Winter Contest Results + Feral Images

Hey Jammers! I had no idea I'd be so busy with family stuff this past week– if I had known that while writing the last post, I would have extended the deadline for the contest from the 23rd to sometime this week to give y'all more time /).(\ oh well! I still wanna be fair to the people who entered in the contest by the 23rd, so I'll just post the results today.

Before that, though, here are some pictures from beta Feral! They're not mine, though– I don't think I got into the closed beta, haven't gotten an email yet. Maybe I entered the wrong email? Hmm. 

Most likely, it's just because over 18,000 players signed up for Feral beta in the first 48 hours. I don't think I have a great chance of getting in out of all those people! :0

The screenshots below are from this YouTube video. I don't really pay attention to the AJ side of YouTube, cuz honestly it's mostly just clickbait, but occasionally there's some good info. I just thought I'd post these pics to give you a sense of the artistic vibe of this new game!

You'll notice that there's a big presence of humanoid non player characters in Feral. NPCs in general seem to have a bigger role here than in AJ, where NPCs are pretty much only in adventures.

As of now, there are two different kinds of mythological characters you can play as. Both are very slender and elegant, with one being canine and the other being feline. I wonder if we'll get some rounder characters at some point. Are there any mythological creatures that look like bears? :0

Even though you can only choose between two species as of now, you have such a big ability to customize! You can even change the size and shape of the head. 

This is a example of the kind of environment you'll find in Feral. There is a big variety, and all are filled with natural landforms, but there's a much bigger presence of more human-looking buildings and structures.

Another humanoid NPC! 

I just thought this part of this land looked pretty :')

OMG THEY SAID HECK!1!!! Now I know why this game is 13+ :OOO

Just... appreciate this pretty loading screen right here with me :D

Another difference between AJ and Feral: in Feral, shops are manned by NPCs.

Another example of more human-like lands! This place is called the Trader's Port, it seems. 

I am so far really liking the land designs. They're very different from Jamaa lands, but they have a unique charm.

Another NPC-manned shop... pretty!

And this thing!!! I don't remember what it is, but you can find out if you go towards the end of that video I linked. 

What do you all think of Feral so far? It could never replace AJ, in my opinion, they're both very different games. Also, 3D animation was never my favorite-- but I'm still excited to be able to play Feral as soon as I can!

Here's a fun fact: Clark Stacey says that Feral was mostly inspired by the AJ fan art he has seen! I can really see that. Here's a post on another site with a lot of other fun facts about Feral, some I found really interesting.

Ok, now what you've probably been waiting for– the results of the contest! Only 2 people entered, but that's okay. :)

This first entry is from Wildflower75! A cute snowman on some snowy hills with a vibrant dark blue sky. I really like the bright vibrant colors used, they make this sweet drawing all the more eye-catching. 

This second entry is from Fluffacep! This one uses mostly pale colors and soft fluffy lines. I like the pale blue outline around the arctic fox that helps it stand out from the background.

It was a really hard decision to make between these two– they're both so cute in their own ways! They both show different interpretations of winter, in a way.

In the end, the winner of the Jamaa Township Portal goes to....

*drumroll*

...

....


.....


.........

Fluffacep!!! 

I was really drawn (haha drawing pun) to this character because of their dark purple eyes. Very cool and mysterious!

I'm gonna get a membership soon, so once I do I'll Jam-a-Gram you the Jamaa Township Portal, seeing as you're a member.

I'm really grateful to you two for entering the contest. If I had 2 Jamaa Township Portals, I'd give one to each of you! Both your entries were so cool :)

---

What other ideas for contests do you think I should have in the future? Should I have one like this every season, like a Spring art contest? I'd love to hear your ideas ^-^

See you in Jamaa, everyone! I'll try to post this Thursday, as I believe that is the update.

~DoomyPanda

FERAL CLOSED BETA SIGNUP!!! + Winter Art Contest

Hey Jammers! I bet you thought I wouldn't actually do that contest I mentioned last post, but here I am exactly two weeks later!!! Defying the odds xD

Finals week has honestly been more of a finals month-and-a-half for me because of all of the longterm projects I've had to do. 

