SUMMARY OF NOVEMBER 2022 UPDATE

This is a short summary of the major changes! Be sure to read through the whole page so you don’t miss any of the finer details. 

  • A lot of the XP bonuses for art have been increased to make it more balanced compared to literature.
  • The “headshot” and “partialbody” categories have been combined into the new “halfbody” category.
  • The requirements for fullbody have been made more lenient.
  • Shading is now tiered depending on depth of shading, as well as depending on whether the art is a halfbody or fullbody. This is to reward varying levels of effort put into shading more fairly.
  • Background bonuses have been reworked and divided into “Background” and “Lighting” bonuses.
    • The “background” bonus is dependent on the composition, specifically whether there is a foreground and/or middleground as well as the background. 
    • The “lighting” bonus is dependent on the depth of shading, as well as coherence in the lighting (whether different objects are lit by the same lightsource(s))
  • We have added an Effort bonus! You are free to apply any one piece of art or literature you’ve uploaded in any given month starting this month (November 2022). It is personal, and only applies to your own Boucles within the piece.
  • The “including another breed” bonus is now called “including another species”. It now includes all non-boucle characters except for the handler (the handler bonus has instead been increased). It works slightly differently between art and literature, to reflect the varying difficulty of including additional characters:
    • For art, it now stacks but any creature counting towards the “including another species” bonus cannot also count towards the gift bonus.
    • For literature, the “including another species” bonus does not stack, and does not affect gift bonus counts.
  • The “use of magic” bonus is now called “use of ability” to reflect it is given to all types of Boucles and not just Classiques.
  • Forms to add to artist descriptions of Literature and Show Entry/Training has been added to make life easier for the BU-MPers.
  • And last but not least, the lineage section has been updated to clarify how lineage counts for Palais Boucles.

These changes are unfortunately not retroactive! We do not currently have the capacity to allow for recounts. We are considering how to allow for them in a manageable way, but it will be a not-in-peak-times task <3

What are Experience Points (XP)?

Experience Points (XP) is a point system through which you can earn rewards by reaching certain tiers. Your Boucle gains XP through art or literature you make of them, or sometimes by having their immediate relatives reach new XP tiers!

Classiques earn Magic Points (MP) when you draw or write about them – the more points they have, the more magical abilities they unlock!

Batailles earn Battle Points (BP) when you draw or write about them – the more points they have, the more battle armaments they unlock!

Palais earn Snuggle Points (SP) when you draw or write about them – the more points they have, the more cute aspects they unlock!

For each art or literature piece you earn a certain amount of XP. You also get bonus XP for Group Events, Show Entries, Show Placings and completing equiBREAK and Boucle Academy courses! Gift art and literature also give extra bonus XP, though exactly how much depends on the Boucle’s type.

For more information on how to get your XP points counted, take a look at the About BU-MP page!

Counting Points

Art

Base points:

  • Uncoloured halfbody – +1 point
  • Coloured halfbody – +2 points
  • Uncoloured fullbody – +3 points
  • Coloured fullbody – +4 points

A halfbody shows 10% to 40% of the Boucle.
A fullbody shows more than 40% of the Boucle.
Art showing less than 10% of a Boucle does not earn XP for that Boucle.

A piece is counted as coloured if it is fully colored, greyscale or sepia.

Shading:

The shading bonus refers to shading and lighting of the Boucle itself!

Halfbodies:

  • Simple shading – +1
  • Detailed shading – +2

Fullbodies:

  • Simple shading – +2
  • Detailed shading – +4

Simple shading is when there is just one layer of shading/highlights, only giving minimal depth to the Boucle.
Detailed shading is when there is more than one layer of shading and/or highlights, giving the Boucle a lot of depth and muscle toning.

The style of shading does not differentiate, e.g. you can have simple or detailed cell shading, and simple or detailed gradient shading depending on the depth shown.

