Good day Whyvillians! 2009 is speeding along already and we here in Whyville are anxious to see what lies ahead in future of Whyville. This week I was fortunate enough to catch up with some Whyvillians about possible improvements that Whyville could work on in 2009. Each person will talk about the existing Whyville applications and will discuss whether or not they should be updated.
Let's begin!
Jank03: Whyville Times
Play2live: I'd like to see less plagiarism.
Holiday50: I want to see less plagiarism and a better effort put forth by first time writers.
Ushersg: Less plagiarism, better format, better search engine, a wider variety of articles.
Ooooopppp: Absolutely nothin'
Wicked777: The Whyville Times is amazing, and I think any major changes would do more harm than good. Some things are best left alone.
Ferrari5x: A new, more newspaper-looking format. An up-to-date database of Times Writers as well as improved search features.
Rairai21: I would like to see less plagiarism. I think it would be worth it for Whyville to get some kind of sponsor that will provide a plagiarism search for the editor, or invest in buying one.
Swim724: Try to find better incentives for people to write. Possibly get 1,000 clams for your second article accepted. That would get more people to not write only once, but twice.
Sims2girl: Ahhh, less plagiarism. And, like, more original articles. I understand that there are some articles that it's okay to write responses too, but that's only if you have a different opinion. I know matters like eating disorders and suicide are important, but when we have an article about them every week, it's a little desensitizing.
UnclGhost: The Times is great! I can't think of any improvements that wouldn't require several new staff members.
Vancyon: I think that the Editor should edit errors in articles more. Other than that, I think that the Whyville Times is pretty good.
Rex13: The Whyville Times needs some improvement. Many of the same writers have their articles accepted every week. No offense to the writers, but they aren't that great of articles. Also, it would be nice if the editor would respond back to us telling us what to improve on.
Jank03: Whyville Senate
Play2live: I would like the Senate races to occur on time, not just whenever they get to it.
Holiday50: I want a senator who is a fair and decent person, who did not use bribery or cheating to get to the top. I want the senator to be a voice for Whyvillians and actually fulfill their promises.
Ushersg: Please, steady races with an actual schedule, when we all know it will come. More importantly, higher requirements- any old person with 500 clams (which is hardly anything) can run; there is so many pointless and useless senate platforms that it's nearly impossible to find any candidate that is actually suitable for the job.
Ooooopppp: Absolutely nothin'
Wicked777: We need to set up an actual calendar for the races. There should be official dates for them to start and end - and we should stick to those dates. I think there should be a poster by the voting booth in City Hall that explains what exactly a senator does. More people need to be aware of politics in Whyville.
Ferrari5x: A schedule everyone can rely on. I still like the idea of having several ambassadors, rather than having three senators.
Rairai21: A schedule we can all rely on. We have elections here and there, and we're still under the impression we're going to have one every 3 months.
Swim724: Be more consistent.
Sims2girl: Regular Senate schedules and nominations for candidates instead of anyone signing up. People could write up nominations and send them into the current senators, who would choose a group that was fit to run. After that, it'd be the same deal, but with a smaller, better suited group running instead of any ol' Joe Schmoe.
UnclGhost: I think it would make sense to choose more than 3 senators at a time and also have elections a bit more frequently. You know, encourage everyone to participate in the WhyGovernment. Correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't the last election more than the 4-month term limit ago?
Vancyon: I think that the senate should only have 1 senator at a time again, and that senator should have more power.
Rex13: The Whyville Senate also needs improvement. The senators don't have really any power . . .
Jank03: Petition Booth
Play2live: I wish people would stop making impossible petitions such as '10,000,000 clams a day'.
Holiday50: We need a petition filter, or at least a group of Whyvillians who will delete spam petitions. We don't need multiple petitions on the same subject or inappropriate petitions asking for hospitals so why-couples can have their why-babies.
Ushersg: Taken more into consideration, and less pointless petitions and not more than 2 or 3 petitions that are exactly the same- for instance, have them be read and approved even if it's by the senate or some person before they are on the list because it's impossible to patiently look through and vote on those petitions.
Ooooopppp: Absolutely nothin'.
