Bell Tree Direct - 6.4.23 - Spring Cleaning, Summer Events

Good evening and welcome to a new Bell Tree Direct! We have many different things to announce tonight including two upcoming events, staff changes, a long list of items to clean up on the forum, and a new integration between our forum and Discord server.

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Celebrating Diversity Event, Coming This Week!

Our Celebrating Diversity event is coming back this Wednesday! It will take place from June 7, 2023 - June 17, 2023. In this event, we'll come together to celebrate our diverse community by completing a single creative task. We look forward to seeing your inspiring creations again starting this Wednesday!

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Returning Soon, Camp Bell Tree!

In other event news, our next major event is also coming soon. Camp Bell Tree is returning July 21, 2023 - August 20, 2023! In this event, the community will be split into multiple "cabins" that work together as teams. The cabins compete against each other by earning points in a variety of different tasks. Which cabin will end on top this time?

While the event's official end date is August 20th, the tasks to complete will actually end about half a week earlier. As we did in 2021, early signups will be opening before the start date, so be on the lookout for that in the coming weeks. This year's camp will also have a theme... any guesses about what it might be?

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Staff Changes​

Many of our staff members are changing roles. While Kaiaa, LaBelleFleur, Laudine, Nefarious, and pandapples are switching to project staff, Mairmalade is moving back to the moderator role.

Moderator Project Staff
Kaiaa
LaBelleFleur
Laudine
Nefarious
pandapples

Project Staff Moderator
Mairmalade

Finally, Murray is retiring from the TBT staff. Murray has been a staff member since 2015 when he started as a forum moderator. In 2018 he switched to the project staff role where he continued to help with events. The events he helped run over his eight years as a staff member include The Bell Tree Fair 2016, TBT's Fifth Annual Easter Egg Hunt (2017), The Bell Tree Fair 2017, The Bell Tree Fair 2020, and TBT's Season of Giving 2020. Thank you, Murray, for your hard work and contributions to the TBT community over those years!

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New Forum/Discord Integration​

Over the next week, we'll be making many changes to our Discord server. To start, we'll be connecting the forum and server together. This will allow for new features such as:

• Linking your forum and Discord accounts.
  
• Forced username matching.
• New role and other perks for connected users.
• Optionally receiving forum notifications through Discord.
• Forum thread promotions to relevant channels.
• Role syncing with events.

We will post more details about how to connect your accounts once it's set up later this week. There will also be several changes to the channel layout, which I'll talk about in a few sections below.

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Board Changes​

Before spring is officially over, we're doing some spring cleaning by making many changes to our boards and stickied threads across the forum. The Turnip Stalk Exchange and Animal Crossing: amiibo Festival boards will be removed and replaced with prefixes. The Airport is also getting another prefix for new users looking for help. The Basement will be given a more distinct purpose - only forum games. The more chatty discussion threads that are currently there will be moved to Brewster's, but will be magically excluded from earning bells.

Board:	Action:
Island Journals	Move under General AC Discussion and add a field to select which game the journal is for
The Airport	New Getting Started prefix (for new users looking for help with fruit, items, etc.)
The Airport	Remove filtering box from the top of the board
Turnip Stalk Exchange	Remove and merge into The Airport board with a new prefix
Animal Crossing: amiibo Festival	Remove and merge into General AC Discussion with a prefix
Nintendo Treehouse	Add prefixes for more games (feel free to make suggestions)
Gamer's Lounge	Add prefixes for more games (feel free to make suggestions)
Brewster's Cafe	Perfect the spelling, Brewster's Café!
The Basement	Move non-game threads to Brewster's Café (they will still be excluded from earning bells)
The Cellar	Potentially merge into The Basement (TBD)

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Thread Changes​

Next, we went board-by-board through our stickied threads. A lot of them are outdated and some were even created an entire decade ago. We figured it was time to freshen things up around the forum. Over the next few weeks, many will be removed, while others will be updated or recreated.

