Notice

Hey guys! No actual post this weekend because I'm visiting my grandparents, and I'm gonna take a break from electronics to go be in the surrounding woods. Everything's so green and pretty in the late spring :')

Seeya soon!

~ DoomyPanda

AJ Can be Misleading

Hey Jammers! Here's a quick post before I head off to school.

Here's what I think today is the new item:

I did a little research, and I think this must be an entirely new item! No rerelease! :D

It may also go in the same theme as the Deserted Island item that came to Epic Wonders yesterday.

Now onto the main part of this post:

This is kind of a follow-up to yesterday's post. Recently, I learned the answer to the question I posed yesterday, which was "How does donating gems translate to actual donations for saving endangered species?"

The answer is... they don't.

At least, not since Wildworks and Nat Geo parted ways. You see, that donation box was originally made to have gems donated toward Nat Geo's Big Cats Initiative, which was introduced sometime around 2012-2013. 

And gems you donated did make a difference! According to a representative from AJHQ, the big cat with the most amount of gems donated would have a set amount of money donated to them. It was like voting with gems.

But now that Nat Geo is out of the picture... this donation box is just sitting here, acting like it's doing something positive. 

You can say the same about some other aspects of Animal Jam:

Sometime last year, there was a page in the Jamaa Journal that said "ALL of the Brady Barr/Tierney Thys/Gabby Wild videos are now released!" 

This sounds good, until you realize that it means that no new videos are going to be released again. No new questions are going to be answered.

And yet... the question box remains on all three scientists' videos, giving the illusion that you can still get your questions about animals answered. 

No new AJ Academy posts are made, no new nature videos, and there's barely any discussion of the natural world at all anymore. It should be the most important thing! 

It makes me sad that a lot of AJ's purported educational content is just an illusion at this point, when it is the main reason why I love this game so much. AJ helped me think more about the natural world, and it's partly because of AJ that I care enough to be an environmental scientist. 

C'mon, Wildworks. Animal Jam has so much potential to inspire if it became clear again that animals come first. 

See you in Jamaa!

Animals of Africa

Hey Jammers! Sorry I didn't post this weekend like I usually do, I was trying to focus as much as I could on my final projects that are due soon. I technically did have time to post, but I've found that it's hard for me to focus on homework after updating this blog. :\

First off, let's start with today's Rare Item Monday! I present to you...

THIS THING!!!

I'm personally not a big fan of AJ clothing items like shirts or dresses, they just look awkward on any animal. What do you guys think?

I know the update is old news by now, but I wanted to go over the main parts of it. Cuz I thought it was the best update we've had in a while.

The Summer Carnival is back in Jamaa! 

No one was there but that bunny XD

Well if you think about it, not many people are usually playing AJ at all at 2:25PM on a Monday. 

I checked the shops, and I don't believe any items are new. Still, I found one item that looks interesting:

It's so shiny and gradient-y, so I have a feeling this item was designed a long long time ago and was only pulled out of storage for the Carnival. Or maybe I'm wrong.

My favorite thing about the Summer Carnival is cotton candy! I won't show you all the special combinations, but I'll show you images of all the special cotton candies you can make, and maybe you can try to figure them out ;)

Next up, Graham's Workshop!

Again, no new items, but I just realized that you can make/buy Jamaa's only nonmember clock here:

And now, my favorite part of the update:

A new Conservation Museum exhibit!!! Yes!!! Animal Jam has not forgotten that it's an educational game!!! :D

Here are a couple of interesting facts I learned from it:

:') 

Before I go, here's a question:

Where do the gems you donate in the Conservation Museum go? Does AJHQ count them up, somehow convert that amount to an actual money value, and actually donate something? Or is it all just symbolic?

I wonder how much a gem is in terms of U.S. dollars...

EDIT: Bad news, guys. Apparently the Donation box does nothing anymore!!!! :(

See you in Jamaa!

Giveaway + Interesting Jamaa Things

Hey Jammers! I finished a lot of homework this week and I have about 2 weeks left of school-- which means 2 weeks left of weekly posting until I finally have time for daily posting again! Yay :D

Because I have so much free time this summer, I think I might take the time to remodel the blog a little. I've been inspired by the beta-looking layout of The Animal Jam Timber and I wonder if I could try something similar :)

Speaking of the Animal Jam Timber, Difficult (the blogger) is having a Rare Spiked Collar giveaway that ends May 21st! Click here to enter, and I wish you luck~

Right now, things are pretty slow on AJ in the way of news, so for this post I'll do what I always do when I have no ideas: comb Jamaa for clearance items and see what I can find!

