A Kickstarter has officially begun for the virtual community known as Tattered Weave, in the hopes that the browser-based social experience will make enough to get off the ground. The Kickstarter’s goal is just $5,900 and will run through June 4, 2016.

Tattered Weave is a virtual community focused on the story of a world torn apart by the Unmaker. Players in the community will come together in order to bring the world back together while making friends with the mysterious creatures known as “Kith.”

The project features the talents of a number of webcomic artists, who have been working to create the characters and creatures of the world. We spoke with Tattered Weave’s art director, Steph Stober, about her involvement with the project. Stober previously created a webcomic called Final Arcanum, which she later self-published in print format.

Scoop: How did you become involved in Tattered Weave?
Steph Stober (SS): Well, I worked with Eric Menge, publisher of Tattered Weave, on his webcomic, Snow by Night, earlier that year doing both a comic vignette and redesigning his website. After that, he invited me to work with Diane on designing Tattered Weave and that’s when I first fell in love with the project. I soon tumbled my way into drawing a wide-variety of assets for the site and leading the art team.

Scoop: Can you tell us a little bit about your art team?
SS: I love them. Our art team currently consists of nine beautiful artists across the United States (as well as Spain!) who are actively contributing right now. They handle the game art, which includes all the collectable and crafting items, avatar apparel, and the ever-lovable Kith. I work with them remotely by assigning what illustrations we need from the site that I receive from Diane, and oversee the concept and production process by providing feedback until we have a final product. Every item and Kith you see has been specially handcrafted by one of our lovely artists.

Scoop: What are you own goals for this project?
SS: As grandiose as it sounds, I want to inspire early artists through the illustrations on Tattered Weave. I can remember tiny, 12-year-old me obsessed with Neopets.com back in the early 2000s. Neopets was actually the big reason I got into digital art, and to this day I can remember getting my first tablet so I could draw my pets for the beauty contests and websites. I would’ve never predicted that I would be at the helm of a similar project years later, but you can bet I’m excited to be able to provide the same sort of experience that was so formative for me to our players.

Scoop: What are you personally most excited about? What is your favorite thing in-game?
SS: The reason I first fell in love with Tattered Weave is because when Diane and Eric first pitched it to me, I realized it was the first pet site that had a story I could sink my teeth into and where the player felt important. The thing that so many major online games, not just pet sites, are missing is that sense that you’re making a difference and what you do matters in the game as a whole. I don’t really want to play a game where I’m a gear in a machine, I want to play a game where I’m the hero! I can’t give away much yet, but I really excited for where Tattered Weave’s story is going and how the players are going to decide what happens next!

Kickstarter rewards for pledging to the campaign include access to the beta period, exclusive in-game items, and opportunities to design something for the game with one of the artists.