I've read through everyone's thoughts and have one more to add to my own. I think that this direction makes me uncomfortable, and may make other people uncomfortable, for two reasons:

1) Anthropomorphism.
These designs look too human, and I really do not think it is appropriate to be breeding human-like creatures.

2) Dimorphism.
Usually I'm not against it, but when the design is this human-looking I do not think we should be portraying images of females with tiny waists like this.


Anthropomorphism: no, please not on a breeding site
Dimorphism: definitely ok for animal species
Anthromorphism + Dimorphism: a big no no

To be honest what I see here is a slightly sexualised female pose with a thin waist and hips arched out. Maybe I'm a prude, but it honestly makes me feel uncomfortable. Lunemaras are currently one of my favourite species, but if this revamp goes ahead as-is then I will have to get rid of them.

I apologise if this message seems negative or rude in any way. That is definitely not my intention, I'm just finding it hard to express myself clearly. I really do appreciate all of the work that goes into this site and all of the time and effort that the team puts in. One of the best parts of this site is that users are given a say in what happens, so thank you for allowing us the opportunity to voice our opinions here.

Going to keep this short because there's really no reason to go into great length lol.

Obviously, we missed the mark with these concepts and pretty much all of the major points being made, I can understand and/or agree with.

We have pretty much decided to 'scrap' these (at least for the Adults) and basically start the process over again.

Please continue posting any feedback/suggestions/thoughts if you have them. We will use it to help mold Lunemara Revamp Attempt #2.

This is good news to hear. I think Godiva really said it:

"One of the best parts of this site is that users are given a say in what happens, so thank you for allowing us the opportunity to voice our opinions here."

It's really nice to be able to help shape and literally build this world. I mean, puffadore wings are sized down and semi transparent due to users' suggestions. It's just amazing how fluid and receptive you guys are.

Thank you for listening and letting us be a part of growing this world!

Just saying, but the adults could work as spriteling helds instead. Might as well use them for something, right? :P

I think the babies are cute, though

It's an interesting direction they're going in- cute enough, but the more extreme anthropomorphism is a but weird for a site focused on breeding and collecting these animals.

Anatomy:
1) Body: The "torso" should be more even on both. Either make the female thicker or make the male's waist similarly tiny- many insects have extreme "waistlines", hence the term "waspwaisted" applied to people with unusually wide hips and unusually thin waists. Currently it looks like the male is the typical square-body humanoid while the female is the typical hourglass, about to border on oddly-human-woman-looking. It's a little too Dob Bluth to me- whether you love his films or not, he does have a tendency to make motherly, bland women with curvy figures and generic, samey-looking protagonist male leads. I would also shorten the female's torso or shift the fuzz and head downwards, her torso looks longer than the male's, especially due to her more bent and playful pose.

2) Limbs: The male's arms should be more varied, especially the ones closest to us. Right now they're just hanging off over each other and it creates a very boring pose. I understand working with multiple arms is hard, however, so I understand if you decide to maintain a more simplistic pose in this regard. The female's arms are nice.

3) Hands: The hands are personally not a bothersome point for me, since I tend to enjoy more buglike fairies and faecreatures with hands similar to those. If they were to change, I'd make them appear more "clawed" to affect a slightly more insectoid look.

4) Face: The snout does not bother me either; I think the curled, mothlike nose is cute. I would support giving the male lunemara his own little "hairdo", too, maybe something more "boyish" like a spiky tuft, so that he doesn't look so bald compared to the female. I might extend or shift the fluff of the neck on the male, I don't know.

5)Hatchlings: I like them, and see nothing to change, really. They're very cute and fluffy grubs.

6)Nitpicking: I know they aren't quite true insects anyhow, since they aren't segmented and are more fairy-like, but the female's thorax/lower region /should/ be bigger, since in many cases the female is larger than the male. The male's pose could be more interesting, if there's a way to make it more varied without too huge a change- I don't want to delay these too much, I'm very excited to see them! It's just that he seems to be "standing" upright, while the female has more personality and action to her pose. I might make the bottoms of the lower wing pair ridged like the sides of the upper pair to create a sense of unity between the two. Right now the bottom pair looks a little to simplistic and flat compared to the upper pair, which has more texture suggested by its lineart.

Overall I like them, but I think they could be tweaked a bit. This is intended as polite criticism, and I know that not everyone will agree with me. I look forward to seeing them in action, and I'm really hyped to see what new mutations they'll be getting- they were severely lacking before! Thank you for doing these updates and taking public advice and critique, artists and mods :D

EDIT* But I'd be extremely happy if one or both adults had an open smile and showed off their little mandibles/fangs, since that's one of my favorite features of the grubs, that's just my personal taste though, not critique/serious sugestion ;'>>

I think we should keep the design pretty much the same as the old one but less anthro. The Lunemaras look weird now and I don't really like it that much. I do agree with Terrakittens though, the babies are pretty adorable. :)

Krin, I think you are right that it is time to start over with this. I feel sure that will yield better results. Hopefully the artist will be able to put together the best of what we have had to say to craft something new, memorable, and ultimately to the betterment of the species and the game. Thank you for being so responsive to our needs and desires as a player base. I have played and abandoned numerous games before finding Sylestia. This is the one place I have stuck with because the love and care that goes into it is obvious to everyone. It's a real work of art, this site.

Thank you so much Krin,

I'm relieved that you guys are going to give these lunes another go!

On further reflection, I feel like this current design would seriously suit something plot related in the game. So for example, these creatures could have their own town (similar to the elves in Umbra forest), or they could be a battle-able threat... And because of their fairy like appearance, they could be somehow related to the fairies in umbra forest...?

I say this because I really like the concept of a humanoid insect and I don't want it to be scrapped completely!

I really appreciate being able to give feedback about changes to the game/pets. Its an amazing feeling as a player being listened to. On that note, its okay to scrap and redo until you get it right. It will look better in the end.