A New Goal

I've decided (probably against better judgment) to begin collecting one of every item on the site. There are some ultra-rares I know I'll probably never get, but I think this will give me something to occupy my time. ;D Here's the list of items I still need to acquire. It's for personal reference, mostly, and I'll keep it updated whenever I acquire new things.

Afternoon Forest Wallpaper
Afternoon Forest Wildflowers
Angry Jack-o-Lantern
Ankle Feathers
Apollo Feather
Apollo the Pegasus
Aqua Lion Mane
Astral Koi
Autumn Woodland Wallpaper
Aviator Goggles

Baby Fox
Baby Seal
Baiji
Ball and Chain
Bandana
Barbie the Unicorn
Bead Heart Earring
Birthday Hat
Black Bowtie
Black Cape
Black Collar
Black Easter Egg
Black Harness
Black Kat
Black Scarf
Black Sheep
Black Shimmery Scarf
Black Snow Wallpaper
Blaze Dye
Blonde Wig
Blood Red Lion Mane
Bludacity Wallpaper
Blue Aurora Lights Wallpaper
Blue Bowtie
Blue Bubbles Wallpaper
Blue Collar
Blue Earwings
Blue Easter Egg
Blue Glow Bracelets
Blue Grain Wallpaper
Blue Harness
Blue Iris
Blue Lion Mane
Blue Pebble Wallpaper
Blue Ribbon
Blue Rose
Blue Sheep
Blue Shimmery Scarf
Blue Show Ribbon
Blue Snow Wallpaper
Blue Wallpaper
Bob the Unicorn
Bones the Horse
Bowl
Bronze Celtic Collar
*Bronze Oak Earring
Brown Beak
Brown Lion Mane
Brown Wig
Buster Bunny
Butter Straps

Candy Cane the Pegasus
Celestial Serpent
Celestial Wing Dye
Cheery Jack-o-Lantern
Cheetah Dye
Chew Bone
Chocolate Bunny
Christmas Collar
Chuu
Cirrus Fields Flowers
Citrine Pendant
Cloud Dancer Wallpaper
Cloudy Sky Wallpaper
Clovers Wallpaper
*Copper Oak Earring
Corvidae
Cotton Candy Lion Mane
Cowboy Spurs
Cowrie Necklace
Crazed Jack-o-Lantern
CWP
Cyan Snow Wallpaper

DA Torso
Daisy Anklets
Daisy Bracelets
Daisy Headdress
Daisy Taildrape
Dancing Skeleton
Dark Blue Lion Mane
Dark Brown Lion Mane
Dark Purple Lion Mane
Deer Plushie
Delicate Adornment
Delicate Leglets
Deluxe Suit Hanger
Demented Rat
Demon Anklewings
Demonic Book
Diamond Aerial Token
Diamond African Token
Diamond Bane Token
Diamond Corsie Token
Diamond Divine Token
Diamond Earth Token
Diamond Egyptian Token
Diamond Fire Token
Diamond Normal Token
Diamond Plushie Token
Diamond Tempest Token
Diamond Water Token
Dog Tags
Donkey Pinata
Dreamcatcher
Dreidel
Dwarf Sun Whyvern

Ear Star Barrett
Easter Basket
Easter Head
Easter Pals
Emerald Pendant
Evil Blue Eye Contacts
Evil Yellow Eye Contacts
Eye Bandage
Eye Gems
Eye Patch
Eye Scar
Eye Shadow Dye

