January Journalism

Hey, you... Yeah, you! Do you like to write? Better yet, what about blogging? 

 

Not only is it a new year, but a new month! It's been quite some time since the newest journalists were announced. The blogging side of our Chotopia community has been slacking! But now is your time to get your act together.We are picking journalists for January, to get back into the swing of things here on Chotopia. I know the end 2016 wasn't the best for our population here in the community, but the numbers are beginning to rise again! In case you are unaware of how to become a Journalist, here are the requirements:   

•      Your blog should be updated weekly. (If you aren't going to be online for example like going on vacation, please let the staff know)
•      The posts on your blog must be your own and creative. (This includes having sufficient grammatical skills, interesting/fun word choice, etc.)
•      You may not copy from other blogs or websites. This includes the main blog. 
•      Images found on the Official Blog may be used in your posts.  
•      At least 1 active author and no more than 3 authors. 
•      Journalists are rewarded with many wonderful perks, such as:

1.       Journalist badge on your playercard with the title of your blog, along with an exclusive playercard. 
2.      You will receive the exclusive feather item automatically. 
3.      The ability to contact a moderator through PC, even when their card is blocked.  
4.      Your blog will be bookmarked by the Moderators. 
5.      Your website will be featured on the Official Blog.
6.      And, a purple name tag.

Be mindful that only the main author/owner of the blog will be rewarded with the journalist badge, and the benefits/privileges of having one. Unless, the other author has contributed much to the blog (such as designing a custom template, writing lots of posts, 50/50 partnership work). To apply for Journalism, please use the submission format provided below and then publish as a comment below:

Site address:
Title of Site:
Site Owner:
Site Contributors (If you have any):
Opened (Date):
Why do you feel your blog should be featured:

Good luck! 'Til next time.
xo Katara

Weekly Competitions & Agency

Hi everyone! There's a lot to discuss in this post, but it's very important, so keep on reading!

The team of Chotopia would like to introduce you to the newest updates to the game. We've come up with a great way to add more fun to our game! To go into further explanation, the team has decided to host a new competition every week for the month of January. But there's a little bit of a twist; only the first place winner will be rewarded. This means you will have to try a little harder to accumulate the most points for that week. We really need participation to be in play here.

These events will start on January 7th, and will follow each week after; exactly 7 days apart.

•   January 7th - Sweetbattle Competition
•   January 14th - Cow Mission (Farming) Competition
•   January 21st -  Asteroid Competition
•   January 28th - Nichos Mission Competition 

 This policy was also for the garbage collector contest. The first place winner was rewarded.

If these weekly competitions are a hit, we will extend them further into February! We hope to see everyone participating, as a lot of these soon-to-come competitions require at least a second person to be completed. We're very excited to see who'll rise through the ranks and receive their prizes. Whoever builds up the most points and lands in first place will be automatically rewarded! The winners will not be announced weekly, but you will get your rewards in your mailbox. The rewards will be very unique, so it's definitely worth it to compete! You'll have to be the winner in order to find out.

-

Calling all active members of the community!

We are short of agents, and we need players like YOU to join our agents team! Becoming an agent is vowing to a very important job. The select players are very special; as they are picked and recognized exclusively for being an active player, following the rules, being nice to others, and also making sure everything is in-check on Chotopia. By that I mean, they make sure everyone else is following the rules, and that Chotopia retains a safe environment. We are keeping a close eye out to see who'll make a great agent. We will elect someone first, then host a poll for the other runner-up players who we think will own up to the responsibilities of becoming an agent. For the next agents poll, there may be more than one winner! Be ready, January has lots of goodies coming its way. That's all!

Until next time,
Katara

P.S. Thank you to everyone who donated! We now have enough to fund the server again. Keep on playing on!

Tropical Invasion

Good evening Chotopians!

Lead designer, Jack (formerly Wolf), here with some exciting new updates. In case you haven't noticed, Pirates have taken over Cafe, and Mission Street -- Yikes! Captian Chokru's ship has docked right above the Mission Agency building, resulting in a crazy tropical storm. You can visit his ship by climbing the ladder he let down on Mission Street. Upon boarding the ship, you might even find some goodies! In light of our new pirate friends, all throughout next month, we will be having a host of tropical themed parties and events - dates will be announced in a later post.

Until next time,
Jack

Holiday Party Recap

 Before I start this post, I would like to remind everyone that the garbage collector competition is still running! You have until the 27th of December to get on the scoreboard. Our community has been slacking with their play time, so there is plenty of room on the scoreboard! Now back to the regularly scheduled post ;)

Holiday Greetings everyone!

