WallaBlog

November 9, 2017

Weekly Buzz – 11/09/2017

Hello Collectors,

We have recently heard from the community that you feel disconnected. You want updates in one place and one place only. Well, the fact of the matter is, we agree with you. We are excited to bring a new segment to the blog that should help with this. Our goal for this new blog series is to give you a week’s worth of information in one shot. This will help consolidate some of the confusion regarding new gameplay development, which items have come out recently, which issues are known (and being worked on), and more.

So, without further ado, we present to you our first edition of the Weekly Buzz.

Gameplay Development

You’re about to give a ‘hip hip hooray’ with today’s information. The WallaBee team has been hard at work creating new gameplay elements, while working out fixed for current issues. We’ll discuss these issues in just a bit, but we want to focus on the positives. New players and Legacy players alike will be happy to hear that navigation within the app is getting an overhaul.

V1 of WallaBee had a handy ‘super close’ ability when tapping any of the bottom navigation tabs. This was something that we couldn’t originally carry over to V2 with React Native, but have been able to now with their recent update. When looking a few pages deep in the app, simply tap the current tab to return to the default view. Note: This does not work with the Place tab, as it extends outside of a tabbed environment.

Ever heard of Mystery Boxes? We’ve added a nice way to open these bad boys back up. Simply interact with the item and select the new gold highlighted option. Think we’re going to stop here? No way… We have new items coming soon that will take advantage of this new extended context menu.

These are just some of the awesome things WallaBee 2.2.1 has to offer. Look for additional Forum updates in the near future. Get that notification? Not yet? We’re working on it. 😉

Recent Item Highlights

Benson has been really busy getting around the world. Here are some items that you may have missed within the last week.

Flying Pins

Budget Wonder #108: “If you’re striking Eindhoven off your list, don’t split before you’ve visited this park”

Gävlebocken

Budget Wonder #100: “A visit to Gävle during Christmas time will surely brighten your night”

Burning Gävlebocken

The arsonist strikes again!

Various players have been asking what the history is with this item. The short story, Stanley (featured in items like Obstacle Course, Ghosts, Relaxed Parents) was dropped at the Texas Fairgrounds the year that Big Tex burned down. WallaBee players blamed this tragic event on Stanley, which gave life to AC’s Burning Tex Player Unique. The real Gävlebocken in Sweden is burned down (almost) every Christmas by arsonists. Sometimes the perpetrator is caught, where other years they get away. Benson believes he saw Stanley lighting the Gävlebocken on fire… but it could have just been a ghost.

Player Unique History

With more and more Player Uniques coming out, we want to spend a respectable amount of time learning more about them. This week’s Player Unique Spotlight highlighted Tree Of Life. You can read more about this unique here.

Tree Of Life

This Week In WallaBee History

On November 5th, 2014 the entire Guy Fawkes Night was released. Six items dropped within six hours and six minutes. It seems that the founding WallaBee team had a sense of humor.

Room For Growth

We have compiled a list of issues that we are currently working on. If you find something that doesn’t fit into this list, please reach out to us and let us know.

Spinning Wheel of Death! Crashes! Ugggh! – We totally agree. We are working on this as a top priority. Although it is a main priority, it is solely dependent on backend development. As we also have to create frontend content, we will continue to create and fix things through app updates. We hope that this isn’t confusing anyone. We’re not trying to bury our trouble by adding more content. We are working on making WallaBee the great app we all know it is.
Battery drains like crazy – This is something I have personally been testing, and the cause is not the GPS like one might think. Yes, it’s a contributing factor, but it’s actually the store. Testing a version of the app without the store allowed me to keep my battery for MUCH longer than normal. We’re working out a proper fix for this.
Forum Notifications/Count are missing – Coming in a future update.
Lingering spinning wheels on item purchase – We are researching how to create items better, so that this issue goes away.
Some notifications (like comments) show as read when they haven’t been read – We are working on this fix.
Items showing as duplicated in pouch/place – This should be a simple fix on our end. We’ve made some changes already to combat this, but it may have not been completely fixed.
Performing an action that triggers a pop up sometimes ‘freezes,’ which needs a hard close to fix – This is a React Native issue that we’re trying to work around. You can follow the dev gossip here.
Market Items sometimes not available – This deals with a very rare situation where an item is removed from the market, but the listing is not updated. We are researching what’s causing this.
General slowness – Because the app runs completely off of an API, connection to WiFi or data is extremely important. If your coverage dips, your connection will also dip. This doesn’t explain every situation, but needs to be addressed. We are currently working on speeding the app up in various areas. You will notice that the forums perform MUCH faster than before. Our goal is to cut the slow, and speed it up, bro.

