| September 2022 | Issue #5 |
 curlykale.weebly.com 
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funfetti.net 
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Did Someone Say Events? | by Xoops
Who doesn't love Petz events? Whether its a month long, multi-activity event, or just a simple contest, game, live-stream, or gameplay challenge. Last month saw the first annual Muttlie Mania! An event dedicated to the adorable Muttlie - there was a stamp contest (still ongoing for a few days, go enter!), a hexing contest, lots of adoptions, new file releases, auctions, and more! Voting is still ongoing for the Hex-A-Muttlie Contest so don't forget to go vote for your favorite Muttlie hex! (whiskerwick.boards.net/thread/11429/). I hope everyone enjoyed the event and had fun! I hope to host this event every August, because I had fun hosting it! Plus who doesn't love a muttlie? ;) 
There were also a few other contests going on, did you get a chance to enter?The Summer Food Hexing Contest, hosted by Arie - everyone got a participation award for their wonderful entries, but the winner of the contest was Silverfish's incredible Watermelon Oshie! ♥  Fill those Frames Contest - A painting design contest for the in-game frames, also hosted by Arie. First place was won by Amanda @ Cargo for some beautiful Butterfly paintings, followed by Rook in second place for some lovely pixel art paintings, and Third place taken by Josi for some exceptional still-life renditions of in-game objects. Everyone had such wonderful entries, I can't wait to decorate my game with all these paintings! |
 🍁 Check out Bunni's Gameplay Challenges on WW!   |
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Funfetti's Brex-Me Contest - A brexing contest hosted by Bunni! Contest is now closed and pending votes for the winners so go vote for your favorite! (whiskerwick.boards.net/thread/11422) So what kind of events can we look forward to in September? Look out for the next Whiskerwick Breed Week for the Dali, starting on Sept 10! And hopefully another event, contest, or challenge pops up as well throughout the month! Which means the next events are up to YOU, yes, you! I ran a poll this past month to find out what kind of events people are interested in, here are the results: |
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| Looks like the community just wants more events of pretty much EVERY kind! (I actually got a few comments along those lines too haha). Some other comments suggested celebrating minor/unique "holidays", like Pi-Day, as well as non-American holidays (Sinterklaas, Canada Day etc), and more events that get people browsing petz sites. So lets host some events! Pick a category, a theme, a holiday, and/or a breed, and go host an event everyone! |  |
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🍁 September 8, 2021 - Regulus's Birthday! owned by Sharon @ Aida |
🍁 September 28, 1998 - Petz 3 Release Date🍁 September 28, 1999 - Petz 4 Release Date |
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A Guide to a Petz Minimalist | by Xoops
For September we have an exclusive interview with Sasha @ Hemlighet! I had noticed a few people doing some MPA's recently (including myself) and I don't know about you, but I don't just like to do a "Spring Cleaning" but a "Fall Cleaning" sometimes as well. Not that the whole interview is just about paring down your petz of course - So without further ado, lets see what our resident Petz Minimalist has to say and learn a little bit about Sasha! 
