Getting kids addicted to gambling?

As most of you know Pico was down for a very long period of unscheduled maintenance yesterday. Today, there's a whole new layer to playing games. Nice of them to let us know that the big "lights out" was coming. There's a bug now that has the entire area closed for the time being.



The new function involves the gaming rooms - Match Card, Reversi, Pirates RPS and Math Battle. This does not apply to the casino.

Gummies gauge to enter game rooms
You must now gain 100 Gummies each day to get into the gaming area. The Gummies gauge has returned to the top right of your game screen. This let's you track your progress - gaining props, rings and food points. Once it's full (all pink) you can enter any of the four game rooms. Once you get there you can now wager with your opponent.

Is there anyone else who thinks that encouraging gambling in a social media community that is primarily used by girls aged 9-17 is ... just ... wrong? As if the casino wasn't enough.

Read more about it (ignore Ameba's obvious poor spelling):

• Ameba Pico FAQ: What is Gummie Gage?
• Ameba Pico blog: [New Function!] Bet Gummies in Mini Games!!!

New Gacha and GM Cashier bots
The game room layout is a little different.



Each room now has a new Gacha machine (3,000 Gummies/spin) and a GM Cashier robot. Yes, Ameba wants you to actually buy Gummies to gamble. In case your gambling addiction takes your balance to zero.

There are non-betting rooms within each game for people who still want to play for fun.

Do you think it's reasonable to charge several thousand Gummies for a spin at Gacha or to even charge AG to buy Gummies?





Wager display
With the news changes, when you play Match Card, Reversi, Janken or Math Battle the amount currently being bet shows at the bottom of the game station.



Game ranking
To add even more competition to the game, there's now a player ranking. You can see how your scores match up with your fellow Picos.



User agreement
With these changes, there are user terms that you must agree to in order to play. The first time you enter the GM Gacha area the information will pop up and you are given the option of agreeing. It requires players to be over 13 to enter the area. As we already know with the casino - which requires players to be 18 and older to play - this is not really much of a safeguard.



Silly little things
As well as promoting gambling habits to minors, there are a few little - pretty much completely unnecessary - changes to the game that I noticed.

• The 'Travel' button is now called 'Navi', short for navigation
• Pirates RPS (rock, paper, scissors) is now called 'Janken' - the Japanese word for the game. 

My thoughts
Personally, I think this is all a waste of time. Not to be an obviously shallow way to get players to spend AG money on free Gummies. I think Ameba could spend their time developing and adding more interesting things to Pico.

I'd rather have fishing. What about you?

AG Elitists?

Many Pico players are what I call "AG Elitists". Because they purchase Ameba Gold they think that they own Pico and that they're better than everyone. But how come? To enjoy a good life Picos simply need to be happy for the things you have in Pico that money can't buy: great friends with good hearts, fun times, a little space (room) of your own, etc.

Is AG really needed to enjoy Pico? ...
Players who live with this elitist attitude believe that wearing clothing and furnishing their rooms with decor bought with Ameba Gold is what makes time in Pico worthwhile. It's really not.

• There's nothing wrong with owning things that you like. But remember!: those things don't make you a better person. Owning virtual items in a game isn't more useful to your life. When a Pico looks down on another because they don't own AG items, it all becomes a big waste of money. It would be better for them to buy real food with that money instead.
• The way AG Elitists look at Pico life can be hurtful to others. Some AG Elitists call others who don't have AG "poor b*tches" and things that are much worse. What a horrible way to act towards others! Not to mention that is it against Ameba's Terms of Service to harass others.
• There are a lot of great things you can buy with Gummies or Tokens. AG isn't absolutely needed to buy and own some nice items. And ... with Gummies and Tokens you actually have to earn them; save up and buy them. For people who - for whatever reason - can't buy AG, this is really practical. Some people choose not to waste money on this game. 

Why do some Picos always wear AG clothes? For Picos who have a bad attitude this means ...

• They want to prove that they're rich. This really means that they are arrogant and insecure. Maybe they feel that there is no good part of their personality that people will like ... so they think having AG things will make them likeable.
• They want a boy or girl to tell them that they are "pretty or handsome".  Style is what you have. Not what you buy.
• They want others to be jealous of them and what they have.
• They are looking for a reason to make themselves feel - somehow - better than others ("elitists").

Players like me a quite happy to have clothing and decor items - even actions! - that we cost Gummies or Tokens. These things are nice and simple. "Nice and simple" is my preference and I like saving up and buying these items. Of course, if you have Gummies and Tokens you can't buy everything that Pico has to offer, but it doesn't affect how much you can enjoy the game. In the same way not all items in Pico can by bought with AG. Have you noticed that?

Why spend your time daydreaming about AG and all the things you can buy with it? This type of thinking could lead to becoming arrogant, mean, and putting yourself at a distance from other people. These ideas of "richness" and "wealth" are just silly.

Let's focus on being good people and having fun - however you choose to spend your money or time.

Thank you for reading.

Mysterious Prank

With all the hubbub of the New Year Japanese items, Tokyo Japan is busting with Picos ogling at the shiny new things. Nakamise street of course has a few full servers, but I was curious when I saw that Sensouji temple was full with a waiting list of 75 people. Clearly, something big must be going on! I waited a good 15 - 20 minutes before I got in.



When I arrived, people were lined up at the stairs of the temple, bowing their heads off. I went around asking what they were doing and they explained that someone told them that if they bow to the Sensouji temple, it will give them Ameba Gold. Knowing it couldn't be true, I took a second look at Pico's official information releases and discovered in fact, no information about this event was mentioned. It's a fake.



