Flight Rising Discussion

This month our next Ancient breed, the Cirrus dragon, will be released!

Before the new dragon breed hype begins, we want to take this moment—alongside the preview we just posted on YouTube—to touch base with you. Specifically, we want to touch on a few key points about this Ancient, as well as your feedback over the years regarding the Wind Flight’s general art design.

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Key Points

• The Wind Ancient is a gem breed.
  • This means the Galore gift will not be eggs or scrolls, the same as previous gem breed releases.
  • Like with Veilspun and Sandsurge, we will have a limited-time celebratory gift for everyone.
• The Wind Ancient’s development occurred alongside Everlux development.
  • Their design is not a response to negative Everlux feedback—we know some of you were worried!
  • There will be more fat dragons in the future.
• The Wind Ancient will release with only a breed article.
  • Ancient lore stories will be released at a later date, in the order the breeds were introduced: Dusthide, Everlux, Cirrus.
• The Wind Ancient release date is slightly later than we had initially been aiming for, as the breed needed additional development time.
  • Giving ourselves additional time in development gave us the chance to address concerns raised during the cultural sensitivity review.

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Wind Feedback

We have received and read through your feedback over the years regarding Wind flight’s general elemental aesthetic and design. There are concerns that Wind has been treated like the generic Asian flight of Sornieth — appropriation, not appreciation — based on the environmental and design choices made by the team.

Wind was initially inspired by bamboo, specifically the wind as it passes (or races!) through bamboo. From there, the team pulled from the real world to build out Wind. And this lead to Wind being received as appropriation and the virtual pet site version of the Far East Trope, because that is what we created at that time — the flight that became the generic Asian location in Sornieth.

Over the years you’ve voiced your concerns about your observations of Wind’s artwork and its influences. When we sat down and really looked at that early creative journey, we saw those same stereotyped influences like the ones that lead to colonial parallels in Beastclans on the Rise!

We apologize for our ignorance in how we handled real world Asian cultural references in our early world building, and for engaging in the Far East Trope when designing Wind.

In response to your feedback, we’ve worked to include more artwork inspired by various different Asian cultures across the site, not just in Wind, and will continue to do so as we move forward. This isn’t something we’ve called attention to previously, because we wanted to fix the issue through action, not statements. But even then, we should have directly addressed your concerns about Wind sooner.

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Wind Ancient Design & Lore

You might have noticed that the majority of our breed designs use legs inspired by feline and canine anatomies. With Everlux being a caterpillar-inspired design, we determined that for Cirrus we’d find a different animal to source inspiration from. Equine anatomy was chosen and the artists got to work with their concept sketches.

Well, as it turns out, when you combine a dragon with a horse, you can stumble into what looks very similar to a girin. Our art team, being big dragon and mythical creature fans, were excited to see the connection and committed to the inspiration.

This divine beast is present in multiple cultures in east and southeast Asia, originating in China (qilin) before being shared across Korea (girin), Japan (kirin), Thailand (gilen), Vietnam (ky lân), and beyond. Our team pulled their initial references from several different depictions of the girin over time and cultures, including depictions of these mythical beasts with draconic features.

When we were close to the initial release date, the finalized designs were brought to the wider team. Concerns were raised regarding established player feedback on Wind and harmful stereotypes. Questions were asked, answers were given, and then we sought out cultural consultation on both the design and the lore.

In order to work with a cultural reviewer, you have to be specific and at this point, we weren’t. So we narrowed our focus to the Korean interpretation of the mythology. We reached out to a professional sensitivity reviewer who specializes in Korean culture and myths.

And that’s when we learned that in the process of trying to avoid appropriation by implementing design inspiration from multiple depictions across media and history, we created an amalgamation that could only be described as ‘Westernized.' Another manifestation of the Far East Trope in our game. And this one? As pointed out by a different team member, this release is in the gem marketplace, which only exacerbates concerns about cultural appropriation. So, we spoke with the sensitivity specialist about the best paths forward.

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Fixing the Wind Ancient & Addressing Cultural Appropriation

Our consultant suggested two possible paths, to either lean in fully or avoid altogether. With the breed already having all of the genes and artwork created at this point, and with the specialist’s own enthusiasm for the concept of including more accurate girin attributes, we were strongly encouraged to lean in fully and make this ancient more girin-inspired.