Wicked777: All of the "petitions" that are just requests for clams or complaints should be deleted. Citizens who have been on Whyville for a certain number of days and have passed a test could have the option to delete irrelevant petitions. It would be a job similar to being y-mail helper, but more difficult to qualify for. If five of these 'petition monitors' mark a petition as irrelevant, it gets deleted. Just an idea.
Ferrari5x: No comment.
Rairai21: A schedule we can all rely on. We have elections here and there, and we're still under the impression we're going to have one every 3 months.
Swim724: Get Ymail helpers to sort through the petition booth, needing two votes to be deleted.
Sims2girl: I'd like to see some of the petitions actually listened to. I know they're read, but there are some good ideas in there that are definitely worth at least investigating.
UnclGhost: There should be a link on the home page to the petition booth because not enough people visit the booth to give petitions that are actually meaningful enough votes to be considered. Otherwise the only way to get it to official city vote status is to go around spamming, be really famous and make a face part advertising your petition, or make a bunch of guest accounts and vote for yourself. Additionally, a search bar for those among us who don't know about Ctrl+F, a link to your current petition on your CR, or categories for the petitions might make them easier to sort through.
Vancyon: I definitely think the petitions should be cleaned up. There are too many repetitions and wacky ideas in the Petitions.
Rex13: The Petition Booth needs improvement. I'm sick of seeing petitions saying " 100000CLMZ 4 YER B-DAY!". We should have someone come in and delete useless petitions like those.
Jank03: Pearls
Play2live: I think that Pearls should be worth more than Clams, maybe a 3:1 ratio.
Holiday50: I think a Pearls package, similar to Lifetime Whypasses, would be helpful because a lot of Whyvillians would buy the package, and because it saves the hassle of buying Pearls all the time.
Ushersg: I agree with the person who said that pearls should be worth more than clams, like a 3:1 ration. I like that idea.
Ooooopppp: Absolutely nothin'.
Wicked777: Pearls are okay when they help citizens get things more conveniently than others, but with Whypets they don't. There should be a way to get Whypets with clams, even if they're really expensive. I think that Pearls should be an enhancement of regular privileges on Whyville, not completely new ones.
Ferrari5x: No comment.
Rairai21: I would also like to see that pearls are worth more than clams.
Swim724: No change.
Sims2girl: Bring back Whypasses.
UnclGhost: Whyville wants to keep up with other similar adolescent virtual communities. Unfortunately, the best way to do so isn't to swap out the optional paid parts of the site for something this unpopular. If Whyville was any other of those sites and the backlash was this strong, would they even consider keeping Pearls?
Vancyon: They are okay, but I would want to get an allowance just to be able to sit in the Greek Theater grass.
Rex13: No comment.
Jank03: Salary Games
Play2live: I hope that all of the games will all be fixed and playable at one point.
Holiday50: I want more salary games and easier games for younger Whvyillians. I also want the broken games to be fixed, or at least removed because they're just collecting dust.
Ushersg: More salary games! And a wider variety of these games, such as very different tasks and things that will appeal to different age groups as well.
Ooooopppp: Absolutely nothin'.
Wicked777: We need new games. It would be nice if there was a trivia game about world history, like 'Spitzer Spectrum.' Each time you correctly answer five questions in a row, a clam would be added to your salary. Citizens would be able to add up to five clams to their salaries.
Ferrari5x: Perhaps phase out some of the older games for more efficient games to match this century.
Rairai21: We need new games for a wider range of ages. Also we need to fix games that aren't working or get rid of them. When they're sitting there unfixed no one can raise they're salary playing the games. They're pointless when they're down.
Swim724: Get rid of the ones that no longer work.
Sims2girl: Update them. A lot of the games that were broken when I first came on four years ago are still broken.
UnclGhost: No complaints here. Though it would be nice if they'd fix things like the Sun Spot Puzzle, have a new Solstice Safari once in a while, or give you a little more time in the Spectrum game.
Vancyon: Maybe introduce a few more, and also fix the spin, and other games.
Rex13: The Salary Games need improvement. Some of the games don't even work. They should be fixed.
Jank03: Numeracy and Literacy Expressions.
