Why AJ Needs to be Educational Again

Hey Jammers! Sorry for the long hiatus, I've been balancing art class and a huge project for a school club that I took on– I'm posting now because that big project has finally concluded, so I have more mental energy for this blog! :)

So, you might be wondering about the poll I put up to the side of this blog a month or so ago. Or maybe you're not wondering– it just looks like a normal poll:

Thank y'all who voted– I made sure to limit it to 1 vote per person, but hopefully you didn't go on a different computer to vote again :P

There was a purpose behind this poll, and it has to do with the main subject of this post:

There is not enough nature-focused educational content on Animal Jam, and what little there is is pushed to the side. This may be a major reason for the decline in AJ's popularity.

What does that have to do with the poll? Well, if you'll notice, all the educational content on AJ is concentrated in the least popular elements of the game: Journey Books, educational videos, and mini games. 

AJHQ might be quick to assume that the way to increase the popularity of the game is to remove and minimize what little educational content there is left– kids hate learning, right?

But it isn't that simple. 

Over time, Animal Jam has become more and more homogenized– meaning, it's becoming the same as Every Other Kids Game. 

No hate on Webkinz, I have nice memories playing it, but you've got to admit it's a pretty basic game. It's all pretty colors and items with not much about it that's unique at this point. It's hard to really care about it– while Webkinz is just a collection of fun and cute online activities, Jamaa is like a world in itself.

And because Webkinz is so homogenized, it's lost popularity fast. I remember when a plush Webkinz cost 10 or 20 dollars, but now you can literally buy them for 5 dollars or less. The demand has gone down.

While Animal Jam is very different from Webkinz, you have to admit that the homepage, the newer items, and the overall character of the game is feeling more homogenized than ever.

Sometimes I see people use the word "nostalgia" when talking about beta AJ, but I think it's more than that. 

Beta testing was the time when Animal Jam was at its peak of uniqueness, and nature-focused content was what made it unique. 

Nowhere else could you find a game that used both science and fantasy lore to foster a love of the natural environment. And now that educational nature content is being pushed farther and farther away, that game is struggling to keep its integrity. 

I view the nature-focused character of beta testing as the core of the game, and something that current Animal Jam should strive for even as it changes.

Yeah, the ease of chatting, the complex animal animations, and the high level of customization was what hooked me into the game. 

But without the nature-based fantasy that both immersed me in the fictional world of Jamaa AND got me curious about the real Earth around me, I would not have played for more than a month.

I hear that generally, people don't play games to learn something, but more and more I've been questioning that. 

I'm always talking to Jammers who are really excited about plants and animals, and as I scroll through comments on the Daily Explorer and AJHQ's Instagram, I usually see at least one or two people asking for more stuff involving nature.

When it comes to helping the environment, I see adults put a lot of faith in younger generations to right the wrongs that past generations have done to the planet. 

The truth, though, is that it's adults' jobs to help younger generations understand the value of our Earth. These adults might be teachers, parents, authors... or creators of the most popular kids MMO ever.

WildWorks, you may not think so, but you have a lot of power in shaping younger generations. Your game is literally the reason why I am going to be an environmental scientist.

Thanks for reading,

~DoomyPanda