An Amazing Start to the year 2014!

You guys rock for being so generous!  :)

Here's the January 2014 News archived.

01/01/2014

Happy New Year's!!!!!!!

I have changed the proofs for January.

There are some new information in the FAQ post, as well, added because of a smart savvy user who wanted to know if non-prize dragons from prize dragon lineages could be requested here. Find out the answer in the FAQ section! :D

Here's to happy breeding and reading and all that.

Combined for the year of 2013 (We missed January due to me changing over to this thread from the previous one, but that's okay)... a whooping 88 Tinsels and 192 Shimmerscales have been given out! Awesome donors! That's awesome!

With that, I welcome 2014 to our awesome thread!

Cheers!
~Sunny

Past News of November AND December 2013

I combined the two months because of illness and other things that were taking more attention than usual.

I'm fine now and I do not expect any further issues with my attention.  ;)

Without further ado - here were the news posts from November and December!

~~~~~~~~~~~

12/30/2013

We're just several hours before it turns into New Year's Eve and a day before it turns into a new year named 2014!

I hope everyone has a great year for 2014!

I am sorry for the delays this month; both Kit and I were very busy in RL for various reasons, unfortunately.

The thread will be cleaned very sparkly either on the 30th (later today) or tomorrow (the 31st). Yanno, I gotta think up new proofs for January!  biggrin.gif Not easy to do, lol.

Your patience has been extremely appreciated by us both and we thank you very much. We also thank you all for your generosity!

~Sunny

12/14/2013

December is here! We've decided to keep the thread content from November and archive everything at the end of December instead- combining November and December. Depending on thread activity, we may archive once every two months like this from now on.

Since both mods have been preoccupied lately, updates may be slow, but we're here. Thanks for sticking with us! ^^

-Kit

11/01/2013

It's November now! A month to ponder what we're most thankful for! I know I have been thankful for wonderful donors to this thread.  smile.gif A big thank you goes out to every Donor ever.

~Sunny

Past News of October 2013

Such a short post since I only posted news once this month.  :P

10/02/2013

*waves hiya to October*  The month of the sillyiness, gore, horror, whathave you... :)  Hope you all enjoy this month!  And new proofs and thread wiping today!  So as of today, new proofs.  :)

Cheers!
~Sunny

Past News of September 2013

9/1/2013

Me again! All's done! Our rubyshoes will be wiping the thread, so don't be surprised when it's done. ;)

Cheers!
~Sunny

9/1/2013

It's Labor Day weekend! Alas no new release! But never fear, it'll be next Sunday.

You may notice that some of the images are "broken" - that's because the url shortener that I use is borked for the moment. Fear not, the images will return! For now, please include the color of the list you want on - otherwise, we won't know what list to put you on!

I'm gonna work on the archiving and changing over to the new month's proofs and as usual, do the wiping of the thread.  :)

I hope that you guys have enjoyed this thread as much as I have.  :)

Cheers!
~Sunny

Past News of August 2013

8/12/2013

Sorry for the long delay in between updates - RL has been erratic for all of the mods.  Including me.

I hope you all are having a good weekend!  :)

Cheers!
~Sunny

8/5/2013

All done.  August proofs are activated now.  :D  Enjoy finding them.

Cheers!
~Sunny

8/5/2013

I'm a little late to clean out the thread and archive what must be archived.

I'm also going to do some stuff - spruce up the thread a bit more.

For now, stick to the July proofs.  I will indicate in a post when I am finished AND let you guys know that you need to once again explore the FAQ/Rule page for the August proofs.

Last week took a LOT out of me and apparently, I needed TWO days to recover.  Phew.

But I enjoyed myself which is the important part, yes?

I have been considering training a successor to replace me. I have been the owner of this thread for over 2 years now.

Rinah was the original owner until she disappeared for RL issues.  I took over at that point because this thread is for YOU, the users.  The thread is loved by all.

I created this thread (instead of revamping the old thread) because the name of the old thread no longer applied (and I don't think the Global mods would have changed the name).  Plus there was a lot of things that needed weeding out.

I thought it would be much faster to create a new thread, with its own email and blog.  Email to preserve archived PMs.
