06-4-2013 at 1:03 AM

I personally am against it.<br /> <br /> I think that HA's make a site messy. I've tried human avatars, and I've had beloved websites to me turn to HA's, and it honestly makes things messy.<br /> <br /> One of the things I like about this site is the fact that HA's are non-existent. There's no pressure on having to dress them up so you don't have a 'naked' avatar, and well, I just don't see the point in it.<br /> <br /> What's really the point of having HA's? Dress them up? Cool. But they don't really do anything for the game. I joined this because I love dogs, not humans. I go on here to get AWAY from humans.<br /> <br /> If you want to play dressup, there are plenty of online games and hey, you could even ask your little sister who's been wanting you to for years.<br /> <br /> I don't like HA's, I think they have no point. They don't do anything other then sit there and get in my way.<br /> <br /> I don't know if that sounds harsh or not, I just don't see how it would benefit Alacrity.

06-3-2013 at 11:36 PM

There are many plans and ideas for the development of Alacrity behind the scenes :) Plans that have been in the works for almost a year. <br /> Just because the staff pokes around and asks what users think about features doesn't mean that it's 100% dead-set, going to happen, no matter what, no ifs, ands or buts. They're just asking for input - what you think, should it happen, what should be changed?, etc<br /> Mentioning a new idea will not direct the artists from their other projects - that would be a waste of time to have them half-abandon one project and the work on the next. I can assure you there are cool things in the works, one of which I personally am a bit excited for, but it's a surprise and not my place to get into anyways!!<br /> So all I can say is that art takes time, please be patient, mentioning HA's does not mean it's 100% going to happen, and that changes have to happen to a site or else the site gets stagnant and sinks!<br /> As an artist, I personally would love to discuss the time that goes into breed and site art and the time frame it takes to complete full images, so I think that if you want to continue that topic, you should take it to the debate board - I know there are other users that would be willing to give their opinions on it too :) In the meantime, let's try and keep this thread to human avatars, please?

06-3-2013 at 11:20 PM

I think its a perfectly valid argument.<br /> <br /> A new user makes an account on Alacrity. The first thing they're going to do is pick a dog breed! Hm, 12 breeds to pick from... Out of 100+ What are the chances we'll have THEIR breed? Or a breed similar to theirs? With 12 to go threw, you're going to get bored and eventually leave.<br /> <br /> Oh but wait, we have HAs?! Yeah no, that's not what is going to attract people and hook them into Alacrity. If people wanted to dress up humans they'd go to Gaia or Subeta or Aywas or Sonas or Khimeros or all those other pet sites. <br /> <br /> Capped dogs, a broken trial system and then a horribly outpaying frisbee game are what screwed up this economy so bad. Myself, like many useres, are just curious as to where Alacrity's priorites have gone. HAs? Seriously thats what Alacrity needs to bring it to life again? Why not create more engaging games so users can do more with their dogs? FLYBALL anyone? Dock Diving?

06-3-2013 at 11:12 PM

Lookit the dates on those, there was a lot less artwork and a lot less economy issues in 2010. There's a reason we waited so long before Shibas, there was a lot of behind the scenes working on debugging a ton of issues on Alacrity. We had coders rewriting a ton of code to keep Alacrity running.<br /> <br /> Half the reason we had issues with the economy was putting out breeds so quickly, that it didn't recover. You can expect to wait more than 5 months for future breeds for that reason, for 3 years of art (unlike the 7 months of art for Borzois, or year and 7 months for Catas. In addition, it's the breed art that takes the most time, the majority of the items are redrawn post the breed being released.)<br /> <br /> You don't like having to wait so long, I'm sorry about that, but it's going to be a permanent change. Breeds will not be released every 2-4 months like before. <br /> <br /> Regardless, this is not a thread about how often breeds are released, if you have a suggestion to release them quicker, please put it in the suggestion forum.<br /> <br /> We are capable of brainstorming new ideas for Alacrity and working on current art. Mainly because the majority of our admins are not artists and the majority of our artists are not admins. We each have our jobs: our artists work extremely hard on our site art, the admins work on current bugs and look to plan for the future. If we didn't plan for the future, we'd have complaints about how nothing new ever changes on Alacrity.<br /> <br /> Again, a bit off the subject. So now that I've addressed your concerns, if you have further ones that are not directly about Human Avatars but rather your being upset due to the new amount of time between breed releases, I'd be happy to talk to you further via issue hub or another thread.

