Meet my adorable new pet Monkeys from the new Zooby Trainapets line! The Zooby Monkey is a fresh and new idea, as they are the first trainable pets that I’ve come across in SL. These Monkeys do not breed, but instead, their reason for being is to learn new tricks and interact with you and your friends.
I’ve named mine after delicious fruits, cos they are Juicy Monkeys, after all 🙂
The Zooby Monkey comes fully scripted with hold, roam, follow, meetmonk (I love this one!), home, pet, leash, poses, extras, tricks, my name, stats, sounds, attack, defend, help, and phantom. The menu is interactive and controls every aspect of your Monkey’s interactivity and customization. As with other Zooby products, I’m blown away by the flawless scripting and amazing textures.
Poses included – Sit, Stand, Relax, and Lay
Holding poses include – Hold (on arm) and Hold (on shoulder)
Here’s a preview of the “MeetMonk” animation menu. When your pet Monkey is near another Monkey, you can select this menu and choose from a wide selection of interactive “things to do” and your Monkey will act out those things. I just adore the kiss (awww!) and piggyback interaction (shown above).
Mmmmmm Monkey food! There are four types of Monkey food – Deluxe, Premium, Standard, and Generic. As the name implies, when you feed your Monkey a Deluxe food bowl, it will learn tricks faster (in one day); when you feed your monkey a generic food bowl, it will take seven days to learn a new trick. The food bowl can only be used by one Monkey, so when it is all used up by that Monkey (if you have more than one), you can delete the food bowl and purchase and rez a new one.
In addition to food, your Monkey also has a Happiness Level that must be maintained if you want to increase the chances of receiving a mystery trick. I loved playing with these accessories myself, cos there are poses built-in for me to use, such as bathing my Monkey in the tub and also hair brushing 🙂
A fully leveled Monkey is the ultimate reward for taking such good care of your Zooby Monkey.
Performing tricks – Eating Banana, Blowing Bubbles, Hulahoop, Playing the Bongos
For every trick that your Monkey has learned, it will go up 1 level. There is a maximum of 40 levels, and the minimum it takes is 40 days to learn all of those tricks. Feed your Monkey Deluxe food bowls if you want it to learn faster!
I can’t wait to see all the tricks my Big Kahuna (that’s the bad-ass looking one above, with the Red Mohawk) can do! Big Kahuna is not named after fruits cos he’s the baddest one of all my Monkeys, and most intelligent.
If you don’t want to feed your Monkey or worry about Happiness Level, the Zooby Monkey is still a great pet out of the box. Your Monkey will never die, but it won’t learn any tricks. For someone who is serious about training the pet Monkey, the reward is a fully leveled Monkey that potentially has a high resale value. These Monkeys have no copy/transfer perms, so you can transfer to someone else with all the levels included. Should you lose the Monkey (SL bug, accidental deletion, etc), Zooby creators have a record of your Monkey in their system and will replace it WITH all the tricks it has learned. Amazing? This feature ensures that you don’t lose money and valuable time if there’s a hiccup.
There’s so much more included with the Monkeys that I may have forgotten to include. You’ll just have to get one (or a few!) and discover all the awesomeness for yourself.
Visit Zooby, the best pets in all of SL!
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I have had a trainable dog for years in second life, but this is very cool! Might have to get one for myself!
Very excited!
Cute but a bit silly imo… Depends on the price really and of the food. Why buy something that commits you to pay over and over and over again (forty times???) Sounds like a mini version of that bloodlines.
You could pose the same question for “breedables” in SL, that needs to be fed forever, or they die. Feeding the Zooby Monkey is an optional thing, but you are rewarded with a smarter Monkey 🙂
Ohh, no.. Another thing keeping me online in SL forever! I just cut down to 40min/day online LOL … something..
I LOVE them! The hardest part is actually deciding on one..or 2…
……or 4 -.-
What i really like is that you have options, if you would rather just have a cute monkey walking around, you can do that..if you want to eventually be a breeder you can do that too!
These adorable little monkeys will be giving those damn bunnies some serious competition!
