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How to Earn and Count Shards

Shards are the way you'll tally up all of your artwork here in Glowkins! If you've looked at some of the shard counts for upgrades you may be a little nervous but don't worry Shards aren't currency! When you apply an upgrade they aren't spent, and your count will stay the same! 

Counting your Shards!

To count your Shards, you'll have to tally them up on every image you draw! It sure seems like a lot, but thankfully this handy little guide will help you count what you earn, and teach you how to add it to your art!

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When you count your Shards in the description of your Artwork, you should format them in an easy-to-read and simple way! Like...

# of shards earned / new total of shards
 

Let's say for example someone has 20 Shards from previous art and draws a full-body gift for a friend! They'll put this in their description!

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4/24 Shards

Now that you know how to tally up your Shards in the description, let's look at what you'll earn from drawing certain things!

Earning Shards

Oh look, it's Greenie! He'll be a big help in learning how to count how many shards you earn!

Now, you'll earn shards whenever you draw an official Glowkin [possibly insert more]! Whether this is your own Glowkin, a friends Glowkin, or even a group NPC, you'll earn shards when you draw them! Now let's look at what you'll earn from what!

Sup greenie!.png

Headshot [+1 Shard]: In order to count as a headshot, the entire head must be shown in the image!

Halfbody/Bust [+1 Shard]: In order to count as a Halfbody or Bust, roughly 50% of your Glowkin must be showing in the image!

Fullbody [+2 Shards]: In order to count as a Fullbody the majority of your Glowkin must be showing. The feet, ears, or tail can be slightly cut off but over 80% of your Glowkin should still be visible.

Greenie headshot.png
Greenie bust.png
Greenie fullbody.png

PLACEHOLDER

Gift/NPC [+2 Shards]:  The gift bonus stacks on top of other bonuses! i.e if you draw a friends Glowkin as a fullbody you'll get the +2 for the Fullbody art and add another +2 for the Gift, making it a total of four(4)!

Simple Background [+2 Shards]: In order to count as a Simple Background it must depict a scene, and cannot be a gradient, flat color, or pattern! Anything less than a discernable setting will not count for bonus Shards!

Simple bg sample.png
complex bg sample.png

Detailed Background [+4 Shards]: In order to count as a Detailed Background the setting your Glowkin is in must display some sort of foreground, midground, and background! This includes being shaded or detailed in lineart!

Stories/Roleplay [+1 Shard]: Stories can be counted for +1 Shard per 500 Written words! Roleplays can be counted for +1 Shard after the first 500 words! (i.e. a 1000 Word Roleplay will earn you 2 Shards)

rp and story icon.png

Animations [TBG]: Anything with more than 4 Unique frames! The amount you earn will be decided by the Glowkins Staff!

  • Non-Official Pets and Glowkins DO NOT count for ANY shards!
     

  • Animations aren't just simple blinks where only the eyes are redrawn! In order to count as a real animation, there must be at least 4 Unique frames in total in the animation!
     

  • Messy and/or uncolored sketches do NOT count for upgrades! Only clean, colored art counts for upgrades unless specified otherwise!
     

  • Using the same lines more than once will NOT gain you any more Shards, even if edits are made!

What do I do with them?

Now you know how to count your shards! Wondering what you do with the shards you've counted? Check out the Upgrade Guide to learn how to apply upgrades!

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