Background:

  • Simple background – +1 point
  • Medium background – +2 points
  • Detailed background – +3 points

Simple backgrounds are flat backgrounds, with no middle- or foreground visible, this category also includes modified stocks, your own photos, modified screenshots of games etc.
Medium backgrounds are background and middleground OR background and foreground
Detailed backgrounds are background, middleground AND foreground

Flatcoloured, gradient and AI generated backgrounds do not count. Backgrounds must be at least partially hand-drawn, a photo taken by you or self-edited free-use stock for a background to count for points!

Lighting:

The lighting bonus refers to the lighting and shading of the background!

  • Simple lighting – +1
  • Medium lighting – +2
  • Detailed lighting – +3

Simple lighting is when the background has shading in some form
Medium lighting is when the background has multiple depths of shading OR shading and highlights
Detailed lighting is when the background has multiple depths of shading or shading and highlights, emanating from the same light source(s)

Reused Aspects of Art:

Reused backgrounds and reused shading never count for XP, and most reused lines do not either. However, if the reused lines are a fullbody that has been recoloured with a different Boucle it counts for 1 XP. Reused lines do not get the gift bonus.

If the reused lines are all in one art piece the following applies:

  • The first horse of the image will get full points for everything, including gift bonus if applicable
  • All other horses go by reused line counts
  • Background counts the same for all horses.
  • Including another breed counts the same for all horses.

Animation:

  • Basic animation – +1 point
  • Complex animation – +3 points
  • Frame-by-frame animation – + XP for each unique frame

Basic animations are things like blinking eyes, simple weather effects and simple abilities like glowing horns or bouncing weapons.
Complex animations are things like full head-and-neck, tail or single leg movements, or complex magical or weather effects.
Frame-by-frame animations are very detailed animations, such as run-cycles, where each frame is unique and the frames are uploaded separately for bumpers to judge (i.e. in a stash file). Frame-by-frame animations are awarded XP for each unique frame. Any static element (like a static background) is only counted once for the full animation, and the same goes for most misc add-ons. Colour, shading and lines are judged on a frame-by-frame basis to see if they award XP or count as reused.

Misc art add-ons:

  • Use of ability (magic/armament/aspect) – +1 point
  • Completing a monthly prompt – +5 points
  • Including another species – +1 point
  • Including a handler – +3 point
  • First reference – +2 points
  • Event bonus – +5 points
  • Gift bonus – +2 points
  • Effort bonus – +5 points (can only be used once per member per month)

Use of ability

For the “use of ability” bonus, the Boucle should be shown using an ability that they have unlocked at appropriate level, and it should be clear what they are doing with it. For example, if a Boucle has Earth magic a glowing horn doesn’t count as magic use unless they are also growing a flower.

The “use of ability” bonus only applies to the Boucle using the ability.

A Boucle without an unlocked ability can only earn this bonus by being shown trying and failing to use an ability.

Including another species

The “including another species” bonus is given for each non-boucle character in your artwork. The character does not have to be equine or even an ARPG character, but does need to be a character of some form. The bonus counts once per character included, and is given to all Boucles in the artwork.

In cases where the additional species is also a gift, you can choose whether or not it should count for “including another species” bonus OR the “gift” bonus.

Handler bonus

To get the handler bonus, the handler must be interacting with the Boucle in some way, must be humanoid and must be showing at least as much as the Boucle in the piece.

Gift bonus

The gift bonus ONLY counts for art or literature that is not a Show entry, Monthly prompt, part of a payment or event entry (unless otherwise stated).

If a piece is both a payment and a gift, any Boucles owned by you or the person the payment is for do not get the gift bonus.

Any Boucle included that isn’t owned by either you or the person the payment is for does get the gift bonus.

The gift bonus stacks for Classiques and Palais BUT NOT for Batailles. Batailles get a maximum of +2 BP per gift piece regardless of how many gifts are in it. Classiques and Palais gain +2 XP for every Boucle (Classique, Palais or Bataille)  and non-boucle character included that is a gift.

Effort Bonus

If you feel  a piece you’ve made deserves some extra credit, you can decide to add the Effort bonus. Mods do not judge what counts as ”effort”, you do. You can add the bonus to either an artwork or a literature piece but you can only use the bonus once a month (judged by the month the piece was uploaded to deviantArt!). The Effort bonus is personal and only applies to your own Boucles within the piece.

