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After a long-lived hiatus from Whyville, I've returned. Sure there have been times I've dropped in to check on my clams or take a glimpse at my y-mail just for fun. But the last time I was active - truly active - on Whyville was in 2008. Three years ago. I've had a plethora of accounts, but this is the only one still standing either because my others are banned, have expired, or I just can't remember the passwords. Anyways, upon returning, I've noticed a lot of changes in Whyville within the past three years. These changes are unbelievable to me, probably because I grew up on Whyville. I'm sixteen now, in 2008 I was thirteen. I first joined Whyville at eight years old, but that account is long gone. Eight years. Whyville and I have been acquainted for eight whole years.
First of all, there are so many more chatrooms. I discovered so many places I had never seen before, and boy, are they interesting. Rooms such as Animal C.A.R.E, Lake Whyville, and The Dell Plaza are all quite new to me, but also, very neat. The other chat-related difference I've seen are the hot spots. I remember the Climate Center being a very full room most of the time. Now, it's vacant, which is such a strange thing to me. Another abandoned hot spot is the Waterfall. It used to be full, ALL the time. Now if I go in, I'm the only one there. However, the most drastic change in a chatroom is the Trading Post, Room 1. Oh goodness, I remember all the drama that went on there. People would fight for those two seats, and whoever got those seats loved displaying their super rare faceparts like Dirty Little Secret or Starstruck, or their unreal amount of clams. Newbies would stare in awe, and ask those wealthy folks for a couple thousand clams. I mean come on, it's only a couple thousand! Oldbies would laugh, and kindly decline. Minus the kindly. What happened?
Another big difference in Whyville is in the BBS forums. They are a lot more organized now, which worked in City Hall's favor because there seems to be a lot more posts now. With more options, I guess people feel more encouraged to post their thoughts without the fear of having their thread deleted because it is unrelated. Kudos to whoever came up with the idea of a more organized BBS.
But the most shocking and disappointing change in Whyville is the dying Whyville Times. This week's paper of May 8th, 2011 has thirteen articles. Thirteen. That is insane. Last week's issue, May 1st, had fifteen. I did a little research and found the last issue for which I wrote an article for. (Not on this account.) That was the week of February 6th, 2008. Guess how many articles were in that issue? 59 (that does include 14 Sudoku). That's over four times the amount of articles we have this week. What happened to all of Whyville's talented writers and columnists? Did they lose the motivation to write? Or, did they all, like me, just take a Whyville vacation?
I remember when I first started submitting articles. They never got in. So, I started submitting Classifieds instead. I started stupid clubs just for the purpose of being featured, somewhere, in The Times. I didn't pursue them. Even if I'd wanted to, nobody else was interested. I just wanted my name there. I think by this time I was 10. I remember waking up crazy early in the morning just to see if my latest article made it in. When they didn't, I remember being so darn upset, and jumping to the chance to find a new, more interesting topic to write about. The next week would come, and still, my articles wouldn't show. So, I gave up that account. I came back with a new one, and tried out some other things. I talked to new people, tried petitioning (miserably failed), collected rares, designed a couple dumb face parts for the heck of it, and spent hours scrounging around for Face Factory vouchers that I could sell . . . I spent my whole dang day on Whyville.
Then, a couple years passed, and I tried submitting articles again. My first was on Gay Pride Month, and it received horrible ratings, which discouraged me at the time. Now looking back, I don't blame those harsh ratings because my run-ons and fragments were just disgusting. Anyways, I tried again, and finally one of my articles made it in. My first article wasn't really an article at all, but more so an entertainment piece on "secret pants" that City Workers were hiding from us. I was extremely proud of that piece, and I got great feedback on it. So then I started writing - actually writing - and my first real article, besides the watered down Gay Pride piece, was published. An article on coerced confessions was featured in The Times, and boy was I proud of myself. So, with my newly acquired confidence, I started a short-lived column of "Would You Rather" riddles. Those also received positive feedback, and as of today, I've found that that column was nominated in the 2008 Whyville Times Awards. That's amazing to me, and I wish I'd known that three years ago. My last real article, and probably my best, was an article about criticism, and I was happily surprised by the amount of praise it received.
I'll be surprised if this article makes it because of its gruesome length, and I apologize for those of you who are still reading. But, I'm trying to spread a message. The Times used to be a flourishing vital of Whyville. Now it's on its deathbed, with only thirteen people at its side. I encourage you to write for The Times. I seriously do. Writing is a wonderful thing. So let's bring The Times back to life. I'm sure I'm not the only one who misses 50+ wonderful pieces in every issue.
With love after three long years,
busgirl2
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