I was hoping someone might be willing to let me message them here and there with questions I have that aren't easily found on the forums. :]

Sure! Sylestia is one of the nicest and best communities ever, so if you wanted to post in the FAQ for questions, we won't bite there either. :3

oops!

Thank you! I'm a bit nervous I guess haha. :] I guess I just didn't want to flood forums or something if I ended up having a bunch of questions over time. >.< One that I have is.. ((Sorry if it seems silly!))

- I guess when it comes to breeding, I keep seeing people talking about projects? And I'm not entirely sure what they mean. I'm assuming it's pets with certain colors/genes - but what is the purpose? Are they breeding a bunch that look alike to sell or some other reason? :]

I was curious because I bought some diamonds and wanted to use a mystical essence but I'm scared of messing it up some how if there's something I'm meant to be doing with a pet made that way. Is it best to use more than one essence? Or a specific way people start breeding that certain type of neat looking pet? :o

Sorry if my questions are confusing! Haha and thanks again. I really appreciate it. ^-^

I'm also not entirely sure how pinging works? Or when/how it should be used. >.<

It's okay, ask as many questions as you want! c: I'm sure the community would want you to feel comfortable with Sylestia, and we'd always love to help.

You're right: breeding projects are basically works in progress that lead up to pets with certain colors and genes. They can serve difference purposes -- people do it for fun, to achieve a dream pet, or to sell the resulting pets.
There are some that look alike called themed pets and their resulting purebred offspring. Purebreds seem to be more popular, because they have site-wide recognition from their colors, so they're more lucrative in selling or owning (as collectors).

As for essences and pet-making, it's up to you! ^^
Mystical essences I've seen are mainly for generating the start of a breeding project, especially since they have the best color accuracy out of the other essences. People usually use more than one essence to start their project (usually 2 to make one breeding pair, or 4 to make two breeding pairs), but if you want to use just one to make your pet, go for it. c:
I usually make my project pets based on the end point (so I visualize a 4-visible pet, which requires either parents with 4 carries, or parents with 2vis, to breed together in hopes that all the traits will become visible in their offspring). I'd usually advise looking at how other breeding projects work to get more bang from your buck if you want to start with a project. ^^

To ping people, you can just post and put the user's name (that you want to ping, or get attention from) in the Ping Users box, above your Message box when you're typing a reply.
OR you can click the @ button on a player's post and it'll automatically put their name in the Ping Users bar, so when you post a reply, they're pinged already.

If you have anymore questions, feel free to ask, and any member would be glad to answer. ^^ Welcome to Sylestia!

Thanks so much that clarifies some things! :] I really appreciate it! I was super nervous about posting, haha and I feel more comfortable about it now so thanks again for being so helpful and welcoming! ^-^

Is there a way to tell when a pet is purebred? I noticed the themed pets (I think) have the purple wording. Or is it just that they are more obvious because of the colors they are?

No problem, I know how you feel -- I'm kinda nervous about posting on another site I'm new in. >u>;

As for purebred pets, you can check their lineage (on their profile page, there's a button that says Check Lineage), and look/click through the parents to find the themed parents (which would have star icons when you see them in the lineage page).
Otherwise, they're generally known for their colors. People usually would check the lineage to make sure that only purebreds exist in the family lines. If colors are off on the offspring, that may also be a sign that there was a non-purebred mixed in the lineage.

So the safe way to go is click around the lineages until the roots, where the parents start, are checked. ^^

oh okay, I never noticed the stars before so thank you for explaining. x3

I had also wanted to ask about the Seasonal Festival Game, I had ended getting some fishing poles and shovels from the pick a door game - but I think I might have wasted them. >.< I noticed it said to look for clues but I didn't see anything obvious on there so I just dug/fished everything I could. xD Do people normally save it for when you notice something like a hint? Or is it normal to just dig up a bunch and not find much there?

I don't think Flute touched on it, and you might already be aware of it, but you can go to the Generator (Explore >> Generator), make up some designs you might wanna make into projects. You can even save them in case you wanna go and fix them later, or you choose one to make into a design. You can save up to 120 designs, which is quite a lot!

I personally like having a design really well planned before i decide to use up an essence; they're kinda expensive, or else hard to come by, so i like being sure it doesn't go to waste. But i'm an incurable perfectionist so it's entirely up to you.

Edit: the fishing poles and shovels were purely for getting materials to make an Exclusive Fish pet(a pearl, 3 waters and clay, and a fish item), and to find other various rare items as well as gold and diamonds. There's not really wasting them, but the 'clues' you speak of were 'lucky spots'., squares on the map that had unusual markings, like seaweed, shells, rocks on the sand and various dark spots and even a Sylvorpa head in the sea. Depending on the tool you use and if it a regular or lucky spot determined if and what kind of prize you got, if any at all. People used Majestic tools on 'lucky' spots and got nothing, and others used Wooden tools on normal spots and got amazing prizes.

Some people would use all their Wooden tools to dig/fish the entire map and save Iron and Majestic tools for lucky spots. Others would simply reset their map every 6 hours, hoping to use their good tools on special spots only. The results were about the same.

Good idea! Thank you, I'll definitely check that out. :]

I'm kind of a perfectionist too but I'm also really indecisive so it makes starting kind of hard. Haha. I guess that was what I was most worried about was messing up or wasting the essence. I think I fumbled my starter pet a bit not realizing how important genes and what not are when breeding. I just made something I liked the look of without a lot of thought at the time. x3