Better info menu and more Gachas

Wednesday's epic server maintenance brings an epic to Pico.

Picos logging in today will find that, as we have come to expect, new things have been brewing during Pico's down time. Will you be excited about ...?

The Revamped Info Menu
You can now access the latest information posts in a more dynamic visual pop-up box. I'm sure this was developed to entice people to keep abreast of happenings in Pico.

The newly redesigned info box boasts eye-catching icons for each news item and stresses ease-of-use with the "Go To Area" button. As always, you can click the snippets of text to warp to the official Pico blog.

Did you tend to ignore the info box in the past ... and does this adjustment make you more likely to click and read on?

The Revitalization of the Chaulin Temple
New life is breathed into the Chaulin Temple with the introduction of  two new Gacha vendors - Premium Gacha for 50AG a spin and Gummie Gacha for 100 Gummies a spin.



Gummies Gacha contains those goodies from last springs Chinese Mystery Box campaign.

Premium Gacha is filled with wigs, costumes and props associated with characters from the Chinese classic story Journey to the West (西遊記 / Xī Yóu Jì), considered to be one of the four great novels in Chinese literature.

Journey to the West has a strong background in Chinese folk religion, Chinese mythology and value systems; the pantheon of Taoist immortals and Buddhist bodhisattvas is still reflective of some Chinese folk religious beliefs today. Enduringly popular, the tale is at once an adventure story, a spring of spiritual insight, and an extended allegory in which the group of pilgrims journeying toward India represents an individual journeying toward enlightenment. — Source: Wikipedia

Photo Credit: Pico Official blog

From left to right (pictured above) the characters are Sha Wujing, monk Xuánzàng, "Monkey King" Sūn Wùkōng, and Zhū Bājiè.

Was it all worth the lengthy wait? You be the judge.

I'm Dreaming of a Pico Christmas

Well, we are now a mere 15 days away from Christmas, and Pico's celebration is still going strong. Today, they've released a couple more updates to brighten up your holiday. Or darken it, depending on how you feel about certain things *cough*Premium Gacha*cough*. Oh, my apologies. I still have that terrible cold from last week.



The 2nd weekly item has been added to the Daily Christmas Gacha. What's the new item, you ask? Why, it's none other than the "Can't Wait to See What's Inside, Christmas Sock." Remember when I recently made a comment about them running out of names for their items? This certainly doesn't do much to prove me otherwise! It's extremely straightforward, though, so I'll give them that. If you want this item, make sure you play now before they are all taken away and hung by the chimney. Yes, groan all you like, but I had to say that.



What's that? Another Premium Gacha, you say?! No, it can't be! Sarcasm aside, I think many people saw this coming from a mile away. The theme for the new Premium Gacha is "White Christmas," which you can find in NYC Downtown. Initially, I wasn't impressed with what I saw from the previews.



But, after viewing some of the items up close in various rooms, I noticed that there are quite a few nice decorations and clothes in it. If you happen to have extra gold weighing your pockets down, I don't think it would hurt to at least spin once or twice. And, speaking of NYC Downtown, the Broadway Boutique was stocked with 3 new room decorations.





By the way, if your family or friends ask why you didn't buy them any presents this year, be sure to tell them "Pico took all my money away! It's their fault! I had to spin the Premium Gachas! " They'll understand... or they'll look at you like you're crazy and ask "Who's a Pico? And what's a Gacha?!"

The next couple 'updates' weren't blatantly mentioned in any of Pico's blog posts, but rather they are subtle things I happened to notice while playing today. First of all, if you've been ringing, you might've seen that the bell has now been decorated:



We all know how tedious ringing can be, so at least this will keep it interesting for a while. Right?

...right?

The other update involves the entire game screen. Remember how you had to constantly click on those little black arrows towards the lower right corner of the screen to pan around? Well, that's old news. Now you can simply click anywhere within the game screen, drag it wherever you please and let go. I think this feature is particularly helpful if you are zoomed in and/or decorating your house.

How do you feel about today's updates? Did you spin the White Christmas Premium Gacha yet? Also, did you notice those last two additions (decorated ringing bell and screen-drag feature) before reading this post?

Simply Having a Wonderful Pico Time!

Well, it's that time of year again. Lights are going up, stockings are being hung, snow is starting to fall and people are tackling each other in stores over anything that is on sale. Yes, I'm talking about Christmas! The holiday spirit is nearly unavoidable at this point, and now it has even invaded Pico. To be honest, the update came as a complete surprise to me. This was the first week in a long time where they didn't notify us of any maintenance, so I did not expect much when logging in today. But those little Pico elves over at Ameba must've been up all night decorating and restocking the shops...



This was the very first sight I was greeted by today. Lala, Clover and Art decided to show off their new Christmas garb, as well as some fancy dance moves. I, for one, think they might've drank out of the eggnog bowl one too many times. Once I saw this, though, I knew I was in for a treat.