Fall Leaves Wallpaper
Felibat
Ferret
Flizard
Flower Bracelet
Frog

Gift Box
Giraffe Dye
Glamour Earring
Glamour Wing
Glase Wallpaper Two
*Glass Bracers
Glowing Blue Eye Contacts
Goatee
Gold Aerial Token
Gold African Token
Gold Bane Token
Gold Corsie Token
Gold Divine Token
Gold Earth Token
Gold Egyptian Token
Gold Fire Token
Gold Frilled Leaf Skimmer
Gold Hollibird
Gold Normal Token
*Gold Oak Earring
Gold Plushie Token
Gold Tempest Token
Gold Water Token
Gothic Bracelet
Gothic Collar
Green and Black Scarf
Green Bubbles Wallpaper
Green Easter Egg
Green Garland
Green Glow Bracelets
Green Glowstick
Green Grain Wallpaper
Green Harness
Green Hollibird
Green Pebbles Wallpaper
Green Ribbon
Green Rock Wallpaper
Green Sheep
Green Shimmery Scarf
Green Skinned Leaf Skimmer
Greendacity Wallpaper
Grey Lion Mane
Gypsy Adornment
Gypsy Leglets

Hallowed Trees Backdrop
Head Arrow
Heart Bracelet
Heart Cape Dye
Heart Necklace
Holiday Coat
Horse Plushie
Hound Dye

Ice Blue Lion Mane
Ice Pear
Igrene the Pegasus

Jasper
Jester Dye
Jumbo the Horse

Kangaroo
Kaylie
King Chew
Kitsune Dye
Kiwi the Unicorn
Knives Dye
Kobie the Horse
Kodarit
Krakatau the Horse
Krueger

Large Dorsal Dye
Large Spider Web
Leaf Skimmer
Leather Mask
Lemon Snow Wallpaper
Light Necklace
Lion Mane
Lollipop
Longhair Brown
Longhair Red
Longhair White

Magic Wand
Male Pear
Markings Pear
Mistletoe
Monarch Butterflies
Money Bag
Monocle
Montana the Horse
Moon Wallpaper
Morning the Unicorn
Mouse Ears
Mud Dyes
Mutation Pear

Neck Flower Barrett
Necklace of the Ice Dragon
Nose Scar

Ocean Turtle
Ofuda
Okapi Dye
Okapi Pants
Okapi Sleeves
Okapi the Horse
Onyx Pendant
Orange Beak
Orange Lion Mane
Orange Rock Wallpaper
Orange Snow Wallpaper
Orange Wig
Ossicones

Panda
Parraboo
Pauldrons of the Ice Dragon
Peacock Collar
Pearbird
Peguian
Pepperoni Pizza
Peridot Pendant
Phoenix
Phoenix Feathers
Picked Pumpkin
Pilgrim Hat
Pink Bowtie
Pink Leaf
Pink Snow Wallpaper
Plain Desert Moon Wallpaper
Plastic Waja
Playful Kitten
Possum
Ptarmigan
Purple Aurora Lights Wallpaper
Purple Bubbles Wallpaper
Purple Glow Bracelets
Purple Glowstick
Purple Grid Wallpaper
Purple Grunge Wallpaper
Purple Iris
Purple Lion Mane
Purple Snow Wallpaper

Rabbit Slipper
Rabbit Tattoo
Raccoon Dye
Raging Wind Dye
Rainbow Collar
Rainbow Easter Egg
Rainbow Leaf
*Rainbow Lion Mane
Rainbow Splash
Rainbow Wallpaper 1
Rainbow Wallpaper 3
Raining Money
Red and Black Scarf
Red Aurora Lights Wallpaper
Red Bow
Red Bowtie
Red Collar
Red Easter Egg
Red Garland
Red Glow Bracelets
Red Grain Wallpaper
Red Harness
Red Hollibird
Red Leaf
Red Pebbles Wallpaper
Red Ribbon
Red Rock Wallpaper
Red Scarf
Red Sheep
Red Shimmery Scarf
Red Show Ribbon
Red Snow Wallpaper
Red Wig
Reindeer Horns
Ribbon
Rock Waja
Rope
Rope Toy
Rose
Rudie the Horse

