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!
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.
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!