• Every month, Pai and Oran from Peddler's Port will have different sets of items in their shops that will retire at the end of the month to be replaced by new stock.
• These items are obtained from far away lands and follow the theme of the land they visited each month.
• All retired items from Monthly Shops will eventually be able to be obtained very rarely from Grandma Agnes later on.

• The recipe for this seasonal pet's hatching item is unlocked by default, the ingredients are in Pai, Agnes, and Oran's shop Bonus Prize pools.
• This Seasonal Pet will remain in the shops for 3 months and rotate out at the end of November to be replaced by a new pet.
• Seasonal pets will be obtainable annually on a rotation! The items the seasonal pets hatch from can be alchemized at any time of year as long as you have the shards.
• The item alchemy recipe for the hatching item is automatically unlocked for all users, you can view it in your item alchemy page.

WHAT WE'RE WORKING ON
Here's a look into what we're currently prioritizing, among other smaller bug and QoL fixes!

WISHING WELL SEPTEMBER STREAMA status post with a link to the stream will be posted when it begins!
We'll be working on a new batch of wishes from the Wishing Well thread. Hope to see you there!

AUTUMN EVENT
We're diligently at work on our Autumn event planned for October! We'll update with more info when we're ready. Looking forward to a brand new event type!

RULES UPDATE & FORUM EXPANSION
We're now in the process of finalizing some updates, elaborations, and additions to our Terms of Service, Rules of Conduct, and various forum guideline stickies so that they more completely cover various questions and issues that have come up over the past year. We'll be adding some expansions of forum categories and subforums with this upcoming update, aiming for it to go out this month!

ARTIST HIRING
We've finalized our artist team now and are in the process of getting everyone set up. We'll be doing lots of training starting this month in order to help our team adapt to Dappervolk's style and help boost our asset creation in the future. An update will be going up once we get our team situated with artist roles on site. Thank you so much to everyone who applied!

BETA CHANGELOG & ROADMAP THREAD
These items are still on our to-do list, and will remain here until they are complete!

CUSTOM MAKER DROP BUG
Recently, a large number of custom makers dropped in one day, much more than should be possible. After taking some time to investigate this, we found a bug within the probability system when coupled with the luck stat. This issue didn't previously appear due to a combination of less spins being made in one day and less luck available to be equipped.

We've now fixed the bug so the drop rate should be back to normal again. There will not be any removal of custom makers from accounts or a rollback of any kind, as all makers were spun legitimately and it was an internal bug.

Later on, we'd like to add a few mechanics to make the custom maker obtaining system a bit more fair and rewarding:

• An individual user cap where one user can only obtain a maximum of 1 custom maker per week/2 weeks.
• A sitewide cap where a maximum amount of custom makers can be obtained from machines weekly. This count would be added to the site UI so users can keep track of whether or not the cap has been hit.
• Occasional opportunities outside of spinning chance machines to obtain custom makers, such as raffles or contests.
  

As a large amount of custom makers were spun recently, we anticipate that the current custom queue will be longer for a few months. We are however confident that we will be able to catch up and maintain the queue with our current completion pace.

• Every month, Pai and Oran from Peddler's Port will have different sets of items in their shops that will retire at the end of the month to be replaced by new stock.
• These items are obtained from far away lands and follow the theme of the land they visited each month.
• All retired items from Monthly Shops will eventually be able to be obtained very rarely from Grandma Agnes later on.
  

WHAT WE'RE WORKING ON
Here's a look into what we're prioritizing currently, along with smaller QoL fixes and updates. This month, we are focusing on our usual work as well as internal planning and UI creation for new features and updates in the future. Because of a large portion of the work being internal this month, we don't foresee any major updates besides some changelogs for fixes and small batches of new content.

WISHING WELL AUGUST STREAM
A status post with a link to the stream will be posted when it begins!
We'll be working on a new batch of wishes from the Wishing Well thread. Hope to see you there!

RULES UPDATE & FORUM EXPANSION
We'll be working on some small updates, elaborations, and additions to our Terms of Service, Rules of Conduct, and various forum guideline stickies so that they more completely cover various questions and issues that have come up over the past year. After we do this, we'll be adding some long awaited expansions of forum categories, such as adding an Events & Giveaways forum, Hangouts forum, etc!

