04/14/11 - Rearranged the REI post so that it's much clearer which ones are still evolving, since it was getting a bit crowded in there.
11/24/10 - This lazy Gaian has finally created a post for rapid EIs, and I'm hoping to add a bit more to it since I've been seeing a lot of questions about how they work. Now includes a description on how REIs work since I haven't seen any other guides cover it yet, let me know how it sounds :]
06/10/10 - Shuffling stuff around again so I can add in a new section about special EIs like the new Mana Seed. Also hope to begin work on v2 today or tomorrow.
03/26/10 - It's finally the one year anniversary of this thread! Thanks for all the support and kind words along the way smile. Hopefully I can get the last few posts finished up in the next few days ^^;;
01/25/10 - Shuffling posts around to make room for some new stuff, so a few things may be unfinished. Please be patient with me smile
11/15/09 - Slowly working on the new layout for the thread, so some of the posts might not be consistent with the others. I'll be fixing them when I have the chance :] After five hours of working nonstop, I'm finally done with the majority of the new layout! Just a few more details to decide on and a section or two to add, and it'll be complete.
08/30/09 - Updated all the calendars and added the price and estimated evolution cycle for each one.
08/23/09 - Removed the calendar for the Catastrophe!, since it is a nontraditional EI in the sense that it evolves gradually and has no generations; also updated the master list to reflect this. Planning a mini-overhaul sometime in the next few days :)
06/30/09 - Bunch of new stuff today! Added Marketplace links for all EIs in the master list located here, as well as a new link and some banners.
05/09/09 - New section added - predictions for the next EI report!
04/25/09 - Big update today: Added MP search links for all items - click on the item sprite to see all listings.
03/26/09 - Thread opened!
So, why do we need another evolving item guide when there are plenty of others out there? What's so special about this one? The others have pretty pictures!
This guide aims to provide a calendar for all generations of each item, not just the first generations. I made this in response to several questions by users in the Q&A and elsewhere who were wondering when their higher-gen evolving items would have the same poses as the first generation item. For each item that is currently evolving, I've done the math for you and made a calendar with the predicted dates for when each generation will gain the poses of each phase. If you are looking for images of every single pose available from every angle, you won't find them here - there are several other guides here as well as Tektek.org that can provide those. I prefer to use text-based calendars as they are easier to maintain, in addition to being friendly to users with slower connections.
Remember, I am not a site artist or developer, so I am not given inside information on when items evolve - I'm just a normal user making predictions based on any patterns that I observe. This is in no way official, so if an item does not evolve on time according to this calendar do not get angry and flame either me or the artist(s) in charge of the item - mistakes can happen on both sides. In the past the later generations of some items have been 'forgotten', but nowadays everything seems to evolve on schedule.
I will try to update this thread as soon as possible after each report, most likely sometime before the end of Sunday. Please forgive me if I don't get to it right away because of real-life obligations. Also, nobody's perfect, so if you notice an error or out-dated information please post in the thread detailing what you think is incorrect (nicely, of course), and I will check it over as soon as possible. If this thread has helped you in any way, please support it by giving it a bump up to the first page and/or putting a link in your signature. I also greatly appreciate any comments and suggestions.
The calendars in this guide can be used to determine when any given generation of an evolving item will have a certain set of poses. Go to Tektek or any other guide that lists the poses, then find the one you want and remember the stage/phase number. Then, find the generation of your item on the y-axis of the chart and move right along the x-axis to the number matching the phase. This is the (estimated) date that the pose you want will be available to you (You can switch the axes if you'd like, the chart reads the same both ways). If the word "complete" appears in parentheses after the name of the item, it means that the first generation has finished its evolution as of this point.
Example (complete)
..... 1 ... 2 ... 3 ... 4 . <- This is the stage, or set of poses
___________________________
1 | 09/12 10/10 11/07 12/19
2 | 10/10 11/07 12/19 01/16
3 | 11/07 12/19 01/16 02/13
4 | 12/19 01/16 02/13[03/13] <- Date on which all gens will be complete
^
|_ This is the generation number at the end of the item name
(All dates in this guide are in mm/dd format)
Let's say I have a 3rd generation of the example item above, and I want to know when I will have the poses of phase 2. According to this chart, they will be available on December 19, and all of the poses will be unlocked for that generation on February 13. On March 13, all generations of this item will finish their evolution and have all of the poses.
If you click the icon next to the item name, you will be taken to the Marketplace search page with all the generations and their prices.
Q. So, how do evolving items work? What's all this generation and phase business about?
A. I'm not going to get into that here, because there are others who can explain it much better than I can. There's a wonderful guide here that explains how evolving items work in a way that's very easy to understand. I recommend checking it out, as it's a great resource for all kinds of info on evolving items.
