Hi everyone! It's certainly been a while, no?
I recognize that I haven't posted here since 2013, and that was nearly three years ago. It seems that with WH's activity dying down, the blogs went as well. Anywho, I recently resigned from staff, which was somewhat emotional for me. I wanted an outlet to express my feelings about my decision, why I did so, and my opinion on WH's current standing.
Also, a foreword: I am not here to write malicious things, to rat anyone out, or to share staff secrets.
One of my primary reasons for leaving staff was my own inactivity and the site's inactivity. It's unfair for me to keep a position that I'm not contributing to, and as hard as it was to let go, I have come to recognize that WH simply is no longer what it used to be. The site that I joined and the site that I left are two completely different places. From the day I joined, it was my biggest dream to become a Moderator. I made so many friends here and I genuinely had a good time. I was pretty well-known among the community and I never really had any particular spouts with anyone, except maybe one over SunsetGuardian. I became a Moderator when WH 1.2 was released. Unfortunately, this was the worst time for WH. There was the hack where everyone lost days' worth of XP and many of my friends quit, leaving nasty messages on their profile and getting banned because of Stormgaze's huge ordeal (man, I really miss that guy!). So I went into 1.2 without a large majority of the userbase that I had grown to love. All my Chatbox friends got fed up with Karlos's inactivity and found other places to go. I was very hopeful that WH would transform into something new, but I really never saw it become the same site that it was back then.
I'm sorry, but I cannot see why so many people are logged on at once. What do people even do here anymore? Half of the Map artwork has been missing for two years, Karlos has other projects and his real life to take care of, everything is left incomplete for months and months... the atmosphere just is not one that I enjoyed. This site went from teenagers having a good time to 10-year-olds threatening to kill each other over their virtual mates. Every single report I got was someone just being a complete dickwad over private messages, a bunch of squeakers trying to dirty RP with people, wolves "cheating" on each other... what the actual fuck? Lol. Also, did you know that if you live in the USA and you're under the age of 13, you're not even allowed to play WH because of COPPA restrictions? I wonder how many kids I banned for checking that box when they joined only to plaster their age on their profile.
In addition, I'm really salty that I was a staff member for so long and saw three people become Administrators before me, when I put in the same amount of time and dedication as them. Though I was never that close to Karlos, so I can understand that, but I really just felt swept under the rug at many points. When we selected new moderators, I was the only moderator who wasn't new.
There was one Administrator that I didn't see fit as a Moderator, let alone someone above me. I complained about their behavior and several regular members did as well, but nothing was ever done. They can't even write a coherent sentence without spelling something wrong, but... -insert Kermit meme-
But even one of them has said it themselves, "Sea, you're too nice to be a moderator." I was very lenient; I'd PM someone over banning them for art theft and I'd really try to correct their behavior and give them another chance. I never saw the point in going straight to a mute or ban. How is someone going to learn what they did wrong if you never informed them? I'd send a PM explaining that they committed art theft, why taking pictures off of Google is art theft, and how they could create their own artwork or use a free base to design their character. I got scolded for that.
I just got sick of dealing with petty little issues between kids that shouldn't be on this site in the first place. I got sick of not being able to look at topics that were reported because the button was broken. I got sick of other staff being assholes and getting away with it. I got sick of being treated like garbage and Karlos not being around to see it. They were quick to get that staff list updated though, weren't they? ;p
In the end, I was no longer comfortable working with both Administrators. But maybe they're both right and I am too nice, and my punishments were too kind. Maybe that's why I'm not an Administrator, why I always got kicked back, because I didn't find some sick joy in banning someone who didn't even know where the rules were. To be honest, I don't even know who the other moderators are! I know Laomi and LunaLuna, both of which log on less often than I do. I have never spoken to the others.
I never liked the A/R. I never liked that people with "Good" standing had custom advantages over anyone with "Normal" standing. I never liked the account standing thing, though, because I felt it would create bias between members and staff. I know that users with negative standing were likely treated differently by other staff, and I don't think it should be like that. :/ Maybe a warning or infraction system, but not a standing system.
My goal as a staff member was to break the separation between staff and member, and I think that separation grew even larger throughout my time here. I didn't have a colored name for people to be afraid of me. I wanted people to look up to me, to seek guidance from me. I really wish Karlos was around more, but unfortunately his activity has been a problem for years so I cannot see that happening. He's a wonderful person but is not active enough to sustain this site, and he handed that power to the wrong people.
Krasus/Gren is super cool though. I would have stepped down right then and there if she hadn't been chosen during the last staff applications.
In short, I loved WH but it's no longer a site that I enjoy coming to. I miss my friends and old times. Please respect that. And while I do not agree with the things that some people do here, please respect them as well. I am allowed to have my own opinion, but they are still lovely people and I have nothing against them as individuals.
Wednesday, June 22, 2016
Friday, August 9, 2013
August Is The Month Of Change!
Greetings everyone!
