CSN | July 2024

THE CHICKEN SMOOTHIE NEWS

Bringing the vast corners of Chicken Smoothie to your inbox

HAVE SOME SUGAR IN YOUR SMOOTHIE

Sugar to Black saphire for having the cutest art style EVER!

Sugar to rey skywalker for having awesome ocs and ideas :) Sugar to EVANrambles for becoming my new friend!

Sugar, sugar, sugar!!! To everyone on the CSN staff team who keep this awesome article going! So proud of all of you :D

Sugar to Hanna for being such a great friend, sharing tons of laughs and love about our pets on cs! <3

Sugar to BPlusSupernova! They're super active in the UMA community specifically and I adore their contributions with Moosems, Wermz, and other UMAs!

Sugar to arcadia for making amazing designs and being a great person :D

Sugar to estella. for being such a supportive and caring friend <3

CHICKEN SMOOTHIE HIGHLIGHTS

In June, we got lots of fun additions and tidbits, such as the new store pet set by the talented Lilian Nightshade, Feline Dragons! Additionally, we saw the release of the annual General Helpers cat litter differing from the September Staff Dog litter, but still incredibly fun to watch grow and learn about! Other updates include the teaser that the Summer Event theme has been officially decided, leaving CS users on the edge of their seats as we all wait in anticipation for the announcement, which will likely be released in late July

Additionally, we were given more specifics about moderation rules regarding CS-linked Discord servers, most of which were incredibly vague previously, so these were accepted with much enthusiasm in these communities.

For Pride Month, we saw some gorgeous litters, such as Dogs, Lions, and Horses! We saw an immense amount of love for all of these pets, however, the Lions stood out amongst the rest as the most beloved Overall, with the new sets and litters being released, we have been given lots to enjoy while we lay in wait for the next big event, and we’re excited to share more with you in the meantime!

CS FUN FACT

Did you know that a PPS was originally considered for Doglike’s Dog Dragon store set? However, his 2020 staff pet already looked like it belonged in the set, and he wasn’t sure on how to tackle a new PPS design in a way that would differentiate it from the staffie Due to this (and time constraints), a PPS Dog Dragon was cut from the set Looking back, the similarities between the staffie and the store set are uncanny!

ART NEWS

TRADE NEWS

This month, our researchers have noticed that there has been a significant uptick in a specific demographic of CS users. Old users that have been inactive for a long period of time are now returning to CS. We have not quite been able to pinpoint why this is happening, so if any older users have any insight regarding this, please contact us or comment on our discussion thread! Regardless, the main reason we have noticed this is due to a slew of overpaying trades from older users, who tend to only have old rare pets/items.

Starting July 1st, Art Fight returns for the year! For those who aren’t familiar, this event is where artists “fight” each other after picking one of two teams this year being either Seafoam or Stardust. To attack, you need to make art for someone, giving you points towards your respective team! At the end of the month, the team with the most collective points wins. It’s an absolute blast for everyone involved, filled with lots of kindness, as it’s purely about making art of someone’s beloved character and seeing art made for you as well!

However, on CS specifically, we chose to highlight an up-and-coming species/worldbuilding game called “EARTHRISE,” created by the user Archaeopteryx., which states that it is a “genetics based worldbuilding game,” based around the species you are able to adopt: Aktegos! The Aktego were originally created at the beginning of the space age to accompany humans on long trips across what is otherwise a very lonely expanse, and soon became quite popular! We look forward to seeing how this species develops and grows, as it is such an incredible concept!

Unfortunately, returning players aren’t used to the changes in the CS economy and unintentionally send trades that are unfair to them If you see a user sending an unfair trade that wouldn’t benefit them, consider taking a moment to make sure they’re aware of what they’re doing! Most people probably wish someone had warned us about that one old trade we did that makes us cringe, so consider being that kind person in someone else’s life!

On another note, after the Pride Month litters were released, we saw an expected boom in popularity for the PPS outcome of the Lion litter. This cute cub has had countless auctions for it, and we’ve even seen it selling for 50100 C$ in rare cases. The rest of the litter has been quite popular as well, with lots of new hoards sprouting, and just love in general for the designs, Concept did an incredible job creating them!

