What's that, Furcadia?

Beekins are Furcadia’s volunteer group. Their (volunteer) job is to help the players of Furcadia out when they’ve got questions, bugs, or just need a helping hand.

One of the big problems with the Beekin Group, however, is that most people don’t know which group does what, and who should be handling what kinds of situations.

Even inside the Beekins it isn’t always obvious what a person should and should not do, so consider this a review of the program and a cheat-sheet.

Helpers – Generally knowledgeable about most everything on Furcadia, they can give general help to just about everyone about everything. Their downside is that a lot of them don’t know specifics. When you type, “Help <whatever>” in Furcadia, you’re sent directly to the Helpers Channel. You can also find helpers in the Naia Green Help Center; they’re the only ones allowed to help there. (I’m pretty sure you can’t actually sit there on the pillows unless you’re a helper anyway.)

Teachers – They teach our Beekins; their interaction with the public doesn’t actually extend very far, and they don’t answer questions. Generally, you need to be in another beekin group to join up with the teachers, so any time you interact with a teacher, you’re probably also interacting with another kind of Beekin.

Mentors – These beekins are all about talkin’ things over with other beekins. If you’re a beekin and you’ve got something you want to talk about, these are the guys to turn to.

Pixels – These guys do a lot of the artwork you see in festival dreams and on the Furcadia website. They’re the little fairy-furres that hang out on the Dream Channel and give out snarky comments to you if your pixel-art is shameful. Or, alternatively, they give out a helpful hand and teach you how to shade that portrait better. To be a pixel, you have to be good at art. Good to someone else’s standards, by the way, not your own. Sorry.

Masons – These guys help you out with dreams. That’s anything from patches to maps, DS to PS, anything and everything you do in a dream is their domain. (Unless they’re being cranky and claiming that their badge means they don’t have to help, which never happens in the Masons!) Anywho, if you’re lookin’ for help with somethin’ dream related, these’re the guys to go to.

Bugges – These guys make Furcadia break. A lot. That’s what they do when they’re not trying to avoid being squished. (Sometimes they do it while they’re being squished, just for giggles.) Found a bug? Think Furcadia’s broken? These are the guys to talk to. Unfortunately they can’t help you out much if you don’t give them clear instructions on what you did to make Furcadia break, so make sure you pay attention and can repeat the break that you’ve done.

Guardians – Power hungry sociopaths! No, not really. What they are is a small-ish group of volunteers who do a lot of work to resolve player-created conflicts. They’re not ‘ban happy’ as a lot of people predict, and they’re (mostly) easy-goin’ people. They do have their bad days though when pestering them and asking them to be your girlfriend will annoy them. (It’s true, it will.)

Remember, beekins are there to make your life easier, so don’t harass the hell out of them. It annoys them and makes them want to beat you across the face with a rubber mallet. (Or worse.)

Edit: Oops, I forgot the welcomers. (And believe me, I’ve been hearing about it!) Welcomers are the people who say, “Howdy!” whenever you enter Furcadia. They used to be the most popular group, (because everyone was allowed to join.) but now, that’s not the case anymore, though! However, if you need to be shown where a main map is, or shown around one, these are the furres you’ll want to talk to.

Well, I’ve made it half a year without being shut down, blown up, or reduced to copying Randomism and The Muskrat. (Okay, I copy a little, but not much!)

I’m pretty proud of the fact that I’ve managed to stick to posting regularly on this; I had initially feared that after a lukewarm reception by people that I’d become disheartened and kick the project to the curb.

I haven’t, though, which makes me feel pretty good about the entire thing.

I’m going to reflect on a little history, starting with our first post:

Issue/Version/Post/whatever #1

This article was about the Hero Series; at the time being touted quite heavily. The release of this series sparked quite a debate amongst Furcadia’s players, and left a lot of DEP staff scrambling to put out fires all over the place.

This article started one of those fires; it wasn’t well received by DEP’s supporters. Or DEP themselves, I’m sure. It was pretty rash and more of a jab than an article.

However, I do still stand by what I wrote, even though I would write it differently now. I hold the same view that I did then, and I feel there’s nothing wrong with expressing my view on the subject.

Kestrel was an amazing person to talk to. She gave massive insights into some of the policies at DEP, (in regards to avatar purchases from Players,) as well as some interesting insights to how some artists do artwork for Furcadia.

This article too had a little drama associated with it, but that was quickly resolved. I hadn’t yet found my groove insofar as writing was concerned.

