Flight Rising Discussion

[quote name="ThousandLights" date="2025-02-17 00:44:26" ] [quote name="seidy" date="2025-02-16 23:14:31" ] And then I realized that players are always unhappy with everything. I remember the times when people liked almost every update, and when the Everluxes appeared - my beloved fandom became aggressive. Sorry, but I'm probably one of the few who liked the new update, you just need to choose the right dragon. [/quote] [b]Have you considered that people have critical thinking skills and are allowed to dislike things and voice their opinions wether you like it or not?[/b] This is such an immature take. "My beloved fandom as long as they agree with me always" this is NOT a hivemind. It is a forum. ----- Anyways, Its been a few days now and I literally forgot effects were a thing. The time spent on them could have gone somewhere else. Since they dont show in avatars/dragon share, or hell, even in your own lair page, they can be easily overlooked and/or deemed irrelevant. [/quote] Sorry this has been living rent-free in my head; critical thinking does not mean being critical of something, or having negative opinions about it. Critical thinking applied to the Effects update, using the Who/What/Where/When/Why/How cheat sheet, would be something along these lines- whether thought about internally or discussed with others in the forums/discord: [LIST] [*]Who is this update for? Who benefits from Effects, and who is it harmful to? Who made the decision to make Effects? Who is discussing it? Who is on the Effects creation/dev team? [*]What makes it a positive or negative update? What perspectives are different from mine? What is an alternative cosmetic to Effects? What would I animate instead? What Effects do I like and what Effects do I dislike? [*]Where are there similar concepts found in FR? Where would Effects or webGL animations be needed/implemented and where would they cause problems? Where will this lead to in the future? Where are the areas for improvement and where do we go for troubleshooting/bug reporting? Where do Effects show up/Where are they visible? [*]When would you want Effects implemented/when is the best time to implement this update? When can we expect changes, if any? When have similar updates been made to FR? [*]Why is there a need for Effects and webGL features? Why are people so passionate about the update? Why haven't we had animations on our dragons before/Why have animations been implemented now? [*]How are Effects similar to other cosmetics and customization? How does this disrupt gameplay and site enjoyment? How do you imagine Effects in the future? How is this beneficial or harmful? How will I approach this update, and how am I influenced by other player feedback? How does this update affect FR workflow behind the scenes? [/LIST] I actively try to apply this critical thinking to FR updates, and in general it makes every change easier to process, and I become less reactionary about it- whether that kneejerk emotion is positive or negative! Like the "Who" answers for me looked something like this: Hm, I guess this update is for players who want animation as part of their dragon customization, players with specific themes that match the current lineup of Effects, it's for players who like sparkly/glittery/rainbow-y things, and it's for players who want to give new looks and customization to their current dragons. Are Effects for me? Do I like them or have a use for them? More critical thinking questions for later! People with gems to spend on cosmetics benefit immediately, especially if they are willing to spend real money on gems- these purchases also benefits the FR workforce. The update negatively impacts anyone who can't see the effects because they are missing out. This update might negatively impact the gem to treasure ratio, whereas a future update with more treasure MP Effects might lower inflation. Artists are working on Effects as a break from other artwork in the pipeline, as a new exciting project. This is beneficial for their state of mind, but might be taking them away from working on a project/update/feature that I'd like much more than Effects. It could also be taking away time from a project/update/feature that I'd really dislike! The majority of people discussing this update have strong negative feelings about it. People who are neutral or who enjoy it are doing so quietly. Why? This, too, leads into other critical thinking questions. And so on! [emoji=gold star size=1]

