Announcements & News

[center][url=http://www1.flightrising.com/forums/ann/1543019][img]http://flightrising.com/dropbox/wotw.png[/img][/url] Welcome to the August 2015 installment of [i]Words on the Wind[/i]![/center] [b]Table of Contents[/b] [br] [LIST] [*][b]Moderator Update[/b] [*][b]Development: Site Engineering[/b] [list][*][b]Update[/b]: Random Downtime [*][b]Update[/b]: Account Alerts [*][b]Status[/b]: Secure Item Trading [*][b]Status[/b]: Artifracture[/list] [*][b]Community[/b] [list][*][b]Update[/b]: Weekly Q&A [*][b]Community Feedback[/b]: The [i]Flight Rising[/i] FAQ [*][b]Contests[/b]: Item Captions and Comic[/list] [*][b]The Bug Reports Forum[/b] [*][b]Sneak Peek:[/b] Poison and Toxin Genes [/LIST] [br][center][url=http://www1.flightrising.com/forums/ann/1543019]Click here to read more![/url][/center] [more] [br][br][br] ----- [br][br][br] [center][b][size=6]Moderator Update[/size][/b][/center] We would like to extend our thanks and appreciation for @Nerd, one of our volunteer moderators. Nerd is stepping down from the Mod Squad to pursue a fantastic opportunity. Nerd, you will be missed and we wish you the best! [br][br][br] ----- [br][br][br] [center][b][size=6]Development: Site Engineering[/size][/b][/center] [br][br] [b][size=5]Update: Random Downtime[/size][/b] [i]Flight Rising[/i] experiences "five minute pockets" of downtime several times daily. We know that this is a source of frustration for everyone, especially when it interrupts gameplay. This has been a problem we have been investigating; we have narrowed the issue down to our server software and have decided to make some beneficial backend changes that should help alleviate it soon. When this change happens, access to the site may be limited to unavailable until completed. We will make sure that we update everyone about when this process is occurring. [br][br] [b][size=5]Update: Account Alerts Clean-Up[/size][/b] Very soon, we will be making changes to how long alerts (pings, Auctions, Crossroad requests, etc) remain on the site. These changes will be: [LIST] [*][b]Alerts that have been read and are older than 30 days[/b] will be automatically cleared each day. [*][b]Alerts that have been unread and are older than 60 days[/b] will be automatically cleared each day. [/LIST] So, why are we clearing alerts? After some investigation, our engineers determined that the backlog of account alerts is a direct contributor to the overall site latency issues. We feel that this 30 day / 60 day balance is a good threshold that both allows players access to older alerts, but does not degrade the experience for all players. We understand that some of you use self-pinging to save favorite threads. We would like to ask that if you wish to maintain a link to a thread for the long-term, please use the bookmark feature on your browser. In order for us to continue to improve server health, site performance, and overall player experience, routinely clearing out old alerts is a necessary step. We will alert (ha!) the community about when this change is set to take place so that everyone has ample time to collect and bookmark their favorite forum threads. [br][br] [b][size=5]Status: Crossroads 2.0 - [color=green]IN TESTING[/color][/size][/b] We've completed a build of Crossroads 2.0 (aka "Secure Trading"), and we are in the middle of testing and debugging. The new Crossroads is very robust and touches many areas of the site; there are many scenarios to test. We don't have anything new to preview that we haven't shown you already, but are excited that this feature is nearing completion. We have been reading and considering your feedback about it since we first previewed it and really appreciate the input of the community while we prepare this feature for release. [br][br] [b][size=5]Status: Artifracture - [color=green]IN TESTING[/color][/size][/b] We are finalizing [b]Artifracture[/b] for an upcoming release. There are still a few bugs to hammer out, and we're making adjustments to the level curve to provide a more enjoyable experience. We're looking forward to adding a new game to the Fairgrounds! [br][br][br] ----- [br][br][br] [center][b][size=6]Community[/size][/b][/center] [br][br] [b][size=5]Update: Weekly Q&A[/size][/b] We are making a change to the schedule of this thread. Effective immediately, [b][url=http://www1.flightrising.com/forums/frd/1327998]the Weekly Q&A's[/url][/b] schedule is as follows: [br] [list][*]Thread is unlocked and [b]open for questions Monday through Friday[/b] [*]Answers to selected player questions will be [b]posted on Monday evenings.