Play2live: Maybe one clam per answer.
Holiday50: The Greek Theatre is practically empty whenever these games are on. They should be held three times a week instead of everyday.
Ushersg: Too boring for me, so I am hardly there and when I am, it is empty. I'm not sure what suggestions I can give about that though.
Ooooopppp: Absolutely nothin'.
Wicked777: These games are a bit too difficult for most citizens. I think we need to make the game start at a comfortable and become harder as you play, so that not everybody gets scared off right away.
Ferrari5x: No comment.
Rairai21: No comment.
Swim724: Give more incentive for people to try. 2 clams per win. That would get more people and more competition.
Sims2girl: I think these should be less frequent and more... varied, I think is the word I'm looking for. Like, have an incentive for people to show up and try. What's the use of dividing the room into colors if one side doesn't win? Maybe make each point earned once clam for that entire side, or keep an individual score, like at trivia.
UnclGhost: I've only gone a couple of times and it was too hard. If it was closer to the Piff/Heck Well, then it might be better.
Vancyon: They should be less frequent, in my opinion.
Rex13: No comment.
Jank03: Meet the Makers
Play2live: I don't see anything that needs improvement.
Holiday50: I think it's fine. Before, people were complaining that they didn't know it was canceled. So I guess if it's canceled, they should let everyone know.
Ushersg: I'm fine with the Meet the Makers.
Ooooopppp: Absolutely nothin'.
Wicked777: It should be held in a bigger chat room. Club Why gets so crowded that it?s hard to find your own face.
Ferrari5x: Again, set a schedule in advance that everyone can rely on, hopefully to reflect actual changes in Whyville, instead of just sending the latest CW's out to see what it's like.
Rairai21: Nothing.
Swim724: No change.
Sims2girl: I like em'.
UnclGhost: It seems like there's a little favoritism going on, like when some of the main city workers will talk with Oldbies like CiaoBella about suggested changes, and sometimes say they want to implement them, but essentially ignore everyone else. Most of the City Workers are really inclusive though.
Vancyon: I think that City Hall and some of the other high-ranking city officials like Superid should find time to be able to attend.
Rex13: Meet the Makers can have some improvement. I think they should be held on Fridays or weekends. During the week I have a ton of homework. It would be nice to be able to go for the whole time, instead of leaving early.
Jank03: Chat rooms
Play2live: More scenery chat rooms.
Holiday50: Lessen the number of game rooms. It's unnecessary to have 25 Tic Tac Toe and Checkers rooms when over half of them are empty.
Ushersg: Cooler!
Ooooopppp: Absolutely nothin'.
Wicked777: Some of the game chat rooms are never even used. Tic Tac Toe, Checkers, Chinese Checkers, and Kalah all have too many chat rooms that are always just empty.
Ferrari5x: No comment.
Rairai21: Just all around better chat rooms!
Swim724: Get rid of the unused ones like the 25 Chinese checker rooms. Make it a reasonable number like 5.
Sims2girl: More . . . Exciting. Pizazz. Like, you know, at Grandma's, when you go to sit on her flowers she says something? That's cool. I spent hours crushing the old lady's geraniums.
UnclGhost: Raven Island kind of creeps me out. Why did they add it, anyway?
Vancyon: Half of them don't have anyone in them right now.
Rex13: Chat rooms . . . Get rid of the ones that no one goes to. It's a waste of space.
Jank03: Myville
Play2live: Nothing to improve.
Holiday50: Myville needs more land plots and instead of one chance to get a plot, how about two chances per week?
Ushersg: More plots, or more chances to get plots.
Ooooopppp: Absolutely nothin'.
Wicked777: The map needs to be redone in the same way that the Whyville Map was. The layout should be more kid-friendly and the option to 'visit' should come up as you scroll over the homes.
Ferrari5x: Complete revamp, or nothing. I like owning a house on Descartes and Durer, except it doesn't mean anything because Myville isn't used for anything. A new Myville with easier and more detailed construction would be great.
Rairai21: More plots and more chances to get the plots.
Swim724: Fix the walking around part so that you can find anyone's house. Like mine. I can't get to my house if I try to walk around.