INTERNAL PLANS & MOCKUPS
We'll be taking some time to work with our development team to plan out and create UI designs for various updates and new features that are moving up the todo list. We're excited to move into the next step of our development for many of these features that we've been waiting to work on and implement!
This includes but is not limited to: Guild updates, new Autumn Event type, Housing, new Agnes related feature, QoL related updates to some existing features, Customs Market, Pet Accessory Market
Since this is an internal pre-coding process, there will likely not be any news or previews of these features just yet this month, we will update when work progresses further.

BETA CHANGELOG & RETROSPECTIVE
This item is still on our to-do list, and will remain here until it's complete!

ROADMAP THREAD
We'll be working on a Roadmap thread and planning out how to consolidate it with our existing priority lists in our monthly news posts and changelog posts. This update should make it easier to keep track of where the site is going and what's coming up on a more longterm basis. The Roadmap thread will shed light on our more longterm plans which includes things like the Vaer Quest updates, Balancing plans, new features and content, etc.

• Agnes' Daily Gift quest, the chance to get one will be added tonight at rollover.
• New birthday letter rewards from some Peddler's Port NPC's. Users who already reached the required affection but didn't get the letters yet will be retroactively rewarded. These letters are currently being written and will be added at a later date.
  

We are looking for artists who are willing to join our creative team and take on a longterm position and on-site role. The position is paid for on a project by project basis, in which artists will be assigned work periodically to be completed by certain deadlines. The amount of assigned work depends on the site's needs, budget, as well as artist availability. Artists will have the option of being paid in Real Life Currency or Turnips at market rates based on their preferences.

The position of Site Artist entails:

• Signing an NDA, contract, and using our Site Artist Discord server regularly to communicate
• Hands-on training under our Head Artist for various areas of site development
• Collaboration with the Head Artist as well as the rest of the team on various projects
• Artwork created can include (Depending on artist strengths and project needs):
  
  • Pet Edits
  • Item recolours
  • Items, Clothing assets
  • Pet assets
  • Other Misc Artwork

A member of the Artist Team would be expected to:

• Work well in a team setting, providing feedback and bringing creative ideas to the table
• Be accountable, present, and communicative
• Be proficient in Photoshop or another PSD-enabled program
• Complete their assigned work within deadlines
• Represent Dappervolk in a professional and welcoming manner

APPLICATION FORM
If you're interested in this position, please fill out the application below and email it to [email protected] with your portfolio and resume attached.

Username and ID:
Pronouns:
You consent to providing your full name if accepted:
Type “Yes” to consent. This is required as you will be signing an artist contract and an NDA (Non-Disclosure Agreement) in regards to any unreleased Dappervolk content you may see or create as an artist for Dappervolk. It is however fully confidential and will remain with the site owner only.
Confirm that you are over 18 years of age:
Type “Yes” here, only adults over 18 years of age are legally able to enter into a binding contract and receive payment.
Timezone:
We're looking for team members who can participate in active discussions regarding asset development and participate in the on-hands training process. 
Preferred rates:
Outline the general rate of pay you would like per piece completed. Examples of what you could use are per item, pet, or a general hourly rate.
Asset Preferences:
Let us know which area(s) of art development you're most interested in contributing to on Dappervolk. Ie. Items, clothing, pets, other?
Introduction:
Let us know a bit about yourself and what interests you about becoming an artist for Dappervolk. What qualities do you have that would make you a great addition to our team? Feel free to also include information about yourself outside of Dappervolk too, such as any hobbies/interests! 
Experience on Pet/Avatar Sites:
Please share any relevant experience you may have working as an artist for other sites, or otherwise playing a role as a community figure. 
Username(s) on Social Media: If applicable!
Username(s) on other Petsites/Communities: If applicable!
Any other Details/Information: OptionalFAQ
Why not have a standardized payment rate?
There is too much variation in experience, skill, and preference in different artists for us to set a standard rate of payment here. Please list out payment preferences most suitable for you when applying. The preferred payment artists receive is at their comfort and discretion, and will not have any weight when reviewing applications.

How are artists selected?
We will be hiring applicants who seem like a good fit for the team based on art style, past experience and skill level. All artists will be joining our team of creatives and taking on work that fits into their own schedule. We're looking to create a great team environment that will boost the creativity and variety of future site content.

