Brace urselves for a long post kay? :P
Why did I start playing AJ?
So I started played aj when I was 12, which is an ok age.... (AKA 4 years ago) I saw an ad for it in one of my natgeo kids magazines (I'm obsessed with animals) and I was thinking maybe I should give it a try (bad move). I created an account (with my moms email cuz I was innocent) and I joined the world of jamaa! It was rlly cute and everything... I created my wolf (I had a boy-ish look cuz I wanted it to represent a real wolf) and I went to those 30min interval parties and played games and got outfits and created my den! I wasn't hooked to aj yet that time tho
Experience of 1st year on AJ
I gotta say, it didn't start out so well :( when I created my wolf (boy-ish look), a girl came to me and asked if I'm a boy. I was quite surprised cuz u know, kids weren't supposed to "hook up" but I played along and said I'm a girl in real life and she's like 'oh'. Then the rest were all fine... Played games and stuff and got friends :)
Then few weeks later, I created another girlier acc that goes by Sandstorm3177! I still use it sometimes :P few weeks of playing on sandstorm, I got quite hooked to it... I wanted member stuff like the golden bow and arrow so I begged my dad for membership, in which he agreed to give me 12 months membership. I was so happy! I immediately bought member only stuff. Back then members had monthly member gifts which was way better compared to weekly diamonds.
Then I started getting obsessed over getting the rare bow and arrow. Since then I stopped playing games and stopped learning and I juz wanted to become rare (still do :P)
Then one day, bam! I got hacked cuz I have out my password! Coral24 promised me that she could enter a headdress code (headdress was a bomb then and still are) if I would give my user and pass... Which I did. Being a 12 y.o I started crying and crying and begging AJHQ to give my items back in which they responded with a tone saying 'NEVER! It's all ur fault! Now deal with it, peasant!' But I got over it prtty quick and decided to be a normal jammer and hv fun. That's when I had my first AJ boyfriend :L yes, I played along... This guy went all 'who likes me go to my den' and I went and he said 'I choose duchess' which is my wolf and I was like 'omg I'm the lucky girl!' But on that AJ relationship, nothing happened... Once we "broke up" I admit, I also started 'who likes me, my den' and I chose the nicest looking guy. That's when the weird sex stuff started to happen and I literally freaked out! I don't wanna get into details D:
2nd year experience on AJ
AJ was still good in 2013, except being rare was the only way to be "cool". That's when I discovered our dearly beloved, Aldan, land of the rares. Founders and orange beards and black mech helm were the rarest items back then and everyone wanted them. And that's where "Flash Trade" was introduced (thanks Julian2 for ruining everyone's life). I was a victim of this scam many times and I admit, it is my fault for falling for it. I knew perfectly what was gonna happen but I still went for it... So yes, getting scammed is my fault :)
I started getting rare slowly and had my first tail armor and headdress... I was rlly fond of those items! And I kept trading and towards the end I got rare prtty quick... And I was addicted!
3rd year experience of AJ
This is where everything started hitting rock bottom. AJHQ brought out the Forgotten Desert adventure and it drove everyone mental cuz rares came out... In my opinion, it was exciting XD I can finally get rare! So I played and played and played. And I didn't stop at all. My parents refused to get me membership so instead, I bought membership frm my own money. I also started a YouTube channel on animaljam to get some fame (u could see how serious I was abt this game and how hooked I am)
Then a new scam came! The "trust trade"! The one trade we all hate so much! Everyone started doing it since it was rather effective with jammers like me (I'm so naive). Since 2011, the number of scammers hv gradually increased, including the number of adults playing. This one hacked known as fman smthg, was an adult who knew how to hack. Pretty much all hackers are adults.
4th year experience on AJ
Now by this time, I am 16 y.o and still playing animal jam. Yes, it is very addicting as tho AJ is a dollhouse keeping everyone trapped. By 2015, AJ is filled with teenagers and adults. It's a total nightmare for children. In Aldan, everyone is swearing (I confess I swear a lot on animal jam) and now, everyone is obsessed with rares. Everyone fighting to be the rarest jammer. Scams and hackers everywhere! Nothing but trading! It's like an online apocalypse! Even AJHQ is not doing a very good job anymore. Recently, AJHQ took away one of my valuable item and I emailed them countless times and all they did was tell me not to give my password out to anyone and then they juz simply ignore me. Also whenever I report someone, AJHQ does nothing abt it... It takes a while continent of ppl to report one person juz to suspend them.... However, when I did nothing wrong and simply wrote 'haha kk :3' they restricted my chat to bubble chat. That's so not fair!
Other things I been doing during those period of time:
Nothing. I gave up art classes, martial arts. I don't do my hw. I barely read. I have real video games like 'Assassin's Creed' and 'Devil May Cry' but I don't play those cuz I chose AJ over them. Skyrim not counted. I'm addicted to that too :P I stay up late juz to play AJ... I literally don't hv a life anymore...
So conclusion:
Pros of AJ:
- making new friends
- customizing cute animals
- educational
Cons of AJ:
- Sexual activities
- too much scams and hacks
- poor moderation
- poor customer service
- too much swearing
- too addicting
So these are all the pros and cons in case anyone wanna check em out
There are also other reviews that u can find on google from actual parents in case no one believes a 16 y.o that is addicted to AJ...
Thanks for ur time for reading