FH Official Newsletter: Summer 2020

[LordSuragaha]

A review of things that have happened during this season thus far & some new things to come:

Warm sun beams and sweet watermelons abound! That's right folks it's summer! How are you beating the heat and spending your vacations? Having fun but staying safe we hope? Around Feral Heart things have been bustling so it's time to give you all a short status on whats gone on the last few months.

Board & Site Changes
Some of the notable additions and changes:

With so many working from home, the staff had a little extra time to sit down and gets some forum spring/summer cleaning in. You may have already noticed a few little changes.

• In an effort to reduce clutter, refresh, and neaten up the Index page a number of boards were either moved, merged, and renamed. Some boards that were no longer in use were removed or repurposed completely. Board descriptions were also rewritten to be less wordy and instead more concise. Here's a little comparison:



• The old forum ranks were finally changed to better fit the Feral Heart game and community theme better but also to add something fresh and fun to the mix. The staff and community had a bit too much fun coming up with the new forum ranks... as usual we got a little carried away in mischief and creativity. While there were some disagreements with some over the first edition we all worked together and shared our ideas to create a final edition that everyone was happy with. Click the spoiler button for an in depth explanation of the changes.

Old forum ranks:

Newbie                         
Jr. Member                   
Sr. Member                   
Experienced Member       
Dedicated Member         
Full Member                   
Elder Member                 
Elite Member                 
Hero Member               
Legendary Member 

The OG old forum ranks were changed after the community submitted various suggestions through the forum discussion board, anonymous forum poll, Tumblr, & Instagram. After going through a couple different community suggestions a number of suggestions stuck out as potentially the most fitting for the Feral Heart theme. Staff discussed these select submissions thoroughly. Our goal was to keep the ranks fun, Feral Heart related, fresh, and more unique than the original generic rank names we’ve kept for years. We also wanted to make them feel more friendly and not just competitive.

First Edition of the New Ranks: (They were partly liked but the community felt that they needed improvements):

Forum Newcomer
Small Paws
Grounds Dweller
Familiar Fur
Friend of Ferals
Grey Pelt
Finest Floof
Community Champion
Silver Pelt
Heart of a Feral
Lasting Legacy

While a number of users liked these new ranks and saw them as a refreshing friendlier less competitive ranking system a handful expressed otherwise. The Elder members rank in particular was missed. Some expressed that the newer ranks didn’t have a progressive feeling to them either. Suggestions were made to switch the order of certain ranks and remove or reword others. After careful consideration we reworked the new rank names around again. Thank you again for all your feedback, patience through out the process, and good humor with the temporary Elderly rank place holder as we sorted it out:

Second Final Edition of the New Ranks:


Forum newcomer
Curious Wanderer
Familiar Grounds Dweller
Experienced Traveler
Dedicated Supporter
Finest Floof
Pack & Pride Representative
Community Champion
Elder Grey Pelt
Ancient Silver Mane
Honored Hero
Immortal Legend


A brief explanation of some of the suggestions and why they were incorporated into the final edition:

Forum Newcomer: So veteran players of the game who join the forum don’t have the generalized Newbie rank.

Curious Wander: Incorporates the “Wanderer” title (Batch Four) and concept suggested by Bawfle in her forum post as well as other community member variation suggestions of the rank.

Familiar Grounds Dweller: Influenced by community poll & Torskite’s suggestion to incorporate some map specific ranks.

Experienced Traveler: Incorporates the “traveler” title (Batch Four) and concept suggested by Bawfle in her forum post as well as old rank name “Experienced Member”.

Dedicated Supporter: Refreshed community poll suggestion for old “Dedicated Member” rank.

Finest Floof: Torskite, Esarosa, A.P.S, & other frequently requested community suggestion to add “Floof” themed ranks.

Pack & Pride Representative: A mix of A.P.S & community suggestions for “lion/pride wolf/pack themed” ranks as well as Bawfle rank name suggestion for “representative” (Batch Four)

Community Champion: community poll suggestion.