Adorable, zooby’s are very nice, but you should check out A.I.F. They are super cute and I think cheaper then zooby’s, they are like 900L each. And they have chihuahua’s now *shrieks with joy*. Here’s the slurl, not sure how easy it is to find the search. http://slurl.com/secondlife/Spinolds%20Flat/143/185/58
I own the persian cat, desert fox, yorkie, and corgi. And you can also dress them, feed them etc like zooby’s. And the clothes are free and food is like 20L and you dont have to repeat buy it.
meow 🙂
Well i guess its like purchasing a pose/animation , so you could look at it that way for each trick, assuming its not like 1000L per meal/trick.
I guess its no different than anything you actually spend money on in SL, this is a 40 animation monkey.
I TPed in at Zooby as soon as I saw your pictures, with the idea of getting a new friend. While the monkeys are totally adorable, and the idea of training them is fun, the amount of L$ you’ll have to invest into your little buddy is an insult.
As per the information notecard from Zooby : “Your monkey has the ability to learn tricks. To teach your monkey a trick you need to feed him.” In order to train your monkey with 40 tricks in 40 days you need to feed him the Deluxe type of food at 700$L each, everyday for 40 days. That’s an astonishing 28 000L$ ($81.85 USD) to train your monkey to the fullest. Are you kidding me, Zooby?
Even training him in 40 weeks instead of 40 days by feeding him the Generic food represents 4 000L$ ($16.25 USD). And it doesn’t include the bath, brush, sleeper and *love* that you can also purchase.
Someone is trying to rape my wallet and I’m not sure I like it.
Exactly … For some reason the sl economy has no price cieling over a certain good or service so some designers go all out. There is no consumer protection and everything is based on reputation alone. I guess it’s about who buys these things and encourages such outrageous pricing.
Or maybe… they think zooby stands for ferrari of pets..lol
Kinda like buying one or a chanel handbag, only without the prestigious brand name to show for it.
I think there is some misunderstanding about feeding the monkey. For one thing, you do not have to feed him. A default monkey without food and without accessories has a 9 built in animations to interact with other monkeys. He comes with 12 t-shirts, 6 hats and each hat includes at least 8 textures, mohawks, and 9 pair of sunglasses (all free built inside a default monkey). In addition, the default monkey has a male and female built in AO so your avatar can walk nicely while holding him. You can carry your monkey on your shoulder or your arm, which allows you to wear your own AO if you choose to and take your monkey anywhere in SL. Your monkey can roam your land, defend your land, sit, lay, sleep, stand on your land. Friends can control your monkey, walk him on a leash (leash is free with the default monkey) or help train him. Also free is a pet locator box incase you lose your monkey.
The food is available only if you want your monkey to do tricks. For people who do not want to spend $700 linden, they can purchase $100, $300, or $500 food. All food allows your monkey to learn tricks. The only difference is the time it takes to learn the trick. If you do not want to spend a lot of linden you can just as well purchase $100 linden food and your monkey will learn a trick a week.
Accessories are also an option and not an obligation. All accessories can be shared among monkeys, so once purchased they never need to be bought again. By taking care of your monkey you have a chance to win a transferable mystery trick which you can then resell or keep.
We are NOT trying to rape anyones wallet. And it is an insult to hear such things. Our intention was to develop one of the most engaging products in SL, give people something to do and something to look forward to using each week.
One last thing and this is very important. Every monkey is tracked on a database. If you lose your transferable monkey we replace him for you and any trick learned is remembered. So if your monkey reaches trick 30 and you lose him, we will send you a new one with all his tricks in tact. Considering how many items are *lost* in SL, knowing you will never lose your monkey and have to buy a new one is a relief to anyones wallet.
I don’t see how stating the obvious is insulting, mostly that I realize I made a mistake in the above post : training a pet in 40 days doesn’t cost around $81 USD, but more around $111. Over a hundred dollars and the pet isn’t even included.
My gawd.
The range $ to train one of Zooby’s monkey (including the pet) is between $26.50 and $122.11 USD depending if I want to do it in 40 days or 40 weeks. The first price is still affordable since you spend it over 9 months, more or less. It’s not any worse than getting a piece of clothing per week at TDR, as an example. But the highest price I mentionned above really does bother me.
