# Bell Tree Direct - 10.21.18



## Jeremy (Oct 21, 2018)

Hello everyone, today we have a short Bell Tree Direct to update you with a few announcements on the site. We will be kicking off with a special version of our Villager Week event, making another change to our username change item, and announcing several adjustments to our staff team. I will also talk more about the current status of TBT and what we plan for the future, so be sure to read to the end if you're interested.


*Villager Week: Halloween Edition*​
As a part of our Bell Tree Week mini-event series, we are excited to announce Villager Week: Halloween edition. This edition of Villager Week features some of the more spooky, scary, and costume-wearing villagers from the game.



















Along with the other perks, which you can read more about in the official October 2018 Villager Week post, we are bringing back the villager popularity tournament and will once again create a collectible for the winner! This time, we will have the following 16 Halloween related villagers compete in the bracket:

Stitches, Lucky, Clay, Kiki, Pietro, Katt, Barold, Roscoe, Rodeo, Cobb, Gruff, Labelle, Tammi, Biskit, Marcel, and Ankha

Can you guess how each villager relates to Halloween? Read what we thought in the October 2018 Villager Week post linked above. Click here to check out the bracket! Click here to vote!


*Staff Changes*​
Aside from some position changes, our current staff team has been made up of the same people over the last two years. This team has hosted some of the site's best events and has moderated the community effectively. This will be the legacy of all of its members, even as some are stepping down today.

*Peter* has been a member of our community since 2015. He became project staff in 2016 and a moderator in 2017. He has been a great help with many events, including graphic design, coming up with ideas, and hosting events in The Bell Tree Fair 2016, The Woods Expedition 2016, TBT's Fifth Annual Easter Egg Hunt (2017), and The Bell Tree Fair 2017.

*Jake* has been an active member since he joined in 2008 and continued this during his time as a staff member since 2016 by moderating thoroughly and efficiently. He helped host events in The Bell Tree Fair 2016, The Woods Expedition 2016, and The Bell Tree Fair 2017. He wrote clues for TBT's Fifth Annual Easter Egg Hunt (2017) and TBT's Sixth Annual Easter Egg Hunt (2018).


*Tom* is a veteran of the site. He joined in 2006 and became a moderator ten years later in 2016. As a mod, Tom helped run the site and contributed to changes in our rules. During his time on the staff he has helped with many events, including The Bell Tree Fair 2016, The Woods Expedition 2016, TBT's Fifth Annual Easter Egg Hunt (2017), The Bell Tree Fair 2017, The Woods Expedition 2017, TBT's Sixth Annual Easter Egg Hunt (2018).

*Murray* will be staying on the staff team, but will be changing his position from moderator to project staff.

_*Tina*_ will go back to the moderating team from her current project staff position.

I want to personally thank all of our staff members and I know that the community will appreciate all of the hard work each of you have put into running The Bell Tree over the last two years. We couldn't do it without you.


*Instant Name Change Item*​
Our current username change item requires an administrator to manually change the user's name once the item has been purchased. This was implemented after an exploit was discovered in our automatic version, which allowed users to change their name more than once from the same item. However, the current manual alternative is a much slower process. 




We are adding a new item that will address both of these problems. The new "Instant One-Day Username Change" item will work automatically like before, but it will expire after one day. Because of this, we suggest you only buy one right when you want to make the change so you don't waste your bells or seashells. If you forget to configure the name change from the new instant version, you can have it replaced by using a collectible correction form in the Contact the Staff Board. But remember that collectible corrections come with a fee of 50 bells.

For the time being, both the manual name change and the new instant one-day name change items are available in the shop. We will be phasing out the manual item as users get used to the new one. Also don't forget that we announced in the previous Bell Tree Direct that all users will receive 10 seashells after they've been registered for 2 years, which allows them to change their usernames for free.


*100,000 Members Bell Giveaway*​
The forum has hit another milestone: 100,000 members! To celebrate, we are giving away 100 bells to the first 100 members. Thank you for being one of the one hundred thousand at The Bell Tree!






*Get your 100 bells here!*​

*What's Next For TBT*​
As I'm sure all of you have heard by now, Nintendo has announced a new Animal Crossing game that will be released on the Switch next year. After six years since the release of the last game, this is the longest time we've been waiting for a new one, yet the forum has continued to be moderately active in what is normally our slow period. If past game releases are any indication, The Bell Tree will experience a significant increase in activity with the new game and it will possibly be bigger than we are currently able to handle.

Over the next several months we will announce a few changes that will help us get ready for the next game before it's released. This may impact the amount of events that we are able to host until then. Not only will we be focused on preparing the site, but we also don't want our staff to be overworked before the forum's activity increases (myself included). On that topic, I'm sure we will be looking for new staff early next year, especially because part of our current team is stepping down.

You may have already noticed that we have not had as many events lately, but we hope to have at least one by the end of the year. I know the events are some users' favorite part of TBT, so I hope you understand while we prepare in this calm before the storm. Running a site like this can be a lot of work, but it has turned into a kind of "internet home" for many people, so we want to put our best effort into helping it thrive. Thank you!