Most of my projects/tests are over now, so I think it wouldn't hurt to jump right in and introduce a contest, right?

But first... I'm sure you're at least a bit more interested in some news from Fer.al that came out just this Wednesday!

If you previously signed up for the Fer.al newsletter, you've probably noticed that nothing has been emailed... until this past Wednesday, when a link to sign up to closed-beta test Fer.al was sent out!

The sign-up link leads to a Google Form that just asks a bunch of general survey questions– what devices you use, how long you've played AJ, AJ username...  nothing that personal. As explained once the survey is completed...

The information you give in the survey determines what testing group you'll be in. Hmm... does this mean Fer.al might have a mobile version...? Maybe not, but I wonder.

But what does "closed beta" even mean?

On Animal Jam, the word "beta" tends to make people really excited– it conjures up images of cool items of years past, the time when AJ was smaller so there was more of a feeling of community... 

However, the word "beta" doesn't necessarily have to mean that! It's used to describe the early stages of a new game, when the people who get to play it are playing it in order to spot bugs and glitches to be fixed before everyone can play it.

Closed beta in particular means that only a smaller, controlled group of people get to beta test a game.

I'm not sure if you'll receive the closed beta sign up link if you rush in and sign up for notifications now, but I guess there's no harm in seeing what happens! 
^-^

Alright, let's move onto the contest!

So, admittedly, I don't really have any high-demand items like black spiked collars to give out as prizes. However, I do have this one very hard to find item! The green variant of the Jamaa Township Portal. 

It took me months to even find someone who had it, let alone someone who'd be willing to trade it away, so I hope you can find value in how literally rare it is instead of how high demand it is.

I was originally just going to do a simple giveaway, where you comment your username and I randomly choose a winner, but where's the fun in that?

That's why I'm making this a winter art contest!

I hope you appreciate my example XD

This is a low-stress art contest where you just draw/paint something winter related and share it with me for a chance to win the Jamaa Township Portal pictured above! 

Your art can be as simple or as complicated as you'd like. My opinion is that super realistic/complicated art is just as valid as simple art like the example above. 

The most important thing to do is to have fun, so I invite everyone– not just people who consider themselves artists –to join in! I'll be showing off every art submission in a post once the contest comes to a close.

So, how exactly do you enter? I'll tell ya!

How to Enter the Winter Art Contest

EDIT: You can also just make an AJ Masterpiece and comment your username so I can go check it out! 

The steps below are just in case you don't want to have to use MP Tokens, or if you want to draw with some other method. :)

Step 1: Draw something winter related! You can use the AJ Art Studio, some other digital art program, or even just on paper (if you're fine with scanning it in or taking a photo of it, that is).

Step 2: Take a screenshot of your art (or save the image!) For example, if you use a Mac, press and hold the keys SHIFT, COMMAND, and 4. Then, click and drag the cursor over your art. It's also pretty easy on other kinds of computers. It's a little obvious, but I just wanted to make sure that everyone knows what to do ^^

Step 3: Go to imgbb.com, click START UPLOADING, upload the image of your art, and copy the URL it gives you. You can also use any other method of getting the URL, but I think the site I linked is simple and easy to use. You can copy by highlighting the URL with your cursor and pressing/holding the keys CTRL and C. Sometimes it's COMMAND and C. 

Step 4: Type your AJ username and paste your image URL into a comment on this post! You can paste the URL you copied by pressing/holding CTRL and V. I won't publish your submission comments until the contest is over.

Send in your art by MONDAY, DECEMBER 23rd!

I really hope you join this contest! I think it'll be fun :)

Alright, everyone... see you in Jamaa.

AND ENTER THE CONTEST!!!! >:O

Jamaalidaydaydaydays

Hey Jammers! It's December 1st– the first day of the Jamaalidays, and the beginning of the one month of each year that my brother decides to play Animal Jam again:

He's very happy about the new ability to turn items upside down; now he can finally put the Peppermint Stepping Stones at the very end of his den's pathway:

I still find the upside-down feature a little pointless, but I'm glad that some people can find a use for it c:

Speaking of stepping stones, I had an idea for a new den item this morning:

A rock spiral!