August is a great month for WH. Site activity is really kicking up, and things are moving along great! Lots of behind-the-scenes work is being done, people are continuously bringing their new characters to the site, and roleplaying has picked up immensely. That being said, more activity means that we need more paws to help out around the site. I would like to introduce our newest Moderators!
A big congratulations to Laomi, LunaLuna, Sergeant, and Talon on behalf of becoming Wolf-Haven's new Moderators. We had so many great applicants and many people were qualified, but these four users have shown outstanding potential in their helpfulness and good manners to the site. As they are new, please don't overwhelm them with reports and username changes at first; they are just learning how their staff control panel works and may need assistance on their first pawful of reports. If you have any complicated issues, feel free to send them to me instead. If you didn't get picked this time around or weren't old enough to apply, don't feel down! As the site continues to flourish and everything continues on, I'm sure that we will need more new Moderators in the future.
Of course, we can't forget Shara! Though she did not apply, Shara has been an outstanding member of WH since the moment she joined and having her working alongside us is a blessing. She will still continue her work as a site artist, but she is now a Moderator as well. A big congratulations to her!
Unfortunately, our new gain doesn't come without a loss. I give my best wishes to CheshireAlley, a veteran member of WH who has stepped down from his position as Administrator due to his lack of activity. He has done a great deal for the site and I'm sure everyone will miss seeing his dark blue name from time to time.
Wait, eight Moderators and one Administrator to help Karlos out with WH? That doesn't seem right... and that is no longer the case! I'd like to give a huge congratulations to -Fang- and Sheri on their promotions to Administrator. They will be working alongside Jekyll to upload customs and do fancy admin work. I sure will miss being in the trio, but I'm sure that they will excel in their new jobs.
If you see our new staff members around, don't forget to congratulate them!
August is a great month for WH. Site activity is really kicking up, and things are moving along great! Lots of behind-the-scenes work is being done, people are continuously bringing their new characters to the site, and roleplaying has picked up immensely. That being said, more activity means that we need more paws to help out around the site. I would like to introduce our newest Moderators!
A big congratulations to Laomi, LunaLuna, Sergeant, and Talon on behalf of becoming Wolf-Haven's new Moderators. We had so many great applicants and many people were qualified, but these four users have shown outstanding potential in their helpfulness and good manners to the site. As they are new, please don't overwhelm them with reports and username changes at first; they are just learning how their staff control panel works and may need assistance on their first pawful of reports. If you have any complicated issues, feel free to send them to me instead. If you didn't get picked this time around or weren't old enough to apply, don't feel down! As the site continues to flourish and everything continues on, I'm sure that we will need more new Moderators in the future.
Of course, we can't forget Shara! Though she did not apply, Shara has been an outstanding member of WH since the moment she joined and having her working alongside us is a blessing. She will still continue her work as a site artist, but she is now a Moderator as well. A big congratulations to her!
Unfortunately, our new gain doesn't come without a loss. I give my best wishes to CheshireAlley, a veteran member of WH who has stepped down from his position as Administrator due to his lack of activity. He has done a great deal for the site and I'm sure everyone will miss seeing his dark blue name from time to time.
Wait, eight Moderators and one Administrator to help Karlos out with WH? That doesn't seem right... and that is no longer the case! I'd like to give a huge congratulations to -Fang- and Sheri on their promotions to Administrator. They will be working alongside Jekyll to upload customs and do fancy admin work. I sure will miss being in the trio, but I'm sure that they will excel in their new jobs.
If you see our new staff members around, don't forget to congratulate them!
Tuesday, July 30, 2013
Long Time, No See!
Hey everyone! It's been quite some time since I've posted anything on my blog. I'd like to start off by sincerely apologizing to anybody who enjoyed my entries and was hoping for something new. Unfortunately, with a lack of topics to write on, I can't do much other than sit at my computer desk and watch my blog perish.
That being said, it's been nearly a year! I'd really like to keep up with this blog since it received a lot of positive feedback over the past years. Wolf-Haven has had a significant increase in activity, and that's great to see. With more members every day, we need more Moderators to help keep up with things. Moderator applications are open, and you can apply by clicking here. Please bear in mind that you must be 16 or over in order to apply. This is to ensure that our staff members are mature and respectful members that others can look up to and seek guidance from. I'm sure that there are many wonderful young candidates, but that's just the rule. You don't need to be a Moderator to help out, though! If you genuinely want to help out the site and your main focus isn't having a blue name, you can answer peoples' questions and report rule-breaking topics that you see in the Forums. Your generosity definitely does not go unnoticed! Given that you need to be 13 to join Wolf-Haven in the first place, the most you have to wait is three years, and I'm sure that we'll need to hire more staff members again down the road.
One thing that we need to work on sprucing up is the Forums. They're a bit dead as of late, so why not go ahead and get posting? There are many different topics that may catch your interest; even if you're not an active forumer, it's worth checking out. You can find the forums here. The Chatbox could use some new faces, too! Even if you've never been on the Chatbox before, come say hi; we won't bite! You can find the Chatbox here.