Sabercoon
Salt Water Fish
Sand Cast
Savannah Wallpaper
Scythe
Sea Turtle
Shamrock Hat
Sherbert the Pegasus
Shiny Earring
Shoulder Scar
Side Stripe Dye
Sideburns
Silver Aerial Token
Silver African Token
Silver Bane Token
Silver Celtic Bracers
Silver Corsie Token
Silver Divine Token
Silver Earth Token
Silver Egyptian Token
Silver Fire Token
Silver Hollibird
Silver Leaf
Silver Normal Token
*Silver Oak Earring
Silver Plushie Token
Silver Snow Wallpaper
Silver Tempest Token
Silver Water Token
Skull
Skull Bag Accessory
Skunk Dye
Slimly Leg
Slimly Mask
Small Dorsal Dye
Small Town
Snow Wallpaper
Snowcollar
Song Bird Dye
Sparkles
Spectre Mask Dye
Spiked Bangs
Spiked Collar
Spooshy the Dragon
Spotted Puppy
Spring Bluebird
Spring Flowers Wallpaper
Squashy the Dragon
Squishy the Dragon
Stained Trees Backdrop
Stardust the Pegasus
Starry Tophat
Stockings
Stormy Shoreline Wallpaper
Sunglasses
Sunny Beach Wallpaper
Sunset Easter Egg

Tail Flowers
Tailguard of the Ice Dragon
Teddy
Tennis Ball
Tigers Eye Pendant
Toe Dye
Top Hat
Toxic Green Lion Mane
Toy Mask
Toy Sword
Tree Tattoo
Turkey Feather
Tutu
Twigs the Unicorn
Twisted Candy Cane

Wajas Pendant
Wajazilla Backdrop
Werewolf Front Feet
White Easter Egg
White Harness
White Hollibird
White Lion Mane
White Sheep
White Snow Wallpaper
White Wig
Winter Coat
Witch Hat

Yellow Bubbles Wallpaper
Yellow Butterflies
Yellow Easter Egg
Yellow Glow Bracelets
Yellow Glowstick
Yellow Harness
Yellow Iris
Yellow Ribbon
Yellow Show Ribbon

Zombie Backdrop
Zombie the Unicorn

The Terms of Service for Dummies

I sometimes wonder if perhaps people just don't understand the legal jargon used in the Wajas Terms of Service (hereafter called the ToS). For a few days, then, I'm going to take a chunk of the ToS and attempt to decipher it into layman's terms, so that the average user can understand what is expected. Sound fair?

Wajas, INC ("http://www.wajas.com", "Http://www.wajas.net","http://www.wajas.org", "Wajas", "site") provides its services to you subject to the following Terms Of Service ("TOS"), which may be updated by us from time to time without notice to you. You can review the most current version of our TOS at http://wajasdev.com/terms_of_service.php.

Translation: Wajas only allows you to play the site as long as you adhere to the ToS. The administrator of the site can change the ToS without notice, and it is still your duty to keep up-to-date on the changes.

Wajas, INC is an online virtual gaming site involving, but not limited to, virtual pets, it's own virtual currency, virtual items, and other virtual services/properties.

Translation: Wajas is an online pet game. It includes pets, currency, items, and other features.

All content, coding, scripts, documents, and other text are copyrighted to Wajas, INC. All graphics and breeds are copyrighted and trademarked to Wajas, INC through the United States Copyright Office. No copyrighted or trademarked content, graphics, text, script can be duplicated, used, sold, edited, claimed without written permission of Wajas, INC.

Translation: All images, text, etc are copyrighted to the site. This means that you can't use official Wajas artwork on any other site without the permission of the administrator.

And Another D-Day, Come to Pass

I hope all of you who wanted Divine Tokens were able to buy them this weekend. Oreo and I didn't buy any ourselves, seeing as we still had a few left from when Ken traded for our Sea Turtle. We've used/sold them all now, and have a nice little tribe of Divine customs hanging out at the top of our cave. Together between us, Oreo and I have reached the 50 custom mark. Woot! A few were bought secondhand, most were designed by us or friends of ours.

