Those Pack Thingamajigers

Welp, Seasonal finally got her custom! :DThat was long overdue and worthy news in itself, lol.  Also, if you're not a fan of the Wolf-Haven Facebook page, this is a heads up to let you know that this Friday, the 28th, will be another XP Day.  I wish you all the best of luck.  As for me, I'm sure I'll try to gain some XP... but my internet has been extra shitty recently and if it's still acting up, then I'm not going to be competitive.  So don't worry about me, you guys.  Just make the most out of it as you can.  Oh, and those handy, dandy point transfers are back!

As suggested by Maxer, I'm gonna write about packs today.  However, I'm going to take an alternative approach to this from what you probably expect.  As the former alpha and creator of Shimmer, I definitely have some pack management experience.  Now what do you usually hear when someone is talking about packs... complaints? Yeah, I thought so.  It's way too easy to complain about things.  Don't get me wrong, the feature has its faults, but in that sense, so do you and so do I.  Be a little more understanding, people.  So with that mindset, I'm going to talk about the positive pack-related things.  Maybe you'll see something that you hadn't thought about before.

To start things off, I'm just gonna say some things about packs in general.  Considering the website we're all playing on is Wolf-Haven, it is obviously an essential part of the site.  Before you go an pick apart how useless it is, consider the fact that WH isn't officially released until v1.4.  We're in v1.2.  This isn't final; it's beta.  You can't expect it to be perfect yet.  That would be like me expecting you to fully comprehend calculus in elementary school.  Kudos to you if you can, but most people wouldn't assume that of someone so young.  The pack feature is being worked on and will become better.  We're all playing with limited cards right now, and we have to make the best of what we have.

Holding onto that thought, the long periods of time without many improvements could actually be seen as a good thing.  Think about it.  This downtime has made actual pack strength not as big of a deal yet.  It has allowed focus to slip to roleplaying packs, which were few in numbers before, and quite frankly, there is a higher quantity of new packs with varying themes in general.  So take advantage of this opportunity.  You can start or join a pack with whatever theme you want and have time to build it up before the major competition, that tends to kill small packs, mind you, returns.  Seriously, I urge you to join a pack with a theme you like rather than basing your decision on strength and what the pack can do for you.  Help smaller packs get to a decent size.  Then once things are up and going again, the power will be more spread out, and you can be proud of your pack because of what it represents, not because it was clearly the best choice strength-wise out of all the others.  That's just my two cents.  Besides, big packs aren't all their built-up to be.  Trust me, I ran Shimmer for a year.  The stronger the players grouped together, the lazier they are at posting in the forums or roleplaying with the pack.  No offense to anyone who was in Shimmer. <3 I loved you guys, but I'd hate to see this happen to future packs.  The lesson here is to join a pack that fits you or your character, regardless of size.  Now is the best time for us to even out the playing field for everyone.

Now about the features we currently have! I have to say, I think the pack boosts is a great idea.  Working together to earn something that will benefit everyone.  You can't go wrong with that.  That's how packs should work.  If there are future features like this, I must say that packs are going in the right direction.  Teamwork, group effort, group benefits. <3 The pack boosts wasn't something I had seen suggested before, unless it vaguely fell into a category of something someone may have mentioned once upon a time, so I declare it to be rather creative.  I hadn't thought about it specifically, I know.  So it makes me wonder what other sorts of things being conjured up in Karlos's mind.  I have faith that packs will become so much more later on.  So don't hate on them for their lack of features in the game play right now.  I would also assume previous features like boss battles and massmails will return eventually, and probably better than before.  So don't worry about that.  Yes, the lack of them stunts our fun a bit, but I mean, we survived without boss battles before they were added, and we can survive again.

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Everything above this line I wrote four hours ago.  Then my dad pulled me along to visit his girlfriend.  I didn't think it was gonna take that long.  Needless to say, my muse for writing is shot.  I might pick this topic back up another time, sorry.