Amfortas is a friend of mine who has been on Furcadia for years and years. When I came to him with the idea of an article about Furcadia’s past, present, and future, he gave me in-depth detailed answers on his views about Furcadia. He spoke freely, without fear of backlash or hatred being poured at him, because he was speaking from his heart about a game he likes.

Another drama-inducing article, I was off to a fine start insofar as Furcadia websites go. Actually, Amf’s reply to this pretty much set the record straight, (insofar as I am concerned) on how that article should have been viewed.

Three articles in 15 days; that was the beginning of What’s That, Furcadia? and the trip to where we are now.

September saw five articles in the span of 30 days. I was hitting just over one a week, (statistically) and I wasn’t too happy about that.

By October I had fallen into a rut; another month with just five posts. This was why I was afraid I was going to fail miserably; I didn’t think I’d make it to six months if I had to fight to come up with new and interesting things to talk about!

However, that month was a large difference from September and August; I’d toned down my writing style a bit and focused less on DEP and more about what readers might be interested in. It seemed like a winning combination.

Disgusted with my lack of performance in the previous months, I kicked it up a notch in November with 10 articles; statistically over 2 a week! I’d finally started to crank out a steady amount of articles; feedback was up, and more people were viewing What’s That, Furcadia? each day. I was pleased, to say the least, going into December.

In December I did 14 articles. Since there were almost 5 weeks in December, that’s almost three, (again, statistically) a week! I’m happy to say that my imagination, (for coming up with new ideas,) and DEP’s help, (they were pretty influential on some articles. 😉 ) had started making What’s That, Furcadia? into an even better success than I’d thought. And here I was, thinkin’ it was goin’ to fail. Silly Damadar!

And then we find this month is upon us and I’m writing like a fiend as often as I can. Not only that, but I’m singing and talking more, too. This article marks article #9 for January, and I’m only on day 16! If you have any stories or ideas you’d like talked about, let me know!

Right now I’d like to thank several people for helping me make it this far:

Anyone who has let me interview them for the site; you’ve been a grand help.

Emerald Flame, for the useful bits of information you’ve slipped me over the past few weeks.

SnowyThing, for buying me a bunch of Dew.

All you pesky little informants out there who’ve not been named to keep the ban-hammer off your back. 😉

Any reader reading this; without your feedback, (and this guy’s bitching!) I don’t think I could have made it quite this far.

Did I get enough shameless self-promotion in here? I’m not too sure that I did but I’ll let you all decide!

Keep watch; later today I’m offering up something for people who help sponsor What’s That, Furcadia?.

When I sat down to do this interview with Procyon, he had a few rules. One, he’d only answer questions he wanted to answer, and two, that we do it in his dream. That was fine with me; so I accepted his requests and hopped into his dream. … And right back out of it again as the Vinca snatched me out of mid-air and pounded me into the ground so hard my lungs felt like they were going to explode. It seems that, on a previous occasion, Procyon had banished me from his Samurai enclave.

I was undeterred, though. As SnowyThing put it, I don’t stop until I get my story. So I squared off with Procyon in Mortal combat in an epic battle to prove that the pen was, in fact, mightier than the sword.

Want to know how it turned out? Read on.

It was obvious to me that Procyon had studied my moves well; every morning at 2AM when I arrived at Naia Green, he’d begin studying everything there was to know about Damadar. This was going to be a tough battle.

I went in swinging immediately, though, with my pen held high I shouted, "Give me your vital stats!"

Procyon swirled on the spot and a razor sharp dagger flew right at me; etched into the shining blade were these words:

I’m 23. I’ve been on Furcadia since I was fourteen. A friend introduced me to Furcadia back in High School.

Luckily for me, there was a rock on the ground for me to trip over; the blade flew wide. I scribbled down the answeres and rolled to my feet, demanding to know if there were any special skills he’d developed on Furcadia.

The barrage of blade swings left me breathless as he enunciated each word with a swing of his katana. The complete structure of his sentences eludes me, but the gist of it was that he’d managed to learn how to talk to people, how to enjoy his friends, increased patience and tolerance of others, and the value of someone watching over you as a guide and mentor.

This time, I didn’t escape unscathed; his blade had bit deep as I was spell-checking my handwriting. Limping to the left, I regrouped, and promptly disconnected.

I re-appeared moments later to Procyon yawning. I was still bleeding from the cut on my chin.

In an effort to drive me off my balance, he took a kneeling stance, humming about how he enjoyed the community. As I sat there, chest heaving, attempting to re-gain my thoughts and stop the blood from dripping out of the cut to my cheek, I could have sworn he was taunting me.

