Things the Staff of Flight Rising has Said

**Disclaimer** This blog is not in anyway affiliated with Flight Rising or its staff

[archived21765]

so, my memory’s a liiittle bit hazy, was NotN supposed to be a two-week event, or was it extended an extra week because of server issues?

[xhaztol-fr]

Night of the Nocturne will be a two-week event. :)

[coatlclaw]

uhhhhhh okay?? will these babies never ever grow up when people check on them? -Gatorskater

[xhaztol-fr]

That’s correct. They will stay eternally youthful.

[kleinufr]

undel xhaztol-fr Was Baldwin born male and lost his other horn (not the broken one) to splashback? Can we get some sort of confirmation?

[xhaztol-fr]

Sure! I think I answered this in a forum thread as well (but FR Discussion’s movin’ like wildfire, so I’m happy to answer here, too!), but Baldwin’s male and lost his second horn and part of his nose horn to the goop. Let this be a warning to all alchemists! That goop, it’ll getcha.

[fr-roro]

I’ve been hearing about a few Flighters resetting their passwords and never receiving the confirmation e-mail (one such individual being a good friend of mine).

Considering that they can’t exactly report this to the bug forums themselves, I’d like a tally of users to whom this has happened. If this is in fact a problem affecting numerous users, I’ll open a post in the bugs forum.

Signal boosting this would also be appreciated

?

[aequorin-fr]

Hi there! We’re aware and working on this. All they have to do is send us a message through Contact Us using the email currently registered to their account and we will assist them.

[lesbidragons]

For the first Q&A thread our only questions need to be

where is accent layering

why aren’t we getting accent layering

why is no one working on accent layering

the community wants accent layering cant you start working on it

and so on and so forth so when it comes to answer time they have no choice

they have to tell us WHY 

[aequorin-fr]

This has been communicated to the team, I made sure of it. I make no promises! But you have been heard.

[flightrisingstaffsaid]

Q and A Thread, Pages 21 - 25

I removed a few answers here that would be entirely irrelevant now.

"I've seen you guys discussing the lag waves and performance issues that accompany site holidays. You all have mentioned you'll be looking into optimization to resolve these problems. My question is:

Are the optimizations that are going to be considered purely back-end-code based? Or are game design tweaks also a possibility (e.g. offering alternative ways to acquire the holiday currency to lessen the coli load some)? Edited to clarify: I understand one alternative method exists in acquiring holiday currency -- gathering turns, but, due to the limited nature of gathering turns these usually get blown through and then people turn to coli grinding.

we are looking into all possible avenues to resolve the problem and make this an enjoyable experience once again." (Aequorin 1/27/14)

"I know that item lending is not supported, and I'm totally understanding of that. I also know that scamming other players is not supported, so I'm curious:

If I lent an item to a player and they took it and sold it (or did not intend to return it) would I still have grounds to report the player for scamming me (WITHOUT requesting my item be returned). Would the player be punished for stealing/scamming, even if I do not ask for, and do not get my item back? Since item lending is not supported, it leads me to believe that if someone wishes to share an item and gets taken advantage of... that the player who scammed the kind user would be able to get away with it (sort of like exploiting the rules). I hope that makes sense! Editing: To be a bit clearer: Since Item Lending isn't supported, if someone chooses to lend an item do they waive the rights to be protected by the TOS? Is it considered scamming/stealing when someone takes advantage of a user lending items? Or since lending is unsupported, is stealing/scamming considered 100% fair game and not punishable by Administration? (even with proof that the item was lent, not a gift... assuming there's messages on FR to back everything up, etc)

incidents of suspected scamming should be reported for further investigation. While this type of transaction is unsupported (we are looking into secure item trading), we also do not support player trust and interactions being abused and will review the situation regardless." (Aequorin 1/28/14)

"are there plans to increase the range of colors in the current available color wheel for the dragons? right now I'm just polling players to get a feel for what people may like to see in the future. Adding colors is very labor intensive and not a task to be taken lightly." (Aequorin 1/29/14)

"I hear that admins are starting to take down already approved skins and accents that resembled copyrighted material with only a partial gem refund. I wouldn't mind having to redo skins that resembled copyrighted material too closely but if I'm only getting a partial gem refund, then I won't be able to resubmit new skins because I can't spend RL money on this site. Could you confirm/deny this rumor? And can a suggestion be passed to the admins that a full gem refund for blueprints would be a lot more appreciated than just a partial gem refund, if the rumors are true?