Sims2girl: BRING. BACK. MYVILLE. End of story.
UnclGhost: Myville is a great idea that sadly no longer works. I am quite annoyed that is it almost impossible to get a plot anymore. I really think that fixing Myville should be one of Whyville's higher priorities, if it's not already.
Vancyon: I like Myville the way it is.
Rex13: No comment.
Jank03: Akbar's Face Mall and Factory
Play2live: Maybe a gender tool, when the designers make a part they could select if it's for 'male', 'female', or 'both'. Also, a faster reply to whether or not your part was accepted and to fix the Face Factory tool bugs.
Holiday50: Akbar should reject the spam face parts. Why are there half coloured green boxes as face parts? No one buys them or wears them.
Also, in the Face Factory, there should be an 'undo' button.
Ushersg: No improvement needed.
Ooooopppp: Absolutely nothin'.
Wicked777: The Thanksgiving- and Christmas-themed stores should be taken down by now, or at least not advertised on the opening page of the Face Mall. A Valentine's Day store would be nice.
Ferrari5x: No comment.
Rairai21: Uh I have nothing to say. I don't really use the factory much and I like the mall.
Swim724: Stricter acceptance rules. There are so many that are random scribbles, I wonder why the were accepted.
Sims2girl: No complaint.
UnclGhost: An expanded drawing applet would really help. There have been great advances in technology since the Factory system was introduced, and I'm sure many Whyvillians would appreciate a straight line or circle tool, more colors, and especially Color Pick and Fill-in tools that work at higher magnifications.
Vancyon: I think that Akbar's Factory should not sell vouchers for pearls, and also that Akbar's Face Shoppe should not sell face parts for pearls, either. Some people would use pearls, not knowing that the ratio for 1 pearl if they were tradeable would be more than 1:1.
Rex13: Akbar's Face Mall is fine but the Factory can have some improvements. To get into the Factory you need a voucher. I liked just going to the factory without worrying about vouchers.
Jank03: Whylitzer
Play2live: Give out Pearls instead of Whypasses, since that's what it says is still happening.
Holiday50: Nothing.
Ushersg: No improvement.
Ooooopppp: Absolutely nothin'
Wicked777: A new design for the face part might encourage more people to try to earn the Whylitzer.
Ferrari5x: No comment.
Rairai21: Nothing.
Swim724: No change.
Sims2girl: I think this should be harder to authenticate; you're supposed to earn it, and so many people are just starting random blogs to get it, and then they abandon them. I think that you should switch it back to the "Physical" newspaper format, like it was before.
UnclGhost: No comment.
Vancyon: I think it should be permanent, not just every 90 days.
Rex13: No comment.
Jank03: Ads and Sponsors
Play2live: Don't put Ads about Whyville in Whyville.
Holiday50: I want to see more ads and sponsors geared towards older Whyvillians. Right now, the ads (e.g. YTV) are targeting tweens. Also, what's up with the ads about Whyville IN Whyville?
Ushersg: "Don't put Ads about Whyville in Whyville."
Ooooopppp: Absolutely nothin'.
Wicked777: Keep it PG, Whyville, please. No match-making and no reconnecting with old classmates.
Ferrari5x: Offer incentives to Whyvillians who find sponsors.
Rairai21: What's up with ads for Whyville on Whyville? They don't have much purpose since we are already on the site.
Swim724: The pearls ad on the Sign-in page is annoying. Also the Whyville ads ON Whyville? Pointless?
Sims2girl: Have a larger incentive for kids to bring in sponsors.
UnclGhost: Why does Whyville advertise for itself on its own site? Especially when it advertises parts of the site that don't exist, like snorkeling? At least they don't still have those "SHE'S searching for YOU!" classmates.com ads.
Vancyon: Nothing.
Rex13: Ads and Sponsors annoy the heck out of me. I hate coming to Whyville and seeing the WhyPets screen pop up. It's like a scary movie . . .
Jank03: Clams
Play2live: More instant clam games.
Holiday50: There needs to be more enjoyable instant clam games.
Ushersg: INSTANT CLAM GAMES.
Ooooopppp: Absolutely nothin'.