"I’ve met a great number of interesting people," he commented to me with a smile. I went on the attack again, and hit him where I knew it would hurt worst: His wallet.

Turns out Procyon spent almost enough money in 2007 to cover 2 World of Warcraft subscriptions for a full year. He flashed forward and planted his foot on my chest, insisting at me that I include his dream-hopping fetish to the list of activities he does while on Furcadia.

Here’s where Procyon’s downfall came about. I’ll admit, I was in a pretty bad way, but he opened up a weakness in his defense: He likes Lilacs. Well, not really, but when he deals with people who call him an ignorant, stupid american stereotype, he goes off into a small corner of his head and smiles contently to himself as visions of lilacs dance in his head.

I used this to my advantage and said, "You foolish American!". Dishonor fell to this Samurai’s eyes; he realized that he had been beaten. He tried not to allow it, but there was no hope. His training forced him to ignore me, and from that point on, I was nothing to him.

Ashamed and dishonored, Samurai Procyon knelt a few feet away, and committed Seppuku.

Turns out my pen was mightier than his sword. 😉

For anyone wondering, his Samurai enclave is looking for a new Master Samurai; all inquires should be sent to Samurai@entwinedstudios.com.

Some of you saw the “Buy me a Dew” button that was floating around here for a while. Those who didn’t now see a Cell phone instead, and the heading of ‘Phone dying; need new one. Care to help?‘.

SnowyThing was the first person to donate any money to What’s That, Furcadia? back when I still had the ‘buy me a Dew’ button up; that was also before my phone decided to die.

I decided then that I wanted to make something special for people who donated to me because they’ve helped me out. A ‘Contributors’ category was made for anyone who donates. This is very similar to a sponsorship of sorts. If you donate, you get the following:

Donations can be of any amount, but to be fair to people, only donations of $5.00 or more will receive the perks mentioned above.
Thank you all for your wonderful support!

*Within reason. Certain restrictions apply, depending on content, idea, or personality. Subject to whimsy.

Merry Christmas!

Or, whatever else it is that you celebrate around this time of year, whether it be Festivus, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa or something I am not aware of, I hope you’re having a damn good time about it. For those that don’t celebrate, I hope you’re at least feeling a bit better than normal right now!

I wanted to take a bit of time to make mention of some people who were really getting into the spirit of the season that I noticed; these individuals are part of the reason a lot of people love this time of year. (Probably why some people hate it, too.) They deserve, (in my opinion,) at the very least a “thank you”; that’s what this is. If someone has been nice to you, remember to say thank you!

SnowyThing was gallivanting around Naia Green all night trying to spread the “Holiday Spirit”. He gave out all sorts of presents to people. Flaming swords, cake, Snugs, and many other desctags were handed out to a lot of the people just sitting around. He also bought me 18 liters of Mountain Dew!

Procyon, (Guardian Extraordinare) also was seen getting caught up in the spirit. He gave out, at the last updated count, 41 Snugs to various friends and strangers that he saw regularly. He also managed to get himself caught up in a snowball fight of epic proportions with Decline; resident alt-trader and an artist.

Over at the DEP house the Holiday’s weren’t going quietly into the night. Youlanda, Xool, Cassiel and other friends showed up on Christmas Eve for a night of movies, singing, and much snacking. Felorin’s sister was there banging out songs on the piano while the shenanigans of present wrapping, and Nintendo DSing went on. Things ended up winding down around five am Christmas morning.

Speaking of DEP, Seley, a regular player, wanted to make it a point to thank DEP for allowing us to use Furcadia. She put together a simple dream to thank the creators. This was a collaborative and community effort by the Furcadia populace; there was a lot of time and energy put into making this dream as nice as possible for the Creators. It’s well done; the statues of the staff are done in gold, and every statue has something nice to say about the game.

If you stop by, take a look at Furonda, and place an order in her cafe; you’ll be glad you did!

Emerald Flame said, “It’s really cool!” when talking about the dream; it seems that this was a gift that hit DEP right where it was supposed to: The Heart.

There were a lot of people who did a lot for others this time of year; Narnia set up FaZ, a resource for players to put up their artwork after members of the portrait-making community encountered issues with DeviantArt.

Narnia also felt the need to apologize to us for possibly encroaching on the space of the Furcadia Art Repository, which I thought was a decent, if unnecessary thing to do.

It’s good to take a step back and realize that the world isn’t a bad place, and that there are people out there who deserve a “Thank you” or a “Job well done” every once and a while.

That said, I’m going to wish you all the very best Holiday Season you can have, and leave you with that.

~Damadar.