Sorry for the incoming word soup. If you want to reply to me but aren't sure what I meant at some point, feel free to ask me to clarify. [quote name="@MissAri" date="2025-02-20 01:23:44" ] -snip- Sorry this has been living rent-free in my head; critical thinking does not mean being critical of something, or having negative opinions about it. Critical thinking applied to the Effects update, using the Who/What/Where/When/Why/How cheat sheet, would be something along these lines- whether thought about internally or discussed with others in the forums/discord: [LIST] [*]Who is this update for? Who benefits from Effects, and who is it harmful to? Who made the decision to make Effects? Who is discussing it? Who is on the Effects creation/dev team? [/LIST] -snip-[/quote] I think the update somewhat caters to those who wanted a color expansion, but without negatively impacting existing breeding pairs by introducing new colours w/ different accents (scatterscroll probability, getting specific egg outcomes etc). [s][url=https://www1.flightrising.com/search/forums?term=wheel+expansion&poster=&topicid=&forum=&when=0&sort=relevant&submit=Search+Forums]Unreleated, there's about 6,371 posts mentioning some sort of color wheel expansion. [/url][/s] In suggestions, there's about [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/search/forums?term=prismatic+color+-coins+-tokens&poster=&topicid=&forum=sug&when=0&sort=relevant&submit=Search+Forums]172 search results for a "prismatic color"[/url] to be added (including items) and [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/search/forums?term=prismatic+color+-coins+-tokens+-silks+-clan+-bows+-meditate+-sylvan+-Rising+-kelpie+-code+-letter&poster=&topicid=&forum=frd&when=0&sort=relevant&submit=Search+Forums&page=1]86 mentions[/url] in fr discussion forums (tried to exclude existing items). With this update, it can be achieved by applying effect:flecks of foil on a dragon. Want to make a holographic dragon? Put it on a silver/silver/x dragon with crystal/facet (funnily enough, the first [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/dragon/77209839]I saw using this method was MissAri's[/url]). Also, more than a few holo/prismatic skins accents were made in FR's lifetime, so there is a market for that. While the effects seem like a quick and cheap overlay slapped onto a dragon, they may be a cheaper alternative for those who don't have the means to purchase a slot for UMA's or to create their own... or just an alternative to skins that are no longer in circulation, often ending up pretty expensive. (! in terms of aesthetics, not in design ! not saying one is more superior than the other ! not saying effects are substitutes for UMAs, more like "enhancers"). Speaking of UMAs, there's plenty of old, low id, skins imitating scales. Those who wish to purchase or own one of those (not for collection purposes) probably wouldn't be able to purchase them for 200g. Which is probably why effect:shimmerscale was made. Same goes for Glitz (old rainbow skins / accents, but also market demand like in holo's case). What I'm trying to say - this update isn't as random as I initially thought (called it a fever dream) and is based in FR's community tastes. Pretty interesting! ----- Sidenote, some effects are rainbow most likely because they need to be able to appear on every possible colour. Maybe there will be a possibility to change hex codes in the future. But for now I suppose the effects are moreso based on static images (sprite sheets like in coliseum??) and code, without the ability to influence output via user input... if that's a possible thing with the extension FR is using.

I personally wasn't impressed before the last bug fix because nothing was animated for me and I was like "...is this it" lol. But I like a few significantly more personally now that I can see them in all their glory XD but I agree the eye thing is a bit jank for me, because my OCs all have canonical eye colors and it hurts a little bit if I cover them up lol. But I am excited to see the future for this feature, I hope we get more flutter by type ones with animated critters [emoji=guardian happy size=1]

I think I'm fairly neutral on the update. I think effects are a fine thing to add, and could have some fun uses, but feel their implementation is a bit lackluster.

The actual effects they chose to add in just aren't very good? Five of them have big problems with opacity, they end up painting over your dragons (even their eyes??) Sunrise/Moonrise honestly looks more like an animated skin, the dragon is just a shape. Dearly Departed and Pastel Pulse basically erase all colours from your dragons.

I find a lot of the effects look cheap and tacky, and are not well thought out. They're just a filter printed over the dragon, like Shimmerscale doesn't conform to the body shape at all, which makes the dragon look super flat. The Flutterby animation is pretty rough with low frames. Dearly Departed just does not work for any dragon with the head near the ground, and also makes apparel look really odd.

I think they needed a bit more time and effort. And it's not great that so many were gem items on release.

It feels like an experiment with a fun new browser feature, not a major update like it's marketed as.

[quote name="TheChatotMaestro" date="2025-02-20 12:12:02" ] It feels like an experiment with a fun new browser feature, not a major update like it's marketed as. [/quote] this, definitely just feels like a tech demo of future plans than something proper. For myself, While I'm not a fan of this update at all and it further kind of pushes the reason why I left FR in the first place, I think some sort of integer overflow happened in my brain where I instead decided to come back. Not gonna use effects besides maybe the actual high-effort ones like the butterflies [i](wish effects would have just been things like that, and not dragon-obscuring overlays. animated apparel would be a lovely addition to the site)[/i] I guess i may have been drawn back because despite not liking the update, I was drawn to the fact that the devs are showcasing something entirely unique, new, and clearly a tech advancement for the site. It lays down interesting groundwork for the future- and that's really what im looking forward to.

