have dark mode? The site was built out of layers and layers of PNGs made to look exactly like the light mode interface. All the NPC images, the old message and friend request icons, they all had white backgrounds or white fragments around the image because they were made assuming the site had a white background.

You couldn't just make the background of the site dark, because every single feature and image was created assuming the background was and would remain white.

This is why the logo was 'doubling' upon itself when the refactor first launched. The Flight Rising logo was a part of the banner image. Now the banner has been removed from the image and it's a floating element on the top of the page. This means it can react when the screen is made smaller. This is the equivalent of being able to move our lightswitch.

What did the site refactor do? Among other things, it decoupled all of these in-built images and features from each other. They added repaintable 'drywall' separate from the site's structure. This was necessary so the site could be reactive. For example, the iconic red sidebar of the page was actually a background PNG with a white part for the site content and a red sidebar, built into one single background image. Now these parts are defined with CSS, which you can think of as the 'wallpaper' of the site.

Every single surface of our house can be repainted now!

iii. Rollback or toggle to old site pls??

This is the refactored site. Among other things, it's been changed to improve accessibility for everyone. It now looks a little bit more like every other house on the block, but it is still the house that we live in. It no longer has two stories to climb. It has a ramp, so people can get in and out with ease. It even has some additional rooms, and renovation is still ongoing. (The contractors are still fixing up the washroom.)

Yes, the site is now designed to be mobile friendly. It no longer has a second floor. It's going to look 'designed for mobile' (people who can't access a second floor.) It's going to look more 'modern' (because the materials people use to build houses has changed.)

People are not used to the new site, of course. Can't they go back to the old house? Why has the door location changed? They keep walking into the walls of the new building. The light switch isn't there when they reach for it anymore. This is understandable. It takes some time to get used to living in a new house. It's a big change. You're going to be fumbling at where the light switch used to be for a long time.

You may even hate how the new house looks. You may not want to live in it anymore. But you can't go back to the old house. It isn't there anymore. You can't have a toggle, because the new site is the infrastructure uploaded to the site's servers, where it is built, and while you can change the colour of the wallpapers or even move the location of the light switch on your own, the house is rebuilt and you cannot 'toggle' it back to the old house.

The database calls, the HTML, the javascript on the front and backends of the site are completely different. The walls and shape of the house are different!

iv. Conclusion

There is a reason there are bug threads and feedback forums for the refactor. You still have time to request that the washroom is a different colour, or the ramp should actually be less steep because the people it's meant for can't actually use it as it was intended. But the ramp, and the accessibility features are here to stay. Don't ask for a toggle or for the site to go back the way it was. It will not be going back to the house built a decade ago. Instead, figure out why the old site worked for you while this one doesn't.

Maybe the ramp was intended for you, but you can't actually use it. Maybe the way the door is positioned now makes it actively harder for you to use the site, in ways other than 'I don't like where it is now and I want it to go back'. Ask for the site to be repainted and improved in ways that would help you.

flightrising

I think we're being watched...

Video description under the cut. Discussion thread.

fr-thrice

Wait I never showed u guys my Robot Unicorn Attack -themed dragon. She was just chilling on the AH like that and I couldn't resist her.

blooming-grove

I love her so much

radiant-flutterbun

The deities

radiant-flutterbun

wordproblemapoligist

tom nook is NOT a landlord!!! he is a construction worker! he SELLS you a WHOLE HOUSE! He is not CHARGING YOU however many bells a month to live there! You PURCHASE a HOME that he BUILDS FOR YOU and then you PAY HIM FOR HIS SERVICE. He charges no interest he sets no time limit it is a relationship built on trust. the only penalty you get for not paying off your home is that he won't build more home until you pay him for the first one. A guy that builds you a house wherever you want him to and then charges you for the cost of construction is not a landlord you own the fucking home

pawborough

PawBorough Beta Re-open Intake Form and Information

Hi all!

As a reminder, we experienced a nasty bottleneck bug while attempting to open the application for sign-ups. This was due to a last minute fix-push to the ID system, and it was ultimately shortsighted. We’ve been working on our fixes, enforcements, and rejuvenation of the server. As of 3/23, we have pushed a supposed fix for the locking issue, however, as promised, we are taking great considerations and efforts into further testing to ensure this does not happen again.

As we said previously, our biggest mistake was not properly testing our mechanics and making negligent judgments based on rudimentary testing methods, and we apologize and take full accountability. Our greatest priorities right now are getting users back on as fast as possible, while taking the time necessary to ensure proper quality assurance. As a 3-person dev team with limited resources, we made some faulty calls, and it’s something we have recognized and learned from.

These efforts today include mass-simulating internal user processes, strengthening the architecture, and backing up all of our current data. We are in talks with how to proceed, what is the best path forward for ensuring this does not happen again while considering the happiness of our users, and we will know more in the coming days as we draft up our game-plan. Then, we will rally our users for the future!

You all have been exceedingly positive and patient in the face of this frustration, and we thank each and every one of you, including those who offered harsh feedback; that was important too.

To give some words of reassurance: while it is a disappointing setback, PawBorough is our promise to you. The team is here to correct, change course, and communicate with full transparency every step of the way. We will have everything up and running, and there is a light at the end! We still cannot wait to see it happen, and are working tirelessly!