What kind of hours are artists expected to work each month?
This is flexible for each artist, we have no minimums for work taken on each month. Essentially, artists will claim what they have time for in each project and manage their time independantly around our planned deadlines.

Will hired artists be drawing turnip-based items such as monthly sets?
No. We will not be hiring artists to draw items or content that directly generate revenue. All site artists will be working on free-to-play content such as new permanent items/pets, assets, and free seasonal content.

Why ask for a timezone?
This is to best coordinate scheduled things like deadlines. If selected, we will be getting in touch to discuss everything in further detail, as not everyone in the same timezone has the same active schedule.

When will my application be replied to?
Due to the potential volume of applications, we may not be able to reply to every application, but thank everyone in advance for their interest in the available positions! We will be emailing with additional questions where applicable.
Applications will remain open indefinitely until we assemble a full team.

This event type is one of two event types that we currently have. This is the third iteration of the Co-op type event and our Winter event was the first iteration of the Gifting type event. We'll be making adjustments to each event type in order to improve them each year.

Here are some plans for improvements for future co-op type events that we've accumulated with the feedback from hosting this event!

• In order to reduce stress, we're planning to outline more clearly the amount of play/effort required to obtain rewards in events going forward.
• We'll be looking to avoid awarding duplicate event items as rewards for different aspects of the event while keeping them accessible to all participants.
• We're planning to do a rework of the Co-op event type to achieve the following:
  
  • Allow more freedom to do the tasks you want to do by having tasks and points passively track from the start of the event.
  • Incorporate more of a co-op element to the event by adjusting tasks and the main event bar.
  • Add a new mechanic unique to this event type that isn't simply highlighting existing site mechanics.

Our next event will be a Fall event some time in October! We'll be launching our first iteration of a whole new event type. We've decided to forego the Summer event this year due to the Spring event having been delayed into summer, this should give us a bit of a headstart on the upcoming Fall festivities and allow us to get on schedule.

• Every month, Pai and Oran from Peddler's Port will have different sets of items in their shops that will retire at the end of the month to be replaced by new stock.
• These items are obtained from far away lands and follow the theme of the land they visited each month.
• All retired items from Monthly Shops will eventually be able to be obtained very rarely from Grandma Agnes later on.

WHAT WE'RE WORKING ON
Here's a look into what we're prioritizing currently, along with smaller QoL fixes and updates. This month, we'll be focusing on maintaining our routine art asset duties including monthly sets and the custom queue, and various updates outlined below.

CUSTOM PET & ITEM COPY MAKERS
This feature is something we'll be looking to release this month, along with our second completed batch of custom requests! Here are some details on what the feature will be like:

• The functionality to duplicate custom items/pets will be added to special on site items.
• These items will be obtainable from Agnes's shop as well as occasionally through gameplay.

ARTIST HIRING
We're getting ready to open artist applications this month! We're looking to assemble a team of onsite artists to slowly train into their individual roles. It will also be greatly helpful to have a team to bounce ideas around creatively with. The application requirements will be having a portfolio to showcase your general artwork as well as filling out a form outlining some info on yourself and what you're interested in. More details will be made available when artist applications are open.

WISHING WELL THREAD
We're planning to start a Wishing Well thread in which users can post wishes for items or pets they would like to see on site. We'll then be picking out some wishes to fulfill each month and drawing them in our development streams.

DEVELOPMENT STREAM
We'll be hosting a monthly development art stream from now on! This month, the art stream will take place on:
JULY 15TH, 3PM DVT
A status post with a link to the stream will be posted when it begins!

BETA CHANGELOG & RETROSPECTIVE
We're still working on assembling our changelog from closed development, and we're planning to include a retrospective on what was accomplished, what went wrong, and what we learned for the future. This is something we're working on, but we're not sure if it will be posted this month. When it is, it will be presented in either the changelog or in a new thread depending on length.

ROADMAP THREAD
While working on our balancing roadmap, we decided that it might be beneficial to set up a general roadmap thread. It would be updated periodically with adjustments and additions as time goes on. It would contain an itemized list of each future update we'll be focusing on in succession. For now, we've been including our goals and priorities for the month in each monthly news post, as well as in our Changelog thread.