I really think "The devs should have spent their time better" and every variation of it needs to be deleted from y'alls vocabulary so bad.

The devs have already explained why this project was healthy for their team. Anyone who's paying enough attention can tell that this is just the beginning of something more, and the possibilities for several parts of the site could be vast.

You are not part of the development team. You have -0 clue how they balance their time, and to pretend you know how they should is absurd. Just because an update isn't what you like doesn't mean it was "wasted effort." Just because a feature you wanted isn't here yet doesn't mean it isn't in the works, and you certainly don't have any idea what the timeframe might look like for some highly desired updates and how difficult it may be to implement them.

Express your dislike for it. But stop pretending you know how the devs should be spending their time. Acting like your wants should take priority over everything the devs do is not constructive criticism.

[quote name="ThousandLights" date="2025-02-17 00:44:26" ] [quote name="seidy" date="2025-02-16 23:14:31" ] And then I realized that players are always unhappy with everything. I remember the times when people liked almost every update, and when the Everluxes appeared - my beloved fandom became aggressive. Sorry, but I'm probably one of the few who liked the new update, you just need to choose the right dragon. [/quote] Have you considered that people have critical thinking skills and are allowed to dislike things and voice their opinions wether you like it or not? This is such an immature take. "My beloved fandom as long as they agree with me always" this is NOT a hivemind. It is a forum. ----- Anyways, Its been a few days now and I literally forgot effects were a thing. The time spent on them could have gone somewhere else. Since they dont show in avatars/dragon share, or hell, even in your own lair page, they can be easily overlooked and/or deemed irrelevant. [/quote] While full context seems to be gone, they certainly do not read as saying nobody can voice negative opinions - Everlux complaints went far beyond that. Being disgruntled by the reaction to them is very reasonable, and the same goes for some of the statements made in this thread - it’s mostly been people calmly voicing dislike but there have been a few who crossed the line into toxicity or made unfounded statements.

my whole reaction to this update was deffo more along the lines of "welll... it's an update. sure is an update"

will i use it? no.
do i think it's cool and adds to the site in anyway? ...no.

im sure it's something fun for the people who want it, which is great and fun. but i can see staff not adding anymore effects for a long time after this seeing how disinterested/unpopular the update is.

[quote name="CreatesGod" date="2025-02-20 13:06:34" ] I really think "The devs should have spent their time better" and every variation of it needs to be deleted from y'alls vocabulary so bad. The devs have already explained why this project was healthy for their team. Anyone who's paying enough attention can tell that this is just the beginning of something more, and the possibilities for several parts of the site could be vast. [/quote] I understand where you're coming from, and I agree that the creation teams should be rotating projects to prevent burnout and stagnation. That is a great policy to have and I respect that. ....but I literally can't use this feature. A lot of people can't enjoy this update. So for me, and a lot of other people, it does feel like the Devs have wasted their time. And that's not even touching on the discussions of how poorly done some of the Effects feel. AND that's not touching on the discussion about how FR already has quite a few accessibility issues and how it feels for an entire feature to release that actively excludes people who are photosensitive or motion sensitive. "This might be the beginning of something more" means absolutely nothing to players [i]who can't use Effects in the first place[/i]. Like, of course people are not enthused at the idea of more Effects being in development, instead of YEARS LONG requests for QoL updates, when they can't use Effects. Doesn't matter how you slice it, or how charitable you want to be towards Staff, there are so many things that we've been begging for for ages and so to get an update that so many players can't even partake in...it feels kinda like a slap in the face. Yes, FR belongs to the team who creates it. They can, technically, do whatever they want to this place. But the game needs the community to exist. So when they do things that feel like they didn't even consider how it would be received by the community, it feels incredibly jarring and uncomfortable, and sometimes it feels insulting. Yes, the game is theirs, but their income comes out of our time and our pockets. People have the right to say "Hey, I don't think this was a good use of y'alls time" so long as they're not being vicious. Within reason, our wants as players [i]should [/i]be prioritized. But especially, [b]features that actually work for everyone on the site should be prioritized[/b]. Features that make the site better and easier to use should be prioritized. Effects have actively made the site [i]worse [/i]for a lot of players. That's a reasonable concern for us to talk about. Edit: typos