Kiriban Caught

Well, I'd like to congratulate Azurah for being the ninja-most of all my stalkers! Just comment here with the URL of your ref, and I'll be working on your reward whenever I can get to it.  I'd also like to give honorable mention to Maxer, who caught the pageview but was unfortunately second to post it.  Don't worry though, if I ever get around to drawing stuff those of you who comment on my blog, I will keep you in mind, Max, for coming so close. <3 Been in that situation before and I know it sucks to get so close and still lose.  I'm usually online with half a bar of internet stolen from my neighbor's Wi-Fi, lol, so slow, glitchy internet is something I know all too well.  Needless to say, I can sympathize.  I really appreciate all of you lurkers who read my stuff and were hoping to catch that kiriban.  But hey, I have good news! There are more opportunities for free art on the way.  That's right, keep reading...


The next kiriban is set at 5,000 pageviews.  It's a huge jump, I know.  But I start college in less than a month and I have other things to worry about before art.  But it seems like a notable number to me, so catch that one, same rules as last time, and claim your prize.


Though if luck and timing isn't your thing, here's another chance at art based mostly on determination.  What do you have to do? In order to be considered for this one, you have to be a follower of my blog.  Not just a lurker, you literally have to sign up or connect with an account elsewhere, doesn't matter, so long as you appear on my blog followers.  I want an accurate idea of who is reading my stuff.  It's no fun writing to a blank wall, or at least that's what it feels like sometimes.


Once you're following my blog, just read and comment.  Don't spam pointless comments, but try to offer insightful or lightly-opinionated feedback.  By that, I mean I would love to hear your ideas about what I should write about or have written about, or comments about events and the like I've covered, so long as you aren't too negative about the site or its members.  This is an extended contest that will probably be held monthly or bi-weekly.  I'll have exact dates decided on the next entry probably.  At the end of each allotted time period, I will give one headshot to the person who commented the most and another headshot to the person with the most detailed or useful comments, regardless of amount.  So quantity or quality, take your approach.  If I decide that the most frequent commenter also has the best quality, the reward with be a fullbody piece of art.


Also, I'd love to hear your ideas for other things I can do with my blog to keep the readers enticed.  I was considering some sort of referral system, but I need to work out the kinks.  Users would have to let me know who told them to check out my blog, and both parties would have to follow me, and so on.


So much more to come, stay tuned.

Inch by Inch

The kiriban's getting closer... less than 100 pageviews now! Refresh like maniacs, minions. >:D Muahaha! Snag that 1.5k and ninja slam the screenie in the comments of this entry.  Then your mission is complete.

In other news, I became a moderator yesterday! So if you need any assistance with name/email/wolf gender changes and such, you know who to ask.  I'm here to help. <3 Don't be afraid to message me; I'm actually rather nice... or I try to be anyhow, lol.

Incredibly short blog entry for the win! But hey, it has some decent content... not really.. whatever. xD

Now go sit in awe for thirty minutes staring at this beauty.  Or act on those tingly eye feelings and try to win the auction here.  Hlao never ceases to amaze me.  I know this is probably true for a lot of us, but it's my dream to have a custom by her one day. :3

EDIT: Seems like Dev has already claimed that sexy ass custom.

Things... and stuff.

Honestly, I don't have much I really wanna say aside from a few features.  But I hate leaving you guys hanging so I'ma make this up as I go along and hope for the best.

Line-Edited Customs

Devlyn (#355)

 Undwing (#10029)

Non-Edited Customs

Obscurity (#11018)

 Sitva (#22211)

Pack-Related

Amalgam (#413)

I've been stalking this pack for a while, and yipee, it's finally open for recruitment! It's a roleplaying pack, and I straight up love how ranks and such is partly based on your character's interaction with the alpha during roleplays.  That's a fairly unique concept, and I think it will be quite a bit of fun to be a part of.

Guiz... gguuiiizz, watch that kiriban. *wink wink* I might just draw something from scratch, or perhaps I will color this for the winner.  Right now it's just boring, bland grey so I need to do something with it.  But that will probably depend on the winner's design.  If it's not natural enough or doesn't have good flow, it will kinda ruin the semi-realism I was going for.  But if yours isn't too bad, you might get this.

