WQ 10th Anniversity: Your Memories

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loboLoco
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WQ 10th Anniversity: Your Memories

Post by loboLoco » Fri Dec 08, 2017 8:50 pm

Along with the video documentary that we're making to commemorate the 10th anniversary of WolfQuest, we'd love to read written memories of the early days of the game.

* What has WolfQuest meant to you?
* Has WolfQuest inspired you in some way?
* What role has the WolfQuest community played in your life?

Anything along those lines, good or bad -- we'd love to see it! Please share your reminiscences here!
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Re: WQ 10th Anniversity: Your Memories

Post by Wolvencall » Sat Dec 09, 2017 9:22 am

WolfQuest is what got me into Ecology and on my path to my biology and ecology degree. It's helped me to get more into the study how one species or keystone species can effect everything around it and it's motivated me to further my knowledge and teach others about such a phenomenal occurrence in nature. WolfQuest's community has helped me to expand my conversational abilities in constructed ways, especially when talking about dicey topics such as wolves themselves. I've learned that wolves are indeed both good and bad just as people are and that there is no clear cut solution to wolf management but it is clear that they need to stay in the American northwest to maintain a healthy ecosystem.

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Re: WQ 10th Anniversity: Your Memories

Post by Chipara » Sun Dec 10, 2017 6:03 pm

Wolf Quest was my escape. I suffer from Anxiety and Chronic Depression, and often felt overwhelmed. I've bee described as "Self-Destructive", and WQ gave me a distraction. On days I felt like giving up, I would try and get certain achievements, or have all my pups survive on 'Bring it On'. I have (I'm not kidding) bought WQ *3* separate times just to work on getting those achievements. Haha.
In all seriousness, I may not still be here if this game wasn't made. It sounds cliche, but it's so true.

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Re: WQ 10th Anniversity: Your Memories

Post by DaniBeez » Sun Dec 10, 2017 8:45 pm

I became so involved with the project because its community aligned with my interests in art and science. One of my favourite aspects of the community was the creative side; I have posted numerous artworks and stories to the forum over the years. My participation helped shape my artistic and written communication abilities. Members of the WolfQuest community have supported me as an artist and helped me start my online presence.

I also think that this community has influenced the direction of my career, at least in part. While I am not a wolf biologist or even an ecologist, I'm still pursuing a Master of Science that is based in biology. WolfQuest fostered my interest in wolves, but also the value of being able to conduct science and communicate it to the masses.

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Re: WQ 10th Anniversity: Your Memories

Post by Phasoli » Mon Dec 11, 2017 3:54 pm

Back in 2013, I had actually discovered WolfQuest by mistake, because I was searching for the movie Balto 3: Wolf Quest. At the time, the game was the best thing since sliced bread, and making an account to play in Multiplayer was absolutely magical. I truly wanted to be a wolf at that age, and WolfQuest was the closest thing to it. I had played it consistently for years to come, learning to roleplay and cooperate with people from all over the world. The game has inspired so many stories and artwork over the years. I owe a lot of the facts present in an early draft of a wolf novel I had been writing at the time to the gameplay of WolfQuest!

The game has taught me so much without words, which is one of the things that I love most about it. It allows the players to experience and feel their way through wolf life, and ultimately learn how to be a successful wolf. The game is so a part of me now, with the recent addition of the community, that I could never imagine my life without it.

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Re: WQ 10th Anniversity: Your Memories

Post by Writers Block » Tue Dec 12, 2017 8:56 am

WolfQuest was my first internet community, and my first internet home. I made friends here that have changed my lives for the better and some of them I still keep in touch with to this day! WQ introduced me to RPing, which I still do to this day and find extremely therapeutic and introspective; I probably wouldn't have gotten into it if I didn't have so many helpful senior members to guide me through my first roleplay waters, and then I wouldn't have the support system that RP is for me today. WQ was also where I first started writing for real. I wrote my first story here, the characters of which I still hold dear to my heart. It's because of how friendly and encouraging everyone was on User Writers that I felt confident in my ability to keep working and improving! I've posted works in places like dA, tumblr, and sometimes even other forums, but my work never got as much feedback (especially positive feedback!) as it has here.

I could go on, but in short WolfQuest introduced me to some wonderful forms of art that I still dabble in to these days that have drastically shaped my view of the world and who I am today.

