Announcements & News

[center][permalink][img]https://flightrising.com/dropbox/updates/devupdate.png[/img][/permalink][/center] In this [i]Dev Update[/i], we’ll be talking a little bit about the relaunch of our long-awaited [b]Achievements system[/b], which will be the focal point of our 10th [b]anniversary celebration[/b] in June 2023. [center][permalink][b]Click here to read more about this update.[/b][/permalink][/center] [more] ------- [center][I][size=2][Header image description: A banner image with six cogs of various sizes with the largest to the left-center of the image. On the right side of the banner is a mechanical monkey (the Monkey Wrench familiar). Overlaid text reads: "Developer Update."][/size][/I][/center] It’s been a long journey, but we are reaching the point in our refactoring efforts where the hard work has paid off, and this means that the site will be in a good position for us to finally bring back our [b]Achievements system[/b]. We thought there was no better way to celebrate such a monumental engineering effort than our upcoming [b]10th anniversary[/b]. [size=5][b]Why Did You Wait?[/b][/size] We’ve gotten some questions in the last few years about why we needed to wait until the very final stages of the site refactor to develop and relaunch achievements. The simplest and most concise way to answer that question is: If we had launched achievements before all major systems had been converted to the new code base, [b]we would need to perform refactor work not only on the features themselves, but also on the achievements associated with each feature[/b] (and all their corresponding progress data). This would have been inefficient; we do not want to essentially duplicate what is already a huge workload. Refactoring the site first gives a nice clean slate and foundation with which to build the new achievements system, which touches nearly every aspect of [i]Flight Rising[/i]. [size=5][b]Why the Anniversary?[/b][/size] Given the size and complexity of something like an achievements system, it was paramount that we factored in ample time for [b]planning[/b], [b]execution[/b], [b]testing[/b], and [b]reflection[/b] of each milestone, as well as staying committed to our company philosophy of [b]avoiding crunch[/b]. Because the achievements roadmap coincided nearly perfectly with our game’s anniversary, it just made sense to make it our major feature update for next year’s festivities. While we are generally always working on multiple things at once, the magnitude of this update does mean that our engineering team will need to dedicate a lot of resources towards it for the first half of 2023. [size=5][b]What You Can Expect[/b][/size] On to some of the cool stuff we can share! Please be aware that [i]all of this is subject to change[/i]. [size=4][b]The Achievements Themselves[/b][/size] As of today’s [i]Dev Update[/i] we have [b]over 500 achievements planned[/b] that we aim to have ready to go on launch day. For those that have been with us since [i]Flight Rising’s[/i] early days, you will know that this is a [b]massive increase[/b] in what was available before! It’s an ambitious goal—and there’s a chance that we may not meet it—but we wanted to start boldly. From a design standpoint, our goal for achievement criteria is to make them as [b]enjoyable[/b] as possible, incorporate them into many of the [b]activities[/b] you’re already doing on the website, and provide all types of players some opportunities to feel accomplished. In the legacy system, achievements rewarded non-functional points ([i]internally, we affectionately called these “Starmies”—can you tell there are some Pokemon fans on the team?[/i]). With the revamp, completing achievements will reward you with not only [b]points[/b], but a [b]special new currency[/b], as well as a chance for some [b]treasure and gems[/b]. The new currency is slated to be usable in a dedicated [b][i]Grand Exchange[/i] shop[/b] that will launch alongside the system, stocked with new and exciting items for you and your clan! [size=4][b]Pursuits[/b][/size] One challenge with a finite list of achievements is that it’s possible (at least for a time) to hit the end of the road and for progression to slow down considerably until new objectives are created. By having achievements grant a spendable currency, it meant that at any given time you could [b]only earn so much of it[/b]. We don't think it would feel great if you wanted more copies of items in the Grand Exchange achievements shop, or if new items were added later after you had spent most (or quite possibly [i]all[/i]) of that new currency. This, of course, created a dilemma for [i]Flight Rising[/i], where most activities can be repeated in some fashion and eventually get you toward that thing you wanted. To help alleviate this, we’re planning to develop an adjacent system called [b]Pursuits[/b]. It’s easiest to think of pursuits as [b]repeatable “micro-achievements”[/b], as they’ll usually be more common activities that are easier to complete ([i]e.g. “Breed a pair of dragons”, “exalt a dragon”, “convert 50 meat food points in the same action”[/i]). Each completed pursuit will help advance a segmented [b]rewards meter[/b], and when each segment fills up you will be able to claim small batches of the new achievement currency. While specifics are still being finalized, our current plan is for this system to offer a set number each of [b]three pursuit types[/b]: [b]daily[/b], [b]weekly[/b], and [b]monthly[/b]. These lists will reset as often as their name implies, with each pursuit type having a “meter weight” that corresponds to its difficulty. In general, daily pursuits should be really easy and have a lower weight, while monthly pursuits will be moderately challenging and have a higher weight. Our hope is that this supplemental system will allow you to continue to make incremental gains of the achievement currency to use in the accompanying shop. [size=4][b]Do We Have to Start All Over?[/b][/size] Quite possibly the toughest challenge in relaunching this system centers around the fact that every one of you will be at a different place in your [i]Flight Rising[/i] journey come launch day. Some of you have been around for the last decade and just by the nature of playing for so long have likely completed the criteria of a large portion of the achievements we’re in the midst of developing. Many more of you might just be joining the world of Sornieth and still figuring it all out. [b]How do we strike a fair balance between those experiences? Can we and should we grant anything retroactively?[/b] It’s a hard question to answer, and unfortunately the best solution hasn’t yet materialized. We know that [b]we’re not able to promise retroactive achievement progress for gameplay history that came before the kick-off of this new version[/b]. The data is very old, unoptimized, full of gaps, and the new infrastructure handles progression in entirely different ways. However, we are hoping that by intentionally/carefully creating the system in pieces, we may ([i]may![/i]) have enough collected data by the anniversary that many of our players will have lots of achievements completed and ready to collect, alongside others yet to be tackled. --------- And that’s our update for today! As with all of our anniversaries, there will be plenty of goodies to enjoy to go along with the long-awaited return of achievements. We’ve still got a long road in front of us to get this feature out the door for the 10th Anniversary, but our eyes are already set on the prize. We’re really excited to celebrate what is truly a special milestone in the life of any game, and we’re thankful and grateful to have made it this far with all of you.

