# Bell Tree Direct - 6.14.20 - Events, Giveaways, and More



## Jeremy (Jun 14, 2020)

Welcome to another edition of Bell Tree Direct. We have some big updates for the site to announce coming soon, but first there are a few events and other things we'd like to talk about today. You'll want to read all the way to the end for a teaser of what's to come, but tonight's Direct isn't lacking in exciting announcements either!



*Official New Horizons Companion Guide Super Giveaway*​
We are holding multiple giveaways for the amazingly detailed New Horizons Official Companion Guide *every week* through June and July! Special thanks to Future Press for creating this game guide and providing us with copies to give away on The Bell Tree.




These giveaways are all about promoting New Horizons discussion, not that any of you will need additional encouragement to do that! To enter, simply make at least one post in the Animal Crossing: New Horizons board during the week. One winner will be drawn from the week's posts. This will be repeated every week through June and July, so remember to be active each week, but you can only win once. At the end of each week we will announce the winner and send them a private message for their address. The books will be shipped directly by Future Press. Good luck!



*Celebrating Diversity: An Animal Crossing Art Contest*​
This month, we're celebrating our diverse community by hosting a new Animal Crossing art contest. Please check out Celebrating Diversity: An Animal Crossing Art Contest. This contest's theme is all about celebrating diversity and promoting inclusivity, so do your best to express what that means to you through your Animal Crossing artwork.




The contest will award bells, trophy collectibles, and one bonus entry for week two of our game guide giveaway. See the thread linked above for more details!


*New Profile Field*​
We have added a recently requested profile field for pronouns. This field will be useful for those who want to clarify the pronouns others use when referring to them on the forum. You can edit the field in your account details and it will appear in your profile. If you choose to leave this field blank it will not be displayed. While we are also keeping the original gender field in place, we will soon be replacing the "undisclosed" option with blanks so it works the same way as our other fields here.


*Bunny Day Interior Design Event Results!*​The long wait is over! It may have taken quite some time to conclude, but no, we didn't forget about the interior design event! All participants have now received 100 bells and our staff favorites have been selected! Staff favorites have received an additional 50 bells and an Easter Egg collectible. Let's take a look at our five winners:






Spoiler: Click to reveal the full staff favorites for our New Horizons Bunny Day Interior Design Event



*ancientmagnolia





fallenchaoskitten





hammyc






kalinn






Skunk




*



Good work and thanks to everyone who participated in this event!


*Small Auction Rules Rewording and New Anchor BB Code*​
Our auction rules had another update. This time it was more for clarification and simplification. We hope this will make auctions more uniform across the site.

While you're checking out the rules though, you'll see our newly added BB Code in use. The new anchor and goto BB Code tags will allow you to link to specific sections of a post. You might find this to be especially useful for threads intended for things like guides, town journals, and shops. You can find the new tags under the insert category of the editor. Simply put the anchor word after the "anchor=" part of the tag and it will allow you to link directly to the anchor with the added #wordhere at the end or the thread's URL. Or use the goto tag to link directly to the anchor in the same thread.


*Your Survey Bells*​
In addition to distributing the interior design event bells, we have also distributed the 25 bells promised in last month's survey. They should now show up in your transaction log. If you didn't receive them, please make a Contact the Staff thread. Some usernames may not have been inputted into the survey correctly.

Thanks to everyone who filled out the survey! We received over *1000 submissions* before we took it down! You may still be wondering what actually came from the results. While we don't have anything to announce during tonight's Bell Tree Direct, we do have some changes coming soon that may address some of your suggestions.


*Coming Soon on The Bell Tree*​
Thanks for reading our announcements! What's next for TBT? Here are some of the things we'll be announcing soon: new staff applications, more trading board reorganization, AC trading enhancements, Dodo Code queuing, new shop items and forum perks, and the long-awaited return of The Bell Tree Fair.


----------



## LilD (Jun 14, 2020)

I'm so excited for the dodo queue!

	Post automatically merged: Jun 14, 2020

Thanks for the update!


----------



## xara (Jun 14, 2020)

my face reading this post: 

my face when i saw “bell tree fair”:


----------



## Ichiban (Jun 15, 2020)

interesting, looking forward to the new shop items


----------



## The Peanut Butter Fish (Jun 15, 2020)

What's the diversity of the staff on TBT like? Just wondering. Not meaning to be abrasive.


----------



## Corrie (Jun 15, 2020)

The Bell Tree Fair!! Woohoo!!!!!!!!!!


----------



## Babo (Jun 15, 2020)

BELL TREE FAIR! BELL TREE FAIR! 
sorry im just excited! Its been years since i saw the last one!


----------



## LambdaDelta (Jun 15, 2020)

congrats to the delayed winners

also, is the guide one entry per drawing, regardless of the amount of posts one makes?

also also, yay, pronouns

also also also, I know you're probably sick of everyone *****ing about it, but *waves hands at new horizons wares (requests) threads constantly showing up in the marketplace*

also also also also, **** yeah, fair weather fair

	Post automatically merged: Jun 15, 2020

ps: could we get the pronoun field in the sidebar? thanks


----------



## RoyNumber1 (Jun 15, 2020)

Oh no.


----------



## OctoLiam (Jun 15, 2020)

This will be my first bell tree fair if it does go through, I'm quite excited!


----------



## Paperboy012305 (Jun 15, 2020)

Soo this is great and all, and I see you're returning the Bell Tree Fair.

But the important question is. Is there going to be no Easter Egg Hunt this year? Or perhaps it'll be included in the TBT Fair.


----------



## Cadbberry (Jun 15, 2020)

The return of the fair, I am SO excited to see what fun will happen this year!


