#BringBackJuly

Please read before commenting!
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As I have said before; I am AWARE that the "full version" of the event is not available and it will not be until next year. I am AWARE that the admin and art teams put in a lot of work for this event. I am very thankful for them. Xylax, Deertush, 7th, you guys are amazing and I love you. This thread is in no way meant to downplay your skills or capabilities, because your art is fantastic and i and everyone else appreciate everything you do for us to keep the game fresh and beautiful. This thread is being posted because I would like to hear suggestions and input from the rest of the community, because i am aware that myself and most of my friends very much dislike what has happened to the July event in terms of the rehaul.

What the Data Shows
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As the Lioden Admins have shared with us today,
this was the feedback given on the event survey last week:



This feedback is overwhelming. 36.4% of players said they liked everything about the event. 33.1% of players said that they liked the content, but not the storyline. This is a total of 69.5 percent of players. That's almost 70%, or 7/10 players.

If you were to remove the outlier data, which would be the "not applicable" padding, and instead only focus on those who have played the old event, it would be a total of 80.4% overall. This brings us to..... 69.5 out of 80.4 players overall liking the old event.

That leads me to the following solution, based upon the facts and evidence laid before me with surveys from the lioden population. The problem wasn't the characters. The problem wasn't the event. The problem was the STORYLINE.

So, what do are you suggesting?
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The Lioden Admins stated in the news post that the characters will be retired and the event
will be moving on.. but this is NOT what the people have voted for,
and not what the people want!

Please, it can be worked out so that everyone is happy.
Here's a bulleted list of what I had in mind:

✗ -- RETCON THE STORYLINE, NOT THE CHARACTERS. -- ✗

What a joy, that we live in a world where things that are fictional can be changed! When the event came out, people mourned what Apedemak was and who he used to be. Everyone loved him! We can go BACK to that! All that has to be said is, "We understand the story did not come off as appropriate or sensitive to those who it may have effected. We're going to do better." and then.. make a brand new storyline! Where those things NEVER happened! It literally never has to be talked about again! It was a mistake, and mistakes can be forgiven and forgotten!

✗ -- REPLACE ZIMBABWE WITH THE CELESTIAL EXPLORE. -- ✗

This is the biggest compromise I can think of; Zimbabwe did not fit into the event, and neither did firefly catching in the forest. But the Celestial explore has potential, way more potential with the Celestial Family than Zimbabwe ever did. It would be merging the two events together, so everyone can be happy. It could even end up being part of fetch quests, where you have to collect stars from space creatures in order for Menhit to line her nest for her and Apollyon's celestial cubs; all it needs is tweaking for how it works, and it would be the perfect replacement.

✗ -- IMPROVE ON THE LORE OF THE CELESTIAL LIONS. -- ✗

There was so much that could have been done. Tefnut's backstory, Apollyon's Backstory: It could have gone so far! There could have been one year where we helped Menhit prepare for her cubs with apollyon by doing funny little tasks for her, there could have been a year where we met Apollyon's parents and helped them solve problems for the fire lords. There's so much that could be improved on and expanded, the old storyline could have been left completely in the dust!

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On Merging the Events
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✗ -- THE CELESTIAL ANTHOLOGY : ADD A SHORT NEW STORYLINE EVERY YEAR. -- ✗

On Year 1, We focus on Apedemak. His story introduces the Celestial Lions, Who they are, and how they got here. His focus is on getting back to his family, and our lion assists him on helping to craft the Celestial Portal. To thank us for agreeing to help him, Apedemak blesses us with the ability to become temporarily celestial: our lions become just like the starry-pelted gods, for a short time, and are able to access the Celestial Explore to help him. Once the portal is unlocked, on Tier 3, we find out that Celestial lions can pass through it as many times as they like, but regular lions cannot. Apedemak leaves, but he promises he will see you soon. This opens the door for new celestial lions to come through every year, to continue the anthology.

This not only includes Apedemak, Apollyon, Menhit, The Demiurge and Tefnut, but there's also a handful of Celestal Pelts that have not been used yet that could be brand new lions: Dawn, Sunrise, Leonid, Stratosphere, Meteorite, Moonstone, and Labradorite.

✗ -- THE CELESTIAL EXPLORE: ENEMIES REFLECT THE NEW ANTHOLOGY. -- ✗

Instead of having space dragons and aliens that are insane for our lions to even attempt to fight, the Celestial Explore can instead have enemies that reflect the current theme of the year. Not only would it keep the art fresh, but it would feel like a new event without really being one.

For this event, we could fight starry versions of regular enemies and new enemies to complete quests: Collect horns made of light from Celestial Wildebeest, Fight Celestial Lions who have also gone astray, and more. Once an entry for Menhit is added, new enemies that reflect the her anthology could be added. Big Golden Sun-birds to collect feathers to line her nest, Dark Shadowcats that want to steal her cubs once they're born. The possibilities are endless.

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In Closing
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Please, admins. We all love this game, that's why we're here.
We love every part of it, and the July Characters were a big part of that.

Consider reflecting over the points i've made above and the points that people will make in the comments, and hearing what we have to say about the game we've all watched grow together.

Pinned Comments
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