I guess I thought of it because I view my AJ den as a kind of virtual zen garden. I also like rocks. And spirals. X)

Any thoughts?

Moving on... 

First day of December, first day of the gift calendar!

It looks like we'll get to receive 3 Masterpiece Tokens each this month. If you're interested, be sure to log on December 4th, 12th, and the 18th!

♫ On the first day of Jamaalidays, AJHQ gave to meeee...

...Hair that looks like the flag of Italyyy ♫ 

I think this is a pretty solid item for the Jamaalidays! I'm not too big a fan of wig items in general, but the more nonmember options there are, the better. 

There's also more in the Jamaa Journal:

The one time I made a gingerbread house was with a friend, and we used so much sugar and frosting that it was barely edible. 

Remember kids... if you're gonna make a gingerbread house in real life, make it small enough and un-sugary enough that you can actually imagine yourself eating it without getting sick. 

Just your standard Jamaaliday fare, so I won't comment too much on it. Still, could the sleigh in the third-to-last page become a new item?

I'm not the most up-to-date on new items (visit Rainbow000Pegasus for those!) but here are some new wintery items that have arrived in the two Jam Marts:

 I believe all of these are recurring items, but I'm sure we'll see some newer ones soon!

If you're more of an old-school den decorator, some of the original classic Jamaaliday gifts from years past are available in the Diamond Shop:

I'm personally really fond of the phantom ice sculpture. What's your favorite festive den item? :D

I'm wondering maybe this month I could have a giveaway on this blog. The problem is, I don't really have any high-demand items that would get you excited XD

Maybe an art commission giveaway...? Still, I might not end up doing a giveaway if I continue to be this busy with school stuff. I'll think about it during winter break, which starts for me in a week or two... 

But a giveaway will most likely happen. It's a goal of mine to get more involved with posting; this blog and all you kind people who read it and comment are something that's very important to me.


Alright, until next time. See you in Jamaa!

(This is a really old signature image I made when I started this blog. Hope ya like it XD)

Moose and Wolves

Hey Jammers! It has been a busy and difficult couple of weeks for me, haha ^^;

My family and I might have to move this year, but it's from where I've lived all my life, and I already love it here... so I'm still coming to terms with that...

But moose are here!

As you might be able to tell, the outlines on this moose look a little glitchy. I don't think this happens to all AJ moose, I believe it's just a color thing.

I'd say these moose look pretty nice and close to reality! What do you think?

As you may have noticed, WildWorks chose to make the moose female without horns. It makes sense, considering that there are so many horned items to choose from! I wonder what would have happened if AJHQ had taken that same route when lions were released for the first time. Well... it makes sense that they didn't, cuz there was no Mane item back then ^_^;

Have any of you ever seen a moose in real life? :D

I'm rarely in places where moose live, but if I ever did see one I would probably cry tears of happiness XD
And keep a safe distance away, of course, cuz I wouldn't want to scare them... 

The Winter Small House has returned! In my opinion, it's one of the coolest dens around (haha see that pun... *cue laugh track*)

But nevertheless, I'm still in an Autumn-y mood. 

Speaking of which, notice how pixelated the Autumn Small House is in comparison to the normal one:

Eh. I still like both c:

Moving on...

It's the second year where Wolfenoot is being celebrated in Jamaa!

I like how the wolves in the image above look. I love the moons and stars and how they look interesting but with a simple design :)

Here's something I learned recently: wolves don't actually eat that often. They can go weeks without hunting, and when they do catch another animal, they eat as much of them as they can. 

However, sometimes wolf packs do leave some of their prey behind. They are thought to do this in times of plenty, and while humans have mischaracterized wolves as wasteful for this practice, it's been theorized that leaving food behind is actually a complicated strategy of wolves. By feeding local scavengers and decomposers when they can, they indirectly help the ecosystem around them.

