Sprout Queue Updates

Hi all! There are a couple of clarifications and updates that have been pushed to the sprout queue!  The purpose of these updates is to alleviate common confusion about the edit levels and to make some adjustments based on artist/player feedback. :)  The updates are outlined below:

The edit range of each tier has been widened slightly.  This change results in a higher maximum in every edit tier, and a higher minimum in every tier besides the Light tier.  Tiers still do not overlap, which means that you’re guaranteed to get more edits at a higher tier than you would at a lower tier, and that the minimum for each tier increases progressively as your approach Ultra Heavy.  The examples listed on the sprout order form have been updated to reflect this change. You may view the updated examples here!

We’ve made additional notes about the tiers to help clarify variation in sprout appearance.  The one new policy implemented here is that the only tier where full backgrounds are available is the Ultra Heavy tier.  This is due to player feedback that the heavy tier is often picked to avoid getting a full background—now that the ranges have been altered, the heavy tier would have been more eligible for a full background edit, so we are now explicitly making sure players will not get backgrounds at the heavy tier.  The clarifications can be viewed when you are placing a sprout order here or viewed below:

• Each sprout tier has a certain range of edits that the sprout can end up with. Some sprouts may end up closer to the higher range of that tier, and others may end up on the lower end. All artists must adhere to the tier’s set range of edits, but where in that range they fall is up to artist discretion.  The tiers’ ranges do not overlap, meaning that you are guaranteed more edits at a higher edit level than a lower one.  All sprouts, including unedited ones, will always be unique and will never be recycled.
• Ultra Heavy Tier:
  • Ultra Heavy is the only tier where you may get a full background as an edit (see pricing guide for examples of full backgrounds). Full backgrounds are excluded from the other tiers since full backgrounds are either over the edit limits for the tiers, or their expense would limit the amount of other types of edits on the pet.
  • The amount and type of edits pets receive with the Ultra Heavy tier is highly variable.  This is because the Ultra Heavy tier has a minimum edit level that starts above the Heavy tier, but it has no maximum for the artists to stay under.  The other tiers have both a minimum and maximum level of editedness the artists must work within, which results in a more consistent look.
  • We recommend selecting a lower tier if you’re not comfortable with the variability of the UH tier, or if you are not comfortable potentially receiving a background.  Players often choose a lower tier and then get more edits on the adult sprout through the edit queue.  This offers a player more control over the appearance and amount of edits their sprout receives.  See the edit order guidelines for more information about the edit queue.
• No Edits Tier:
  • Edits that do not cost extra on customs, such as a closed mouth or single tail edit, may be included at the No Edit tier on sprout orders.  See the pricing guide for more information about no cost edits.

The amount of time a player must wait between receiving a sprout and placing a new sprout order has been reduced from 2 months to 1 month.  The sprout queue has been short for several months, and so we would like to experiment with the wait times.  After we see how the sprout queue load changes after a few months of a reduced wait time, we’ll either keep it as is or revert the wait time to its former (2-month wait) state!

We hope that you find these updates and clarifications useful.  As always, if you have questions or comments, please utilize this thread or echo Dove, Crow, or Myla! :)

Does this mean that UH sprouts are/can be subject to the legacy edit system if the parents are significantly more edited than the tier minimum (and/or vice versa)?

(Wow, I phrased this badly ._. What I meant was would they be nearer to the maximum or minimum of edits respectively. But I guess that’s not the case. Thanks for clearing that up ^-^)

I have some thoughts!

1. There is something about UH not having an upper limit that…really, really sits wrong with me. I’ll come back to word this in a better way later.
2. I wish there was some form of toggle, or way to say that ‘I do not want any edits at all’ in my unedited sprout. When I got Chouko my intent was to get a completely unedited sprout and put edits on her when she grew up, for instance.
3. I would love to see examples of each species of sprout in each tier!

I’m a bit occupied at the moment or I’d elaborate more right now.

So this is just a suggestion but.. considering how divisive full backgrounds are to necessitate people choosing a lower tier so that their PP allocation is not potentially ‘wasted’ on something which they may not care for, can we just make full backgrounds into a toggle option? Just a simple check yes or no if the possible inclusion of a full BG is okay, similar to how we can choose which ineki/dras pose that we have a preference for I guess?

Granted I may be biased because I’m one of those people who do not care for backgrounds at all, but prefer to go for UH because my own customs tend to be hugely edited monstrosities, I’d love all the bells and whistles of body edits and the like without having to split things up via the edit queue?

“The amount of time a player must wait between receiving a sprout and placing a new sprout order has been reduced from 2 months to 1 month.  The sprout queue has been short for several months, and so we would like to experiment with the wait times.  After we see how the sprout queue load changes after a few months of a reduced wait time, we’ll either keep it as is or revert the wait time to its former (2-month wait) state!”

