UPDATED: The New Forums are Here!

Hi-dee-ho, Meezers! It’s Kate your Friendly Forum Insider here with an UPDATE!

As everyone knows, this week Meez launched their brand-spankin’ new virtual world: Meez Nation

Already it’s hoppin’ over in Meez Nation - people are making personal Roomz, hanging out in the public Hangouts & generally enjoying all the cool new features…

We also just launched the brand new Meez Forums!

The look & feel is much hipper (and, more Meezy) than our old JForum forums… There are bright new graphics on the front page (including one of Lucy looking CRAY-CRAY,) lots of new bells & whistles for posting and new forums like Geek Central to play in!

Overall the reaction has been really positive to these new Meez communities - of course Roscoe, AquaMeez & the whole development team over here at Meez HQ are constantly tweaking/adding/improving to Meez Nation & the new Forums to make them even smarter, faster, stronger… But, it’s a super exciting step for all Meez-kind, for sure!

Back next week with more from the inside!

~Kate

SUPER SECRET!!!

Hi-dee-ho, Meezers!  Your loyal Forum Insider here with some mysterious goings on from the world o’ Meez:

Lucy sent out a Twitter tweet today with some super secret Coinz & a very cryptic message:

I’ve got a secret! It’s VIRTUALLY here, I’ll announce it FORUM-lly soon!

I have no idea what it means; but, I’ve got my theories.

At the same time, a new homepage poll appeared on the Meez.com landing page asking the question:

What do you think Meez Nation is?

Could it be that Meez is about to finally unveil their long talked about virtual world?  What of the forums?  Are the dedicated forum Meezers about to get their dream come true with a shiny, new (non-crashy) forum system?  Do Lucy & Roscoe live in your computer monitor; or, do they actually have an incorporated village full of Meez administrators & moderators who live someplace outside San Francisco?

Only time will tell, Meezers - only time will tell!

Until then, stay tuned & stay Meezy to see what happens next!

~Kate, aka. the Forum Insider

Meez Goes Political: Running Mates!

Politics is a hot topic this year. The election is coming up in November; and, there is a neck-in-neck race going on for the Democratic nomination between Barack Obama & Hillary Clinton.

Given the domination that politics is playing in the nation’s headlines - between Obama’s break from his former spiritual leader, the push by both candidates to force the super delegate’s hand & the battle for the Democratic nomination at the primary level & both candidates working gain “super endorsements” from other politicos - Decision ‘08 is pretty much omnipresent in our lives these days.

Not that I mind, I’m a political junkie!

Is it any surprise then, that Meez has “politically” jumped on the bandwagon?

With the new “Running Mates” animation your Meez can show if, like Barack, they believe in hope & want the Clinton Dynasty to end with Bill.

Or, if like some they think that there is an electability problem with Obama, so they’re going with “their girl” Hills.

Like a true Democracy, Meez let’s YOU decide! You can pick who you PICK & KICK the other candidate to the curb with this new, cool animation…

Funny how there isn’t one for McCain…

The Ultimate Duo in Dress-Up Contests: 27 Dresses and Princess

Last Sunday ABC Family aired its Enchanted-esque fairy tale, Princess. For nearly two weeks now, girls on Meez have been donning Princess Ithica’s HUGE ballroom gowns and making magic happen with the fairy animation. We also recently brought 27 Dresses to Meez, and though its dresses aren’t as big as Princess’, they certainly stand out as some of the fugliest fashion we’ve ever brought to the MeezMaker.

Right now Lucy Meez is hosting contests for both of these movies, and all you gotta do is:

1. Bring out your inner princess for the Princess contest. Contest has been extended until April 30th! Or,
2. Bring out your…fugliness? For the 27 Dresses contest. Contest ends May 5th.

Show us what you got! Good luck in finding the perfect dress.

CONTEST! Make a Meez silent movie

Martin Meez is hosting a specific kind of Meez video contest in the forums. Create a video, yes, but this time, he wants you to make it a silent film.

We know you’re all great at doing your own versions of Kanye West’s Glow in the Dark Tour, but Martin has specifically asked that NO music videos be submitted for entry. Here’s more on the prerequisites:

• This means you ABSOLUTELY CANNOT do a “music video”
• This means you SHOULD tell a story with your video
• This means you CAN use music in the background
• And, this means you CAN/SHOULD use subtitles to indicate what your characters are saying
• Bonus points for cool effects like scratchy film overlays and b&w transfers

Baffled? Never seen a silent movie? Fear not, aspiring auteurs, Martin has dug up some fun examples of silent movies-gone-YouTube, including this one:

To see all the rules, visit the post in the forums.

Get those cameras rolling! Good luck!

Can you Digg Meez?

What started out as a tabloidy joke has gotten some attention on Digg. The “story” is an animted .gif of a nude girl Meez. Hopping on a pogo stick. Nothin’ but class!

See the hub-bub here. If you’ve got a Digg account, we’d love it if you Dugg us!

Naked avatars. REALLY?
For a 13+ site… Hmm…

read more | digg story

…Maybe next time, you can Digg us for actually wearing clothes?

Recognizing Autism Awareness Month with some Meeztastic Moms

When mother Meezer Heids6979 wrote to Meez a couple of months ago, prospects were looking slim. Heids (or ZsMommy on CafeMom) wanted to bring to our attention that April is Autism Awareness Month, and thought it would be a great idea to get some Autism Awareness items on Meez. A number of us at Meez have past experiences in non-profits and we loved the idea. As much as we wanted to support her and the cause, we were suddenly overwhelmed with big business deals that had to be done at the last minute. (Nike. Princess. 27 Dresses. Bam bam bam.) We were really pressed for time and, admittedly, were losing sight of creating something for Autism Awareness Month.