Wolves are beautiful and extremely important for the Earth, so celebrate them today!

You may have noticed that I'm skipping some Jamaa Journal pages, and that's because not all of them are interesting XD

A little messed up that there's a turkey carcass on the table AND a pet turkey on Animal Jam. More than a little messed up, actually.

But is just viewing a turkey, a living being, as meat and nothing more any less messed up?

Hmm.

Just know that you don't have to eat other animals to be happy and healthy. That's all I'll say for now.

I'll leave you with another amazing Masterpiece I found on the Daily Explorer. This one is by Pearldragon76! <3
Shout out to the artist for drawing the snail's eyes in the correct place. AJHQ should have consulted them before designing the pet snails XD

That's all I got for today, Jammers. I've been looking out for any updates on Feral, and I will definitely post about it if I discover anything!

Until next time...

See you in Jamaa!!!

(And stay warm, too)

The Tale of a Snail

Hey Jammers! As promised, I'm back to talk about the Thursday update. This week's update came a day late, as having the Feast of Thanks update right on Halloween would be a little depressing, right? 

Well I'm still feeling Halloween-y. Who says it has to end for me until I feel like it? >:)

Moving on-- the first page of the Jamaa Journal says...

Pet Snails are here!!!

At first I was really excited about this– I had a pet garden snail in real life for 3 years. His name was Bob, and he was my pride and joy! I learned so much from him, and I drew him all the time. I kept him in a medium-sized terrarium, fed him cabbage, distilled water, and calcium from old shells to keep his own shell strong, and I even took him on the long trips to see my grandparents. He was a well-traveled snail. 

I'm just gonna keep talking about Bob XD

To give him water, I sprayed the walls of the terrarium with distilled water– that's water in its purest form, because fluoride and all the stuff in most tap water isn't good for snails. The droplets collected on the walls, and I would watch Bob's mouth open and drink the water! It was very interesting. I may have also put a half of a coconut shell in the terrarium for Bob to burrow under to hide during the day.

For a long period of time, though, Bob stayed burrowed under the soil of the terrarium and I was afraid he had passed away. However, he did come back up! I released him inside of a hollow log in the woods surrounding my grandparents' house.

Did you know that snails can sleep for three years straight, no problem? Snails hibernate all winter, too. Looking back, I realize that it was not the kindest thing to take Bob out of his natural habitat and keep him all alone for so long– it must have been confusing to not have to go through hibernation for 3 years, and snails like to be around other snails. 

I learned a lot from Bob, but I think it is a better idea to learn about animals on their own terms instead of taking them away from their homes.

ANYWAYS... back to Animal Jam XD

The main thing that bothers me about the AJ pet snail is that its eyes are in the wrong place!!! A snail's eyes are at the top of their eyestalks.

If only AJHQ modeled the pet snail after the Sarepia snail... then I'd be interested :P

Well, that was a long time to spend on one page of the Jamaa Journal. Moving on!!!

Peck's Den has returned! It's like the Bunnies Only Party, but a den.

Ah yes, the Capitalism Fantasy Bundle™

Twists and Turns has re-turned! The prizes are the same every year, but it's a fun adventure if you like to be challenged with mazes, or feel all Autumn-y inside c:

Again– Halloween can last as long as you want it to and AJHQ can't tell you otherwise XD

And last, but certainly not least...

Moose are coming soon!

We have too many hoofed mammals, and only one reptile. When will snakes finally arrive in desktop Jamaa? Komodo dragons? When will hippos? Hippos are a great idea. 

Moose are cool, though. I'm sure they'll end up looking great, even though we don't really need them in Jamaa right now

Before I go, here's a cute Masterpiece I found on the Daily Explorer that really makes me happy:

This is by galaxy18unicorn 

That is just my favorite shade of green right there, and the warm brown-red of the leaf pile just complements it so nicely. And that wolf is adorable! So happy :')

I hope this autumn is going well for everyone reading this. See you in Jamaa!!!