Karlos has been on daily, too, so it's safe to say that there will be updates to the site. It's going to take everyone's effort to become an active community again, but we can do it!
That being said, it's been nearly a year! I'd really like to keep up with this blog since it received a lot of positive feedback over the past years. Wolf-Haven has had a significant increase in activity, and that's great to see. With more members every day, we need more Moderators to help keep up with things. Moderator applications are open, and you can apply by clicking here. Please bear in mind that you must be 16 or over in order to apply. This is to ensure that our staff members are mature and respectful members that others can look up to and seek guidance from. I'm sure that there are many wonderful young candidates, but that's just the rule. You don't need to be a Moderator to help out, though! If you genuinely want to help out the site and your main focus isn't having a blue name, you can answer peoples' questions and report rule-breaking topics that you see in the Forums. Your generosity definitely does not go unnoticed! Given that you need to be 13 to join Wolf-Haven in the first place, the most you have to wait is three years, and I'm sure that we'll need to hire more staff members again down the road.
One thing that we need to work on sprucing up is the Forums. They're a bit dead as of late, so why not go ahead and get posting? There are many different topics that may catch your interest; even if you're not an active forumer, it's worth checking out. You can find the forums here. The Chatbox could use some new faces, too! Even if you've never been on the Chatbox before, come say hi; we won't bite! You can find the Chatbox here.
Karlos has been on daily, too, so it's safe to say that there will be updates to the site. It's going to take everyone's effort to become an active community again, but we can do it!
Thursday, October 11, 2012
Yet Another Update!
Hey everybody! v1.3 has been well underway for two or so weeks now, and I hope that you're all enjoying the new content. This has definitely been a pawstep in the right direction for Wolf-Haven's future.
Oh, and before I begin my post, I wanted to dedicate this sentence to my friend, Magnus, who has been stalking my blog for quite some time now. He's pretty awesome. Cheers to you, buddy.
...
ouo b
Aaaaaand, I haven't been able to update my WH profile for almost three weeks now because my PC that had the code on it has broken. Without access to the Word document, if I try to edit anything, the quote boxes will turn into HTML and they won't show up correctly. :c God knows when I'll have the time or money to get the PC fixed, so my profile will probably be the same forever. ._.
Anyways, back to v1.3! Like I said, this is definitely a good thing for the well-being of WH. There are some new features as well as some improved things, and there are still many updates to come. I'll go through a basic rundown of all of the new features:
Idea Box
Something that has been missing since v1.2, the Idea Box! Originally in the form of a Forum category, the Suggestions board was a hellhole of hatred and terrible misconduct. The Idea Box is an anonymous way to submit an idea and instead of having people leave comments, users can vote + or - on the idea. Ideas that get many votes will generally be accepted. Unfortunately, the Idea Box only shows the top 5 and most recent ideas, which means that many ideas are probably being drowned out and lost or repeated due to not being able to see them all. Hopefully that gets changed soon. This is personally one of my favourite additions to the site, primarily because it allows users to submit their ideas without worrying about publicly being shunned for having an opinion. I feel that it will increase the amount of potentially good ideas being laid out on the table, and it will also bring the community together as a whole.
Quests
Another favourite! These have also been gone since v1.2, so I'm pretty thrilled that Quests have been added back. Some of them even have chain-quests, which means that you need to follow a storyline throughout your leveling, which is pretty creative. A particularly well-written chain of quests is by Voltage, so if you haven't started those yet, you definitely should! Some quests are for higher-levelled users only, though, and chains may take a while to complete. Along with Quests, the addition of items and having an Inventory is another key element in making the game have more of a RP feel to it. Runes are also really nice, too; they give amazing bonuses for use on the Map. They're pretty expensive, though, and I haven't tested them on my main account quite yet. I may dedicate an entire blog post to Runes if I get the chance to test them all, unless somebody gets to that before me.
Friends List
With the high amount of username changes flying in and out, I think that this is a great feature to keep up with everything. I mean, I only have one friend, but still... xD Now, if somebody changes their username, they'll still show up in your Friends List with the same ID. Along with being able to friend users, you can now block users, which is also another great feature. It will hopefully prevent some fights and cause less drama for the website as a whole.