SPECIAL FEATURE ARTICLE: THE CHICKEN SMOOTHE MALL

This month, we wanted to focus on a very unique event that is beloved by many CS users, even those who didn’t get to directly experience it: The CS Mall! The CS Mall was a virtual shop in which users could purchase physical merchandise such as stickers, keychains, and more! Originally, these items were sold as leftover merch from when CS had a booth at Anthrocon in 2012.

Item sales were limited to one per person to make sure that everyone got what they wanted due to such limited stock, and despite Tess being in the US during those days one of the main reasons the Mall was able to exist at the time they specifically stated they couldn’t take orders from Mississippi, USA. How strange!

SPECIAL FEATURE ARTICLE: THE CHICKEN SMOOTHE MALL

Despite CS being smaller, but still widely beloved in 2012, the Mall had to close the very same day it opened due to running out of stock; tons of orders were made incredibly quickly. At the time, Tess had told users via a forum post that she intended to reopen the Mall a few days later, stating: “It took me about a week to make all those buttons x x better go get back to the button press… wish me luck.” But, it unfortunately did not open again until 2013. When the Mall did reopen, this time it only offered sticker sheets. A single sticker sheet was only $2.25 USD, quite the steal! All orders came with a CS “business card,” signed by Tess herself. This was because at the time, Tess was packaging and mailing orders manually, which added a really special touch to these deliveries.

SPECIAL FEATURE ARTICLE: THE CHICKEN SMOOTHE MALL

Back in 2013, some users had commented on the pets available on the stickers being quite limited (mostly dogs), and after this, we found out that CS artists actually had to redraw the pets chosen to make them a good enough resolution to print! After seeing all this, we can really see what a labor of love the Mall was, and how much time and care was put in by everyone involved. It was truly a special time in CS history. The last time the CS Mall was ever opened was in November 2015 for a Black Friday sale, but it has been closed for the last nine years. An interesting tidbit our researchers noticed however, is that the link to the CS Mall is still live to this day, and by clicking on it, it will simply take you to a page reading “The mall is currently closed!” Perhaps this means there is hope for reopening one day.

SPECIAL FEATURE ARTICLE: THE CHICKEN SMOOTHE MALL

We’ve also taken the time to look into how CS would realistically bring this Mall back if it were to reopen As amazing as the Mall was for having the personal touch from Tess, with the site having grown so much and having over 600,000 users, it no longer seems feasible. Using PODs (Print on Demands) could be one of the biggest solutions, since these companies manufacture, print, package, and ship out merchandise for you, making it a lot easier on the salesperson. This could mean that CS users would pick a design, pick what item to have it on (such as a t-shirt or mug), and get it shipped to their door. It's something I’m sure a lot of CS users have dreamt of! Additionally, many publications have stated that with sustainable fashion becoming a very important part of our life, print on demand business models have become more and more desirable, due to less waste created because of it being made on demand. What do you think? Should CS look into a less personal way of selling products if it means getting it out to more customers, giving all CS users a way to connect with one of their favorite pet sites? Or should they continue to only ship in small amounts to stay personal?

AN INTERVIEW WITH: DADWARF

WHO IS DADWARF?

DaDwarf is a CS veteran, joining originally in 2009, and is still active to this day. Over the years, DaDwarf has made many CS Guides to help users along their collecting journey, and is generally a very appreciated and well-known figure across the CS community. Today, we wanted to speak with them, as not only do they have a large wealth of CS knowledge, but they were also one of the lucky people to purchase items from the CS Mall. Yes, we’re all very jealous here at the CSN! Keep reading below to learn more about them and gain some insight on how long-time users have seen the site evolve and grow over time!

How did you discover Chicken Smoothie?

I was very into pet breeding games when I started my country's version of highschool. I had a Wajas account, and from there I saw someone's CS pets on their profile. I adopted a bunch of pets in 2008 but couldn't be bothered to make an account until March 2009. The community was teeeeny tiny back then, and CS didn’t rely on any active play on the user end it was the only site of its kind back then. This was pretty unique: you just…adopt and wait for ‘em to grow and then trade for missed outcomes. No clicking, breeding, custom designing or major collecting like on Aywas, Wajas, Alacrity etc. Wish I had made an account in 2008, but I mean, I did get on here pretty early!

What drove you to start being a large contributor to the site's guides and resources?

