WolfQuest Update

[Gargantor]

I didnt yet get the email with this update, so I just visited the site and actually thoug I see the announcement about the shutting down of this amazing game. Well, turns out it is not, and I am very happy.
However, I am still sad to see that funding is almost completely gone, and the chat lexicon will be removed. Oh how much time we users, mods and the admins sacrificed for that huge list of words. Thinking of new ones, updating, writing the list... Everyone was a part of that masterpiece, and now it will be gone. One piece of the game will be lost.
I have read through the comments, and there was one thing that stood out to me. That WQ reached its goal. Yes, it was and still is available for five years now and more to come, but if you think about it... the work of this game and community never ends.
After all we all grow up, our knowledge is greater about those wonderful canines, and so it is time to give this knowledge to the next generation. The next new users of this forum, and the next players of the game. There will always be more and more hungry minds to teach, new users will flood the forum. So yes, WQ's work is a process. And let us hope it can continue for many years to come.

[WQ Coordinator]

The attempt to send out 515,000 or so e-mails is what's causing the server crashes, so unfortunately, we don't think many people will receive the e-mail and we don't really have the option of sending it again unless we can get the newsletter system working, which is a huge amount of work. So at least the forumgoers will know what's going on and can pass it along to the people they play MP with. Ah well.

And it has definitely been a great run... there's always more we could have done with more funding, but we did pretty well with what we were given and how we completely exceeded the original expectations for this project. I'm glad it will be allowed to continue despite the lack of funding.

[Torn01]

"We will eventually remove the multiplayer lexicon so only phrased chat and no chat options are available, but we hope this phase won’t take place for many months to come." Wow and thus the destruction, crashing and burning of WQ will commence, so many people are going to be upset...

This only motivates me to make my own wolf based game and have my own servers in which people can play and can freely and openly express themselves in any manner they want and if little kids cant take it then they can happily leave.

[Koa]

"We will eventually remove the multiplayer lexicon so only phrased chat and no chat options are available, but we hope this phase won’t take place for many months to come." Wow and thus the destruction, crashing and burning of WQ will commence, so many people are going to be upset...

This only motivates me to make my own wolf based game and have my own servers in which people can play and can freely and openly express themselves in any manner they want and if little kids cant take it then they can happily leave.

WolfQuest is meant to be a family-friendly game, which means the chat lexicon had to be created to at least filter, to the best of its ablity, anything that could be deemed inappropriate. If that's your goal and you have the resources to do so, go for it, but WolfQuest being a "free-for-all" game with multiplayer was never its intended goal and its main focus would always remain on singleplayer. With the diminishing funding, it leaves the lexicon to be removed eventually and result in an even more restricted multiplayer in terms of chatting, but that's just how it is.

[Gale the Wanderer]

I'm not exactly sure if you wanted me to post this here or somewhere else, Cana. But I thought that this would be the best place.

• Is there a threat to having WolfQuest shut down [in the near future]?
  
  How much funding would it require to keep it open?
  
  Regarding funding, what would it require to make a new episode?

[Lexwolf]

...wow. There are tears in my eyes right now. It's most depressing that WQ won't be accepting donations anymore. I had entered a contest with a $5,000 dollar grand prize, with the intentions to donate all of it to WQ if I won, but I didn't want to say anything about it yet in case I didn't end up winning. And we won't know the winner until February. I know $5,000 dollars isn't much in terms of making a new episode, but I had hoped that if I did win, it would help WolfQuest stay alive for a few more years.
You've told us what's going to happen to the game and the store, but what about the forums? How long do you think the community will be able to stick around, with what you have?
WolfQuest has been part of my life for two years now. I know that I'll miss it when its time comes, and I do hope that it'll stay for as long as possible. I know that that's just how the world works, things don't stay around forever, but that's not going to do much to comfort me. ): Thank you, WolfQuest, for being such a wonderful part of my life for at least this long.

[WQ Coordinator]

Thanks for reposting this, Gale the Wanderer. These are questions other people may be asking as well.

Is there a threat to having WolfQuest shut down [in the near future]?

How much funding would it require to keep it open?

Regarding funding, what would it require to make a new episode?

Because there is no more grant money, we're only able to keep the forums and game open because wq_admin (Kristie) is going to try to keep up with administrating WolfQuest along with her other assigned tasks at the zoo and because the forum moderators and volunteer administrator are going to do their best to keep things running. If there comes a time when any of these people can't keep up with what's going on, that's when the lexicon would be removed from multiplayer games and the forums would potentially be locked. But as long as things run smoothly (the moderators have all said they're sticking with us as long as we let them... hooray!), we can keep things going for a while. And sorry for being a bit vague about that, but because there are so many variables in the equation for how long we can keep things going, that's as specific as I can get. But you definitely don't have to worry about things shutting down in the near future.