We've had a rule against copyrighted material being used in our skins since day 1. Uploading copyrighted material violates the intellectual property of others, and is something that we cannot have on FR. Despite this, a handful of skins squeaked in (we don't know every fandom, and it's the artist's responsibility not to submit materials that are not original.) We are removing these skins, and as a one-time courtesy refunding the artists back their blank blueprints.

Do not submit copyrighted skins. We will not be extending this courtesy in the future. Players are expected to read and respect the rules regarding skin submissions. This protects the players and the site." (Undel 1/31/14)

"Do you know how the coliseum picks opponents in the ranked matches? the Coliseum will try to pick an opponent close to your level, who you have not fought against recently. If there is no other player available, it will choose a player at random to ensure you have someone to fight. The more active players in Coliseum, the better the matchups. If there are only ten people in Coliseum while you are battling, the matchups may be uneven." (Aequorin 2/3/14)

"Are the admins looking into making a quick and easy inbreeding checker? As someone who was just caught with a related breeding pair again (thankfully a studding, not one I bought), it's getting more and more annoying to have to manually check dragons. The site already contains this functionality (because it grays out related dragon names), and I'm not sure why the admins couldn't put up a super basic thing to do the same thing and save us a ton of time and hassle.

the short answer is: yes, definite plans. The slightly longer answer is that it will have to work around Akiri's recovery." (Aequorin 2/5/14)

[flightrisingstaffsaid]

Q and A Thread 1, Pages 16-20

Finals done and Holidays done. Time to put some time into getting a bit of a queue for this blog again.

"I would love to know if the FR admin team is aware of my overhaul suggestion and if they have given it consideration; a lot of the people have been asking me and I have no real idea of the answer. If you can't say anything, I understand, or if you can't say anything publicly but want to PM me, that's also fine.

Thanks for this Q&A, by the way.

unfortunately that's one of those things I can't really provide an answer for at the moment. I am making notes for future discussions on the subject. And you're welcome. :) ♥" (Aequorin 1/23/14)

"I was wondering if the distribution of familiar races will stay so odd or more like, if there is a reason for it.

we are constantly working on new Familiars and taking player suggestions on them into account!

And now for a question of my own - is there any ETA on account recovery for folks who got a bit messed up by the global password reset?

we are working on these right now." (Aequorin 1/23/14)

"I was wondering if there was any ideas being tossed around about fixing exalting payouts, since a lot of users regard the extremely low payouts that arent even species/population based as a big part of keeping breed economy from "crashing" and balancing things out a bit? I dont need details, just a yes or no that FR team is aware of the imbalance and is tossing ideas around, even if it's priority is low?

Undel spoke about this during the reddit Q&A here. 

["We feel pretty good about the item economy. In general, the issue that most people are talking about when they talk about issues with the econmy is "dragon economy". It something that is traded nearly exclusively with other players so ultimately it comes down to the free market and what people are willing to pay for certain breeds and genes.

However, we can tweak things on the game/automated end of things, and are likely to continue to make changes to how things work throughout the life of the game. Exalt bonuses and additional lair spaces were the first of the chances we have implemented. :)"]

This is the most recent information I have to share with players about the economy and Exalting." (Aequorin 1/23/14)

"which admin is in charge of the contact email account and why don't they respond to queries? my best friend was wrongfully banned and she is getting no response from the contact email after weeks of attempts

I'd like an answer to this one too. How much is too much? Its fun to play this game with friends and family. Not good to be worried about being banned for sharing the enjoyment. {Mod note: Guess what's been a recurring issue for almost a year now?}

players who have been banned for any reason must appeal via the instructions in their notification email. We are unable to discuss account actions with third parties for privacy reasons. As discussion of account actions is prohibited by the Site Rules & Guidelines I am unable to discuss these matters further.

["Discussion of Disciplinary Account Actions This includes:

Creating posts or threads to discuss specific disciplinary actions taken against a player or account, including chat or email correspondence between players and Stormlight Workshop staff.

Posting about the above from a new account to circumvent a suspension or ban.

Having someone post about the above from their account on your behalf."]