1. Why the choice to be a "Petz Minimalist"?Ever since I joined the petz community I've always preferred to have a rather small crew. I believe the largest amount of petz I've ever had at one time was around 30? To me, petz have always been more digital companions than an art collection or a breeding game, so I always found it important to bond which each pet I own. I don't find myself clicking with every pet however, which has often led me to downsize. Part of me thinks this is a shame as there are so many wonderfully talented hexers and breeders in our community. I have a great admiration for players who bond quickly with loads of different petz, those with large breeding crews, or large hexie collections. The big change for me came when I switched computers to a new 64 bit mac. This meant wine bottler was out of the question and I couldn't get petz 4 to work in wineskin, so I had to get myself a fresh install of petz 3. At the time, my old computer was rather glitchy and difficult to keep turned on for long periods of time. This led me to transferring the first petz that came to mind. However, once I got those four in game I realized suddenly that I was a lot happier and less overwhelmed with so few petz. I could easily select all of them to play at once, and I quickly got to know all four of them in a way I hadn't before. 2. Why is four petz your "magic number"? Why not 7, 10, or 20 for example - that would still be quite minimal compared to the majority of people in the community. I feel like four petz is the perfect amount for casual playing. You can take all four of them out at once with ease, and you can actually have the time to play with them naturally like the game intended. I feel like this downsize has made me a lot more relaxed about playing the game and I no longer ever feel like I'm neglecting any of my petz. |
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3. What was your mindset while reducing the size of your crew? I always have a hard time MPAing petz, even ones I don't play with very often hahaIt was difficult for me if I'm entirely honest. Selecting the petz I was going to keep wasn't the problem, as I had already done that in the stress of salvaging them from my old computer. The real difficulty was in committing to returning the other petz. Even if I hadn't bonded with them as much as my main four, I was still very attached to them. Many had been in my crew for years or were special hexies I had been lucky enough to be given. I left my other petz out of the game for half a year to see if I was truly happy with my chosen crew, and when I decided I was, I committed to sending them all back to the hexers in one afternoon. That way I could do it with one click of the send button, and not have to wait around for applications which would have made it a lot harder for me. 4. What would it take to convince you to adopt a new pet into the crew? That's a very good question! I'm not sure if that's ever going to happen again at this point. I'd have to commit to a larger crew number, perhaps 6 petz, to keep things balanced (so each pet has a playmate you can take them out with). They would also have to fit in somehow with my current group of petz. Because I play with my petz naturally, and often have them all out together, how I feel about the group of petz as a whole is just as important as the individual petz themselves to me. Having tried a larger crew size I definitely think 4 is a better number for me, and the petz I have now are so personal and special I don't think I'm going to find a new pet, but you never know! |
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(Interview Continued...)
5. And how do you manage to resist all the adorable petz, bred or hexed, out there?Seeing other people so happy mostly! I absolutely love getting to know petz through other people's show off pictures, threads and crew sites! Just because they're not mine personally doesn't mean I don't get to appreciate them. I can spend hours admiring the petz on other people's crews. Show me a large crew site and I'm happy for hours xD 6. Any tips, advice, or thoughts for people who may be considering or trying to go a little more "minimalist"? My most important tip is to consider the reason you are wanting to downsize, because I think this will help you evaluate what the best thing is for you. For example, back in the day it was common to ask 'how many petz do you have?' on application forms. Having a large crew was sometimes frowned upon. While this is no longer the case, I feel like because of this, some members feel a little pressured to reduce their numbers. They also might feel guilty for not having time to show off. To this I say: don't! Petz is a game and a community about sharing. Without people adopting the community would die out. I admire people who bond with new petz easily and take them in. I think it's admirable. It's alright to not have the time to show them off, we're all mostly busy adults after all! If your reason for wanting to downsize is that you want to have the experience of a small crew, but you still love your current crew, my advice is to get another game version. Using another game on the side can give you that small crew experience without the downsize! Seeing as most people use petz 4 as their main game, you could get petz 3. You could transfer a small number of favourite petz there and the simpler game with less content automatically gives a bit of a 'good old days' cozy feeling. Or if you are one of the players who grew up with petz 5 but switched for the community, putting some favorites back into petz 5 might give you that nostalgic feeling. You could even get Catz, Dogz or Petz 2 and try naturally raising your favourite OB! If you really do feel like you're overwhelmed by your current crew size, that's when I truly suggest the downsize. I would personally recommend returning the petz to the breeders and hexers. Most of them greatly appreciate this and it's never against anyone's rules. The reason I recommend this is because it helps you get that closure quicker and easier. You can commit to returning the petz and writing the emails and then hit send. I feel like the long wait on getting MPAs adopted can make people feel stuck with having more petz than they're happy with. |
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7. What is it that you love about each of the petz you have? I'd love to hear something about each of them!This is such a nice question, I would be happy to! Belle was the first cat I ever adopted in the community! Back when I first joined, I was quite nervous to give out my email so I didn't dive straight into adopting. I spent hours, days, maybe even weeks searching the adoption boards for the perfect cat I would finally give out my email for. The picture I had in mind was that of a black cat specifically, as I've always loved them in real life. Suddenly, I stumbled upon Belle in a non-freebies board, and I was sold. She was perfect with her adorable little face streak, blue eyes and fluffy little tail. Slightly nervous about applying for a non-freebie, I did my best to write an application. You can't imagine how overjoyed I was when I found out I had been chosen! Our bond was sealed when I put her in game for the first time. Her happy little fuzzy calico-self came prancing out of the doorway and I knew in that moment I had found my favourite pet, and not only that: my new favourite breed. Marina is very special to me because she was created to be my 'dream hexie'. Anyone who knows me, knows that the nautical aesthetic is a big part of who I am. I have adored the seas and ships ever since I was a little girl. One day I was daydreaming what my ultimate hexie would be and I pictured a calico, with the cute sparkly wizard texture look common among many pastel hexies. Except in this case the wizard texture would be nautical: ships, anchors and a ship's helm would feature, and the rest of the cat would have ocean colours and texture work. With this vision in mind, I set out to draw this texture. I succeeded in creating my first pixel art but sadly I got stuck when it came to the actual hexing part. When I was talking about this in Petzcord, Mona very kindly offered to try to finish the hex. And so, the hexie of my dreams was born! |
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(Interview Continued...)