06-3-2013 at 10:53 PM

Alright I'll bite. I'm aware of the need to space out breeds, though with how quickly people can hit the TP cap, and how just as quickly interest is lost as part of that, it's not what it use to be. Still, I do agree that for at least two months after a breed is released, that's all that sells. So, by that understanding lets look here.<br /> <br /> November 23rd, 2010 Borzoi's Were Officially Released<br /> <br /> 4 Months Later<br /> <br /> Mar 14, 2011 Huskies are Officially Released<br /> <br /> Another 4 Months Later<br /> <br /> Jul 21, 2011 Pitbulls are officially released.<br /> <br /> Another 4 Months (See a pattern here? OH BUT WAIT)<br /> <br /> Nov 15, 2011 Cata's were officially released<br /> <br />Editt// I shouldn't be doing this on my lunch break. There was a longer wait between breeds here because of the addition of puppy images and the need to get those caught up. Regardless, a voting of a new breed was started in March, four months after Catas.<br /> <br /> Jan 21, 2013 Shiba Inu's are officially released.<br /> <br /> It's going on five months now for our wait for Great Dane's since Shiba's were released. <br /> <br /> Why not focus on getting whatever items that <i>STILL</i> need to be done for Shiba's finished and work on Dane's, rather than brainstorm an 'accessory' addition to Alacrity that has not nearly as much benefit as a new breed. I imagine bone donations following a new breed will always be higher than the one time addition of HAs. But then again, Alacrity is a far cry from its glory days so who would be surprised to see humans prancing around Alacrity before Danes. need to be done for Shiba

06-3-2013 at 10:12 PM

I, personally, as well as illusions think that the HAs would drag attention away from the real cause of the game. Also, I really don't like HAs and they creep me out - a lot. I really think that, since the shiba's accessories (I believe), aren't quite done, as well as finishing up the danes, that if added should wait a while. Alacrity has a lot to get done and I don't think bringing in a new idea would be 'good' at the time. <br /> To include, like Talon, I'd like to see more dog breeds added to the site as well as the art staff's talent and time going towards dog-related things, rather than Human Avatars. That's basically all I can say without repeating myself ;) sorry if it was already posted, the stuff I said.. <br /> <br /> But, yeah, I'm against it. <br /> <br /> [Ignore what I've just spoken ZJ, if it's something you mentioned below. I was typing when you posted..]

06-3-2013 at 10:07 PM

Shadow:<br /> <br /> To put some perspective on things, we (the admin team) have been talking about some of these changes since before the polls. This is not something we will rush into, you won't see human avatars in a month if we decide to do it. We're discussing this now because we've accomplished a lot of the other changes we discussed (like the Mascot and the Bone Barn) and this is next on our list to see what the site thinks of it before we decide to move forward in our plans or not. Plans, not creation.<br /> <br /> Secondly we space out the dog introductions for many reasons. Firstly, would be the amount of art work that goes into it. 3 years worth of accessories need to be made for each new addition, shibas have a few items that have been missed that we're catching up on. It also drains our artists, and we don't want to take advantage of their skill by dumping a new breed on them every few months.<br /> <br /> Secondly, and importantly, a new breed affects the economy of Alacrity greatly. Money pours into Ala but it also throws several thousand new dogs onto the site in a short time, and screws up breeding sales for all other breeds. By waiting between breeds, it allows the breeding economy to stabilize. It allows the monetary economy to stabilize as well.<br /> <br /> Lastly, we are going to do Danes, having Human Avatars will not affect when the Danes come out. If by some twist of fate we released Avatars before Danes, it would not be because we took our artists away from working on Dane items or decided to put Humans before Dogs. It would be because the site is not ready to handle a new breed yet.

