Yep, you read that right! Our Kickstarter has officially launched! We pushed the big red button (okay there wasn't really a big red button) early this morning and now we're dancing through the streets, sharing the good news! It's been a long hard week putting the final touches on our campaign, but we know the real work is just beginning and we are completely stoked to get down to business!

See our Kickstarter Campaign Here

Some of you may be wondering what Kickstarter is exactly or how the process works. In short, it is a funding source for creative projects. You can read about The Basics of Kickstarter in their FAQ! If you have any questions about our campaign or about Kickstarter in general, please feel free to contact me either on Origins via private message or the Help Desk or you can contact me via Kickstarter's sites, either in a message or via the comments!



Remember, even if you can't pledge, you can still make a difference by word of mouth! Share your excitement and enthusiasm for Origins with everyone know! Post on Facebook, make a tweet or blog about us! Spreading the news is just another way you can pledge your support!

Hello, everyone! Remember a little while ago, we revealed the amazing Guardians that protect the realms of the Tree of Origins? Well, here are Balvun and Emiryls, new and improved to better fit into the theme of our world!



Now for our Kickstarter’s Early Bird Special!

The Early Bird Special will consist of three Starter Packs:
-The Currency Pack
-The Pet Starter Pack
-The FA Starter Pack

The Early Bird Special will last for a week but will be broken up into two parts. During the first 48 hours of the Kickstarter, you will receive all three packs for any pledges over $25. Once the 48 hour period ends, during the next five days you will receive the Currency pack and one other pack of your choosing, also for any pledge over $25.

Rest assured if you cannot make it for the Early Bird Special, these packs will still be available after the first week as add-on options!



And don't forget to check out our social media where you can like, share, retweet, and reblog all of our latest updates! And of course, keep your eye on this News section where we'll reveal even more surprises all the way until the Kickstarter launches!

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/originstree/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/originstree
Tumblr: http://originstree.tumblr.com/

Oh no, don't worry, we're not going to sing at you anymore. I just wanted to let everyone know that we've swapped some of the staff around! Our dear, sweet, crazy Numie has taken a hiatus - what? No, we didn't put her in a mental institute.... *shifty eyes.... clears throat* As I was saying. *cough* Lockette is going to be filling in for her as co-admin and Kalika will be taking over as Head Mod in Lockette's stead!

Check back soon, Lockette will be around shortly to share "A Closer Look (Part 2)" with everyone!

Today's closer look is going to focus on our pledge rewards!

We have 11 tiers in total, starting at $5 for the basics and going up to $400 for the most goody-packed option! As I've already announced, there's going to be an Exclusive FA set and Exclusive pets, but we have a lot of other great stuff to offer as well!

Starting with this awesome Halloween Gene Pack as provided by the very talented TeaTimeJess! It includes 6 unique genes that will unlock to your account and be available on all pets (including future releases)! The genes are: Spider Lily, Punkin Patch, Day of the Dead, Autumn Leaves, Skeleton & Spider Web.



On the lower end we'll be giving a unique Backer title, profile badge and username color. You'll even have the chance to get custom badges & titles if you fancy that unique flavor! What exactly are profile badges and titles? Profile badges are similar to achievements. When you unlock a badge you'll have the option to show it off on your profile page and even your forum posts to let everyone know about your accomplishment! Titles on the other hand will show up next to your name across the site, appearing for example as "Backer Bob" or "Sue the Fabulous".



On our high end, we have some really special and unique opportunities! The most grand of which is the chance to work with our artists to design a pet (with Ryou) or an FA set (with Sapphie) by giving direct feedback! Your will be added to our scheduled releases and become available to everyone on the site, with special credit being given on our Credits page to the masterminds responsible! Super exciting right?!

But that isn't it. We're also offering the chance to have your own custom pet palette that is 100% unique to your account! What better way to wet your feet in the brand new breeding system?! This is the way to take branding your Haven to the next level!



Well, I hope I managed to further excite you with everything we've been cooking up! Tune in tomorrow for a closer look at the Early Bird Special!

We're so happy to inform you that Origins is still trucking along on its path to perfection! We've been working behind the scenes and preparing to launch our Kickstarter! It's taken a lot longer than we originally anticipated, but the wait is almost over! We're putting the finishing touches on everything, gathering up all our beautiful samples and polishing up our incentives! Which is exactly why I'm writing to you now; to give our loyal followers an inside look at what our Kickstarter is going to be offering!



We have a lot of rewards planned for you, but the ones I'm most excited about are the pets! We have two Exclusive pet species done by our new pet artist, Ryou! Left to right is the Wendigo and Majouneko. These will be offered, along with our unique Halloween Gene Pack, as a $25 pledge reward, but will also be featured in higher incentive packages as well!

What's in store for pets on Origins? With your help, we aim to make pet creation fun and easy. Using a variety of items, you'll be able to fully customize and finalize your first generation pets on the site. Choose between an expansive color palette for every aspect of your pet, from fur and gene colors, to eye and accessory/background colors. With the click of a button (and a confirmation just to be safe!) the item will be consumed from your inventory and your pet will appear in your Haven! *inhales deeply* Mm, that fresh pet smell!

What are genes exactly? They're essentially markings. Genes come in packs of 6-10 designs and are usually available for use on every species; with some exceptions. When you purchase a Gene Pack you'll have to open it to access the individual genes, which you can then bind to your account or sell to other users (packs will be tradeable as well). Once a gene is unlocked on your account, you'll never need to purchase it again! You can use it on any first generation pet, even newly released pets providing they're compatible with each other! Neat, huh?!

What do I mean by "first generation pets"? That's a reference to our breeding and lineage tracking features. Breeding is going to be fully automated, allowing you to pass on unique genes and even unique/rare species based on percentages, rarity and sheer dumb luck. Lower generation offspring with tidy/pretty lineages are meant to be prized and sought after. Building your breeding harem, collecting rare pets/genes and establishing your bloodlines will be the focus of this system!



I'm also eager to share details about the upcoming changes to our Avatar feature. If you've been on the site and tried to dress your Fae, you'll probably have noticed that the system is rather clunky and tedious to handle. We want to give this feature a much needed upgrade, making it more intuitive and user-friendly so that designing your Fae is the fun, exciting experience it's meant to be!

What does this mean exactly? We want to give you drag and drop reordering for equipped layers, unequip all and equip from preview options, search functions and numerous other "quality of life" tweaks that we've all been longing for!

In addition to fixing the existing system, we also want to add a few new features! Such as allowing for additional avatars instead of being limited to only one of each gender, an option to save/equip from/share designs, wishlists and more... Thinking about it gets me incredibly excited and I hope you are too!

We'll be offering the Witchy FA set (done by SapphieChan) as a Kickstarter Exclusive. Similar to the pet incentives, this set will be available as a $25 pledge reward in addition to being included in higher tiers.

Those aren't the only things on our agenda. We have a list as long as my leg (okay to be fair I'm rather short, but still!) of improvements and new features that Origins really needs.

As you can see, we have a ton of great things in store for Origins and we really hope that you can be part of our journey forward! Our Kickstarter is going to launch the first week of October and we humbly ask for your help if you are able to give it! Even if you can't provide monetary support, you can assist Origins by telling your friends about us, spreading the word and offering your feedback on the site! We value all of our members and their input, so never hesitate to come to our capable team with questions or comments!