Random Saturday Ep 45: My First Experience with Feral

Hey ya'll! How is everyone doing today? It's Shade with your LATEST Random Saturday with the LATEST news about Feral! And WOW! What a great game is all I gotta say! 

So a few weeks ago, I was invited to a beta testing of the game by WildWorks. And for the most part, I didn't know a lot about the game. I knew it was for people who outgrew Animal Jam and Play Wild and that it was a fantasy kind of game where you could create your own creature. But other than that, I didn't really know a lot about what the game looked like except from a few pieces of concept art. 

The game is just so beautiful! That's all I gotta say about it! You can tell the effort that WildWorks really put into this game, making it the next best thing. For my first animal, I ended up getting the Senri as seen above. But you could also pick this fox kind of animal too called a Kitsune. As the game went on, it reminded me a lot of the Skylanders games, Super Mario Galaxy, as well as a game called FeralHeart. Anyone else who's played those think the same? :o

Right away, I spawned into the city of City Fera. And again, oh my gosh this game is so amazing! There's so much potential and so much to this game that makes me so excited for what is to come. 

So one of the first things I ended up doing was playing a few games with this guy above, asking to play 'Queen's Duel' or 'Four Crows'. To play the game, I guess you had to bet some of your money which I believe is counted in the number of hearts by your player card. (As seen on the top left on the photo below). I had no idea what I was doing the whole time but somehow I ended up winning the crow game. Haha. 

Going deeper into City Fera is probably my favorite part of the city; the castle, and you CAN'T EVEN GO INSIDE YET! UGHHH! But isn't it so beautiful? I already love this game so much and I've only played it a few times! 

And wait until you see the rest of the maps, oh my gosh! 

I think the Blood Tundra ended up being one of my favorite places in the game. (Besides the Sunken Thicket, ohhh we'll get to that later!) Here, is where you get started with some of the mining and crafting to create your own items. If you walk up to certain things, pressing the 'e key' rewards you with different resources to create different items you can redeem them for in the different shops around Feral.

There's also a few chests around these maps that you can unlock using lockpicks, to get what I can amuse, are better resources. However, those can be a little harder to get than the resources just lying around the map.

So I ended up going to my inventory next. There's not a lot, a lot to see and the picture is kind of self explanatory here but yeah. I think it's a really cool concept having to work for the different items you want to get, as well as collecting the dyes to change the colors. It's fun just exploring the worlds and looking for random things that can help you out later. 

One of the first items I ended up crafting was this very nice wallpaper that you could put inside your Sanctuary. The place may look small but from what I've seen, you can add even more rooms to it kind of like how Webkinz was. (Did anyone else play that game before, or is it just me? Is it even still around? :o) 

This world is probably the top favorite right here. It reminds me of a bigger version of Balloosh and just all the color and the mysteriousness about it, I just love it! 

Another thing that can be found in the game is the ability to add friends or buddies. I haven't really looked much into it yet but like Animal Jam, you're able to search up other players, go to their house, ect. 

And the second to last world; the Shattered Bay! The graphics on this game guys, they're just so great! Ahhh! 

I ended up running into this Dodger guy and had an interesting conversation with him. :o I really like how with some of these characters you can chose your response. And thinking of the potential of how this could all go farther; it would be cool if later on in the game they ended up adding different quests and stuff. 

And here is the last world! Probably one of my least favorite world out of all of them but I still really really like it. 

Here is the small town that can be found there. There's a lot of characters to interact with but I do wish I was able to go inside more of the buildings... 

For my first impression of this game; wow. This is awesome. I know it's a little early in testing still, but I already like it better than Animal Jam and Play Wild. When it becomes a finished product, I can't wait for what's to come in the game. Welp, hope you all enjoyed this post. It was a little different from what's normally done for Random Saturdays but I couldn't contain my excitement for this game! 

SO, what does everyone think of the game so far? Have you been invited for the beta yet? Comment below! 

And until next time, 

Shade

Agent Insights Ep 36: My Shop High-Value Item Scam

Hello, everyone. Flint here, to talk about a certain scam involving the My Shop den item, henceforth referred to as a shop.

When you set the price of an item in these shops, the upper limit of diamonds is 500. So, you can't price an item at above 500 diamonds. The limit is higher for gems, but gems are not used often, especially for high-value items, like the ones I'll be talking about. 

