u/LadyofStabberfly

(if this type of post isn't allowed lmk, I just wanted somewhere to post this and I thought this would be a good spot)

Here's the short version: I got hacked in 2022 and lost 1000+ value (Elve), joined back a few months ago to try and restore my inventory, and I just got my favorite pet, turtle, back yesterday :)

Here's the long version for those that like to read/care:

I joined Adopt Me player in 2019, not too long after the Safari egg was released, however I quit the game in 2022 after my account got hacked and lost over 1,000 in Elve values (I don't care for values for the most part, this is just to measure the impact that it had). One of these pets I'd lost was a NFR turtle, the first high valued pet I personally hatched, raised up, and made neon by myself. I didn't care about nor loved my pets for values, I just loved my pets, specifically my turtle, because of the memories and the fact that my turtle was with me for 2020 Halloween and Christmas (my second and third favorite events) made him more special to me. I figured that since he was gone and I had no idea what to even offer to try and get another, I had no chance of getting him back. I visited a few times over the years just to see what changed and what the current egg was, though it never lasted more than a week (keep in mind, one of those times I had gone into a trading server and somehow got a FR turtle).

I decided to start back up ~2 months ago; a veteran (am I veteran now?) Adopt Me player who hadn't played earnestly since 2022, and, oh boy, this wasn't 2019 Christmas anymore. I spent most of my time using trade sites to get the new pets I was discovering and wanted since I'm not good at trading on the spot, utilizing the pet pen to finally make neons I've been letting rot in my inventory for seven years to make trades, and starting a Fall/Halloween collection! I wasn't solely focused on getting those lost pets back because I cared more about my current collection, but I kept it on the back burner and got back several of the pets I'd lost due to a few not having much value anymore and...I'm not really sure how I got the rest.

Then a few weeks ago, I traded a mega silly duck for a mega chocolate Dutch guinea pig, paired that with the FR turtle I got earlier, and I set up a listing in the Trade Hub for a neon turtle (with some adds). I had it up for a while and changed the adds a few times because I either wasn't getting offers or players kept offering the completely wrong pet(s) -- I even used multiple trade sites, but that didn't work either. I was losing hope that I'd ever get my turtle, until last night and I reunited with my old friend :)

Do I think I'll ever fully restore all I lost? Absolutely not, I know I'm fs not getting those high tiers. But after all the hustlin', I'm happy I've made it this far and got my little guy back. I also just think I've used my luck for the year because I'm genuinely not even sure how I got ANY of these pets back. Anyways, I just wanted to share my achievement, so thanks for reading this far :)

I HAVE LESS THAN 10 MINUTES UNTIL GEYSER, GET YOUR ASS OVER HERE R I G H T NOW

>!Ohmahgah, this was sooooo cool. The sketched style was a really great touch and keeping the overall color beige instead of plain white was a good call. Especially since a lot of artists prefer to use solid color background like beige for the initial sketch. And, this might just be a me thing, but when everything gets colored I thoroughly like how the colors are leaning a bit more towards the muted side rather than being super saturated and loud. I think it helps show the melancholic emotion of this story, though the quest environment is beautiful the colors definitely portray the tragedy that is also within Van Gogh’s life, and thus in the season. Idk, I just really like colors :)!<

>!And now we’re all Van Gogh’s unpaid courier.!<

Oreo needs a cowboy hat

Here’s my two cents: I believe the entire point of having these entrance areas for each realm, and in any game in general, is to set the tone for the area you’re about to explore, and if I were a new player going through Forest for the first time again I wouldn’t expect it to be dark and rainy, I’d expect a Prairie-type woodland area.

From a design perspective, I think first impressions of a new area matter and set up player expectations for what they’re about to experience. Forest helps to introduce the gameplay mechanic of being extinguished, preserving and losing winged light, and even one of Sky’s “enemies” by having a few crabs in that small cave. And having the darker, slightly blue-tinted setting in the beginning helps set up for the dark, rainy, windy, almost cold, and moodier feeling that I think Forest is meant to have — Sky is an intentionally emotional game and things like this matter in reaching that intention.

The new lighting/atmospheric change isn’t bad by itself, but for Forest I don’t think it makes sense for it to look like that. The changes make Forest seem more inviting, warm, and welcoming, like another Prairie, but when I think of Forest those aren’t words that come to mind. And Forest not being like Prairie or even Triumph isn’t a bad thing; Forest is supposed to be its own unique experience, all the realms are.

Just like you wouldn’t make the entrances to Wasteland or Eden brighter and more welcoming because it doesn’t match the overall tone for the rest of the area, the same can be said about Forest. And sure, I have other reasons why I prefer the original design over the new one, I like not going blind, but the main one is that it just doesn’t make sense to me from a design perspective. It doesn’t provide the same emotional tone that the rest of the realm does — as a game that is very emotional, environment design is especially important and shouldn’t be changed for the sake of changing it — and I don’t think it sets the same expectation for what Forest is as the original did.

I’ve been playing since mid-Performance and never once have I seen or heard about anyone saying they wanted the entrance to Forest to be brighter, so this change makes even less sense to me and feels like less of a necessity than it already is. Again though, the design by itself isn’t bad, I just don’t think it makes sense for Forest. I think the original concept had the right idea. And speaking as someone who’s an artist and does design and conceptual art, your design can very well be great and good but if it doesn’t achieve what you’re going for then it isn’t going to land as well, you have to consider everything when making entire environments and not just a small section of it.

And perhaps this part is a bit more nit-picky or me thinking too hard about things, but I’m just getting my thoughts out…What is the point of having a campfire and lights around if the area has been made super bright? The area looks warm instead of the colder look it had before, so why campfire if you already made the area look warm? I’ll rampage if they take my Forest campfire, though. But I digress.

Thoughts? Opinions? Do you think the new design is better, why or why not? Do you just not care at all and like to watch the chaos unfold once more? If you don’t care, what do you think of the idea of having a woodland sort of area being added, like if the end of Forest temple had denser forest and thicker, taller grass, and some little creatures? My curiosity eagerly awaits your responses. Stay classy, my raging dudes.

I say as I chug 20+ height spells to get max height (I’m shorter than I was before)

Am I the only one who puts pillows under sleeping skids? They require pillows, tout de suite!

Nothing in all of Sky frightens me more than a moth

Note to all my fellow stalkers people watchers: they can see us (in hindsight, this probably should've been obvious to me)

Anyone else who has the drone, is your outfit shrine still yelling at you even though you've already equipped/used it?

I found this a lot funnier than I should have.

I clapped for them when they died.