Because I'm a member for the time being, I can go to every single shop this time!

Jam Mart Clothing

Better get that backpack while you can, guys! It's a really great item. :)

The Diamond Shop

Outback Imports

...aaaand that's all I could find in the way of clearance items! But trust me, I went to every single shop on the map.

Along the way, I noticed a couple things I haven't noticed before:

In Alpha HQ, Greely's Alpha Amulet has the symbol of a triangle inside of a circle. Because I know a lot of random facts, I thought that the triangle is probably there because it is the symbol for fire in alchemy. 

The triangle in a circle, though, could mean a lot of things. If you look it up, the first results you'll get are illuminati. I guess it's official: Greely is the leader of the illuminati, and has infiltrated Jamaa to brainwash Jammers into thinking that triangles are cool shapes. 

However, one webpage says that the triangle within a circle has been used as a symbol "to ward off evil spirits". Knowing how Greely deals with magic and phantoms, this might be the most likely meaning!

Moving on...

Because I'm a member, I could use my toucan to fly up to the hidden Coral Canyons shop, and I noticed this item I've never seen before! Or maybe I have and just forgot lol

It's probably been there a while, but I just thought I'd bring it up for all of you who may also not be aware of it.

Fun fact: the first Rare Item Monday I experienced, the Rare Tie was being sold (you know, the yellow one) which according to the AJ Wiki was on March 26th 2012. I was just reminded because of the Rare Tie on the item above.

And another thing...

If you have a flying animal, sit on top of the entrance to the Sol Arcade, turn the brightness on your computer up, and wait. You might see something... peculiar.

Another another thing:

On the Treetop Gardens mat, there are 2 Venus Flytraps layered on top of each other. Did it always look like that?

And now, I conclude this post...

Flowers are blooming, the leaves are golden green, and summertime is just around the corner. Of course, this means the Summer Carnival will soon be back in Jamaa, but whether or not it will be fun is a different story.

You see... there were no new Carnival items last year. It was all the same as before. It would be really great if there could be some new nonmember prizes, as the ones we have right now are a little lacking.

Personally, I like playing the games at the Carnival, but it's more fun when you have something to work toward.

I guess it is hard for AJHQ, though. How do you even come up with carnival-themed AJ items?

WAIT I HAVE AN IDEA

beautiful

See you in Jamaa~

PLEASE MAKE BETTER UPDATES

Hey everyone! It's a little later than I promised, but here's the update.

It's kind of bad.

I try to be positive, but I have to be honest right now: AJHQ is not stepping up their game. Updates continue to be more and more disappointing, even after Clark Stacey published that 'Return of Animal Jam FAQ' in which he said that there would be a significantly different pace in 2019. 

I'm not going to say that AJ is dying because the idea that this virtual world that brings me so much happiness could shut down soon makes me so incredibly sad. While a ton of people are online at any given time, as worse and worse updates come out, people will leave. WildWorks needs to understand this: the popularity of AJ is in their hands.

My theory about why things have been lame recently is that WildWorks is a limited amount of people working on an increasing number of games and apps. They're so spread thin that they aren't able to prioritize their strongest game (Animal Jam) as much as they used to. Maybe Play Wild is now being viewed as their strongest game.

Still, when you compare AJ with similar games, AJ has always gone above and beyond with updates. I don't think there has ever been another kids game that releases new items every day. Maybe right now AJ is becoming more 'normal'.

But that doesn't change much, because Jammers have become used to a certain standard with updates and if quality reduces noticeably, then we all get uneasy. People leave. 

There has never been so big a difference between art of a new animal and how they actually look.

They're obviously an edit of the arctic fox. They don't look anything like fennec foxes!

I wish I could get excited for the Summer Carnival, but because there were literally no new prizes last year, it's getting difficult to stay positive.

I have to be honest with you, WildWorks. PC Animal Jam has the most potential and the strongest fan base of any of your products. Jamaa is something incredibly special. Please act like you want to keep it around for a long time.

– DoomyPanda