Hey there, dear Friends!
Today I'm presenting, quite possibly, the biggest update in a long while - the site now has seasonal contests, a new currency, and a full-fledged profile decorations shop. Let me walk you through everything in order.
Contests for creators
Starting now, a content creator contest with legendary rewards and other prizes will kick off every three months.
Contest slots will go to users who placed in the top 3 of any of the homepage leaderboards, and to members of the top 3 squads, over the 3 months preceding the contest.
A contest slot will also go to the authors of tests and posts featured in the monthly best-works digest. Contest slots can be transferred to other users before the contest starts.
You can find more detailed information about the upcoming contest, along with its rules and terms, on the
dedicated page.
PikuCoins
Yep, that's exactly what I decided to call our new currency - you'll need it to buy profile decorations. Let's go over where you can earn it:
- Achievements: each one gives you as many PikuCoins as it does achievement points, meaning right now you can earn up to 3255 PikuCoins by completing every achievement on the site;
- Winning contests: third place in a nomination gets you 100 PikuCoins, second - 200, first - 300!
- Judging contests: every judge gets 300 PikuCoins, same as for first place.
What to spend it on
You can spend what you've earned in the new
Decorations Shop, which has over 200 profile customization options. You can get to the shop page via the button on your personal page.
You can decorate both the compact (popup) profile and the full profile page. Decorations are split into several types, each working a bit differently:
- Cover - fully replaces the standard background of the compact profile or the main block on the profile page with a video animation;
- Cover animation - cheaper than video, lets you add a simple animation to a static background image on the compact profile or the main block on the profile page;
- Avatar frame - shown around your avatar on the profile page or in its compact version, comes animated;
- Block frame - frames the main block on the profile page or the compact profile block. Some frames are animated;
- Nickname color - changes the color, and in some cases animates, your nickname on the profile page or in its compact version;
- Achievement badge - lets you choose which of 105 badges for your earned achievements to pin on your profile and its compact version.
- Page background - a separate category, profile-page-only, that lets you change the background of the whole page.
Now that we've covered how to earn and what to spend it on, I need to say a couple more words about how this whole economy actually works.
Summing it all up
- You do stuff on the site - you get achievements - you get PikuCoins;
- You take part in squad wars - you get an achievement (which gives PikuCoins) + a contest slot - you can win a lot of PikuCoins;
- Same goes for the homepage leaderboards: achievement + contest slot = a chance to win PikuCoins;
- You make great content - you land in the digest - a contest slot = a chance to win PikuCoins;
I also want to separately point out a new achievement -
Top Squads - I've retroactively awarded it to everyone listed in the winners archive.
Since all profile customization is now gathered in one place and tied to a single currency, the old decorations that used to be handed out directly for placing in squad wars or making the homepage user leaderboard have been removed.
So now it's all simple, clear, and pretty.
And last but not least - I've updated the achievements block on your personal page. It now shows the requirements for every level of each achievement, as well as the date you earned it.
That's all from me for now - I hope you enjoy the site's updated economy and the new room for self-expression. Thanks for reading!
