News and Updates

Hello everyone!
We’re here with our first follow-up announcement with regards to the overhaul:

The Free Playable Characters (or "FPCs") system is being replaced with other methods of receiving free "Make Your Own" characters (MYOs) to begin playing the game.

Two days ago, we turned off the creation of new FPCs. Today, we are announcing that we will be removing any undesigned FPCs in approximately 3.5 months’ time.

Please submit your designed version of any FPCs you own via the MYO submission form before November 8th at 23:59:59 Eastern Time.

We will be implementing new systems to get free/game-earned MYOs (for example, you can get a ticket for any playable species by completing the tutorial) that overall have fewer restrictions than FPC, but we wanted to extend this opportunity to also finish up and keep FPCs for those who had created them before -- basically as a thank you for having participated in the system.

Designed FPCs will be retaining their account-locked status and will not become tradable despite the system being removed. If you are not able to submit during this time frame for whatever reason, but had a design planned for the FPC, you are absolutely free to create that character via an MYO ticket as we roll out more ways to obtain them for free and via the game.

To reiterate: You have until November 8 at 23:59:59 Eastern Time to submit designed versions of FPCs. Any that are not designed (still showing the NPC, non-customized version of the art) will be removed after this point.

If you already designed and submitted your FPC art in the past, you don’t need to worry about this! That is your character and we will not be removing them. We will ONLY be removing FPCs that were never designed and updated with new art.

Our reasoning for this is that we desire to change the FPC system to a more progression-based system of acquiring free characters, while also making the new free characters have less restrictions overall.

We also do not desire to take away completely designed FPCs, as we maintain that our position on character designs is that we will not take them away, as per our Terms of Service, but we would also like to balance the previous mass-attainability of FPCs with the new systems of MYO rewards.

Thus, we felt that the best compromise for balancing purposes was to keep completed FPCs, with their account-bound restrictions, remove uncompleted FPCs, and implement the ability to acquire new MYOs that can still be used to finish creating any previously-uncompleted designs if so desired.

We have also started rolling out some other changes to systems, such as updating the "Innate Abilities" page to talk about their new replacement -- Skills (which is similar!). Though there may be some discrepancies across pages that still talk about Innate Abilities (such as the tutorial). We are working on updating all of these pages to make them align with one another, but didn’t want you to have to wait to start seeing some information regarding what we intend for the game.

Hi everyone!

We’ve got an important announcement today, and we’re really excited to share what’s going to be coming soon!

We know that a lot of players have wanted more lore for a long time now! The Turn the Tides event and (to a lesser extent) KuniPicki event were our first real foray into building that up. But it hasn’t felt quite right and we have hit a number of walls internally with regards to developing the world’s lore that we want to present and you want to see.

The ultimate result of this is that we have decided the best course of action is a complete overhaul of the game’s branding, lore, mechanics, and world in general.

On the surface, we know that sounds scary! Lyth has been through a lot over the years and seen its fair share of changes. When Jack took over at the end of 2019, a complete change like this was something that they wanted to avoid. But after 7 or so months, the merge of 3 other games/communities, and a lot of internal staff work, we realize that to set ourselves up for the best possible future: an overhaul is necessary.

What does this mean for you, your progress, and the game’s updates? In general, we want to keep the progress you have made thus far. Everyone will keep their accounts, their characters, their items/pets, etc. Where possible and necessary, we will provide compensation for changes. For example, if an item is removed from the game, we will explore currency or new/equivalent item compensation for anyone who has that item in their inventory.

At this time, we are still finalizing some parts of the game that are changing. We don’t want to rush this, but we also felt it prudent to inform you of our intent -- we know that real life money plays an important part in aspects of the game, including the purchase of many new designs, and we want you to be able to make informed purchasing decisions.

Our goal is to work on this overhaul alongside finishing up some features that have been in the works for a bit (things that, for example, might be more “mini-game-esque” or website quality of life and less lore-related). But the overhaul will be taking a priority, as we are removing some things, and would like to re-implement the replacements as quickly as possible, while making sure we are setting ourselves up for success moving forward. This is not a hiatus of your regularly scheduled updates, but rather a shift in what some of those updates are.

There is one thing that we will be putting on pause immediately: earning map passports. We are completely revamping the map and locations you can visit, thus earning passports to the current locations needs to be stopped immediately. We will be discussing the best way to move already-earned passport completions to the new locations, so that you don’t lose the effort you had put in previously. If you were in the process of completing a passport prompt for an existing location, we will provide a 7 day grace period for you to finish and submit this and earn the old location passport, making yourself eligible for the compensation option(s) that we eventually provide.

