Sunday, January 17, 2016

Why Membership is Important for AJ

Hey Jammers! How has your weekend been so far? I'm really happy because I have Martin Luther King Jr. Day off. Do people in countries besides North America celebrate it, too? Probably not. 

Today's post will be for the most part, a rant– but before you turn around, just know that it's important! Or at least I think it is. Ah well. You be the judge! :O

Before that, here's the new item:


The Frozen Vanity! Despite its elegance, I think you're gonna need to use a crowbar or a blowtorch to thaw open the drawers. XD

• • • •

I'd like to think this isn't a true rant, rather... a persuasive essay, of some sort. But think what you want lol

Before I begin, I'd like to let all you newcomers know that I am a nonmember on AJ and I like being a nonmember. Despite members using "fat nonmember panda" as an attempted insult whenever I decline their trades or whatever, I like the simplicity of not having glitzy digital name tags or whatnot. I'm good with what I got.

A lot of times, I can see other nonmembers complaining about other issues, like not being treated fairly. I can really understand the annoyance of waking up one morning and not being able to view the chat-logs or type Jam-a-Grams and other seemingly insignificant stuff, but I don't believe Animal Jam itself is unfair to have membership as a whole. The reason being: it's necessary.

I'm fairly certain that the majority of AJ's revenue comes from memberships. Not from merchandise or donations. While everyone could do without the elitism from members (that means seeing yourself as "elite" and above others), AJ is in no way unfair for asking membership. Where else are they gonna get the money?

Besides, you don't even need to pay for membership to have access to the full game! For many browser games, nonmembers only get to do basically a third of what members can do. And for many more games, you have to pay to do anything at all!

Maybe I just really love AJ, but to me it's the most entertaining and visually beautiful browser game you can play for free. Maybe you won't be able to use the pet wash, be a crocodile, or play The Hive, but a lot of work and passion goes into AJ. It isn't like Club Penguin or flipping Webkinz or one of those big corporate games that are only around to advertise a product and then shuts down when it makes enough cash.

I'm not saying AJ's membership system is flawless. I still have no idea why AJHQ took away chat-logs and stuff from nonmembers, and I'm hoping that will come back. But, really, it isn't that terrible to have a membership system. It's pretty difficult– if not downright impossible to make such a beautiful game 100% free. 

Without membership, AJ wouldn't have enough money to hire such great artists.

Without membership, AJ probably wouldn't have enough money to hire such great coders. Its gameplay would be a lot more simplistic and boring.

Without membership, no extra money would be donated to conservation efforts. The Big Cats Initiative probably wouldn't have been involved with AJ.

Membership is not about being unfair, it's just about making enough money to keep AJ the way it is: a fantastic game. 

That being said, I can understand why kids who can't afford membership would feel left out and treated unfairly. There definitely needs to be more of an effort to reduce that whole "members are better than nonmembers" thing. That kind of mentality will lead to NOTHING good in any circumstance.

Thanks for reading, guys. If you wanna talk more about this, comment! I'd love to hear your opinion on the matter. :)

See you in Jamaa~!

6 comments:

  1. Good points! I really hate it when members are mean to no members. Like they are a person just because they are no doesn't mean they are bad

    ReplyDelete
  2. I completely understand what you're saying here, Doomy, and I think that nonmember players are more drawn to hating members not because of AJHQ, but because of the people who play the game.
    AJHQ is not wrong for having membership in the game but the people who purchase that membership are rather rude to "unequal" nonmember Jammers.
    If people in general were just nicer in the game, I'm sure everyone would be less upset about Membership purchases.

    -Fang

    ReplyDelete
  3. I don't really get members being mean to non members, like seriously whats wrong with your morals

    ReplyDelete
  4. Oooh pretty Frozen Vanity! LOL, a blowtorch. XD
    I understand this! I don't like it how members act like non-members are in a "lower class". I mean I am a member but I only got membership on Christmas Eve. I try very hard not to act like most members. I play Club Penguin and Webkinz. I can see why you think that. Club Penguin has lots of stuff for members but at parties, lots for non-members too. Webkinz has made a lot of stuff for members but you can still have fun being non-member! That's my thoughts. :D TTYL, and jam on! (don't scam on!) -lostfairy

    ReplyDelete
  5. "It isn't like Club Penguin or flippin Webkinz"

    preach it

    ReplyDelete

Heyyo! I love it when you guys comment. I'm always checking for more, so even if you comment on an older post I'll definitely see it and try to respond. :)

Before you comment, of course, here are some basic things to remember:

-Don't be mean on purpose.
-Keep the comments appropriate for all ages. This is an Animal Jam blog.
-No spam, please! That means no comments just saying "buddy me im animaljam123" or "hi", just add a little more than that.
-Rants/long comments totally encouraged! You don't have to apologize for a long comment, I love reading them xD

-*NEW!* Please be safe about the personal information you share here, and on the internet in general. Just like AJ's in-game safety guidelines, don't share your real name, photos of yourself, phone number, address, email, or age. Always turn to a trusted adult if you're unsure about something.

Pretty easy rules. Nothing to stress about. As long as you follow them, you can say whatever you want!

Thanks for reading! C(o.o)D

P.S. That's a bear emoticon up there. ^