As for the state of the site: I can't say I'm terribly displeased at the moment. Sure, having the search down is a bummer, but I've still been selling wajas. I think it helped to have "Sales" in my username. ;D Since 4395 (my sales account) is the one I do most of my posting with on the forums, it only makes sense that I'm sort of advertising merely by being active. Also, I've got a new little goal. I don't personally judge a person by their post count, since posting a lot doesn't necessarily mean that you have something meaningful to say. But, after Eclipse posted her "OMG 11,000 POSTS" thread I was all, "Hmm, I wonder if I can make it to 10k by the end of the summer..." Of course, I'm starting at over 6k, since I combine my two accounts. There were exactly 4002 posts on 55293, my original account. I have 2k or so on 4395 right now, and it was nearly clear of posts when I bought it. So... it's not that big of a goal. The rules are that I have to post meaningfully, though. No spamming, and no entering threads like "The HJ-ers Club" which exist specifically for the spammers to bump their count up without risking mod intervention.

Other than that, my goals are currently to pear up all of my customs and finally finish my Redbat project. I let it fall by the wayside for a while, since I was more concerned with catching up to oreo's rising custom count. ;D But now that I'm spending more time on my sales, I figure I can afford to pay some attention to my project.

I've also started a suggestion thread for Message Deletion, if anyone would like to check it out. As the site currently operates, messages are never actually "deleted," they can be recovered and read from the trash folder at any time. This was how Oreo and I found out that our account had once belonged to a wajasmod. We'd like to be able to ensure the privacy of all account buyers/sellers in the future, by enabling an "Empty Trash" feature. Here's the link if anyone is interested in adding their support.

Sorry for not updating in a while. Last semester was a little rough, and there's plenty of IRL stuff that took up my time. Hopefully I'll be able to update a little more regularly now.

Thanks,
Lia

The Wajas Drama Llama Strikes Again

I would first like to offer my congratulations to Erienne, Accipiteris, and LadyMarisa, the new mods on wajas. -applauds-

Erienne has been a buddy of mine in the wajastwo chat group for a while now, and I know she'll make a good staff member on the site. The others I know less well, but I trust Estu's choices and am sure you all will contribute greatly to the team.

I am pleased that Estu finally got out our beta items. <3 I can't really explain how exciting it was to be picked as part of the small group that were allowed onto the site with the express purpose of breaking it. I love the wallpaper we were sent, so chances are I'll hoard that for a while. Right now it's equipped to Virulence, one of my favorite customs. Oreo and I traded the Sea Turtle item for 10 Silver Divine Tokens. I don't know whether we plan on designing another pair, or whether we'll just hang onto them to resell later. c: All in all, its been a good week so far, as wajas goes.

Good remarks aside, I've noticed an increasing amount of tension on the forums right now, specifically the Rants boards. I've often thought that the Rants forum should be renamed "Drama," but alas, the decision is not mine to make. I've seen a couple of friends of mine speaking out against the staff, and while I'm not fully aware of the situation preceding these locked threads, I'm a little worried. I don't like to see my wajas friends at odds with the site. =[ Well, to be honest, I don't like seeing anyone at odds with the site. I feel like, a lot of times, things get blown out of proportion very quickly on the forums. I'm not saying my friends are overreacting, but the vocal minority of wajaians complain very loudly when anything is changed.

Take the matter of the ads from last week. I have 2 upgraded accounts, so I needed someone to screenshot them for me so I could see them. While they are a bit annoying, they're targeted (the one I saw was for Howrse, another pet site) and at least they aren't noisy. Everyone seems up in arms about how ads are merely a sign that Wajas is going to become the next Neopets. Maybe because I never played Neopets, I have a more optimistic outlook. Plus, I think some of the things the site has been through in the past were worse than ads. At least we can still breed our wajas. -nod-

I've been accused of sticking behind Estuko and the team simply because they are "the team." Sucking up, or whatever. That's not it at all. There have been mods I haven't liked (though I won't name them), and I don't ALWAYS agree with Stu's decisions. However, I'm completely ignorant of how to run a website, let alone one with members in the thousands. The tens (or possibly hundreds) of thousands, even. So wajas isn't hurting for money...so what? I'm sure there's another good reason for adding ads to the site. Just because I don't understand it doesn't mean it isn't there. Maybe Estu just wants some extra money so she can put new floors in her house. -shrug- That seems like a pretty good reason to me.