Community Content

This is a section of the blog where we will highlight any funny images or videos from the community. These may appear through links in the forums, on Facebook, guides on YouTube, or other sites.

Our first image comes from one of Benson’s recent stops – the Magic Tap – compliments of WiMPiE. Wim made a cut out of Benson so that he could actually be there in person. This was not a photoshop. Great job!

If you think someone’s content (or your own) is worthy of being highlighted, you can suggest by emailing support or tagging it with #WallaCommunity.

Any additional questions, comments, concerns? Email: support@wallabeegame.com

November 9, 2017

WallaBee 2.2.1 Notes

Hello Collectors!

We’re ready to unleash the next update for WallaBee! Version 2.2.1 has now available for iOS and Android! We work diligently to make your experience playing WallaBee better with every update. If there is a feature you would like to see, or a pesky bug that we haven’t addressed, we would love to hear from you. Remember to check out the Weekly Buzz for this week’s updates.

Features

Tapping item artwork in Lock Box shows currently saved number
Lock Box item count now truncated once past 999
Mystery Boxes are back!
Forums now display links correctly (app & website)
Forum comments can now be copied by long-pressing the comment.
Added arrow for replying/reporting forum comments
When purchasing an item, tapping the card no longer closes the pop up
Made the purchase button bigger within the store card view
Player Uniques purchased from Uncanny Uniques now properly pay the owner
Pressing tab bars now ‘super close’ like they should

Bug Fixes

Fixed image resolution
Fixed a map pin bug on Android when adding a place
Fixed missing set completion posts
Fixed set completion times
Fixed swapping to set hangup
Fixed a rare situation that allowed players to double purchase items
Adjusted items from appearing multiple times in pouch and places
Adjusted popup timer when trying to recycle an item recently picked up
Adjusted text layout on creating items
Market item fixes
Updated text on deactivated accounts

Note: We are working on a better way of creating items, so that item releases are not the painful mess they currently are. We appreciate your patience as we work through some needed changes.

Any additional questions, comments, concerns? Email: support@wallabeegame.com
If the App Store doesn’t show an update for you, please use the links above. If messaging is not showing correctly through your profile or another player’s profile, browsing cache may need to be cleared.

November 7, 2017

Unique Spotlight – Tree Of Life

As the giver of shelter, food, and warmth, the Tree of Life symbolizes the
family’s strength and longevity as the seasons change and new life springs forth.

Owner: Mizak
How To Get: 1hc in Uncanny Uniques
Meaning: “I wanted something to honor my family, heritage, and love of genealogy. The tree of life covered all three. The idea of a family tree, Celtic heritage, and symbolism of life of family.”

November 7, 2017

Unique Commissions: Closed (NOW OPEN!)

Hello Collectors!

Unique items are something that makes WallaBee standout among the crowd. How many other games do you know of that allow its players the opportunity to have their ideas added to the game? That’s right, Player Uniques have a very special place in our hearts here at WallaBee HQ. We want to continue helping our players add a little bit of themselves into the game through this great program. To help keep everyone up to date, we have had an overwhelming number of commissions that have come in this year. In fact, there have been so many commissions that we are all booked up through the end of 2018. There’s a year’s worth of uniques waiting for Andy’s tired hands, and we are excited to get started on them.

