Hello, and I'm Raven. I interviewed five different people that have joined in different time periods. We have Anyonka, DahCutie, Phillion, Geof, and Barbie94.
IBeMary1: When did you join Whyville?
Barbie: I joined Whyville September 19th 2003.
Geof: January 2007
Phillion: I joined in 2010.
DahCutie: I joined Whyville in 2009.
Anyonka: I joined Whyville January 24, 2004, when I was 11.
IBeMary1: Do you remember your first account, and what was it?
Barbie94: This was my first account, haha!
Geof: Yes, Bridgetha.
Phillion: Yes, it was beccare2.
DahCutie: My first account was Kgirl34 and I still use that account today.
Anyonka: My first account was kiddygal, and although I rarely use it now, I still remember it as the account that got me started!
IBeMary1: Does anybody else in your family play Whyville?
Barbie94: Yes, my younger sister goes on Whyville too.
Geof: No
Phillion: Nope.
DahCutie: I made my cousin play it at one point, but it didn't work out.
Anyonka: Nope
IBeMary1: Have you had any bad experiences with Whyville in the past?
Barbie94: I personally haven't, but I've seen others being bullied on the site.
Geof: People started talking to me in South Beach when I was in elementary school about doing inappropriate things.
Phillion: 2 of my accounts got hacked and some guy said he knew where I lived and he knew my name and stuff.
DahCutie: Not really, just some petty drama. Rumors like to spread, like all sites on the Internet.
Anyonka: I'm sure I have had some, but I really don't remember them. If I did, it just would have been disagreements with other Whyvillians. I had some disappointing experiences, like losing a senate race, but even then, I don't count that as a bad experience. It helped me meet a lot of other Whyvillians and become better friends, so I think even bad experiences can be good!
IBeMary1: Are there any changes that you would like to make about Whyville?
Barbie94: I know when I first joined in 2003, many of the salary games were too hard for an average nine year old. Maybe create some easier games for the younger users of Whyville.
Geof: Being able to save more than one face to PYN.
DahCutie: Just to add the Auction house, and some little fixes to Style Studio would be great!
Anyonka: Well, to be honest, I almost wish there were fewer changes to Whyville. A lot of changes have been really nice, and the City Workers are doing a great job keeping Whyville fresh and working with Whyvillians to make things easier and more fun, but other times it feels like it's changing so much it's hard to recognize!
IBeMary1: What do you not like about Whyville?
Barbie94: I'd have to say the bullying. Everywhere I go on Whyville I always see it.
Geof: How difficult it is to get a house.
Phillion: It's gotten very strict over the past few years.
DahCutie: Nothing really, it's a great website!
Anyonka: It seems too big now. It's good that Whyville's grown, but I almost feel overwhelmed with all the places to go. Maybe I'm just turning into one of those old people that shakes their fists at kids on their lawn, but I liked it when there were fewer chatrooms. It was easier to find people to talk to, and it was easier to keep up with all the new and exciting things happening. I'm a Y-mail helper, and I spend a large portion of my day logged into Whyville. I try to keep up with all the new things, but I'll occasionally get a question and have to ask myself, "What's that? When did that happen?" I used to feel like I knew every nook and cranny of Whyville, and now I get lost trying to find a new room!
IBeMary1: Which CW do you like the best?
Barbie94: All of them. Not going to pick favorites haha.
Geof: Tesract
Phillion: I can't choose. I have a lot of friends that are CWs.
DahCutie: I really like Keine & Tesract. They both have great personalities and really add a bit of character to the site. Besides they are really great at interacting with their users, and work on implementing features that we'd want!
Anyonka: I've always been really fond of Scyllacat, and waaaay back when, Neutral was my favorite, though he no longer works for Whyville.
IBeMary1: What do you say about remakers?
Barbie94: Don't really care. People are still buying the rares, after all, it's just pixels.