----------



## Snowesque (Jun 15, 2020)

Thanks for the update and all the other goodies! Looking forward to the Fair, guide giveaway, and the art entries.


----------



## Trent the Paladin (Jun 15, 2020)

*Cackles in Hall of Mirrors*

Can’t wait to watch users suffer


----------



## xara (Jun 15, 2020)

Tom said:


> *Cackles in Hall of Mirrors*
> 
> Can’t wait to watch users suffer



oh god i forgot about the hall of mirrors


----------



## porkpie28 (Jun 15, 2020)

nice looking forward to the new stuff coming out


----------



## Chrystina (Jun 15, 2020)

ahhhh The TBT fair is just gonna suck me right back into this forum (guess I picked a good time to come back!)

also been waiting IMPATIENTLY for gamestop/amazon to stock the companion guide soo I'm putting all my faith into this giveaway!


----------



## xTech (Jun 15, 2020)

I'm so hype, this'll be my and surely so many other people's first event! Do you earn the tickets for collectibles through minigames?


----------



## Chris (Jun 15, 2020)

The Peanut Butter Fish said:


> What's the diversity of the staff on TBT like? Just wondering. Not meaning to be abrasive.


That is a loaded question, given how many elements diversity can cover. We are a team of 13 people scattered across 6 countries and 4 continents - so naturally we don't all fit the same mould. I won't give any specific examples because we have some very private members of our team who would rather not be identified even through process of elimination. 



LambdaDelta said:


> ps: could we get the pronoun field in the sidebar? thanks


We will not be adding this field to the sidebar.


----------



## Mikaiah (Jun 15, 2020)

re: new auction rules.

Does this allow for buyouts? (ie. I set a buyout of 100TBT for Marshal in an auction, someone comes in and takes it before the end time)?
Is this okay, or for auctions should I only take bids?

Snipe guard - some auctions implement this to make it so that someone can't come in the last minute and snipe the win. Is this still allowed as it technically extends the auction indefinitely?

Thanks for answering!


----------



## Lancelot (Jun 15, 2020)

Y E S A R T C O N T E S T


----------



## Alienfish (Jun 15, 2020)

Woo! Congrats to all the winners, and new stuff sounds exciting  Need to make a CTS though I think because no dolares here it seems ;3

Dunno if I will have time for Fairs and stuff this time around though ...


----------



## Antonio (Jun 15, 2020)

Ty staff senpai's owo


----------



## Chris (Jun 15, 2020)

Hi all,

We are receiving quite a lot of CTS threads about the survey bells right now, and after a bit of digging it looks like there was an issue somewhere during distribution.* Flagged this up with Jeremy and hopefully he can update you all later once he has had a chance to look into it. 

*The AC:NH Bunny Day Interior Design Event participation bells were not affected by this issue so if you have not received those then please let us know via a CTS thread. Please put "Bunny Day" in the title so we can distinguish it from survey bell threads, thanks!


----------



## BungoTheElf (Jun 15, 2020)

SO EXCITED THE FAIR IS BACK!!! LETS GOOOOOOOO


----------



## Coach (Jun 15, 2020)

Very exciting news about all upcoming features, and the fair too!


----------



## Rowlet28 (Jun 15, 2020)

I think I saw a fair when I was last active but I didn't really participate... Excited to take part in it as well as it's one of many's firsts.


----------



## Jeremy (Jun 15, 2020)

If you didn't see your survey bells yesterday, check again. I sent another batch of them that got skipped.


----------



## Alienfish (Jun 15, 2020)

Jeremy said:


> If you didn't see your survey bells yesterday, check again. I sent another batch of them that got skipped.


Nope nothing yet. Might be because I did an UN change last night so it might have clashed


----------



## Trundle (Jun 15, 2020)

Glad to see the return of the TBT Fair! Excited!


----------



## daisyy (Jun 15, 2020)

just commenting that i did receive the bells today from survey participation +
i'm excited to check out all the upcoming events!


----------



## skarmoury (Jun 15, 2020)

*vibrates excitedly* FAIR FAIR FAIR FAIR FAIR


----------



## Alienfish (Jun 15, 2020)

EDIT: Got my bells, ty father TBT.

Also on other things so many new things and I'm barely getting used to 3.0 hoooo boi


----------



## That Marshal Fangirl (Jun 15, 2020)

Got my survey TBT!  Very excited for the fair, been hoping to get my hands on some new collectibles.


----------



## Paperboy012305 (Jun 15, 2020)

Tom said:


> *Cackles in Hall of Mirrors*
> 
> Can’t wait to watch users suffer


Oh wow. I remember during the last TBT Fair I guessed 5 of the mirrors correctly until the 6th and the bonus mirrors lost me. But since I got the tetris collectible from the photo contest by imitating the Spongebob Scene where he needed it in Sandy's Treedome, I decided to give up entirely on the Hall of Mirrors. But dang, how could a user guess 5 mirrors in a row correctly? Apparently me...


----------



## duckykate (Jun 15, 2020)

YAAAAY the fair is my favorite event i'm so excited! and this art contest looks like so much fun!!!


----------



## Dio (Jun 15, 2020)

does anyone know when is the date usually set after announcement?


----------



## seliph (Jun 15, 2020)

im glad we have pronouns (as much as i'd love them being more accessible it's a step) though the art contest... isn't it a little counterproductive to promote diversity by handing out prizes? including rare/coveted ones at that

it feels disingenuous to be awarded for allyship so personally i don't think i could bring myself to participate

and just to be clear i'm sure the intent was good but it just feels... off to say the least.