Although we love having a year’s worth of work ahead of us, we don’t want to keep this going at the current rate. We aren’t ready to begin planning 2019’s Player Unique commissions at this time, so we’re going to temporarily close any new commission ideas you may have. We will keep the community updated through the blog and website when we open the queue back up to new commissions. For now, if you have a unique in the queue, we will still be working on it as planned. If you have not submitted your request for a new unique, please hold off until we are ready to accept more commissions.

The Player Unique aspect of WallaBee is very important to us, which is why we are making sure we don’t bite off more than we can chew. There may be a chance that we open the queue back up before the end of 2018, but we want to make sure that we can handle everything that we currently have first. We look forward to seeing all of the current great unique ideas come to fruition!

Any additional questions, comments, concerns? Email: support@wallabeegame.com

October 19, 2017

Freeze Tag Merger with Munzee is Complete

The day has arrived. After months of hard work, long conversations, and a successful joint venture, Munzee Inc has been merged into Freeze Tag Inc. This is a great thing for WallaBee players worldwide as we move forward as one company, stronger together.

There will be no changes to the game, other than great things in store for the future with additional resources and personnel. I, Robbie, maintain my role as overseer in every regard with WallaBee. Nothing changes on that front.

Our apps now include Munzee, WallaBee, Eventzee, Garfield Go, and the rest of the FT suite of apps.

We really look forward to a bright future with some great ideas on the horizon. As usual, we have to be vague with certain details moving forward, especially now that we are part of a public company.

Please know we not only appreciate all of our player communities, but we all know this is only possible because of you playing our games and growing them with us. We look forward to visiting with many of you at upcoming events and continuing to grow our games together.

Thank you for your continued support.

Robbie McGuire
Director of Operations – WallaBee

Announcement Press Release:

Freeze Tag (OTC: FRZT), temporarily trading as (OTC: FRZTD), a leading creator of mobile social games, today announced the company has successfully completed a merger with Munzee Inc., effective October 18, 2017.

“We are thrilled to combine forces with Munzee Inc.,” said Craig Holland, CEO of Freeze Tag. “Rob Vardeman and the Munzee team have built a world class location-based gaming franchise with a dedicated player community.”

The combined company, Freeze Tag, Inc., will maintain offices in McKinney, Texas and Tustin, California with the management team comprised of Craig Holland as CEO, Rob Vardeman as President, Mick Donahoo as CFO, and Cecie Newman as VP of Operations.

“Six years of building communities in our family of apps, with a hard-working team, has brought us to this next chapter,” said Rob Vardeman, former President of Munzee Inc., and now President of Freeze Tag. “We look forward to the leadership and experience the Freeze Tag team brings as we all become stronger together.”

Freeze Tag will continue to align its vision with two fast-growing trends in the mobile applications world: AR location-based gaming and location-based advertising. The combined company has proprietary technology with the ability to create a portfolio of augmented reality location-based games for brands and iconic characters, such as the augmented reality treasure hunting game Garfield GO, which is currently live in several countries around the world.

According to advisory firm Digi-Capital, mobile AR (augmented reality) is set to become the primary driver of a $108 billion VR/AR market by 2021, with AR taking the lion’s share of $83 billion, with VR being the remaining $25 billion (source: Digi-Capital article.)

With Munzee’s dedicated player community and large installed base of locations and the combined technology of both companies, there are tremendous opportunities to offer engaging entertainment-centric, location-based advertising solutions. Location-targeted mobile advertising is advertising based on a user’s location or includes proximity-relevant content to trigger local offline conversions. According to BIA/Kelsey, a media research firm, location-targeted mobile ad sales are expected to rise from $12.4 billion in 2016 to $32.4 billion by the end of 2021. (Source:)

Freeze Tag management indicated that news related to current and future products will be forthcoming.

About Freeze Tag, Inc.