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## King Dorado (Oct 21, 2018)

good luck Peter, Jake, and Tom on your next endeavors!  
thanks for all your work helping to run the forum events that were held the last two years guys


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## Alienfish (Oct 21, 2018)

Yay! Also fair beans with events, I'm pretty busy myself so it'd just be a bit much here too. And thanks now to be sages for all the work, I'm gonna miss u Peter 

(also link doesn't work or people already claimed bells)


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## King Dorado (Oct 21, 2018)

yeh the bells thing is broken


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## Alolan_Apples (Oct 21, 2018)

It’s sad to see the staff roster get shorter. I’m already missing Jake.


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## Alienfish (Oct 21, 2018)

King Dorado said:


> yeh the bells thing is broken



yeah it only leads to the home page for me :thinking:

also looking forward to villager wars (tm) ahah


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## LambdaDelta (Oct 21, 2018)

Jeremy said:


> As I'm sure all of you have heard by now, Nintendo has announced a new Animal Crossing game that will be released on the Switch next year. After six years since the release of the last game, this is the longest time we've been waiting for a new one



but pocket camp is not even a year old


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## That Marshal Fangirl (Oct 21, 2018)

Ok I was kinda freaking out because I couldn’t believe 100 people had clicked already.  Glad to see it’s just broken.  Also I’m so glad something’s finally happening around here!


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## Jacob (Oct 21, 2018)

Thanks for everything Peter, Jake and Tom. Really amazing mods


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## That Marshal Fangirl (Oct 21, 2018)

Also also, it’s kinda sad that my buddies Jake and Tom are stepping down.  It’ll be weird to see their names in green from now on...


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## LambdaDelta (Oct 21, 2018)

broken bells giveaway link being headlined by an image of nook holding bells is honestly perfect

tbh don't fix it


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## Alienfish (Oct 21, 2018)

LambdaDelta said:


> broken bells giveaway link being headlined by an image of nook holding bells is honestly perfect
> 
> tbh don't fix it



go back to your tech support chair dude, lol.


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## Eme (Oct 21, 2018)

Yay, thanks for the opportunity to get Coco and Ruby!


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## Jeremy (Oct 21, 2018)

If the bells didn't work for you, try again now.


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## LambdaDelta (Oct 21, 2018)

what even was the issue?

it clearly wasn't a fake code, as those take you to the currency transactions page. while this one took you to the forum's homepage, while just not applying itself, so...


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## MissLily123 (Oct 21, 2018)

Man, it's quite sad seeing some familiar names turning green. Best of luck to you three in everything you do!


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## That Marshal Fangirl (Oct 21, 2018)

Thanks for the free TBT!


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## King Dorado (Oct 21, 2018)

thanks for the bells!

(its sent me the bells twice now tho btw...)


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## Snowesque (Oct 21, 2018)

Thank you very much for your help staff and the free bells!
Good seeing this place have some life in it.


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## Jake (Oct 21, 2018)

Alolan_Apples said:


> It?s sad to see the staff roster get shorter. I?m already missing Jake.



At lease someone has some compassion. My dad committed suicide and then I got fired from TBT after working my ass off on the moderation team for the last 2 years.


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## That Marshal Fangirl (Oct 21, 2018)

Jake said:


> At lease someone has some compassion. My dad committed suicide and then I got fired from TBT after working my ass off on the moderation team for the last 2 years.



Oh no Jake, I’m so sorry.


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## LambdaDelta (Oct 21, 2018)

Jake said:


> At lease someone has some compassion. My dad committed suicide and then I got fired from TBT after working my ass off on the moderation team for the last 2 years.



I'm sorry, but I legit can't even tell how serious you're being here


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## Alolan_Apples (Oct 21, 2018)

Jake said:


> At lease someone has some compassion. My dad committed suicide and then I got fired from TBT after working my ass off on the moderation team for the last 2 years.



I wish I could be a replacement, but I decided that if I were to serve on the team, I?m sticking to Project Staff.


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## LaBelleFleur (Oct 21, 2018)

Thank you Peter, Jake and Tom for all your hard work over the past two years! Welcome to the green club.


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## Trundle (Oct 21, 2018)

Thank you to the mods that worked hard to lock my threads and delete my offensive posts. TBT would have been worse without you.


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## oath2order (Oct 21, 2018)

I'd say thank you but I wasn't here for when most of y'all modded so you didn't delete me ****.

Bit of a shame


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## piske (Oct 21, 2018)

So many things have changed! Thank you, Peter, Jake and Tom!


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## Xerolin (Oct 21, 2018)

pretty shocking to see tom and jake no longer mods. they'd been during the majority of my active time here, certainly was a pretty big impact, best of wishes, along with peter. usually id add some cruddy comment but hey probably not the time for that


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## duckykate (Oct 21, 2018)

Jake said:


> At lease someone has some compassion. My dad committed suicide and then I got fired from TBT after working my ass off on the moderation team for the last 2 years.



