Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Shuttin' Down

This blog hasn't been open for very long, but unfortunately, I don't think I'll be able to maintain it. :( I started this blog because I loved writing, and Pico, and since there were more than one, I jumped at the opportunity to be able to do it myself. But truthfully, I can't see this blog going anywhere like some of the more well known blogs. I don't have the time to maintain it on my own.
As much as it pains me to do so, I won't be updating this any further. Truthfully, I would absolutely love to continue blogging, but by myself I just can't accomplish it, especially when not many people seem to read it anyway.

So this is me, making my final post, and signing out. It's been real, everyone who's actually read my stuff, and I really appreciate it from all of you.
I'll still be around in the Pico world of course. Once all this strange hacker business blows over, I'll be glad to talk to any one of you guys. :)

Thursday, March 3, 2011

Anniversary Celebrations

Just like its older sibling, Pico is also celebrating an anniversary. In honor of this, a charming new feature was added.
In Pigg, when you rang a doorbell, the ring was replaced with a giant, bazooka-like gun that shot confetti into the room. Pico's is less drastic, but still very cute enough. After ringing the nicely decorated bell, a tophat falls on top of your pico, bursting into a pair of doves that hold up a banner that indicates Pico's first anniversary.
It's sure motivated me to ring as many rooms as I can~

Happy Birthday Pico!!
 
 
Another new feature is the enlarged head action. Typing /1st into your box causes your Pico's head to grow three times its normal size, making you look like an amusing bobblehead. 


I love this action okay. :| lmfao!
Who knows how long these will last though, so use them as much as you can!

Time for ninja training~

To my delight signing in today, I found out that there was another quest for us to do! Since we haven't had any since Christmas, I was completely psyched for our new tasks. Looks like Pico's sincerely taking in our suggestions! Not too long ago, they asked us for our opinion in a survey.

Upon first entry, I notice that Jokamachi has undergone a subtle redesign. I kinda like it.




Our quest leader this time is Sasuke (do I see a Naruto reference in this?) and just like the Pet Farm quest, we've got access to some interesting and secret areas, though these don't seem to serve any other purpose
Compared to other ones, this one is a little more than just the cut and dry deliver-this-message-to-my-secret-love. Pico's thrown in a few mini-games to speed the entertainment process, and add in some challenge, which I just love.
You've also got energy, which is basically the limit to which you can do ninja tasks. When this meter goes out, you can't fulfill any more quests, until you refill it. The only way to do so, is to buy rice balls from the new shop that opened, or to wait 12 hours for it to refill for free. If you're the patient type, I suggest waiting, as the rice balls do cost gold.


This little orange bar is your energy meter.
 
Our first quest is relatively simple: wipe the floors with the rag to fill up the meter.
Nothing all that different from the deck mopping task.




The second quest is where it gets a bit trickier. After entering the dojo, you need to run around so that the scarf you're wearing doesn't trail on the ground, as the meter fills. This task isn't terribly difficult to complete, all you really need to do is click around the room rapidly.



For the third quest, we enter the realm of things that can really get frustrating. In a classic game of "catch the flag," we've got to scale across that huge building that borders Jokamachi, to grab a flag, and bring it back to the enthusiastic looking guy by the tower. You know, the one we would see upon entering Jokamachi before the quests. The catch, however, is the invisible tiles that, when stepped on, will send your pico crashing to the ground, and have to start again. The tiles stay visible after you've stepped on them though, so it's easy to see which ones are faulty spots after a while. They also seem to randomize with each time you retry the quest, after finishing it initially of course.

Our fourth quest is a task of stealth. We have to deliver a letter to the hooded woman (who's surprisingly the lady who's always told us to sit in the Edo hallway!) at the end of the street. Constantly patrolling though are the Ninja Police, who will send you straight to the beginning if you're caught!
This task has the potential to look a lot harder than it really is. There will be an almost constant stream of police officers patrolling, but they don't have a very good radius of view. Basically, you need to be directly in front of their line of sight, for it to count as being seen. I suggest putting on some kind of ninja gear, as you run much more quickly when you're dressed as a ninja. And don't forget to use the cover sheet that you're given! It comes in handy.

The final quest is by far the most challenging. This one has you hopping across lily pads, trying to get to both the midpoint, and the exit. It's a bit of a platformer, in the sense that you need to time your jumps well. I experienced a lot of glitches in this due to server lag, so it took me several tries to complete it. And don't forget not to jump on the pads with flowers on them! You'll automatically fall.