Specifically concerning funding, the Minnesota Zoo has decided not to go after more grants at this time, so even if you found a source for $5,000+, there's a chance we still wouldn't realistically be able to use it for anything because it's not enough for a new game and it's not enough to bring on another staff member to manage everything even the limited way it has been managed the last year or so. Eduweb, the developer of WolfQuest, is continuing to have high hopes for another WolfQuest-related product sometime in the future, but the funding that would be required for a new project would be quite substantial, so don't hold your breath for that. But it's very touching that so many of you are asking if there's anything that you can do to help. Thank you, all.

[Howling Fang]

Thanks for updating us Cana, its sad that you arent getting anymore funding

[Rain]

... I haven't been here for a looooooooong time and now I got here by some sort of accident. I didn't quite understand what's going on; is WQ done? Like, there will be no new episodes, and... Will it go away? Disappear in the bit universe? That's a shame..

[Koa]

... I haven't been here for a looooooooong time and now I got here by some sort of accident. I didn't quite understand what's going on; is WQ done? Like, there will be no new episodes, and... Will it go away? Disappear in the bit universe? That's a shame..

WolfQuest is done in terms of new episodes and updates being released because no more grants will be used or looked for. As for WolfQuest shutting down completely, Cana's previous post will help -

Because there is no more grant money, we're only able to keep the forums and game open because wq_admin (Kristie) is going to try to keep up with administrating WolfQuest along with her other assigned tasks at the zoo and because the forum moderators and volunteer administrator are going to do their best to keep things running. If there comes a time when any of these people can't keep up with what's going on, that's when the lexicon would be removed from multiplayer games and the forums would potentially be locked. But as long as things run smoothly (the moderators have all said they're sticking with us as long as we let them... hooray!), we can keep things going for a while. And sorry for being a bit vague about that, but because there are so many variables in the equation for how long we can keep things going, that's as specific as I can get. But you definitely don't have to worry about things shutting down in the near future.

The specifics aren't really known at this point, which is why you won't be receiving a clear cut answer as to how, in what way, shape, or form, will WolfQuest remain "open" or existent, at least for awhile.

[Tapir]

Eduweb, the developer of WolfQuest, is continuing to have high hopes for another WolfQuest-related product sometime in the future, but the funding that would be required for a new project would be quite substantial, so don't hold your breath for that.

There could be some way to create a way to get money in the game, maybe? To get different fur colors/patterns/etc..


But anyway,

... I haven't been here for a looooooooong time and now I got here by some sort of accident. I didn't quite understand what's going on; is WQ done? Like, there will be no new episodes, and... Will it go away? Disappear in the bit universe? That's a shame..

WolfQuest is done in terms of new episodes and updates being released because no more grants will be used or looked for. As for WolfQuest shutting down completely, Cana's previous post will help -

Might there be able to be a new game..? Like with the help of this Eduweb there could be a way to incorporate buying things in the game to have funding for it. I don't know - just throwing that out there.

[Windstrider]

Eduweb, the developer of WolfQuest, is continuing to have high hopes for another WolfQuest-related product sometime in the future, but the funding that would be required for a new project would be quite substantial, so don't hold your breath for that.

There could be some way to create a way to get money in the game, maybe? To get different fur colors/patterns/etc..


But anyway,

... I haven't been here for a looooooooong time and now I got here by some sort of accident. I didn't quite understand what's going on; is WQ done? Like, there will be no new episodes, and... Will it go away? Disappear in the bit universe? That's a shame..

WolfQuest is done in terms of new episodes and updates being released because no more grants will be used or looked for. As for WolfQuest shutting down completely, Cana's previous post will help -

Might there be able to be a new game..? Like with the help of this Eduweb there could be a way to incorporate buying things in the game to have funding for it. I don't know - just throwing that out there.

That's an interesting idea! O.O

[Gargantor]

I know it is a stupid idea, but.... isnt there anyone out there who is a programmer and a developer who would gladly help to -maybe slowly- but keep developing the game? There are many games out there that are developed by individuals as a project. Maybe you could ask people who want to or have to do similar project for... I dont know... their school? They could be credited as well in the end...

[Silvy_Courage]

I know it is a stupid idea, but.... isnt there anyone out there who is a programmer and a developer who would gladly help to -maybe slowly- but keep developing the game? There are many games out there that are developed by individuals as a project. Maybe you could ask people who want to or have to do similar project for... I dont know... their school? They could be credited as well in the end...

That's not a stupid idea at all. If we want to keep the game running, then we have to do everything we can. Suppose we could try and make that idea work?

[Tapir]

I know it is a stupid idea, but.... isnt there anyone out there who is a programmer and a developer who would gladly help to -maybe slowly- but keep developing the game? There are many games out there that are developed by individuals as a project. Maybe you could ask people who want to or have to do similar project for... I dont know... their school? They could be credited as well in the end...

That's not a stupid idea at all. If we want to keep the game running, then we have to do everything we can. Suppose we could try and make that idea work?

Where would you find the programmer, though?
If you wanted to develop the game more you would need artists also?
How would you find them?
Usually a professional programmer or artist would want money for the jobs that you ask them to do, could you pay?