There's an active community reporting bugs on a daily basis, but the thread that's supposedly there to keep us up to date on what's known to the team hasn't been updated for four months..

updating Known Issues is something I am planning to address. Sometimes reports go without response because there is nothing to say. We are currently investigating it and if we have information to share or need further information for investigation we will let the playerbase know. I did create an apparel tracking thread for the artists a few weeks ago. The art/gene tracking threads can be currently found in the Guide. They will probably not be added to the Known Issues sticky as they are art errors, not coding bugs. The artists have the links to the art tracking threads.

why do mods always use pictures of familars as their icons?

volunteer mods and Admin use familiars for our icons to help us stand out in addition to our vistas. ♥" (Aequorin 1/24/14)

"I play quite often on my iPad. Most of the site works flawlessly on a tablet except some of the fairground games. Have you looked at making more parts of the site more tablet friendly? we have a tracking thread for mobile issues here, so to answer your question: yes. :) Check it out, if you have found new bugs or issues, please let us know!" (Aequorin 1/24/14)

"Is there any hope in sight for our flight forums being filled with sales threads? A subforum perhaps?

We understand that this is getting slightly out of hand, and will be evaluating a solution. Because our forums are proprietary, it takes more development time to add new ones or alter existing ones, so I'm not able to give any sort of time frame on when that might be, but we are well aware of the need for something different.

Thanks!" (Xhaztol 1/24/14)

"Are you guys planning anything for Flight Rising's first anniversary this summer? Maybe a mini-event, a contest, or a new big feature? I'd love to see what you guys could come up with in celebration of the site being open for a year! I think that's a lovely idea!" (Aequorin 1/25/14) {Mod Note: heh.}

"I've been wondering for a while now, what scale is the world of Flight Rising, and how does it affect to how different species perceive it?

I don't have an exact answer for you at the moment but they are excellent questions to explore!

I've heard some rumours from my friends about you guys adding something like professions or crafting since there isn't really any current use for materials other than swipp's swap stand. I was just wondering if this was true?

yes, it's in the works!" (Aequorin 1/25/14)

"Could you make a FAQ thread connected to this, or a list of questions you've fully answered? I've noticed some questions being repeated and this may cut down on that especially as the thread gets longer. I apologize for the delay in reply. I plan on organizing this information and feedback into the update Words on the Wind. It may not all make it in on the first one but I will be regularly checking for player feedback and questions of all kinds as I compose these community updates." (Aequorin 1/25/14)

[flightrisingstaffsaid]

Linking to a thread linking to my blog. Interesting.

Anyway, cassowarhea has made a thread over on FR to keep track of info from the admins, so you have a choice of where you'd like to go for finding out. (I recommend both, but I might be biased.)

[christinaplaysflightrising]

Wait, so do these mimic monstsers show up in any venue?

[undel]

1 Mimic shows up in Scorched Forest and Woodland Path

1 Mimic shows up in Waterway and Arena

1 Mimic shows up in Kelp Beds and Golem Workshop.

So no matter your level, you’ll be able to find something to fight. The higher level the mimic, the better the odds it’ll drop a chest.

[mousetaill]

Are FR dragons cold-blooded or warm-blooded?

[undel]

Warmblooded, though some species are better at regulating their body temperatures than others as their ability to generate and shed heat varies.

[infectionaryfr]

Page 10 of the update thread. Hopefully this means that we can color the spines that break the silhouette in Accents and Skins still?

[undel]

Skins and accents must stay within the bound of the skin and accent template. You cannot break the template. Skins and accents can be used on any dragon, regardless of the genes they possess.

[flightrisingstaffsaid]

Q&A Thread 1, Pages 11-15

Err, apparently my queue glitched and the posts in it got deleted. Welp.

Speaking of off-site links, is the fact that it's impossible to link to specific threads from an on-site link a known problem? It leads many people to use tinyurl links which (for some reason) work fine but could lead to people trusting tinyurl links implicitly when they could be used to do harm.

the ampersand issue breaking links is a known one and on the list.

Perhaps this isn't exactly game-related, and I'm not sure if anyone's asked, but will you still be active on twitchy? Does Arcane lose a moderator?

