http://www.virtualpetlist.com/ Are you in the process of developing your own virtual game? How about managing your own game or looking to create your own pet site or SIM game? Everything including running, managing and even ideas can be found in our virtual pet information forum. en Tue, 21 May 2013 15:56:25 GMT vBulletin 60 http://www.virtualpetlist.com/images/styles/DeFraction/misc/rss.png http://www.virtualpetlist.com/ http://www.virtualpetlist.com/showthread.php/16463-Dealing-with-suicide-threats-in-your-community?goto=newpost Sun, 19 May 2013 17:09:35 GMT Dealing with suicide threats is never fun or pleasant and is often stressful. *Suicide and Self-Harm* Young people under stress or experiencing... Dealing with suicide threats is never fun or pleasant and is often stressful.

Suicide and Self-Harm
Young people under stress or experiencing home problems or bullying may seek to harm themselves. On occasion you may come across a player stating a desire to commit suicide or cut themselves (the latter being prevalent in the Emo community).

In these circumstances it's important for a Moderator to remember that site staff are not trained counsellors and cannot help young people with their personal problems directly. However the player should be given access to telephone numbers or website addresses for approved organisations who can offer free confidential help and support to young people in these circumstances.

Childline is always a good catchall for teen issues, but there is also:

http://www.selfharm.co.uk
http://www.talktofrank.com/
http://www.getconnected.org.uk

Moderators should send an Alert to the player with a telephone number and website address for the Samaritans or Childline. If the player continues, the Moderator should Mute them and contact their manager for advice. If you feel that a player is in immediate danger, for instance they are threatening to kill themselves, you should contact the police immediately with the contact details of the player (found in Billing Details if they've purchased anything).

If the player is upsetting others, you will want to either Mute them or Hide their threads (in the forums). Send them a note explaining why you're doing this (keep it professional and concise). Remember that your primary responsibility is to the site and its community - talk to a manager for advice if you're worried or unsure about anything in this guide. ]]> Virtual pet information TheWizard http://www.virtualpetlist.com/showthread.php/16463-Dealing-with-suicide-threats-in-your-community http://www.virtualpetlist.com/showthread.php/16445-Gambling-features-do-you-like-them?goto=newpost Fri, 17 May 2013 16:35:18 GMT I've always been a fan of games that have slots machine and other gambling features like Scratchcards because I love to try my luck sometimes. So are you a fan of gambling features or do you dislike these type of features? ]]> Virtual pet information cpvr http://www.virtualpetlist.com/showthread.php/16445-Gambling-features-do-you-like-them http://www.virtualpetlist.com/showthread.php/16434-What-would-the-public-like?goto=newpost Thu, 16 May 2013 19:03:10 GMT I really want to make an adoptable site. Like dragon cave. I don't know if I should stick to one theme or do different animals. My first idea was to do tarantulas because I have some and they come in so many different colors. But people don't like spiders. Then I thought birds there are so many birds and you can make fantasy birds. But I'm not sure if that's boring. I don't want to make another dragon site, you know because there are so many. What do you guys think or want to see in a site?

EDIT: Another idea I had was I could do all sorts of real animals (bugs, dogs, cats, birds, JELLYFISH) and make fantasy ones too. >_> Idk ]]> Virtual pet information Fiala http://www.virtualpetlist.com/showthread.php/16434-What-would-the-public-like http://www.virtualpetlist.com/showthread.php/16429-Fiverr-com-Marketing?goto=newpost Thu, 16 May 2013 01:06:47 GMT Has anyone used Fiverr.com to find people to advertise your website to their *number here* twitter/facebook/youtube followers? I will need to have... Has anyone used Fiverr.com to find people to advertise your website to their *number here* twitter/facebook/youtube followers? I will need to have some sort of advertising campaign for my kickstart/indiegogo and I figured five bucks isn't too bad, but you get what you pay for. I don't want to invest more than $200 on advertising.

Anyone else have any ideas on how to promote the fundraisers? ]]> Virtual pet information BigThinker http://www.virtualpetlist.com/showthread.php/16429-Fiverr-com-Marketing http://www.virtualpetlist.com/showthread.php/16366-Pages-opened-to-the-public?goto=newpost Fri, 10 May 2013 18:37:28 GMT It's always a good idea to have certain pages of your game opened for guests viewing. You could make the forums, news, explore, and a few other pages opened to the public. I like it when I'm able to browse a site and getting to know more about the game while being logged out. Thus, it may also incentive me to make an account to see the rest of the site.