Zooby is – by FAR – the best pets shop in Second Life, and I understand the tremendeous amount of work such pet must require to be created. But I have the feeling that based on your reputation, you think it’s ok to expect some people to spend over a hundred $ on one of your pet. I know some people WILL pay that money in order to get their monkey trained fast; that doesn’t mean the price is ok. I have the feeling you’re making them pay for the name/reputation more than the pet itself.
I know we don’t HAVE to train the monkey but what’s the main purpose of getting a trainapet if it’s not training it?
Cute…. Or, you could just play a free game on the net, or get an app for your iphone.
Would you pay $15 or $80 for a ‘train your monkey’ game on your comp??
Zooby is a silly craze that I will fortunately never understand.
Carie… you shouldn’t have to defend your product’s pricing structure. Those that have the $L and are willing to pay it will, those who don’t, won’t and those who wouldn’t in the first place, well then they aren’t in your marketing demographic to begin with.
I think you make fantastic products and own a number of your items. From puppies to larger than life flying dragon. I adore them all. Your attention to detail and fairly consistent updates for the life of the product are admirable.
Frankly, I am surprised you haven’t been bitten by the breedable craze. 😀
Anyhooo kudos to you and your contributions to SL fun and silliness.
Hey I have an idea … If it’s not in the budget, then don’t get it. To me, the price doesn’t deserve a indignant eschew of the product. Shoes at that price might get a “awhellnaw” from me. But not a cool toyyyyy. Meh. Preferences. I want a Mango.
I agree with the comment about not having to apologize for the pricing, you get what you pay for here and that is an amazing product!! I just bought the lemur and absolutely love it!!
Haha, I was wondering if anyone noticed that Coco was actually a Lemur :3
I agree with Mairead & Lashy on this matter. My sister purchased one, as have I (gift for someone) and I am in love with these creatures. The ads will not do it justice. They are incredibly well sculpted, amazingly textured, and the scripting is impeccable. When purchasing this ( I can be frugal *at times*) I took into consideration all of these aspects and felt it is well worth the Lindens. And, it doesn’t stop there, we *should* consider the creator’s time, patience, tier/rent, vendor/marketing time and costs of programs used to get this product going. I would LOVE to know how much, “someone else” who puts in this time, effort, creativity, and diligence would consider charging if “they” were to build a similar product. Really.
TY Carrie and Gogo.
(That’s my rant for the day).
Hmm…. I’m thinking the products are best suited for an x boyfriend trying to get back together…
If you REALLY want to prove your sl commitment, pay me as much as you’d pay for sl wedding (just wildly guessing – and for the record joking) but to get a cute silly willy monkey that I can name after you!
And speaking of which…. can we starve the monkey? Especially after naming it after an x-boyfriend?
And to Mairead, well said but again – to me – just as in real life, people who do have the money should go after something more beneficial to more than one person. (In contrast to the x-boyfriend joke) If you will pay 111 American dollars in a virtual toy that will loose its craze the minute bloggers stop linking and tagging and blogging them – then you can pay such money in something that brings a smile to more than one person in second life.
However, my point does not stand if:
1. You DO invest in other less selfish and self-obsessed acts of purchasing overpriced virtual goodies (in that case , if you have the dough! go!)
2. You are an x-boyfriend
ZOMGAW!
Don’t knock the price!! Sure, it’s a bit steep, but don’t pay it if you can’t afford!! I agree with them on that.
-I- & two of my friends on the other hand, absolutely ADORE out monkeys!!!
I’ve had mine for less than a day & I love him. <3
Sure it's a bit insane to spend so much on a pet you can't even actually, literally train & what-not, but HEY! I wanted a monkey!!!
I GOT MY MONKEY!
OMG! The x-bf gig worked rofl! Now I know I was right to leave him hehe. What’s left is seeing how much of the full 100 bucks I can get him to pay to train the critter.