Remember, 1,500... keep an eye out.  If you need to be refreshed on how the kiriban works, check out my past blog entry.  Oh! And it looks like I'm not the only one having a contest.  Phlox's guide has a little thing going too.  Click here to check it out.  They're sure as hell better prizes than my kiriban. xD A custom donation and sexy Phlox art. *spaz* Go get it! :D

Now for something a little more Wolf-Haven oriented.  Maybe it's just me, but it's kind of depressing to see people selling their first/main accounts so much.  Especially when they're ones that have evidently been leveled a lot over time and just... well, the owner is never going to get that again.  Never.  Well, it's rare.  right now, points and sexy customs may seems like all the rage.  But I predict that leveling might matter a little bit more when the update comes around.  Right now people are just bored with the site so they are focusing their attentions on the community.  But when the site gets moving again, well, all the strong accounts are going to be in the hands of a few people who were wealthier (if even just by art) and snatched them up.  I have nothing against accounts that are just for character purposes.  I have some weak ones myself merely for roleplaying, that's fine.  But your main account.  Your main account.  I don't understand these people.  Maybe I'm a bit sentimental for something just on the internet, but that account defines who you are.  And to sell out! I don't even know of anything that would be worth it.  I understand that there are circumstances when someone is getting an amazing trade or they need points for their dream account or something.  I can allow myself to comprehend those reasons.  Everyone has different values after all.  But seriously, it just seems like nowadays people are like, "I'm bored, maybe I should sell my main account." Just on a whim.  You know that weak account with a decent custom and a few points you just got in exchange? Well, it may be fun now.  But that's gonna wear off eventually, after you've settled in for a while.  You'll probably end up in that huge community of accounts always under new management because you can't find one that fulfills that deep-seeded need inside you.  Then when v1.3 is up and cool stuff requires being a higher level, you'll hit the map and it will finally sink in... you'll remember all that work it took you before, and you'll realize that you've doomed yourself.  I didn't mean to get all negative there, but that's just something I have always had at the back of my mind, and I figured I might as well rant since I have nothing better to talk about.

Urm, what to say, what to say... xP Well, if you haven't seen WindRunner's profile in a good long while, here's a bit of humor for you.

Idk, that just amuses me since it's so cute and all.  I thought maybe you'd enjoy it.

Still nice to see news posts now. :3 C. E. P. News Team to the rescue! D-d-d-daaa!

I leave you with a challenge now.  Sorry for the stretch.

lolIElol

Aaaannnd, if you're still bored, hurr you go...

Blog Kiriban

Hey guys, I was thinking about holding blog kiribans every once in a while.  What do you think? For those of you who actively read my blog, you'll get a sweet shot at some free art every once in a while.  Of course, I do have other responsibilities that come first... so you may end up at the end of a long owed art line, but as long as you're patient, you'll be rewarded.  Just check out the total pageviews on the right side of my page.  I think I'll set the first goal at 1,500 pageviews.  So, here's what you do:

Step 1: Actively read Sheri's blog. /shot

Step 2: If you happen to catch the page when it says 1,500 pageviews, take a screenshot.  How do you do that? Look at your keyboard.  There should be something like this.  Hold that down for a few seconds, then go to Paint, GIMP, or whatever art program you prefer, and paste it.  Do NOT crop the image.

Step 3: Upload that picture and comment with the link on my most recent blog entry at the time.  You have to be the first person to comment in order to win.  If more than one person happens to catch the same pageview, you'll be fresh of out luck for being too slow, sorry.
Step 4: If I tell you that you've won, send me the link to your reference sheet.  You could always give me the link to a friend's character instead too, if you wanna be noble and give a gift.
Step 5: Sit back and wait! I do reserve the right to cancel this art project if I'm feeling too busy and stressed.  I promise I'll do my best not to though.

Oh, and I might start making gift art for random people who comment on my blog.  I feel like I'm talking to a wall here when no one replies.  So whenever I'm boredly making art in the distant future, I'll be sure to think of you all who give me feedback on my blog and such.

I have been keeping up with my pack list the best I could.   I still need to get around to writing on the other pages some more though.  Seems like Loopy has a blog too.  You can find it here.


Now before I go, a couple random features.