To give your artwork the Effort bonus, include it in the breakdown of the comment on your Boucles plaque and then fill out the Effort Bonus Application form. If you have several Boucles in the artwork you want to give the bonus to, you will have to repeat this for each Boucle individually. Your piece will receive the bonus once bumpers reach it in the queue, unless one or several of the following is true: 

  • The artwork is not uploaded to your account. If you have several accounts, make sure you send in the form using the account name that uploaded the art!
  • You do not own the Boucle in the art. If you have several accounts, make sure the Boucle is owned or co-owned by the account name you’re filling into the form. 
  • You have already used your bonus for that month. This will happen if you’ve previously given the bonus to a different art or literature piece uploaded in the same month. 

If your Boucle does not have a plaque at the time of uploading your artwork, you can still apply the effort bonus by filling out the form once their plaque has been uploaded. 

Literature

Base points:

  • +1 point per 100 words

Any literature piece longer than 3000 words must be devided into chapters. A chapter can be no more than 3000 words.
XP is counted per chapter, as if they were uploaded separately.

We judge wordcount using WordCounter.net – some editors count words differently, and so may differ from our official count.

MANDATORY In the deviation description(or a doc linked in the description) include the following (one per chapter):

Wordcount:
Own Boucles included: (if applicable – the Boucle link(s) & what name or descriptor was used)
Payment Boucles included: (if applicable – the Boucle link(s) & what name or descriptor was used)
Gift Boucles included: (if applicable – the Boucle link(s) & what name or descriptor was used)
Other breeds/species/non-boucles included: (if applicable – the link(s) & what name or descriptor was used)

For literature to count towards the Boucle, it does not need to be mentioned every x amount of words, or even by name, but does need to play some part in the story. This can include:

  • Being seen, perhaps they are up to something sneaky and failing to hide or they may even be SO beautiful and shiny that another boucle has become awestruck. 
  • Being heard, perhaps they are talking so loudly that another boucle can hear from a mile away, or they are so quiet that someone has to keep asking them to speak up. 
  • Interacting, whether it be touching, talking, giving a quest or something else.

The most common reasons for ‘rejected’ literature points include a combination of the following:

  • The Boucle is not named and is not identifiable by a description
  • There are no defining characteristics for the Boucle
  • The passing comment is only a sentence long
  • The Boucle is not relevant to the story/plot (in other words, their removal would not change anything within the story)

See the Literature Counting page for more examples on what is the minimal amount a Boucle must be in the story to count for XP.

Misc literature add-ons:

  • Use of ability (magic/armament/aspect) – +1 point
  • Gift bonus – +2 points
  • Completing a monthly prompt – +5 points
  • Including another species – +1 point
  • Event bonus – +5 points
  • Effort Bonus – +5 points (can only be used once per member per month)

Use of ability

For the “use of ability” bonus, the Boucle should be described doing an ability they have unlocked at appropriate level, and it should be clear what they are doing with the magic, for example if a Boucle has Earth magic a glowing horn doesn’t count as magic use unless they are also growing a flower.

The “use of ability” bonus only applies to the Boucle using the ability.

A Boucle without an unlocked ability can only earn this bonus by being described as trying and failing to use an ability.

Gift bonus

The gift bonus ONLY counts for art or literature that is not a Show entry, Monthly prompt, part of a payment or event entry (unless otherwise stated).

If a piece is both a payment and a gift, any Boucles owned by you or the person the payment is for do not get the gift bonus.

Any Boucle included that isn’t owned by either you or the person the payment is for does get the gift bonus.

The gift bonus stacks for Classiques and Palais BUT NOT for Batailles. Batailles get a maximum of +2 BP per gift piece regardless of how many gifts are in it. Classiques and Palais gain +2 XP for every Boucle (Classique, Palais or Bataille) and non-boucle character included that is a gift.