Geof: I think it's nice that people remake part so other people who do not have as many clams can afford the parts. If the part looks the same then what is the real difference? No one else sees who the designer is if you are wearing the part.
Phillion: I honestly don't care about wearing them, but when it comes to selling I can't stand them.
DahCutie: I have a strong opinion on remakers. I feel like they are stealing designs from those who spend hours thinking of a new, creative idea and designing it. Yes, it may take remakers 30 minutes but they did not think of the idea themselves. I understand the other point of view though, so I don't hate when others wear it, but I personally wouldn't wear one myself.
Anyonka: I honestly don't think it's a big issue. I know it's important to many Whyvillians, and I do feel that making a profit from someone else's work is bad, but over the years, I've come to realize it's just pixels. It happens in the real world as well, and even if it doesn't seem fair, it's an issue that I think is unavoidable and unable to be monitored.
IBeMary1: What was the first thing you bought when you started?
barbie94: Probably a head haha.
Geof: Face part, don't remember which one.
Phillion: Brownie Blizzard. It's a hair and I don't remember who it's by.
DahCutie: Probably a peachadee hair.
Anyonka: It was probably a hair and a shirt and other basic face parts. I remember getting 100 clams for the first time and finally being able to not look like a tator! (back then, newbie faces were tan). I don't think it was the very first thing I bought, but one of the first was a hair called ~*In My Place*!~ by SINFUL which I still have and occasionally use. After that, I saved up all my clams until I had the 1000 clams to join Club Why. That was a really big day for me!
IBeMary1: Do you remember your first friend you made on Whyville?
Barbie94: I used to hang out at the "dog house" aka Why House a lot haha.
Geof: Nope.
Phillion: Yes. It was MeeCookie.
DahCutie: Yes I do! We met at a BC at mars, and clicked instantly! Haha, it didn't last too long as the other person disappeared off of Whyville.
Anyonka: Some of the details are a little hazy. I had joined because of a real life friend, so I had one, but my first Whyville friends I made because I saw some other people trying to start a club. I think the premise was to wear a certain face part. Anyway, I became really good friends with a bunch of them at the same time, and we'd all hang out at the GT (Greek Theater). Now there's really only one or two still active on Whyville (that I know), including nicenfun, but my first Whyville friends became my actual best friends for a long time.
IBeMary1: Has Whyville affected on how you do in school?
Barbie94: No.
Geof: Whyville has helped me in some cases in school. For example, the splitzer spectrum was mentioned in chemistry class. I also learned country capitals from using the Warp Wagon. I have also learned a lot about marine life from all the Reef games.
Phillion: Not really.
DahCutie: It hasn't affected how I do in school, I refuse to let any Internet site get in the way of what really matters. Whyville has actually helped me, by giving some great tips for my subjects in the School section of the Forums.
Anyonka: I'm in college now, so my school is a bit more advanced than the Skater Game is, but back then, a lot of the games on Whyville were topics I learned in school. They really made me think, especially the Alien Hunts, and made me apply things that I had learned. I don't think I ever had a test in school and said 'Hey, I learned that on Whyville!' but Whyville did help me remember a lot of things better. For instance, I'm horrible with geography, but thanks to Whyville, I'll always know that Jakarta is the capital of Indonesia!
IBeMary1: What if life was just like Whyville?
Barbie94: Life would be bad. We'd all be fighting over remakes and salsadolls.
Geof: If life was like Whyville it would be: -Cool because your salary is definite and you can make a lot of money from playing fun games. -Hard because it is very difficult to get a house.
Phillion: I would love it because I wouldn't be that ugly in real life. lol.
DahCutie: Everything would be different, I feel like. I know that my social status would be completely different and that my clothing would be really different as well.
Anyonka: I love Whyville, but I think it'd be awfully weird floating around without pants!
I really appreciate you guys giving me your time to interview you. These were some very interesting answers. I hope you appreciate reading this article.