Hunting
This new feature was added to allow you to find items (food) that will help you recover during a battle. You can hunt every 10 minutes, which I find reasonable considering that the success rate doesn't seem to be very high. Even if you don't find something, you'll get some XP, which is always nice to get. 8D
Donation Changes
When purchasing customs, you will no longer receive Points; it's either one or the other. I'll be quite honest with you... considering the amount of psychotic Point hoarders that this website seems to have, this definitely wasn't a bad idea. Nothing against people who choose to play wisely with their Points, but seeing a bunch of people with Point amounts in the thousands can get quite annoying. It's completely demolished the value of Points and made it so that less and less Points are in circulation. Less Points = more demand for Points = increased Art Shop prices. Plus, the prices that people expect for their accounts are just insane. Hopefully, the addition of Quests will help some of the users who don't have a lot of Points to be able to get the things that they want. Honestly, if you have all of the Robotic Equipment and don't even bother to play the game anymore, why the absolute fuck do you need 3,000 Points just rotting on your account? At least spend them on artwork or something, or buy an account. Don't just keep them there for a year. /endrant
Well, the emote strips are a good addition at least. The only thing that I don't like about this is that the Online Users page is just going to keep getting more and more clashy. The default emotes are great, but they don't compare to the fully edited emotes that some people have. Not everybody can afford to donate or to have an artist make them completely custom lines. We'll see how that goes. Again, this is just something I've personally never liked, not anything related to v1.3. I never liked the completely edited emotes.
Account Activation
Staff can manually activate accounts now. Get those dead deactivated side accounts of yours up and running now that you can!
Gah, I'm already exhausted from being up since 5 AM. I'll leave you with this. As always, feel free to leave your opinion in a comment! I hope to keep updating as frequently as I can.
Adios for now~ <3
Oh, and before I begin my post, I wanted to dedicate this sentence to my friend, Magnus, who has been stalking my blog for quite some time now. He's pretty awesome. Cheers to you, buddy.
...
ouo b
Aaaaaand, I haven't been able to update my WH profile for almost three weeks now because my PC that had the code on it has broken. Without access to the Word document, if I try to edit anything, the quote boxes will turn into HTML and they won't show up correctly. :c God knows when I'll have the time or money to get the PC fixed, so my profile will probably be the same forever. ._.
Anyways, back to v1.3! Like I said, this is definitely a good thing for the well-being of WH. There are some new features as well as some improved things, and there are still many updates to come. I'll go through a basic rundown of all of the new features:
Idea Box
Something that has been missing since v1.2, the Idea Box! Originally in the form of a Forum category, the Suggestions board was a hellhole of hatred and terrible misconduct. The Idea Box is an anonymous way to submit an idea and instead of having people leave comments, users can vote + or - on the idea. Ideas that get many votes will generally be accepted. Unfortunately, the Idea Box only shows the top 5 and most recent ideas, which means that many ideas are probably being drowned out and lost or repeated due to not being able to see them all. Hopefully that gets changed soon. This is personally one of my favourite additions to the site, primarily because it allows users to submit their ideas without worrying about publicly being shunned for having an opinion. I feel that it will increase the amount of potentially good ideas being laid out on the table, and it will also bring the community together as a whole.
Quests
Another favourite! These have also been gone since v1.2, so I'm pretty thrilled that Quests have been added back. Some of them even have chain-quests, which means that you need to follow a storyline throughout your leveling, which is pretty creative. A particularly well-written chain of quests is by Voltage, so if you haven't started those yet, you definitely should! Some quests are for higher-levelled users only, though, and chains may take a while to complete. Along with Quests, the addition of items and having an Inventory is another key element in making the game have more of a RP feel to it. Runes are also really nice, too; they give amazing bonuses for use on the Map. They're pretty expensive, though, and I haven't tested them on my main account quite yet. I may dedicate an entire blog post to Runes if I get the chance to test them all, unless somebody gets to that before me.
Friends List
With the high amount of username changes flying in and out, I think that this is a great feature to keep up with everything. I mean, I only have one friend, but still... xD Now, if somebody changes their username, they'll still show up in your Friends List with the same ID. Along with being able to friend users, you can now block users, which is also another great feature. It will hopefully prevent some fights and cause less drama for the website as a whole.
Hunting
This new feature was added to allow you to find items (food) that will help you recover during a battle. You can hunt every 10 minutes, which I find reasonable considering that the success rate doesn't seem to be very high. Even if you don't find something, you'll get some XP, which is always nice to get. 8D
Donation Changes
When purchasing customs, you will no longer receive Points; it's either one or the other. I'll be quite honest with you... considering the amount of psychotic Point hoarders that this website seems to have, this definitely wasn't a bad idea. Nothing against people who choose to play wisely with their Points, but seeing a bunch of people with Point amounts in the thousands can get quite annoying. It's completely demolished the value of Points and made it so that less and less Points are in circulation. Less Points = more demand for Points = increased Art Shop prices. Plus, the prices that people expect for their accounts are just insane. Hopefully, the addition of Quests will help some of the users who don't have a lot of Points to be able to get the things that they want. Honestly, if you have all of the Robotic Equipment and don't even bother to play the game anymore, why the absolute fuck do you need 3,000 Points just rotting on your account? At least spend them on artwork or something, or buy an account. Don't just keep them there for a year. /endrant
Well, the emote strips are a good addition at least. The only thing that I don't like about this is that the Online Users page is just going to keep getting more and more clashy. The default emotes are great, but they don't compare to the fully edited emotes that some people have. Not everybody can afford to donate or to have an artist make them completely custom lines. We'll see how that goes. Again, this is just something I've personally never liked, not anything related to v1.3. I never liked the completely edited emotes.