Blog to preserve archives of gifts and of old news.

I'm not going to close the thread.  But I am seriously considering handing the reins over to someone else.  The issue is how do I find someone who is willing and is capable?  I don't know, to be honest.  It will take me a while to figure out the answer to this.

In the meanwhile, I'm going to clear out the July stuff.

Be well to each other.  Party on!

~Sunny

Past News of July 2013

7/05/3013 -

I apologize for the way I smacked down yesterday, however, I am not changing anything from what I said yesterday.

All these points hold true.

I'm going to go fix some of the things so that hopefully there's no more refusals or issues with non responses.

I'm going to introduce a new way of gifting.

Each gifter can choose to send multiple pms - aka - first serve, first come. In this way, I hope to cut down on any issues of no responses (and having to ban).

As for rejection issues. This is more sticky because some people really DO have a reason for it. HOWEVER... with the gifter sending out multiple PMs, this should not matter anymore. But if it does - pm simkim at her personal account and explain why you couldn't accept it.

Some gifters do not want multiple pms sent out - one user that I know asks the person who got the egg to PM back - the rest doesn't have to PM back. That's perfectly acceptable and I think it's a great way to handle the two issues that I am unhappy with.

Some of these suggestions were from ownedbytoys. She had many wonderful suggestions.

Another thing to consider. There are MANY time zones around. You may want to keep that in mind. :)

I want this thread to last indefinitely, this thread has its own email, its own blog, and enough posts to go for a long time, if TJ keeps on doing those Christmas raffles and there are new prize breeds. That's my dream for this thread. I may turn this over to someone else to run it, aka, a successor - in the future.

Due to the inactivity of my mods (all but me and Erithan) - I may be reopening another mod application. AND one for updater mod.

So watch things, see how it all works.

~Sunny


7/04/2013 -

I'm not using my usual font because I want everyone to read this and I don't want the funky font to make it hard to read. (I'm a bit late with the July news and all that.)

It's Independence Day for the United States. I am sorry that I have not been here as much as I should. Many things happened to me in June and really, RL takes priority over online play, even blogs.

I hope everyone is having a good time with this thread.

However, I am disappointed in some of the users. Some applied to get onto a list, but then don't respond for days. Others reject a hatchie because it wasn't influenced.

THIS IS A GIFTING THREAD. What you get is what you get. Refusing a gift is tantamount to telling the gifter that his or her gift doesn't matter because it's not good enough for you. That has resulted in people refusing to gift again.

I hope each one of you reconsider why you apply to be on the list. If you applied and landed a list spot - then you should ALWAYS maintain a free eggslot AND check your forum pm at least ONCE per day. I don't think that's too much to ask considering these are literally FREE dragons.

As of today, I will be imposing that any rejection = immediate removal from the lists.

If I get more "refusals" or "no responses" - it just might make me reconsider keeping this thread. Make me reconsider why this thread should live.

You see, common courtesy is to always check inbox for a pm daily, maintaining room on scroll for that tinsel or shimmerscale egg.

I'm not happy. Neither are the other mods. We invest a lot of time in this thread. We want you guys to have fun - that's why this thread lives. We want you to have a chance at a nice prize dragon - that's why this thread lives.

Use common courtesy. How would you feel if YOU were the gifter and the person you just tried to gift didn't respond or rejected your gift? Pretty lousy, eh. Maybe feel like never gifting again? Think about that.

If you can't be bothered to check your forum pm, then I suggest you don't apply for a spot.

There may be circumstances which causes you to have to refuse - good reasons, that is - in which case, you pm Sunny at her her own account. Also if you have any questions or comments, please pm her there.

In a few days, there will be some revising of the rules to make things much more clear regarding refusals, influences, that sort of thing, stuff so that we don't get upset gifters. Not to mention an upset Owner.  :P

~Sunny

Past News of June 2013

06-01-2013

Keeping Blue cos, you know - wow, eye popping and easy to see.  Plus blue works for something that's not critical, but at the same time, almost critical.

