Falcons + New Code Features

200,000 PAGEVIEW EVENT THIS SATURDAY! DETAILS HERE. :)

Hey Jammers, happy biweekly update! School has been keeping me quite busy lately– and tired! I just go home every day and take a nap. However, soon my sleepiness will be over because tomorrow marks the start of my spring break! And you know what I'll be doing?

SITTING AT HOME PLAYING ANIMAL JAM!!!! WOOOOHOOO!!!!

In all seriousness, that is my idea of a fun break. Additionally, Saturday at 2:30pm EST will be the first AJ party I've had in like two years! ^_^

Sadly, at this point it seems like not many people are gonna come, but I'd love if you'd comment whether you can go or not. Even anonymously would be great! :D

As for what the celebration will entail, it's gonna be pretty low-key. I don't have anything specifically planned other than it being in the Juice Hut, so I'm open for you all to make it up as we go along! C:

Now, onto the Jamaa Journal! Due to a limited amount of time, I won't be able to make comments about each individual page, but I'll talk about some interesting stuff at the bottom.

Welcome to Jamaa, falcons!

So guys, falcons are here!

This is their "play" action! It's pretty impressive. They fly really high!

A little disappointed they aren't nonmember, though...

There's also a new code feature in the settings:

This way, you don't need to log out to input a code your buddy just told you!

Speaking of codes, I believe a new one that came in the Nat Geo Kids for May is called TRENCH. Kinda weird though, because I get Nat Geo Kids and I never find any codes. :\

Some more new features are the "Sort Item" options in your inventory AND the shops!

In Jammer-Party-related news, the new Jammer dance party looks really nice:

I still miss the Play Wild Party though. For some reason, I haven't seen it come around in forever. I still don't know why AJHQ hasn't updated the official party system so that each party has a turn rather than a few crowding up the schedule. Blah...

Sorry for the short post, but thank you for reading! See you in Jamaa~

200,000 View Celebration Details

Hey Jammers! Yesterday it completely slipped my mind to talk about the details I organized for AJ Stream's 200,000 view celebration!

These details may change if a lot of people can't come, but unless that happens, here are the details:

~ ❀ ~

Location – Captain Melville's Juice Hut (Crystal Sands)

World – Belaya

Date – Saturday, April 16th

Time – 2:30 PM EST (Eastern Standard Time)

~ ❀ ~

If you don't live in the Eastern Standard Timezone, just periodically Google search "what time is it eastern standard time" or find an online time converter. 

I hope you'll be able to make it, but if you're busy at 2:30 EST next Saturday, please comment! 

It's been a long time since I had an AJ party where more than one person came, and I really want this time to break that curse. :)

That's all for now, comment if you can come!

Real-life AJ News + BOTM

Hey Jammers! I apologize for neglecting to update this week, as I had midterms. Additionally, my little brother has had to use this computer for homework, so I didn't really have time after midterms to use it either. :\

However, last weekend before midterms I spent quite a lot of time on Animal Jam. During that time, I redecorated my den for the millionth time!

This corner is my favorite. ^-^

I meant for it to be loosely based off of my 1st den design on AJ, hence the cat banner, indoor trees, and surplus of plushies. I'm not too big on large dens full of rares, I prefer smaller dens with an arrangement of smaller items. :)

Alrighty now, onto the news!

Over on the CEO of AJ's Instagram page come some new photos of AJ merchandise to come:

The raccoon looks a little cute to be an AJ avatar, so it must be part of the pet collection! For a second there I didn't recognize it and thought it to be unreleased, but a quick Google search proved me wrong. However, I don't believe pet raccoons are in the Diamond Shop anymore! Huh... does that mean that pets go on clearance without notice like items? 

On the other paw, the bunny in the right picture appears to be a plush animal avatar, complete with a cute little butterfly hair bow (ear bow?). I wonder if plushies will come with items like the figurines will...

One more piece of merchandise-related news: new books, trading cards, costumes, and more are coming!

From what we know about trading cards already, they may look a little like this:

Personally, I'm most excited about trading cards. We don't know much else yet about the other products-to-be!

I'm a little trepidatious about all this licensing and I really hope it doesn't turn AJ into the corporate wasteland that Club Penguin turned out to be, but it doesn't seem very likely considering how different the two games are. At least for now, let's be excited! :D

In other news, there's been some interesting stuff up on WildWorks' Twitter feed. Admittedly, I'm a little late considering that I don't have Twitter, but take a look at this!:

It's just a panel, but it looks so cool... it even has a little spinning AJ name generator in the back! My nerd senses are going haywire just looking at it. XD

For today, the AJ-related news is over. But here's some blog news you might wanna here...

• • • •

As you may have guessed in the title, the Buddy of the Month for April has been chosen! And it is...

*drumroll*

lostfairy!

Lostfairy has been a wonderful friend for such a long time now that I think her title as Buddy of the Month is long overdue. Lostfairy is kind and accepting, and basically radiates rainbows wherever she goes– hence the skirt on her otter.

Thank you so much for being my buddy, lostfairy! <3

In other blog-related news, I'm sure that most of you are aware that I'm long overdue for updating Berry the Koala with the second half of lostfairy's story prompt. Due to the copious amount of school work I get, I'm afraid I'll need to push it back even further, but be sure that the second installment will be complete no later than May 1st. 

I'll probably get it done before then, but that's just a deadline so you know that it will be continued! >:D

And finally, that's all for now. Thanks for reading my blog, and I'll see you in Jamaa!

The Original Egg Hunt

Hey Jammers! The new item of today is sold in Treetop Gardens, Sarepia Forest. As you could have guessed, it's a plant!