And, to be honest, I'm glad there's now another perk to being upgraded. I'm not an upgrade snob, but some of us pay 20 cwp to get a year's worth of...what? A tag on the forums, a higher limit on restocking, and access to the pear tree. Whoop-de-doo.

Ehh... this post felt kind of preachy, sorry about that. I'll have a more lighthearted one tomorrow, probably. <3

Marking the Trends in Custom Designs

It's hard to believe it now, but there was once a time before dyes. A time when you settled for two or three markings, or ricked everything with mutation or marking pears. A time when designs were simpler, less spastic and eye-burning. (Not that eye-burning is bad, just that there's an awful lot of it around lately)

I like dyes. I do. And I have a plethora of dyeballs myself, utterly unbreedable beauties from matched pairs of customs. I even breed my own unbreedable gen 2s. My Zebraherpes customs are awesome, but I doubt anyone buys their pups and goes "Yeah, that'll go really well with so-and-so's markings." Let's face it, aside from Justice (who makes customs in the same marking combinations but with different colors), the trend is toward "uniqueness" rather than usefulness. Perhaps the reason there are so many muddy gen 3s and above is because we are too concerned with making our designs so complex their spawn will never be able to breed a decent pup. I'm not saying this is the wrong emphasis. There is no "wrong" emphasis. People will make what they want to make, it isn't right or wrong in and of itself.

I just find it interesting that you rarely see a custom nowadays that doesn't have 7 or more markings, usually in similar shades of the same color, or colors so different it looks like confetti. Or like someone disemboweled a clown. But if you go back and look at the wajas with ID's below 2000 or so, they've all got one mutation and a couple of markings, unless someone dyed the bejeezus out of them (a practice which makes me a little sad, at time. Let the oldies live in peace, won't you?).

I've liked designs from both ends of the spectrum, and I own designs that are dyeballs and designs that are minimalist. It all comes down to what people want in their customs, since they're the ones paying the money for it. However, we'll see what the next trend in designs will be. ;D

Winning Wajas

Some users might wonder how it is possible to "win" a game like Wajas. Its a sim, right? Meaning that it goes on and on and on and no one ever wins because (in theory) the game is never over.

Oreo and I have a secret to winning wajas, and its as corny as an inspirational speech. We "win" every time we achieve a goal. If you're feeling discouraged by the sheer size of the game, or the current stagnant economy, try making a list of things you'd like to accomplish. Whether its "get enough cwp for my first custom" or something ongoing like "hold a giveaway or contest every week," it'll give you something to work towards. If you take the game one goal at a time, everything seems much more manageable. My last post was a list of things I hope to accomplish someday, try making one of your own! It could be a list of items you want, a waja you'd like to buy, a marking you want to breed out of a certain pair, or what-have-you, set goals for yourself. When you accomplish one and can cross it off your list, you'll feel like you're on top of the world.

Don't ever downplay your accomplishments. You don't have to post a thread in Raves every time you buy a pretty waja at a great price, but take pride in naming it and making it your own. Enjoy the small victories, because then the big ones won't seem so unattainable. I know it sounds corny, but take pride in what you do, no matter how small. I've been around long enough to see a lot of people get discouraged with the site and leave...and I wonder whether they allowed themselves to enjoy the small accomplishments, or whether they saw everything as a failure if it wasn't the BIG WIN.

The BIG WIN can be anything, but it is your deepest desire on the site. It could be to become "famous" on the forums. It could be to save up 300 million wc. Or it could be to buy a single-digit account number and see yourself listed as the first name in the "Who's Online" list. << But whatever it is, it is BIG. It will be hard to achieve. You may never make it, and you have to realize that this is okay. You can strive for your BIG WIN, but don't let it consume you. I've obsessed over BIG WINS in the past, and felt like I had failed when nothing came of my hard work. Keep this goal on your back burner. Keep your eyes open for opportunities, but don't spend all your time and energy pursuing this one. You'll only get frustrated and discouraged. If you're the kind of person who doesn't mind asking for help, don't be afraid to tell your friends about your goals. They can encourage you while keeping you in check.

