[A] Tree Soqs As An Official Breed

[Kamiki]

I would imagine even if they WERE templates there would be a with leaves/without leaves option (dead tree/alive tree).

*shrugs*

There are a lot of other "breeds" I'd (personally) rather see before the tree Soquili, but I was just mostly saying I don't think people should be dismissed for expressing what they would LIKE to see, because that's kind of the point of this forum.

Also, I don't think the logistics of their "practicality" should really matter: that's already kind silly considering all kinds of breeds/mutants already exist.

I'm just not completely comfortable with the idea of people lauding their "specialness" over people. HOPEFULLY people aren't questing to get tree Soquili just to be "special" and hopefully people who have been lucky enough to get them aren't trying to bar other people from getting them/wanting them as an official breed because they feel it would "devalue" their own Soquili.

/2 cents

If we ever get lucky enough to get more breeds/templates I think it would be nice to have a community discussion about what customers want/would like to see. A conversation between the colorists and customers I think could be very beneficial. For example, its useful to point out that tree templates might not be practical for wide-spread distribution.
 

[Kamiki]

Beejoux

firstly, I'm not dismissing anyone, I'm giving my personal views on the subject. This is in no way the shops official stand point on it, merely my own opinions as an owner, and someone that would have to draw these things if they did come into being.

Oh, I didn't mean to imply YOU were being dismissive, but I got that vibe from some other posts in the thread in general.  

[mindsend]

Unlike other species that have come to be, such as the Kirin, Cerynei, Imps, Nixies, Ulun'suti and Hippogryphs... Tree-butts are not a plausible species basis. It really doesn't bring anything that'd help the species survive, which is what eventually is taken into affect when creating a species. It DOES have an important part with making a species a species.

As a mutation it makes sense -- Mutations happen and weirdness comes out over it. Tree soquili are just like Undead-looking soquili with skull faces or legs or guts hanging out in that aspect -- They're oddities that tend to pass on down the family line, but not really something that you could call an official species. And full trees like that is a Mutation-level Edit. It'd be like making it so Custom Wind or Kalona wings were allowed in Regular customs. Which is much more complex than that of a flutter.

Tree's can be a SERIOUS pain in the butt to do properly, and each one requires a different approach depending on the colorist. Some may have easier methods to do them, but in the long run they just aren't overly plausible to make templates of. Templating Fire or water can be just as much of a pain.

There is some sort of variation though: While the Ulun'suti cannot have a full tree back, A Wood Ulun'suti can have a bonzai tree mane and tail (size of the head or smaller) and can have wooden horns or spikes. They can also have hair made out of leaves, vines, roots, reeds, grasses, and flowers.. Sometimes even have Mushrooms sprouting along their spine. However "treebacks" are slow, and have difficulty moving along, and dont exactly have wooden skin to protect them from predators.

A few might get lucky in the long run to survive, but I think the only way they'd be able to work as a species is if they were Purewalker level rarity and the entire template was edited to extremes to accompany it, which wouldn't exactly help make them less 'special' and lauded over.

In fact, it might just make them more rare since we'd only be allowed to make a certain number per year rather than "Hey, I feel like making a mutant for this event based on some sorta tree. TREEBACK PUT IT IN A GAME OR SOMETHING" but instead "I need to ask permission to make a treeback and put it in Auctions cause its so rare and sought after". We wouldn't be able to just randomly make one for an event cause its 'fitting of the theme'.

So yeah. There are ways around it if you're willing to alter your designs and have a Wood Ulun'suti -Ulun'suti hybrid if you dont want a mutation or to put something on a saddle, but it'd be Small and sorta poodley looking unless it was a weeping willow, at which point the mane can then sweep down in leaves from the small wooden trunk like a regular mane or tail would when put up in a ponytail.

So really, there is already a Wood/tree species, its just not a full Treeback because of the level of edits they are. Treebacks in the future may indeed just be mutant wooden Ulun'suti hybrids/halfbreeds, much like Custom winged Winds and Kalona. The Currents however are still just flat out mutants.