Rabbit (#7543)

Evermore (#311)

This pack honestly deserves more attention than it currently has.  Rhi has been a friend of mine since my beginning days on Wolf-Haven.  I can vouch for her epicness, and I know she's a great alpha.  So if you want a smaller pack, but a good one nonetheless, check it out.

Happy Friday the 13th!
Until next time! *flies away*

Fraud

If you've gone to check the point transfer feature recently, you might have seen this: "Temporarily Closed".  Oh my, now why could that be? Well, it's to prevent the spreading around of illegitimately earned points.  I'm just going to cut straight to the point today.  I honestly don't feel like typing a blog entry, but this is something that should probably be said so I'm forcing myself to put out the effort.  Somebody was purposely abusing a glitch in order to gain excess points that should have never even existed.  Not going to go into specifics here as I only have a vague idea of how it was done myself, and it would just be wrong for me to tell you all how to cheat.  The user has been banned now, you might have known them as Hiathen, but I'm not here to talk about the member.  If you thought inflation was bad before, just imagine it with thousands more points... yeah, not good.  Obviously, Karlos has had to remove all the unlawful gains.  Problem is, some of those points were already sent to other members, unknowing of the glitch, who had actually earned them.  Before you go and argue that they should get to keep the points, just consider that they never would have earned such phenomenal amounts from it to begin with.  Account sales, art sales, doesn't matter.  Who in their right mind steps in and bids 1,000 points out of the blue? Not saying that the items wasn't worth it, but regular people... you know, those on a budget, would bid just above the previous bidder in an attempt to get a better deal.  No one would pop in and bid such an insane amount just because they wanted to speed up their win.  Well, I guess I can't vouch for everyone, but that's how I see it at least.  As for custom templates already uploaded, it seems like Karlos is trying his best to be fair about it.  Like in Dae's situation, she's gonna be able to sell the accounts with her customs already uploaded.  That seems like a great way to make up for the sudden revoke of points to me.  Especially since she might be able to get some extra from the account details.  That and the bidder doesn't have to donate again to use the template since it is already up.  Bah, I'm rambling. :| I wanted to make this a shorter entry.  Anyhow, the fraud was some major shit.  I'm talking huuugge, like £3000 worth of points, and it ended up costing Wolf-Haven nearly $1500.  So before you go and complain about losing points, the delay on transferring them, or about how it was dealt with, I want you to imagine you were the owner of Wolf-Haven when that happened.  How would you handle it? This is no mere walk in the park.  Be grateful you don't have to directly deal with that kind of thing.  I know I am.  Owning a website isn't all fun and games.  Wanna help? Do your part by being patient and understanding.  That's all I can say.

Edits

I dunno if anyone ever scrolls down to the bottom of a post they've already read, but I usually make edits there.  In case this wouldn't be seen, however, I'm making a new post to update what I've said.  The unbanned members I spoke of weren't meant to be unbanned apparently.  That's been restored to the way it was meant to be now.  I have to say, it makes me appreciate the current top 5 more than I did before.  Could be so much worse, so I guess I need to take that into account before I judge something next time. :P You can ignore that whole whopping paragraph I typed in the last entry.  (Though saying that probably just made you go read it.)  My dispute has no grounds now since that wasn't even meant to happen.

Revisions

Another blog entry? A miracle! xD I kinda wanna start doing these on a regular schedule for you all, but I never really know when I'll have something to talk about, and I'd hate to do filler entries that really have to do with nothing legit.  If I feel like it's catchy enough, I'm going to start showcasing new customs and such I like every time I post.  Not much of a purpose to this aside from flattery, but hey, seems worth the effort to me.  No better time than the present to start! I'll divide these up into sections to be fair, but please note that within these divisions, they are not in the order of my favorite.

Top 3 Line-Edited

Cheung (#12997)

Cronan (#2298)

Karlos (#1)

Old Template

Blaez (#2184)

Ok, well not technically new... but it was just re-uploaded recently.

 Rollo (#7652)

Another re-upload... used to be Chance's design before that GS that's Charley now.

New Template

Inara (#3984)

Side view is original lines, but the attack pose has the Inno template.