I am no longer the volunteer moderator for Arcane but as an Admin I can access all Flight Forums if need be. If there is an issue that requires immediate moderator intervention and a Flight doesn't have a moderator able to view the forum, please report it via Report and message me. In the event I am not online at that moment, you can still message any of the moderators and they'll notify the Admin. (Aequorin 1/22/2014)

Is there any ETA when the Forum Search will be turned on again?

unfortunately I am unable to provide any ETA's or release schedules. We do want to get this back up and running as soon as possible to ensure players have the best possible playing experience! (Aequorin 1/22/14)

I understand that you can't provide ETAs and that it'll take some time to get things on track in light of recent events, but are you able to provide a rough list of priorities for known issues? For example, if getting battlestones working in the coli is a higher priority than the new-dragon-lair-order-mixing glitch, if releasing new content is a higher priority than existing issues, if the team is focusing on optimizations and other internal-structure things before aesthetic features, etc.

new content such as apparel, breeds, familiars, etc are mostly entirely handled by the artists, not the coders. I cannot give you an exact list, but in general, bugs that heavily impact gameplay (such as the infamous Familiar bug) are given higher priority over something like the Lair arrangements issue, even though that one is particularly vexing. edit: Thank you and you're welcome! ♥ (Aequorin 1/22/14)

For my question: I read the TOS and am not sure if this falls under item lending, but will there ever be a safe way for users to make gems-to-treasure or vice versa transactions, such as in the crossroads? It seems to me almost like making a sale, since the people involved are not borrowing treasure or gems, but buying/selling them. A crossroads transaction, I think, would also allow gem-to-treasure currency ratios to fluctuate normally as they have since the site opened.

we are currently looking into secure item trading; that said, I have made note that the community would like a secure method for treasure/gem exchanges. (Aequorin 1/22/14)

I read your post about Undell discussing coli/faire on tumblr. He talks about trend micro and work/school connections. Do they think what they are working on will help those of us who have no access but do not have any of the mentioned things?

I've passed along this information to the devs helping us with the site, Undel and Xhaztol are also aware of the issue. As soon as we have more information, we will let the community know. I apologize for the frustration and play experience. :(

Since dragons are tied to their unique # IDs, is there a reason why we can't have spaces in their names?

I don't have an answer for you right now but I'll make a note and get back to you.

Will gene layers be available in the downloadable PSD files for custom skins in the future? Or are they accessible somewhere as a PNG? I'm trying to build a "dream dragon" generator for FR, but it'll be extremely difficult to cut out things like circuit so they can be turn on/off. A simple transparency would make things ridiculously more easy. Thanks!

I will check with Undel and Xhaztol for you.

Will there be a SUPPORTED, code-based way to stud dragons and/or rent nests? Not dragon lending, but a way built into the site that would allow one to cross-lair breed or use a different flight's nest without your dragons leaving your lair (thus, not consituting dragon lending).

at this time I have no information indicating as such. I have made a note of this request for future reference.

Why is it that when I take my 16th level party to the harpy roost, defeating stonewatch harpies and blue tang hippogriffs yields less experience than beating longnecks and warcats (an easier fight) in the arena? Are exp gains optimized to your party's level in such a way that defeating an enemy in a much higher level venue gives you less, or are the enemies in the roost worth less exp despite their more powerful attacks?

I'm going to have to do some poking around to get an answer for you, it may not be today but I'll see what I can do! (Aequorin 1/22/14)

Was Akiri the main person in charge of putting the optimizations in place in the test server? Has his hospitalization been a factor in the registration window being pushed back?

site optimizations have been in the realm of Lightsky, but Akiri is still acting as the lead developer for Flight Rising. Shortly after Akiri's accident, the site was subjected to malicious attacks requiring a redistribution of resources. Any time an attack, game-breaking exploit, or major bug happens, we are forced to re-prioritize and it delays any scheduled release. Code is not static and sometimes fixing one thing can break another, which sets schedules back even further. We understand that the users would like to have a release timeline, and we would too – but unfortunately, it is just not feasible to provide one at this time.

What exactly does Lightsky /do/ when you guys pull them in to help?

They are working on and working with Akiri on the framework and backbone of the site, exploits, and provide consultation and assistance with security concerns. They are the reason why the site is operating at a much faster speed compared to when we opened. We are very happy with their services and look forward to continuing our relationship. (Aequorin 1/23/14)

Is the administration team considering adding more code/server professionals in the future? Is Flight Rising looking to expand their resident staff at all?

yes to both as the site grows.

I know jobs on the art team could be highly limited, and I'll be swamped for a year anyway as I finish up my portfolio and other classes, but I would like to know what type of things should be in such a portfolio if I turn one in

that's a question better suited for Undel or Xhaztol. I'll pass it along. :) (Aequorin 1/23/14)

Are we ever going to get any male-appearing familiars with humanoid features?

yes. I can't say when but yes. :D (Aequorin 1/23/14)

Oh, also, a cute, soft pastel venue filled with lots of adorable-but-weirdly-powerful enemies. /only half joking

say, a magic pony level? Lots of rainbows? Maybe even a little bit of whimsy? (Aequorin 1/23/14)

[flightrisingstaffsaid]

Q and A Thread 1, Pages 6-10

"Are there any plans for changing some of the Coliseum basics? I imagine there are others on this site like myself who have a variety of health problems which make it difficult to utilize the Coliseum. A feature to turn off the animations as one example.

that is something I can ask the devs.