Once again, the Daily Gacha has been completely restocked with new Christmas items. And, similar to the past two holidays, there are "rare" items that will change every week. This week's item is the Special Attention Seeker’s Christmas Hat:



Wait a minute, let's take a look at that name for a moment. Special Attention Seeker’s Christmas Hat? Really? They are officially running out of names for these items. Anyways, there are a variety of things to win... ranging from food to mittens to shirts. If you are lucky enough, you will win one of these "secret" snowmen:



Sadly, though, he slowly melts away as time goes on. Is that supposed to be a metaphor about life, Pico? Huh?! WHAT ARE YOU TRYING TO TELL US? But I digress... that's not the end of the holiday madness. Not by a long shot.

Yar-Har, Fiddle-Dee-Dee

You are a pirate! Now that is one spiffy getup, if I do say so myself. Wondering how I acquired it? Well, the answer lies within one of today's two updates.



Chances are, if you logged in at all today, you will already know about this. If you haven't logged in, what are you waiting for?! Put that turkey leg down and prepare to have your Pico mind thoroughly blown into tiny pieces of gummies.

When first logging in, you will come across a little letter:

(I forgot to take a screenshot, so just imagine that you are looking at a picture of a little letter on the ground with an arrow pointing at it)

Click on that and you'll be whisked away on a brand new Pico journey, similar to Mario whenever he finds those secret warp whistles.



... um, alright... maybe not literally whisked away, but you get the idea. Video game references aside, this letter will inform you of a pirate quest which you can partake in.



This new quest feature is the first of its kind here on Pico, and even Pigg doesn't have anything like it (imagine that!). When Pico was taking suggestions a while back, I remember mentioning how there should be quests to win special items or gold. Can this possibly be a result of that? Probably not, but it is nice to think about. Either way, I found it to be a fun departure from the usual happenings in Pico so I'm hoping for many more to come. To start, you will have to travel to the Pirate Ship area in order to talk to your newly appointed Captain.




There's a lot to discuss about this feature, so I am going to simply stop here and save the rest for an upcoming quest guide. If you are having trouble with some of the missions, or if you simply want to relive the experience vicariously through me, be on the lookout for my guide which will be up soon! Oh, and in case you were wondering, the pirate outfit is one of two clothing items given to you for embarking on this quest.



Today's second and final update is nothing worth writing home about. It simply states that the Thanksgiving Daily Gacha has been extended and will be up for another week. If you haven't had a chance to win the basket of mushrooms yet, this is good news. If you are completely sick of seeing virtual mashed potatoes and pumpkin pie because they remind you of your Thanksgiving food coma, this might not be such good news.

Turkey Lurkey

Hello, everyone! It's Thursday, so I think most of you know by now what this post will be about. I'm going to briefly discuss the most recent updates to grace Pico's servers. There isn't too much to talk about compared to last week, but I think it's enough to pique the interest of Pico players.

Now that Thanksgiving is merely one week away, they have finally kicked things into gear and released a few additions to coincide with the holiday. The first update you might notice is this:

The third hand hold item for November's Thanksgiving-inspired Daily Gacha. Make sure you win it soon, though, because this leaf will blow away (GET IT?!) in 4 days to make room for the 4th and final hand hold item. Don't know where to find it? Sounds like a personal problem to me. Luckily, I'm here to help you. Simply click on this icon at the bottom of your screen:



Which will bring this up:



Notice the leaf? That's what you are going for. I'm glad I saved up a cornucopia of gummies during the (now retired) recycling campaign, because I went through nearly 2000 to get it. What can I say? I'm a sucker for limited-edition items.

I can see it happening all over again.

Gacha is pretty hit or miss for me. I cry at my bad luck sometimes! I'm so fearful of Gacha that I won't play the Premium Alice Nine Gacha even though I want a wig so badly. Knowing me... I'll get the ugliest item not once, but twice!

Anyway, the new Thanksgiving gacha items are making me wahh--- because I MUST have that feather headband! My spidey senses are tingling and telling me that this could just be a repeat of the goggled eyed glasses debacle. I wasted so many gummies and in the end... I was still without eye wear. -cries- So far, I've blown 2,000 Gummies and no headband... I didn't even get those damn hand held feathers! WHY AMEBA WHY?! Why don't you love me? huhuhuhu~



I was waah-ing pretty loudly which got other Picos "gacha enraged" and they joined in. Wait! Why is Pinky crying?! He's wearing the damn thing! -huffs-


I WANT A FEATHER HEADBAND OR THE NO GACHA REVOLUTION IS ON!

In other unrelated news:



Thank you everyone for making me feel so special on my birthday. I am still all smiles from all the kind and lovely messages and comments I received.

SO MUCH LOVE! Mwah mwah!

Gobble Gobble

It's Thursday, and you know what that means. Not only are we one day closer to the weekend, but we also have a few new updates which hit Pico early this morning. Maybe they aren't the major updates we've been hoping for, but I think they are still interesting enough to talk about.



The first update, and probably my favorite of the three, is the addition of a restocked Daily Gacha. The theme this time around is Thanksgiving!



Complete with food like pumpkin pie and turkey, it's enough to make your Pico's mouth salivate. Usually I question eating food when it's randomly laying around, but it's hard to ignore chowing down on these meals whenever you spot them. 3 second rule? Never heard of it.





There's much more than food, though. Candles, bonfires and hand hold feathers are among the other items you'll find while playing. Take note, though, that the hand hold items will be changing every week until Thanksgiving. The Handhold Colorful Feathers are the first of four, so make sure you get them before they are gone!