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Re: WQ 10th Anniversity: Your Memories

Post by paperpaws » Tue Dec 12, 2017 9:30 am

I would say WolfQuest played a large role in my teenage years especially. The game really excited me from Amethyst Mountain Deluxe up until the first release of Slough Creek, and both during and after that, the forums offered me a nice retreat where I found friends and a supportive, down-to-earth community. I definitely have some good memories sharing stories, artwork, and real-life troubles with these people. Although I've moved on from many of the people and various hobbies WolfQuest put me in contact with, they are good memories.

I believe that alongside that, WolfQuest has helped me grow more comfortable in socialising, critical and scientific thinking, and something as simple as communicating in English - things that still positively affect me today. Nowadays, the community is a comforting constant to me. In a way, I've also grown to feel responsible for it, which is why I do not intend to give up my moderator role any time soon despite not having actively played the game in ages outside of 2.7's beta testing.

In short, I suppose WolfQuest has not only been a source of entertainment to me, but also a place and community to turn to throughout the years. It warms my heart to see posts pop up even now of new players discovering the game, or expressing their raw excitement about the upcoming content. I hope the project can positively impact these new people in the way it has already done for many others in the past decade.

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Re: WQ 10th Anniversity: Your Memories

Post by PearlyReborn » Wed Dec 13, 2017 7:00 am

WolfQuest has helped me learn about wolves more than anything else. The interaction between player and game cannot be underestimated, and has tremendous potential as a teaching tool.
Wolfquest has been a part of my life ever since 2013, and I wouldn't want it any other way. It's awesome to see myself grow alongside the game.

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Re: WQ 10th Anniversity: Your Memories

Post by Windstrider » Sun Dec 17, 2017 12:48 am

It's been a source of entertainment, education, community, and friendships for me since (I think) 4th or 5th grade-ish. I was about 12 years old when I first found it and it's been a major part of my life ever since. I love seeing how the game has grown and changed, and the community has become my main social area besides school, and I've met all kinds of cool and interesting people on here, and made all kinds of awesome friends. So it actually plays an even bigger role for me now than it did when I was a kid who had recently become obsessed with anything wolf-related. It's pretty hard to imagine life without it, because even during the school year or when I'm otherwise busy and am not on the game very much at all, I drop in and talk to people on the forums on a daily basis.

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Re: WQ 10th Anniversity: Your Memories

Post by Jeames » Tue Dec 19, 2017 1:07 pm

* What has WolfQuest meant to you?
A lot, a whole lot. WolfQuest was the first game I downloaded online when I first went onto the internet. It made wolves my favorite animals, and the game and the site actually taught me the English language. I would have never gotten fluent in English had it not been for the game and the forums. It's my childhood game, and the best animal simulation game I know. And I would literally cry if one day this ride ended (I swear I will eventually be 80 years old and still play this game).

* Has WolfQuest inspired you in some way?
Well, WolfQuest has inspired me to draw wolves and write about wolves; I've written several stories in the past, and I've drawn quite a lot, haha.

* What role has the WolfQuest community played in your life?
Basically everything. The community has taught me the English language, as well as helped me socialize with others. I'm very much an introvert and have social anxiety, and coming online and talking to people on the forums has always been better to me than conversations in my personal life, hehe...

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Re: WQ 10th Anniversity: Your Memories

Post by Loach » Wed Dec 20, 2017 4:17 am

I found WolfQuest back when I was 11-12 year old, about right when I first started using the internet. It was the kind of game I always wanted, and gave me the revelation that things are always being discovered and that nothing is as clearcut as it seems. It's also the game that seriously got me interested into game-development to the point I finally started learning modeling and animation. The continued production and support of the game has even renewed my interest in development work as a whole, and I've since begun taking my private studies much more seriously until I can afford to take more proper courses in computer science and/or 3d animation, to pursue my own projects! (If that never comes to be, I hope to become a wildlife illustrator). A lot of my personal little Unity Projects I'm hoping to tackle with the free time I'll be gaining next year are very much influenced by WQ as a whole as well.

When I first found this game it was back when it was just Amethyst Mountain Deluxe, and the chat had been free reign of text at the time. The community was very lively, and I remember a lot of concern over the safety of the chat system and the intense debates over it. Those debates taught me how to have such conversations maturely, and to best look for solutions, or at least middle-ground compromises.

It was also a time in my life that gave me some sort of stability. Back then it was often for my family to move every other year or so, so homes, schools, and faces I was around always changed, but those I played with in the game and talked with on the boards amazingly remained the same during my active time here (and many of them are still here, which is a very pleasant surprise). When Multiplayer was going through it's 'spiral' before its changes I sort of shifted to being more of a solo player (since most of the people I actually played the game with no longer were active, and communication in game was difficult), and had visited the site less due to focus on other things, but even then I continued to play the game, in singleplayer form, when I had the time.

