Hello Idols! Weâve got some big news today for everyone. That is, namely, the removal of trainees and some additions to the site.
In our original plans for Idolize, we didnât have thoughts to include trainees. The point system and dynamics were and have been geared towards idols, and when we did add in trainees, it was a constant effort to try and make it work. How could we incorporate them more, how could we entice people to make trainees, and so on. We tried out the survival show, but that only produced female trainees and some significant out of character discord, which has had us very hesitant to go there again. We tried assigning groups to each company and spots to claim, Â special prompts, opening certain aspects to purchasing, and so on, but for the most part, the groups remain largely empty until debut is imminent.
The average age of muses on the site generally skews around 23 or 24, which means that if people arenât picking up trainees, there arenât many other younger muses who can easily plot with the ones we do have, which in nature limits the kind of plots they can get. Thus, weâve come to the conclusion that weâre removing trainees. The biggest change is that fix8 will be eliminated as a group. Twice and their other discography groups are certainly viable to make an appearance as a rookie group down the line or be retconned into an already debuted status or present in a new company as the need for spots or other narratives arises. Dynamo will be debuting in June and Signal will debut in July. Both will begin getting normal schedules in Mayâs schedule post, with Dynamoâs focused on debut preparations and Signalâs focusing on a pre-debut survival show similar to the one Stray Kids canonically underwent.
Weâve had repeated interest in mid-range generation spots in girl groups, and as many have filled and remained filled long term, and with the removal of fix8, weâve ret-conned in the group Celeste, under 99 Entertainment. They have a debut year of 2014 (December 5) and the discography of Apink, Laboum, and AOA. They began as competition to Aurora but quickly abandoned the pure innocent concept and moved to a sexier concept, additionally dabbling in cutie sexy. Upcoming releases will make use of Apinks newer work in a more âgirl crushâ realm, as they continue to seek out a concept that will resonate with the public.
Lastly, weâve decided to add a new rule regarding aging up faceclaims. Because we do have such intense competition for spots in the oldest generation of groups - Olympus, JiNX, Heaven, and POIZN - we will no longer allow faceclaims to be aged up to fit to the bare minimum of the group (meaning, for example, you canât age up a 98/97/96 liner up to 95 to fit the requirement of JiNX, and etc). We have quite a few openings proportionally in more age appropriate ranges that those who do want to play older muses (26/27/28/29+) may not find as accessible. Thus, weâd like to keep those older group spots open for those with an interest in playing older characters and muses. If your faceclaim meets the minimum already, then youâre able to, of course, age them up within the three year rule as you see fit.
Thatâs everything for today. We hope that youâre loving the event and having lots of fun! Remember, writing with new people can get you a few extra points, too, so be sure to welcome all the new members weâve had come in recently and get them involved! Finally, thanks as always for your continued support and activity!