Board:	Thread:	Action:
The Bulletin Board	Bell Tree Directs - Info and Archive	Unstick
Bell Tree HQ	The Information Desk	Merge into the FAQ thread for a combined FAQ and Q&A
	The Signature Guide	Update / replace. Make applicable for both avatars and signatures
	Ask The Staff: Non site-related questions!	Unstick
	Bell Tree Weeks - Official Thread	Unstick
TBT Marketplace	Shop / Collectibles / Events / Restocks Discussion	Update or unstick (TBD)
	The Bell System: Beginner's Guide	Update or merge into FAQ thread in Bell Tree HQ (TBD)
Animal Crossing: New Horizons	TBT Island Tours	Officially close project and unstick for now (will possibly return in the future)
	ACNH Board Post Quality & Etiquette Reminder	Unstick
Nook's Cranny	(Closed) The Looking For Thread (New Horizons Edition)	Unstick
	Auction Rules & Guidelines	Unstick
Animal Crossing: New Leaf	Official Dream Address Thread ☾ V.2	Move to The Train Station
The Train Station (AC:NL Online)	Official Turnip Prices Thread	Unstick, individual threads can be made
	Wi-Fi Ratings	Unstick
	Guidelines for Animal Crossing Online	Unstick
Re-Tail	Rules, Guidelines, and Blacklisting	Unstick
Villager Trading Plaza	Official Hold my Villager thread	Unstick
	DO NOT MAKE BLACKLISTING/SCAMMER THREADS	Unstick
	READ FIRST: How to Use the Villager Trading Plaza & Rules	Update / replace with info on how to use the board and filters.
General AC Discussion	Old School AC Week: Return to Town Photo Event	Unstick
Animal Crossing	Old School AC Week: GameCube Item Code Giveaway	Unstick
	Animal Crossing Character Guide	Unstick
Animal Crossing: City Folk	Links To All The Best Guides On TBT	Update links for historical value
Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer	Coverage of Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer news on Animal Crossing World	Unstick
Nintendo Treehouse	Smash Bros. Ultimate Discussion Thread	Unstick
Museum	Profile edits: Avatars/Signatures/etc.	Unstick
	GFX Resources	Unstick
	Please keep all art shops and transaction threads in the Museum Shop board	Unstick
The Basement	General Discussion	Remake in Brewster's (no bells)
	What's Bothering You?	Move to Brewster's (no bells)
	Place your random thoughts.	Move to Brewster's (no bells)
	Unpopular opinion thread	Move to Brewster's (no bells)

Thanks to Mick for helping me organize the long list of things to clean up into this usable format. Also thank you to all of the staff members who gave their input about these changes. We still have a few decisions to finalize, but we'll begin making these changes very soon.

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Discord Changes​

In addition to the added forum integration, we'll also be making some changes to the Discord server's layout so it will look like this:

Town Hall

• #announcements
• #rules

Plaza

• #general
• #gaming
• #memes
• #creative

Animal Crossing

• #new-horizons
• #pocket-camp
• #general-ac

Multiplayer

• #room-1
• #room-2

Now that New Horizons is three years old, it makes sense to combine these channels into one. We'll also be combining New Leaf and Old School into a single General AC channel. Finally, we're expanding from a single #general to a few more non-AC channels for those of you who would like to chat about things in a less open-ended space.

Going forward, we'll also try to utilize more of Discord's features by making use of events, our Announcement channel, and a new Rules channel. The new integration with the forum will also help us utilize roles and other features more often.

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Free Bells!​

Your free Bell Tree Direct bells are back! Redeem them before they expire next week.


Click here to receive your 60 Bells!

And that concludes the Direct! As you can see, we have a long list of changes to make, so we figured it would be easier to announce them first. We'll go through each of these changes over the coming weeks, so expect things to look slightly different over that time. We hope to see you at our two upcoming events! Thanks for reading!

 

[The Pennifer]

Woooo!! S.S. Dolphin love it!

 

[ShinkaiTheSeaWing]

okay, but S.S. Drake? S.S. Shepherd? S.S. Beagle?
joking lol but a whole collection of pikmin collectibles would be awesome :>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

 

[digimon]

Hi all! To tide you over until we... launch the event later on, we have a shiny new collectible that's now available for purchase over at the Bell Tree Shop! The brand new S.S. Dolphin will be available for 150 Bells from now until Tuesday, so be sure to grab one before they're gone for good!

