WE NEED INPUT! This is NOT supposed to be a monologue.
...sorry about the long hiatus, people, but RL - and various other things - intruded, and as there was nothing urgent to report and the subject matter we are now taking on bore study, we let well enough alone. in the interests of time and exposure, what we plan to do henceforth is publish the main subject matter on a bimonthly basis, and post current news and updates as they occur in the "In Other News" section.
THE HEART OF THE MATTER
another reason we haven't been putting out weekly issues (aside from the fact that we are still a one-cat-show, people, come on, pitch in!) is that the matter at hand merited a great deal of thought before publication.
after much study and soul-searching, we must advocate a complete overhaul of the way Foopets operates - there seems no other way to deal with all the interlocking problems we are seeing.
FIRST - prospective members need to be able to experience the site fully BEFORE adopting a pet...and NOT just by being obliged to tend 10 or more pets in the Foo Pet Shop for 30 days if they don't join ClubFoo (looking into this, want to know whether this month of devotion results in a crippled account) - whether free or for a fee, some kind of trial or guest membership needs to be created so that people can decide if they want to be involved - and learn what involvement entails - PRIOR to taking responsibility for a foopet. virtually every other virtual adopts site we have investigated (pun not intended) allows site visitors to participate to at least some extent before they commit to membership.
NOW POSTED AS A SUGGESTION IN FEEDBACK - KEYWORD "TOUR" (thank you, singingbadger!)
SECOND - some kind of coding that tracks multiple IPs needs to be designed and implemented to halt the creation of secondary accounts for the sole purpose of acquiring and selling free pets. whether new accounts are set up for single or repeat use, a better way of controlling this particular method of scamming must be set up, reporting violators is not proving adequate.
THIRD - petless foobies should be able to adopt new "free" pets from the fooshelter listings ONLY, and no more than 3 times - "three strikes, you're out!". we have heard people claim that they use this to rescue and rehome fooshelter inmates, but it leaves too many avenues open to abuse...instead, let them save up gems for a Friday adopt. never again should an account be able to adopt and discard to the fooshelter pet after newly-created pet in unlimited amounts. in part we think the responsibility for this lies in the fact that new joins without ClubFoo have little else to do...see the first, and the next, entry.
FOURTH - a limited ClubFoo membership - without the foodollar package, but with access privileges - needs to be instituted. an alternative for, say, $10 a year that allows new joins to actually USE the site instead of ending up with a pet and little or nothing else to do would go a long way to solving any number of problems presently occurring.
NOW POSTED AS A SUGGESTION IN FEEDBACK, KEYWORD "LIMITED MEMBERSHIP" (thank you, singingbadger!)
FIFTH - we'd love to see different options offered when new joins select their Starter Pet, with an incentive of additional merchandise and/or gem packages available if they elect to adopt a Fooshelter rather than a new "Premium" pet, and perhaps even a foodollar bonus for choosing a neutered older pet. this would help ease the Fooshelter overpopulation problem several ways.
SIXTH - somehow the vast accumulation of "ownerless" foster pets, and the huge pileup in the Fooshelter, must be dealt with. we have been promoting a couple of Suggestions in the interest of finding a solution, and have now added a clickable here in the FOOP (upper right) where you can examine them.
SEVENTH - we have started putting together a New Member Orientation package, and need YOUR help not only developing it, but making it available/visible to new members and also volunteer to serve as mentors to help newbies learn the ropes. many wonderful members already do this on an informal basis, but if we could have a cadre of willing helpers on call, and somehow position the information where new joins can find it right away, we can help insure that they go on to become respected members of the foocommunity, unscammed and unscamming. (open for suggestions as to how to make it known - all we can think of is constantly pasting an announcement on DrRon's, the Samaritans', and the Fooshelter's message boards, which is not only less than ideal but might very well get us in hot water for spamming or some such)
...okay, now let's hear from YOU!