Is there any way that the FR team can possibly figure out what that is about? There randomly not being any record of various purchases for multiple players sounds like a possible glitch/bug. Please note, I'm not trying to get my scatterscroll refunds or anything anymore. I just feel this is something that the FR team needs to be aware of and possibly look into.

I hear you and I will bring this to Admin attention.

Just a wonder. Is your promotion to Admin a full-time gig? Or perhaps part-time or, even as you were as a Mod - voluntary?

I am now a member of the Flight Rising team as staff, not a volunteer.

Do you have access to the admin e-mail address now that you are an administrator? Or is the access to that e-mail address (and to the submitted "Contact Us" forms) still restricted to Undel, Xhaztol, and Akiri?

I am now staff and yes, I do. This is so that I can assist with some Customer Service issues.

Oh! And when a thread is locked or deleted, will the moderator or administrator who took that action contact the poster to let them know why it was deleted? I'm not sure if that was answered before. I'm a big advocate of "let them know why so they won't repeat it again"

That has been the case for awhile now. A few have slipped through the cracks and I've tried to catch them. Yes, threads that are moderated will either have a reply or the player will be privately messaged. If this does not happen, please use the Contact Us form to provide that feedback.

ANother question, have you implemented ANY of the optimizations lightsky has done? Or just put them on the test server?

unfortunately recent events have once again set that deployment back.

Going off of this question, I've been wondering for a while, is there currently any way to express interest in a mod position?

we still have all the previous applications and new and current players are more than welcome to submit via Contact Us. moderators are thoroughly vetted. That's what I can tell you at this time.

I do have a question about skins and accents. Are we allowed to use premade brushes on them? I didn't see anything about it when I read the page on the skins page and wanted to clarify before I tried my hand at making some.

pre-mades fall into the same realm as textures. If you want to use a brush, you need to create it yourself or use a default brush.

i love the flower crown apparel, but it's not really a flower "crown" per se. it's just, when i think of flower crowns i picture something that goes all the way around... do you think we could get like 2 flowers added to the versions that show the gap between the ends of the crown to fill the empty space, so they don't look like wreath re-colors?

that's an excellent question and just inspired me on a way to organize art suggestions." (Aequorin 1/20/14)

"Thanks for taking the time to do this! I really appreciate it, and I hope other users will remember to stay kind because you don't have to do something like this. Congrats on the new position!

aww, thank you! ♥

Is it possible that the Auction House might be searchable by color sometime in the future?

that is a suggestion and not anything I can answer definitively beyond we've heard you!

One of my favorite neat little things was when the deity accounts would engage in their flights forum. Would you guys be willing to have people apply to be roleplayers on those accounts? That way busy admins and mods don't have to worry about staying active, which I assume was the problem in the first place. Or a better question, what do you plan on doing with the deity accounts? I could see using them in some sort of site event where you have to coax information from them for certain plot points (:

that's very interesting, I'll keep this in mind! ♥

Earlier you stated that new primary and secondary genes were in the works. Any idea of an ETA on those? Also, any chance of implementing more color options for existing apparel say, soon?

thank you! I don't have a release schedule to share. The team want these releases to be surprises and as we've all seen, sometimes life and unscrupulous people can intervene and set things back." (Aequorin 1/20/14)

"Where will the questions and answers going to be posted? just the quotes in this thread, or are you going to make up go to your tumblr, or will there be an official news post of some sort?

all excellent questions. For today and maybe tomorrow I want to get a feel for where we're at, see what I can do and what can be done going forward.

((This was spread over like 3 posts. To summarize, some words in other languages are blocked by the filter for no obvious reason. Along with some concerns about a hacking incident on an admin level account.))

regarding the filter, I will look for your feedback. Regarding your security concerns, I can tell you that we take the security of Flight Rising and all player accounts very seriously, it is a regular topic in our meetings, and we will never cease working on improving that.