Account Activation
Staff can manually activate accounts now. Get those dead deactivated side accounts of yours up and running now that you can!
Gah, I'm already exhausted from being up since 5 AM. I'll leave you with this. As always, feel free to leave your opinion in a comment! I hope to keep updating as frequently as I can.
Adios for now~ <3
Thursday, September 27, 2012
Pre-v1.3, The Rise of Ambrose, and Etcetera
In case you missed it, Karlos updated the 1.3 poll with this:
Update
Alright guys, I'm now closing the poll.
The results show that 88% of those who answered to the poll are in favor of releasing 1.3 early. That is what we'll be doing.
That said, those opposing the early release have given some very valid points and have expressed concerns that I share with them. By no means does an early release imply that I devalue the points made.
I'll be working to get the current 1.3 version stable and as bug free as humanly possible. I'll keep you all informed.
Pros
- New features that are much needed will be available.
- Quest system.
- More power for the darling staff.
- Faster speeds on certain sections of the site.
- You will have the power to mold the progress of Wolf-Haven 1.3 (With the suggestion system)
- More life to the website and hopefully the user base
- More pack controls (Ownership transferal and Pack Mass Messages)
- New stoof
- A lot of the art will not be done thus placeholder images will be used.
- Frequent Maintenance
With new content, there will be more downtime to work on different things.
- Temporary strict enforcement of rules.
Update
Alright guys, I'm now closing the poll.
The results show that 88% of those who answered to the poll are in favor of releasing 1.3 early. That is what we'll be doing.
That said, those opposing the early release have given some very valid points and have expressed concerns that I share with them. By no means does an early release imply that I devalue the points made.
I'll be working to get the current 1.3 version stable and as bug free as humanly possible. I'll keep you all informed.
----------
Yaaaay! Do you know what that means? Wolf-Haven will hopefully be picking up a lot of activity over the first week of the v1.3 release. I can't tell you anything in detail until it's actually released, but I guess I can explain some of the things that Karlos already mentioned. Taken straight from the "Pros" list of the v1.3 poll thread, located here! I'll also post my opinions in regards to the idea's cons.
Pros
This one is pretty much self-explanatory. There will be many nice features that have been awaited for a long time!
- Quest system.
That's right, Quests are back and better than ever! They'll make a lot more sense and be more interactive. You'll like 'em a lot!
- More power for the darling staff.
You know this one always makes me happy. 8D Some things that will make our jobs easier are going to be added. Those annoying accounts that won't activate? There's an app for that. If only my paws would work on an iPhone...
- Faster speeds on certain sections of the site.
Another much-needed update. Hopefully, hunting will be easier due to the reduced lag.
- You will have the power to mold the progress of Wolf-Haven 1.3 (With the suggestion system)
Since v1.3 is being released more gradually, you'll be able to input ideas and give your opinion on them. That way, everyone can be generally happy.
- More life to the website and hopefully the user base
Yaaaay!
- More pack controls (Ownership transferal and Pack Mass Messages)
C'mon, you've wanted these back for a year... well, you're finally getting them back! Pack Massmails supply the life of a pack.
- New stoof
You'll see, wolfies. You'll see.
Sounds great, right? I agree! v1.3 is going to be absolutely amazing, I can tell you that.
Cons
- A lot of things will be Works In Progress.
Cons
- A lot of things will be Works In Progress.
Some areas of the site may be blank, useless, or unattractive, so hopefully nobody gets impatient.
- A lot of the art will not be done thus placeholder images will be used.
This goes along with the first con. Our ideas work faster than our artists and we need a lot of diverse artwork that takes a long time to make. Until we get those images, you may see text boxes.
- Frequent Maintenance
With new content, there will be more downtime to work on different things.
- Bugs, bugs and more bugs!
Of course, with new code comes new bugs. Although a bug check is done generally before anything is added officially, things will slip and it will be up to everybody to report them and to deal with the inconvenience.
Of course, with new code comes new bugs. Although a bug check is done generally before anything is added officially, things will slip and it will be up to everybody to report them and to deal with the inconvenience.
- Reverts may happen.
Though I can't see this being a big possibility for any reason, it's possible. For example, if 200 users exploited something on the Map and it was impossible to correct, everyone may have to lose their v1.3 progress in order to remove the disadvantage that those other users gave themselves. That may not be the case with v1.3 but, of course, it could happen.
- Temporary strict enforcement of rules.
