chocolatekinz

[chocolatekinz]

got a new baby mouse!!!!!!!!!

#webkinz #room design inspiration #the color matching!! doobi absolutely slaying with the decor choices ☺️☺️👏👏

[chocolatekinz]

webkinz birth of venus <3

get a print here!

#omg this is too cute!!

[chocolatekinz]

Did you know that the Academy Cello, Academy Kettledrum, Academy Tuba, and Academy Xylophone play Mozart's Piano Sonata No. 16? This is what it sounds like when all of them are played together.

#webkinz #amazing!!!! little finds that brighten up my day

[chocolatekinz]

An obscure Webkinz interview from 2007 (+ in search of ones from 2008 and 2009)

Back in 2020, when Webkinz Insider was still alive-ish, I went back through all the super old news posts (2007-2011), and discovered two interviews with Karl Borst, Webkinz's creative director.

The first interview is from 2007, and today, after spending several hours combing through Wayback Machine links (as evidenced by me posting this post at 4 AM), I found it!

HERE is the link. It might take a while to load. (It's also pretty long, so if you want just the "juicy" parts, I'll provide a summary a bit later in this post.)

However, there is another Karl interview from 2009, which I was unable to dig up, as Wayback Machine doesn't have much from Webkinz Insider in 2009, sadly. Additionally, there was a 2008 Karl interview, where I did find the link, but it wasn't archived at all... That 2008 interview is one that I have not seen yet, but I did see the 2009 one briefly in 2020.

So, if anyone happens to have a saved copy of the 2008, 2009, or any other year's Karl interviews, please let me know!

(Also, there are two much-more-recent Karl interviews: This one and this one. They're pretty well-documented already, though. Please note that the first link has a crud ton o' ads.)

Alright, now here's the juicy stuff from the 2007 interview!

-As of 2007, Karl only had one online Webkinz- a St. Bernard.

-A method of moving multiple pets quickly across rooms was frequently requested, but Karl said it would be too difficult to code. This feature was never added.

-When asked about Bearville (another virtual pet game), and how it allowed players to actually move around the "world", as opposed to only certain buildings, Karl responded: "If you could hop into a teleporter instead of driving to the store, would you do it? We want to put the effort into the places you get to so that you have a lot of fun while you’re there. That said, we know that it’s a lot of fun to play as your pet, so we will be expanding this way of playing in Webkinz World in some really new and fun ways. And this is how we’ll stay ahead of the competition. Never following. Always taking our ideas in exciting directions." Funnily enough, Webkinz Next would later implement this idea.

-When asked if a "search dock/room" button would be added, Karl stated, "This is what I’d call a “Power User” feature. While it’s great for someone with 50+ rooms and 1000 items, it’s not really needed by the vast majority of our members. Let’s all remember that most Webkinz members are quite young, and would never use such a tool. Like many things, we have discussed it but have decided not to make it a priority." (Rats!)

-Karl stated that a KinzCash Bank was in the works, and it was "designed it to be one of the best implementations of a bank on the net". The 2021 Forbes interview corroborates this- apparently the Bank was planned, but eventually scrapped.

-Karl provided some cool info on early "drafts" of the Room/House system: "The first room we built was awful. It was just a sticker book and it wasn’t fun at all. I mean you could put a basketball on the ceiling and it would just stay there. So we pulled out the stops and made the great room we have now (that everyone else is copying). We actually had the feature that you could kick the soccer ball around the room as well, but it wasn’t very good, and just seemed weak in comparison to the rest of the site, so we pulled it." This info was also talked about in an early PodKinz episode.

The missing 2009 interview mentioned that in the early beta stages of Webkinz, there was an entire "world map" to explore, but Karl "ripped it up and threw it out", because he didn't like the way it was going. Some old Webkinz patents actually talk about this (there was a planned 2005 section called Adventures, which may have been turned into the Adventure Park.)

