Such feelings must come as no surprise to people who have been around other breedables for a while, because it’s pretty common for chat groups to explode after any breedable update.

Honestly, If I was a creator I’d release an update and leave the country for a good month or so, or at least until the dust has settled, because the Second Life breedable community tends to get VERY stroppy after each one and for some people an update is literally the end of their virtual world.

But without them, breedable games such as Wildwood would quickly stagnate and fall out of favour. In fact, it must be said that the markets are already starting to plateau, so a timely update was needed to revitalise the Wildwood game.

Yes, they can be a pain, but the great thing about them is the promise of new content and if you are a Wildwood enthusiast, you should be excited.

Seriously.

Here’s a list of the changes that 1.3 has brought:

1. New Ear Traits
I can’t think of any new ear shapes left to discover so this will be fun to see, and of course, this also means more inbred ear mixes.

2. New Eyes
Yes, read that again, NEW EYES. Oh, and there are new textures for existing eyes that make them appear even more vibrant than before..

3. New body shapes
Think about this change guys..body shapes, what can that possibly mean?? ( Have you noticed the cat’s muzzles are shorter now btw? Now, what kinds of cats have shorter muzzles I wonder..)

4. New series of pelts
More pelts guys, but this shouldn’t be such a surprise. There are lots of cat breeds in the real world, so it figures that with each update we’ll see an increase in the Wildwood breeds. What is exciting to note is that there are some new additions to existing pelts too…

5. New particle effect
A new animation has been introduced that warns you when your wee furry friend is at 50% nourishment and in dire need of some nommage..

ALSO: The API shortening issue has been resolved.

Now here’s the important bit, taken straight from the Wildwood literature accompanying each updater:

NOTE: In order to partake in new shapes, ears and pelts you will need to update your cats to be eligible for them, but you will need to purchase new kittens in order to get new traits as the current live cats cannot change their submissive genes.

I’ve seen so many questions in chat tonight about starters that could have been answered if people would just read the instructions. Like every breedable game before it, you have to purchase new stock to get new traits. This is the sole reason why I tell people NOT to go mad and breed themselves out of house and home; there’s just no point. If you want to be in the game for the long term keep your stock small and add to it with a pair of starters from each new round. It’s only January, so there will be LOTS of updates to come this year: make sure your prim count can handle it!

Incidentally, I’ve spoken to Mika tonight, and I know that the Wildwood team have worked their socks off throughout January to bring these changes to this latest update. Even more tantalising to note; Mika says they had to leave a ton of stuff out because they just didn’t have enough time to squeeze every last juicy morsel in. They have deliberately made the eyes more vibrant to make them more appealling to everyone, and also to accomodate ‘future changes’, but of course, you can’t please everyone. I’ve seen as much praise for the new eyes in chat as I have seen grumbles. In fact, I’ve seen lots of grumbles, some worse than others. I’d go so far as saying that I’ve seen some absolutely foul behaviour in chat tonight with lots of toys being thrown out of the pram. I’ve said this before, let me say it again: A lot of the questions that are being posted in chat about the update can be answered by simply reading the accompanying notecards included in every update pack or via the Wildwood forums. In fact the forums are a fantastic facility, so USE THEM. Air your grievances, share your enthusiasm. Don’t like the update? Explain why on the forums. Want to see changes to Wildwood? Then say what you’d like to see on the forums. The resource is there to be used by the Wildwood community, and Mika and Zilar both read and update it. But if you do contribute to the group discussion, be polite about it.

Seriously folks, just because we live in a virtual world it doesn’t mean you should leave your manners at the log-on prompt. I hope Mika doesn’t mind me sharing this with you all; but this is just an example of the abuse that she’s had to put up with tonight from a customer that she attempted to help.
(Note, I’ve blocked out the customer’s name as a courtesy, but actually they don’t deserve any)

[15:45] XXXXXXXXX: i got a ton of clones now
[15:45] XXXXXXXXX: great up date
[15:45] Mika Deluxe: Ah then just file a ticket and we will get them fixed ^^
[15:45] Mika Deluxe: Apparently something is going on with SL atm nothing in our updater scripts changed from before.
[15:46] XXXXXXXXX: no problem i killed all the horses i can kill cats to
[15:46] XXXXXXXXX: so sick of this shit
[15:47] Mika Deluxe: Well if this is going to continue in this manner I suppose whatever you feel you need to do. If you wish them fixed, we can do that, if not, then good luck to you.
[15:47] XXXXXXXXX: bite ne bitch
[15:47] XXXXXXXXX: you will get your fuckin inventory back
[15:47] Mika Deluxe: There is no need to be rude, really, I’m not here to fight with you.
16:02] XXXXXXXXX: thank you for the feeling that one will allways get screwed in sl

I hear a lot of people saying that creating breedable pets is a great way to make bank in-world, but it’s also a great way to open yourself up to shed-loads of abuse. To be honest, Mika was a LOT more civilised with this individual than I would have been. For someone to spout such vitriol over virtual cats is pretty silly really, so I’m guessing the avatar concerned must have had an issue in real life that caused his pent-up rage to spill over into the metaverse.

Fact is, and we’ve seen this time and time again, you cannot guarantee that you will make a virtual living from selling your livestock. There are already way too many cats out there, as there are horses and bunnies and I’m not even counting the impending Meeroos and Dog releases into the equation.

That’s not to say you can’t breed and make a profit at auction or market, but we as a community need to understand that success like that is no longer guaranteed. Be enthusiastic about your breedable of choice, you should be, but you MUST breed for yourself first, not necessarily for the market.

Here are a few tips:

Start small. Don’t be disheartened if you get a common starter cat, it’s what they’re hiding that counts!

Birth only what you can comfortably accomodate on your home sim.

Visit auctions and get wise to what traits people are lusting after..

AND FINALLY…don’t sell (or buy) starters UNLESS you buy them direct from Wildwood. There is just NO POINT in doing this, it’s what causes markets to get flooded in the first place!

A final thought. I love my Wildwood Cats, and I was reassured by Mika earlier when she told me that they are in it for the long term with lots of ideas for how to make their product even better.

This is a good thing to hear, and I’m enthused by this latest update and the promise of exciting new cat happiness to discover.
I think you should be too.