----------



## The Peanut Butter Fish (Jun 15, 2020)

Vrisnem said:


> That is a loaded question, given how many elements diversity can cover. We are a team of 13 people scattered across 6 countries and 4 continents - so naturally we don't all fit the same mould. I won't give any specific examples because we have some very private members of our team who would rather not be identified even through process of elimination.


Thanks for answering my question. Again I don’t want to be rude but can you see my concern about diversity when those four continents, to my knowledge, are North America, Europe, Australia, and Asia? Now I don’t really know anything personal about any of the staff but especially at this time this issue hits kinda close to home. I think it’s quite apparent where the talk of “celebrating diversity” and this art contest came from. It’s related to recent worldwide events. I see so many companies and other organizations being extremely superficial and just for show about diversity. They say “celebrate diversity” and then are not themselves incorporating diversity within their staff. Now again, I don’t know anything about the race of the staff and they have no obligation to share. I also want to say it would bring me some peace of mind regarding this if there was someway I knew the staff was racially diverse. I’m really only saying it because you guys brought it up first. Knowing continents doesn’t help all that much. If I just assume everyone is the majority from their continent then we have most of the staff being white.


----------



## Chris (Jun 15, 2020)

The Peanut Butter Fish said:


> Thanks for answering my question. Again I don’t want to be rude but can you see my concern about diversity when those four continents, to my knowledge, are North America, Europe, Australia, and Asia? Now I don’t really know anything personal about any of the staff but especially at this time this issue hits kinda close to home. I think it’s quite apparent where the talk of “celebrating diversity” and this art contest came from. It’s related to recent worldwide events. I see so many companies and other organizations being extremely superficial and just for show about diversity. They say “celebrate diversity” and then are not themselves incorporating diversity within their staff. Now again, I don’t know anything about the race of the staff and they have no obligation to share. I also want to say it would bring me some peace of mind regarding this if there was someway I knew the staff was racially diverse. I’m really only saying it because you guys brought it up first. Knowing continents doesn’t help all that much. If I just assume everyone is the majority from their continent then we have most of the staff being white.



While I can see how you have come to this conclusion, this was not the motivation behind the event at all. This event was not inspired by race but by the fact June is pride month. It was brought up by one member of the team that it should be broader than that to be more inclusive, so we decided to go with diversity as a general theme so people could choose topics that resonate with them personally rather than a single one.


----------



## The Peanut Butter Fish (Jun 15, 2020)

Vrisnem said:


> While I can see how you have come to this conclusion, this was not the motivation behind the event at all. This event was not inspired by race but by the fact June is pride month. It was brought up by one member of the team that it should be broader than that to be more inclusive, so we decided to go with diversity as a general theme so people could choose topics that resonate with them personally rather than a single one.


Maybe that’s true but I find it hard to believe that race was not an inspiration when the text color theme of the Art Contest thread is skin tones from white to black (what I mean by that in the image attached). If it didn’t start out about race then it at least ended up connecting to recent events and portraying itself in that way. Also you’re not talking about racial diversity on your team already, then I think it probably can never be a bad thing to consider for the future.


----------



## Midoriya (Jun 15, 2020)

Congrats to the Bunny Day event winners!

Looking forward to the Fair!


----------



## Chris (Jun 15, 2020)

The Peanut Butter Fish said:


> Maybe that’s true but I find it hard to believe that race was not an inspiration when the text color theme of the Art Contest thread is skin tones from white to black (what I mean by that in the image attached). If it didn’t start out about race then it at least ended up connecting to recent events and portraying itself in that way. Also you’re not talking about racial diversity on your team already, then I think it probably can never be a bad thing to consider for the future. [image]



What you are seeing is pink, yellow, and purple. You are searching too hard for a meaning that just isn't there. 

It is not my place to divulge personal information about anyone on this team except for myself, and while you claim to understand that your posts appear to keep pushing towards it.


----------



## The Peanut Butter Fish (Jun 15, 2020)

Vrisnem said:


> What you are seeing is pink, yellow, and purple. You are searching too hard for a meaning that just isn't there.
> 
> It is not my place to divulge personal information about anyone on this team except for myself, and while you claim to understand that your posts appear to keep pushing towards it.


I’m sorry that it came off like I was pushing for that. What I’m really more interested in is that there is an effort to bring diversity to the staff team and if there is what that effort is. That’s my primary concern and why I keep replying. You’re not obligated to share any personal info about the staff with me, that’s just invasive. I think we misunderstood what we both were after.


----------



## lovenote (Jun 15, 2020)

Wow !! The pronoun feature is very cool and handy! I'm so excited about this fair, it's going to be my first one! Hopefully, I'll remember to be a bit more active during it -w-; 

I do have to agree with The Peanut Butter Fish and Seliph about the art contest. It IS a fun and well-intentioned idea to promote inclusion and celebrate diversity, but I don't believe diversity is something that should be used for rewarding people with. Diversity should be practiced all year-round and practiced within communities and the leaders of those communities.