Camp Bell Tree 2023 is on schedule to start later this evening. I'm so glad to see all the eggscitement so far!

i just came back from picking up my copy of pikmin four to see this!! the s.s dolphin collectible is so cute!! can't wait to blast off into space with ya'll

 

[ShinkaiTheSeaWing]

Just noticed the names of all the tokens...
Observatory, Bridge, Cargo, we're completing MISSIONS...




ඞඞඞඞඞඞඞඞඞඞඞඞඞඞඞඞඞඞඞඞඞඞඞඞඞඞඞඞඞඞඞඞඞ

 

[Rosch]

I’m ready to board the spaceship. I have my space passport ready.

 

[KittenNoir]

Yay I love seeing all the types of tokens by our names

 

[amemome]

watch this event actually just be a farm theme after all the space hype... knocking on wood

 

[LateGamer]

EEEEeek!! I bought my very FIRST collectible ever!! I am so excited.

 

[Midoriya]

watch this event actually just be a farm theme after all the space hype... knocking on wood

The mission... help the chicken cross the road.
The observatory... is for observing the pasture.
The bridge... is for the bridge to the well.
And the cargo... is full of milk cartons!!

 

[LateGamer]

Hopefully any goodies that will require bells won’t come too fast or I will have to talk to the Bell Lender (wink, wink) and end up with a Bell loan during these high interest rates!

 

[Mick]

The mission... help the chicken cross the road.
The observatory... is for observing the pasture.
The bridge... is for the bridge to the well.
And the cargo... is full of milk cartons!!

My favourite event is the one where you have to post every day to water your plant, so that you can harvest it after several months

 

[Antonio]

EEEEeek!! I bought my very FIRST collectible ever!! I am so excited.

I've sent ya 500 tbt, hope you get plenty more collectibles!

 

[LateGamer]

I've sent ya 500 tbt, hope you get plenty more collectibles!

What! I am seriously crying real tears here, Oh my gosh! THANK YOU (heart swelling to bursting point)

 

[-Blue-]

watch this event actually just be a farm theme after all the space hype... knocking on wood

I still wouldn't mind lol.

Almost time to blast off.

 

[ShinkaiTheSeaWing]

"Welcome to the Galactic Warp Spaceport. "

Intercom: "Attention: Freighter 3214 Departing."
The room bustles with the sounds of chattering vacationers, the roaring engines of freighters and starships, and the intercom blaring about every five seconds. This huge facility is easy to get lost in. I walk over to the counter, and speak to the lady, trying to hurry to make it in time. Well, I say "lady," but that's not really true. Most jobs that would have been done by humans have been replaced with automated drones. It's auto-tune-sounding voice greets me blankly, but a happy expression runs across it's face.
"Bell Tree Hub, Near Gracia System." I say, equally as expressionless. I show the android my ticket and ID.
Drone Attendant:"That will be Station 2298. Thanks for visiting the Galactic Warp Spaceport!"
I barely hear the rest of "her" sentence as I walk away. I begin to trek through the spiraling halls, passing small shops and waiting areas for other freighters. The walk is tiring, even with those flat escalator things. The emptiness of space out the window doesn't help much. The Galactic Warp Spaceport is one of the largest facilities in the quadrant, so I bet you can guess how it went. The cramped, sweaty taxi shuttle that brought me here felt more comfortable than this hike, but at last, it's over.
So here I am, on my way to Camp Bell Tree. I open the double doors to the waiting room, "FREIGHTER 2298 - DEPARTING SOON" flashing in yellow above the door frame. Contrasting the white titanium walls and blue plaid-patterned carpets, I am greeted with a living-room sized, one-windowed room with beige-carpet, grey-blue painted walls, and those fancy white chairs you'd find in the lobby at a dentist's office. That is, besides the giant metal doors in the side of the wall leading you to board the freighter. After the small shock of the change in atmosphere, I sit down in the corner, kind of away from most of the others in the waiting room, all sitting in the middle and chatting about Camp Bell Tree. I'm relatively new to the group, but I still recognize some faces.
Screen on the wall: "Estimated freighter take-off time: UNCERTAIN. Please accustom yourself to the room as you wait. We have snacks and drinks over on the left wall!"
More people slowly enter the room, some I recognize and some I don't. I'd been to a good few planets and systems before, but none as far as where the camp will be. I hope we get to watch movies on the ride. I don't have a pilot's license yet, so I'm used to sitting in the back of public transport shuttles and reading or playing some random game on my tablet for the ride. My exosuit's AI keeps me company for the long trips.
I sit and stare at my watch, not sure what to do for the next couple of hours. Maybe I'll get a snack soon. I begin to drift off to sleep in the chair.