Sometimes, people want to sell items at above the 500 diamond limit. One way they go about doing this is to ask the person they're selling the pricey item to to first buy a necklace or similar item for several hundred diamonds, to make up the difference. Then, they say, they will put the high-value item in the shop for 500 diamonds, at which point you can buy it.

This is often a scam. They will wait until you buy the necklace, and then either take the high-value item off the shop or never put it on. In this way, you have just bought a necklace for hundreds of diamonds and have not gotten anything in return for it.

You can avoid this scam by not agreeing to buy something for over the limit. Either trade for it, buy it at 500, buy the necklace after the main item, or don't get it at all. 

That's all for today's post. Bye!

Random Saturday Ep 44: Tree-Planting Shops

Hello, everyone! It's Rose with my first post as a member of the AJSASS! I want to thank everyone at the AJSASS that helped approve my application form, to help me succeed as a scam-catcher and as a contributor to this blog. Without further ado, let's get onto this week's Random Saturday. The topic is the new Tree-Planting Shop that has come in with the new Animal Jam and Animal Jam - Play Wild update.



In Animal Jam (for PC), the Tree-Planting Shops are in multiple places, signified by a dark orange adobe-colored banner with an acacia tree drawn on.



On Play Wild, the Tree-Planting Shop looks like a default My Shop in green, except with a sign saying "Tree-Planting Shop".



In Animal Jam, the trees are fully grown and can be selected.





However, in Play Wild, you can only purchase a Tree Seed Packet, which is the only item in the Tree-Planting Shop, and wait to see the sapling grow after being placed in a den.

 
 

The trees in Play Wild grow into 6 different variants, the Acacia abyssinica (Acacia Tree), 
Grevillea robusta (Oak Tree), Faidherbia albida (White Acacia Tree), Tabebuia (Tabebuia/Trumpet Tree), Jacaranda cuspidifolia (Jacaranda Tree), and Dracaena ombet (Nubian Dragon Tree). 



Animal Jam HQ's purpose for the new tree planting update is to raise awareness of deforestation and environmental harm that comes with not just deforestation, but also other factors that the environment has been exposed to because of people.

To wrap up this week's Random Saturday, stay safe and stay healthy!

-  Rose ♥︎

Agent Insights Ep 35: Bidding

What's up everyone! Today, I bring to you your next episode of Agent Insights! I originally planned to write about pseudo-gifting in AJPW, but something crossed my mind that I thought was more urgent to write about. So, that said, the topic for today is bidding.

What is bidding? I'm not sure if the greater AJ community has a term for this, but for the sake of this post, I will refer to it as bidding. So, bidding is a process in which someone puts an item up for sale (using my shop) for a certain amount of currency. Alternatively, they could show it on trade and say the starting amount. They tell people around to say how much they are willing to pay, and then the price is set to the amount of the highest bidder. The process continues until no one is willing to pay a higher amount than the highest bidder. Then, the highest bidder will buy the item for the amount they bid.

I have never seen this method be used before, but I think I should inform you all in case it becomes common. This method could be a scam because the scammer could have an alt or ally in the den who will always bid higher than the highest bidder. They will keep pushing the minimum amount higher, which means that the other jammers will have to state an amount higher than the alt/ally in order to get the item. However, the alt/ally could always push the amount higher. This way, the bidding jammers could be scammed of their currency because the highest bidding alts/allies may not be real. 

Now, how can we avoid this scam? Firstly, we don't have to participate in bidding at all. The moment you see someone asking for bids, remember what you read in this post and stay alert. If you really want to participate because there is no other way to get said item, then always, always set a cap for yourself. Think about what is the absolute maximum you are willing to pay for anything, and don't let anyone push you past that amount.

That's the agent insights for today. Stay safe and keep healthy!

-Dew

Random Saturday Ep 43: Pseudo-gifting

What's up everyone! Today, I bring to you the latest edition of Random Saturdays! The topic for today is Pseudo-gifting.

In PW, there is no direct gift system. There is no button that directly shows you the option of gifting. However, I recently discovered that the PW trade system can work like a gifting system as well.

