Marapets

.: Images

.: Style

The avatar program is quite bright, colorful and imaginative, but the homepage is definitely crowded and it would be better if it was more structured. It feels like you’re staring a candy-colored screenshot and you want to click on all the different icons, but you don’t know which one to start with.  If I could recommend something about the site, it would be to have a “guide” avatar that would take the user through the site and explain what each section is.  Marapets lets you create up to 12 virtual pets, from 30 unique “species” and up to 4 different colors.  You need one virtual pet before you can view most of the pet site and you get 100 MP whenever you create a pet.  My first impression of marapets was that it teaches kids about responsibility albeit, in a tech sort of way. You have to take care of your virtual pet, feed it, put it to sleep, play with it, and if it catches a disease, you have to care for it or it will die and go to the “Gates of the Graveyard.” It does add a bit of a drastic element to the game because you don’t want your pet to die. Also this allows for the users to come back to the site on a daily basis to make sure that their virtual pet is well fed and happy.

The “About me” section of Marapets is smack dab in the middle of the homepage which is great, but I’d be confused as to what to start off with. Should I explore? Play games? Dress up my virtual pet?  How do I get involved in forums and the community? I think that this section should be more detailed, yet user-friendly.

.: Plot

You’re able to do a ton of stuff on this site and it touts itself as one of the largest virtual pet sties in the games world.  From playing dress-up games with your dress up dolls, online games, celebrity doll makers, and the games that will earn you Mara Points, you can spend hours on this game site. The point of Marapets is to spend time on the site, interact with other users, play with your virtual pet, and also play games.  Oh yeah, another point of being in this world is to rack up points. When you first sign up, you are given 2,000 MP’s and then you are free to play games or explore.  Also, in the world of Marada, there are several different virtual currencies for the economy.

1. Mara points(MP) – earned from playing games, chatting, competing quests, the main currency on the site
2. Baspinar points (BP)- earned from winning battles with your pets. This is the official currency of the virtual world of Baspinar’s Castle
3. Restock points (RP)- earned from restocking items from most of thes hops in the virtual worlds in Marada. RP is the official currency of the virtual world of Eleka’s Castle.

The content is interesting and there are a ton of games to keep the user busy in the worlds of arcades, puzzles, cards, casinos, sports, fashion and strategy. I’d say that a lot of the kids who like to play dress-up would like to decorate their dolls, but most of the sports-oriented kids would go straight for the games.  And basically, there’s something here for everybody.  .: Safety

Marapets has taken the hard line approach to security. They abide by the C.O.P.P.A. standards and all children under the age of 13 do not disclose any personal information about themselves. They’re not even asked their e-mail address, just a username, password, and gender, so they can be identified in the game.  The best feature about this is that all information can be removed about them by contacting the support staff.  All parents of players under 13 are able to contact the support staff anytime, request to view all information stored, as well as have the ability to review their son/daughters’ activities at all time.

If a user is older than 13, you have to register an e-mail address to recover your password, gender, and IP address to stop cheating with multiple accounts.  Also, when you enter the site, information such as the IP address, computer operating system, and web browser are stored for research purposes, but you can request your account or information removed.

They also have a 48 hour user protection quota where each user has 48 hours to contact the support team at marapets and they will actually GUARANTEE that they can resolve the problem.  The only thing is that you can only claim twice a month.  Marapets also screens user submitted content and comments which creates a void of users spamming inappropriate or offensive nonsense. There are also various account penalties which is done with a “3 strikes and you’re out-type basis.”

1. 1st offense- 48 hour ban of the entire site
2. 2^nd offense- 7 day ban of the site
3. 3^rd offense- Final offense and your account is deleted forever

Marapets also lets you know that they log everything and can catch cheaters and scam artists which is very important and useful in a youth-oriented site such as this one. One more thing, they have on-site security staff 24 hours per day, 7 days per week. This is definitely hard to beat, as they’re working to ensure that safety of gamers, of all ages, is top priority.

.: Gameplay

I actually had a lot of fun “Creating my Marapet,” and you’re able to choose between various cute colorful creatures with names such as Addow and Azul.  There are also Limited edition petsTheir flash games are pretty fun.  I really liked “Shoot the Fatty” where you can hit the Fatties with a paintball gun.  Perhaps its because I love paintball in real life, but this game is really addictive as you can spend a ton of time just trying to hit the Fatties.  Also, the most popular games are Undead Billiards, Murfin Chase, Shoot the Fatty, Rofling Gold, Bounchy, Dukka Trove, addow Ride, and Marapet Keeper.  Undead Billiards is the most popular game and you have to pot the bombs in 50 seconds in any order. The penalty is 10 seconds if the white is potted and penalty of 10 seconds if no ball is hit.  Murfin Chase is a pretty cool game, but I was bored after a few tries, as the point is for you to swallow the murfin.  I could see how a lot of kids would enjoy this game though.

There are also “Dress up games” with popular teen starts such as Zac Efron, Avril Lavigne, Usher, Marilyn Monroe, Rihanna, Ugly Betty, Pink, Beyonce, Shakira, and of course, Miley Cyrus. Once you click on these celebrities, you go to a cartoon version of them and you can see a quick biography of them, and you can change their clothes, hairstyles, and such to make them “yours.”

.: Community

Their virtual world revolves around the world of Marada. The North side has all the good pets looking to be adopted and the South side has all the evil pets.  Some cool games include They have Virtual pet forums where users can talk to other members and make friends, while taking care of their pets.  Mara Petes Games has almost 3 million registered, active players.  Each player has their own dress-up doll which can be customized so the players can show their creativity and individuality.  They have a referral system, account upgrades, forums, blogs, notice board, clubs, and a way for you to promote your marapet.

The Forums section is pretty easy to get to and understand. The main forums include, Marapets chat, general chat, Help and Assistance, Entertainment, Advertising, Spam and Testing, and Role playing, as well as Adult chat. The Adult chat is obviously only for adults who have paid for access, and if you try to post, and you’re under 18, your account will be frozen.  So, the lesson is…don’t do it.

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