Wolf-Haven: Living or Dead?

Hey everybody! I've finally decided to start publishing entries on my blog, Why, you ask? For me, it's a mighty fine way for me to express my feelings without having others flame me, and I don't feel afraid to speak my mind. I know how much I enjoy reading blogs regarding Wolf-Haven, so I hope to satisfy your WH-blog-reading needs.

In my first actual blog post, we'll be discussing Wolf-Haven as it once was and as it is now. Please note that I am not to be held responsible for burning your eyes out due to this lengthy post. Enjoy!

Firstly - is Wolf-Haven really dead? ...Perhaps in the eyes of some, it is. Some view the site as "dead" because we haven't really received any new features, other than the occasional ability-to-send-Points-and-protect-them updates that we've had. In all honesty, though, do we need new content constantly? If there was more to do, perhaps not. As a higher-leveled member, I feel somewhat neglected. There are no Island quests, and there are only two Desert quests; the others take place in the Forest and Snow area. Once you're past Level 50, you've most likely completed every Quest aside from the Desert quests, and after you finish those... there's nothing else to do aside from leveling. With the Challenges gone, I've had no motivation whatsoever for leveling. Plus, the x10 XP really screwed everybody up; you can't get onto the Top 5 without 40 million XP, which would literally take months to earn.

That raises another question, though; can't we just get rid of SunsetGuardian, Blaze-Moon, and Coren_Venom? We have proof that Coren_Venom used a bot to level, so why has nothing been done about it? Why should SunsetGuardian keep her XP when it was removed once, but only brought back due to the time warp? It raises so many questions that have so many different answers. SunsetGuardian has made it more than clear that she no longer wishes to play on Wolf-Haven. If she doesn't want to play, why would she want to keep her XP? Kasac and Zanna have told me numerous times that she worked for her XP and therefore should keep it. But, she doesn't WANT her XP. She WANTED to be banned. If she wanted to be banned, I really don't think that she cares whether or not she earned her XP and whether or not she has a Top 5 place.

If our SunsetGuardian problem was eliminated, like back in February, the Top 5 would be more achievable. Dangerous would have the #5 slot, and he only has around 20 million XP; that is much more reasonable, yes? Then, why is it that SunsetGuardian's XP is remaining? Perhaps it's because people like Zanna and Kas freaked out when this happened, or perhaps Karl simply doesn't have the time. According to Zanna, so many people flamed Karl for it that he brought the site back in time and gave back their XP. I don't know how accurate a banned member's information is, but you never know. Either way, it doesn't make sense to flame Karl for it. If you knew the whole story, it would make sense to simply remove her XP.

Maybe about... a month ago? I had a very lengthy discussion with Coren_Venom regarding something that he had on his profile. If you were unsure of what happened to SunsetGuardian, I'll keep it short and sweet for you.

Coren_Venom and Sunset share the same IP address. Sheri attacked Coren a lot, so he put a message on his profile saying that he gave a trophy to Sheri for being the most annoying wolf on here. We reported it, which earned Coren a mute. Since mutes are based on IP and not account, SunsetGuardian and her accounts were muted. I suppose that Coren never had the decency to say anything, because Sunset thought that the staff muted her for no reason. She was enraged about this, so she flamed the staff and quit Wolf-Haven. Nobody believed her until her Last Online status would say "2 weeks ago."

So, yes, I suppose that Sheri and I are the ones who made SunsetGuardian quit. Yay for chain reactions.

We already have a problem here. Coren, I don't know if you're Sunset's brother/mother/niece/cousin, but why didn't you tell Sunset that you got her muted? You caused the whole of Wolf-Haven to nearly die because you couldn't admit to your family member that you had her messaging system and forums revoked for a while? You... have issues.

Congratulations... you've managed to get me sidetracked! Alright, where were we? Oh, yes; dead Wolf-Haven. People think it's dead because we aren't getting any new content. Seriously? You are 2 against 11,000 here. Our Users Online list does not look any less full than it usually is. Lower-leveled members are still leveling, the forums are plentiful, and my Inbox is about to explode. How are we dead, exactly? Is Karlos supposed to grow new features from his fingers, break them off, and add them immediately?

Now, the main reason for the lack of leveling is, indeed, the x10 XP. Karl did not give it to us for it to be abused; he gave it to us so that we could re-gain what we lost. The people who went from Pup to Legend make me sick, because that isn't what the extra XP was intended for. Saying that I didn't gain more than I lost makes me proud, and I don't see how a Legend who got that way in one day can be proud.

Anyways... you're probably thinking, "How in the world does extra XP make us inactive?" Quite frankly, none of the higher-leveled members are leveling anymore. Though one of the best motivations for me was the Challenge feature, something else that inclined me to level was the fact that I could get to the Top 5 and that having an Exalted or Legend rank was something special. Now, everybody is an Elder+, and the ranks lost their sentimental value. Perhaps if new ranks were added, this would change things, but 18 million XP is already hard enough to achieve. Many people don't even make it that far, though; you only need 11 million XP to have the Legend title. Since the Top 5 is now out of the question and every feature is available once you reach Exalted, there's no reason to level past that. You have the title, and nobody can see your level or rank unless you tell them. Again, we need more features for higher-leveled members. Perhaps a special Honour for those who reach Level 80? Perhaps some new Map for those who complete their account? I just want something new to do.

While I do not support the fact that Karl is growing quite inactive, in his defense, he is coding v1.2, which DOES NOT require him to actually be online. Coding takes place in special programs (like an advanced Microsoft Word), so you wouldn't actually know if he's on his computer or not; he simply isn't on Wolf-Haven. He lurks on his side accounts, too. Perhaps a daily check-in would be nice, but don't say that Karl isn't doing anything until you actually know. Take a look at his Twitter; it seems that he's doing a lot.

Also, stop expecting new features in v1.2, as we are not actually getting any. Things such as the new attack system (that none of us actually asked for; just saying...) are not new; they are recodes. You could consider them new content, but theoretically, they aren't. I do consider it a new feature, due to what has been added, but it really isn't one. Even so, I don't see why it was added. We've wanted the ability to be able to search the forums, yet Karl codes things that most of us don't even want. Seriously, why would I want to go through an entire Pokemon battle instead of clicking one button? Plus, I'm pretty sure it isn't automated - this means that you cannot attack people who never log on, because if you don't one-hit them, you'd have to wait for them to hit you... which would be never. So, we'd need some sort of time-out thing. Battles such as these can happen quickly if you're good at them, but whether or not the PvP gains are raised and the Honours are lowered, nobody actually wants this feature. Nobody suggested it, and there are so many complaints on Karl's YouTube channel that it isn't even funny. Perhaps if Karl coded things that we wanted instead of things that are going to make us pack our bags and reside to Neopets, we would flourish. This is a wolf game, not a Pokemon game. While I do respect Karl dearly, I feel that he should ask our opinion on things like these. If this was here before we all joined, we'd probably love it, but it wasn't.

However, I do think that the new attack system has the potential to become better than what we have. At least Defence will be used now, and it will add more of a challenge to PvP. How challenging is it to click somebody's Attack button? With different moves, you'll have to be tactful and use your wolf-like brains. I think it will be pretty fun.

Nobody asked for the new navigation, either. I like them, but we didn't need them. Karl has already stated that v1.2 is for making his coding life easier and making some features better/removing glitches, and that v1.3 is strictly for design. I appreciate having them, but it's a bit contradicting. xD

That's all for now! :3 I'll add anything else in my next entry.