Why Whyville?

Ok, if you've come on my blog and are wondering why I have a little kids site called "Whyville" as an approved link, here's why.

I joined this site when I was 12. I also joined neopets at around the same time. Yes, I was as much a nerd then as I am today. Frankly, I didn't like neopets. It had no soul. You have these lame little pets who, although may be cute, are nothing more than icons. You slave daily to feed them, take care of them, go to a bloody tree for stuff that you never get thanks to ghosts and around a few million other cheapskates, and rely on a stupid dinosaur egg to feed your lame little pets.

Whyville, although makes about as much sense, was surprisingly a lot better. First off, it's free. And although you can buy something called a "Whypass" for extra benefits, you're not pressured half as much as you are on other sites to buy them. In other words, you pay, you get a gift basket of extra goodies, not an exclusive 70% of the site. You go on, and you have a floating head that you get to create. Your head is your character, that you can take to chat rooms and talk to other characters. You have a "face mall" where you buy face parts, like eyes, noses, mouths, heads, hair, upper bodies (They don't have lower bodies, hence the floating), and the like. There's nearly two million people on Whyville, active or not, so it's still a crumb compared to neopets. But don't let that make a hater out of ya, brudda. Although it sounds just as complicated as neopets, it really isn't. You can mail other people with a system called "Y-mail". Using Y-mail carries no viruses and it's hard to spam on them, making them pretty good. The only real downside is you can get flagged for using bad language on them. The currency there is "clams" (now that sounds much more familiar than neopoints, no?), and getting clams is (THANKFULLY) much easier than neopoints. All you do is play these "educational" games. Mind you, even though they're educational, they're not the typical lame educational junk you'd find from leapfrog and other places. They can be a pain, but here's the catch. You play them ONCE, get them to their maximum level, and they'll stay there. So now, depending on the game, you'll make a certain amount of clams every day that you log on. This is called your salary. If your salary is 20, and you log on Wednesday, you get 20 clams. Log on Thursday, you get another 20 clams. No having to play pointless games over and over daily or relying on someone to buy you're pathetic 1/3 omelet. Playing more games to higher levels raises your salary, and thus, getting you more clams per day. And if your salary isn't making you enough, you can always do some amusing sorting games for extra cash.

And once you get past the menial task of raising your salary, you can enjoy the perks, like using those clams to make your face look pro, head down to a popular chat room and brag about your salary. Or use those clams to buy bricks and paint, and build yourself a house. Or better yet, make your own face parts and sell them for some good profit. Join the WhyEat program so you can eat some junk and get even more clams (although, you gotta eat healthy for that one. It takes a little getting used to, but it's worth it). Once you're really wealthy, buy a scion (car), and show it off. And it doesn't stop there. Write an article for the times, trade stuff at the trading post, become a Y-mail Helper to help other newcomers and have extra options, run for the position of Whyville Senator, research the Whyville disease Whypox, join the Street Team, Buy a membership to the exclusive Club Why, see if there's any events going on at the Whyville Greek Theatre, chuck projectiles at people, get into debates in various BBS's, make a few random friends, or just hang out. There's so much to do at Whyville. Trust me. I've tried to leave it. I can't. At least not completely. I've made too many friends that I'll probably keep for life, and it's grown too much on me. It's not a pointless game that you keep playing because more pointless updates are added, it's like another world you can visit when the one you're in leaves you bored. As I approach the late stage of teenagerism, I'm still addicted to this kid's website, and I'm not even the only one. I still talk to my friends, who are also in their latter teen years, who still come onto the cherished site. If you're wondering by now what my username is on Whyville, it's proudly LoZTP (to all you folks from ZU checking this out, hahah). Is it lame? First impression is always yes. But once you start, it grows on you like a pet hamster.

So Why Whyville? It's no Runescape or Maplestory, but it's just as good in many respects. Whether you're an 8-year-old, an adult, or anywhere in between, I'd recommend you give Whyville a shot. It's an investment that will last you a lifetime. You have my word on it.