So, what pages of your game are opened to the public? ]]> Virtual pet information cpvr http://www.virtualpetlist.com/showthread.php/16366-Pages-opened-to-the-public http://www.virtualpetlist.com/showthread.php/16364-Rules-for-discussion?goto=newpost Fri, 10 May 2013 18:23:38 GMT What are some things that you don't allow to be talked about on your game? What are some things that you allow to be discussed on your game? In terms of rules, do you have strict rules or are you more laid-back? ]]> Virtual pet information cpvr http://www.virtualpetlist.com/showthread.php/16364-Rules-for-discussion http://www.virtualpetlist.com/showthread.php/16362-Editorial-videos-or-question-answers-page?goto=newpost Fri, 10 May 2013 18:19:38 GMT So, do you like listening to videos where a staff members answers questions that their users may have for them or do you prefer reading the questions... So, do you like listening to videos where a staff members answers questions that their users may have for them or do you prefer reading the questions on your own on a certain page? Personally, I'm more of a fan of reading the editorial but if a site uses videos, then there should be a transcript available for all the questions/answers.

How about you, which method do you prefer? ]]> Virtual pet information cpvr http://www.virtualpetlist.com/showthread.php/16362-Editorial-videos-or-question-answers-page http://www.virtualpetlist.com/showthread.php/16360-Can-sim-games-pet-sites-still-become-successful-large-games?goto=newpost Fri, 10 May 2013 18:15:53 GMT Do you think its still possible for a new sim game or pet site to become a successful/large game? What do you think helps new games become... Do you think its still possible for a new sim game or pet site to become a successful/large game? What do you think helps new games become successful? Personally, I believe its all about how many features you have and how good you and your team are at marketing.

But, what about you? Do you think its possible for a new sim game or pet game to become a hit? There's plenty of room for more successful games. ]]> Virtual pet information cpvr http://www.virtualpetlist.com/showthread.php/16360-Can-sim-games-pet-sites-still-become-successful-large-games http://www.virtualpetlist.com/showthread.php/16358-Games-due-to-open-this-summer?goto=newpost Fri, 10 May 2013 15:40:14 GMT So, how many game owners here are looking to release their new game during the summer? How about before the end of the year? I can't wait to see a lot of the sites that are currently in production and haven't released any previews yet. ]]> Virtual pet information cpvr http://www.virtualpetlist.com/showthread.php/16358-Games-due-to-open-this-summer http://www.virtualpetlist.com/showthread.php/16343-USD-or-£GBP?goto=newpost Thu, 09 May 2013 13:36:56 GMT My site will have the option to buy a premium currency called credit. Ive taken a look around a few sites and was wondering if I should "sell" the currency in $USD or £GBP. I live in the UK so I use £GBP (and it would be cheeper for me not to have to convert it through paypal) however I have noticed alot of sites use $USD. Is this because that is where the company is based or just a preference? Would you be put off (Being from the US) if you were asked to pay in £GBP? I know Marapets uses £GBP and I believe they are quite successful.

Any thoughts? ]]> Virtual pet information Earth http://www.virtualpetlist.com/showthread.php/16343-USD-or-£GBP http://www.virtualpetlist.com/showthread.php/16336-Suicide-threat-on-game-need-advice?goto=newpost Wed, 08 May 2013 19:54:50 GMT Hey guys, Today we had a member post on our forums that they plan to commit suicide. We have posted in response encouraging the member to call a... Hey guys,

Today we had a member post on our forums that they plan to commit suicide. We have posted in response encouraging the member to call a suicide hotline for help. I don't want to give up too much information because of confidentiality regarding personal information, but we are based in the UK and have traced the IP address to the US.

We phoned a suicide hotline in the UK who recommended that we call the UK police. The police said that they couldn't do anything and to call the US authorities; they stated that if it was a UK case they would send an officer round immediately.

We then phoned a suicide hotline in the US to get further advice in case they handled things differently and didn't want to waste police time - but they also suggested that we phone the US police to "cover ourselves".