I just like helping people. I would write down my thoughts on things and people would say “you should make a guide about that.” So I did. I've always been a firm believer that knowledge needs to be accessible for anyone. If you put in a bit of effort and research, you'll find what you need. I like to think I've helped a lot of people with basic understandings of rarities and with species knowledge. That's what keeps me going honestly :)

AN INTERVIEW WITH: DADWARF, CONTINUED

You're probably one of the more prolific guide-makers of CS, how do you figure out what sort of guides are needed or you want to work on?

Honestly, I just sorta make a guide? Some are used and some aren't used much The first big page I owned was the “How much is this pet worth?” thread and from there I just sorta rolled into writing down the way I see rarities Then came the pet naming guides for trading and search-function purposes, it helps if everybody uses the same names Back in the day, these names were really important, and we still use all those old names today: Sunback, Toxic, Blue Balloon CS has a lot of pets now, so I feel as if names have become less and less important, as it's easier to just say “doglitter from May 2022 ” But still, it's nice to have the option to stick a name to something!

Do you ever find it difficult to upkeep these guide threads?

Yes. When I started making a lot of these guides, I was either still in school or jobless. Since I started working, it's sometimes really hard to work on things. This is also the reason why I stopped charting for the outcomes thread and only run the behind the scenes now. I make the thread at the start of the month and only really have to get on a couple times to see if things are updated. Sometimes I jump in when I see things aren't, but other than that, my fantastic team does the work. I just don't have the time to be on CS every single day anymore, sadly!

How do you figure out which ones to prioritize?

Funnily enough, I update most of them like…once every 2 years or so. The only one I update yearly is the 18th rerelease/unreleased one because I find it really important people know which pet is the UR pet right off the bat so they don't trade away something valuable for nothing. All the naming guides, I usually wait until either someone PMs me asking to update or when I find the time and the mood to do it. It's A LOT of copy pasting images xD

AN INTERVIEW WITH: DADWARF, CONTINUED

You completed your pet collection in 2014 and your item collection in 2016, what was that like?

Incredible? But also a bit of my own downfall on CS. After I completed both my collections, I went into “maintenance mode.” CS has nothing really to offer anymore for me; I just have to keep my collections complete and that is only really an issue once a year on the 18th. I try to trade for the new URs before the New Years and am usually successful. With the backlog of trading fodder, I never really have to worry about randomly missed monthlies. Even now with the rarer monthlies, it's not a problem. I have about 30k uncommon and lower pets in my trades and like 10k rares or something? I just throw rares at it until I get it. It has made CS boring, but if I hadn't completed my collection back then, I don't think I would've been able to now!

I've been working on completing my best friend’s collection for a few years now, and using my own fodder, I managed to get her everything from 2010 till now, minus of course store pets and UR's. Slowly working on the 2009s for her haha.

I'm a completionist at heart so completing my collection was a huge milestone for me. I worked really hard for it too; I used to play 6 other games just to collect money so I was able to trade for CS pets. I never put real money into any of these sites, but did trade very cleverly. I was always up to date on exchange rates and would frequently exchange one site currency to another just ‘cause a trade partner wanted something else. For example, I used to trade a tooooonnn of Aywas currency for Alacrity Bones and then those for CS pets. And during the rise of FR, I would trade away everything I had on Wajas and Aywas for FR gems and coins and would auction those off for many, many CS pets. The last pet I needed was the Moonswirl, and I bought her for Alacrity Bones, which I had to trade for using C$, CWP on Wajas and a bunch of items over on Furvilla and Goatlings. The money was the game for me, honestly. Looking back, I did really spend maybe a bit too much time online hahahaha!

AN INTERVIEW WITH: DADWARF, CONTINUED

What did you think of the release of UR Items?

Well at first I was really worried lol I freaked out and def overpaid for a few I tend to send out like 5000 trades on the 18th for the URs, so I did the same for the items But then, more and more trades got accepted, and since I got them before the big hype, I managed to trade away for a profit For example, I traded for 3 paying 1,500C$ winning an auction , and then traded 2 off for 1,600C$, because someone was offering that I also traded the third for pets I hope it isn't a tradition though; I don't find the 18th fun. It doesn't really benefit the community to have these really hard to get pets. Especially since they count for a complete collection, I find that it makes the complete collection mark unachievable for many, many CS users, and that's unfair imo. Same for items; there are already plenty of semi custom items that are unachievable so why add to that stress? I like games that have hard but at least achievable end goals :)

What is your favorite pet/pets on CS?

