New Owl Theory

Hey Jammers! There was a half-update today that brought us some new stuff.

I should have known when I first looked at the Jamaaliday home page that that weird owl was going to be the next new animal:

I wouldn't say that the release of this new owl was necessarily a loss, but because it's basically a repeat of a species, I can't really say that it's much of a gain. 

Although, when you compare this owl with the original owl...

...the new owl actually looks a bit nicer! It's more realistically proportioned, and somehow even fluffier.

When I was thinking about why this owl was released, I was initially annoyed that we had yet another species rerelease. But when I thought more about it, it began to seem like a good decision somehow.

Here's my theory: People at AJHQ were annoyed with how cartoony the normal owls look, and they wanted to redesign them without replacing the old owls outright.

This wasn't about releasing a new species– both of the owls might as well be Great Horned Owls with different amounts of realism. This was about discreetly replacing the old owl.

Looking through the animal catalog in the Diamond Shop, I can't find the original owl:

(Please comment if owls are actually still available for gems right now, I can't check because my animal slots are full)

If AJHQ just secretly replaced an animal, no wonder this update was quick and hushed! It may be the first time an animal was released on a half-update with barely any warning.

I think this was a good decision. I like how the new owl looks, and I hope AJHQ continues a pattern of more realism in new animals. 

If you look at the original animals (wolf, panda, tiger, monkey, bunny, koala), they're all drawn fairly realistically. I've missed that a lot in newer animals like the lynx/sabertooth/direwolf/etc.

Moving on, it's time to talk about today's Jamaaliday Gift. Like daily items, I don't really talk about Jamaaliday Gifts unless I think they're very different and interesting. Biased, I know, but I'd rather talk about items that I think will have a significant impact. That's just the way AJ Stream goes. 

With that in mind, here's the daily gift which I have deemed as interesting:

A nonmember Aviator Hat!!!

I'm not a big fan of the colors, but it's a NONMEMBER Aviator Hat!!! I always thought these looked the best on pandas, so I'm very happy I get to fulfill my wish to wear one. :')

In related news, here's a PSA to all my fellow nonmember friends:

If you're like me and can't log on every day, at least remember to log in on DECEMBER 14 and DECEMBER 20 to get 2 Masterpiece Tokens!

Before I go, here's three things; one big, one medium, and one small.

Small thing:

This cute crocodile plushie I spotted in someone's trade list.

Medium thing:

Just one day after my brother saying that he'll only play AJ this month if there's a new winter den, AJHQ has announced one in the works. Nice!

Big thing:

IDEAS FOR ANIMAL JAM 2019

Just a random idea that came to me halfway through writing this post.

What if, during this last month of 2018, we all worked together to come up with some ideas for new features/adventures/lands/events, etc. that should come out in 2019?

Then, on the night before January 1st, I can compile them all into one big post that AJHQ will hopefully see and steal from! ^-^

I'll make an official post about this in a day or two so you can start commenting your ideas. What do you guys think? :D

See you in Jamaa!!!