This is quite a grand-scale prank! Whoever started it convinced enough people to make a mad rush for the temple and cause a substantial waiting line. Of course, Picos started disbursing once they figured out they've been scammed, but I'm quite impressed. The entire prank probably lasted a good two hours, but I consider that monumental in Pico history! A few users claimed that "Sugar Boy" started the rumor, but the only "Sugar Boy" I was able to find in a search had 0 friends and noob clothes, so he is probably not the culprit.

Let me make an official statement:
Bowing at the Sensouji Temple does not earn you Ameba Gold.

Sorry folks!

Lots of love,
Ayuhime xoxo

Ameba Gold Inflation

In economics, inflation is a rise in the general level of prices of goods and services in an economy over a period of time. When the general price level rises, each unit of currency buys fewer goods and services.

Hmm, sounds a little like what's happening now, doesn't it?

I mean, check out these pastel blocks! I mean, HOW EXCITING, RIGHT? Surely they must cost gummies like the rest of the blocks in the game because that would make se ...

Wait... what? 100 gold??? Yeah, okay, it's for 10 of them, but for the amount of blocks one needs to actually build, this price is outrageous! I mean, first they overload us with premium gachas, and now this. I really am starting to think that the Pico economy is suffering ...

LOOK! I've even resorted to stri-- I mean, entertaining in the adult-exclusive industry to make my money! Every Sunday, The Hound has demanded that I come and dance at his villa.

This just isn't fair! Something needs to be done, and fast! Pico is slowly turning into a paid game, which is going to lose A LOT of players. Facebook games are supposed to be generally free to play with a FEW extras to pay for.

Geez all I blog about is gold complaints lately. Sorry for my BORING!

Love,

Ayuhime xoxoxo

Premium Gacha Overload

My dearest Ameba, (by the way, is it ah-mii-bah or uh-meh-buh? I say the latter)

I am very impressed with you lately. The features you have implemented to our beloved Pico game has really given Pigg a contender. And of course, the items that you're spilling out are lovely! But really, I'm going broke. And honestly, I can only do so many surveys before my brain turns to pudding.

I'm really enjoying dancing the Picorena on my epilepsy tiles, too.

Of course, I am very pleased with the cool new stuff! Don't get me wrong, but it's just... too much too soon; the opposite of too little too late... you get me? Look what you've turned me into! A junkie, that's right. JUNKIE! I'm scrounging for gold here!

IMVU vs. Pico

Hello Picozoids!

Like the rest of you, I am desperate for gold. It doesn't help that Ameba has been releasing new items every freakin' day for the past three weeks! Between premium gacha, halloween costumes, and now AWESOME WIGS, how can you NOT be tempted to sell your soul to get this stuff?

So instead of exhausting my bank account, (which I've already done at this point >____>; ) I've tried doing some offers. When my brain has had enough surveys, and I couldn't possibly send myself any more coupons in the mail, I decided to fulfill the IMVU offer for 240 gold. The shtick is to sign up, do some shopping, dress your avatar, furnish your room, and go chat.

I wish I knew what I was getting myself into.
First of all, Ayuhime was TAKEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So I settled for ayuhlme (LOL) and off I went.

Step 1: Sign up
Nothing really terrible about this part... pick a username, password, enter your birthday (gotta be 18+). Now you pick a base look, you can change it later.



Yes, it gives you a preview of your gigantic booty. PROCEED!

Step 2: Go shopping
These clowns are generous enough to start you out with a bunch of options for hair, face, and clothing, so pick something. Don't want to look like a sex addict? Too bad.

Continue shopping for your slutty outfit and try not to have a seizure from all of the BLINKING and SPARKLING going on in the item descriptions. Seriously, every item is an animated gif with sparkling and blinking and seizures.

Oh, this old thing? Oh no no it's just from my young days as a prostitute.

Yes, there's IMVU Ayuhime. Try finding an outfit that doesn't make you look like a coke addict stripper, please.

3: Furnish your room
Again, IMVU supplies you with furniture, but good luck placing it into your room.

The camera is adjustable and very jumpy, your avatar cannot move about freely (you choose from predetermined places on the furniture to sit or stand on), and you must SCALE the furniture once it is placed. So you can make a couch gigantic, or on the wall (your avatar WILL sit in it!)

The controls are counter intuitive and a pain to maneuver. I barely placed a lamp and a chair and had had enough. LOL!

Oh, and here's one of those predetermined poses I mentioned.



Really?

Step 4: Chat

Go to chat and you'll find that the chat rooms have an incredibly small capacity (10 or less) and are always full. Plus, they're user made. So the names are "YO YO MAD FAT BEATS PLAYA #1 SHOW IN TOWN DOG" or "sundown suicide emo club." I didn't really feel like going to those...
If you manage to get into a room, the environment will take about 10 minutes to load, as well as your avatar.

All in all, IMVU is really not built that great. The interface is not user friendly, the graphics are slow and choppy, and it's just not fun.

Plus, I never got my gold.

Do yourself a favor and keep enjoying Pico, don't bother with IMVU, and have a lovely night my dears.

xoxoxoxo,
Ayuhime

Say WHAT???!

For the next 10 days you have a chance of winning up to 100 Ameba Gold by just logging into Pico!!!

Ameba is treating us to a lil' dose of Ameba Gold (AG) LOVE! If you're special or rather lucky ... you'll win AG from your Daily Scratch Card!!! From what I can make out from their official notice they're mixing in AG with Gummies? So be sure to log in for the next 10 days to see if you're one of the lucky people who will get a daily bonus of AG instead of Gummies!