Many changes that are happening are happening in order to make way for future gifts and events within the group. We understand the member base’s frustrations at slow changes and wait times, but setting up events does take time so we urge all members to hold this in mind when expressing their thoughts. Complaints are not suggestions; please make sure any future suggestions offer solutions that will ultimately benefit the group as a whole and that do not bring down any individual members.
Updates & Announcements
Opening/Closure of Systems
- The following systems/activities are OPEN on DeviantART:
- General Submissions (ie, Foal Prompts, Art not affiliated with any Activity like Hunting)
- Quests (Art)
- References
- The following systems/activities are OPEN on the Forums:
- Quests Scavenger Hunts and Confirmations
- Bank and Bank Related Items
- Owner Transfers and Deceasing
- Unless otherwise stated, (ie. Announced in the Discord), the rest of the systems/activities are CLOSED.
- Our Team is hard at work at trying to detach ourselves from DeviantART which means that with our current resources, some systems have to be put on the back burner while we try to prepare for our future as an ARPG. We hope in the months to come that we can share some of the exciting things we have in store! We thank everyone for their patience and understanding as we iron out the kinks and try to make sure that once we open a system, everything will run smoothly without any more need for adjustments.
Important Changes and Announcements
- Literature requirements for Extra Characters and Companions stat bonus have been updated. Any literature submitted to the group starting May 2021 must adhere to the new guidelines. The admin team felt that the 2 paragraph rule made it difficult to not only judge how long a character has been active in a piece, but also to accurately write it.
- Extra Characters must be active and present for 25% of the piece by wordcount. Most people easily fit this rule anyways, and it is easier to know that the characters you’re writing fit into this. Plus, this follows along with our visual art extra character rule that they must be equal in detail as all the other characters to count.
- For Companion stat bonus for literature to count, we originally made the rule that they had to be mentioned in a minimum of 2 paragraphs. Instead, they now only have to be mentioned twice in order to get those stats.
- Introducing the Quests Page and the Twins Quests. We are finally implementing some new quests your ballator can go on!
- The Quest Page will house all the general rule for quests. Each type of quest will lay out their specific requirements on their pages. Areas have been reflected this new update and everything can be grouped under Quests now with their own specific pages/forums. (ie folder on DA renamed Quests, Regale’s Quests was made a subforum of Quests on the forum)
- The Twins Quests are a new set of much shorter quests that open up the possibility for your Ballators to gain Tynariai’s gifts without pledging to him or waiting till Rejuvenation. While these quests do require the use of the Highlord Hub, it is currently closed so you will be unable to submit to it. However, you may still be able to complete the art prompts. All you need to do is submit them to the “Quests” folder on DA.
- Once the Highlord Hub is open you can complete your remaining tasks and finish claiming your gift via the proper Quests forum!
- Some information on Powerplay and Godplay. As we try to open up more role-play opportunities and encourage members to interact with other members’ Ballators as well as the group NPCs, we wanted to discuss what Powerplaying and Godplaying is, and why they are something to avoid.
- Powerplay is the act of controlling or forcing action on another player’s character without permission. It can also be incorrectly portraying a character to behave a certain way that is outside of their usual behavior.
- Examples: Causing damage to another member’s Ballator without express permission. Saying their character reacted angrily towards yours before they were given a chance to respond. Making a super strict character suddenly become really lenient.
- Godplay is where you roleplay things in favor of your Ballator and the story you intended (even if it doesn’t quite make sense). Powerplaying is one portion of this term. However, it also can be making your character all powerful or know Out of Game/Character knowledge that shouldn’t otherwise be known to them. Essentially, your character becomes god-like when they shouldn’t be.
- Examples: Your Ballator is the most powerful one ever, not even Aether could beat them. Your Ballator just joined a new herd and somehow knows everyone’s names and their secrets. There is a super secret place that no Ballator can ever go, but your Ballator is the exception.
- When starting out roleplaying, it can be really easy to accidentally do these things, especially if you’re only used to writing for yourself. It is important to keep these things in mind when interacting with others’ characters. If you are ever unsure about what you write or how you portrayed someone’s character, it never hurts to ask!
- Powerplay is the act of controlling or forcing action on another player’s character without permission. It can also be incorrectly portraying a character to behave a certain way that is outside of their usual behavior.
General Announcements
- We are currently looking for new admins. Please checkout The Admin Team page to see if you might be a good fit. Along with the departure of some of our admins, our team currently has a lot going on behind the scenes that requires us to bring on more people onto our team. We encourage anyone who might be interested in becoming an admin to reach out and give it a try.
- If you would like to see all the changes that are occuring this month, please checkout the Changelog. This page updates every Friday with all the changes that were made that week, we are in the process of fixing, or the issues we are aware of. Please checkout it out in case any issues you may have had has already been addressed. This also will let you know when a certain system has been updated. If you would like to preview previous month’s changelogs, you can find it under Archives with the category of Fade’s Changelog. LINK
- The Suggestion Box is open for all members to drop their ideas, comments, and suggestions in. The Suggestion Box will remain Anonymous to other users, but it is a requirement and courtesy to list your DeviantART screen name for the admin team. The Suggestion Box will be checked once weekly for the admin team to discuss.
- There are lots of new changes around the website and maybe some hints at what might be next. We strongly suggest getting reacquainted with the new website and poking around to see what might be hiding! Who knows you might find something quite interesting……..
Ballator of the Month
Your Equus Ballator Admin Team
Interested in joining the admin team? Please click HERE.