Again, I'm very excited about all the new changes coming to the site


----------



## Rubombee (Jun 15, 2020)

Woah! Lots of good news! Noice :D

I'm probably not gonna be accepting the guide in the very unlikely case I win it, but I'm probably still gonna be posting in the NH section regardless x) I do hope people who want it can win it, though.
I'm excited to draw something for the contest! I already have an idea, I'll see if I manage to _actually_ draw it though :'D

For the pronouns, it's cool the field got added! I just have to things to request/suggest about it, I hope it's okay even if it was just introduced :'3
First thing, probably the most important, when I tried adding my pronouns in I noticed there was a character limit; which means I didn't have enough room to add both they/them & my neopronouns! So I was wondering if this limit could be removed or at least revised upwards? Tysm if this happens <3

Secondly, this less important, and I know it's been specifically said that this wouldn't be a visible feature on posts, but I guess I wanna give it a shot anyway… Apologies if this is included in the "visible on posts" part — but I was wondering if it would be possible to add the pronouns in the little pop-up that appears when you hover over an username? Since it's also here on mobile when you tap a name, it could be a more convenient place than the "About" tab.
I made two edits with Inspect element to show what I mean. On the first picture is a clear way of showing where the pronouns could go, and on the second picture is how I tried to add them to my own pop-up. It doesn't look like much's changed since I have mine in my user title anyway, but I didn't want to try it without anyone other than me just in case.


Spoiler: the suggestion













And about the other things! The Anchor BB code is very cool, I don't know yet if I'll end up actually using it but it definitely is useful.
It also seems that, according to most people who've commented on it, the Fair is gonna be great- I can't wait :D


----------



## Dinosaurz (Jun 15, 2020)

Extend pronoun limit so I can add the bee movie script


----------



## r a t (Jun 15, 2020)

seliph said:


> im glad we have pronouns (as much as i'd love them being more accessible it's a step) though the art contest... isn't it a little counterproductive to promote diversity by handing out prizes? including rare/coveted ones at that
> 
> it feels disingenuous to be awarded for allyship so personally i don't think i could bring myself to participate
> 
> and just to be clear i'm sure the intent was good but it just feels... off to say the least.



I agree with everything seliph said, this feels like tbts attempt to be inclusive whilst jumping on the bandwagon of everything going on right now, linking such serious important topics to animal crossing is just kinda weird? Also from a creative standpoint it’s quite limiting, I think people should be super mindful and careful of the imagery they use for this


----------



## Chris (Jun 15, 2020)

The Peanut Butter Fish said:


> I’m sorry that it came off like I was pushing for that. What I’m really more interested in is that there is an effort to bring diversity to the staff team and if there is what that effort is. That’s my primary concern and why I keep replying. You’re not obligated to share any personal info about the staff with me, that’s just invasive. I think we misunderstood what we both were after.



To date we have picked staff exclusively based on their skillset and posting history. We do not ask people for more in-depth information about themselves and so far it has led to a well-rounded team. For the record, I am aware the vague approach must be irritating, but I feel like anything applicable to a specific demographic should be addressed by someone _from_ that demographic. I'm happy to discuss LGBT+ representation (privately), but any further comments regarding race I'll leave to members of the team who are more entitled to talk about it.



Dinosaurz said:


> Extend pronoun limit so I can add the bee movie script



This would be an example of why there isn't a large limit for pronouns! We do not want people to misuse this feature.


----------



## r a t (Jun 15, 2020)

Vrisnem said:


> What you are seeing is pink, yellow, and purple. You are searching too hard for a meaning that just isn't there.
> 
> It is not my place to divulge personal information about anyone on this team except for myself, and while you claim to understand that your posts appear to keep pushing towards it.



If this is the case, please change the colours completely, I don’t think this is full justification as the ‘pink, yellow and purple’ are all too close to skin tones rather than ‘typical’ pinks, yellows and purples, just think it would be a bit more appropriate and would represent the intentions/direction better


----------



## Chris (Jun 15, 2020)

Rosetti said:


> If this is the case, please change the colours completely, I don’t think this is full justification as the ‘pink, yellow and purple’ are all too close to skin tones rather than ‘typical’ pinks, yellows and purples, just think it would be a bit more appropriate and would represent the intentions/direction better



The colours used were taken directly using a colour picker from this photograph: *picture*. The intention was actually to avoid association with anything (I originally wanted to use a rainbow, but that was too close to pride) so it is unfortunate how it has been misinterpreted.


----------



## Cosmic-chan (Jun 15, 2020)

FINALLY A FAIR I GET TO EXPERIENCE ONE!!!

	Post automatically merged: Jun 15, 2020

oh I wonder if I could be a staff member :3


----------



## Lancelot (Jun 15, 2020)

Vrisnem said:


> The colours used were taken directly using a colour picker from this photograph: *picture*. The intention was actually to avoid association with anything (I originally wanted to use a rainbow, but that was too close to pride) so it is unfortunate how it has been misinterpreted.


Not that It’s my place to say and I imagine it wasn’t done on purpose but I’d think just increasing the saturation of the purple pink and yellow would make it less questionable to anyone else that gets the same conclusion


----------



## Mary (Jun 15, 2020)

Awesome, thanks so much for the update! Looking forward to new shop items and the fair!!


----------



## Rosie977 (Jun 15, 2020)

I'm so excited for my first fair! Thanks so much for the update too!


----------



## Jacob (Jun 15, 2020)

Super excited for the upcoming fair! I’m hoping people approach this art contest with respect, and I can’t wait to see what TBT artists come up with!! I hope i have time to make a piece this week!! :]


----------



## FrogslimeOfficial (Jun 15, 2020)

Ah, this'll be my first fair. I can't wait!


----------



## *The Oakboro Mayor* (Jun 15, 2020)

I can’t wait! Super excited to see what all you amazingly talented artists do with the art portion this year, and we got some really cool updates!


----------



## xSuperMario64x (Jun 15, 2020)

Omg fair hype!!!! 

Also yay an AC art contest! I might just have to enter that


----------



## Morningowl (Jun 15, 2020)

All Super Exciting! Long waited congrats to the Bunny day Interior design winners ! Looking forward to the new events and stuff wooo!