 Anyhow - June First is here - that means applications get to open again.

But remember to reread the rules cos, new month = new proofs in new sneaky locations.

I've actually also fixed something.

 ~Sunny

Past News of May 2013

5/22/2012 -

Hey, guys!!!

The Seven Day Seven Breed release is upon us and as is inevitable - there's bound to be some fogging going on.

Now as you guys know, I and my mods had decided that people with fogged eggs (without screenshot of the egg, so that we know what it is) would be taken off the list.

But because of the release this week - I am going to put a temporary stop in applications until June First.

Gifting is fine, getting gifted is fine as well.

Anyone that are still on the list, that has fogged eggs, will stay on the list. June 1, we will be doing scroll checks before we reopen for applications. So if you still have a fogged something on your scroll at that time - take a screenshot of it unfogged then fog it - send the screenshot image (the code of the egg MUST be clearly showing) to the thread account.

After June 1, there will no longer be any exceptions. Screenshots of the egg or hatchie MUST be taken before fogging, and sent to the thread account. Without those screenshots (remember code must be visible), you'll lose your spot on the list and have to reapply.

Thanks!
~Sunny and the Mod Team

5/16/2013 -

Fogged scrolls, hidden adults and fogged eggs/hatchlings are all cause for removal from shimmerscale lists. If you need to fog an egg or hatchling due to sickness, please send this account a screenshot of the egg/hatchling prior to fogging it. This is simply to ensure that it is not a shimmerscale whose list you are on. Peace.

5/15/2013 -

Please Note: Applicants for Shimmerscales may not request lineages at all. If it is inbred, messy, twenty generations or what-have-you, please accept it with a gracious 'thank you'. Peace.

5/8/2013 -

Due to the timing of TJ's Birthday Release, I have pushed back the date I was going to open the shimmerscale lists.

Counting backwards - opening the lists on the 15th will give you a full 7 days to apply, get shimmers, rinse and repeat with more applicants, etc.

I'll be making a few tweaks in the rules and faq section for clarification as certain rules no longer apply to tinsels.

HOWEVER, and that's a BIG however, I request that you gift back at least one shimmerscale offspring of your shimmerscale gift (or other shimmerscales) - can be any, as long as you at least gift back something - for karma's sake. Plus, you'll feel good about it, too!

On a more serious note:

I have had to remove an user from a tinsel list on account of not responding for 48 hours. The gifter HAD message tracker turned ON and knew that the person had read, but not responded. AT ALL.

This is very very discourteous. And this counts as YOUR warning that if you're removed for such an action - you will end up on the Wall of Shame.

These Gifters don't have to gift anyone. They choose to do it because they ENJOY the delight of their giftees.

I'm pointing to the shimmerscales with the following warning:

EACH gift that you get (the first one of being offered - you may be offered 2 or 3 at the same time - you're required to accept the first one, pm the others and decline theirs and say that you must decline as someone offered first.

I don't want to hear gifters saying that "So-so said she doesn't want this lineage because blah blah reason."

My response to THAT is this:

So what if the shimmerscale is inbred, has a messy lineage or even is a LONG generation. It's STILL your first shimmerscale of that color. Seeing as you don't get on a shimmerscale list of that color if you already had one...

You take what's given to you AND you THANK the gifter.

IF someone who tries to refuse a gift - the gifter can contact simkim at her pm (please use simkim's pm, not the project account) and inform simkim.

Sunny (as in simkim) - being me - will come on the project account, remove that person from said list and put on the wall of shame.

I don't want any refusing. I want to see you guys thanking people for their generosity. In the previous Tinsel thread, someone who loves breeding her tinsels, quit because of this exact reason.

I don't want to see that happening here. I want to see everyone all happy!

So after reading all that... here's the actual date of the opening.

May 15, 2013 will be the day the Shimmerscales open!

~Sunny

5/2/2013 -

Thread'll be cleansed of April Showers and welcomed into the searing heat of May!

~Sunny

5/1/2013 -

Blog's updated and has the archived news/lists for April.  Once again - thank you so much for donating to this thread!