Q. When is my <insert x-gen item here> going to finish evolving?!
A. That's what I made these calendars for. Please don't just ask without taking a look at them, as they will probably answer your question. If you need help reading them, feel free to ask in the thread for assistance.
Q. Why don't you have a calendar for <insert brand-spanking-new E.I. here> ?!
A. Because I can't predict the future, of course! I will try to post a calendar for an item only after it has evolved a few times. Once there's a stable pattern in its evolutions, I can go ahead and make predictions for the other generations and post the calendar.
Q. Okay then, what about <insert really old E.I. here> ?
A. Once the final generation of an item finishes its evolution, I will remove its calendar to save space in the thread. I didn't bother making calendars for the really old items since at this point in time they are rather useless. If you're wondering if all generations of an item are completely unlocked, check this post first, it has every single EI listed along with its evolution status.
This section will contain my predictions for which items will be evolving in the next report, based on the calendars below and any information obtained from the artists' journals.
Price: 499GC----- Evolution Rate: Tuesday/Friday
Release Date: Friday March 30, 2012
Completion Date: Friday April 20, 2012
Sugarsuite
Price: 499GC----- Evolution Rate: Tuesday/Friday
Release Date: Friday December 3, 2010
Completion Date: Thursday December 23, 2010
Trilune's Covenant
Price: 499GC----- Evolution Rate: Tuesday/Friday
Release Date: Wednesday November 23, 2011
Completion Date: Friday December 16, 2011
Vivacenote
Price: 499GC----- Evolution Rate: Tuesday/Friday
Release Date: Friday March 25, 2011
Completion Date: Friday April 22, 2011
The Watchmaker
Price: 499GC----- Evolution Rate: Tuesday/Friday
Release Date: Friday May 20, 2011
Completion Date: Friday June 10, 2011
A note on how Rapid EIs work:
Rapid EIs evolve much faster than traditional EIs, and generations work a bit differently. Unlike traditional EIs, REIs evolve more than once a week, often without an announcement. So far, there have been two different evolution rates: at first, REIs evolved every day for about 9 days, then the twice a week (Tuesday and Friday) schedule was adapted after complaints from users that they were evolving too fast - on a twice a week schedule, these items evolve for about three weeks. As a first-gen REI is evolving, new poses are added on to the item while letting you keep the existing poses, and the first-gen item is available for purchase in the cash shop until it finishes. On the day that it finishes evolving, the first generation item is removed from the cash shop and replaced with a second generation, which has all the same poses available as a completed first gen. There is no difference in the items except for the name, giving the first generation the added value as a "collector's item" similar to other EIs.
Here's just a quick list of all the E.I.s in the order that they were released.
Click on the name of the item to go to the marketplace page with the listings for all the generations.
Special items are listed in gold. These items are not equippable on their own - instead, they are used to obtain another evolving item, through either user-choice or a random generator. Like normal EIs, they are assigned generations according to when they were purchased from the Cash Shop - the item that comes from them will always be the same generation as the source item.
Items listed in pink are updated little by little and do not follow a recognizable schedule. They also do not follow the tradition of 'generations' in the same way that most items do - they usually only have one and only one generation until the item finishes, then a fully-evolved second generation item is released.
'Rapid' EIs are listed in green. New poses are added on to the first generation much quicker than normal EIs, usually multiple times a week (hence the name Rapid EI). When the first generation finishes it's evolution, it is removed from the shop and a second fully-evolved generation is put on sale.
A (*) denotes that the first generation has completed its evolution.
A (#) means that all generations are now fully unlocked.
No symbol means that the item is still evolving.
Aria Dannata 8th Gen.
Art of Espionage 2nd Gen. *
Bunnihilation
Deen's Potion 2nd Gen. *
Emerald Dream 8th Gen.
Firefly's Flame 2nd Gen. *
Haute Modena 2nd Gen. *
Hoarfrost Pass 2nd Gen. *
Moira's Fashion Flashback 2nd Gen. *
Monstrosity 2nd Gen. *
Pandaista 2nd Gen. *
Ruined Souls 2nd Gen. *
Seven Day Love
...To all of Gaia's artists, for creating so many amazing new items.
...To everyone who posts and keeps this thread alive.
...To everyone who's ever linked this thread in their sig or in another thread. I lurk a lot, and it always makes my day to see someone referring others here.
...To my friends at the z!IRC, who help me out with proofreading and other little tasks.
...And to you, the reader, for visiting and taking the time to read my guide