Finally, we had a short breath of fresh air, and actually got around to creating a sign for Heids and her friend DMSFR’s CafeMom group, Autism/Asperger’s/PDD Awareness. That’s DMSFR you see below, showing off our Autism Awareness sign - complete with jigsaw puzzle motif!

CafeMom users were super quick to start snatching up the sign. Their happy response has made us at Meez really proud of our effort, in fact, upon seeing the CafeMom thread about the history of the Meez sign, one of my co-workers asked “Okay, what else do these people want? What else can we make for them?”

Though it took a while, take this story as evidence that we at Meez are all about helping our users promote their causes. Though we do have to shuffle our priorities once in a while, enthusiasm like this makes it entirely worth it. Ladies, pump that sign up with pride!

If you’re a mom, you can learn more about Asperger’s syndrome, autism, and other spectrum disorders by getting in touch with the group that started it all! And yes, we made this sign available to both guys and girls, so go check out the animation!

Thanks, Heids.

Dance Floor Destroyer on Newgrounds

Your favorite Meez Inside DJ game, Dance Floor Destroyer, has been added to popular Flash game channel Newgrounds’ game roster. So far it’s getting good reviews! Click here to play Dance Floor Destroyer at Newgrounds.

If the term “Meez Inside” is new to you, just think of destroying the dance floor this way: Your Meez truly represents you as you advance from spinning newbie to a real mix master.

Try it out and leave us a review!

Meez Gone Wild - Lady users love going “topless.”

The last two weeks at Meez have been a heyday in Meez clothing. Take a look at my Meez below and you’ll notice two things.

1. She is wearing fishnet tights that don’t add weird extra bulk to her legs with a pair of shoes that she picked out on her own. (They weren’t “stuck” to her tights, as some of our old Meez tights and shoes were.)
2. SHE’S NOT WEARING A TOP.

Our developers never take a break in bringing you the latest in Meez technology, so you can thank the dev team for finally creating stockings and leggings that don’t limit your footwear choices - or break through your footwear, for that matter. This is the same update to Meez that brings you the option of multiple tattoos! (More on that later.)

As for all the naked Meez you may have seen running around (or panicking in mummy attacks or drinking Snapple…), you can blame that on our (okay, my) guilty pleasure of checking up on tabloidy gossip sites. When it came out that Hills “star” Audrina Patridge had posed nude after high school (in pursuit of a career in “glamour modeling,” of course), we decided it was time to create some tops and bottoms that give you the option of not wearing tops or bottoms. Thus, our Censored Tops and Censored Bottoms were born!

Interestingly, the ladies on Meez seem to LOVE the Censored Top. All the nude stuff was free for a few hours, and eventually each item was slapped with a 500 Coin price tag - Even with the price change, the stuff is super popular! The girls’ Censored Top was saved on a ton of Meez avatars; in fact, our statistics show that it was saved over four times the average item on Meez.

Though it took a tacky “actress” (Seriously, I don’t know how to classify pretty rich people who happen to be filmed for “reality shows.”) to bring the idea to fruition, this naked Meez revolution is somewhat in response to requests we’ve received from thoroughly legitimate, respectable “naturist” advocates. (Possibly NSFW.) It should be no surprise that nudists have suggested actual nude Meez for constructing their own 3-D IDs, so this is just one step closer to their desires while still keeping Meez in line with what you can typically see on PG-13 movies edited for TV.

Forum Insider, 18 April - ATTACK OF THE NAKED MEEZ!

Hola, Meezy Meezers - Kate, your trusty Forum Insider here with a HUGE scoop from Meez.com!

Perhaps you can notice by my pixels to the left that I am sans clothing.

That’s right: that is my NEEKID me Meez!

Yesterday Meez.com released “Censored” items in the MeezMaker, making it possible for the common everyday Meez to run around in the buff!

Already these new items are a HUGE hit in the Meez Forums. My inside sources report that the 13-15 regulars discovered nakedness yesterday morning and are already old hands at it. They’re all nude, but nobody’s talking about that anymore; they’ve moved on to more relevant subjects.

A regular nudist colony, my source says it reminds him/her of his/her childhood…

Open Board is still having a great time, coming up with the most disturbing ways to be naked. Quote: “Nakedness is fun no matter what.”

Role-Playing is in a state of complete distress: most of the people who aren’t running around with no pants, are crying and making tortured-looking emoticons.

“It is very disturbing to me that most of my friends are naked right now,” one RPer posts.

Ah, to be young and unable to distinguish between people and pixels!

So confusing!

Thank goodness for Controversy: they’re tackling the issue head-on, and seem hell-bent on solving it ASAP.

Discussion topic: “The censored bottoms? Ok or just plain wrong?”

No matter where you stand on the censored issue, this newest asset release from the team at Meez HQ has certainly caused a kerfuffle and flurry of discussion!

Rumor has it that there might be a Neekid Admin day in the works…

o.O

What Lucy, Angie, Gigi, Roscoe, Bellenarcissa, Martin, Kyra & Eric in the buff?

HOW EDGY!

For myself, I’m just enjoying the summer breeze in that sunflower field!

Until Next Time - Stay Meezy,
Kate - The Forum Insider