Leaning in fully to celebrate the girin was admittedly the faster fix, one that allowed us to make smaller changes to the art to correct the Westernization. We remained committed to ultimately doing the right thing while still hoping we could find ways to incorporate the feedback that wouldn’t mean starting over from square one. Working closely with our consultant, our art team put together series of workable changes based on their feedback and has been hard at work updating the gene art since.

But, even with the art fixes, there are two other problems still to address:

First, in the originating culture and mythos (China), and in some of the branching mythos from other regions, the qilin is not a dragon. It is its own divine beast, distinct from the dragon.

Second, like we mentioned above, the Cirrus dragon is a gem breed. This would mean we’re placing content heavily inspired by and borrowing from a specific culture into our premium currency marketplace. Effectively, we would profit off of paywalling culture without offering anything in return aside from some visibility.

With these concerns in mind, we once again returned to working with our sensitivity specialist to discuss thoughts and ideas.


What's Next?

When we release the Cirrus, we will also release a true girin familiar that is faithful to the mythology, visual depictions, and culture alongside it.

Given that familiars exist on such a broad spectrum in Sornieth and are often their own individual beings who have chosen to bond with a dragon, this gives us the chance to draw a clearer line between the girin and Cirrus dragons while still celebrating the rich art history, myths, and folklore that have inspired so many. In addition to lore for the new breed, the Cirrus' breed article will include more details on Sornieth’s girin, purpose, and the ways they influenced and allied with the latest Ancient dragon breed.

This means that the Wind Ancient will still be a dragon of Sornieth with ties and allyship to girin, without being a girin itself. This way, we don’t risk conflating a dragon with the original source mythology of the qilin as we wrongfully believed would be okay during our earlier research and review.

Players will be able to acquire this new familiar through a direct purchase for $2.50 USD. 100% of the proceeds from this familiar will go to Asian Americans Advancing Justice, a nonprofit organization that uses legal advocacy to affect key civil rights issues that have a significant impact on Asian Americans, Pacific Islanders, and immigrant communities. This fundraiser will continue for 90 days after the release of the Wind Ancient, at which point the fundraiser will then close and the familiar will be permanently retired.

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Going Forward

We’ve been delighted to work with a cultural sensitivity specialist to try and catch concerns and missteps in development, but we certainly still made some mistakes along the way. This has been an educational and humbling experience for us.

In this case, one of the biggest challenges revolved around altering the art late in the process. While we can address lore and game mechanics even after release, dragon line art has to be finalized early to allow the artists time to work on genes without putting the time into crunch.

With that in mind, going forward, a few more things are changing internally.

• When concepts pull from specific cultural references, the creative teams will document their sources for review.
• Before we exit the concept phase, cultural consultants will be brought on as needed to work alongside the concept team, and not at the end, closer to launch.
• Cultural consultants and sensitivity reviewers will be brought in when there is still ample time to revisit the art from the ground up if needed.

We hope these changes will help us make sure we’re on the right track from the outset, lower the likelihood that we inflict harm on marginalized groups and their cultural heritage, and help ensure you get the chance to celebrate diversity with us in the future. While good intentions certainly don’t mitigate harmful effects, we want to do what’s right, and the transparency we’ve shared with you today is given in good faith.


Feedback

Cultural consultations and sensitivity reviews are not shields. Even when being mindful, even with consultations, we understand we could overlook or still include a harmful trope or stereotype. If this should happen, please don’t hesitate to bring what you’ve noticed to our attention so that we can review, consult, address, and fix anything that needs correcting or updating regarding the lore or how the breed interacts with game mechanics.

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We’re very excited to close out the initial round of planned Ancient dragon releases for each element and give the long-patient Wind their Ancient breed. Our team really loves this dragon breed, and we can't wait to share it with you!

Thank you for reading and for being a part of Flight Rising. We can't wait to share the Cirrus dragon with everyone later this month!

Thank you for your feedback regarding Wednesday's update. We will have more information regarding the fundraiser and the girin familiar for everyone early next week.

Thank you for your constructive feedback and questions about the upcoming fundraiser and the upcoming girin familiar. After reviewing your feedback and discussing it as a team, we've put together a FAQ about the fundraiser and the girin familiar for you!

