also just read this: a part of a statement @Liz posted.
(full: PETITION: More Ink!)
“How is Ink outdated?”
As a mobile platform we have to innovate and update our technology to stay current and competitive. Ink was built on a more technologically advanced system than Classic and Limelight is more advanced than Ink. Each of these art styles is accompanied by an underlying (if behind-the-scenes) technology upgrade allowing our storytellers to do more. These updates also make it easier and faster for us to create more assets. With each new style our artists learn more and are able to improve our production pipelines. Several of the most requested features from our community, like different body types or freckles are simply not easily achievable on our older styles - to move forward we need the freedom to expand and change so we can grow.
A good analogy for this is the development of animated films over time. Early animated feature films were hand drawn as was the standard at the time. Then later on films like Beauty and the Beast or Aladdin started using a combination of hand drawn animations and CGI because that was best tech available at the time. Now films like Moana or Coco are done entirely in CGI, the new standard for animated films.
This is analogous to what is happening with Episode art styles. We don’t stop loving our styles, but we have better tools available to us. Our goal is to always be expanding and updating the underlying technology for our platform to stay current. Our art will always be storytelling, but the tools we use to tell those stories will continue to change and develop.