Also, one last thing: In the Forbes interview, Karl says that the Curio Shop's algorithm hasn't been changed since 2006. However, while looking through Webkinz Insider's 2008 newsfeed, there was a post saying that there used to be a way to predict Today's Activities and Curio Shop rares two weeks in advance, but the coding was changed to prevent this. So either Karl doesn't remember, or he's ashamed of his coding skills (/sarcasm) (but we all know what Classic's code turned into... lotsa spaghetti, if you know what I mean)

Anyway... I hope this info is interesting. Please let me know if you have the 2008 or 2009 interviews saved!

I'm going to bed now LOL

#im fascinated by the concept of a BANK in webkinz #like could we loan or lend money??? invest in kinzstocks??? #contribute to a 401k??? lmao how would bonds work?? #rambles

[chocolatekinz]

moonberry queen

#room design inspiration #doobi!! loving the grey-purple mix it works so well!!

[chocolatekinz]

some lil spring chickens drinking juice

#webkinz #the teaset for plushies idea is sooo adorable i love it alot!! #not a full room just a sneak peek ;3

[chocolatekinz]

lol inevitably...I always make my way back to Webkinz (or maybe Webkinz makes its way back to me?)

Are you still playing Webkinz?

haha I'm taking a short break from it! (hence sorta skipped out on back-to-school stuff/halloween) ^^"" life's been busy so I might come back around winter break if the interest is there

#rambles #maybe its the seasonal depression maybe its ✨capitalism✨ and i cant afford to decorate my own room so im living vicariously thru my kinz #lol got too real for a second there... but wow I'm so happy to see there's been a BUNCH of flower themed stuff and daily use items!! #revving up the collector's engine uwu

[chocolatekinz]

Are you still playing Webkinz?

haha I'm taking a short break from it! (hence sorta skipped out on back-to-school stuff/halloween) ^^"" life's been busy so I might come back around winter break if the interest is there

[chocolatekinz]

ayyyyy!

#arcade games #@w@ my eyes at the end of this..

[chocolatekinz]

laundry day! 

#webkinz #webkinz room design #room design #laundry room #have not been very active ahhhh still havent gone to editing any of my school related rooms...but halloween is right around the corner too #so overwhelmed lolol

[chocolatekinz]

What Webkinz items do you feel like look best in a variety of rooms? Do you collect anything on Webkinz?

I love white basic furniture for their easy compatibility with diff rooms! So things like the White Silk Sofa, Antique Ice Box, and White Wood Stool! I try my best to collect webkinz yr trophies uhhh it's a work in progress lmao ^^""

#anonymous #asks

[chocolatekinz]

Ayyyyyy finally did it!!

#webkinz #trophies #arcade games #atlantiles #childhood me is so satisfied rn lololol

[chocolatekinz]

What are your favorite wallpapers and floorings? Which ones do you feel like look best in a variety of room designs?

Favs: Persian cat library, studio loft, and chalet for wallpaper, and for flooring I'd probably go with home for the holidays!

For versatility: Campkinz cabin and wizard for floorings, beach house or cafe playset for wallpaper

#asks #anonymous

[chocolatekinz]

Have you ever played any other games made by Ganz/Ganz Studios?

Nope! I've only ever played webkinz before 😊

#asks #anonymous

[chocolatekinz]

Do you ever create an outside type room in an inside room? If so, do you have any tips for that? For example, an orchard inside instead of outside.

Sorry anon I haven't made any of those before ^^" some tips for those types of rooms is to be aware of the height/size of the objects you are placing into the room. If you want to have a sense of the background being very big (like some sorta vast wilderness atmosphere), the smaller the items you use, the more likely it is to achieve that effect.

#asks #anonymous

[chocolatekinz]

The only trick Loki plays is riddle games. He’s an avid gardener, and hopes one day to build his own hedge maze or escape the room.

#webkinz #room design #bedroom #webkinz floral fox #the amount of finessing i did to fit his psi into the room aslkadjsadsdsadsa

[chocolatekinz]

Do you like when expensive online exclusive/Ganz eStore only Webkinz have PSI that are recolored items? For example, the new Moonlight Stag coming out soon has a recolored PSI. (The original PSI was for the Unicorn....)

Mhmm I'm not a collector of exclusive webkinz like the moonlight stag. If I was, I'd probably prefer original psis instead of recolors tho!

#asks #anonymous