Had to come back and say I am utterly in love with my little gal here and will be found with this little charmer on my arm everywhere I go! I just love listening to her chatter. LOL. Great for posing with too. Makes me smile RL, and I love when an SL interaction brings a smile or even better yet a RL giggle from me and your products do this every time. These monkees are real charmers and sure to win any heart. Can’t wait til I can start designing clothing for her. *SMILES* My initial rush on pics late last night here http://bletaverse.com/u/mairead-fitzgerald
omg i LOVE this post, thank you!
Trainable???
LOL
There is nothing trainable about this product and its definitely not a new idea.
I had one of these and you don’t train it – you essentially buy food for it which eventually gives you a choise of a ‘trick’ you get – woohoo [/end sarcasm]
You’re not truly training the monkey nor teaching it anything. Carrie Tatsu should be ashamed of herself for misleading her customers. It was a poor attempt to hop on the breedable pet scheme of having to buy food to sustain a product.
A.I. (Artificial intelligence) is a very over used word in SL. Of all the animals in Sl that claim to be A.I., the only ones I have found that truly are trainable and self learning are the Virtual Kennel Club (VKC) dogs.
My VKC dogs learn on their own AND I can teach them tricks that *I* make up myself. They have such incredible personalities, I’ll nver understand why anyone would want one of those robotic moving Zooby menu dogs. Rip the scripts out and they would make a nice statue, maybe.
What else makes my 2 VKC dogs superior to the Zooby dumb pets? NO LAG.
Zooby animals are so laggy my land owner wont even allow them. Like the Sion Chickens. The last Zooby we had on our sim got stuck in a tree and crashed the place!
Carrie would do better by learning how to properly script and release a product that was more sim friendly.
Have I mentioned the monkeys have 150+ scripts???
ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY SCRIPTS.
Keep your monkey.
These may be the only trainable monkeys in SL, but they clearly are not the “only” nor the newest trainable animal in SL. The dogs from the Virtual Kennel Club, the most life-like of all the virtual animals, have been trainable since 2006. They have a variety of complex inborn instincts that form the basis for an endless variety of complex skills that the owner can teach the dog. Additionally, the VKC dogs learn from experience and through praise, resulting in a dog who develops an individual personality over time.
http://www.virtualkennelclub.com/smart-dogs
No HUD is needed to control the VKC dogs as they are able to respond to commands spoken in chat. Like our avatars, they are able to eat and drink for fun, but they do not require any sustenance. They are able to play with toys that you purchase or make yourself. Considerate of the sim resources, Enrico Genosse has scripted VKC dogs so that they do not contribute significantly to lag and he continually works to improve the performance of the dogs.
Supporting the dogs and their owners is a lost and found service that will return your lost dog with all his knowledge in place, a dog clinic that will heal your dog should he need it, a staff of highly qualified VKC Proven Trainers who can help with any possible question, and regular updates — all included in the adoption fee.
If you are wondering if a VKC dog is for you, drop by any of the VKC Dog Parks and play with the dogs. In the parks you will find fully functioning dogs roaming freely, not static displays or vendor boxes.
I brought one today and it is so fantastic! I am grateful for the skill of the creator, and I’m very happy with my purchase. My monkey goes everywhere with me in SL. I think for what it is, it is a very good buy. Such realistic movements and textures. As for the criticism about buying accessories and food, etc – it’s well worth the investment to me. I am levelling it up via the premium products, though I did buy the most expensive bed and bath – as for the food, I am happy to buy the $100L and level my pet up slowly, it will get there in the end, just not as fast as some, and that’s ok, it gives my avatar time to “bond” and be able to play with the monkey. Seriously, so pleased with my purchase, so thank you Carrie and co! As for the VKC dogs – I’m sure it has some fantastic benefits, however I didn’t like the texturing – too blocky for me. I went all over the grid looking at pets, and the only ones I felt worthwhile to buy at this point which would suit my needs and budget were the AIF pets and Zooby’s monkeys. I hope the creator of the AIF pets releases more interactive accessories and new stuff for her range of pets – they are the best value for lindens out of all the pet creators, and no need to keep buying stuff for it. However, the monkey is the most realistic and interactive I’ve seen so far. Please keep up the great work for those of us who appreciate your talent and skill! 🙂