A History of Jamaa: 2010-2013

   The last day of 2012 has arrived, and a third year of the virtual world Animal Jam is just around the corner. What can we expect? Extreme changes.

   2010 was Jamaa's creation year. Most was spent in Beta Testing, a period before the game was fully released, and players could give feedback and advice. When Beta Testing ended on September 11, 2010, Jamaa was finally released. Most of the rest of the year was focussed on creating holidays in Jamaa, mainly Phantom Day and Jamaalidays. During those times, guides roamed Jamaa helping out Jammers. Updates came every Friday, normaly with four new items and a few other small updates.

   2011 was Jamaa's developement year. During the first half of the year, AJHQ put all their focus on new lands, animals, and items. Soon they were so busy that updates had to be every two weeks. With so many new items, old ones were always being removed from the shops. Jammers started calling these items "rare", and trading for them. But there was a problem, because the trading system hadn't arrived yet. They had to trade through sending items in Jam-a-Grams, which made scamming an every day problem. But AJHQ quickly released the trading system on April 30, 2011, the same one we use today.
    During the Summer of 2012, we have what I consider Jamaa's downfall. It started with two main things, the first being Crystal Sands. Before, Crystal Sands was a relaxing, exotic beach. But AJHQ turned in into a crowded water park! That was the start of Jamaa being humanized, but it didn't stop there. The new items that came out were no longer wild-looking natural items, but thing humans wear. The second problem was the reselling of rare items. New Jammers saw the rares we worked for and wanted them, so they asked AJHQ to resell them. AJHQ did just that. They started with Gloves, which were at that time the most wanted item. Soon almost every item from 2010 was resold. Until recently this didn't stop. Today, the only rare items from 2010 are Scary Bat Wings, the Founders hat, the Worn Blanket, and a few "beta colors" of items.
   With AJHQ so busy, they nearly forgot the Jamaa Lore that had started the game.

   2012 has been Jamaa's rebuilding year. It started with the Jammers who remembered a better Jamaa standing up and protesting. We wanted items to stay rare, and even more we wanted Jamaa's Lore. Jammers like Snowyclaw and I used our popularity to start a movement. Finally AJHQ listened to us, about half way through the year. It started with the Journey Book, a simple attempt to satasfy our want for the expeditions promised in 2010. Then the Summer Carnival came, also attempting to satasfy us. Along with that AJHQ started reselling items in new colors and giving the old colors a "rare" badge. But we kept asking for what we really wanted.
   AJHQ had been avoiding bringing back "Shamans" to the game, because people had been complaining it was against their religeon. In autumn, I posted on this blog why AJHQ can't bring back Shamans, but they can bring them back with a new name. That post post recieved nerly 500 hits and 100 comments, and within a few days AJHQ wrote about Shamans coming back with the name "Alphas". Soon enough AJHQ started creating the Alphas with new descriptions and looks. To end the year, AJHQ released a video saying we can expect adventures having to do with Alphas in 2013.

   That's where we are. We have come so far rebuilding Jamaa, let's use 2013 to finish that job. Alphas and expeditions are coming, we have that gaurunteed. But there are two things we still need fixed in 2013. The first is Zios and Mira. They were originally a god and godess. We can bring them back, as long as they are no longer gods, but a king and queen. The second is Crystal Sands. We need to let AJHQ know that we want the old look; we want an exotic beach, not a water park.
   So are you with me? We can make 2013 the best year yet, if we work together. Write to AJHQ asking for these two things. You would be surprised, they really listen to us.

~Gecko~