Including another species

The “including another species” bonus is given for a non-boucle character in your literature. The character does not have to be equine or even an ARPG character, but does need to be a character of some form. It does not stack for literature as it does for artwork, and does not affect how the gift bonus is counted.

Effort Bonus

If you feel like a piece you’ve made deserves some extra credit, you can decide to add the Effort bonus. Mods do not judge what counts as ”effort”, you do. You can add the bonus to either an artwork or a literature piece but you can only use the bonus once a month (judged by the month the piece was uploaded to deviantArt!). The Effort bonus is personal and only applies to your own Boucles within the piece.

To give your literature the Effort bonus, include it in the breakdown of the comment on your Boucles plaque and then fill out the Effort Bonus Application form. If you have several Boucles in the literature you want to give the bonus to, you will have to repeat this for each Boucle individually. Your piece will receive the bonus once bumpers reach it in the queue, unless one or several of the following is true: 

  • The literature is not uploaded to your account. If you have several accounts, make sure you send in the form using the account name that uploaded the literature!
  • You do not own the Boucle in the literature. If you have several accounts, make sure the Boucle is owned or co-owned by the account name you’re filling into the form. 
  • You have already used your bonus for that month. This will happen if you’ve previously given the bonus to a different art or literature piece uploaded in the same month. 

If your Boucle does not have a plaque at the time of uploading your literature, you can still apply the effort bonus by filling out the form once their plaque has been uploaded. 

Training, Shows and Placings

  • Training – +2 points
  • Show Entry (RNG show) – +3 points
  • Show Entry (Effort show) – +5 points
  • First Place – +4 points
  • Second Place – +3 points
  • Third Place – +2 points
  • Fourth Place – +1 points
  • Grand Champion – +5 points

Training

For an art or literature piece to count as training, the Boucle must be performing some sort of relevant training wearing the appropriate tack. A piece cannot get both the training bonus and the show entry bonus. Include the following form in the artist’s description:

Boucle: (the Boucle link)
Training activity: (some examples include ground training, dressage and EquiBREAK)

Show Entry

Art and literature entered into a show is eligible for the show entry bonus. Entries into shows judged by RNG will receive a 3 XP bonus, while entries to shows judged by effort will receive a 5 XP bonus. This bonus has to have been given for any placings to be eligible for the show placing bonuses.
For the bonus to count, you need to include the following form in the artist’s description, as well as include a link to the show and place of entry in the comment on the plaque: 

Boucle: (the Boucle link)
Show: (link to the show entered)
Place of entry: (link to where the piece was entered into the show. For example, if you commented on a journal to enter, copy the comment link and paste here)
RNG or Effort: (whether the show is judged by RNG or Effort. If you’re unsure, leave this blank)

Show placing

For show placings to count, the eligible show entry must have been counted as a show entry. You also do not get placing points if your entry is placed last! This means that if you place third out of three, you do not get the placing bonus. ‘Ghost’ horses in RNG shows are not counted as entrants.

Lineage

Batailles do not earn nor give lineage points! This next section does not apply to BP (because Batailles are badass and are determined to make a name for themselves).

Lineage XP is given to most Boucles that have a sire, dam and/or direct offspring that have reached an XP tier.

  • Parent or offspring confirmed Apprentice – +2 points
  • Parent or offspring confirmed Druid – +3 points
  • Parent or offspring confirmed Witch/Wizard – +5 points
  • Parent or offspring confirmed Sorcerer – +8 points
  • Parent or offspring confirmed Magician – +12 points
  • Parent or offspring confirmed Conjurer – +17 points
  • Parent or offspring confirmed Enchanter – +23 points
  • Parent or offspring confirmed Archmage – +30 points
  • Parent or offspring confirmed Seer – +38 points
  • Parent or offspring confirmed Prophet – +47 points
  • Parent or offspring confirmed Spirit – +57 points
  • Parent or offspring confirmed Demigod/dess – +68 points
  • Parent or offspring confirmed Deity – +80 points

Lineage points can only count towards 70% of any tier – at least 30% of the XP has to come from other sources than lineage! (i.e. to earn the Sorcerer Reward at 100 XP, the Boucle must have at least 30 XP earned in art, literature and/or show placings, even if they have more than 70 XP from their lineage already). 