I'd also like to initiate a pack feature each time I post a blog entry.  Maybe it's just me, but there've been some nice new packs recently, and some over those old ones picking back up and such.  Anyhow, there's no way I can talk about everyone that deserves it, but I will give it a go for the few that have stood out to me recently.  Also, don't ask me to feature your pack.  That will get you on the permanent no-feature list.

Top 3 New Packs

Molotov (#450)

As far as I can tell, it looks like it is being set up fairly well.  I think the theme is neat, certainly original in comparison to all those "you are wandering through a forest and you're tired, the alpha threatens to kill you if you don't join" sort of intros.  You all know what I'm talking about if you've read a decent amount of pack profiles.  It's certainly a pack I'll be keeping my eye on to see how it develops.

Ad Sidera Vultus (#447)

Yeah, I made that banner... and I was having a panic attack whilst I did it and super rushed it.  So it kinda sucks right now and will be redone.  My side is in this pack, and while it is still in the works, I see some potential in it becoming one of the more interesting roleplay packs around.  I'm helping Ferae set up the profile and rules, etc. now, so by the end of the week or so it will probably be fully open.  I have a lot of ideas to contribute to the pack, so just be patient with us as it all gets worked out.

Outcasts (#446)

What can I say? It seems to be doing good for itself so far with some nice members.  I think the banner is really neat too.  It's yet another roleplaying pack.  those seem to be mighty popular lately, and it seems to me that the most successful new packs are roleplaying ones.  This isn't to say that non-roleplaying packs are gonna suck, I mean, I actually prefer those, but it's a trend I've been seeing.  I kind of like it too, though I predict they'll be less popular as the site gets more updates.  Things like pack XP boosts are going to revive the traditional style of packs eventually I say.

Old Pack Feature

Ambrose (#13)

Tooootally not chosen because of a bias. *shifty eyes* But yeah, it's been around forever and still manages to wake up and roll out of bed everyday.  That's accomplishment enough as it is.  Both alphas are active and epic, and it's pirate-themed.  What more could you ask?! /shot

Moving on! By now you might be wondering the purpose of this post's title.  Well, I would like to correct my previous entry now that I have a better understanding of the situation.  I was speculating before, and while I realize now that this should have been a bit more obvious to me then, I have a more truthful explanation of the purpose behind the premium memberships starting with v1.3.  The idea is that premium members will be donating a small amount of money each month to the website in order to maintain their account type, which in turn enables them to have extra features unavailable to non-paying members.  Right now, the main income for Wolf-Haven is donations.  But donations are random, you know, just on the whim of the users who buy them.  And while WH might be getting a lot of donations right now, it is very possible that the amount could drop drastically without warning.  Basically, there's no guarantee to how much revenue will be brought in each month.  What does that matter, you say? Since Karlos has been so kind as to not slather the website in advertisements to raise money, he needs some sort of way to know for certain there is a stable income of some amount.  Personally, I am pleased that he chose to offer members bonuses for donating more rather than taking away from our WH experience by pestering us all with pointless ads.  The reasoning comes down to the enjoyment of the members.  What are some complaints you here frequently? The map lag? Error 500s? Do you know the cure? The website runs slowly due to limited server space typically.  But in order to upgrade servers safely, Karlos needs to have some sort of financial stability; this is where premium memberships come in.  It isn't as focused on personal financial gain as many of us probably thought.  Premium memberships will help WH to run smoother and faster with more content still.  Now, I've never actually owned a website that I have payed to keep hosted so I apologize in advance if my lingo or knowledge here is a bit off.  I explained the best I could.  Nevertheless, it all comes down to premium members improving the well-being of all our members, whether or not they so choose to partake in purchasing one.  So rejoice!