[/b][/list] [br][br] [b][size=5]Community Feedback: The [i]Flight Rising[/i] FAQ[/size][/b] In June 2015, [b][url=http://www1.flightrising.com/forums/help/1467441]we introduced the [i]Flight Rising[/i] FAQ[/url][/b], based on frequent questions we've seen in the Help Center, the Bug Reports Forum, and through Customer Support requests. With more registration windows come more new players and we want to make their introduction to [i]Flight Rising[/i] the best it can be. But we need some help from our veterans and newbies alike, and would like to seek open feedback about the following: [br] [list][*]What section in the current FAQ do you feel could use more detail based on your experience? [*]What gameplay or feature would you like to see listed in the FAQ? [*]What do you wish you had known when you first started?[/list] Please join us in [b][url=http://www1.flightrising.com/forums/frd/1542146]this thread[/url][/b] if you have ideas for how this FAQ could be made better! [br][br] [b][size=5]Contest Results: Item Caption Contest[/size][/b] The winners for our third item caption contest have been chosen and the items implemented into the game! Thanks to everyone for participating. Congratulations to: @alcion, @Aleise, @alsciaukitty, @BallpointTattoos, @BrightIce, @Falwater, @legendbeary, @Mirrorstone, @Oscillator, @otonashiryouko, @Raptured, @Rascality, @Raskies, @SoulSorbet, @tbptwist, and @Zinc! These items will begin dropping in our next content update! [center][item=bioluminescent tail][item=glowing tail][item=daffodil][item=lume daffodil][item=starfall blossom][item=engaging still life][item=unfinished painting][item=spoiled landscape][item=citrus lionfish][item=venomspite invader][item=pickaxe][item=rusty pickaxe][item=shale sliver][item=granite chunk][item=game fowl][item=forestpath rooster][/center] [br][br][b][size=5]Contest Results: [url=http://www1.flightrising.com/forums/frd/1517713][i]Remember That One Time...[/i] Comic Contest[/url][/size][/b] The results for the second year [url=http://www1.flightrising.com/forums/ann/1461117][b]anniversary comic contest[/b][/url] are in! Congratulations to our winners: @Angelsami, @Chimeric, @dragoonwys, @Dramon, @likeshine, @Lunaluna, @Purchalace, @sagestuck, @Scorpius, and @Snowy! Their comics will be archived in our Encyclopedia in the future. There were so many great entries, that we had to share them all! [url=http://www1.flightrising.com/forums/frd/1517713][b]Click here to enjoy[/b][/url] the many stories and memories of Flight Rising's First two years, created by the talented artists of our community. Seriously, go check them out now; they are amazing! All comic participants are receiving a bold comic vista to enjoy! [br][center][img]http://flightrising.com/dropbox/comics_forum_vista.png[/img][/center] [br] [br][br][br] ----- [br][br][br] [center][b][size=6]The Bug Reports Forum[/size][/b][/center] We have removed the list of tracked threads in the [b][url=http://www1.flightrising.com/forums/bug]Bug Reports forum[/url][/b]. This has lead to confusion over what we expect and what you can expect when reporting bugs. We’d like to shed some light on where we are with bugs, reporting, and resolution. [b][size=4]What’s going on with the old bugs?[/size][/b] We know there are some very old outstanding bugs. We know that they are a point of frustration; We absolutely hear you guys. The reason some of these haven't been tackled is because they are being addressed as part of the site rewrite process. Rather than spend the resources to fix the older, lower priority bugs twice, we are making sure that they are being checked with each phase of the rewrite. [b][size=4]What can you expect from the Bug Reports forum?