April 2020 Announcement - Current State of Affairs

Kada

Comradmin
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Hey there Starlight Academy community. The need for this announcement has been building over the course of the last year or so and, while it's not not a fun one, we do need to lay it all out there. Some of you may have noticed that things have... slowed down a little as of late. Our last real high stakes Event was the Dark Crystal Academy situation, and before that the previous one was back in December. On top of that we have fallen behind on challenges and even regular events.

We recently made some major changes to the way characters were handled because we thought they'd be a good change to make, but also, being honest, because the staff couldn't handle the workload under the previous system. We've seen a lot of success with the system changes, and some growing pains too, and we thank you all for being patient and enthusiastically embracing the change.

Unfortunately right now we simply don't have the staff to keep on top of all the regular work that needs to get done to keep us running smoothly. We are stretched extremely thin just maintaining the site, which leaves us burnt out and without the energy to do all the extra stuff that has given us the fun events and community projects that old members still talk about to this day.

Right now, we have two lore rangers who are putting out newspaper articles to help the site feel like a lived-in setting. We have four event rangers who are helping put together our new upcoming event.

Everything else on the site is handled by a three person team.

As things stand, we simply cannot reasonably manage the current state of the site with what we have. If we can't bring new staff on and get ourselves back into a good place again, we'll unfortunately have to continue cutting back on the features we offer.

If you have no interest in being staff, or know you wouldn't have the time to contribute, that's perfectly fine! It isn't for everyone and the last thing we want is to bring someone on to staff who doesn't want to be there. For you this simply exists as a heads up for the current state of affairs and a transparent explanation from us about what our current state is.

If you've been thinking about being staff, even just a little bit, this is your chance! Send a message to any member of the mod team (That'd be @Romi , @Kada , or @PixelatedGlory ), and we'll be happy to talk to you about what you could potentially do to help out the site.

We truly love the whole SA community, and each and every one of us continues to be devoted to keeping your enjoyment and entertainment flowing. If you can't help out on staff please feel free to still contact us with any ideas you might have for events, improvements or questions.
 

Romi

Secretly a Bird
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April 2020 Announcements


News in Brief

  • [Event] Troubled waters off the coast of MC continue to worsen
  • [Challenges] A new batch of Challenges is hot off the presses
  • [Donate] A reminder about how you can support the site.
  • [Misc] A clarification on what's needed in Character Sheet Update posts
Unsettled Ocean
Throughout the month there have been hints at something going on with the tides and then a call went out for volunteers to help rescue trapped sailors (summary here). Clearly something is going on out there in the waters. A big thanks to all the Event Rangers who are running this set of events and look out for the next stage to come out soon.

Monthly Challenges
There's a new set of challenges posted. To apologize for our delay in posting them these challenges will last through May and will count for both months. Check them out here.

Donations
In addition to the time and effort put in by all of our staff members, the site does also require funds to pay for hosting the site and keeping it maintained. If you wish to help support us and donate, our subscribers gain access to small perks like optional colored usernames and the use of custom banners on your threads. Feel free to read more here. All subscriptions are handed through the Account Upgrade feature on our site and all money goes directly to an account for the site itself.

Odds 'n Ends
We've updated our guidelines for how Posting an Update to character sheets should be handled. When posting an update you should always include the specific details of what changes you have made. For example, tell us which abilities have changed and in what ways.​
 
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