At this point we're hesitating. My question is; how far are we obligated to follow this through? How seriously should we take a suicide threat on the internet? What happens if they do decide that suicide is the only way out - are we liable because we took no action?

I don't mean to sound so harsh ;_; I genuinely feel for the person who posted, but we can't keep calling overseas for every threat like this that we get; we'll soon go bankrupt.

Thanks in advance for any advice. ]]> Virtual pet information Abbey http://www.virtualpetlist.com/showthread.php/16336-Suicide-threat-on-game-need-advice http://www.virtualpetlist.com/showthread.php/16334-Autopricer-for-user-shops?goto=newpost Wed, 08 May 2013 19:50:55 GMT I've always been a fan of the autopricer feature that some games have for their user shops. It's a lot easier to price your shop when there's a feature that gives you the lowest price of the item that's being sold in user shops.

So, are you a fan of the autopricer feature? Do you wish more games utilized this feature? ]]> Virtual pet information cpvr http://www.virtualpetlist.com/showthread.php/16334-Autopricer-for-user-shops http://www.virtualpetlist.com/showthread.php/16322-Help-me-help-you-get-your-sites-noticed!?goto=newpost Tue, 07 May 2013 23:00:13 GMT Last week I decided to buy and make the site: http://www.virtualpetnews.com Right now, it only has 4 RSS feeds enabled on it: - Boopets -... Last week I decided to buy and make the site: http://www.virtualpetnews.com

Right now, it only has 4 RSS feeds enabled on it:
- Boopets
- Misticpets
- Virtual Pet List - News
- Virtual Pet List - Sneak Peaks

Today, I just finished the last of the changes that I can think of. Adding in all of the social media buttons for each of the news posts.

So, if you have an RSS feed for your site, and want it to be noticed, then post it here, or send it to me. I'll add it to the cron job that runs every 30 minutes to check to see if sites have any new updates.

The other convenient thing is you can build your own RSS feed of articles for the sites you like right off of the website.

If your site doesn't have an RSS feed, it is fairly easy to make and use. Here (http://www.carronmedia.com/create-an-rss-feed-with-php/) is a slightly out-of-date but still workable implementation.

Let me know what you think!

~judda ]]> Virtual pet information judda http://www.virtualpetlist.com/showthread.php/16322-Help-me-help-you-get-your-sites-noticed! http://www.virtualpetlist.com/showthread.php/16302-What-is-the-best?goto=newpost Mon, 06 May 2013 16:58:38 GMT I'm wanting to become a virtual pet game owner; however, I do not know where to begin. So, I'm reading up on the stickies here! But, one thing that did pop in my head first was, which species is better? Horses or dogs? Both? Different virtual world? I'm in a pickle with what I want to even begin. I want to be unique and different from some games, but not too different because I'm afraid players won't play. What are some of your guys' suggestions?


Oh! A bonus would help on hosts, money, etc. for a SIM game. :P

Thanks all!
Sarah ]]> Virtual pet information Sarah http://www.virtualpetlist.com/showthread.php/16302-What-is-the-best http://www.virtualpetlist.com/showthread.php/16242-How-detailed-do-you-like-your-messaging-system-to-be?goto=newpost Wed, 01 May 2013 00:28:05 GMT I've always wanted to know this. I know on VPL, the private messaging system is pretty huge since it's a community forum based site. I know on games like Runescape (if they even have any) and such, the private messaging system can be very bland.

I was always thinking that a private messaging system doesn't even need to be detailed if the game is full of battling, adventuring, features, and interaction. I just like a simple inbox and a sent directory to show the last 100 messages or something that I've sent out.

Do you like it where you can view your ENTIRE sent directory and even delete the sent folder? Or is seeing the last 100 or so sent messages ok to you?
I know it's pretty necessary on sites that revolves around PURE communication. I've always been curious. On huge battling sites do you still want all these separate folders and even custom folders you can move your messages to?

So all in all, how detailed do you like your private messaging system on games? Not community forums like Gaia and VPL. ]]> Virtual pet information Dyl http://www.virtualpetlist.com/showthread.php/16242-How-detailed-do-you-like-your-messaging-system-to-be