Ruby lantern

Hello!
Today is the first day of July, meaning Summer is finally fully kicking off.
Since it is the first of the month, it means a new birthstone has arrived in Epic Wonders- the ruby!

Happy birthday to all those born in July! What is your favourite part of July? Mine is probably going to the beach on weekends- just plain fun ^-^

In the meantime, the activities calendar is empty for today, but also, the lantern, found in Outback Imports, is leaving stores tomorrow- get yours while you can!

In other Jamaa news, have you seen this video in Sarepia Theatre yet? I'm not sure how long this one has been around for, sorry.

Eek, ants- they all scare me.

Moving on to blog news, there is now a cool Double Gems game which lets you know what the current Double Gems game is! Try it out if you are ever in need of gems.

Don't forget to vote on my poll, you only have 5 more days left to do so!

The blog stats feature is still being updated, and I regularly update and check on pages.

Finally, here comes the side topic- the topic I was working on when my post got deleted.

Do you ever feel like Jamaa is starting to lose its...spirit?

Check out all of those trailers and advertisements for Animal Jam first, before I further discuss them.

Animal Jam Teaser trailer- Published on October 1,2010

Animal Jam Launch Trailer- also published on October 1,2010 

Animal Jam! Published on January 24,2012

Animal Jam-Play wild in National Geographic Published on August 10,2012

Play wild in National Geographic- Published on June 17,2013

We all know why companies use advertising- to attract customers and make more money to keep the business growing, and to support all the staff involved. But, once you start to dig a bit deeper, you may also discover advertisements can teach you a few more things- and one of them is what the manufacturer wants the consumers to use the product for, how, and their reactions to it. All those advertisements above- they all show you how the developers of Animal Jam want players to act. What do we see in those videos? We see happy, peaceful Jammers playing games, making up outfits and learning new facts. Also, there is mention of a 'Place of peace'- but is this really what Jamaa is like now?

You see, we are now spending too much time doing things that aren't meant to be the main focus of the game- you know, trading for rares, scamming, adopting, bullying- we are forgetting the main point of Animal Jam. Even the developers can see it- why else would they so vigorously promote things like parties, games and videos? 

Jamaa was intended to be a place where children can be their favourite animal and learn tons of new things about animals and the natural world around them, while making new friends, being creative and playing games along the way. I'm quite sure that trading wasn't supposed to be the main part of the game- and yes, it does sound like I am against trading. However, I am not. I myself enjoy to trade for rares I wish to collect, and to finish off collections. Without trading, my pastel green bunny would have never existed, and  my den would never have been what it is now. Trading, however, is starting to take over this game, and the worst part is, that we think it is fun.

It is not. Not if you do so much of it.

What can too much trading do? Oh, you may be surprised. It can slowly isolate you from the activities you once enjoyed doing, as you get more and more addicted. It can take away your sleep, lower your grades and so much more-it honestly depends on how much you trade. I'm not saying that trading is a bad thing, but you should really start to get concerned if you are often staying up late trading, or refusing fun activities, or just spending far too much time inside, especially during summer. Trading is addictive-but only the bad type.

What exactly is bad trading? 

Visit Aldan if you would like to see. I only visit this crowded trading centre because many people there tend to have things I'm collecting/looking for -it's just easy to trade there. But, there are also so many examples there of bad trading. You know, spending ridiculous amounts of time trading, bragging and scamming for bigger and bigger rares. 

You don't want to tell anyone you spent your entire Summer in front of the computer dancing in a virtual world typing the same sentence over and over again, do you? So, those rares are really starting to take over- everyone is forgetting the main point of the game. Greed is on the rise, and we are wanting more and more rares. Good trading is generally not constantly obsessing over rares and not letting them take over the rest of your life- there is so much more to appreciate.

There may be more to this rant, and if there is, I will expand in another post.

Please though, take a break from the trading, the bullying and the scamming, and appreciate the true beauty of Jamaa.

So take a break, and do whatever it takes to bring out the radiance of the game we know as Animal Jam. Play some buddy games, earn some gems, go shopping, watch some videos- help make Jamaa what it is meant to be.

If you are a strong supporter of the anti rare-obsession movement,why not try doing some of those things?

• Switch to an outfit with no large rares, but just with easier to get items.
• Make a no-rare den
• Give up trading for a certain amount of time.

Finally, I'm not saying trading is wrong. It only is if you abuse it-without trading, I wouldn't have most of my outfits, and I would have been stuck with many duplicates of items.

I still have a life outside of Animal Jam, and will gladly go on a family day out to the beach over rares.

Goodbye! :)