I guess the moral of this entry was to keep everything in perspective. Don't let your dreams overwhelm you to the point where you don't have fun anymore. Enjoy the small victories, and consider them neccessary advances toward that elusive BIG WIN. ;D

My Wish List

So, because I ran out of things to write today, and because I'm frustrated with the way people haven't been responding to me lately (not here, on other sites), I'm going to write out all the things I hope someday to have/achieve on wajas.

In no particular order:

A 2-digit account number
A platinum upgraded account
Delicate Set
Gypsy Set
Monocle
Eye Bandage
Readers (here) lol
50 Customs (not counting Oreo's, sorry love)
financial independence (i.e. enough cwp/wc to feel rich)

The Item Battle

One of the best investments you can make on the site is in items. However, buying items is like buying stock: the prices will fluctuate. What you want to do is buy an item when it is affordable and sell when the price spikes in user shops. A good example of this theory would be Cheetah and Dalmatian dyes. Both of these dyes were one-time release, meaning they were sent to every account on the site. A lot of people used them frivolously, but some users bought them cheap in User Shops and let them sit in their inventories. Now, both dyes sell for several mil. That is quite a turnaround, more that 100% increase in most cases.

I'll share a little secret, since I doubt many people read this. The best times to buy items are when a new token is released, a new breed, something long-awaited, etc. Around Divine Day last year people were selling their Delicate and Gypsy adornment sets for less than 30 cwp. If I had been intelligent, I would have spent my cwp on items rather than tokens, but now I know. Also, there's something to be said for hoarding limited-release tokens. Bane tokens right now are worth more than Divines. Of course, this will only last until people realize that both breeds will be rereleased once a year, but take advantage of the craze while you can.

Whether you're buying items for the purpose of reselling, or whether its been one of your long-time goals to acquire a tutu, the biggest thing I can emphasize is patience. Some items are so rare they have no list price in Shop Search, or if they do, its because the owner wanted to show off said item without actually selling it. It is highly unlikely that a user actually expects to get 2000 cwp for a Rose or Top Hat. They're just advertising that they have it. If you're interested (and have the means to acquire) one of the rarer items, you need to PM people with those items in their shop, asking politely if they're interested in selling and if so, what they're hoping to get for it. You can also make a thread in the Item Sales/Sales/Wanted ads forums advertising that you're looking to purchase one of those items. It may take a long time to get a hit, so you must be patient. I know a user who has been looking to buy a Rose for over a year. I don't know if she's found one to purchase yet, but she was offering a Snowcollar in exchange.

In short, buying and dealing in items is a risky business, but one that can be far more rewarding than dealing solely in wajas. Stick to your guns, and save save save. Maybe someday you'll be able to get your hands on a Tutu, and there's nothing that can compare with that sense of accomplishment.

Breeding Project: Redbats!

I decided a little while ago that I needed a project to work on. I like to start out simple, so I don't get bogged down in frustrating details like breeding wajas with 62663F base and FFBAC9 eyes and such and such markings in exactly 60% transparency. That just seems like too much work lol.

So the criteria for my red bats are such:

1. The breed must be Egyptian
2. The base must be red. It does not have to be FF0000, but it needs to be red. Not orange, brown, pink, etc. Darker reds would emphasize the "eeeeevilness," but are not necessary.
3. The only mutation shown must be bat wings. It is preferable that they match (as closely as possible) the base hex.
4. It is preferred that they not be inbred.
5. The goal is to achieve enough specimens to breed an army of red bat Egys, which in turn can interbreed and spread their evil across the website.

