Furry-Paws: A Dog Sim Game

Furry-Paws is a one of a kind dog showing sim game, hosted online. Furry Paws (referred to commonly as 'FP') is a free site where one can own, breed, raise, and show dogs of almost any type. Now, it sounds like a silly children's game, and yes, it can be. But that's what's fantastic about this game! It is what you make it. You can be a serious breeder, determined to find that rare colour, or you can be an art monkey and sell your designs and hoard the money. There are so many possibilities that the game is truly an over-all win.

The main aspect of FP is the showing. It's why the creator made it, and one of the pushing issues most FPian's choose to argue over. But that does not mean it's the only option, not by far my friend!

I have been playing FP for many years. When I first started, I went broke, got confused, irritated people, and sort of made a fool of myself. I'm okay with that. But the great thing is, while you're figuring out what aspect of FP you want to conquer, the community is very supportive. Newbie Helpers were always around to answer questions, tutorials to give advice, suggestions from other players: it is such a welcoming game environment.

The Magical Possibilities

Now, just for fun, we'll examine some of the 'cliques' on FP.

The Hoarder

The Hoarder is easily identified: they own very few dogs (to keep their expenses down), they spend much of their time searching for deals, they write tutorials on how to be a millionaire, and they are sometimes helpful.

The Art Monger

An Art Monger is an easily assumed persona, usually combining itself with many other types. They are sometimes known on the art sales board, have a billion tags*, have custom layouts, and sometimes give away free lines**. Oh, and they never pass up a collaboration with another artist.

The Mad Breeder

Mad Breeders specialize. They rarely have more than one type of dog in their kennel, they only sometimes show their dogs, and they are overly protective of what dogs they introduce into their breeding regime. Asking them to breed with one of your dogs will get you almost as far as asking the president for money -- the FBI hunts you down silently.

The Must-Not-Age-A-Day-Without-Showing... er

These are the people who freeze their accounts when they can't show their dogs. All dogs must be shown in as many shows as possible, and god forbid if they miss a day! They track their dog's leveling, try to optimize their stats, and spend as much money as it takes to get THE BEST dogs by their 100th day.

The Newbie

These people have no idea what they are doing. They just joined. They just came back. They sometimes say intelligent things. (Gasp!) The newbie group makes and breaks itself on a regular basis, either branching out to find a more stable (and respected) clique, or sadly staying as is and continuing to annoy the daylights out of any other person they get to talk to them. Common hindrances are having a billion dogs, most are level one, constantly breeding puppies, and also 'rescuing' dogs.

The Casually Obsessed

People who are, in a word, lazy. They sometimes show their dogs, participate in some site happenings, usually know about updates within a week or two, and even make rare appearances on the forums. They keep whatever breed they happen to like most, or find interesting.

The Rescue Committee

There is a fine line between a Newbie and a Rescue Committee. The difference mainly being that a Rescue Committee usually knows more about FP and it's workings, and doesn't ask as many 'stupid' questions. (And by stupid, I mean the same question over and over again.... like 'will you give me money plz?') Rescue Committee members are characterized by their desire to 'save' every dog -- whether they need, want, or even have the brain power to be saved... we are talking about pixels, yes? Their kennels are large and unorganized, they fall prey (sometimes) to chatspeak, and usually make a mess of dogs when they're able to.

Ye Old Member

Those whose number is below 20000. Those who have been around forever. Talk like they've been around forever. Treat others condescendingly because they have been around forever. They know their stuff, their dogs kick your dog's butts, and everyone will openly admit it.

Oooo, I'm Feeling Special Now!

As you should be. This site is great fun for all ages, another filler for those lonely, rainy days, and just another way to tell the world, in a few simple words... that you are the best.

* Tags: Magical little 150x150 pixel icons that display your username. They can be anything from pictures to drawings to fancy text, depending on the owner's taste, or what they feel like buying.

** Lines: The drawings that make up tag sales are lines. Sometimes artists will give them away for free use if they're feeling lazy and don't want to colour / sell them themselves. Their rules usually dictate you can't make money off of them, but that's about it.