You see, the PW trade system has almost a freeform element to it. Both sides can edit their trade list while the trade is underway. So, I realised that one side can have an empty trade list, while the other side has stuff on it. This way, items are given to the one with an empty trade list once the trade goes through.

This is a great way to give your buddies items! It is also surprisingly effective for mass transferring of items to alts. However, we need to be vigilant, because scams could use this method to scam you of your items. I'll probably write about it in a future Agent Insights. Stay tuned!

Therefore, the PW trade system definitely has its benefits, but can be used to trick the unwary. Thankfully, both sides have to agree twice for the trade to go through, so the pacing isn't too fast.

That's all from me today! Stay safe and healthy!
-Dew

Update Post - March

Hey all, Jade here with your update post for March!

First up for this past month: Omega Rose joined the society and was promoted to Gamma! We're glad to have them with us.

We have also created a Get to Know the Agents page, which you can check out here!

To help us keep better track of our posts and agents, we have created a society-wide database. It's not available for non-agents to view, but we're very proud of ourselves so we wanted to let you know anyways.

Finally, we have discussed creating social media accounts in order to better integrate with Feral when it is released- so, keep an eye out for that over the next few months!

Thank you all for reading! Please stay safe, especially with the virus going around right now. Stay home, wash your hands, and Jam On!

Agent Insights Ep 34: What counts as a scam?

Hello everyone. Flint here, to talk about what counts as a scam.

I often see people who call things scams that we don't really consider to be scams. Things like claiming it's your birthday, advertising for mailtimes, etc. are some of these things. Today, I thought I'd make a list of things that make a scam a scam.

Deceptive

A scam must be deceptive. There must be lying, misleading, or taking advantage of someone's lack of knowledge in order for a scam to be a scam. In most scams, they promise something in return for your things, but never give it. Or they say if you don't do something, they'll harm you, when they really can't. Or they pretend to be someone they're not. Either way, some deception must be involved. 

Someone who just says "give me your spikes", takes the spikes, and leaves wasn't scamming anyone. He just left with the spikes, he never promised anything in return. If you want to give away your spikes to someone for nothing in return, then regret it, that's not a scam.

Intent counts here too. Someone making bad trades with newer jammers who don't know any better is still scamming, even if he knows that his items aren't worth anything, since the other person didn't know.

Theft

A scam must involve something being taken from you. Whether it's items, currency, your password, etc. doesn't matter, so long as something was taken.

If an event was deceptive, but nothing was taken from anyone at any point, it's not a scam. Trolling, joking, and the like are not scams. They're annoying, but there's no harm done.

If there is no deception and/or theft, it's not a scam. There are, however, some tricky cases that are still scam-ish, but aren't really scams. These include:

- Lying about what they wanted free items for, but with no pretense of giving anything in return. We do not consider these scams, or not 'full' scams anyways. It's impossible to verify if these claims are true or not, and you already knew you'd be giving away your items for free. You were never forced/coerced into giving them away, and there's no expectation of you giving them valuable items. (Examples: birthday claims, mailtime advertisements, "I'm poor give me stuff"s, etc.)

- Hacking/harassment/legit threats and the like. People who harass you until you give them stuff aren't scamming you, but they're still breaking rules and being mean. We consider them in the same category of behavior standards.

- People pretending to be famous jammers are still considered scammers, since it's easy to verify that they aren't famous, and pretending to be a famous jammer comes with the expectation of giving valuable items

We still post about threats/harassment/hacking, but we will not post about birthday-claim type stuff, nor will we post about trades you regret. Bottom line is, a scam must be someone deceiving you into giving up your items. 

That's all. Goodbye!

Random Saturday Ep 42: AJFREE

Hey all, Jade here with your newest Random Saturday! Today, we'll be talking about AJ's latest promo code, AJFREE!

This past week, Animal Jam released a promo code through the Jamaa Journal that will give two weeks of membership to any non-member! This was likely brought on by the influx of new activity as a result of the coronavirus social distancing.

 For anyone who is already a member, you can receive ten diamonds from the code! So, whether you're looking to receive a membership or just some extra diamonds, this is a great opportunity for you.

That's all for today! Hope you all are doing well and staying safe at home. What's your opinion on AJ giving membership out for free? Have you taken advantage of this code yet?