Below is an intake form on how we should proceed for a re-open, and what we should do with the user data accrued during the bottleneck.

There are three options going forward, as we have looked over our data, the fix, and what is doable.

VIEW THE FORM HERE!

Here are the three options laid out:

We wipe all cat data, but keep user accounts. In this scenario, any user who got stuck on email verification would be automatically verified before opening, and would be able to immediately sign in. As well, Closed Beta testers will be offered a 5-10 minute headstart, which will be determined based on general lag times and ability for users to log in. This gated entry will be quick, as it would simulate the implicit difference between those with prior accounts who helped to fund the game, and those who would have needed to create an account. For full transparency and communication: this option is easiest and quickest for us as developers. → Pros: Those who were originally stuck (testers and new players alike) are given a fair shake at sign-on. Kickstarter backers are rewarded as originally promised while not being wholly unfair, and everyone will experience the onboarding process from start to finish as intended. → Cons: Those who enjoyed their numbers will not guarantee them again, sparking disappointment.

We wipe all cat data but keep founder IDs as is. In this scenario, everyone will be let in at the same time, expected to complete onboarding with the same founder IDs they were already assigned, and follower IDs will be accrued from there. → Pros: Those who got in are promised to keep what they got. → Cons: Those who were stuck are left in the lurch.

Frankenstein the cat data, re-assigning broken cats and releasing stuck IDs. → Pros: All valid data, including founders and followers, will be restored. Everyone who managed sign-on will keep what they received. → Cons: This option has the most unpredictability, as the efforts to restore the data may have unintended side effects, or shuffle numbers around. It will take the most time and energy to do, and those initially left in the lurch are not given a fair shake.

In all scenarios, users keep their current accounts.

In all scenarios, lost followers will be manually restored via ticketing.

To request your follower be restored:

Navigate to the site https://pawborough.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/requests/new (Account and Rewards -> Administrative Requests).

Please include a full screenshot of the follower including colours, staff will not guess them from an image. This should be done BEFORE the next open beta date.

Staff will reach out after onboarding to ask which follower should be replaced. You are able to shuffle all followers and then decide which ones to replace. You may submit 1-3 followers.

You may decide not to change your followers. We can look up followers that were created but not screenshotted if needed. IDs will not be restored.

Cats containing the founder/g2 exclusive gradient colours Diamond, Puffin, Blood, Daybreak, Mango, Parakeet, Bismuth, Chrysalis, Stardust, and Pearl; will have to change these to a colour in its existing color hue/saturation/luminosity. A choice can be made after the site releases once more.

If no choice is made, the colour will be randomized after a site-wide reminder.

Cats generated with founder/g2 exclusive white markings such as the forehead crescent moon, forehead egg, and forehead star; will be generated without them while respecting the cat's other markings.

In addition, the form inquires on what days and times users would like to be invited back in, and how much prior notice is preferred.

Thank you for your patience and continued support. Talk again soon, catfolk!

renepolumorfousart

Stormtalon

pawborough

Hi everyone! We have made the decision to temporarily take the site down for maintenance while we regroup, to prevent any further issues, scaling user frustrations, and fix what has cropped up. These things happen! We mentioned that we may run into something knee-breaking, even if it's not ideal. Not what we wanted. We do apologize, and we will fix the issue. What matters is how we respond in the face of issues and do our due diligence to you as users. Here is a general FAQ of our direction moving forward. What is going to happen to my username and account ID? We are going to preserve what you registered, so you will keep it. What about my founder and follower cats? We are considering a wipe and re-try moving forward, which would be disappointing we understand, but the amount of users left out of fair and square onboarding was unjust, and we would like to properly give these users a chance. For followers you rolled, you have rolled them fair and square. As a token of good will, we will restore them as requested by users with photo/screenshot evidence. While we know this could inspire bad actors, we are more concerned with our honest users being fairly treated. We have heard out your concerns: that by backing Kickstarter, you have an implicit chance at better IDs due to quicker onboarding. Absolutely correct, and part of the perks. If we did full wipe, we would allow kickstarter/closed beta users an additional early access by a short timeframe! When do you expect to re-open? Unsure at this time, but ideally sooner while having ample warnings. We invite you as users to share what your preferred days continue to be, so we can make that judgement. We will be in communication on our current expectations. I made a premium purchase. This will be restored! What else are you doing in the face of this? Aside from fixing the issues so they do not crop up again, we will be giving everyone affected by these issues an exclusive item available only to those who have been with us through this, which will be made available at a later date. We know it's not enough to make up for all the time and energy wasted, but we hope it can provide solace. We are currently holding a voting on our Discord to help us decide how to proceed.

Options include

Fix and redistribute everything to broken users, but keeping everything already confirmed!

Wipe it all for fairness, with a schedule that, upon polling and communication, majority works for users.

Keep current founder numbers and supplement them on users who were stuck, while wiping followers.

Thank you!

#excited for the fixes!#I wasn't even able to pick a borough it shut down so fast xD but that's okay #going Harvest when I can!

pawborough

Open Beta soon!

As a reminder, registration opens today at 3 PM PST / 6 PM EDT / 10 PM GMT, a little over 3 hours! Registration will be open for everyone, and data will not be wiped ever again.

Make sure to use https://pawborough.net/ NOT beta.pawborough.net.