----------



## r a t (Jun 15, 2020)

Vrisnem said:


> The colours used were taken directly using a colour picker from this photograph: *picture*. The intention was actually to avoid association with anything (I originally wanted to use a rainbow, but that was too close to pride) so it is unfortunate how it has been misinterpreted.





Spoiler: pic to explain



colour pics from all 3 photos, it doesn’t matter where the colours have originated from and is not a justification, just the colours chosen and the title chosen REALLY give off the wrong intention together, 

also truthfully I did not see purple or yellow until you said so!






If it’s so ‘unfortunate of how it has been misinterpreted’ then please fix it! If multiple people are receiving the message that the contest is about race and inclusivity, when it is actually not, it‘s a big alarm bell don’t you think? Especially during times like these it comes across as insensitive to acknowledge the problem and refuse to change it, obviously you mean no harm by it and the issue can be easily fixed but I just want to make you aware of this further because I think it should really be taken seriously and not brushed off


----------



## seliph (Jun 15, 2020)

since the contest isn't a response to recent events i'm curious if tbt has any plans to address them, specifically blm? just wondering since i've noticed other sites doing so

on another note though i also thought the contest titles were skin tones and that the purple was brown, my first thought was when makeup brands claim they have an "inclusive shade range" but only have 2 dark shades


----------



## Cadbberry (Jun 15, 2020)

seliph said:


> since the contest isn't a response to recent events i'm curious if tbt has any plans to address them, specifically blm? just wondering since i've noticed other sites doing so
> 
> on another note though i also thought the contest titles were skin tones and that the purple was brown, my first thought was when makeup brands claim they have an "inclusive shade range" but only have 2 dark shades


I was going to make a comment that I thought the darker tones were ashy and there were so few compared to the pinks/whites.


----------



## Dinosaurz (Jun 15, 2020)

I thought the colours looked like lipstick colours lol


----------



## xara (Jun 15, 2020)

i’m gonna chime in and say that the colours used also look like skin tones to me - upon further inspection, i was able to see the shades of pink and purple but like already suggested, it would probably be wise to change the colours. for a contest that is seemingly _not_ about race, i’m having a hard time seeing how it could be about anything else, with everything going on in the world - i know the intent was for pride month but the contest description along with the colours used screams “race” more than “pride” or “equality”

just to add on, i know you said the intent was to avoid association with anything but having the theme be “diversity” with everything that’s been happening? i find it a bit hard to believe that that wasn’t intentional ;;


----------



## Chris (Jun 15, 2020)

Monkey D Luffy said:


> Not that It’s my place to say and I imagine it wasn’t done on purpose but I’d think just increasing the saturation of the purple pink and yellow would make it less questionable to anyone else that gets the same conclusion





Rosetti said:


> Spoiler: pic to explain
> 
> 
> 
> ...



What I have been doing since I last posted was discussing with the rest of the staff and some people off-site how to address it and we came up with several designs. Instead the original plain text has been replaced with a graphic with more saturated colours. It's now leaning more toward orange than the original pink, but it should erase any confusion.


----------



## pochy (Jun 15, 2020)

i don't know how the fair works but it sounds fun! is there a date for it?


----------



## skarmoury (Jun 15, 2020)

I just wanna say that I agree on some of the points brought up, mainly the reward system for the diversity art contest. While I absolutely appreciate the intentions of the contest, I do think giving prizes seems counterproductive to promoting diversity; it gives off the notion that being a decent human being should merit some sort of reward, as opposed to simply promoting diversity as it is and letting people join for the sake of, yknow, celebrating. I wanted to join mainly because I liked the idea; I didn't actually look at the prizes at stake and I feel neither should anyone who has the actual intention of celebrating diversity and not just being in it for the perks. While I feel it's too late to retract your statement on the prizes, I hope future events that promote these things shouldn't come with a reward


----------



## marea (Jun 15, 2020)

I never took part in previous fairs and i cant even recall if i was around during one so this makes me excited! I also cant wait to see what gets added to the shop plus all the new improvements!


----------



## Venn (Jun 15, 2020)

Can't wait. I think I have participated on a fair once but that was years ago.


----------



## Lancelot (Jun 15, 2020)

I gotta say I didn’t even think about the diversity theme and use of prizes being counterproductive, but I also think the idea of “showing what it means to you” rather than simply being diversity themed isn’t too bad. It kind of seems to me as a way of sharing your experiences and how animal crossing can be used to show them- rather than just being rewarded for being a decent person. Just how I took it though and I get the concerns


----------



## Taj (Jun 15, 2020)

Y’all remember the fire festival tho? That was my first major event and I wish something similar to that was brought back as well.


----------



## Cadbberry (Jun 15, 2020)

neester14 said:


> Y’all remember the fire festival tho? That was my first major event and I wish something similar to that was brought back as well.


Omg those are some memories. Blue fire rep


----------



## Laurina (Jun 15, 2020)

As someone who has been experiencing racism due to the pandemic and working in the heart of uncivil rest, I'm all for this art contest. I'm excited to see what everyone submits, and how they view the term diversity; because it is so much more than just the color of your skin or sexual orientation. At my job, I would never hire/not hire someone based on race, orientation, gender, age, disabilities, their personal opinions or beliefs, etc. It's all about experience, skill set, availability, flexibility, and reliability. I respect how the Staff chooses their applicants in a similar fashion. The TBT staff now and in the past, those I've gotten the pleasure to know, have always been a diverse bunch of individuals. They care a lot about the community, and wanted members to be treated with kindness and respect. More importantly, they wanted people to feel like they belonged. Uhhhhh, minus Chris maybe, but we all adored him anyways, right?  I know the timing seems a bit coincidental, but I'm sure TBT could have made any themed contest that would have been connected to world events one way or another. Every single day I hear someone say "it's because of what's going on in the right now, isn't it?" for the most outlandish things. Diversity isn't a new topic, it's talked about everywhere - school, work, media, our daily life. Let's just celebrate it. Celebrate the amount of diversity New Horizon has brought into the Animal Crossing series. Celebrate Pride month. Celebrate how after a long stressful day in the real world, there's always an accepting community here where you can unwind, vent, do your thing, and just be yourself. We're celebrating more than just diversity, we're celebrating ourselves, and the members that make this place so lively. The Bell Tree Fair is the perfect way to do it.