The final new addition is the Completion box, that will sometimes pop around as you're doing training. This contains up to thirty randomized items, and when you collect all of them, you'll receive the interesting "Legendary Ninja Suit."
I'm kind of curious to see what it actually looks like.
You will get doubles of some items, since some are rarer than others. The box is also not strictly for your eyes, so other picos will be going for whatever is inside.

Good luck!!

Monday, February 21, 2011

The next Beethoven?

As I was ringing rooms today, I stumbled across あむあむ's lovely room. Surrounded on all sides by winter blocks, it's like a rain of security and flurries wrap you in this bitterly cold, yet warm blanket. There's an overall coziness about it, but what really got my attention, was the beautifully made piano by the side. As opposed to using an organ, あむあむ has taken it upon themself to create their own piano, and might I say that the results are fantastic.

Even A.Hussie, my panda decided to try playing the keys!


 A skillful mix of piano keys and blocks, this organist creation looks like a captivating and incredible creation, despite how simple it may look. I especially love the roses and heart blocks! A lovely touch. :)

All in all, あむあむ's room is definitely worth checking out, and that piano sure looks like it could use some playing. B)

Friday, February 18, 2011

All hail the casino!!

As you all may have noticed, the casino 5x payout is back! I was having the roughest time trying to win like I had been, and for another week now we all can!


I had about five times this amount when I was done, lol

I've been trying to win the gold card for quite some time now, but it doesn't seem that I've won enough this month. (I could have sworn it was 50k, and I'm at 60 now....Oh well.)
But I did get enough for that sweet flatscreen TV! Anybody who wants to come around and watch it is totally welcome! :D  
Man do I love that casino. That's probably where I'll be for the next week, lol.

Hurrhurr, I won 420.

Thursday, February 17, 2011

Pico Scam!

I've asked two popular Pico blogs to also do this, but just in case, I'll put it here also as a warning.
Pico's posted two notices about security breaches, and how they're doing their best to step up their security. Recently, a message has been going around to several Pico users through Facebook. This person is pretending to be the Pico Administrators, claiming that you need to input your login information into a suspicious website.

DO NOT DO IT. IT IS A SCAM, AND YOU WILL LOSE YOUR ACCOUNT. 

The user goes by the name "Pico Admln" and sends a convincing note that may look something along these lines: 

Dear Ameba Pico Online

We have detected suspicious activity in Ameba Pico Online you and will immediately suspend your account as a security precaution. We've issued a warning to you via email, but you do not respond to our notice. Therefore, your account will be immediately terminated, and will not be reinstated for any reason.

*ENTER YOUR EMAIL ACCOUNT*
You can get back control of your account by logging into
[Link removed]
and follow the instructions on the screen.

Note: If Within 12 hours, you have not verified your account on our links, then you have ignored our notifications. Therefore, your account is permanently suspended, and will from not be reactivated for any reason.

Thank's
Admin Ameba Pico 


This is NOT a legitimate Pico account! Pico Admins will never need to ask for your login information! Please, protect your account information, never give it out to anyone, no matter who they are. If it sounds too good to be true, it usually is. Should you get a message like this, please immediately report them to both Pico and Facebook.
Together we can make Pico safe for everyone~

Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Immaturity?

It's been a long time since my last post, I know. I've been sort of busy with school, and for a while I lost all motivation to do pico blogging. But I'm going to try starting again!
Now I know this is a couple days late, but I want to address something a little concerning when I noticed Pico was having that maintenance which lasted longer than we expected. I took a look at their Facebook page, and wandered down to some of the comments.
What I saw was downright concerning, to say the least.

Now I know that the general audience of Pico is quite young, around 11-15 years old. But I myself find that no excuse for some of the conduct that I saw in those comments. A few users (whose names I will leave anonymous to preserve privacy) were shouting threats, obscenities, complaining, and generally being impatient.
I could certainly understand the disappointment (I mean hey I had to go to class in half an hour, and I had no Pico to tide me over), but it seems to me that everyone was missing the point of the maintenance: To make Pico better. They don't shut the site down for hours because they like it, they're addressing the errors that pop up, the very same ones that some of the very same people had complained about in discussion boards. And yes, sometimes maintenance will take longer than expected because something goes wrong.

But what got me the most, was when one girl posted, wondering why everyone was so upset, when Pico wasn't the world.
These people attacked her. Not disagreed, attacked. They went after the way she looked, her name, her background, anything they could find by just clicking on her profile. They ganged up and bullied her, and frankly it sickened me. To the point at which I was compelled to report every single one.
We're all here for the same reason. Because we like Pico. We like the community, and we like the features. So why exactly do we have to attack each other? And also attack the staff of Pico because they're -gasp- doing their jobs?

I was pretty damn disappointed in those people.