[/size][/b] [br] [LIST] [*][b]Moderators will continue to condense duplicate reports into one thread.[/b] This helps the forum from moving too quickly to manage, and helps other players (as well as the development team) more easily find information.[br][br] [*][b]Moderators and staff can only provide basic troubleshooting steps in the Bug Reports forum.[/b][br][br] [*][b]Engineers will not be providing individualized attention there.[/b] When a bug has been addressed, we will note it in our status box.[br][br] [*][b]Engineers and staff will continue to daily monitor and review this forum for any urgent or wide spread bugs.[/b] This forum is extremely important to our team as a means of finding and gauging bug spread and impact on the site. Thank you so much for your reports![br][br] [*][b]After a new feature or bug fix is deployed to the site, you can expect to see a staff member actively monitoring and responding for the first 24 hours after.[/b] We will normally open a brand new specific thread in the Bug Reports forum pre-emptively to allow players a direct, consolidated line for bugs or issues relating to the feature. [/LIST] [br][br] [b][size=4]In the event that a new bug is found, we ask players to include as much of the the following information in their report as possible:[/size][/b] [br] [LIST] [*][b]Date/Time when the bug was experienced[/b] [*][b]Reproducible steps[/b] [*][b]Dragon, Thread, Post, or Message ID number (where applicable) [*][b]System information[/b] [list][*]Operating System and version [*]Browsers used and version [*]Device type [*]Connection type: home, school, work, wireless, connected, mobile data [*]Antivirus program[/list] [/LIST] Providing our engineers with steps to reproduce your reported issue and information on how you access [i]Flight Rising[/i] will help us investigate, diagnose, and address the bug. [b]This information is crucial to an effective and helpful report.[/b] If a bug report consists of “it’s not working/it’s broken” or no other information is provided, it doesn't give us much to go off of, and it's much more difficult for us to look into it. [b]Please do not “bump” bug reports.[/b] Posts made in the [b][url=http://www1.flightrising.com/forums/bug]Bug Reports forum[/url][/b] should consist of information for the staff and engineers. Bumping bug reports bloats the thread and can cause confusion with how widespread an issue may be. A final note: Please do [b]not post about exploits[/b] in the [b][url=http://www1.flightrising.com/forums/bug]Bug Reports forum[/url][/b]. We require that exploits be sent directly to the [i]Flight Rising[/i] staff through [url=http://www1.flightrising.com/site/contact-us][b]Contact Us[/b][/url]. An exploit is a bug or loophole that allows a player to gain advantage through use/exploitation of the issue. [br][br][br] ----- [br][br][br] [center][b][size=6]Sneak Peek: Poison & Toxin Genes[/size][/b][/center] There are many exciting things in store on the dragon genetics front! Sightings of a new mutation that make dragons poisonous have been reported! An upcoming primary and secondary gene pair -[i] Poison[/i] and [i]Toxin[/i] - will be a new gene available to dragons in the future. This gene is very different from genes currently available and will be a challenge or delight to work with depending on your tolerance for wild color combinations! Poison and toxin draw accent colors from vastly different areas of the color wheel than the color they are paired with. A maize dragon with dark purple patterning? Emerald with bright orange? The brightest white with the deepest black? This gene has it! We have tried to ensure that every color is just a little bit different. For example, not all the blues are accented with orange. Some are accented with white, some with red, green, purple, pink, yellow, etc. In this way, every color on the wheel will be wildly different from its neighbor when displaying the poison and toxin genes. [center][img]http://flightrising.com/dropbox/poison-toxin.png[/img][/center]

• Will you accept the Poison/Toxin challenge?

• About Poison/Toxin accent colors

• Will there be a guide for Poison/Toxin color swatches?