Quick reminder for everyone: Please remember to post your suggestions in the Suggestions Forum!

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Achievements FAQ
This will be filled in over time! Check back later!



Q: Will there be achievements for items like the Boolean?

A: No.

This category is one of the first things we discussed. We don't have any plans for achievements that only a small group of people can get, not even for zero points.

Q: Will older players be able to see the old achievements they got before they where originally removed?

A: No.

Unfortunately, given how patchy and old the progression data is for legacy achievements, there isn't really a way for us to surface that information to players given how vastly different the underlying achievement architecture is. At some point in the future it's possible that we may be able to pull it out as historical information, but it's not being scoped into this project.

Q: Question regarding the three pursuit types: daily, weekly, and monthly. Do you need to log in every day in order to complete them?

A: No.

This is a good question and we understand why you'd have this concern! That's not how we plan on approaching the development of pursuits. By design, pursuits are meant to be less intensive and contain more lenient objectives.

For instance: as it stands right now, we are concepting our weekly and monthly pursuits in a way so that weekly pursuits can be comfortably completed in about 4ish days and monthly pursuits can comfortably be completed in about 20 days. For daily pursuits, you can expect that they'd be simple enough and brief enough that they could be knocked out in a few minutes.

Our goal is to intentionally design pursuits to feel like they are more or less being completed fairly naturally as you do normal gameplay and (if we do this right) you won't feel compelled to max them every time. They're just a cherry on top and way for players to grab a bit more currency to supplement what they're earning through achievements.

Q:Are pursuits going to be the same for all players or are they going to be different for each player?

A: We are still deciding on this.

Q: Are pursuits only after all the main achievements are gone or are they always there?

A: Pursuits will always be there and always be available. Even if you register for Flight Rising on June 8th, 2023, you'll still be able to interact with the Pursuits system.

Q: Does the new achievement system mean the campaign mode is dead?

A: No.

The campaign (aka "Adventure Mode") is not dead.

Q:Will players have to actively collect the currency by going to a certain page or clicking a button, or will it accumulate automatically as they complete tasks?

A: By design, achievements and pursuits will need to be manually "claimed" once their objective criteria have been met. The main reasons for this are threefold:

1. Optimization: it is very difficult to build an automated achievements system for a project like ours that is performant and doesn't affect your browsing experience in a negative way. We tried it that way in the legacy system and encountered a lot of issues with achievement toasts not appearing (or appearing late at nearly the same time you might be browsing away from your current page). In order to generate those toasts, the website would have to run a staggering number of queries to validate achievements relative to that page, which was an upkeep and performance nightmare. If any of those queries stalled, it would prevent gameplay elements from ever loading. Not good! By requiring visitation to the achievements/pursuits page(s), those heavy queries are sequestered there, and because players will be visiting at random offset times from one another, it spreads the load and doesn't bring the site to its knees. And that is...obviously not good!
2. System Reinforcement/Familiarization: We think it's important (especially for newer players) to navigate them to the place where their achievements and pursuits live in order to claim the rewards for them. This helps reinforce usage of the feature and remind them how it works.
3. Control: Claiming rewards manually also lends itself to players definitively knowing what and what isn't complete, and allowing them to see their point and currency totals increasing. This validation can significantly reduce confusion.

Q: Is the achievement currency clan-bound or will players be able to trade with each other?

A: The currency will not be tradeable—it's intended to be a personal stash for your personal accomplishments.

The achievement currency will be an account-level value like treasure and gems and the current plan is that it will be shown up in the top-right player module, replacing the icon and value that show your clan's dragon count. Those of you that have been around for awhile may remember that this is where achievement point totals used to live, so we're more or less returning it to that slot.

A couple caveats:

• The achievement currency total will only show privately to you.
• In the forums and on your Clan Profile (just below your avatar), your achievement points total will be visible to other players.

Q: Can I play all day normally, and then visit the achievements page to collect rewards for what I've done?

A: Yes—this is exactly how we want the system to be. You shouldn't need to "start" or "activate" anything. Just play!