Change is near, but do not despair!

It has probably been rather obvious that the decision would sway this way, but as promised I am making it official now. Realms Away will see some bigger changes, but I genuinely believe it's for the best in the long term. If I lose my motivation to work on this site, the only other thing is closing it down and that'd suck most to me.  I even debated if I should call it Realms Away V2.5 instead because it is not like we are destroying everything and building something new (A Realm Reborn style). While changes are coming, a lot will also stay the same. It's a change of focus, not a change of species or content available (although I would argue that content improvements are coming, if anything!)

Because I could not possibly cover everything I worked on the past month in preparation of this post, I made a little slideshow/presentation for you:

> You can view it here. <

This should cover most bases, I think. It may not be perfect yet because some things can't be anticipated beforehand, but those things we will work on fixing as fairly as we can as well. Of course, the discord channel v3-discussion is still open for your questions!

And yes, if you don't plan to read through the document, there will be a new 2 month event starting tomorrow. It is a change from the original plan but it will explain and lead into the changes lore wise too!

Finally, thank you for being so kind and patient to me. I get that change sucks sometimes and that some of you may still be left disappointed despite our best efforts. But I'd at least like to ask you to maybe still give it a chance. Realms Away is my passion project, and I will keep striving for more fun things to do.

Realms Away turns 1 today

Today marks the day that our first ever event on this site started, all the way back in 2023. I cannot believe how fast time flies, but I am very happy to see the progress we made and all the people that have joined during this time. In order to celebrate, we have prepared a special anniversary daily for you! You can claim it until August 1st, so no need to be scared of missing out. Thank you for all the love and support, it's what keeps me going when working on content and code for this site <3 

Introducing bi-monthly events

As much joy as working on Realms Away has brought me, and despite the help by our trusty mini mods with approvals and submissions, I am sad to report that I feel a bit burnt out. One year of posting one event each month, most introducing new species, traits, companions, prompts, awards and sometimes mechanics has taken a toll on me. That's 12 events, and on top of that the 4 seasonal events as well, PLUS adopts on the side. It is getting a bit too much for me to handle, as I work on these things alone and do have a fulltime job. I find myself with less time for personal projects, but most importantly, less time to relax.

I have decided to take the month of artfight and the anniversary to make a change to this, in hopes of it allowing me more space to breathe and keep content fresh, without being hurried. This is how events will continue on:

• From september onwards, you can expect events to last two months instead of one.
• I will be taking a break month in august since I wish to participate in artfight and could use the extra time to clear my mind and finish the september/october event.
• In november/december, you can look forward to a long awaited new species reveal...
• I will try to put species that share realms together in events, so you don't need to wait 2492 years for new content/returning extraordinary traits
• Seasonal events remain unchanged and will keep coming every 3 months

I hope you can understand why these changes are necessary. I will always continue to do my best to keep the Realms Away experience fun and engaging, but I have to look out for myself as well. 

Thank you for reading o/