A cactus fence! By the look of the surrounding soil, it seems like it would belong in Kimbara Outback, but I'm sure anywhere would be fine. ^_^

In other news, have any of you been to the Play Wild Party lately? Have you noticed something a little... odd with the music?

If so, you've noticed that the regular music "Winters Dance" has been replaced by the Dinner Party music, "Play Wild"!

It makes a little sense once you think about the name similarities, but it doesn't fit at all! Now, the last time I went to the Play Wild party was before the recent Thursday update, so it might have switched by then. It really seems like a glitch– it doesn't fit at all! Maybe someone got mixed up and thought that because the music had the same name as the party, that meant that they belonged together. Hmm...

• • • •

And now begins the main focus of this post...

Do any of you miss the original Spring egg hunt?

For those who weren't around from 2010-2013, the gist of the original hunt was this: you went around Jamaa looking for nests of eggs beneath clickable egg icons. There was one egg in each land, and once you clicked an icon you were given a fun fact about the kind of egg you clicked. For example, if you clicked an icon above a nest of crocodile eggs, you learned something new about baby crocodiles. 

Unlike the Spring Festival egg hunt in which you receive multiple prizes throughout the search, you only received one after you completed the original egg hunt. Personally, I liked that outcome better because I always end up recycling 98% of my prizes because A., I don't know how to fit them in my den, and B., I just obsessively recycle. Additionally, because we were only receiving one prize in the egg hunt, that often meant a higher level of quality of it, if you get what I mean. For example, here's the first prize from Egg Hunt 2010/11:

What a really nice looking prize! Each of the candies are very detailed, as well as the grass-green basket holding them. And because there's no "Easter" label on it, you could use it for so much, maybe even Night of the Phantoms! A worthy prize, don't you think?

Now, let's compare the pretty Basket of Candy to a prize you get during the Spring Festival group adventure...

A little less detailed, a little less relevant. Admittedly, my argument is kind of weak for these because these are just the nonmember prizes, and members get items much more fantastical and flowery than we nonmembers. Still, if the original egg hunt still went on, all Jammers could get an equally interesting prize. Everybody would win!

In conclusion...

Even though the Spring Festival group adventure is well-made and really fun, it just can't replace the original egg hunt in my eyes. So maybe... why not have both? The Jamaa egg hunt is small enough to go alongside the Spring Festival without overpowering it, and that way everyone could be happy! :D

What are your opinions?

April Fools Update

Hey Jammers, happy day-after-April-Fools! I apologize for being so inactive all week. Midterms are coming up, and you know what that means? Lots of homework and studying!

Luckily, I took it upon myself yesterday to do what I have never done before:

ALL MY HOMEWORK. BEFORE THE WEEKEND.

I'm talking 6 hours straight of make-up work, practice problems, and study guides. That's not even an exaggeration! Although I wish it was...

At least now I have plenty of time to update all weekend long! :D

So let's get to the news, shall we?

• • • •

So, despite the update being two days ago, I thought I might take it upon myself to give y'all a little refresher of what new things came and went from Jamaa on Thursday. 

As always, we start out with the Jamaa Journal:

A new pet has come to Jamaa: lemurs! It seems like there's a new pet every other update. Or two every update. You'll see what I mean soon enough...

With April Fools Day being yesterday– curse my friends for not pranking me –the April Fools Party has come back to Jamaa! 

As you would expect from any seasonal party, some items have been switched to keep up with the new items being released every year. But as always, the April Fools Party is held in an upside down castle. 

Personally, I like the "official" AJ parties better than the Jammer Parties because it feels like the only reason people go to Jammer Parties is to get items. 

Well, the same could be said for the official parties, but the official parties are often a lot more detailed and fun. Parties people have in their dens are usually more fun, too. But hey, that's just my opinion.

Here are all the new items being sold in the mini shops at the April Fools Party:

The amazing Upside-down Potted Plant is nowhere to be found now, but the trade lists of people who want you to overpay. But who knows, maybe next year it'll come back?

Even though I can't buy it, my favorite item has to be the Wacky Window. Nothing short of terrifying. :D

In other news, the Falcon Heartstone has been discovered! Meaning, falcons will swoop into Jamaa in two weeks! Will they be member or nonmember? Hopefully the latter, but only time will tell...

I think it's about time for the first flying nonmember creature. 

Some new helpful features have been added that allow easy navigation and selection of items during trading and recycling. Thanks, AJHQ! :) 

Because the snow has (mostly) melted away into the earth, and flowers are starting to peak their little blossoms above ground, the deer of Jamaa have reasoned that it's time to migrate. You have until April 14th to become a deer!

Meanwhile, yet another new pet has entered Jamaa...

A pet hippo!? Well, this was unexpected.

Wanna know what was also unexpected?

This:

"Brought back from the abyss of extinction, defy natural history and play as the Dodo bird!"

OH MY GOSH OH MY GO– oh wait, it's April 1st. 

Dang... you sure played us, AJHQ. 

I feel tricked...

• • • •

On the other side of today's news, we have new items and a new magazine!

Some wacky daily items.

I think this was spotted in Cosmo's Den...

Hands down, the best armor set to ever grace Jamaa.

April's birth flower, the Sweet Pea!

Like many people, I got so caught up in the swirl of new things on AJ that I had forgotten there was an Animal Jam magazine, but lo-and-behold, here is a new issue! And a pretty one, at that.

These are just a few samples from the online preview. If you're interested, this issue is being sold on AJ's official online store!

That's all for now, Jammers. See you in Jamaa! :D