My absolute favorite is of course, the Yellow Toxic I capped my hoard at 150, Toxinator is in my favorite group so he doesnt count And there is one stuck in my collection too so in total I have 152 I haven’t traded for a Toxic in years, but if I get one offered I might pick up hoarding again xD The Blue Balloon was my first dreamie on CS, so I've had her about as long as I've been on the site I got her because I self-adopted the UR Purple Tess Horse on the first 18th it was released I remember the excitement when I got offered my dream pet for that horse haha! And then of course, the Sunback What does one have to say about that? Pure perfection XD I have five right now would love to maybe go to 6, but they are too expensive to seek out really

AN INTERVIEW WITH: DADWARF, CONTINUED

What was buying from the CS Mall like?

Pweh, this was a really long time ago! CS was a huggeee part of my life growing up. I found the site when I was a teen and am now well into adulthood. I remember when the CS Mall opened, I still had to ask my folks if I could make a Paypal account to pay for stuff. They thought I was crazy a site called ChickenSmoothie? After my first purchase, I went back when there was a restock and bought more. Biggest regret not buying any of the keychains. If I remember well, there was a Blue Balloon keychain and I would have loved to get my hands on one of those!

Do you still have any of the items that you originally purchased?

I have all the items I purchased still in the original envelopes. I'll try to send a picture for you. I never got around to putting them on anything, and I'm very into collecting things IRL as well, so yeah…just kept ‘em tucked away neatly.

AN INTERVIEW WITH: DADWARF,

Why did you find the CS Mall merch appealing?

Back in the day, I spent pretty much every waking hour on CS xD. We had the biggest friend group and would be on MSN and XAT all day. Played all sorts of games; I even went around the world and met a few friends IRL that I only really knew from typing to on CS. It's been a special place in my childhood, so when there was merch, of course I wanted some!

What was it like back then in terms of the mall's popularity, how about the community?

If I remember well, the mall was sold out pretty fast the first time it opened. I don’t really remember the specifics, but some people really did spend big bucks on the mall. The community overall was a lot nicer than it is nowadays. We weren't with that many active users, I would think, but maybe that is my skewed vision. I had a pretty solid friend group and we ran a bunch of much needed topics, so it’s all a bit of a blur.

Would you like to see the mall brought back? If so, what products would you like to see?

I sure would. A bit after it closed, I had a conversation with Nick/Tess to see if I could run the CS Mall for them. The main reason it closed, if I remember well, was because it was a lot of work for them to pack and ship all the orders. They ended up not wanting anyone else to run it, which is very understandable. I mean, shipping from my country would be quite expensive for the majority of the Americans if they wanted tracking, and shipping from NZ isn’t too bad to America I believe.

If the mall is ever brought back, I'd take anything Yellow Toxic: Keychains, stickers, plushies, I don't really care. Anything with my dream pet on it haha!

AN INTERVIEW WITH: DADWARF, CONTINUED

Who are you off CS?

I studied animal caretaking and worked at a petting zoo for almost 8 years. Then did a major career switch and now work as a teacher for a practical school. I teach anything related to gardening, landscaping, animal caretaking, and outside maintenance. Basically any machines that you use for that too: weed whacker, leaf blower, chainsaw, tractor etc. It's a really fulfilling job! I love teaching and getting my kids ready for “the real world.”

Outside of work, I ride my horse twice a week and do a ton of walking with my dog, Bailey. She's a Brown Lab and always accompanies me anywhere I go I even take her to work with me! I'm also a beekeeper and sell organic honey locally. I'm outside a lot, with not much time behind the computer anymore.

What's one piece of advice you live by?

Offsite: I always like to say “do it well, or don't do it at all ” Don't half-ass anything you do Jump into it fully, stick by your guns and ride it through If you plan on slacking off, you might as well not start at all

Onsite: The best piece of advice I always tell people on CS is “patience is key ” Have patience, in trading, in collecting, in working out things Everything around us is always so, so rushed Take a step back, take your time Nothing is gonna be achieved in 3 seconds If you are trying to complete your collection, don't set insane goals Just take it pet by pet!