2 - Will there ever be a more secure way of nest lending for different color eyes? I breed dragons that I want matching eye colors for that my nests won't provide, and unless I have friends available who are willing to help me out, I can't do that. And if I don't have a friend in that element, well, I'm out of luck anyway. Also, again, risk of scamming people out of their (sometimes quite valuable) dragons. Yes, I understand dragon lending is not supported. But in a breeding game like this where the goal is to get dragons that match your preferences, eye color factors in more than you might think.

I understand, hear, and appreciate the issue of eye color and I can pass it on for you but anything that involves the lending of dragons is an unsupported transaction per the Terms of Use.

Onto my question, I'm curious when can we expect new encyclopedia entries? I'm really excited to see the articles for the four remaining dragon breeds. It's been a while since the last time we got a new entry.

thank you! And, yes, it is a promotion. At this time, I don't have a release schedule. I apologize.

I don't have any real questions, just glad to know there will be someone ready to calm the lines. I look forward to hearing more from you.

thank you! I look forward to working with all of you! ♥" (Aequorin 1/20/14)

"Do you admins get to pick what familiar will be in your avatar?

yes! As do the volunteer moderators! I had a few choices before I settled on my glowing mouse!" (Aequorin 1/20/14)

"I know it's unsupported by the terms of use, but what I was wanting to know was if there was ever going to be a way to get specific eye colors without the risk of losing your dragons and being unable to get them back. I worded it poorly, I think. And the rest of my post? I would like that addressed. As a moderator myself, I know there is only so much you can say (especially when newly promoted) but if you can't answer my questions I would like to hear from someone who can. I want to know my concerns are being addressed.

I apologize, I do not have answers for you at this time. What I can tell you is that I have passed these concerns on and I will be keeping them in mind. My job was created to ensure that your needs and concerns as a community are being heard and I take that commitment very seriously." (Aequorin 1/20/14)

"Oh my goodness!

so do you do customer support? because we've had a couple of people I know who had to wait ages for replies on their concerns, bugs or appeals and to get a message days or weeks later, and for some, never. i understand things are more higher priority than others but it's always nice to get a reply about being aware of these issues and some sort, without being lost in the depths. So maybe with you around it can become more speedy? :D

I am so sorry, I missed this!

I will be handling community feedback, concerns, communication, managing the multi-media sites, and, yes, I will be assisting with the CS requests as I am able to." (Aequorin 1/20/14)

"Will the Reddit Q&A ever be posted on a thread here or something? I don't particuarly want to go onto the Reddit site to read it, especially since I think it's blocked on my computer anyway - but I still want to see it, since I love being able to read what the FR team says about site issues and stuff o: I'll see what I can do!" (Aequorin 1/20/14)

"I understand if you cant answer this XD but do you know or can you say if there are any plans in the future for adding more levels and areas to the Coli? Because I think it would be really cool owo unfortunately that falls under "release schedules" and I have no information to share regarding that. I apologize." (Aequorin 1/21/14)

"I was just wondering, is it FR's intention to eventually open up the site to new users permanently, or does the business plan have the registration window model lasting indefinitely? that is our long-term goal, permanent open registration!

Sometimes posts in the forums are cut off or partially eaten up (I think this may be the fault of some emoticons or less than three signs; I'm not sure which!) ! I was wondering if there's a solution being worked on in regards to that?

unfortunately that question falls under "release schedule" types. I can tell you we are aware of it, it's on the list, but the events of January have caused delays. I apologize, I know it's a terribly frustrating bug." (Aequorin 1/21/14)

"Is there a reason that things get implemented on the website before they are officially announced? we want to have these items ready for you before announcing them. Releasing an item/familiar/apparel/etc in-game before announcing it is preferable to announcing it and making players wait for the release. The Flight Rising team is small and have day jobs; announcing and releasing updates is a coordinated effort around these schedules. edit: to clarify, I am referring solely to items like the ones you described, items dropping in the Coliseum or showing up in the marketplace pre-announcement." (Aequorin 1/21/14)

"Is there an ETA as to when Shock Switch will be out of Beta mode? I know the programmer was sort of 'fired' but would eventually be coming back to finish the code. Any new on that? that falls under the category of "schedule" and I unfortunately do not have any information I can share with you about that.

If we could get it stickied, it could (hopefully) cut down on the amount of flame wars we get on some of these suggestions that tend to grow to the point of an Admin having to shut down the board.

flame wars should be reported. If people are flaming or attacking each other, please report those immediately via the report feature. If the thread is quickly spiraling out of control, please message a moderator so they can handle it.

