New Items, 3D Graphics & Keyboard Control

Today's free item is, you guessed it, from last year.

   I really liked this item and hoped it would stay rare. Oh well. And because of popular demand, I will try to post new items now. One of my favorite items is now resold in Jam Mart Furniture.

   These are so usefull, they don't just have to be use for the Jamaalidays. And to continue my complaint about both the Alphas video and the 3D graphics. When you make a new account, there are the new screens to make an animal ect. that I showed you yesterday. Then they play the Alphas video, and then send you to meet Liza the Panda Alpha. But wait... she's in 3D!

Wow, come on guys, you have to agree that that looks much worse than what it was before. Look at this:

   Neither of them are perfect, but the new one is disgusting. And it just makes it even more clear that everything will soon be 3D. So I encourage everyone to send at least one letter to AJHQ to keep the old graphics - tell them how much better that art is. Then maybe we can really have Animal Jam like it was in 2010.

   Also, a cool new addition to the game is that starting today you can control you animal with the arrow keys on your keyboard! Press two at a time to go at an angle. Happy Jamaalidays!

~Gecko~

Peck the Rabbit Alpha and Alpha Video

With the update today, AJ released Peck the Rabbit Alpha's bio in the Animal Jam Blog.

"Most animals in Jamaa today don’t remember the first Phantom invasion, when the Alphas first appeared to turn the tide of battle and save our home. Peck doesn’t remember it either. She is the newest Alpha, and the only one selected by Mira since that long-ago victory over the Phantom hordes. Sir Gilbert has often wondered to himself whether Mira made the right choice.

There’s no question Peck is full of talent. She is an artist that revels in any medium, and she has done much to beautify Jamaa and inspire other animals to join her in huge, outlandish art projects. Her Alpha abilities seem to have magnified her already passionate and energetic personality a hundredfold, however, and some animals find her perpetual excitement and restlessness exhausting. Peck’s hot temper is legendary. When Phantoms appear or her friends are threatened, her artistic exuberance flips instantly to full-throttle attack mode. She believes in striking first and planning later (much later, and hopefully while she’s off doing something more fun). Have you ever had a friend who seemed to be made out pure energy, who could never sit still and who was always trying to involve you in some new crazy scheme of theirs? That’s Peck: she moves in a blur, gets bored easily, and never seems to run out of ideas. She takes her role as a mentor to other rabbits very seriously, though, and she is determined to get Jamaa’s rabbits into shape and ready for whatever the Phantoms might throw at them."

   I was surprised to find that I didn't mind the bio, though I'm thinking I might have to change my stories. It's the picture I don't like. I'm almost embarrassed to put that on my blog.

   Also we have the video in the virtual Jammer Central. It is probably fine if you are less than seven years old... you get my point. Watch it here:
   I think it had potential to be good, but the way it showed everything I didn't like. Maybe it's just the style... or I'm just too old to play Animal Jam. Read my update post below! Click here to try to beat my high score in Long Shot.
~Gecko~

Jamaalidays Update

   First of all, sorry for posting so late! I was trying to get ahead in school. Anyway, today was one of AJHQ's biggest updates! Today's gift is 400 gems, pretty boring.

Animal Jam is fully in the Jamaalidays! Lots of lights, snow, and candy! :D

 There is also a completely new view when you change buy an animal, and eight new animal slots for Members.

Also a new Jam-a-Gram from last year, and the year before. I really like this one.

And an epic new key chain in Animal Jam Outfitters, we're still waiting for the wolf key chain.

   Enjoying the updates? Happy Jamaalidays! I'm going to write more stories soon! Click here to try to beat my high score in Long Shot.

~Gecko~

Jamaaliday Mailbox, Jamaaliday Wreath & Beat Me

Today's Jamaaliday gift from AJHQ is actually new! You will get this if you log in today:

   It may not be the most exciting gift, but at least they aren't just sending the same gift twice. There is also a very expensive Jamaaliday Wreath in Epic Wonders (den items).

