BittyBay

Looking for BittyBay? Try Spire's new game, Pixadom!Alternatively, Simba manages a private server at BittyRetro!
BittyBay was a social MMO by Spire, Mystiko and Trent, that existed between 2007 and 2015.
Similar to other "virtual chatroom games" of that era, it was a 2D isometric Flash-powered browser game, where player movements were limited to diagonal-facing tiles. However, BittyBay had a unique identity in theming their world on the Animal Kingdom, with players being depicted as wildlife animals, rather than humans. This also provided other game elements to have animal themes: User-made rooms were called territories, emotes were animal sounds, membership was Kingdom Royale, the community page was The Watering Hole, and news articles were named Kingdom Buzz.
Additionally, the game prided itself in wildlife education and awareness to global wildlife conservation efforts to it's young playerbase. This even included in-game incentives to learn about endangered wildlife animals and support non-profit organisations like the World Wildlife Fund.
The game's slogan was "It's goin' wild" and was marketed as a safe hangout space for kids and teens, where you were able to "meet new friends, play games, collect items and avatars, create your own personal space and more!"
File:BBOldLogo.png|BittyBay Logo (R1-R2)
File:BBR3.png|BittyBay Logo (R3)
File:BBR4.png|BittyBay Logo (R4)
==History==
BittyBay went through four different iterations through it's timeline.
=== Release 1 and 2 ===
The first couple of live releases in mid-2007 were short-lived, as the developers were going through an experimental stage with the game's core features and art style. 
During the initial months, the game offered a handful of playable avatars, and a hangout space called Bunny Botanic (the most popular space, which served as the town center throughout BittyBay's life). What originally started as a 'proof-of-concept project' quickly became a shared passion to develop something more. 
===Release 3===
In late-2007, the third release was published, and this became the longest running version of BittyBay, spanning almost seven years. The art style had vastly changed, and public spaces grew into multiple locations.
Release 3 also introduced messaging, player-owned spaces, items, in-game currency (called 'Bits'), trading, and minigames. The game had attracted a sizeable community and culture, with many players coming from other established social MMO's like Habbo Hotel, Club Penguin, VMK, among others.
Throughout Release 3's run, the upcoming expansion to 'Release 4' was continually advertised with regular blog updates showcasing each step of its development. When the project was finalised, a Kickstarter campaign was introduced to support the developers for their work. 
===Release 4===
Release 4 came out in 2014, with a new direction to the art style, providing vast graphical improvements to the user interface, the avatars, public spaces, furniture, and more. Additional public rooms were released, as well as new layouts for player-owned spaces, along with an extensive new catalogue of furniture and avatars. RPG elements were also introduced to the game, including an XP System, revamped minigames, and interactable NPCs.
Release 4 was a brief period in BittyBay's timeline, as the developers ultimately announced the game's closure in late-2015. This was namely due to financial setbacks, Flash becoming an obsolete software, and a fading interest of social MMOs in the 2010s (as it was being replaced by social media apps and mobile games) which made it difficult to see room for growth.
File:BBR3Login.png|'Bitty Beach', login screen (R3)
File:BBR3.gif|BittyBay Map (R3)
File:BBR4Map.png|BittyBay Map and login screen (R4)
==Gameplay==
=== Avatars===
For majority of the game's existence, BittyBay's avatars were wildlife animals. Some notable ones being: 
*Rabbit: A white rabbit was the default avatar that all players had upon creating their account. Rabbits were available in about two dozen colours; these were the most affordable avatars to purchase in the shop.
*Lion: All staff members were depicted as lions. Developers had a lion wearing a gold crown, while Moderators had a silver crown.
*Bat, Spider, Panda, Penguin, Chick: These were some of the more common avatars in the game during Release 3's run, as they were all permanently or seasonally available for purchase at the shop. Sold at a higher tiered price than Rabbits.
*Snail, Turtle, Elephant, Snake: These were members-only avatars, obtained specifically through the membership system. They were given as a reward for being a member for a set period of time.
Most avatars had a '/sound' command, which played an audio of that animal's vocalisation (e.g. a snake "hiss", or a lion "roar").
===Public Spaces===
Other than Bunny Botanic, some of the notable locations were:
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* The Burrow: An expansive cavern located directly beneath Bunny Botanic. It hosted various minigames, accompanied by a badger NPC named Barnaby.
*Shore Markets: An outdoor marketplace, with multiple stalls that each sold a different category of items. (In R4, the Shore Markets were removed, and replaced with an in-game catalogue.)
*The Underground: A members-only 'entertainment venue', with a stage and seating areas. It also hosted a shop for member-exclusive items (sold by Bambuu in R3, and Helga in R4). The room's name was a reference to the London Underground.
*Sleepy Grove/The Hollow: A cosy woodlands campground where you can talk to Bernard, the tutorial NPC. It also had a large treehouse, which housed Theodore, the quest NPC. Sleepy Grove lives on in Pixadom as Firefly Grove.