Lineage points from one relative do stack for Classique Boucles! (As long as the relative is not a Bataille, in which case it would not give lineage points at all).

Lineage points from one relative do not stack for Palais! (As long as the relative is not a Bataille, in which case it would not give lineage points).

This means that lineage XP is earned in the following way:

Relative’s confirmed tierMP earned by ClassiqueTotal MP from relativeSP earned by PalaisTotal SP from relative
Apprentice+2 points2 MP+2 points2 SP
Druid+3 points5 MP+1 point3 SP
Witch/Wizard+5 points10MP+2 points5 SP
Sorcerer+8 points18 MP+3 points8 SP
Magician+12 points30 MP+4 points12 SP
Conjurer+17 points47 MP+5 points17 SP
Enchanter+23 points70 MP+6 points23 SP
Archmage+30 points100 MP+7 points30 SP
Seer+38 points138 MP+8 points38 SP
Prophet+47 points185 MP+9 points47 SP
Spirit+57 points242 MP+10 points57 SP
Demigod(dess)+68 points310 MP+11 points68 SP
Deity+80 points390 MP+12 points80 SP

Companions and Items

  • Magic Pixie – +3 points – Should be shown as much as the boucle or have a decent part in the story to count
  • Hoppifrog – +3 points – Should be shown as much as the boucle or have a decent part in the story to count.
  • Dwarven Mountainhopper – +3 points – Should be shown as much as the boucle or have a decent part in the story to count.
  • Silkie – +1 point – Should be shown as much as the boucle or have a decent part in the story to count
  • Glimmer Dragon – +1 point – Should be shown as much as the boucle or have a decent part in the story to count, will not give MP bonus if it’s a taming event and the boucle have the Glimmer Dragons magic type.
  • Pommerfly – +1 point – Should be shown as much as the boucle or have a decent part in the story to count.
  • Jingle Harness – +3 points – Counts for art pieces only, must be clearly shown and match the design of the harness.

@equiBREAK bonuses

Horse training course:

  • Course completed – +20 points
  • Additional training – +3 points per image

The horse training course may be completed by any boucle. The course bonuses are only given once the diploma has been uploaded and added to plaque.

Foal training course:

  • Course completed – +20 points
  • Additional training – +3 points per image

Only boucles who have not been bred may take the foal training course. If a boucle is bred before the diploma is uploaded, they cannot count these bonuses.

Boucle Academy bonuses

Foal classes:

  • Earning a merit badge – +20 points
  • Completing additional sixth prompt – +3 points

Only boucles who have not been bred may take the foal classes. If a boucle is bred before the conformation comment on the Merit Badge is posted and linked on the plaque, they cannot count these bonuses.

Magic classes:

  • Earning a merit badge – +20 points
  • Completing additional sixth prompt – +3 points

Any boucle may take the magic classes. Bonuses are given once the conformation comment on the Merit Badge is posted and linked on the plaque.

Battle classes:

  • Earning a merit badge – +20 points
  • Completing additional sixth prompt – +3 points

Any boucle may take the battle classes. Bonuses are given once the conformation comment on the Merit Badge is posted and linked on the plaque.

Wild classes:

  • Earning a merit badge – +20 points
  • Completing additional sixth prompt – +3 points

Only wild boucles may take the wild classes. These classes and the stable classes are mutually exclusive. Bonuses are given once the conformation comment on the Merit Badge is posted and linked on the plaque.

Stable classes:

  • Earning a merit badge – +20 points
  • Completing additional sixth prompt – +3 points

Only tame boucles may take the stable classes. These classes and the wild classes are mutually exclusive. Bonuses are given once the conformation comment on the Merit Badge is posted and linked on the plaque.

Have any questions? Please ask them in the #bump-questions channel in our discord or in the BU-MP F.A.Q journal!

If you suspect something has been miscounted, please note @BU-MP directly!