Today we celebrated the welcoming of the winter holidays. We hope you had fun enjoying the party as much as we enjoyed hosting it! There was plenty of gifts, rain, magic, and music! Here are some nice action shots to sum it up:

Incase you missed it, don't worry! There will always be more parties to come. But before I end this post, I would like to show you all the adorable winter outfits the members of the community wore to this occasion. One person in particular stood out to me. Take a look:

Shout out to Flynn and his amazing outfit! You have been rewarded an extra day of citizenship and 1,500 bugs. I will do this very often at parties/events, so make sure you come dressed in a cute, festive outfit. As long as the outfit matches the theme of the party or event, of course!

I would also like to inform everyone about the situation of our server. We are currently unable to keep the server up, which means we need you to share our wonderful game with your friends and others! But more importantly, we need your help by making purchases. We have plenty of special items for sale, including the exclusive citizen items. When you purchase citizenship, you not only get the promised privileges of membership, but also a grateful amount of bugs and a special item. The item, depending on your chosen plan of citizenship, changes each month. You can look at this month's items here.

But if you already have citizenship, you can also purchase exclusive items in which you are unable to equip in-game. For the sake of the holidays, we've cut down the prices as an end of the year sale! Check out the items and their very reasonable prices here.

That's all for now. Thanks to those who attended the wonderful party. Keep your eyes peeled for the newest updates here on the community blog.

'Til next time,
Katara

P.S All of the winners for the quiz should have been rewarded. Please leave a comment below if you did not receive your awards.

Countdown to Christmas Event

Hi friends!

It's the most wonderful time of the year and we have a huge, festive event planned out for you all to enjoy, involving free gifts!

For the next twelve days, up until Christmas, there will be an exclusive goodie sent out to all users each day. Each passing day, a new Christmas-themed item will appear in your mail, and you will be able to collect that present for free!

At each midnight, 12:00 AM, at Eastern Standard Time, the new day starts and you can no longer receive the previous day's gift. For users in other time zones, I've made a collected list of when the event day ends for you:

Time zones for Countdown to Christmas Event

Australia

AEST - 3:00 PM

ACST - 2:00 PM

AWST - 1:00 PM

Europe

CET - 6:00 AM

WET - 5:00 AM

USA

CST - 11:00 PM (previous day)

MST - 10:00 PM (previous day)

PST - 9:00 PM (previous day)

It's important to also know that all items in this holiday event will not be tradable, and that the only way of obtaining these gifts are through logging on daily.

Items given out in this event may be selected to be rained/given out at the upcoming Christmas party, but it's best that you log on for a 100% certainty of receiving the free gift.

The event has started today, so make sure you log online to collect the item of the day. Here's a little preview of what today's, December 13th, free gift is:

On a side note, Santa has landed in Chotopia at Space Quay and needs your help! He has recently lost his sleigh bells for his bags while flying over Chotopia and needs your help to find, collect, and return them before Christmas arrives!

If you decide to accept Santa's mission, a helpful tip to guide you is to search through all rooms on Chotopia. Once you've returned all of his bells back, he will reward you with some special Christmas gifts.

Happy holidays!

Sylva

Winter Design Winners, Space Racing Results, Cow Mission Competition

Hi friends,

With input from our Chotopians, we now have two extra new and very snuggly festive pieces of clothing to dress up in! The conceptual designs were unique and characterised by lots of creativity, and so as promised, our designers will be rewarded 10 days of citizenship, 10,000 bugs, a crown shirt of their color choice (winners, please comment below on this post your choice), and of course to sport their own designs:

by Courtney

by Jamesiano

Next up, we need to announce our Space Racing winners! Lets look at the scoreboard:

•     1st place: 7 days of citizenship, 5,000 bugs
•     2nd place: 5 days of citizenship, 3,500 bugs
•     3rd place: 3 days of citizenship, 2,000 bugs

Congratulations to Miglalia, Jamesiano, and Arazulhd, who managed to accumulate an impressive amount of points!

Lastly, we must stockpile on farmed goods before it gets too cold! We will be hosting a farming contest as we need all of you to contribute your efforts in preparation for this winter.

You have until December 18th before our crops are no longer to fit to grow in freezing climate.

Get planting and sowing,

Katic & Sylva

P.S. Log into Chotopia every day up into Christmas to find a new present waiting for you! This holiday event will be explained in an upcoming post, but for now, make sure you log on to receive the item of the day, or else you miss the free gift!

Cho-Board Results, Space Racing Competition

Hi friends!

After a week of dodging scrap metal on a very unstable board, it's about time we settle down and announce our top three winners in the Cho-Board Competition! Lets take a glance at the scoreboard:

•     1st place: 7 days of citizenship, 5,000 bugs
•     2nd place: 5 days of citizenship, 3,500 bugs
•     3rd place: 3 days of citizenship, 2,000 bugs

Congratulations to Ematuke123, Unkowner, and Moniukas, who managed to accumulate an impressive amount of points! Thank you everyone for participating and don't worry though if you didn't win this time because the Space Racing competition has started today!

