Good afternoon. :)

This is a minor announcement to let everyone know I've had to do a small overhaul of the Amur companions and plushes due to a conflict in coding that was causing the "Featured Companion" section to display incorrectly for anyone equipping an adult version among other smaller, less visible problems.

Unfortunately this means any Amur Leopard items equipped before the fix will need to be manually reset back to your inventory or it tends to vanish into Alacrity limbo.

Please feel free to submit the issue to the bug fixer section of the hub here and you should have it returned to you same day (assuming the coffee hasn't run dry and we're asleep at the desk, in which case you'll have it returned tomorrow).

Just submit an issue letting us know they are missing. If the dog to which the Leopard was equipped has left your account, you will need to provide a dog ID, otherwise, just the report is enough.

Your items have not been deleted and should continue to work properly once reset and returned to you, but do let me know if there are any other problems.

How to tell if your Amur item/companion is not actually there:
- It displays as a "-" in accessory section if it is a plush.
- It displays as a "." in your featured companion section if companion.

The above will look like they are still equipped, but will be stuck in limbo when you remove it, and it will not give companion benefits until reset and re-equipped.

Regards,

I sincerely apologize for the delay in this news post; your dear Kaeli has been on vacation in sweltering Arizona and got a little delayed returning home. Boy, after the heat of the desert, I am sure excited to cool off with these amazing Ice Age monthly items!


First things first, let's discuss the new donation items :D
The Time Rewinder is a brand new accessory that will make your dog two months younger each time you equip it! Woah, before you go rushing off to use this awesome new item, please note that you can only use this item once per day per dog and only up to five times per day (on five different dogs). We're working out some final kinks in the code currently, but as soon as they've been ironed out, I will switch out the donation items and you'll be able to earn one of these awesome prizes with a Bone purchase of $35 or more!

The Magical Wooden Flute is this month's bundle item. For each $65 Bone purchase you will earn this item (as well as a Time Rewinder!). If you let your dog play a little tune into the flute, one copy of the Ice Age monthly items, backgrounds, and companions will appear in your inventory!

Note: As soon as you see these new items featured on the Buy Bones page, it is safe to make your purchase. Until then, know that you will be getting last month's donation items!


Companion Effects!
Ice Age Companions all have the awesome effect of freezing your dog mid-stride! This means they will not age, nor will they gain hunger, energy, health, etc., while this companion is equipped. There is no limit to the number of times you can equip/unequip these chilly babies to your dogs each day!


Don't forget that Halloween is right around the corner!
This means you can expect to see some beautiful and spooky new items coming later in the month. Additionally, we will be re-inventing some of the great games we played last year, so definitely keep checking back! As a note; we will not be re-issuing any Halloween items that were released in 2010 (Alacrity's first Halloween), so your Haunted Hills, Hellhound Masks, Ghost Costumes, Black Widow Spiders, etc. are going to remain rare!

And, finally, let's introduce you all to the wonderful artists which created this month's beautiful artwork. Be sure to stop on by their profiles and let them know how much you appreciate your favorite item this month!

Backgrounds
Frozen Mammoth Background (Xylax)
Ice Tongue Background (Xylax)
Cave Paintings Background (Xylax)
Frozen Path Background (Xylax)
Dusky Outdoors Background (main shops-Xylax)

Companions
Baby Mammoth (Rixon)
Short Faced Bear Cub (Rixon)
Smilodon Cub (Rixon)
Dire Wolf Cub (Xylax)
Baby Wooly Rhino (Cord - random event)

Foregrounds and Accessories
Frozen Mammoth Ribs (Xylax)
Glacier Shelf (Xylax)
Fur Boots (Nyctra)
Fur Cloak (Nyctra)
Irish Elk Antlers (Xylax)
Permafrost Ground (Nyctra)
Bear Claw Necklace (Rixon)
Arrowhead Necklace (Nyctra)
Dodo (Cord)

Donation Items
Time Rewinder (Heleasher edit - donation)
Magical Wooden Flute (Cord - bundle)

Uh oh! It's a tie of 413 votes each!

Well, Alacrites, you've all spoken, and honestly we hadn't planned on this sort of outcome! There will be no silly recounting of votes or re-polling (though we may double check for any fraudulent votes, just in case), but a new poll is up to see how you think we should handle this. In the end, the staff will talk it over and take your votes into consideration to figure out what's best to do.

But in the meantime, thank you all for voting! No matter which breed is officially added, I think both can be considered excellent candidates for Alacrity! :D

Kaeli will have a spiffy news post to list more info about our new Ice Age monthly shop theme, as well as handle swapping out our new donation items, so sit tight and keep your eyes peeled!