Lots to report here on our end!

First off, I'm not pleased with the results of our pummeling the servers. They didn't stand up to our expected standard of performance. On release of Open Beta, may people had database connection errors, blue Meeroos and vanishing content. We also crashed our pre-orders for a bit. On release of the update intended to fix the stump crashes, a small amount of people experienced lost Meeroos and regard points. This is a good thing! This is what we needed to experiment with and see so we resolve all of these issues before launch!

So, we're moving on up to a better server system! Now, to adequately test this, as well as the backend changes that have been made, we needed to extend Open Beta for two more weeks. We need to see how the servers respond under extraordinary stress. Instances that allow us to examine this will be when we release more berries for your Meeroos, and an additional stump - we'll also see heavily increased activity when your Meeroos begin building nests. These allow us to have a real-time demonstration of what we need to prepare for, and expect, during release.

Just remember, every time something breaks, it gives us the opportunity to fix it so that it doesn't happen again. We'd rather wreak all kinds of havok on the servers during Beta, so Launch goes smoothly and performance lives up to the quality of experience we expect to provide.

So, there you have it!

*Beta continues for 2 more week!
*You will get more food and a new Stump.
*You will see newborn Meeroos

Just keep in mind, everything is wiped at the end of this. All Meeroos are set free to the wild, all stumps, food and trunks go poof.

SATELLITE LOCATIONS

Onto other news! We've had quite literally hundreds of offers from estate and land owners to host satellite locations in marketplaces around the grid. We are deeply appreciative that so many have reach out with such generosity and support and those who have, have been waiting for a long time for an answer.

Here's what we've concluded. Due to the number of offers we've received, ultimately it would be inappropriate or unfair for us to accept "a couple" of offers, while being perceived as "rejecting" others. Since we have no intention of participating in or endorsing specific participants of secondary marketplaces, we've decided not to maintain an official satellite locations in any marketplace. We don't want to encourage any misconceptions that endorse or prefer one place over another. All the marketplace owners have done a tremendous job, and we acknowledge that agreeing to align ourselves with some but not others will result in disappointment.

That said, we will have a second store on a completely neutral region that is unaffiliated with breedable/virtual pets or the sales of them. It has already been landscaped and built, and we will announce the location in the near future. We chose to go nuetral for as much the sake of our community as for the sake of our relationships with them. Just to recap:

*We will not maintain any Satellite Stores or outlets.
*There will be a Second store on a business neutral region. We will announce the location soon.

LAUNCH DATES

We know people are excited to find out exactly when they can have their Forever Meeroos! Well, it won't be long, but we are incredibly dedicated to providing a high quality gaming experience and we don't want to launch completely unprepared and suffer crashes, outages or errors on Day One. We have to marry ourselves to our ethics in business practices, and although we're just as excited to move out of this phase and into release, we simply cannot until we are 100% confidant in our stability and performance.

Because Open beta is full of surprises as we unearth new anomalies every single day, we cannot yet provide an exact date for release. As I've said before, everything depends on this phase of Open Beta, and we cannot foretell the issues that await us as we continue to move further in progress. While we hope they are small and easily handled, we simply cannot say. I could make a prediction based on my hopes, but that would be unfair and it would be misrepresentative. Open Beta has been fantastic so far, as it has allowed us to gather important data and it has taught us how best to respond to specific technological scenarios. It has helped us improve and expand our CSR team, the tools they use and our back-end performace. We want to continue doing that until we are fully armed and ready for action.

While I can't give specific dates, I can tell you it won't be long. We don't want Open beta to last forever either! So, don't expect Open beta to carry on indefinitely! We're working tirelessly every single day and night to end Open Beta and move toward launch! Summing it up:

*No specified date for launch.
*No specified date for end of Open beta.

RUMOR CONTROL

It's come to my attention that people are reporting they find Meeroos too difficult, too time consuming, too needy or too demanding of attention for one reason or another. I never thought I'd see the day when people complained about having "Too many" things to do!

But these are myths.

The game is completely and entirely in the hands of the player, and totally customizable to each user experience.

*PLAYING the Oracle Game is optional, not mandatory, and you are not penalized in any context for NOT playing it.
*PETTING your Meeroos is optional, not mandatory, and you are not penalized in any context for NOT doing it.
*Joining a FELLOWSHIP is optional, not mandatory, and you are not penalized in any context for choosing to play alone.
*BREEDING is still it's OWN game, and not dependent on your performance in these other aspects.

These are simply boosters to the overall experience, there for you to enjoy, or to disregard, at your preference. If you have no interest in being on a leaderboard, you don't have to powerlevel regard. You will not experience significant handicaps.

DO NOT feel obligated to play any part of Meeroos you are uncomfortable with or do not enjoy. The Meeroos have many OPTIONS for different playstyles. Please read that again out loud. OPTIONS.

REGARD

Regard will unlock special features, such as different types and styles of homes for your Meeroos- homes with expanded residential capacity. Also personal accessories for you AND your Meeroos as well as tools to simplify your experience. Regard has value, absolutely! But it has no harmful affect on those who aren't interested in the acquisition of regard points.

CUSTOMER SUPPORT

We're expanding customer Support! Now you can visit the Wonderful World Of Meeroos Store and see who is online, available, and page our CSR's directly from the shop. You can also tip them if you're pleased with the assistance they're provided via these Support Kiosks, but please remember, a CSR will never expect, nor ask you for any money or gifts in return for their services. Tipping is entirely up to you and not required.

We will be adding more Customer service Representatives very soon to better serve our growing community!

GROUPS

The Official Meeroo groups are currently closed to new enrollments whole we progress in Open Beta. There are two Official groups"

*The Wonderful World Of Meeroos
*The Wonderful World Of Meeroos - Silent (No chat)

The groups were closed so we could have a strong and direct focus on activity, and they will open to new members again once the Open Beta event has finished. Until that time, we will not be admitting anyone. Please remember: Pre-Order are a separate program entirely and have nothing to do with Open Beta. Pre-Ordering does not entitle someone to participate in Open Beta. They are wholly separate.

Thats about does it for our round up! I hope you found this helpful! Please remember the forums are always open for your feedback and suggestions, and out frum moderator, Allatu Augustus, works tirelessly there answering your questions and addressing any concerns you may have. She also aggregated information from the forums and shares them with the development team. Please do not presume the forums lack benefit. Many of our best suggestions and most effective feedback have come from the forums and we DO read every single post!

Thank you all, have a wonderful Holiday Weekend!

-Catherine