Head on over to Space Port Square and race against your friends in spaceships. Collect power ups to help boost your chances of winning the race, but watch out for the red power up - it slows you down!

You have until December 11th to place yourself high up on the scoreboard (the top three racers will receive some cool prizes), so get going!

Stay tuned for more upcoming news,

Sylva

Winter Design Contest

Hi friends,

Happy December! The days are growing colder and colder, it's freezing outside, and we Chotopians are in desperate need of new items of clothing to stay toasty. But at the same time, we still want to dress fashionably! For these reasons, we will be hosting a winter design contest.

Here are the details:

Guidelines & conditions

•     It is up to you which item clothing you want to design: wigs, shirts, trousers, shoes, costumes - anything you can think of! 
•     It has to be winter-themed and, optionally, provide protection from the cold. 
•     Your design can be hand-drawn on paper or done in Adobe Illustrator. If the latter, please use this template.
•     You are not required to illustrate the design from all perspectives.
•     You must enter your submission in the comment section of this post, not elsewhere. Please only provide an imgur link.
•     You may submit multiple entries if you wish to - in fact, it is is encouraged

You have until the 10th of December to upload your best designs. We will be selecting the most unique and creative designs (effort will also be credited) to implement in-game. Winners can expect plentiful gifts from Santa! 

Have fun designing,

Katic

Thanksgiving Contest Results, Checkers Results, Cho-Board Competition

Hi friends!

Hope you all had a wonderful and stuffing Thanksgiving! After looking through all entries submitted for the Thanksgiving TV Contest, we have finally concluded our two winners! Please congratulate the following:

Jamesiano

Courtney

You both have been rewarded with 10 days of citizenship, 10,000 bugs, and a TV remote control. Enjoy your well-deserved prizes!

We also have another three winners to announce as the Checkers competition has closed. Lets see who won on the scoreboard!

•     1st place: 7 days of citizenship and 5,000 bugs
•     2nd place: 5 days of citizenship and 4,000 bugs
•     3rd place: 3 days of citizenship and 3,000 bugs

Congratulations Tacodung, Miglalia, and Stylist for placing in the top three and spend your awards wisely!

Our next daily competition is Cho-board! Head into the Gamezone, located right of the Café Street, and place yourself in one of the top three positions on the scoreboard.

You have until December 5th to race until your heart's desire!

Best of luck,

Sylva

Thanksgiving TV Story Contest & Party, Updates

Hi friends!

Have you seen a turkey anywhere? Our national Thanksgiving turkey has fled the kitchen and is trying to make an escape! For this holiday, we are asking you to capture a scene for our highlighted Thanksgiving story. If you are interested in entering this contest, please take your time to read the rules and guidelines below!

Rules and Guidelines:

•     A good story line will boost your chances of winning, as well that creativity and effort will help make your entry stand out. 
•     You must use the given template, which is provided below
•     You can take screenshots to edit and crop, as well as insert text onto the template using an image editing software like Adobe Photoshop
•     You are also allowed to make a short video/gif, but it must be framed within the template
•     You may only submit up to only one entry
•     Other Chobots can be featured in your story as different characters, but it will only count as one entry for one Chobot. (for example, you may ask your friends to help you, but this would be your entry and not theirs) 
•     Be sure to include your username either while submitting or on the entry
•     Please upload it to imgur.com and comment the link on this post. If you submit it elsewhere, it will not be judged

You all have until November 28th to submit your story entry.

Speaking of Thanksgiving, we are hosting a party tomorrow, November 23rd! Thanksgiving is a major holiday celebrated in the United States, but we would love to also celebrate it here on Chotopia with you guys! Please take this invitation for details about the party:

6 pm EST, 3 pm PST

There will be lots of mod magic, music, trivia, Thanksgiving-related rain, and so much more! The shops will be stocked with some new items to help you get in the Thanksgiving-spirit. We hope to see you there!

Oh, and wait! If you haven't noticed, winter has finally arrived in the world of Chotopia. Everywhere you go, streets are covered in snow and filled with decorations, as we prepare for the holiday season. You can find Frosty the Snowman at the Cafe Street selling special winter items, so make sure you make some purchases to bundle up for this weather! Here are some screenshots of what some locations look like in-game, as well as the winter catalog:

Not only this, we've implanted a new system into Chotopia for day and night! Starting at 6 am, the background lighting will become brighter, as it will be daytime, and once it hits 6 pm, the background lighting will dim to represent nighttime. That's all the new updates for now!

Stay warm,

Sylva

P.S. The holiday season is just around the corner, so make sure you check the park daily for Santa is coming to town very soon!

Sweet Battle Results, Checkers Competition

Hi friends!