 

[Oblivia]

Hopefully any goodies that will require bells won’t come too fast or I will have to talk to the Bell Lender (wink, wink) and end up with a Bell loan during these high interest rates!

No need to worry about Bells (or lack thereof) going forward!

 

[LateGamer]

"Welcome to the Galactic Warp Spaceport. "

Intercom: "Attention: Freighter 3214 Departing."
The room bustles with the sounds of chattering vacationers, the roaring engines of freighters and starships, and the intercom blaring about every five seconds. This huge facility is easy to get lost in. I walk over to the counter, and speak to the lady, trying to hurry to make it in time. Well, I say "lady," but that's not really true. Most jobs that would have been done by humans have been replaced with automated drones. It's auto-tune-sounding voice greets me blank, but a happy expression runs across it's face.
"Bell Tree Hub, Near Gracia System." I say, equally as expressionless. I show the android my ticket and ID.
Drone Attendant:"That will be Station 2298. Thanks for visiting the Galactic Warp Spaceport!"
I barely hear the rest of "her" sentence as I walk away. I begin to trek through the spiraling halls, passing small shops and waiting areas for other freighters. The walk is tiring, even with those flat escalator things. The emptiness of space out the window doesn't help much. The Galactic Warp Spaceport is one of the largest facilities in the quadrant, so I bet you can guess how it went. The cramped, sweaty taxi shuttle that brought me here felt more comfortable than this hike, but at last, it's over.
So here I am, on my way to Camp Bell Tree. I open the double doors to the waiting room, "FREIGHTER 2298 - DEPARTING SOON" flashing in yellow above the door frame. Contrasting the grey titanium walls and blue plaid-patterned carpets, I am greeted with a living-room sized, one-windowed room with beige-carpet, grey-blue painted-walls, and those fancy white chairs you'd find in the lobby at a dentist's office. That is, besides the giant metal doors in the side of the wall leading you to board the freighter. After the small shock of the change in atmosphere, I sit down in the corner, kind of away from most of the others in the waiting room, all sitting in the middle and chatting about Camp Bell Tree. I'm relatively new to the group, but I still recognize some faces.
Screen on the wall: "Estimated freighter take-off time: uncertain. Please accustom yourself to the room as you wait. We have snacks and drinks over on the left wall!"
More people slowly enter the room, some I recognize and some I don't. I'd been to a good few planets and systems before, but none as far as where the camp will be. I hope we get to watch movies on the ride. I don't have a pilot's license yet, so I'm used to sitting in the back of public transport shuttles and reading or playing some random game on my tablet for the ride. My exosuit's AI keeps me company for the long trips.
I sit and stare at my watch, not sure what to do for the next couple of hours. Maybe I'll get a snack soon. I begin to drift off to sleep in the chair.

Beautifully written! Cheers! I certainly hope you do some form of writing irl. That was engaging!

 

[ZeldaCrossing64]

I'm so excited for the event! I totally haven't been sitting in front of my screen and refreshing the page . . .

I can't wait to see everyone's new aesthetics! I've already seen a few cool ones. :0

 

[ShinkaiTheSeaWing]

Beautifully written! Cheers! I certainly hope you do some form of writing irl. That was engaging!

Haha, thanks! I don't do really any writing like this, besides random stories I may write down about video games I play and other nonsense of that sort, basically the equivalent of sketching the outlines of a drawing, but not doing much more with it. Anyway, glad you found it entertaining! I may do more stuff like this for Camp Bell Tree somewhere.
LATE EDIT: find it in the museum :>

 

[Venn]

I will do whatever I can get the most of these tokens...
I WILL DO WHATEVER I CAN