Announcements & News

[quote name="jackaling" date="2023-10-26 15:05:14" ] [quote name="Xhaztol" date="2023-10-26 14:51:36" ] [quote name="jackaling" date="2023-10-26 14:13:38" ] [quote name="Aequorin" date="2023-10-26 14:05:32" ] [quote name="Flaxen" date="2023-10-26 13:58:21" ] I don't understand the thought process behind adding new features for skin/accent artists, and then taking another one away in the same update. [/quote] Hi @Flaxen! There's been a misunderstanding. Nothing's been taken away in this update. We offered players some transparency in today's update and communicated future plans about the functionality of pings. These plans currently do not have a set date or timeline for implementation. I hope this helps. [/quote] [i]the moment it’s implemented[/i], there will be massive repercussions for many communities. giving us time to adjust does [i]not[/i] allow us to come up with solutions for the functionality that is being taken away with absolutely 0 replacement in sight. the community can’t ‘play around’ with a tool that has [i]none[/i] of the functions of off-site pinglists because the functions cannot be replicated. this is a massive burden for users who have already spent years creating and maintaining tools. [/quote] If I can make an observation... It feels like you're saying here that our viewpoint will not change between now and then (a "then" that we have communicated several times does not yet exist), even in light of the feedback we're getting today. We're not solely treating this as a transitionary period, it's 100% an opportunity, on our side, to make further refinements - and that goes for most things we launch. There's 0 replacement in sight because we've yet to build one, it doesn't mean it'll [i]never[/i] exist—remember that the feature launched only a few hours ago! I'd also like to take the time to mention: [LIST] [*]We've implemented one change based on player feedback (see Site Status) since the launch and are working on another right now. [*]We have removed nothing today, and we don't have plans to remove anything tomorrow, or the next day. This is an open-ended period for a reason. [*]We have shown pretty consistently that we listen and try to implement improvements that will benefit as many of you as possible, especially in the wake of feature launches that have a lot of lively discussion, feedback, and concerns. We're not perfect, but we've got a great track record. This is no different. [*]Mass-pinging, in its current form, has to change in some capacity for both security and infrastructural reasons. It is very clear, given today's discussions, that we can't wholesale remove the premise behind mass-pinging without bridging the gap and providing a solution. We will be absorbing every drop of feedback we get today and beyond to help inform what those changes are, and how they can best serve a majority of our community. [*]The first step was having the feature at all in order to mitigate what was already widespread abuse targeting hundreds of our players in very public settings. [/LIST] [/quote] @Xhaztol again, respectfully, it does not seem feasible for the fr team to address and replace the functions of user-created lists. will you be implementing a system for those who are interested in skins and accents, but would like to be pinged for specific breeds and subject matter only? what about a g1 pinglist which can filter every color combination (or more general categories of colors, like ‘grayscale’ or ‘pastel’) and account for hatch date? will there be a replacement for dominance pinglists, which need to be accessible to the community? this is a massive oversight. the team can certainly take steps to get closer to these functions, but i genuinely doubt that a replacement can match the versatility which is [i]critical[/i] for sellers, buyers, and collectors. we understand that you are open to feedback. we are concerned that the long term impact caused by this change will be overwhelmingly negative, and that any on-site replacements can’t match the functionality of user generated tools. i do not agree with pinglist harassment, but there are many ways that users could still be harassed via spreadsheets. for example, skincent artists often take preorders for skins via self-edit spreadsheets. harassed users have been added to these as well - are skin and accent artists supposed to rely on forums exclusively for signing people up, something which isn’t entirely feasible for some artists? if not, what are other ways to counter spreadsheet harassment while maintaining the ease of an off-site feature that many people rely on? this change is reactionary and does not begin to address the issue at hand. not only that, it causes issues for players who have spent years on projects that allow us to engage with the flight rising community easily. i trust that the team is open to feedback. i do not trust that there is any practical way that site features can replicate player-made features. this is not trivial, as i’ve already typed many times. this genuinely impacts so many dedicated players that it’s a bit depressing and it will definitely change how i use flight rising. [/quote] Look, I understand the current outlook is bumming you out. You've all done a good job generating creative solutions in places we didn't offer them, and we developed a feature that doesn't measure up with what you had. Honestly, I truly get that. The last thing we want to do is make you feel like we're trying to stamp that out. But as game developers, we have to weigh a lot of complex factors (many of which you'll never know about or see) and we [i]have[/i] to lead with player safety, and we [i]have[/i] to lead with site stability. External tools are going to be great for some things, and internal tools are going to be better at others. Right now, mass-pinging and facilitating those lists off-site are not meeting those very critical conditions. It can't continue in [b]exactly[/b] the form it does now, I'm sorry. That being said, I would ask that you keep an open mind about it in the short term, and try not to let this open and undefined period bum you out too much. [b]We're literally in just the first phase of this thing[/b], and I have tremendous confidence in our team to make use of the time and the messages from all of y'all in a constructive way. It is our responsibility to leverage that very real and genuine feedback, and we're lucky we get so much of it! [i]Flight Rising[/i] will never stop being a work-in-progress, that I can guarantee. We hear you, I promise.