It's time to announce our daily competition winners and this week, we had sweet battle as our game contest. How about we get right into who our top three sugar-sweet winners are! Let's have a look at the scoreboard...

•     1st place: 7 days of citizenship and 5,000 bugs
•     2nd place: 5 days of citizenship and 4,000 bugs
•     3rd place: 3 days of citizenship and 3,000 bugs

Congratulations to Notkylie, Migalia, and Jamesiano and enjoy your prizes!

If you did not win this time, don't feel discouraged because our next daily competition is Checkers!

Head on over to the Academy Street and challenge your friends to a game! The top three players will, of course, be rewarded. You have until November 26th to enter into this competition.

Good luck!

Sylva 

News Article Contest Results

Hi friends!

Over a week ago, we held a News Article Contest where you were asked to write about any topic of your choice and now it's time to announce our best reporters! Please congratulate the following winners:

Omiguy

Tacodung

Congratulations to you both! You guys have been awarded with 10 days of citizenship, 10,000 bugs, and a red rosette for your awesome cover stories.

Stay tuned for more news!

Sylva

Mechanical Crab Results, Sweet Battle Competition

Hi friends!

Yesterday, the scoreboard to the Mechanical Crab Contest closed, and now it's time to announce and award our top three winners. Let's see who those three chotopians are!

•     1st place: 7 days of citizenship and 5,000 bugs
•     2nd place: 5 days of citizenship and 4,000 bugs
•     3rd place: 3 days of citizenship and 3,000 bugs

Congratulations to Juan, Omiguy, and Karlmarx and enjoy your prizes!

If you did not win this time, don't feel discouraged! Why? Because we have now opened a Sweet Battle Competition!

You have until November 19th to compete against your friends and place yourself as one of the top sugar-sweet winners!

May the odds ever be in your favor!

Sylva

News Article Contest

Hi friends!

As our first out-game contest for this new month, we thought it would be timely to hold a News Article Contest. For this, imagine yourself as a reporter who is required to come up with a newsworthy headline story. You are advised to use the template provided below to format your entry:

(click to enlarge and right-click to save image as...)

Guidelines & conditions: 

•     Although there is no theme, your job is to find out what is going on in Chotopia. To make it interesting, it has to be "breaking news".
•     Remember to answer the 5W's of your imaginary event! Note that you will be assessed on facts, creativity, and effort. 
•     Of course you may decorate your news feature by making edits to the template. 
•     You must enter your submission in the comment section of this post, not elsewhere. Please only provide an imgur link. 
•     Entries are limited to one per individual and may not be shared. For example, if you are interviewing another Chobot in your article, only the original writer will be credited. 

You have until November 16th to enter your submissions. I encourage you all to participate as the prizes to be won are definitely something to look forward to!

Also, don't forget to compete in the Mechanical Crab competition that is happening as we speak!

Good luck,
Katic

Mechanical Crab Competition

Calling all gamers!
Once again, it's time for a Mechanical Crab competition. This is an opportunity for you to battle it out in a soccer-like game packed with fun!


















Head over to the Gamezone, conveniently located on Cafe Street to have some fun and battle it out for the top place! You have until November 12th.
Winners will receive some sweet prizes.


Good luck,
Horizon

Robofactory Results, Halloween Design Contest Winner

Hi friends!

The Robofactory competition has concluded and it's now time to look at who our best factory workers were. Lets take a look at the scoreboard:

•     1st place: 7 days of citizenship and 5,000 bugs
•     2nd place: 5 days of citizenship and 4,000 bugs
•     3rd place: 3 days of citizenship and 3,000 bugs

Congratulations to Oldryan6872, Justjosh, and Becookie and enjoy your prizes!

I hope you all had an exciting, spooky Halloween! And speaking of Halloween, it's also time to announce the winner to the Halloween Design Contest. Drum roll please...

Congratulations Stylist for winning the Halloween Design Contest; it was obvious to us that you are extremely creative and talented in the field of art! You have been rewarded with 10 days of citizenship, 10,000 bugs, a paintbrush, and your own designed item (which will be sent to you once implemented in-game by our designers).

That's all the news for now! Stay tuned for more information on an upcoming contest.

Happy November!

Sylva

Halloween Party Recap

Hi friends!

We hope you all had a fun time celebrating Halloween with us; we sure enjoyed hosting it! The party featured magic, rain, music, and a specially designed "Trick or Treat" quiz, where some questions give nice prizes while others don't reward. Here are some pictures to recap the awesome party:

There was also a Halloween costume contest during the entire event and three spooky winners have been picked and are ready to be announced! Congratulations to the following:

You three have been rewarded with 3 days of citizenship and 5,000 bugs! Enjoy your rewards!

Happy Halloween!

Sylva