Wicked777: A smart-spending game or meeting in the Greek Theater would help citizens learn to use their clams wisely. Hopefully, they would take what they learn in Whyville and use it in real life, too.
Ferrari5x: No comment.
Rairai21: I think we need more instant clam games!!
Swim724: No change.
Sims2girl: I love them. I think the place we're in with clams is safe. It's a good spot. Let's keep it this way.
UnclGhost: At least the Whyville economy is booming!
Vancyon: Nothing.
Rex13: I think clams are just fine
Jank03: Whyville Times BBS
Play2live: Maybe have different ranks according to the number of posts someone has. I don't know how well that would work because some people would just create tons of pointless topics just to get their post count up.
Holiday50: I want to see less hatred and more compassion on the BBS.
Ushersg: Nothing Whyville can do here, it's all a personality thing.
Ooooopppp: Absolutely nothin'.
Wicked777: I think City Hall is already planning it, but the BBS should be changed. There should be a way to navigate from one 'home page' with the title every article in that week to each article's BBS. There could be a few topics at the bottom of the home page with titles like 'Suggestions for Next Week' Or 'Favorite Article this Week.'
Ferrari5x: No comment.
Rairai21: nothing . . .
Swim724: Same thing with the Petitions. Have the Ymail helpers regulate them, but needing 6 or so different votes to be deleted.
Sims2girl: Have a senator, or someone that actually looks at it every day, filter through and take out the irrelevant/offensive posts.
UnclGhost: There is a problem with the fact that any 911 report removes the post until a city worker reviews it, which can take longer than a week, making the review process moot. Unfortunately, since this is the safest way to run a forum visited by kids and making 911 reviews take less time would require more staff, I'm not sure how this could be changed. They could make the upvote/downvote system work a little more practically though, by hiding unpopular comments but users could still view them by clicking on them.
Vancyon: I think that the BBS should have more tools, like maybe stats from your city records under your avatar, a link for your name that leads to City Records, and the ability to edit and delete your posts. Maybe some mods and the ability to use [b], [i], and [u].
Rex13: The BBS is fine also.
Jank03: 911 Report Tool
Play2live: Nothing to improve.
Holiday50: Nothing.
Ushersg: N/A
Ooooopppp: Absolutely nothin'
Wicked777: I think this one is something for the City Workers to answer. I don't know how well the system works, so it's hard for me to suggest any improvements.
Ferrari5x: No comment.
Rairai21: It's fine as of now.
Swim724: No change.
Sims2girl: Nothing wrong with it.
UnclGhost: The system could just log when and where the report was instead of having to type it in every time.
Vancyon: Warnings should work again, and 911 reports should go through faster.
Rex13: The 911 report tool is fine if people use it.
Jank03: Anything else you would like to add?
Play2live: No comment.
Holiday50: Cybersex is wrong. Please do something about that.
Ushersg: Ushersg is hot.
Ooooopppp: Absolutely nothin'.
Wicked777: I like the new direction Whyville is taking with the improvements. Things like the Whyville map would make the site more efficient.
Ferrari5x: No comment.
Rairai21: Nope, I have nothing else that I would like to add.
Swim724: Ymail helpers- the test should be harder, so that the people really need to know Whyville to be a helper. Possibly raise the Salary requirement too. The more games there are, the higher it should be.
Sims2girl: HUGH DANCY.
UnclGhost: Less arbitrary chat filters! It's frustrating when you say something like "All of" and "us..." or "I thought of" and "using..." just because someone might say an F and a U in close proximity to each other. You can't talk about how you like your Kung "Foo" lessons. You can't talk about the location of the Disco without mentioning the "whole" it's in. Does this stop people who want to swear? Of course not!
Vancyon: No.
Rex13: I hate monitors. My friend got reported for saying "thats stupid". Whyville should at least check to see what the monitors are picking up.
Thank you to everyone who contributed to the article, your opinions and views are very much appreciated.
Thanks everyone for reading!
Until next time,
Jank03
"Starting today, we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and begin again the work of remaking Whyville!" -Altered quote from President Obama's inauguration speech. January 20, 2009.