We had another one of those nice little XP day boosts recently, as I'm sure most of you have noticed.  This one came with a special little competition too.  The Top Users page was updated to include a Top 10 for the day, and once it all came to an end, there were prizes! #1 got 50 points, #2 got 40 points, #3 got 30 points, #4 got 20 points, #5 got 10 points, and #6-10... urm, personal satisfaction? xD It seemed to really spur the competitive sides of most, and even to those that didn't win anything, at least you got a good deal of XP in the process! I was kinda saddened that the x1.5 XP only worked with PvA.  Me likey some PvP. >:) But hey, that made me help with my pack spendable XP a lot more than I would have.  I'm looking forward to when that works with PvP too.  Don't mind me over here.  Just obsessed with PvP, lol.  It's funny too since I used to be so terrible at PvP.  I remember I took me over a year to get 5,000 PvP, whereas I had had the 50k PvA forever.  Enough autobiography for now though. :P I hope to see more competitions like this in the future.  And don't fret, I don't plan on freak leveling all of them like I did this one so you'll have a chance.

Now here's my favorite bit of news... CheshireAlley is now an admin! He's been a mod for a long time now.  I remember applying back when he applied and failing miserably, lol.  Boy, how the times have changed! Seems like an eternity almost, and I can't say I'm surprised.  He deserved the position, and I'm certain he'll do a fantastic job.  At the very least, it will take some of the work off of Karlos and Jekyll's shoulders.  Sharin' the load, w00t w00t~

It appears that many of those long-time banned members are unbanned now.  My bet would be that it has something to do with the account standing and everyone starting off with a clean slate.  I haven't seen any of them online yet, but I did notice StormGaze, Coren_Venom, SunsetGuardian (and her sides), etc. are unbanned.  I never knew Coren had so much XP... it's insane, which should mean a lot coming from me.  I've built mine up gradually over time, but Coren was freak-leveling or something before he was banned.  You couldn't see XP amounts on the top 5 back then, but I never would have guessed it to be so high.  I'm having trouble believing that, honestly.  I'm not pointing fingers or accusing cheating though.  It's not my place to judge.  But I did have to admit I'm a little in shock.  Back then, I would only ever see Coren online late, late at night by my time.  I couldn't level like that even if I went 24 hours each day nonstop... for like 3 months.  But then again, Sunset managed to get her main account, as well as her side Blaze-Moon, both to the top 5... and if I recall, she had another account that hit Legend that she was trying to get up there too once.  Then there's Karasume, who could level 250,000 XP in like 15 minutes.  This might be horrible rounding guys, don't hold me to my word.  Needless to say, if they were all being fair, I have no idea why people say I'm good at leveling.  I have no special tricks.  Just a shit ton of Sheroids (skill points) and persistence/dedication.  Seeing as how I have an unfair advantage with my wolf being so strong, it's a bit more difficult still for me to see how they've done it if they weren't botting.  I just wanted to point that out.  I'm glad I asked to be removed from the top 5 too.  I was losing hope for it before, but Vestige being up there actually seemed to mean a little to me.  Alizarin too I guess, though he's not active.  Now it holds no value in my opinion whatsoever.  Coren, Sunset, and Blaze are inactive as of right now... and even if they come back, their XP will always be questionable to me.  I know I shouldn't disbelieve something just because I can't do it myself, but it's hard not to.  I'm trying to be fair to them though.  Then there's Sor and Dan, both of which are under new management.  Top 5 isn't an honor if it's bought or given to you.  I mean, had I the money I would have purchased such a strong account too.  But the first thing I would do is to ask for the account to be removed from the top 5 since it wasn't earned.  Again, this is all my opinion.  Don't go around starting rumors or anything.  I didn't personally know many of these people, and I have no proof of anything other than my skewed observation.  I probably would have kept it all to myself anyhow, but I have this blog here... and I just wanted to vent a lil bit about my decision to mourn the loss of the Top 5 being an honor.

Oh, and if you're reading this, well, I'd love to know.  You should create and account to follow me or comment every once in a while.  I'll answer your questions, and I'd love to hear your opinions.  If you have ideas for things I could talk about, send 'em my way.  Seriously, the more feedback I get, the more muse I'll have to write for you all.  At the very least, message me on Wolf-Haven and let me know you're a stalker. :'D

Edit: Well, Sorina is back to original management so that's something. :3

And just to clarify what I said before... I honestly don't believe any of those users have been botting... except maybe Coren.  I do like to assume the best of people.  That Coren thing just caught me off-guard and I wanted to try to explain why, though I probably failed to portray it how I wanted to.