As it is however, We've already come out with a ton of species this year alone, and these were Planned to be the Last of the Fullsizeds since everything else brought nothing to the table but trouble and frustration to the colorists.

We don't want to burn our people out. Treebacks being a regular species would do just that.

TL;DR version: Treebacks are an INSANE PAIN To template, and while good for a challenge wouldnt be something that we could make with any sort of ease and give a believable background to RP wise unless we reeeally pushed it and gave them enough power that they'd be a Mega-rare like the Purewalker. Edit wise, they'd make us lose most of our colorists if we even tried to make it so they'd be required to make them..

If the TL biggrin R version is To long;Didn't read:

Please for the love of all things sacred, No. ;A; Making them a regular species would drive soquili out of business since the colorists would burn out like candles burning not only from both ends, but have a hole dug into the middle and the inner wick set on fire too. Just make a Wood Elemental Ulun'suti if you want tree or plant inspired stuffs. Though the level of edits would depend on the comfort of the colorist.

Edit: One thing to add is: One thing that is required for something to be made into a species is the ability to have an easy made template. Treebacks are easiest done individually and dont really lend themselves to being made into a species template with ANY sort of ease. And most of the powers that'd make their 'treebackness' at all plausible survival trait ICly as a full blooded species would be Overpowered.

They'd just be "those soquili with trees on their backs that make easy prey for predators including skinwalkers due to how heavy and slow they are and how difficult it would be for them to maneuver AND how top heavy they are would make them easy to knock over. Attacking the tree could break their spine. As it is, they likely have back and hip problems.Not to mention the whole issue with..Well.. Breeding. While spines are easy to shift and be careful about avoiding, a full tree could make it incredibly difficult for them to reproduce since a stallion would possibly fall over onto his back and a female's would keep the stallions away."  

[slimycrow]

I'm not a colorist for this shop, but I do know that trees are one of the hardest things I've had to draw >_< Only Bob Ross himself would have been able to make a tree template that looked at least a little different on every Soq without redrawing it every time. And I think the amount of work and detail that goes into a tree alone should put it at bribe status regardless of mutant quality.

I think that considering other ways to attach "tree-like" qualities to your Soq requires a creative out of the box thinking that would help character development as well. For example if the soq wears a tree resembling saddle, he/she could feel as if it is a part of them. Making RP interesting : )

So, while I love the tree soq idea, but I do think it would be a near impossible templated breed.  

[Nyx Queen of Darkness]

Pardon me while I derail the thread momentarily *_*

Mind just said

Mindsend

They can also have hair made out of leaves, vines, roots, reeds, grasses, and flowers

/excitement *_*  

[Andranis]

Nyx Queen of Darkness

Pardon me while I derail the thread momentarily *_*

Mind just said

Mindsend

They can also have hair made out of leaves, vines, roots, reeds, grasses, and flowers

/excitement *_*

I second this and it just added a new goal to my Soquili eventual wantlist... Oooh, Ulun'suti with a mane of Weeping Willow vines... *o* ~ heart

More related to the rant, I think if, and this is a severely massive 'if', the Tree-backs ever become an official breed... They should be listed with Angeni as Super-Rare, and cost quite a bit more than Angeni, even twice as much, simply for the.. Multiple reasons mentioned. *Edit* So I finally had time to go and actually look at that exact price... If they were twice as much as an Angeni, they'd be anywhere from 8mil to 10mil, depending on stage. So that's a price that would certainly keep them super-rare, given how often customs open, and always with only one super-rare slot, and then it's a price that not just ANYBODY can get in a short period of time. I know I myself have not had more than 6mil at one time(And I actually haven't reached 4mil in a while since then), so it'd remain delegated to those who already have that kind of gold, OR the truly determined to actually GET that much gold whee  

[Sirenz]

No this won't happen. Soqs with trees on them are mutant only. It makes no sense to me to have them as a breed. What a pain in the back (pun) it would be for the colorists to breed a ton of tree soqs. i like it that they are rare and having a kind would increase them. The next wanted soqs would have houses , teepees, planes, trains, automobiles, etc attached to their backs if tree soqs were commonplace.