Future designs also will no longer feature adaptations/traits of any kind. We are shifting to focusing on subspecies and body types for all species. Previous Forim Descendant designs that have adaptations will keep their appearance/design and will not require any changes. Adaptation ticket items will be removed and compensated with equivalent currency to their shop price.

MYO tickets will be changing: there will no longer be separate “Antecedent MYO Tickets” and “Forim Descendant MYO Tickets” -- these will be combined to one MYO ticket used to make the “basic/regular subspecies” of any playable species, priced at 25 gems (roughly $25 USD). Users who previously purchased antecedent or forim descendant MYO tickets with gems from the Lyth Patreon Gem Shop will have the difference in gems credited back to their account.

Further changes will be announced as we progress! As always, if you have suggestions about site features, lore content, or other things you'd like to see, we would love to hear them! We consider all suggestions, and while we cannot always implement them, we've gotten many good ideas in the past to springboard off of and improve the game and website.

We would like to reiterate that we are not pausing activities other than the passports mentioned above. The “They Came From Nowhere” event will also continue as planned and you can integrate your interactions with the Kuniklovs and Nitpickis with your characters’ canon into the future as well! (In general, our intent is to carry over as much as we can canonically from both this and Turn the Tides, but we want to allow everyone the freedom to make their own stories as well, and we certainly won't ever tell you that your character story is wrong.) Thank you so much for your continued patience and support and we look forward to post-overhaul and bringing you new content for years to come!

✦ Where Did They Come From?

The first sightings of Kuniklovs and Nitpickies can be traced back to Vulcareal, around the Empty Tundra. The explorers who ventured out into Nowhere were too busy trying to survive, therefore, never managed to get closer looks. That, coupled with the extreme weather conditions made them mistake the two species for feral creatures.

But we now know that’s not the case.

No one knows how long these species have been settled there — or even when they came to be — since the area is mostly desolate. However, Kuniklovs and Nitpickies have coexisted happily for a while; Kuniklovs offer Nitpickies protection and in turn, Nitpickies provide Kuniklovs with items that only they can get their grubby little paw-gloves on.

✦ Why Are They Here Now?

The recent flooding of several Lyth cities did not leave the rest of the world unaffected.

The manmade disasters increased the rainfall throughout Lyth, which directly correlated to a rise in the number of avalanches all the way out in Nowhere. Although they were unaware of the real reason, Kuniklovs and Nitpickies knew that their home was becoming unsafe.

After some discussion, they decided it was time to spread out towards the rest of civilization — the inhospitable, barren Empty Tundra was a weird living choice anyhow.

Especially since their young would be arriving soon...

✦ KuniPicki Prompts

✦ First Impressions

What is your Lythian’s reaction upon meeting a Kuniklov and/or Nitpicki for the first time?
You can use the example Kuniklov and Nitpicki pictured above!

✦ A Helping Hand

Let’s help our new friends get acquainted with the rest of the world!
Do you take them to see the sights?
Or maybe introduce them to new technologies?

✦ Home-Cooked Meal

Needless to say, the food in the Empty Tundra is...okay.
Why don’t you cook them a meal they can’t find in Nowhere?

✦ Requirements
Visual at least clean lines and flat colors (or shading if black and white)
Written at least 250 words per prompt (“draft completion” required) (or per participant if RP log)
You can turn in a maximum of three prompts; you can do the same prompt three times if you'd like!
Submit them via the ARPG submit form under "Event Prompt."
They must be turned in by July 20th, 2020 @ 23:59:59 to be eligible for rewards!

✦ Rewards
Completing at least one prompt gives you the “They Came From Nowhere” achievement!
Completing one prompt is also the minimum requirement for entering the raffles below.
Completing three prompts gives you an MYO Antecedent ticket!
As always, you get Loonoles based on the piece(s) you submit.
Remember to claim the bonus + 5 (Event Quest) Loonoles!

✦ KuniPicki Flaffles & Raffle

As previously mentioned, one of the reasons Kuniklovs and Nitpickies are making themselves known is because they need somewhere safer to raise their young. While some have been carrying their babies around with them, others have adopted a “throw them into the deep end” approach.

Lythians have been uncovering some Kuniklov and Nitpicki younglings tucked away in various nooks and crannies: tree holes, leaf piles, and even strangers’ belongings! According to them, their babies are quite capable of surviving on their own — having grown up in a much harsher environment — but it’d be nice to give them safe homes anyhow:

Introducing our very first batch of Kuniklovs and Nitpickies!
From now until July 13th, 2020 @ 23:59:59, you may enter for a chance to win.
For the flaffles (flat sale raffles), you’ll still need to pay upon winning.
You can enter for more than one but you’ll only win one (per category)!
Please click the image above for more information.