*If the goal is achieved sooner than expected, the project may be expanded to include adding saber fangs or mane to the breed.

The Custom Lie

I love customs. I really do. And I am certainly NOT going to tell people not to buy them.

That said, there's an attitude on the site that you must have customs to make money. I don't know who started this rumor, but it must have been people who sell lots of 2nd generation wajas at high prices.

Consider, if you will, MATH.

A pair of silver normal tokens costs you 40 cwp.
The average price of a gen 2 waja is 4-8 mil, or 1-2 cwp.
You would have to sell 20 pups at 8 mil, or 40 at 4 mil to break even.

If the pair were gold tokens, that raises the number of pups you have to sell to 30 or 60, depending on how you price them.

Also, this doesn't take into account more expensive breeds like Earths, Waters, Africans, Divines, etc. Breeds that you have to buy expensive items to acquire, or tokens that are limited-release. And if you thrown on a dye or two, especially something like Hound, Ritual, Cheetah, or Dalmatian, you're only increasing the number of puppies you have to sell in order to start making money.

Example: My silver divine pair, Sunny and Connie, cost me 100 cwp and some spare change for two mud dyes. I planned to sell the pups for about 12 mil (3 cwp) each. I would still have had to sell 30 or so puppies to break even. I messed up even further by doing trades, giving pups as gifts, and having a discounted price for pre-ordering. I don't think I have EVER made back what I spend on custom wajas.

Some people do. Justice has a caveful of gorgeous customs that crank out pups, and she's never trolling for buyers. I suppose people who are shrewder businesspeople than me might have a chance at making back what they spend. One can always raise the price of one's sale wajas, but if you do that you also run the risk that people will be less willing to buy. You can market something as "Limited," but then you also limit yourself to how often you can breed the pair in question.

Its a delicate balance, the custom game. There are probably better ways to make money on the site than by breeding 2nd generation wajas.

~Melz

A Brief History of the Author

Here's a chance for me to toot my own horn a bit and give you some personal background. ;D You certainly don't have to read this post, since it has little to do with wajas.com as it is now, and a lot to do with the old days. Back when the site was beige...and 20k wc was a lot of money.

I joined the site on June 19, 2007. My account number was 55293, and I used the name Amelia. A friend had shown me her wajas.com account at work, and I had found it interesting enough to try it out. However, registration was down for the month of May, and it wasn't until June that I became a proud little newbie.

I bought my first waja on the first day. I had a random event for 20k wc or so, and bought a 5th generation normal waja with faded tiger stripes. I loved her to pieces, and the first thing I did was find a stud to breed her with. It was only after I had spent all of that random event that I discovered the Newbie Giveaways thread. Soon I had a caveful* of muddy, purplish fires. And I couldn't be happier.

*At that time, wajas still had cave limits. I had to pay a couple thousand wc to enlarge my cave to hold those muddies.

My first big step was the acquisition of my first 2nd generation waja. I won her in a contest by submitting a short fiction piece about the prize waja. She was a lovely fire, and though I've long since sold her, I held onto her for a very long time. My second big achievement was my 2nd generation water waja. I won her in a writing contest as well, and she's still in my cave. She's probably my oldest waja, not in days but in possession. I'm not likely to get rid of her anytime soon.

Shortly after winning that water waja, I went to Germany for a span of 10 days. I was without internet, and I returned to find the site gone. Lm27 had struck, and the site was down for a while. When it returned, it was purple and non-functional. The only thing that worked was the forums and restocking. I would log in every day to chat in the forums with other users. I've heard other users on the site refer to us in the 50k-60k accounts "hardcore," because we had been newbs when the site died and we stuck around even though we may not have had as much invested. I don't know about hardcore, but it is true that there are few enough of us who stayed, and the ones who did are enthusiastic players. I know a few other people who started out in the 50ks. I digress, however.