Freeze Tag, Inc. is a leading creator of mobile location-based games for consumers and businesses. Our games include hits such as Munzee, a social platform with over 5 million locations worldwide and hundreds of thousands of players that blends gamification and geolocation into an experience that rewards players for going places in the physical world, Garfield Go, a Pokemon Go style augmented reality game based on the iconic cat Garfield, WallaBee, an addictive collecting game with over 2,000 beautifully drawn digital cards, as well as many social mobile games that provide endless hours of family-friendly fun. We also offer our gaming technology and services to businesses that want to leverage mobile gaming in their marketing and branding programs. For example, our Eventzee solution allows businesses to create private scavenger hunts in physical places such as malls, tradeshows, company events or campuses to create immersive brand experiences.

Forward Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements that involve substantial uncertainties and risks. These forward-looking statements are based upon our current expectations, estimates and projections and reflect our beliefs and assumptions based upon information available to us at the date of this release. We caution readers that forward-looking statements are predictions based on our current expectations about future events. These forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and are subject to risks, uncertainties and assumptions that are difficult to predict. Our actual results, performance or achievements could differ materially from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements as a result of a number of factors, including but not limited to, our ability to market our games, and our ability to implement new changes and release them. We undertake no obligation to revise or update any forward-looking statement for any reason.

October 17, 2017

Budget Wonders

Hello Collectors!

There have been many ideas floating around as to what the ‘Pineapple Set’ really means, including some references to TV shows, previous Hawaiian items, and even whether or not the set is allowed on pizza. The reason for the pineapple will be discovered along the way, as we begin a fun trip to visit the lesser-known monuments of the world!

Backstory

Benson, our favorite WallaBee, has found an old guide book at a local secondhand retailer. He decides to take this book, and his faithful Selfie Stick, and set off on a worldwide adventure. While Benson knows which ‘Budget Wonders’ are the most appealing to him, he needs assistance getting to those locations… He’s not made of honeycombs, you know. The best part about this adventure is that you play a crucial role. By working together with other players, you control how quickly Benson finishes his adventure and returns home.

Gameplay Specifics

Benson will begin at WallaBee HQ
Trade Benson with players around the world to help him get to these Budget Wonders
When Benson reaches the last location he took a selfie at, his next destination will become available within ~~48 hours~~ 72 hours.
Benson cannot by locked, sold, or saved to set.
Benson needs to always be on the move. If Benson gets stuck in someone’s Pouch for a week, he will be returned to the last selfie location he was at.
Benson would love to meet as many people as possible, so don’t be afraid to help him travel from friend to friend… He just requests players don’t get him too sidetracked, as there’s many places to see!

Due to the nature of how this set releases items, the set could be very quick, or take a very long time. GPS spoofing will be taken very seriously, so don’t do it. Benson is a one-off Unique that will hold the memory of his travels.

EDITS: The timeframe has been updated from 24 hours to 72 hours, due to Benson’s many travels in between official stops.

Any additional questions, comments, concerns? Email: support@wallabeegame.com

October 16, 2017

WallaBee 2.2.0 Notes

WallaBee 2.2.0

Hello Collectors!

We are pleased to announce that the next pivotal update for WallaBee has now been released for iOS and Android!

WallaBee 2.2.0 brings a much anticipated feature to the game (which some users have already figured out through ItemBee). This new feature will help our worldwide players travel easier, set up trades faster, and pick up all their locked items from far away locations… that’s right, we’re releasing the Lock Box! Other bug fixes have been made with this update, including the pesky popup freeze (which we’re almost certain we have figured out this time), some double-tap issues, and faster responses in various areas of the app.

Lock Box

The following bit of information contains spoilers about how the Lock Box works. For those who want to figure this new feature on their own, you may want to skip down a bit to the Web Messaging section of this blog post.

We are very excited to finally release this Lock Box feature to the community. Our Staff and BeeKeepers have been testing this ever since the teaser blog post last week, with its themed phrasing, and believe it’s ready to be shared. To help you get comfortable with this new addition, we have compiled some basic details to help you get started.