✦ Notes

Kuniklovs are a revamp of an old species by @Buntato & @Solly.
If you have an old Kuniklov, contact us with proof and we’ll add it to the ML.
The Kuniklovs and Nitpickies from the batch above are in their baby form.
More information on how to grow them will come at a later date~

✦ Upcoming Event & New Items

It would appear that mating season is coming soon… we suggest you contact any potential partners in preparation for August 17th! Here are a few things to consider:
- each breeding will cost $15 or $20 USD depending on the tier you choose
- only antecedents can breed, so no Forim descendants or companions
- an antecedent can only be paired up once per season
- each pairing will only produce one offspring*
- same-species partners will produce babies of their species
- different-species partners will produce crossbreeds
* The only exception to the one-offspring-per-pair rule is if the parents are owned by two different users and both parties want a baby from that pairing. This is the only time a batch may have two babies, but each party has to pay individually for their offspring. So please plan accordingly!

In addition, we’ve added new items for those of you who’ve been wanting to make large changes to your characters. Truffle’s Treasure Trove now carries two redesign items, so head over there if you’d like to purchase them!

Featured Lythian

This month's Featured Lythian is...

LA3

Foam
Owned by: LilMissLillie
Congratulations!

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Gifting Gacha Increased Rates

Items with increased rates in this month's Gifting Gacha are:

Hello! We've got a few big news things today so let's get right to it:

June is Pride Month! A time to celebrate under normal circumstances, but these times we are in are not normal by any means. We have planned for some time to create site items to sell for charity during June, but given the situation around the world, we have reached the decision to split donations from these sales between the Transgender Law Center and this ActBlue initiative which automatically further splits donations between bail funds and Black initiative funds.

The first Pride was a riot and we would not have this time to celebrate if it weren't for Black trans women who made it possible. We hope that by splitting the donations, we can help a little bit of both worlds. It's Pride Month, after all, but if our stance isn't also clear: Black Lives Matter.

We currently have a frame and four pets available in exchange for donations that we will forward to the charities mentioned above. To facilitate sales, we have set up a Storenvy page, from which you can purchase each of these items: here.

More information is available in each listing! Pets can be purchased featuring any Pride flag of your choice.

As of right now, we intend to reward items and make donations on approximately a weekly basis. However, we are currently NOT intending to end sales of these items, and as sales slow down, donation forwarding may be done on a monthly time frame.

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Now that we've made a frame purchasable with real life money, it was prudent to make further expansions to the frame feature. Thus we are excited to release the ability to preview frames, update your Lythian frames, and also use items to unlock new frames!

You can access the Frame Previewer by visiting Activities -> Activities Hub -> Frame Previewer. This page will allow you to see all available frames and test them out with your Lythians to see what might look best.

When you've decided to update your Lythian's frame for real, you can do so from their profile, by clicking the new “Change/Update Frame" button. Any frames they have unlocked will be permanently available to change between.

You may unlock new frames from items via your inventory -- if you received a Frame of the Sea from the Turn the Tides event, that item can now be used!

And finally, a new shop has opened up in the marketplace! Tessa the Flyte has a variety of frames available for you to purchase with Loonoles! Returning players from Astral Story may recognize these -- they are based on designs from Astral Story, and if your Lythian had unlocked any pre-merge, they have now been made available to those Lythians again. (This includes some event designs from October 2019 which are now able to use the “Summoning Circle 2019" frame.)

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Last, but not least, the MYO Forms have received massive upgrades, and masterlist art/design updates are now fully available on-site!

The MYO forms themselves should be fairly straightforward, but if you have questions or need help, we are always available! Additionally, with these updates, both the submitter and staff can now leave comments within the forms themselves, and discuss back and forth regarding uploads. You may also edit MYO submissions if an issue is found or something needs changed.

FPCs can also now be selected for their first design upload on the MYO page!

Art/design updates can be accessed from a Lythian or Companion's profile. The “Update [Lythian/Companion] Art/Design" button will lead you to a form where you can:
- Update art without design changes (or very minor design changes) (Lythians & Companions)
- Update designs with item usage (Lythians only)
- Update both of the above on alternate forms (Lythians only)
- Unlock new alternate forms (such as with the Water Form Potion) (Lythians only)

As with the MYO forms, simply fill out the information and submit! If you have questions or experience issues, please do feel free to contact us!

As these functions are completely available on-site, the DeviantArt journal for MYOs and art/design updates is now retired.