9/29/10 - just in from FelineStrange:
Hi. I noticed something today when I went to buy some items from the Mart and it disturbs me.Seems Foo has repriced some items,notably the trees I was wishing to buy i.e.Tree Cluster was 5,250 FG, is now 15,500 FG; Small Fall Tree was 2,652 FG is now 7,800 FG;Poplar Tree was 2,800 FG is now 8,500 FG;Tall Bamboo was 420 FG is now 1,300 FG.There are more..check out the new prices on the Palm Trees.Is it just me or does this seem a little extreme? I sent a note to Member Support asking if this was a glitch.
Word has come back - no error, just inflation hitting foopets...
10/13/10 - from CrazeeCatLady and others - the Foomart has hit a new low with a tragically tacky item which we would LOVE to see removed ASAP - go to Give Us Feedback and keyword "Tombstone"...and if you have ever lost a beloved pet, especially a cat, avoid going to the All and Seasonal sections of the Foomart until we can get something done about this horror.
IN OTHER NEWS...
TIDBITS...so it seems that we no longer need to actually purchase the "free" water - they get their drink whether there's any in your inventory or not.
Don't know if this is consistent (and please send us your input!), but in our (limited) experience, purebred matings require a conception period, and crossbreds don't...must play havoc with those shooting for a special DOB.
10/1 - care has not been registering for the last 12 hours or so...welcome to Freaky Friday once again, folks...wonder what they're up to THIS time.
from 1-Moonlight-1 "not only is care not registering, but something funny is going on with member sales - i just tried to buy something - my account was not debited for the gems, but the item is now missing from the other person's page..."
(thanks, Moon - from what i see, it's the ledgers and care logs that are affected - mdse changes hands and if you go to "Shop" tab you will see your actual balance (also in Play mode on the pets' pages), so don't go trying to spend it twice, lol.)
UPDATE - they must be getting used to this, got it straightened out in less than 24 hours this time...
...so - we hear from DrRon via the Foopetter that images can no longer be posted in the Forums, due to inappropriate content and/or copyright violations. whether or not internal images (those from Foopets itself) or LINKS to the proscribed images can still be used is unestablished - anyone reading who runs in the Forums, experiment and let us know, okay?
interestingly, this (to us somewhat minor) restriction, probably sparked by a fear of litigation on Foo's part over copyright issues (gunshy about lawsuits, are they? hmmm...), has touched off a groundswell of member objection to the way in which changes are decided on and introduced. while whether or not images can be posted on Forums doesn't strike us as one of the main problems, it is symptomatic, we suppose, and if it serves as a rallying cry, so be it.
DrRon's latest, speaking of inflation...we mentioned a while back (like in August) that you will have a hard time getting at foopoo if the pup plants his/her lawn biscuit near or behind the Happy Mail text in the corners of the exercise yard...seems it's not foo's fault at all - WE must have somehow engaged our zoom feature and made the yard too big (or too small, it wasn't clear). since we have no idea what - or where - our zoom feature is, this seems improbable, but we guess you never know...and another of our little asides has finally been addressed (sort of) as well, in the 10/22 Foopetter - the matter of dancing doggie doodles, the ones that change places if you either can't find or overlook them in your scene? it seems they are not a glitch or an oversight on foo's part - just something they don't consider important enough to the "realism" of foopoo to be worried about...after all, it's OUR fault for not cleaning them up sooner or preventing them by taking the time from our other activities - on foo or otherwise - to attend to their virtual walkies.
...we hear that the FooLette Wheel has developed a stutter - and this time you only get paid once. a young member reports seeing a sales flyer for items they were now "qualified" to purchase in place of the "first" spin, so be prepared for a sales pitch, everyone, once they work the bugs out. we are told that the items are displayed with "Buy Now!" buttons, but NOT prices, so they shied away from experimenting...then were unable to find one of the items in the fooshop when they looked at their leisure. as of the end of the month, they seem to have the doubling straightened out - and we learned that some of the items displayed in your "sales brocure" aren't even available when you see them, and btw you are NOT committed to purchase by clicking them, though you will lose your shot at the Wheel.