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The Fundraiser Basics

• The donation amount is set at $2.50 USD.
• Players can use either PayPal or their credit card.
• The girin familiar will be delivered directly to your account after a successful transaction.
• 100% of the fundraiser profits goes to the AAJC, Asian-American Justice Center.
  • This is a nonprofit organization that uses legal advocacy to affect key civil rights issues that have a significant impact on Asian Americans, Pacific Islanders, and immigrant communities.
• Flight Rising will be contributing a $500 donation in addition to any profits that the girin familiar raises.

The Girin Familiar

• The girin familiar is not account-bound.
• The girin familiar is not limited to one per player.
• The girin familiar can be traded and gifted with other players.
• The girin familiar cannot be used for Crim, Baldwin, and other areas of the site where the familiar may be consumed via gameplay mechanics.
• The girin familiar is eligible to show up in Roundsey’s Raffle Roulette after the fundraiser ends.
  • This familiar will be treated like other retired familiars, such as the Light Sprite or Speedy.

Why is this a direct buy and not a percentage of gem package sales?

• Gems pass through the gem marketplace.
• Gems can be acquired through gameplay.
• Players can trade gems for treasure, dragons, and Flight Rising items, etc.

While gem packages may have a specific purchase amount, their end value is not as clear-cut as $USD. The direct buy with a thank you gift is the most logistically feasible way for us to run a fundraiser.


Why is this a limited time gift?

We are permanently retiring the familiar to ensure we don’t profit off of it later via the gem marketplace.

The familiar is our way of thanking you for your donation and the fundraiser runs for 90 days after we release the Cirrus. The familiar is not account-bound and players are not restricted to only one. Players will be able to gift, trade, and list the girin familiar on the Auction House.

We understand some players believe we are intentionally exploiting FOMO, or fear of missing out, with the 90-day window. Fundraisers need a start and an end date for the sake of logistics, and like we said above, we don’t want to profit off the familiar later through the gem marketplace. We hope this information helps to address that concern.


Is this a trial balloon for micro transactions?

No.


Isn’t this just another paywall?

This is a good question and we understand why some of you are concerned about this, what with the familiar being tied to the fundraiser.

This fundraiser is part of our effort to do better and find ways to give back after we realized our mistake with timing of Cirrus being in the gem marketplace. Our hope is that by keeping the price point relatively low, this will encourage players to donate more and sell the familiar for in-game currency, keeping it accessible for those who cannot donate, themselves.

While we aren't a large company capable of throwing much direct monetary support behind important causes, we are able to invest our teams' time and skills into creating art, lore, and items to help elevate others. That way, with our platform and community, we can raise far more than we’re able to donate ourselves. The girin familiar is our way of thanking you for helping support the communities that inspired the upcoming release.


Why did you announce this during the Gem Cycle Week?

We were hyper focused on the art corrections, lore corrections, and setting up the fundraiser in time for a release ahead of the Greenskeeper Gathering. The timing just slipped our minds, and we’re sorry for that oversight.


Will it be possible to make multiple $2.50 USD donations at once? (Updated Thursday, May 15, 2025)

Initially, no. When the fundraiser and girin familiar thank you gift launches, players will not be able to make donations in quantities larger than $2.50 USD. The time between the changes we needed to make for this release alongside our development plans for our Anniversary Event just isn't there, not without crunch and not without risking rushed code.

But! We know many players are planning on making multiple donations to help players who want a girin familiar but are unable to participate in the fundraiser directly. We've also heard your concerns about the price point being too low for some credit or bank cards, as well as your concerns that multiple small donations will flag your transactions with your banking institution. After our Anniversary Event next month, work will begin to introduce the option to purchase multiple copies of the familiar in a single transaction.

This will likely take the shape of donation packages, similar (but not identical) to our gem packages. They will be priced in increments of $2.50 USD and will reward multiple girin familiars, appropriate to the amount donated.

We understand this isn't the ideal solution, and we're discussing the possibility of extending the fundraiser if it takes longer than anticipated to bring these options to you.

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As always, feedback and questions can be submitted directly to us through Contact Us. Even if we aren't able to provide you with a personalized response, please know your feedback is documented, reviewed, and considered.

We hope this information helps! Thank you for being a part of Flight Rising, we can't wait to introduce you to the Cirrus dragon and girin familiar!