~Sunny

Past News of April 2013

4/13/2013 -

Congratulations go out to michellechan2211, Evangeline5432, GCat, and Erithan as our new secondary mods.  Michelle and Eva have been with us from the old thread, but they are great and have graciously agreed to remain as mods.

~Sunny

4/9/2013 -

Since I'm the one doing tweaks - I'm sorry that it got delayed due to unforeseeable events over the past two weeks.  I so totally appreciate your patience!

I've added a new feature - each month's news will be archived.  For people who are curious and want to learn more about things.

Pain is not something I enjoy, nor enjoy having to have four teeth yanked from the upper jaw.  Right now, I look like a rabbit if I do an open teeth smile.  Yuk!  But next Monday, the 15th, I'll have a retainer with fake teeth on 'em to make my smile somewhat almost complete.  Almost complete because I still need fillings for cavities and such.  Which my insurance decided wasn't part of the full dental coverage.

I'm thinking ... uh... there's the problem with America's health care system.  Compared to other first world countries, we pay SIGNIFICANTLY more.  Yet we're the country with the most health problems.

Simple solution - pay for prevention and maintenance.  Stop insisting on useless tests or procedures to prolong someone's life when doing so would result in literally no quality of life.

Oh yeah, for those of us who are broke, essentially - stop making it cheaper to eat crappy junk food.  Make it cheaper to eat healthy, rather than junk food.  I'm sure obesity would be significantly reduced.

/end of soapbox

Here's the actual news - tonight, I'm archiving stuff, wiping the thread up to April 1.  AND doing the promised tweaks.  (You might be asking, what tweaks? Find out soon!)  (And shame on me - I lost the newest artwork and I can't even remember WHO did it.. *big sad face*)

Thank you, everyone, for participating in a wonderful thread, being donors, being giftees and most of all - being kind to each other.  That rocks big time!

~Sunny

Past News of March 2013

3/23/2013 - 

Applications for Secondary Mods now CLOSED. I apologize for the lateness!!!! RL went and got all hectic for a few days.

There is new artwork, I will add it when I do the tweaks.

I also plan on more tweaks to the thread - I have gotten feedback on the way things are now, so I am going to do my best to ultimately make the thread pleasing and all that - but know that I cannot satisfy or please everyone. That's just logically impossible.

~Sunny
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

3/30/2013 - 

OY! Due to some RL stuff going on with me, it's been taking me a while to get to the stuff on here. I have not yet done the tweaks that I wanted to do with the basic thread itself. That will come later this weekend. 

HOWEVER! This thread now has its very own gmail address! Just in case the pm inbox fills up (which I doubt will ever happen, becuase, hey, I'm someone who archives and stuff to keep it as empty as possible) - but any archiving of the PM stuff will now go to THAT gmail address. The gmail address will be accessible by myself and the primary updaters ONLY. I also will be creating an account with Google's image site to host all of the thread's images. Again only accessible by myself and the primary updaters.

I'm doing these things so that should something ever happen to me or I want to step down or whatever craziness happens - the thread can keep going and going like the Energizer Bunny! I'm looking to see this thread outlast the end of the time! :P Ok, maybe not quite THAT long... but long-term, yes.

We are in the process of speaking with the possible secondary mods and this will take about two weeks. We should have an announcement of who will ultimately join Michelle and Eva as secondary mods roughly around April 20 (maybe earlier). Michelle and Eva have graciously decided to remain with the team. The others from the old thread are no longer mods of this thread other than these two and Coyote/Lady Cat - and myself.

Shortly after that announcement is made, the new secondary mods will need training to get their skills tuned just right for the approval/deny. They have to learn not only just how to approve or deny - there are other things they need to be trained on. 

I don't think it will take much time and very soon after that, the shimmer scale lists WILL open - I will give the warning that the lists will open 7 days in advance. That means you all will have time to study the rules and faq. The proofs will be changed as well sometime during those 7 days, so don't expect to have a copy n paste application ready to fire into the thread. ;)

Cheers!
~Sunny