Keep it up. You're doing great.


----------



## seliph (Jun 15, 2020)

i think if you really wanted to celebrate diversity it's best done so in a post or equally-prized event, with a competitive element it thwarts itself from being a celebration.

if not inspired by any current events the timing here was really poor, peoples' emotions about diversity are at an all-time high in several ways rn.


----------



## toadsworthy (Jun 15, 2020)

if this event was solely decided by the mods... I would be more concerned about the points brought up throughout this post that I've read. However, the ultimate decision comes from us, the forum members, we are collectively going to pick what we see as fitting the theme of diversity the most given these trying times, and our own idea of it. I think this is a great model. No one can see your racial identity, sexual orientation, or anything over the internet.... and i think its a cool idea to be able to submit an artwork from that vantage point in a place separate from this reality. I was originally worried about a member maybe submitting something that would be hurtful to someone, but I think its necessary to go through the mod team to avoid this.

I also agree that the original graphic looked like skin tones, and I was living for it. To me it did seem like the nod to the current times and was respectful as it equally represented everyone. I think this event follows suit the events of TBT in the past (which never had a bad connotation to suggest leaving out any person). I do very much agree that posting an event like this overall while trying to "avoid" the current times does seem like a misstep, but I also understand a lot goes into planning these for the mods and so I'm willing to give them some grace given the above points I stated and giving an outlet for many who may feel trapped in this time.

while i run the risk of being an oblivious, privileged person on this stance and I don't think I explained how I'm feeling as well... I felt the need to stick up for the mods and if you have comments please direct them pleasantly as I am willing to learn and mean no disrespect or harm to anyone who does feel wronged from this.


----------



## Fye (Jun 15, 2020)

Thanks for the updates! Can't wait to see what you guys do with the trading forums and dodo queue and I'm super excited for my first Bell Tree Fair


----------



## LadyDestani (Jun 15, 2020)

I'm really excited to see what the Bell Tree Fair is all about!  I hope I have time to participate.  Thanks for all the updates!


----------



## skarmoury (Jun 16, 2020)

I think a lot of the statements pointed out are really great! I'm also absolutely all for seeing very diverse art in the contest, and while I'm not 100% on board with the prize system, I admit I'm not too fazed about it anymore as I seemed in my initial comment (and I'd like to apologize if it came off that way to anyone, esp. staff ; ; ). At the end of the day, we're all fighting our own battles and one of the most important things is understanding and respecting each other regardless of race/color/sexuality/etc. and I think that's something the staff is driving at with the contest  The absolute chaotic state of this world right now is driving up our emotions and mental health to the wall, and I feel one point of the contest is to show that there is a visible support system in this community, that there will be a diverse number of people who've got your back. Other flaws have been pointed out as well but overall? It's something towards the right direction.


----------



## The Peanut Butter Fish (Jun 16, 2020)

Oh no no no no no. That was not how I wanted that conversation to go *AT ALL.* I had to leave for work, sorry. I want to make what I stand for very clear. I will start out with some background so you know I am not just blowing smoke. I am a person of color and part of the LGBTQ+ community (if for some reason whoever is reading this needs specifics, go ahead and ask). I was *definitely not *asking for the colors to stop signifying skin colors. That was far from my main point; in fact, that was just a refutation to Vrisnem saying it was not about race. Here's what I actually stand for:

-I wanted the TBT staff to have some _acknowledgement_ of racial diversity publically rather than brush it off and avoid talking about current events which I was pretty sure they were trying to (past tense was and there is still plausible deniability there so form your own opinion).

-I wanted the TBT staff to also internally consider their own practices regarding racial diversity because I think now is a great time to do so. The world is changing right now and considering racial diversity on a platform that you moderate and that has so many people of color who visit is not at all a bad thing. I think it would make TBT better for it and people need to be accountable for their practices.

-I think the contest is not a bad idea. Why? We should celebrate our racial diversity like we do LGBTQ+ diversity! Here's what I'm really saying, if you wanna celebrate diversity do it for real. Don't do it half way. Especially now, we need to all recognize "I am from this race and even though I am oppressed, I love myself and I am glad to be my race." That is what we should be doing rather than sweeping it under the rug. It would also be cool if some people of color took charge of the whole celebrating diversity thing. About the colors of the contest title, I would love if you kept them skin tones but changed it to be better colors. As someone else mentioned, the darker colors are ashy.

-Regarding the contest aspect, art for me is expression. It is taking your deepest thoughts/feelings and converting them into expression which impacts an audience. The audience part is one of the most important parts of art, technically speaking. I was under the impression the judging is based on technical skill and how powerful the expression is, not how well you incorporate diversity into your daily life and practice. Expressing your celebrations about diversity is a good thing.