Okay, here's one. I get the impression from a lot of the features that we do and don't have (dominance being a thing, flight forums, trading being unsupported, some of the wordings in the encyclopedia, the messenger dragons' canon, etc) that the original vision of FR was for it to be a much more competitive game than it actually is in practice, both between individuals and between flights. Is that impression correct? What can we expect in this regard going forward, in terms of the overall feel of the game? I'm making a note of your question to address later." (Aequorin 1/21/14)

"Is there anything being done to deal with this? Also how should one go about filling out a report about a possible grabber? I know to be careful about the offsite links though. report all suspected exploits through Contact Us.  Regarding security, this is forefront in our meetings and we are working constantly to improve upon it. I am unable to give further details at this time. after discussing it, we will not be stickying a "what not to suggest" type post. Suggestions is there for the community to voice what they'd like to see and we do not wish to stifle creativity." (Aequorin 1/21/14)

"Another thing not related to account security and what not is are their plans for dragons to be able to reach level 100 or even beyond? I know the dragon gods are at level 100 but if that level was to be reached by other dragons I'm guessing their level would become unknown and their power unlimited? that's an excellent question. Not one I am able to answer at this time but a good one for us to keep in mind going forward." (Aequorin 1/21/14)

[sharasflightrisingblog]

For those that haven’t seen it, this is Akiri’s answer…sort of…to the question of how the Beastclan numbers are tallied for Dominance.

A sort of half-answer is better then no answer at all…right?

(For the curious, this is on page 67 of the Thread!)

[flightrisingstaffsaid]

Q and A Thread 1 Answers, Pages 1 through 5

I'm going to start compiling all of the answers from both Q&A Threads. The following is every answer posted between page 1 and page 5 of the original thread. Questions generally in bold. (Xhaztol made part of his post bold, so I left that formatting in place.)

""Aequorin Is there any news on the progress of the optimizations that were being worked on?

the optimizations were put on hold due to recent events. We hope to get those up and running sooner rather than later!" (Aequorin 1/20/14)

"when are battle stones going to work they have been a known issue for months and its kind of a big deal

due to Akiri's accident and recent events, bug fixes have been delayed. I will relay this concern to the developers for you.

((There is no way to figure out what this is in response to))

at this time no, I do not. I will pass that along, though!

my biggest concern is that flight rising not support dragon lending. I still hope that my friend can get on her account so i can have my dragons back... but i would be much much more at peace if there were a safer way to breed for matching eye colors. I like a variety of colors and i also like when the eyes match on the hatchlings. I really do think that flight rising should allow some sort of save nest renting... where your dragon would stay in your own lair... safer that way. I dont mind paying a little fee for it.. as long as it not became another treasure sink ;)

as per the Terms of Use, dragon lending and nest lending are not supported. For items, we are looking into a secure method for item trading!" (Aequorin 1/20/14)

"In the future will such events as the Q&A that happened on Reddit be announced on FR's main page? That's one of my biggest pet peeves; having to go to alternative sources to find out about what's going on

that is indeed my plan of attack. You'll see there is a sticky at the top of this forum where I plan on linking/summarizing all off-site communication.  Why do you have a new account?

Admin level accounts do not function like regular player accounts." (Aequorin 1/20/14)

"Concerning discussing new items, species, etc. What's okay and not okay to discuss?

if the items are already dropping in game but have not been announced yet, discuss away! If they have not been and players have to be creative with urls or use other means to find items not yet deployed, we will remove the threads.

When is the next words on the wind going to be posted if ever? I feel like its never. This site seems to be awful at communication.

Words on the Wind is something I will be working on!

about a week ago and then several times before then an unknown person was posting gore/sexually explicit/disturbing images in the flight rising tag on tumblr. i was wondering if FR or the devs have taken steps to work with the tumblr staff to maybe limit stuff like that from happening again? we have no control over tumblr. Those issues need to be reported to tumblr Customer Support.

Exactly what are your duties and responsibilities as Community Manager?

I will be managing Flight Rising's multi-media, ensuring the Community is regular updated, overseeing the volunteer moderators, assisting with some Customer Service issues, and generally assist with helping the Flight Rising community grow and flourish." (Aequorin 1/20/14)

"While dragon lending/nest lending are understandably not supported, a way to change the element of a nest for one hatching would be really cool. Or a way to permanently alter one nest on your lair to be a different element? Having no official way to get different colored eyes is a bummer.

I understand. I have bred some dragons myself on my play account that would look so perfect with a different eye color. I unfortunately do not have any other answers for this issue at this time. Please do, however, continue utilizing Suggestions for these types of issues.