Ostehøvel was a surprise birthday gift from my dear friend in the petz community, Alena. One day when we were chatting she asked me suddenly what my favourite dog breed was. I replied that I loved scottie eared danes because they look like little wolves! A few weeks later, on my birthday, I received an email in my inbox. I couldn't believe my eyes when I opened it. Alena had taken the time to breed me a beautiful high generation scottie eared dane, and hexed him with gorgeous body mods, textures, and colours to look like a little petzy wolf. Or, as we dubbed him, a 'chocolate chip cookie wolf.' I was over the moon with this gorgeous pet. He was something so unique I never would have imagined as a hex myself. Alena had specifically put in the time and effort to make me something special. I will always see him as a symbol of our friendship. Last but definitely not least, Princess actually has a surprising story. I have no idea how this little cat managed to worm her way into my heart, but she did. She was an impulse purchase on the flea market. I saw a cute little mini oshie, I clicked bid, I won, that was that. Yet the moment I put her in game, something special happened. This little kitty, with her oshie personality, yet snooty Siamese traits instantly won me over. She made me laugh, she made me smile, she made me 'aww.' This little bred cat with her unique personality showed me the magic of this game again. It was my bond with her that made me realise I had found my crew. This little crew of four petz was going to be my crew from here on out. 8. I hear all your petz now have the Legend title in pose-showing - why did you make that a goal and what are you going to do now that you've achieved this incredible accomplishment? I had seen people show off their legend petz in older RKC posts before, and I had always had an idea in the back of my mind that I wanted to try it someday. Then, when I downsized my crew so drastically, I felt like I wanted to do something that would show the community how much they meant to me. I put two and two together, committed to the idea and never looked back! I think for now though I'm going to take a bit of a break. Its been a very long journey and it's nice to no longer have anything I have to do when I log on. I might look into earning a few more titles for Marina though at some point! 9. Tell me something you love about the game itself? I absolutely adore the AI. I love how true to life this game is. I can take out all 4 of my petz and easily see their individual personalities. Especially now that I've downsized I really got to know them all individually. From favourite colours and flavours, to little mixed breed personality quirks, even after all these years the complexity of the game's AI still impresses me. Marina wagging her tail for a game of fetch, Princess turning her nose up at everything except the cheese. PF magic set out to create a game where each pet was unique, and boy did they deliver! |
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10. Do you have any original game favorites? My number one favourite breed has got to be the calico breed. I absolutely adore the way they happy bounce and prance. As for my favourite toy, I absolutely love the music box! I think it was a wonderful idea of PF magic to encourage users to put new songs in the box. I never would have thought to do so otherwise! Seeing my petz dance to my favourite bouncy Eurodance tracks never fails to put a smile on my face. 11. And finally, something you love about the community? The kindness, generosity and collaboration between everyone. In no other gaming community are new things shared so freely. People share their unique creations with each other, new innovation is celebrated and none of this is ever locked behind a paywall. I think this is one of the reasons that the community is still here after all these years! Another thing I love is the culture our community has, with things like unique individual petz, petz websites, and community activities. It's very tradition based, and by internet standards, a historical community. It feels like to be a part of it is to be a part of internet history. Personally I find that very special. 12. Is there anything else you'd really like to share that we haven't already discussed? I just wanted to thank you for taking the time to do this little interview. It's quite an honour to speak for the petz newsletter, I really appreciate it! |
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 check out some new and featured sites, downloads, adoptions - and more! If you would like your site or content featured here, e-mail xoops@fantazzled.com |
milkbc.proboards.com |
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