The Lock Box can be found on your Profile tab, underneath Inbox and Forums.
1. The previous list of locked items is no longer available through the Pouch tab.
The Lock Box is a combination of all your locked items: those at places, in your Pouch, or in the Lock Box.
You can move items directly to your Lock Box from either your pouch (via tapping a locked item) or from a Place (utilizing the WallaDrone moving service).
Players can move items in and out of their Lock Box at no charge. The lock remains on the item at all times, until broken in their pouch (as per normal).
Players can still pick up and drop locked items at Places, just like before.
Players can choose to have the WallaDrone moving service return locked items from a Place to their Lock Box, by paying a fee of 250 hc per item.
1. This feature is not necessary, but is a convenient option if an item you need is too far away.
Three new activity types are being released: WallaDrone moving service, stashing in Lock Box, and removing from Lock Box.
Players can only see their own Lock Box in-app, but still be seen through their Lock List via ItemBee and ItemBrowser.
ItemBee and ItemBrowser are already Lock Box ready, so if the item you’re looking for is in someone’s Lock Box (like Rainbow Santa Hat #1), it will display correctly.
Lock Box is organized by set, similar to the Market layout.
Uniques are organized by Type (WallaBee Uniques at top, Player Uniques at bottom) and then by Release Date.
Before moving an item from a Place to Lock Box via WallaDrone, players can use the magnifying glass to view which location the item is at. This can help players determine whether they should use the service or not.

Edits:

Locks will be on sale until the end of the week. Sale closes Monday, October 22nd at 9:30am CDT (2:30pm UTC).
#12 above

Web Messaging

After our last website update (web forums), many members of the community requested the ability to message players through the website. This feature would help them set up trades, without having to move back and forth so much from their keyboard to their phone… saving them valuable ‘store watching’ time. Well, we listened to your requests, and have added messaging to WallaBeeGame.com! You can access this feature by clicking on anyone’s profile, or by heading to your Profile on the website. This will make navigating from the forums to send someone a PM much faster.

Please note that this feature was not created to compete with other services you may be using, such as Messenger, Slack, GroupMe, etc. Messaging through the web is the same as in the app, so links to websites will still not work (thanks, React).

October 13, 2017

Achievements – Wave 2

Hello Collectors! It’s been almost a month since we rereleased Achievements back into WallaBee. We know you’ve all been hard at work recycling items, visiting education places, and foraging as fast as you can. To give you a little more to do over the weekend (while we prepare more slices of pineapple for you), we’re adding 18 more achievements into the game. We hope that you enjoy completing these just as much as we enjoyed creating them. Although all of these achievements are special, there’s one line of achievements I want to highlight.

Top 100

We have added a ‘small’ incentive to being active in WallaBee when a set is nearing completion. There is now a reward for completing a set in the top 100 fastest players. We felt that having your name on a list wasn’t enough to highlight your achievement of making it to the top 100, so now you can show off your love for collecting with this fancy new achievement line. The top 100 achievements will be retroactive for all sets. You’re welcome, Legacy players! Thanks for helping us make this game great.

These achievements will role out later today. No app update is needed to see the new achievements. Stay tuned in to future blog posts as we release more information about development. Any additional questions, comments, concerns? Email: support@wallabeegame.com

October 10, 2017

New Activity Testing

Hello Collectors! We have some exciting news to share with everyone, which we are currently locking away for later. Today, we want to address some new activity types that will begin popping up over the next few days from certain accounts. Before this new mechanic is unlocked for all, a select group of Staff and BeeKeepers will be helping us test. We look forward to sharing more information about this feature with you all, as we’re sure you’re all buzzing to know.

October 5, 2017

Christmas Crackers Have Returned!

Christmas Crackers!!!

The moment you’ve been waiting for… Christmas has come two months early. That’s right, you can now open Christmas Crackers once again with friends. Who will receive the Party Hat? We don’t know… there’s only one way to find out!

Simply trade a Christmas Cracker with a friend. The cracker will be consumed by the trade and leave one of the two players with a shiny new Party Hat. Be careful with low numbers, as sending a Christmas Cracker at all will destroy it forever!

Any additional questions, comments, concerns? Email: support@wallabeegame.com