My prediction is a return to the 2 month wait.  Artists might end up busier than they realize.  And I think it will be less pleasant to wait in queue because the sprout-fiends will clog it up.  :p

Edit: I guess I’m curious about backgrounds now at UH.  The post sort of gives the vibe of “expect one” at UH, at least compared to the past.  As someone who has 3 UH and only one has a background, should I roughly expect the inverse of this now?  Seems way more automatic now after reading this. 

that was a much shorter post than anticipated lol but i find the in depth changes to medium/light/heavy tiers to be of most interest to me.. i usually go medium to give the artists some room for their ideas…while leaving room for any i might choose to add later as well as basic price choices.
Thanks so much for keeping us in the loop :D it makes me so happy anytime i see announcements ^.^

Kippie Oooh yes, perfect! One example tracked down already. ;) <3 If anyone else has a lower than UH dras/kelph they’d like to volunteer, give me a poke!

frieza It is not the case that full backgrounds will be more common now — this update doesn’t change anything about their frequency in the UH tier. :D

Myla

Zwei was a heavy :D

I actually never ordered an ultra heavy sprout specifically because I wanted to avoid backgrounds.
Even through they are nice to look at, I prefer using site made ones for my customs. (I’d also feel bad if an artist spent all that time on such a detailed piece for me to dislike it OTL)
I’m most interested in body edits, but it’s nice to know it’s a for sure thing to not get a background if you order anything other than UH!

Also… I’m going to want more sprouts than customs if the cooldown is that short, ehe.

Myla  Awesome, thanks for the clarification!

Purr Give me Zwei…

frieza
ok give me all of your mycena wealth and I’ll consider it :V

Can you clarify the unedited tier - does that mean unedited sprouts can potentially have ANY/ALL other 0pp options applied? Even ones that drastically change the look of the pet?

Removing extra tails, kelph fins, dras wings/hair, etc, have always stuck me as a way to reduce the overall complexity of a pet (kelph sprouts, for example, rarely have fins). I always thought that getting an unedited-tier sprout meant that you could at least be guaranteed to get a pet without anything removed, but it seems like that’s not the case?

also, io is a heavy-tier dras!

edit:
Another question! Does this include mini backgrounds and background-esque elements are likewise restricted to the UH tier? :D

Oooo!!! Awesome!! :D I must say, I too like the idea of being able to toggle off backgrounds. I personally wouldn’t mind one because, y’know, I like bgs, but I can understand some people not wanting one, or only wanting one they have control over, etc. ^v^

And—Myla Before her edits I believe Lena was a light edit! I’ve still got her pre edit image of course. (I might be wrong but I think she was light….*^*)

I don’t know if/when I’m planning to enter the sprout queue again, but I’d also be in favour of being given a choice for a background or not. I believe it’s come up before and the inclusion (or not) of a bg has always been part of the lucky-dip nature of sprouts, but it can’t hurt to throw one more voice in the pile, right? :)

I’m one of those that have avoided the UH tier specifically to avoid backgrounds (especially that situation where you get an unedited pet with two unique backgrounds, since you can’t even edit baby forms to shift the bg).

Another question! Does this include mini backgrounds and background-esque elements are likewise restricted to the UH tier?
——————-

Jacq given the new guidelines are very specific that it continuously refers only to “full backgrounds” being locked to UH, and Myly has also been careful to use that term as well it’s probably safe to say that those won’t be because they don’t cost quite the large chunk of edit allowance the full ones do.

To everyone worried that getting an UH sprout will guarantee you a background I would just like to point out that all of my sprouts since the tiers have been offered have been UH, and only one of them ended up with a background. Even looking at the sprout catalog there’s typically only 2-3 per page that have some type of background elements, most of them not appearing to be full sized.  I don’t think they’re really as prevalent as you might think

PurrVysalCorvaniAvisJacqChicken Eeee, thank you!  Wow, this method of collecting examples is certainly a lot faster and easier. 8) <333

Jacq Hina is correct; background elements can be included with lower tiers (and the UH tier)!  This beach and these mushies are lower tier examples, though I think the beach was a later edit. 

Those of you who are curious can peek through the sprout listing to get an idea of the frequency of both background elements and full backgrounds on sprouts — they aren’t super common but they pop up now and again.

A few of you have mentioned having a check box type option for full background potential at the UH tier — this is something I can take to staff to flesh out the pros/cons and see if it’s an avenue we want to go down. :)

Thank you for all your comments and suggestions so far!

Edit: Added in more examples!  Still need a medium edit dras if anyone has one they wouldn’t mind me using!