August 2018 Announcements

August 2018 Announcements


News in Brief​

Groups
Academy Clubs have become 'Groups'! Groups is a place where any group (formal or informal) can set up a plotting thread for their own organization and use. Be sure to note in the first post the purpose of the group, and any conditions for membership (students only? only those who did a certain thing?). Groups are archived after three months without any posts in their plotting thread.

We're moving any existing school clubs over, as well as a few plot threads. You're free to make new ones as you wish, whether for random groups, clubs, or even coworkers. The forum is here.

Rule Update
This isn't a significant change, but we've updated the final rule in our board guidelines, relating to underage characters in sexual situations. In order to clarify, we've updated the rules as follows:​

Reminders
We've updated the categories for our business listing. We now have a 'Security' section, and both Housing and Businesses have been rolled into other sections. Make sure to check all your claims and ensure they're up to date! If you have a character with a job not tied to a business, considering seeing if they can be hired in one of the existing ones.

We'd like to also take a moment to remind people about 'mind reading' style comments in the ICC. We've seen a lot of these, and while sometimes they can be in good fun, the overuse of them lately has been causing confusion.

For example, if you say *doesn't know what they're talking about*, it isn't clear to people reading the message if this is something they can react to. If your character looks confused, noting they look confused is generally going to be better. "Actions" that can only be reacted to by people who read minds can lead to major confusion.

Graduation Day
On the morning of August 18th, graduating students will be donning their cap and toga at the Starlight Academy Ballroom to receive their diplomas and honors from Headmistress Cordelia Moor herself. Don't be late and make the best impression you can!

Students in Grade 6, 8, 12, and the fourth year of college are encouraged to post in the graduation thread, and have their character accept their diploma for their respective school level.

Please do not update your claims. We will handle grade level updates in September.

Manta Carlos Print
The latest edition of the in-character newspaper is here! You can check out all the details on island happenings inside.

Spotlights
Congratulations to @PixelatedGlory, our Spotlight Member!

PixelatedGlory hasn't been a member of SA for very long, but he's made an incredible impact in his time with us. He's endeared himself on the site with a friendly demeanor and a colorful cast of interesting characters. And he's even gotten enough positive attention from his willingness to help and overall presence that he's joined us on the staff team as a Ranger. We look forward to seeing what else Pixel does, and we hope to see him stick around for a long while.

Congratulations to @Keen's Janelle Thompson!

Keen 's Magical Sukeban Charlotte-Chan, Defender of Love and Justice in Starlight Academy, is the kind of girl who just can't help but cause a stir- in a positive way. Also known as Janelle Thompson, this magical girl with Yugioh hair quickly started a gang of “delinquents” whose purpose is actually community service. Janelle tries to pretend to be a bad-girl but really she has a heart of gold and she's going to be your best friend even if you don't know it yet. Those who prey on the weak and helpless beware, for you may just face the true power of love and friendship.

You can put in new nominations here.

Something Strange This Way Comes...
Hmm. It's almost as if something strange is going on in the background. Maybe we'll see more going on as the month continues?​

August 2018 Mid-Month Announcements


News in Brief​

Trophies
The medal system has long gone underused, and the number one complaint we got when we asked was that it was a pain to keep track of all your medals and claim them all. While the medal system had a lot of great variety, it's time for it to go, and get replaced with something new.

Enter Trophies. Trophies are entirely automatic, and there's no need for you to claim them. They're intended to mark major milestones during your time on SA. Some medals aren't getting ported over due to difficulty keeping track of them.

Our first trophies are Post Count and Duration on Site, intended to help you keep track of milestones. Everyone loves seeing they've reached 100 posts, but noticing when you hit 103 isn't nearly as fun. Everyone got bashed over the head with a bunch of alerts to start, but from this point on it'll recognize it as it happens.

We're going to release new trophies starting next month, including trophies for winning Spotlights. If you notice any errors, or have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask the staff.

Staff Update
We'd like to welcome @Zora to the staff! They'll be joining us as a ranger, and you can expect to see a lot of them in the coming weeks.

Event
For better or for worse, there's a second, mysterious "graduation" party going on this weekend. Despite how empty and unfurnished the building it's supposed to be in has been all month, when you show up on Saturday the place is fully furnished. But it's creepy as hell.

Candles and lamps are the majority of the lighting. There's food, yeah, and music plays from somewhere you can't quite see. But there's also just these... artifacts... hanging out around the room.

Maybe this wasn't such a great idea. Oh well, you're already here. Food's free, there's plenty of people, and hey it looks like you can at least actually leave the building if you want. Despite what the cops and those parent groups say, what could do wrong?

This is an ICC event, hosted on the 18th and 19th. You can find the dates here.

FAQ Contest
We've got a new general contest! With our FAQ so close to 100 questions, we're looking for new submissions to push us over. We're also looking for people to spot any errors or outdated information in our existing 95.

You can find the contest here.

Manta Carlos Print
The latest edition of the in-character newspaper is here! You can check out all the details on island happenings inside.

Updates
We've got a bunch of odds and ends. We've got two new FAQs, one about worst case scenarios for want ads, and the other about recent events on the island. We've also updated the wording on the human shape charm in order to better clarify how it interacts with powers. The new wording is:

Human Shape Charm: While wearing this charm, the character appears human. They lose access to any abilities they had as a result of any non-human physical characteristics of their original body. For example, a character who uses wings to fly will be unable to fly while using a human shape charm. Characters wearing this charm always have a single set human form, which resembles their non-human form.

Players do not have to update their applications to reflect this wording--it is assumed.

Our Games forum has updated to Diversions! This forum now includes alignment charts, memes, and general for-fun character questions like themes for your characters, how they'd react to things, etc.

Spotlights
Spotlight Voting is now up (a day early, no one look at the calendar). You can find it here.​