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=== Minigames ===
There were four official minigames in BittyBay:
* Grab-A-Gopher: A gopher would spawn every 20-70 minutes in Bunny Botanic. The first player to catch it would earn themselves 5 Bits, and a chance for the top-prize on the monthly leaderboard. Players who caught 100 Gophers in a month also earned themselves the 'Ghost Bunny' avatar. Grab-A-Gopher exists in Pixadom as Gopher-Catcher.
* Gopher Round Up: A global alert notifies all players of a 'gopher invasion' in The Burrow. Players would then rush to collect as many gophers as they can in a given timeframe, earning hefty rewards. This minigame happened very rarely, and was manually activated by a staff member who would supervise the minigame disguised as a bunny NPC named 'Referee'.
* Gold Fever: A members-only minigame. Players would need to purchase a 'digging spade' and can dig anywhere in The Burrow for the chance to find gold in random amounts, which could then be converted into Bits (100 Gold = 1 'Bit'). Participants also contributed their earnings into a hidden prize pool that would reward one lucky player who finds it.
*Burrow Bounty: This replaced Gold Fever in R4 and became available to non-members. It retained the same premise to dig for gold, but in addition, players would also dig for non-tradable 'artefacts' that could be redeemed with Barnaby in exchange for exclusive items and treasures.
== Community==
The BittyBay community was a thriving social network, with the staff and moderators always running regular events and promoting dozens of fansites that were passionately made by players. Some notable ones below:
===Staff-Run Events===
*Territory Of The Month: The most creatively designed territory, often with a unique theme, was awarded with a trophy and an interview that was posted on the BittyBay community page.
*Pet Of The Week: Players shared pictures of their pets. A random picture would be selected at the end of every week, to be showcased on the community page.
*BittyBay Lottery: A weekly lottery game, where players could buy tickets for '5 Bits', and the random winner would earn themselves a mystery item.
*Seasonal Events: Fun competitions and social events were continuously being held by the staff every week, especially around holiday seasons where they were appropriately themed for the occasion.
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===Fansites ===
*vBitty: A community-driven forum board managed by GLZ and RandomNSB. It was one of the most popular fansites during BittyBay's run, and gave players an outlet to keep in touch with each other even outside of the game.
*BittyBotanic: A resourceful website run by Veeltje. It was one of the best tools for new players as it offered up-to-date guides, tips and news, and offered regular competitions for its readers.
*BBValues: This fansite was a tool to assist with in-game trading. The website allowed users to look through the entire game's catalogue of items, and filter through them with ease.
*MtFrostFM: An internet radio service run by Gambit, Zoom and Horizon where players could tune in and listen to music while they played the game. The radio service would also host in-game events, where players had to be tuned in, in order to participate in the events.
===Pufferfish (iPhone Game)===
During the viral Flappy Bird craze in 2014, Spire had co-developed an iOS game that was connected to the BittyBay community. 
The gameplay was similar in premise to Flappy Bird: the character moves persistently to the right, and the player must help it avoid obstacles (by simply tapping the touchscreen) while ensuring it continues to move for as long as possible, gaining score in the process. 
As part of promoting the app to BittyBay players, Pufferfish-themed items were introduced in the in-game catalogue. 
== Trivia ==
* BittyBay's name is a reference to bits, the most basic unit of measurement in digital information, and also "bitty" (UK slang for "tiny"), a nod to the game's pixel-art style.
* Another common tagline of BittyBay was "Explore the Kingdom!"
* Spamming messages would cause your avatar to become frozen in ice for 20 seconds. You'd be unable to type or move during this time.
* Throughout R3, a lion NPC is seen permanently hibernating on Bitty Beach. He only interacts with you once: on your first login, introducing himself as 'Sebastian' and welcoming you to BittyBay.
* During R3, players who were paid members for 16 months earned free indefinite membership until the release of R4.
* Although the game was themed on wildlife animals, R4 introduced a lot more avatar options, including domestic pets and mythical creatures.
* Since 2019, Simba (a former BittyBay staff member) revived the game through a "fan recreation" at BittyRetro.com. The BittyRetro community is still active on their Discord server.
==Gallery==
File:BittyBay Line Dancing|Halloween 2007 in BittyBay
File:BBChristmas.jpg|Christmas 2007 in BittyBay
File:SleepyGrove.png|Sleepy Grove (R4)
File:BBMarketplace.png|Shore Markets (R3)
File:UndergroundR3.jpg|The Underground (R3)
File:BB Burrow.png|The Burrow (R3)
File:BBPlaque.png|The plaque in Bunny Botanic
File:BB2008.png|The homepage in 2008
File:BB2015.png|The homepage in 2015
File:KSR4.gif|R4 Snippets (ft NPCs: Helga, Bernard, Theodore.)
Category:BittyBay