06-3-2013 at 10:02 PM

I'm against the idea :'><br /> I personally don't like HA at all.<br /> <br /> One, because they stereo type different races. HAs can be limiting and could cause many social problems. It might encourage racist comments, making users uncomfortable. Personal experience myself, when others would laugh at the 'squinty' eyes option and stereotype them as 'Chinese' or 'Japanese' eyes - this made me uncomfortable because I am Chinese, and I can tell you that I DON'T have squinty eyes. <br /> Perhaps it's just me being too nit picky, but it makes me really uncomfortable.<br /> <br /> Two, because this is a dog sim and if HAs are included + users can accessorize them, it might drag the real focus of the site onto something unrelated.<br /> <br /> Three, they creep me out ;m;<br /> <br /> My opinion might be affected by my bad experience with HAs x3x;<br /> <br /> So, maybe the feature should be optional. Or charged with bones.<br /> <br /> c':

06-3-2013 at 9:51 PM

"I think the artists were still getting items on to shibas since shibas were released. We have a ton of items that have to be fitted. New breeds take patience."<br /> <br /> The two winning breeds were announced in Nov, Shiba's were officially released in Jan. It is now June and not a word on Danes, but all this talk of Human Avatar sketches? Considering this is a dog sim, I'd think pushing out more breeds to attract more players would be a higher priority. How many people come to Alacrity looking for a HA? <br />

06-3-2013 at 9:15 PM

I think the artists were still getting items on to shibas since shibas were released. We have a ton of items that have to be fitted. New breeds take patience.<br /> <br /> I'd personally like to see other reasoning other than danes =)

06-3-2013 at 8:44 PM

Here my opinion:<br /> Like many have said, HA don't fit into a dog breeding site. Its focused around dogs; breeding them and making them the best they can be. It was never about people ever and only until the Junkyard theme came out wasn't there anything to do with people.<br /> I buy upgrades for only a couple of reasons and freedom of avatar is one of them. I spend money to pick out a picture and use it, I feel like it'd be wrong to have like the HA for non-upgraded players or make it so you can only use HAs.<br /> Theres also the point of them taking up more time to make items for them. It may not take long but eventually there will be more human things added than items. It may not be that drastic but I'd rather see items added that actually affect the site.<br /> It feels stale as well. So many animal sims have HAs and I'd hate to see Alacrity just listening what every other sim is doing. Alacrity is a nice, original game. Keep it that way &lt;3

06-3-2013 at 8:34 PM

sounds fun but i worry it would take away from the dogs and there would be more stuff for avatars than new dogs

06-3-2013 at 8:15 PM

My two cents.<br /> <br /> I think if people want to pay a few bones for an avatar, then that would be a great way for people to be more involved in donating, besides the fact that we have the collectables up for a small donation amount. <br /> <br /> I think that if they were added, there shouldn't be tons of emphasis put on them. It should be more of an accessory than a necessity. Also, maybe make them so that you unlock certain things when you reach a certain trial level or a certain amount of first places? To integrate it with the agility side that Ala was created on. <br /> <br /> I personally love the idea and would be really happy to have something somewhat personalized to have on my profile.

06-3-2013 at 8:09 PM

I completely agree with Mutt. This is dog sim. I'm so against HA that I would leave Alacrity because of it. This the exact reason why I don't play Aywas...

06-3-2013 at 8:06 PM

I'm not too crazy about the idea. From what I've seen on a couple other sites where the HA is present, things just get a bit more complicated. I've loved the fact that Alacrity doesn't use any human sims/avatars/NCP characters, because we're the trainers and handlers of our own dogs, not some little human that will probably end up looking nothing like us. I understand how more money could come from adding HAs, but I like alacrity the way it is, dog orientated, y'know c: Just my opinion.