Does the administration play the game or do they just develop it? Do they actually play as a normal user would and experience the game and progress in it the same way? yes!" (Aequorin 1/20/14)

"((multiple questions. Most of them seem to have been fixed.))

with Akiri out for the time being many things have been delayed and I don't have a timeline to give you. These issues require Akiri. Regarding the reddit thread: You can view it here without a reddit account!

Is the next registration period going to be put off indefinitely because of what happened to the team?

we don't have a date yet but we are absolutely opening up another registration as soon as humanly possible! We want the optimizations live to ensure as best as possible that both new users and existing users have a smooth transition period.

But like I said, with the dragon breeds, it wasn't someone getting creative with the URLs, it was someone sharing something that they (and other users) saw on a public streaming session. I understand the datamined thing not being okay, but the breeds threw me off since there wasn't anything creative being done to get the info (other than participating in a stream others could've participated it) That all being said, since you've said something official on it, could you guys add it to the Rules so people don't erroneously make the same mistakes in posting information that they shouldn't be? That'd be helpful!

essentially, if it is unreleased on the site, it cannot be discussed on site. The image you are referring to was not on a public streaming session. I hear your concern regarding the official information and I will discuss with the other Admin." (Aequorin 1/20/14)

"I was hoping for a more complete answer, like... do they have side accounts? do they breed? Do they grind in the Coliseum? Play runes? Use gathering turns? Level up? Use battle stones? There are things that have been wrong since early on with genes and apparel that they did not know about until people recently mentioned it. That is why it feels like they don't play their game.

oh I see! My apologies, the questions are coming in fast and furious! My play account is well known at this point and I mostly just do my dailies at this point and share my dragons with friends. I like to breed for pretty colors and genes. I will keep your question in mind for maybe a future Q&A with the Flight Rising team!

how about new genes? we've gotten loads of tertiary genes, but i'd really like to see more primary/secondaries! are there any in the works?

there are Primary and Secondary genes in the works!" (Aequorin 1/20/14)

"Do you have any information on when Adventure or crafting will be implemented? While new genes and breeds are always fun, more stuff to do would also be nice! Speaking of new genes, we've seen a couple of surprise genes/breeds release, but have heard no word of some of the ones we've know about for a while. Is there any possible information about the progress of the points and ghost genes?

I don't have an answer now for you but I'm making a note of it to address later. As far as Adventure and crafting, Akiri's hospitalization has delayed a great deal. :( The Admin and devs are assessing priority as we speak." (Aequorin 1/20/14)

"Hey guys - we're getting this question a lot, so I'll try to clarify. twitchy has been given an additional administrator-level account so that she can perform those functions on an account that does not touch the in-game environment or economy in any way. She is not using both accounts to play Flight Rising. This is essentially a shell account that does not function like a normal player account and is only used for updates and admin work. She will be able to, when taking a break from community management, be able to use twitchy (which has been reverted to a normal account) to play and enjoy Flight Risingnormally. At one point in the past, myself, Undel, and Akiri also had accounts for the sole purpose of playing the game, but running the site has become much too time-consuming to use them, heh. TL;DR: The reason for the second account is to separate work and play. :)" (Xhaztol 1/20/14)

"Dodging the real issues in our questions isnt going to earn you any brownie points, basically everything youre saying is stuff we already know or could very easily guess. Question: Can you give us any information that actually helps or we do not already know? The frustration of being left in the dark and then having sheets pulled over our heads is unbearable.

A lot of the questions are dependent on Akiri's recovery, and so no ETA is known. Items which are related to our content release schedule: We like to have some surprises for our updates. I can safely say that 2014 is going to see an increase in the rate at which updates occur, as a more aggressive release schedule is something we are pushing for. Hiring additional helping hands is a big part of that!" (Undel 1/20/14)

End page 5.

[flightrisingstaffsaid]

Well, if you have the time, why not tackle the Q&A thread? Most of the answers are in the second post, but they hit the character limit.

I am actually working on this, although I've elected to start by compiling the answers from the first thread. They'll be posted in 5 page chunks. I've done the first 2 so far, which will be going up today and tomorrow.

[flightrisingstaffsaid]

FR accessibility policies, such as the boreal woods fiasco, and similar.

I don't really know of anything other than the coli issues which were addressed today, and the disallowing of programs such as the script which allowed the coli to be played with the keyboard. Neither of which have much in terms of admin input.