When CWP donation returned, a lot of people hesitated, since the majority of the site still didn't work. I donated a few dollars out of a couple of paychecks and bought my first custom pair, Amelia and Khan. I think to this day they are the only pair of buttspots/linez wajas on the site. I love them to pieces, and they have a regular horde of offspring. I gave away a lot of their pups as gifts to my friend on the site, or as trades. I've never been much of a businesswoman when it comes to wajas. I like giving things too much.

During the downtime, I also autoed account #4395 for 11 cwp. It seemed like a lot at the time, though I think I was lucky. It came with some items (mostly junk) and some wajas (also junk), but I think the number alone would probably make a bit more than that today. I made the transition to the new account and enjoyed my elevation on the Who's Online page. I went through a few name changes then. I'm a bit fickle when it comes to names. I started out as Amelia, then Meli, Ames, Melz, Ame, Lia, etc. Most of the nicknames came from people in the wajastwo xat, but I'm sure it was confusing for some. I think there was a time I went by Hylian at Heart, but that didn't last too long. I still like that username, though, and I use it on fanfiction.net.

Eventually, we were able to breed our wajas again. I remember the night that happened. I was at the school library, studying for finals and chatting with Wommers online. We had become acquaintances during National Novel Writing Month, and spoke online every once in a while. Its been a few months since I've spoken to her, though. Anyway, I remember the news post saying that breeding was back up, and how happy we all were. I also remember less popular news posts, like the one where Rykos decided to tweak the way generation carried through a line. It was not a good time. People were threatening to quit right and left.

Then came the series of updates that shaped wajas into what it was last summer. We had the OWF disaster (though I'll admit I milled to sell to her as well), the release of Tempests, and a little later, the re-release of Divines. I used some money from my birthday to buy a pair of silver divine tokens. That was the last significant donation I've made to the site. Its not that I have a problem with anything, just that I'm a college student and I just can't afford to take even a few dollars out of a paycheck like I used to. Financial freedom is harder than it looks.

After that, I think it was smooth sailing. Shortly after Divine Day, Oreo moved in with me. We're happy sharing an account. I know for a while it was trendy (it still might be, I'm a little out of the loop) to have a shared cave, at least among the people in the xat. We're all one big drama-family anyway. But I think Oreo and I have had unusual success living together on-site. She loves monster wajas, I like aesthetically pleasing ones. We've rubbed off a bit onto each other: I introduced her to the joy of Divines and she made me realize that monsters can be beautiful, too. I wouldn't trade her for anyone else on the site.

In the fall, I beta-tested the site we're currently using, and I have one thing to say to all the whiners: Shut up. I've seen what it was, and you should be glad they fixed as much as they did before dumping us over onto wajasdev. I guess nothing really upsets me about the site anymore. I survived a few downtimes including one that lasted for months, beta tested the new site, survived the rollback, and generally just accept what the coders and admins do. I'm not a genius of code or running a website. I'm content with Estu's decisions, most of the time, and when I'm not, I keep them to myself or rant about them in wajastwo.

Though I took a bit of a hiatus at the end of the year, I'm back with full force. My current goals include aquiring a lower account to use for sales, and breeding a line of red, batwinged Egyptians. I always wanted to do a project with Egys, and the redbats will be a fun place to start. I've got a slew of pups in my cave waiting to show mutations. n__n

I would never describe myself as a multi-billionaire on wajas. I've never been able to invest a lot of money in the site, and I'm just not a very good businesswoman. I like to make friends, give and trade wajas, and play around with breeding projects. Between the two of us, Oreo and I own 20 customs and over 400 other wajas, but I don't measure our worth as players by that number. Oreo breeds some of the best monsters on the site... and I guess I'm still trying to find my niche. The important thing is that I have fun playing, and that's what I tell anyone who asks me for help. You can sit in the pear shop and restock all day long if you have the time, but if you're not having fun doing it, you won't enjoy your caveful of customs, either.

I have a secret dream for wajas, too, but its so secret I don't think I'll share it here. Rest assured, if it is ever realized, I will probably devote an entire post to celebrating.

Anyway, cookies to anyone who cared to read that monstrosity. <3