I believe that this is referencing to the v1.2 incident of over a year ago. If you weren't here during that time, be glad. It wasn't that v1.2 was bad or anything, but the main problem was that a lot of popular and well-respected players hated it and their opinions reflected on the site. Not only did many of them choose to express their opinions in a rude manner, they didn't even give the update a chance and many feelings were hurt over it. Some users did apologize and they are still happy and active members of our community, but as for the ones who didn't... well, they were banned, and not everybody was happy with that. I've bogged about it many times so if you're a newer member of WH or never really read my blog actively, you can search through some of my posts from May and June of 2011 to read more about the drama. I don't like to bring up past events in current blog posts because it only causes problems, and one of the main reasons that I blog is to keep WH problem-free. I write with the intentions that people will consider my opinions, which are for the most part sensible.
Anyways, that's all I can tell you about v1.3. It will be released in segments, so there will be plenty to blog about and many new things to keep you entertained!
Part 2: Ambrose.
Though I do give credit to Seagleam for originally creating the pack, CheshireAlley has done most of the leading from what I've heard. Ambrose was always a friendly pack with good intentions, and it still is. However, with the somewhat-recent closing of Shimmer, Ambrose has seemed to sweep up many of the old Shimmer members, making it (to my knowledge) the top pack on-site. It's got Sheri, Alizarin, and Aeralie in it; though the last two seem to be dead on WH, they've got a lot of XP. Other than the Retirement Home (which I am somewhat against, only because the theme suggests that the users no longer have an interest in being members of an active pack), I would have to say that Ambrose has done a good job at scooping up a bunch of XP. If they're not the #1 pack onsite, I don't know what pack is. Plus, Karlos joined, which says something, considering that the site owner wouldn't join a bad pack.
Congratulations to you, Ambrose!
In the last part of this post, I just wanted to rant about something that has been causing me an annoyance since it first became trendy: account sales. I wish they were banned, to be honest. They're great, but the negatives outweigh the positives for me.
Firstly, there are too many people who overpay for accounts with half-assed customs, then complain that they can't sell the account for as much as they paid. Just because you paid 2 donations for your level 2 Pup with a custom that would be rejected if it were sent in now, doesn't mean that somebody else is willing to do the same. Have a sense of value if you want to buy an account to resell.
And on the topic of reselling, that is absolute bullshit. People are making profit on accounts that were never theirs until they bought them. It's not against the rules, but it's still pretty offensive to the custom artist and whoever sold the account to you. Of course, those are the wicked ways of the market, and if Points weren't so easy to get, I may actually support the act of reselling. If you don't plan on keeping an account, why buy it?
As you can tell, I'm not a fan (and never was a fan) of account sales. It's not that it shouldn't be allowed, but users are so terrible with that Sales Board. I have only bought two accounts, and they were accounts that I really wanted. I overpaid on them both because I didn't want to go through with the hassle of participating in an auction, and if I were ever going to resell them, I certainly wouldn't be asking to get as much back. If you're curious, I offered 600 Points to autobuy Charley, and I paid 200 Points for Khoda (now Bleddyn). I only go on that board to delete the sales that are done with; other than that, it makes me want to vomit. Perhaps you feel differently, but that is my sole opinion on account sales.
Well, that's all for today. Hopefully I'll be back soon! I've been very busy with real life now that classes have started up, so I haven't had much time for WH. I've wanted to write something about Ambrose and the account sales for a while, but I never had the chance to. I'm glad that I was able to fit so much into one blog post.
Thanks for reading!
Saturday, July 21, 2012
The Great Halt
Unfortunately, Wolf-Haven has come to the point in its life where everything you could think of is going on behind-the-scenes whereas the actual game is quiet in comparison. With v1.3 well under way, everyone has been pretty busy. I can't say much about it, but I CAN say that you all are going to love what's coming! Waiting will certainly pay off.
I'd like to welcome Sheri to the moderating team! Sheri has been around longer than I have and, quite frankly, I would have been upset if she never got this promotion. She's dealt with a persistent rainbow mate for over a year and she's one of the most active and friendly people that I know. If you catch her in the Chatbox, give her a kind word. Getting used to the position can be tricky at first, but I have faith in this fluffy winged wolf. Good luck, Sheri!
Speaking of Sheri, I'm sure you've seen her blog before. It seems that another blog has sprung up as well! This one's by Loopy, and it's called A Mongrel's Den. You can visit it by clicking [here]! Loopy's a great writer and the website also has some helpful information about WH on it. And while we're on the subject of helpful WH sites, Phlox's guide is active again. You can check it out by clicking [here]. I made a guide, but then I realized that I am far too lazy to maintain one. xD Let's hope that Phlox doesn't follow my pawsteps. This guide already has a lot of helpful information, and I can see that it will grow very quickly.