WQ has very much been a constant in my life since I've found it and coming back to the boards was like returning home after spending years abroad. #Adulting and my gained maturity from age has given me less time and brought some obvious personal change, but the atmosphere of the game and my love for it stays the same.

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Re: WQ 10th Anniversity: Your Memories

Post by cloudlover07 » Wed Dec 20, 2017 9:09 pm

When I first started playing this game I wanted to be a veterinarian so badly, or biologist. I do believe I began playing around the time bears were added. I used to pretend that the elk were pregnant (I had an active imagination), and I would go over by the cliffs in Amethyst, imagining what it would look like when Lamar Valley became its own map, or the map would be expanded. When 2.5 came out I was so thrilled about the idea of raising pups. I was devastated when the grant money ran out, for many years I almost forgot about wolfquest as I focused on school. Then, I found Seri the Pixel Biologist, and my passion for the game came back. I had begged my parents for 2.7. (I believe either earlier this year, or late last year.) Once I got to play it, I fell back in love with the game. I've been playing ever since. :)

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Re: WQ 10th Anniversity: Your Memories

Post by 2wolf22 » Tue Jan 30, 2018 4:24 pm

Wolfquest means a lot to me. It is the best simulator game ever! It has helped me learn all about wolves. I am very happy the game has prospered so long and it hasn't even died down. I started without an account a year ago being 12. Me and my twin, 44wolfquest, loved it and we still do. I show everyone elk carcasses and enjoy having friends and family watch me play it. 8) I learned so much about animals and was happy to create an account here and in game. Multiplayer is enjoyable and it made me find even more to do on a long loved value of this game.

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Re: WQ 10th Anniversity: Your Memories

Post by WolfDragonPlasma » Thu Mar 08, 2018 11:57 pm

I fondly remember playing WolfQuest when I was in late middle school; I can't remember when exactly I downloaded the game, but I remember the days where it was just Amethyst Mountain, Episode 2 was a dream, and Episode 3 was mostly a figment of our imagination if a thought at all. I remember the days when the only animals in the game were wolves, coyotes, hares, and elk, and all the elk, no matter how much health they had or whether or not it was a bull or cow, ran from you. Oh, and after meeting and bonding with your mate, if you left the area that you found and bonded with them in, they disappeared without a trace and you were on your own again XD
I also vaguely remember the black coat from the original pelt set having darker rings on the tail as well, but I don't know when that changed.
Knowing all this, I think it's safe to say that after these 10 years and beyond, WolfQuest has come a long way from its simple beginnings, and I'm glad I could be a part of it even as an off-and-on player.

* What has WolfQuest meant to you?
WolfQuest is one of very, very few games where you get to actually play as a wolf, with the only other game I know of of that nature being Okami. For that very reason, it meant a lot to me. The fact you got a glimpse at the life of a wolf was great too. I always looked forward to playing as one of my many wolf avatars whenever I got home from school, even when my computer wasn't exactly up to snuff for it XD

* Has WolfQuest inspired you in some way?
With the setting of WolfQuest being in Yellowstone, it became one of my first experiences with Yellowstone, and I think from then on it became one of my dreams to go there. Fast forward to the summer of 2016, and suddenly I was experiencing Yellowstone for myself XD Didn't get to see any predators within the actual park (nor did we get far enough to be in the Lamar Valley area before running out of time), but we did get to see geysers, hot springs, hot bubbling mud pits, a couple elk, and then bison by the boatload; cows with calves too. It was an incredible experience, and I honestly hope I get to go back there someday to see the rest of the park.
So, yeah. I have a feeling that, without WolfQuest, I may not have been so eager to practically beg my parents to go down to Yellowstone when we went to Montana that year XD

* What role has the WolfQuest community played in your life?
To be honest, the community is something I got into very late in life; I did look through the forums to check on stuff, and I did occasionally play a multiplayer game or two when it'd let me connect back when the game was still young, but I was never actually a member of the forums until September of 2015. Given how young and distrustful of the internet I was back then, when multiplayer games became so you had to be a member of the forum to play them, that was basically the end of me trying to connect with others, and I didn't start playing multiplayer games again until just last year. Since then, I came to know the community as basically like any other: it's got its good and great people, and its fair share of...not so good people, to put it nicely.
So, the community doesn't have much of a role in my life, but that doesn't mean it's a bad community or anything; I'm just really late to the party and kind of still feel like an outcast, but not an unwanted one XD

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