   A bit off center, isn't it? Anyway, you're probably wondering why I am posting the items. Before I only posted things no one else has posted, but that can still be the case. Should I post new items or not? You can vote in the sidebar, I will do whichever gets the most votes. Anyway, a morning post gives me time to talk about other things in Animal Jam. Like... Beat Me!
   Years ago, when Animal Jam Rush was really the only blog anyone viewed, she had a weekly game called Beat Me! She would post the high score she got for a game, and people would try to beat that score.
   In order to prove you got the score you have to take a screenshot. Then, once the screen shot is saved, upload it to tinypic.com. When you have, you should see a box that says "Direct Link for Layouts". Copy that, and post it in the comment box.
The URL should look like this in a comment: http://i48.tinypic.com/fygz1t.jpg. The screen shot should look like this:

   That is also my record! So... Beat Me! The highest score by the end of the week will have their username posted in the next Beat Me! Happy Jamaalidays!

~Gecko~

Snow Angel and the Old Jamaa

Hey jammers, today everyone receives a wonderful new Snow Angel when they log in.

   Wow, this item seems extremely familiar! Oh wait, it's the same exact same item we got last year, what a coincidence! Sorry, I'm being sarcastic, obviously. It's very annoying to think that AJHQ either doesn't have the creativity to make new items, or they are just too lazy.

   I think this is a good time to talk about what we really want from AJHQ. We are tired of them making modern, human, and ugly items. A perfect example of this is when they released Flip Flops. Even I was surprised, that is just too much. And then there is the updates, it's always a new pet or game or something like that. Very few people were around when AJHQ was always making new lands. I'm not talking about oceans, but real lands. The last one they made was Appondale, in April 2011.

   So I guess what we really want is the old Animal Jam. In my mind, that was a period between July 2010 and April 2011. Every item was awesome, they had a cool style of making everything out of wood and leaves. about every 3 months a new epic land came out, like Coral Canyons and Mt. Shiveer. Guides were online every day, playing games with jammers. Isn't that what we really want? I know almost every person reading this didn't play then, but you can believe me it was much better than Jamaa today. Here is the epic teaser trailer for Animal Jam, I really think it shows what Jamaa used to be like.

Also, here is a video by a beta tester who made a tour of the old Jamaa.    And I'm not saying beta should come back, Beta Testing was a time before Animal Jam was finished, and kids could try out the game and give feedback. But I do think AJHQ could take back some of the simplicity and awesomeness from beta and the time soon after it.    Thousands of people are supporting Snowy Claw and here "movement" because they want the same thing as me. But what you didn't know is Snowyclaw didn't start that movement to bring back the ideas from back then, she wanted the religion from back then.     The one thing wrong with that time was they had made Zios a god and Mira a goddess. The shamans were also part of the religion. So many people complained and they removed everything like that. Then, almost two years later people like me thought of a compromise. The "Shamans" could be Alphas, simply leaders and mentors to their own animal kind. Zios and Mira could be a King and Queen.     That's where we are right now in Jamaa. We don't need Jamaa's old religion, we need it's simplicity. One major example is Crystal Sands, it used to be an exotic beach, and now it's a water park. Who's the genius who thought of that?
~Gecko~

Repeated Gifts and 3D Graphics

   First, today's gift is pretty disappointing. All AJHQ did is take one of the gifts from last year and send it again, the Snowflake Rug.

   Wow, they are really full of disappointments. What's so special about getting the same gift twice? Also, months ago Animal Jam HQ released a video ad with 3D animals. Watch it here:

   This was released soon after they made clothing items 3D, and most of us didn't like that. So from this video, you can assume that some day our animals will be in 3D. To me, the animals in this video look much worse than our 2D ones, and maybe they realized that and that is why they aren't changed yet. Do you want 3D animals? Why or why not?
~Gecko~

Jamaaliday & Member Gifts

   Wow, today AJHQ is feeling very generous! First of all, everyone who logs in today will get a "Patch of Lollipops". Happily, it is not a gift from last year.

   Second, Members get a free "Gingerbread Treehouse" in a Jam-a-Gram. If it's a Jamaaliday gift, then I would think Nonmembers would get it too, I wonder why they didn't.

   Also, we have the Monthly Member Gift. Animal Jam HQ got pretty lazy with this one, and just gave away the gift from last year, A "Gingerbread House" in the form of a den. This is unfortunate, because now it's not rare and it's not as special to get for the people who already had it (like me). I believe that's why they sent the "Gingerbread Treehouse", but I still think they could have been more creative.

   Anyway, there the Snowman Mask and Jamaaliday Lights have been resold. I'm hoping that the rest of the items will be resold in new colors and the old colors get a "Rare" badge, like they did for Phantom Day. Happy Jamaalidays!

~Gecko~