I'm sorry to hear that, jake. Thanks for dealing with all the **** i posted on the TBT discord.


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## Xerolin (Oct 21, 2018)

Jake said:


> At lease someone has some compassion. My dad committed suicide and then I got fired from TBT after working my ass off on the moderation team for the last 2 years.



im sorry to hear about that jake, i hope things will brighten up for you within time.


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## mogyay (Oct 21, 2018)

TOM, i'll miss u, u were a rare breed of mod that was rly nice and easy to talk to  basically one of the first ppl i was friends with on this site so if u go anywhere i'll kill u, thanks for all ur hard work


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## Midoriya (Oct 21, 2018)

Thank you Peter, Jake, and Tom, for your hard work in helping the forums to run smoothly.  We’ll miss you guys.


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## Valzed (Oct 21, 2018)

Thank you to everyone who keeps The Bell Tree up & running! I'm sorry to see some of you leaving. I hope the future holds bright things ahead.


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## dedenne (Oct 22, 2018)

thanks mods that are stepping down and whatever we all rly appreciate it and gl with idk i just wanted to say gl )


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## Alienfish (Oct 22, 2018)

Thanks for the bells finally 

Also might just buy Mint, that face is pretty cute aha.


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## Paperboy012305 (Oct 22, 2018)

I just noticed this today, and it’s sad that Tom and Jake has to drop out of the staff.

Overall, nice Direct.

How could I forget you, Peter.


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## Antonio (Oct 22, 2018)

Peter, Jake and Tom: You will be missed! Thank you for your contributions to this wonderful community! I wish you the best in life and hope to see you guys on the forums again. <3


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## ali.di.magix (Oct 22, 2018)

Aww it's really shocking to see Tom, Jake and Peter step down! I did not expect that at all. Thank you guys so much for all the hard work and time you've put into this site <3


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## Zerous (Oct 22, 2018)

Was not expecting the mod changes. Thanks for all the effort you guys have put into this site for the last few years.


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## Horus (Oct 22, 2018)

Yes, 100 tbtb back from my shamrock investment


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## OctoLiam (Oct 23, 2018)

Awwwww Jake, Peter, Tom. Well hope you still have a good time. And thank you for all your hard work


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## Hyrule_Crossing (Oct 23, 2018)

Well. Peter, Tom, And Jake.

Hope you enjoy being sages, you be mods in out hearts! (Ok that sounded dumb XD)

But really hope you have a great time!


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## Luna Moonbug (Oct 23, 2018)

Thank you Peter, Jake & Tom for all your hard work and made this site fun and exciting and I'm sure Tina & Murray will be great too.


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## Senni (Oct 23, 2018)

Aww, good bye to the ones leaving the site, appreciate all your hard work!

Congratulations on 100k members! What does first 100 members mean? First 100 to see the thread or first 100 to comment?


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## Snowesque (Oct 23, 2018)

*Senni *
If you click this link and you're one of the first 100 people to do so, you'll receive 100 bells!


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## mogyay (Oct 23, 2018)

oh wow, i didn't even read that it was the first 100 members (oops sry will read ur posts one day prob) so ty for the tbt


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## SensaiGallade (Oct 23, 2018)

I won't apologise for my post quality that caused Tom and Jake to give me warnings : )

Good luck though and thank you for everything!


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## That Marshal Fangirl (Oct 23, 2018)

SensaiGallade said:


> I won't apologise for my post quality that caused Tom and Jake to give me warnings for : )
> 
> Good luck though and thank you for everything!



Can relate.  Peter once said he didn't eat enough vegetables in a thread so I replied "Same" because I don't read the rules enough.  I'd never gotten a post quality warning so fast.


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## Verecund (Oct 23, 2018)

Aah, so sad I missed the 100 TBT.  I didn't even know about the direct or the Villager Week until now since I thought there'd be some kind of banner or something.


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## neoratz (Oct 23, 2018)

i didn't see this until now, the staff changes were surprising  thank you peter jake and tom for all the work you've put in!


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## Holla (Oct 24, 2018)

Thanks so much site staff, your hard work is really amazing. I wish you the best as the things start to pick up around here.


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## Mr_Persona (Oct 25, 2018)

Can't wait for new admins or staff members coming on belltree because I have been seeing that this year less admins came online on belltree. I've only been seeing two who were active the most on here.


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## Chicha (Oct 26, 2018)

Aww, I wish I saw this thread sooner to participate more in villager wars. Anyway, thank you Peter, Jake, and Tom for all your hard work; you'll be missed! Best of luck to all of you!


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## Alienfish (Oct 26, 2018)

Probs late but THANK YOU for removing that ugly egg currency thing in the sidebar... sdkjfhdf <3


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## Mr_Persona (Oct 26, 2018)

Sheila said:


> Probs late but THANK YOU for removing that ugly egg currency thing in the sidebar... sdkjfhdf <3



I just saw that egg thing was gone too just now.
wow I'm dumb for not seeing that


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