06-3-2013 at 7:53 PM

I'm against human avatars, I agree largely with Rasdashan's and Shadow Wolf's comments, Alacrity is a dog agility site I’d like to see it focus on the dogs I’d much prefer a new breed to Human Avatars and I don’t think having HAs would improve Ala in any way, to me they would be bothersome and I’d probably drift from the site so I feel pretty strongly about Human Avatars I know from websites that have them that they would distract me and often make me shake my head as I believe the vast majority of people won’t try to make them look like themselves or make them look like an average Joe they’ll want them to look like anime characters, celebrities ect and that always bothers me. Plus there’s always going to be people who don’t want/can’t afford (I know I couldn't afford it now that Odie and Gromit trials run so infrequently) to dress theirs up and having human avatars with no clothes on even though I imagine they’d look like Barbie and Ken dolls would still bother me somewhat.<br /> <br /> I don’t want to go on too long because I'm half asleep and I’ll repeat myself over and over without realising it so I’ll just say, I just want Ala to be focused on the dogs because at the end of the day it is a dog sim. There’s a lot of demand for new breeds, I know I'm hyped up about Great Danes (but concerned that there’s been no real updates on them since before the Shiba Inu was released) and that’s what I’d much rather see.

06-3-2013 at 7:52 PM

I'm against the idea, I dont like HA's on my animal sim sites, just a personal dislike of mine honestly..<br /> <br /> I'd also much rather see more dog breeds around and see the art staffs time going towards dog related things. C:<br /> <br /> Them affecting breeding and trialing would make me dislike them even more because the I would feel like I HAVE to have one to be able to compete with other breeders/trials ect.

06-3-2013 at 7:25 PM

Took me a moment to realize what HA was. For anyone else confused it means human avatars.<br /> <br /> I'd love to see an art example of what you guys have in mind for the avatars.<br /> <br /> Keep in mind that this isn't affecting the great danes being released. The avatars aren't going to be made anytime soon seeing as we are only having a site conversation for it at the moment =)

06-3-2013 at 7:17 PM

Unpopular opinion time!<br /> <br /> I think that Human Avatars could be a really dynamic and interesting addition to the site! Personally, I'd love to have one, but in order to stray far, far away from the creepy same-ness that other HA's on other sites tend to have, I'd really appreciate if there were a range of skin tones, lip/eye/nose shapes, and perhaps most importantly, a wide range of BODY TYPES!<br /> <br /> One of the things that always bothered me about HAs on other websites is that there was always one cookie cutter body type, and frankly that kind of ties into body image issues - kids and teenagers are under insane amounts of pressure from all kinds of sources these days. Alacrity should be a place where people can escape from all of that, and feel like they can be themselves. <br /> <br /> Being able to EXPRESS themselves through their avatars instead of trying to squeeze into a box would make a lot of users more comfortable about HA's in general, I think. Lots of people here mention not liking them on other sites but do not list any reasons - this is my reason. They're uncanny, they all look the same, and there is little to no diversity apart from skin tone and eye/hair color. To be brief: what is the point of having human avatars if they cannot be made to look even slightly similar to you and look just like everyone else's?<br /> <br /> Outlining my ideas - I'd prefer there to be at least 4 body types per gender, and knowing how efficient and skilled the art team has learned to be, I don't think this would really be too much of an issue. The art team manages to create items that fit every breed of dog every single month PLUS puppies - after the initial art of the human bases are finished it'd be like dog art. Obviously I doubt the HA's items would get updates/additions as frequently as dog items, but I think this would be a good way to win people over.<br /> <br /> If people had Human Avatars they could relate to and could make to look like an actual caricature of themselves, I think they would be a lot more inclined to create one.<br /> <br /> That said, I do think this feature should be OPTIONAL, because many people do not want one. If you charge bones to create a HA, the people who do want one can contribute to the site, and the people who do not want one can continue on their merry way. :)<br /> <br /> Just my 2c.

06-3-2013 at 7:10 PM

I originally voted for being fine either way, but now I'm starting to lean more towards no HA's.<br /> <br /> I'd honestly like to see more dog related updates (new breeds, items, activities, etc.). I fear that if HA's are implemented most of the artists/coders time will be devoted towards getting that up & going. Therefor we won't be seeing dog related updates anytime soon. <br /> <br /> <br />