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 You see, that donation box was originally made to have gems donated toward Nat Geo's Big Cats Initiative, which was introduced sometime around 2012-2013.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!
I just typed a much longer comment. But this stuff kinda makes me sad. Why is it in the game then if it can’t even be used? Every donation is just a waste of gems now if it’s not even being donated. The videos, I’m sure some kids are patiently waiting eagerly for their questions to be answered. Why since Nat Geo left, AJ has to discontinue their educational stuff more? Yes facts are good once in awhile but why not more education? Poor AJ....
ReplyDeleteI think it ties into the theory that Wildworks is so stretched thin with all of their newer games (Play Wild, Dash Tag, Tunnel Town, that AJ-styled game for older kids, etc.) that they can't devote as much focus to their best game Animal Jam. They're probably just trying to maximize the material aspect of AJ (new items, member bundles, etc.) because they think that's what gets kids hooked.
DeleteI read on Glassdoor that Wildworks has roughly 50-200 employees, which is a wide range but still falls on the small side
DeleteI kinda wish that I had the time to work for AJ :P
DeleteDoomy, that would be so cool if you did! Maybe with your environmental scientist skills in the future, you can add a new addition to the AJHQ team :D
DeleteAlso, does the environment courses say in university in college talk about animals? Or environmental geography? Cause im thinking of doing in geography in the future or environmental geography or something like or perhaps something along the wildlife side since I want to be a wildlife photographer and (being a wildlife conservationist sounds neat), but Im not just gonna hop into photography, I would want more background knowledge and that stufff interests me. It's probably different in the US. But who knows.
Yes! Environmental studies is all about animals and how they interact in different ecosystems! Along with plants, humans, and the climate, of course, but animals are also very central.
DeleteI originally wanted to study animal biology for similar reasons as you, but the more I learned, I realized that I was more interested in studying animals AND how they interact with the world as opposed to just their biology.
So awesome that you're interested in environmental geography and wildlife photography!!! Just keep following your interests and passions and everything will be ok :D
oooh nice:D Thats great to hear :) I guess we will see what I will do in the next couple years .
DeleteI heard in a fairly recent podcast interview with Clark Stacey that almost all of the educational stuff in AJ was collected by AJHQ themselves, and not Nat Geo! The Sarepia Forest videos were an exception, but I'm pretty sure the AJ Academy stuff was all AJHQ. It's really just up to AJ to get their act together.
ReplyDeleteAnd while I am really happy that at one point AJ was so inspiring, I am still sad and annoyed that those great aspects of AJ don't seem to be cared much about anymore by AJHQ.
I really think it's important that educational stuff comes back ASAP for 2 reasons: 1, it's the core of Animal Jam. 2, there has never been a time where it is more important that people care about our Earth and all the plants and animals living here.
I've never actually thought about it since I stopped doing the theatre updates... Man, that's a lot of things we're missing...
ReplyDeleteIt's a pity AJHQ stopped releasing all these, especially now that their Daily Explorer is just a newsletter of ads now...
Yeah, I always see people in the comment sections of the D.E. posts who talk about how much they loved those posts about animals that used to come out. There's obviously a demand, so why not try a little?
Deletei cannot express my anger on how aj made all the donated gems go to nothing!
ReplyDelete-licia144