-One thing I think is a little messed up in my opinion, why recognize pride without recognizing Black Lives Matter and racial diversity in general? That's the hot topic right now and it's really the one I think we should focus on celebrating right now. Not that pride doesn't matter, I love pride, I just think racial issues are causing more people to suffer right now. I also think it is not wrong to be celebrating pride related stuff right now too. I think it would only be right to recognize race right now, at least a little bit. I can only speak for myself but I think I at least would love some celebration of my race right now. More than just the celebration part too, what I'm mainly getting at is that I thought the TBT staff was trying to recognize what's going on right now and what they were doing to acknowledge it. Since apparently they weren't, I really wish that they would. Although it seems there is a lot going on around here regarding acknowledgement of LGBTQ+ people on the site, I don't feel the same type of acknowledgement as a person of color. That's only my experience though.

In conclusion, I'm not asking for you to change something as superficial (to me at least it's superficial) as the contest colors, I want action and acknowledgement. I would also ask that people not bully the staff more than you have to. It is important to speak up, still people won't listen to you unless you frame it in a way they can receive it and then you can lead them where you need to take them.  By the way Vrisnem, I am interested in discussing with a staff member of color everything this conversation led to if any would like to talk about it... and I'll ping you since you seem most interested in replying here. @Vrisnem

(sorry for the huge debate, I hardly ever do this I swear ; - ; )


----------



## Chris (Jun 16, 2020)

The Peanut Butter Fish said:


> Oh no no no no no. That was not how I wanted that conversation to go *AT ALL.* I had to leave for work, sorry. I want to make what I stand for very clear. I will start out with some background so you know I am not just blowing smoke. I am a person of color and part of the LGBTQ+ community (if for some reason whoever is reading this needs specifics, go ahead and ask). I was *definitely not *asking for the colors to stop signifying skin colors. That was far from my main point; in fact, that was just a refutation to Vrisnem saying it was not about race. Here's what I actually stand for:
> 
> -I wanted the TBT staff to have some _acknowledgement_ of racial diversity publically rather than brush it off and avoid talking about current events which I was pretty sure they were trying to (past tense was and there is still plausible deniability there so form your own opinion).
> 
> ...



All we did was increase the saturation and orientation of the gradient. The colours were misinterpreted as something they weren't, so they were adjusted. Had the font been larger/bolder I'm sure that the colours would have been more obvious from the beginning.

The initial inspiration behind the event would be completely unknown if I had not openly stated it in here, so I'm not going to address anything regarding us choosing to highlight one topic over another.  The thread was worded, and the colours selected, to not match anything specific. It was open to interpretation, and when it was misinterpreted as leaning more toward one option than the others then we made the decision to alter it slightly to better convey the original meaning (or lack thereof). The thread itself lists nine examples of diversity. There is no right or wrong one to go with.

LGBT acknowledgement may appear more prevalent and this is because this community have been actively making themselves heard on TBT. It is very much a community-driven movement. e.g. the pronoun feature was added based on months of them battling for it. If you feel POC acknowledgement is understated, then be part of the driving force to change it. We do not know something is wrong if it is not brought to our attention. We can only take action on something if we know what that community wants. Even here, I do not know exactly what you want from us.

We do not, and have never, asked people anything regarding their race when they apply for our team. So if you want to know if racial diversity is something we consider when adding to the staff the answer is no. We do not collect this data from individuals so cannot make a decision based on it. It is perfectly understandable if you disagree with our approach, but morally we feel this is the best way to handle it. On that note, I was offered a(n offline) position two days ago and their email made clear it was because I would 'tick a box', so to speak, on their team. I had been debating whether or not to take it, and based on this thread and a conversation it prompted within the staff I ended up sending a polite email to reject their offer as soon as I woke-up this morning. So I'll say thank you to everyone who opened my eyes to this and made me realise it is not something I could ever endorse no matter what side of the fence I'm stood on.


----------



## Rubombee (Jun 16, 2020)

Vrisnem said:


> This would be an example of why there isn't a large limit for pronouns! We do not want people to misuse this feature.


Oops, sorry to reply to this after the whole convo that's happened in there, but I was asleep. ^^;

Anyway, yes, I do understand very much why this character limit was added! But I just wanted to say that when it makes one unable to list their multiple pronouns (so, not misusing it at all), it's a little sad.
I wonder if the user title has a character limit too, since I can fit my pronouns & other stuff in there? From what you said, Vrisnem, I assume it's just a larger limit. Maybe the pronouns' limit could be at least closer to this one? What I'm getting to is that the user title could very well be misused too, like any other features pretty much! Someone who'd go out of their way to misuse exactly the pronouns would be doing so on purpose.

I may be too insistent on this, apologies if I'm being annoying, but since I understand why the staff doesn't want to completely remove the character limit, I'm simply asking for it to be increased so people with multiple pronouns can fit them all! <3


----------



## Chris (Jun 16, 2020)

Rubombee said:


> Oops, sorry to reply to this after the whole convo that's happened in there, but I was asleep. ^^;
> 
> Anyway, yes, I do understand very much why this character limit was added! But I just wanted to say that when it makes one unable to list their multiple pronouns (so, not misusing it at all), it's a little sad.
> I wonder if the user title has a character limit too, since I can fit my pronouns & other stuff in there? From what you said, Vrisnem, I assume it's just a larger limit. Maybe the pronouns' limit could be at least closer to this one? What I'm getting to is that the user title could very well be misused too, like any other features pretty much! Someone who'd go out of their way to misuse exactly the pronouns would be doing so on purpose.
> ...



I don't think people using multiple was taken into account, but I'll make sure Jeremy sees this. So we have an idea of what to go off of, how many characters would you need to include everything?


----------



## r a t (Jun 16, 2020)

Thank you for changing the contest title! Looks super pretty 

I’m also super excited about the fair returning, it’s my favourite thing about the bell tree and I always discover new people around those times, the community and atmosphere is just so lovely and fun - so glad to see it come back and I can’t wait!!


