First Day on AJ + Diamond Shop Idea

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Hey Jammers! A new item got released in the Diamond Shop today that made a lot of people excited. For around ten minutes.

Jammers got really excited about the rerelease of the Nature Archway, until they realized that it wasn't the original Nature Archway, but a redesign with the same name.

Here are the four variants of the original Nature Archway:

Before the dreaded Diamond Shop came along, members of Animal Jam used to get monthly gifts. These monthly gifts became highly valued very quickly. I was a member during July of 2012 and received the lava variant of the Nature Archway as a gift:

Ah, July 2012... I played so much Animal Jam during that Summer. It was also the 2nd month of my Animal Jam blog! I believe I started this blog on the day before the last day of school, June 17th.

I also remember the exact date I joined Animal Jam: February 17th, 2012. Of course I forgot the exact date for a while, but a few months after joining I checked my login history and it went all the way back to that date. It made sense, too, because I remember there being heart decorations everywhere because of the Friendship Festival.

My friend had played Animal Jam since 2011 and was always trying to encourage me to make an account. One evening, I finally visited animaljam.com and made an account. My first animal was the panda I still have now, Countess Spookypanda.

I really liked the introduction with Liza and still miss it to this day. It was simple yet really welcoming! 

I remember that I ended up in Coral Canyons and immediately played Long Shot. I think I got to the volcano level on my first try. The next game I played was the claw, and I got a brown panda plushie on my very first try! I completely filled my den with plushies from that point on. I also put a seasonal tree inside my den. XD

My favorite game of all was (and still is) Temple of Trivia. I learned quite a lot about animals and permafrost from playing for hours on end. :D

I didn't immediately look up and send a buddy request to the friend who got me into AJ. I actually randomly met them a week later at the Heatwave Party, then I buddied them.

I remember thinking about how beautiful the game looked. I already loved the natural world, and AJ made me love it even more!

Well, that's the story of what I remember from my first day on AJ. I was instantly hooked and you could not pry me from that computer for a long time after. 

Video games are fun, but remember to go outside, kids.

This is unrelated, but I recently had a thought about the Diamond Shop when I saw this:

This is the Studio Corner shop in the Art Studio, and as you can see, it has a diamond item. 

I wonder... what if the Diamond Shop was removed? I think it would be a good idea to free up space in Jamaa Township, as well as to make it look more visually appealing. Here is what the Township looked like before the Diamond Shop:

Compare that with now...

Admittedly, there is not a massive difference, but there is still a difference. The second image looks noticeably more crowded. It certainly feels that way when I'm in Jamaa Township.

Another good side of not having a Diamond Shop would be that more people would go to Club Geoz if it was closer to the town center. 

But if the Diamond Shop left, where would the diamond items go?

I'll tell ya where.

Epic Wonders, AKA the most beautiful, underrated room in Jamaa.

Epic Wonders is supposed to be the home of special, glamorous, and expensive clothing and den items. Sounds a lot like the Diamond Shop. 

If the diamond items were moved to Epic Wonders and put on the same shelves as the gem items– like the Art Studio shop –then that would put all the desirable items for sale in one spot. This would be more convenient, as well as attract more people to a beautiful, yet often disregarded room.

The armor and clothing items could go in the clothing orb, and the den items could go in the den orb. The dens themselves could just be sold for diamonds at the den shop. It seems all dens these days are for diamonds, so the dens wouldn't necessarily be considered special enough to put in Epic Wonders. They're just dens.

Likewise with the pets and animals. All new ones are sold for diamonds, so they aren't considered as special as the diamond items. They can just have a diamond price tag instead of a gem one. This would also attract more people to Paws n' Claws, another super cute yet underrated room.

Understandably, some people at AJHQ really worked hard to create the Diamond Shop, so this is just an idea I have. 

Still, I think it could improve things. The majority of kids who quit AJ stop playing because "things aren't the way they used to be". Removing the Diamond Shop and moving the items to Epic Wonders would help bring the past back. Once-popular rooms would be populated again, which would make long-time players more likely to stay.

What do you think?

Thanks for reading, guys! Remember to enter the masterpiece contest, and see you in Jamaa~