WHO SHOULD BE INTERVIEWED NEXT?

Whether it's staff members, a well-known artist, or a CS creator in some way, suggest users in our suggestion form! This can be found on our main forum thread.

CROSSWORD

PUZZLE

CLUES:

Across Down

6: What was DaDwarf’s first dreamie on CS?

7: During its first opening, from what part of the world was the CS Mall unable to accept orders?

8: What convention did CS Staff attend in 2012?

11: What’s the species of the companion you’re likely to have with you if you’re traveling through space in the world of EARTHRISE?

12: What species were the most popular Pride Month pets last month?

1: What CS Mall items did Tess handmake herself?

2: Seafoam vs ?

3: What site’s currency did DaDwarf exchange for the last pet they needed to complete their collection?

4: What occupation allows DaDwarf to sell an organic product locally?

5: In 2015, what calendar event did the CS Mall open for?

9: What species is the General Helper litter?

10: What artist drew the Dog Dragon set?

GAMES GALORE

WORDS:

AVIAN

CSNEWS

EXTREMELYRARE

SIMON

TOTORO

CHICKENSMOOTHIE

DRAGON NICK SUNDOG

UNCOMMON

CSMALL ELLEBEE

OTTER

TESS

URPIE

Can you spot all 10 differences?

LETTERS FROM OUR READERS

axelandria wrote...

“I wanted to thank the person who sent sugar to the GHs, it's really nice to know we're appreciated by the community <3”

Mishachu wrote...

“CS has such a storied history that I feel isn’t really mentioned or talked about a whole lot As relatively new user I always look forward to CSN’s fun facts always giving interesting little tidbits from the site’s 16 year old history!”

catmother456 wrote...

“I really enjoy reading all the interviews with the staff. I enjoyed reading about Fawnie in the June 2024 CSN Newsletter, and getting to know her better. I look forward to seeing which staff member will be interviewed next!”

Circle wrote...

“Hi there to CSN! I look forward every time the team drops a notification in my inbox! I have been on CS for a long time, and even though I have been here for a while, I'm still very shy and just love to lurk and learn about the community! I take time out of my day to read the article and I love the horoscopes! Thank you to the CSN team and everyone in the community that keeps this awesome place 'bump'ing!!”

otterbug wrote...

“I get so excited for the monthly newsletter because I learn so much despite being on this site for almost 11 years! I love getting to know little fun facts and seeing the dressups that are submitted I have to say, I really enjoy the crosswords!!”

Lostlovebirdz wrote...

I'm so glad you guys shed some light on Chicken Smoothie's roleplay community! I hope activity increases and I look forward to joining a rp soon! Personally, I've always been interested in realistic and mythical animal roleplays.

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CHICKENSMOOTHIEDISCORDSERVER

CS (also known as CSDS) is a Discord server for users of the game Chicken Smoothie! Currently there are over 1200 members! You can chat with others who play, advertise your trades, showcase your dressups, win giveaways, and so much more! We would love for you to join our community

LGBTQ+CSPRIDEPETCOLLECTION!

Come and see an ever growing collection of LGBTQ+ CS pets! Find pets who can represent you, and maybe learn about some new identities along the way :)

SYLVEON’SADOPTIONCENTRE

Its an adoption center for all players to gain free pets! Its limited to two per day and once a month there are raffles for pets that are worth Rare+!

DAINTERSEXPRIDEPOUND

+da intersex pride pound+, a place to adopt, interact with others, and have fun! lets go pride!

PERCYJACKSONFANCLUB

Calling all Percy Jackson fans! If you love the Percy Jackson books or show, this fanclub is for you!

OMGSR,UR,ANDSTOREPETCOUNT

This thread is to help users gauge how many pets it roughly takes to turn an "OMGSR" to an "ER" and to possibly help see which outcomes are more rare The thread does not represent site-wide numbers, but we hope to help alleviate some of the pains with trading OMGSR, UR, and old store pets

YOINKGROUP

Yoink group is a monthly giveaway I run with monthly doubles! It goes for 2 weeks or until I run out of pets, so come yoink!

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To get an ad here and become a CSN affiliate, you need to fill out an application on our home page! You can learn more details there as well.