Elder Grey Pelt & Ancient Silver Mane:
We know you guys missed your elders ranks ;) (looking at you WolfDog01 & Birdie. Originally the plan was for the elder themed ranks to automatically go back to you guys but due to Forum Games posts recently bumping up a number of people’s posts counts and a few other changes & additional ranks some of you elders have returned to youth <\3 I’m sorry) Lucius gave the nice suggestion to differentiate both a bit with the “mane” instead of Pelt for both.

Honored Hero: A mix of community poll suggestion & old rank title “Hero Member”.

Immortal Legend: A mix of community poll suggestion & old rank title “Legendary Member”

I’m sorry if I left any names out but thank you all for your wonderful suggestions for the ranks.

Elderly Rank System: RIP <\3 We’ll miss all you boomers. Gone but not forgotten lol.

Whippersnapper
Denture User
Arthritis
Bingo All Nighter
Mmm Metamucil
Poligrip that Prune Juice
Get Off My Lawn
Ok Boomer
Fallen & Can’t Get Up
I can’t Remember
Tombstones & Dust

Events & Community Highlights

We’d love to take a moment to thank all the community members who have put in tremendous efforts to promote kindness and positivity through out the Feral Heart community. No matter if big or small every contribution made is a massive show of care and appreciation for the game we all love. Thank you to all those actively searching for new ways to innovate and invigorate the community. We appreciate every show of support and hope you know we are indebted to your efforts. Here are just a few shout outs and features:

• SpicyDirt for her start up of the FeralCraft Minecraft server in an effort to bring the community to build and create together in a fun and safe environment. 
• Azura with her community event to celebrate World Day and the spirit of unity.
• Kitterr who hosted a Old Map Roleplay & Hang Out Day to not just remember and celebrate the old maps but to inspire new memories in them.
• Deepfriedkokichi who hosted fun meet up parties to enliven the party spirits of the community and encourage new friendships.
• QuietMacaroni who came up with a story contest to reinspire creativity in story writing with their Story Writing Contest

In late Spring we announced the start of a brand new one time Feral Heart Contest: The Podium Contest! The grand prize being the chance for the winner to have their very own podium map put into the official game! The community took up the challenge by creating & submitting their very best podium designs. We received a number of beautiful and creative submissions, here take a look for yourself!:

Podium Map Submissions


Dark_Heart


LaughingWolf


Silvestria


Thimble


VortexAlive


leda


LordSuragaha


cytofin


Marge


Kuri


cosmohouse


FlyingGrass

By early Summer the submission deadline was met and voting began. Though it was hard to select just one from such an exceptional list the community votes came in and decided! Let’s give another big cheer and congratulations to our podium contest winner Faewyn:

Feral Heart Official Instagram

The Feral Heart Official Instagram page recently reached over 400 followers! It's so nice to have many of you join us on Instagram as well. We appreciate your continued show of love and support for all things Feral Heart and hope that you continue to enjoy the content we share with you! If you haven't already followed our Feral Heart Official Instagram what are you waiting for?!Click here to visit our Official Instagram page!

Feral Heart Official Podcast

On August 22nd at 3pm EST the Feral Heart staff along with the Summer MOTS will be hosting a live streamed podcast. During the podcast we will have a Q & A session where we answer various questions submitted from the community as well as engage in discussions about the game and other fun topics. There will also be some fun casual chitchat and activities like doodling. We hope you can tune in and participate in the fun! For more information click HERE. If you’d like to see a recording of the previous podcast you can listen in on part of the recording over on our Official Youtube Official YoutubeHERE

On July 25th, thanks to Faewyn, Feral Heart held its first ever Prom themed Summer Party! The event was planned as a means to help users have a chance to experience and enjoy the joy of Prom night in light of the Covid19 crisis lockdowns and cancellations. During the event there were various fun games and contests with prizes awarded to those who participated. We’re grateful for the wonderful time spent with all those who attended. We hope you all had fun! Congratulations to our 2020 Feral Heart Prom Queen ZomZoeyBG & Prom King SpicyDirt also! You guys stole the show!

Huge thank you to: Faewyn for her wonderful idea and drive to make it happen, Ame88 for working tirelessly to create the lovely map for the occasion, Morgra for her added assistance in finding and converting the perfect ballroom, JaceLaughingWolf for her flower & suit preset overlays, LordKreiger, SpicyDirt, & ellabean for contributing to prizes, as well as the work and efforts of many others.

