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It's been almost 6 months since Hermes' Moon was first released in the cash shop on December 5th, 2007! It's been quite a long time since then, and now 11 stages later, it's finally at its last evolution. Coming up with the designs for these past several months has been a lot of work, but it's also been rewarding.
Throughout these six months, I've read a lot of feedback and suggestion threads for what everyone wished and hoped for Hermes to become. One of the strongest wishes for Hermes' Moon was to have backwings in the final evolution, but I think many users already know that backwings are promised exclusively as a quest item. I tried to come as close as I could to satisfy, but I wasn't allowed to do that, as the decision wasn't up to me... redface It's understandable, especially considering the design I chose for Hermes' feathered ears, it would really come quite close to angelic backwings. (incidentally, I also have a part in designing the quest backwings. So maybe whenever the quest is released, and if you happen to like Hermes' ears...! sweatdrop )
So I'm sorry if there is a lot of disappointment, but that part is not something I can help. sad
As every evolving item is very personal to the artist who creates it, Hermes' Moon was very personal to me. It was a challenge to balance what direction users would enjoy, and yet keep to the story I had in mind at the same time. With so much to consider, every update was intimidating for me, and the $10 price tag was really a lot to live up to as well.
I came to understand that a lot of user satisfaction comes from giving them something surprising and unexpected. Trying to pull out fabulous ideas every two weeks is pretty tough, and the toughest part is every time I managed to come up with a good idea, I knew I'd have to somehow top it the next time it evolved! OTZ It was very difficult, but it was also a very enjoyable experience that I learned a lot from. When I looked at all the cumulative evolutions together at the very end, it made me realize just how much time I'd spent on it. The whole thing suddenly became such a large item! It has 36 different poses!
An amusing moment from this week was while I was testing the item. Pepper-tea and I realized that after 26 poses, any poses after that didn't work. eek Biancamella was having the same issues. Never in the developers' wildest dreams did they think any item would ever reach so many variations! So they had to quickly fix the system to allow more item poses, so the final evolution would be possible. whee
Many users prefer the evolving item as a pet, and many users prefer it more as a large variety of different, yet similarly themed clothing. From the very beginning, I knew that I would play strongly on the moon rabbit design, and that I would include golden headwings in the final evolution. Many of the other poses are inspired by fellow coworkers and suggestions from gaians. At the end of it all, I feel satisfied with Hermes' Moon. It may sound very cheezy, but this item is the culmination of the care and support of so many people! Even if the feedback was discouraging at times, I always remember your wonderful encouragement!!!
So a big thank you so much to everyone who supported Hermes' Moon. I sincerely wish from the bottom of my heart that everyone feels that it is worth every cent/gold they paid for it, and I hope everyone enjoys this item as much as I enjoyed making it.
-phi
 superphi · Sat Apr 26, 2008 @ 01:39am · 40 Comments |
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