----------



## Rubombee (Jun 16, 2020)

Vrisnem said:


> I don't think people using multiple was taken into account, but I'll make sure Jeremy sees this. So we have an idea of what to go off of, how many characters would you need to include everything?


Thank you!
Okay so, I counted and mine takes 20 characters (with the space & comma). But it really depends, like, some people might want to list theirs as the full set and that could get long; and I'm not in this case so I can't really speak about it, but people might choose longer pronouns too… So maybe 30 characters? Or 60? Or just make it the same limit as the user title, which sounds simpler than deciding on a new limit?


----------



## dino (Jun 16, 2020)

thanks for all the hard work, bell tree ! super excited for new collectibles and the fair. and appreciate the staff including the pronoun option and getting rid of the nondisclosed option on gender. 

	Post automatically merged: Jun 16, 2020



Vrisnem said:


> I don't think people using multiple was taken into account, but I'll make sure Jeremy sees this. So we have an idea of what to go off of, how many characters would you need to include everything?



to add to @Rubombee 's count, my two pronouns listed out three conjugation levels, take 31 spaces !
i think the important pronoun thing to remember is: if someone uses neopronouns - they are likely to want to list it out completely, because people often don't know how to conjugate them. that's not a need with the three most common english pronouns. so in theory, if someone uses two neopronouns, which themselves have no set limit in length, this person could use up to 60 characters to explain their use fully (ex. pfae/pfaer/pfaers/pfaerself AND vhon/vhon/vhons/vhonself).


----------



## MasterM64 (Jun 16, 2020)

Glad to hear all this good news (especially about the return of TBT Fair)!  I look forward to seeing more details for TBTF. Also, congratulations to the winners!


----------



## Sheep Villager (Jun 16, 2020)

What exactly is the TBT fair? I'm sure the lot of us who joined during New Horizons release have no clue. 

Does it take bells to take part in? Should I be saving? What _is_ it?​


----------



## Chris (Jun 16, 2020)

Sheep Villager said:


> What exactly is the TBT fair? I'm sure the lot of us who joined during New Horizons release have no clue.
> 
> Does it take bells to take part in? Should I be saving? What _is_ it?​



It is when we hold a lot of events and contests at a single time, and participation earns you tickets to obtain prizes. The Fair has it's own unique currency so do not worry about saving bells.


----------



## MasterM64 (Jun 16, 2020)

Sheep Villager said:


> ...
> 
> Does it take bells to take part in? Should I be saving? What _is_ it?​



The only reason you should save up TBT in anticipation of the event is if you want to buy extra collectibles released during it since there will be a lot of people selling and trading prizes most likely.


----------



## jo_electric (Jun 16, 2020)

I’m excited to see what the fair will entail. This will be my first. Thanks for all the updates!


----------



## Locket (Jun 16, 2020)

FAIR??????? LETS GO

also do we have an update on the sunrise/sunset/night themes? possible woods theme?


----------



## Emzy (Jun 17, 2020)

MasterM64 said:


> The only reason you should save up TBT in anticipation of the event is if you want to buy extra collectibles released during it since there will be a lot of people selling and trading prizes most likely.


Hello!! I hope you don't mind me chiming but are the collectibles also able to be purchased by the participation ticket currency or is it still just bells?


----------



## Cadbberry (Jun 17, 2020)

Emzy said:


> Hello!! I hope you don't mind me chiming but are the collectibles also able to be purchased by the participation ticket currency or is it still just bells?


Vrisnem said it would still be fair tickets, so be sure to participate in all the events you see


----------



## Emzy (Jun 17, 2020)

Cadbberry said:


> Vrisnem said it would still be fair tickets, so be sure to participate in all the events you see


Thanks for replying!! I wasn't sure if the prizes were different to the collectibles cx but thanks for clarifying!!


----------



## Stella-Io (Jun 17, 2020)

I am, so, so very late to this.

But, PRONOUNS OMG. As others have said they can't fit all of theirs into the box (I was trying to put she/her/they/them but it gets cut off by 2 so I settled for she/they hoping people would know they can use she/her and they/them with me) but OMG FINALLY YES. Thank you staff!

Maybe this art contest will be able to get me out of the rut and back to drawing. I haven't done anythin for months ;-;


----------



## Zane (Jun 18, 2020)

How y’all gonna have rainbow feather not be a prize during pride month


----------



## Hat' (Jun 20, 2020)

Ahhhh yesssss bell tree fair!!!!


----------



## thedragmeme (Jun 21, 2020)

My body is ready for the tbt fair


----------



## alv4 (Jun 22, 2020)

Awesomee!
Thanks for all the updates


----------



## AlyssaAC (Jun 24, 2020)

A little late, but I'm excited for the Bell Tree fair, so thank you staff for doing another one. This will be my first.


----------



## ThirstyMagpie (Jun 30, 2020)

Oooo sounds awesome!!


----------



## MyLifeIsCake (Jul 1, 2020)

I'm ready for the return of the Fair, hopefully I have some time to participate for this one! I'm also hoping star fragments will one day be a collectible. Thanks to the staff and organizers for the events


----------



## pawpatrolbab (Jul 1, 2020)

So beyond happy about the return of the fair, holds such good memories. Thankyou staff!


----------



## fallenchaoskitten (Jul 2, 2020)

*super delayed*
I WON?!? =O

... i need to read the new auction rules.
I am happy to see the new anchor code as well! I will happily update a lot of my threads soon. ^-^


----------



## Shinjukuwu (Jul 13, 2020)

I don't know what a Bell Tree Fair is but by golly am I excited to find out!


----------