So, what's up with WH? It seems that the gameplay is dead right now. That doesn't mean that WH is dead, it just means that there's nothing new to do at the moment. Account selling and roleplaying has taken over, and account trading is all the rage right now. I really don't like this fad. For one, it's nearly impossible to keep track of everybody, and secondly, I hate changing the same account's username, email, and password 3 times a week. It's not that I don't love what I do, I just don't like to do it for the same account because someone wants to resell it right after they bought it. I would take advantage of these high level account sales while you still can; once v1.3 is released, I doubt that you're going to want a level 20 account with a pretty custom over a level 60 account. Even so, like many others have stated, where's the personal feel of accomplishment when you buy an account? You don't have any accomplishment because you didn't work for what you bought. I have earned all of my XP by myself, and I am very proud of what I have done. I wouldn't feel the same if I had bought my XP.
And honestly, these completely edited customs annoy me as well. They're beautiful, but they look terrible on the Users Online page. The whole page is a mess with these completely edited emotes next to the regular ones. Remember when shading wasn't allowed on emotes? I miss the uniformity of WH. The edited customs are great, but they're not the Wolf-Haven that I was obsessed with two years ago. Hopefully this custom craze is just something to compensate for the boredom, and I really hope that it all ends with v1.3. There will be many better things to do!
On a higher note, I've been leveling lately and I think that some other users have been as well. I recently got into an XP race with Azure, which has really motivated me to hunt on the Map. Plus, I still have a PvA Honor to get; I'm not even at 50k yet! I also... err... bought an account. xD Im going to keep this one secret, though. I only have 3 active accounts now, which I feel is a good limit for me. I don't really have an interest in roleplaying anymore, so there's no point in having a bunch of accounts.
I think that I'll bring this blog post to an end now. Keep an eye out for updates on Wolf-Haven!
I'd like to welcome Sheri to the moderating team! Sheri has been around longer than I have and, quite frankly, I would have been upset if she never got this promotion. She's dealt with a persistent rainbow mate for over a year and she's one of the most active and friendly people that I know. If you catch her in the Chatbox, give her a kind word. Getting used to the position can be tricky at first, but I have faith in this fluffy winged wolf. Good luck, Sheri!
Speaking of Sheri, I'm sure you've seen her blog before. It seems that another blog has sprung up as well! This one's by Loopy, and it's called A Mongrel's Den. You can visit it by clicking [here]! Loopy's a great writer and the website also has some helpful information about WH on it. And while we're on the subject of helpful WH sites, Phlox's guide is active again. You can check it out by clicking [here]. I made a guide, but then I realized that I am far too lazy to maintain one. xD Let's hope that Phlox doesn't follow my pawsteps. This guide already has a lot of helpful information, and I can see that it will grow very quickly.
So, what's up with WH? It seems that the gameplay is dead right now. That doesn't mean that WH is dead, it just means that there's nothing new to do at the moment. Account selling and roleplaying has taken over, and account trading is all the rage right now. I really don't like this fad. For one, it's nearly impossible to keep track of everybody, and secondly, I hate changing the same account's username, email, and password 3 times a week. It's not that I don't love what I do, I just don't like to do it for the same account because someone wants to resell it right after they bought it. I would take advantage of these high level account sales while you still can; once v1.3 is released, I doubt that you're going to want a level 20 account with a pretty custom over a level 60 account. Even so, like many others have stated, where's the personal feel of accomplishment when you buy an account? You don't have any accomplishment because you didn't work for what you bought. I have earned all of my XP by myself, and I am very proud of what I have done. I wouldn't feel the same if I had bought my XP.
And honestly, these completely edited customs annoy me as well. They're beautiful, but they look terrible on the Users Online page. The whole page is a mess with these completely edited emotes next to the regular ones. Remember when shading wasn't allowed on emotes? I miss the uniformity of WH. The edited customs are great, but they're not the Wolf-Haven that I was obsessed with two years ago. Hopefully this custom craze is just something to compensate for the boredom, and I really hope that it all ends with v1.3. There will be many better things to do!
On a higher note, I've been leveling lately and I think that some other users have been as well. I recently got into an XP race with Azure, which has really motivated me to hunt on the Map. Plus, I still have a PvA Honor to get; I'm not even at 50k yet! I also... err... bought an account. xD Im going to keep this one secret, though. I only have 3 active accounts now, which I feel is a good limit for me. I don't really have an interest in roleplaying anymore, so there's no point in having a bunch of accounts.
I think that I'll bring this blog post to an end now. Keep an eye out for updates on Wolf-Haven!
Saturday, July 7, 2012
Getting Down to Business
Hey everyone!
It's certainly been a while. Before I begin this entry, I wanted to point out that Sheri has an absolutely lovely WH blog that you can find by clicking [here]. Although we'll probably be blogging about the same things, it's wonderful to hear different opinions from two different people. Now, don't get any ideas on creating your own blog... we already had a blog craze thanks to Stormgaze. I admit that I was part of that craze and Stormgaze is probably the sole reason that I actually started a blog in the first place, but still. Just because I do bad things doesn't mean that you should too. :c I mean, I'm not going to stop you from creating a blog, but it is not easy at all. Blogs are very hard to keep up with when they're only on one topic (i.e. Wolf-Haven) and you really have to watch what you say. When you put your opinion on the table in a formal manner like a blog, you have many people reading what you have to say and therefore more people are going to consider your opinion. If you say something completely negative without support and logic, you're going to scare everybody away. So, again, I really don't suggest adding to the list of blogs unless blogging is your passion and you didn't realize it until now.