Let's give another round of applause and congratulations to all our 2020 Summer Members of the Season These folks were voted by the community to be the most deserving of the MOTS title, and we can't help but agree! Each of them have fabulous attitudes, and we hope they'll continue bringing forth innovative and fun new ideas for the FH community.

Summer

Faewyn, LadySigyn, & Lark

Don't forget to nominate your picks for the 2020 Autumn MOTS going on now!CLICK HERE

Staff Changes

Staff Promotions: (Moderators) - Ame88, Bloo and, VortexAlive

Staff Departures: (Moderators) - Lucius, Morgra, & Lady_RavenRose. (MIT-Moderator in Training) - SpicyDirt.

Feral Heart continues to grow thanks to the commitment of not just its community but also its staff. To our departing staff we would like to thank you all and extend our appreciation and well wishes as you bid farewell to the community you so lovingly served for years. Your hard work, dedication, passion, perseverance, and integrity were an important part of our team. We are grateful to have had the honors to work with you not just as staff but as partners and friends. We along with the entire community wish you every bit of success in all your future endeavors. Thank you and farewell.


Development and Improvement
Bringing the community together to build a better game:

While there are many things happening behind the scenes that we'd love to share with you all, we are still currently unable to at this time by wish of our server master Razmirz. Don't be discouraged though! There's ways you can help us to continue to better your experience and provide you with the game you enjoy to play! You may even have the skills we're looking for to contribute to this ever ongoing project!

- We’re still open and looking for content creators & developers for the game! Have skills in map making, modeling, creating textures, producing markings, animating, composing music & or sound effects? Want a chance to work directly with the staff to have your very own work included into the game? ... Maybe even get exclusive access to behind the scenes work? Now's the time to raise your paw! Maybe you have what we’re looking for to become a developer for the game! Click here

- Our anonymous feedback polls are still up and running! We encourage everyone to participate! We really appreciate your opinions and ideas. Click here to view

[LadySigyn]

Thank you, Sura, for this season's newsletter! And thank you to everyone who's done so much in the past few months and remained positive, it's always appreciated. I can't express how grateful I am for being able to stand alongside Azura and Faewyn this season as MOTS; they're both lovely people and I've enjoyed getting to know them both more. As for the resigning staff, it's a shame to see them step down, but their work and optimism has been exceptional, and they'll definitely be remembered. I wish them all the best with future endeavours <3. I've already congratulated the promoted staff, but there's no shame in doing it again, as their promotion is very well deserved. Congrats you three, I know you'll soar as fully-fledged moderators, you're all credits to this community.

Again, thank you for the updates <3. I look forward to what next season brings.

[Azurain]

Twas a nice season indeed! Hope next season is as fun!

[G4RG0YLE]

What would be nice is if the Newsletters could come with "Planned Events" & "Upcoming Game/Forum Changes" sections at the bottom.
I think it's become pretty apparent to the Staff that the community are not so much appreciative of surprises - regardless of what they are. There's a majority that would quite like to know what to expect in the near future as progress is made. That way, the rumour that Staff that don't do anything (regardless of Raz's influences and interferences) is greatly eradicated and anyone even mentioning of such will be quickly corrected with visual evidence of what's being worked on.
Or if nothing is officially planned, at least make it known what Staff would like to be working on. That way community can give enthusiastic feedback and hopefully it can be concluded that this is what the community would like to see, meaning Staff can push with Raz to make the miracles happen.

I appreciate the Newsletter as is, nevertheless.

[Garfield.]

Loved the summer in FH and a great newsletter, indeed! thanks Sura and eveyone who made this summer a great season.

[Dark_heart]

Sweet newsletter, Sura! <3

[Groogle]

Thank you kindly for the update, Ms.LordSuragaha! We understand you guys are extremely busy and trying yall best to do what best for us! <3 We will remain here till the end

[Kerriki]

Thanks for the newsletter Sura<3

[Kouvinxx]

Thank you for the lovely newsletter<3

[Oddonelynx]

Woo thanks for the new newsletter! What an interesting summer...