Without further ado, I'd like to congratulate CheshireAlley on his promotion to Administrator! I'm glad that he was picked, honestly; I couldn't imagine anyone better for the position, and we really needed another admin to help out with the customs and such. I can't believe I'm inferior to a hen now though, for God's sake! D: (Chatbox joke, my apologies.) Anyways, I'm the middle mod now since I've been a mod longer than Seagleam and -Fang- but have been a mod less than Corina and Kovaro. I heard that the middle child is always neglected. Well, I'm screwed then. :D I'd go on and on about how epic Chesh is and all, but I think you can already see that for yourself.
There have been many other staff changes as well! We now have an official News Team, consisting of Coyotito, -Eclipse-, and Phlox. They're all brilliant writers (we all know how much Sea hates illiterate beings ;3) and I have hope for them. The best of luck to you all! If you ever need to know who's who on the Staff Team, I created a topic in the WH board on the Forums a few weeks ago; you may find it helpful sometime.
There have been some great site changes lately. For one, the Account Standing feature that was recently added seems to be going great. Basically, when you misbehave and receive a mute or a ban, your Account Standing will become Bad. If you receive multiple mutes and bans, it will change to Very Bad. I feel that this will be helpful to the staff when deciding how to handle things, and this will also assure that nobody is selling accounts that may have punishments held against them (since you cannot sell an account with a Bad or Very Bad standing). If you're an active member of WH and are very helpful and friendly, you may receive a Good or Very Good standing. This just lets the other staff members know how awesome you are, and may give you an advantage when new staff are picked or if a problem arises. To read the official post by Karlos, click [here]!
I don't really have more to say, other than I'm glad I've been coming on WH more often. I have hope for the future; things seem to be taking a good turn. I'd like to blog more often because I really do enjoy it. Stay out of trouble and have a pawsome day!
It's certainly been a while. Before I begin this entry, I wanted to point out that Sheri has an absolutely lovely WH blog that you can find by clicking [here]. Although we'll probably be blogging about the same things, it's wonderful to hear different opinions from two different people. Now, don't get any ideas on creating your own blog... we already had a blog craze thanks to Stormgaze. I admit that I was part of that craze and Stormgaze is probably the sole reason that I actually started a blog in the first place, but still. Just because I do bad things doesn't mean that you should too. :c I mean, I'm not going to stop you from creating a blog, but it is not easy at all. Blogs are very hard to keep up with when they're only on one topic (i.e. Wolf-Haven) and you really have to watch what you say. When you put your opinion on the table in a formal manner like a blog, you have many people reading what you have to say and therefore more people are going to consider your opinion. If you say something completely negative without support and logic, you're going to scare everybody away. So, again, I really don't suggest adding to the list of blogs unless blogging is your passion and you didn't realize it until now.
Without further ado, I'd like to congratulate CheshireAlley on his promotion to Administrator! I'm glad that he was picked, honestly; I couldn't imagine anyone better for the position, and we really needed another admin to help out with the customs and such. I can't believe I'm inferior to a hen now though, for God's sake! D: (Chatbox joke, my apologies.) Anyways, I'm the middle mod now since I've been a mod longer than Seagleam and -Fang- but have been a mod less than Corina and Kovaro. I heard that the middle child is always neglected. Well, I'm screwed then. :D I'd go on and on about how epic Chesh is and all, but I think you can already see that for yourself.
There have been many other staff changes as well! We now have an official News Team, consisting of Coyotito, -Eclipse-, and Phlox. They're all brilliant writers (we all know how much Sea hates illiterate beings ;3) and I have hope for them. The best of luck to you all! If you ever need to know who's who on the Staff Team, I created a topic in the WH board on the Forums a few weeks ago; you may find it helpful sometime.
There have been some great site changes lately. For one, the Account Standing feature that was recently added seems to be going great. Basically, when you misbehave and receive a mute or a ban, your Account Standing will become Bad. If you receive multiple mutes and bans, it will change to Very Bad. I feel that this will be helpful to the staff when deciding how to handle things, and this will also assure that nobody is selling accounts that may have punishments held against them (since you cannot sell an account with a Bad or Very Bad standing). If you're an active member of WH and are very helpful and friendly, you may receive a Good or Very Good standing. This just lets the other staff members know how awesome you are, and may give you an advantage when new staff are picked or if a problem arises. To read the official post by Karlos, click [here]!
I don't really have more to say, other than I'm glad I've been coming on WH more often. I have hope for the future; things seem to be taking a good turn. I'd like to blog more often because I really do enjoy it. Stay out of trouble and have a pawsome day!
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