Introducing the new and improved... MaraTalk

The news has been pretty quiet for the last couple of weeks as we were busy working on the new and improved MaraTalk. There was a rare moment while the June event was running that we had some spare time to focus on the new MaraTalk. Expecting to get a huge project like this done in a couple of weeks was a stretch and our unplanned, emergency maintenance July 1st delayed us even further.

The maintenance was a huge success (completed 8 hours earlier than estimated) and enough of MaraTalk is complete for us to officially release it now, allowing us to return to normal news and release the event winners later this week.

MaraTalk is our instant messenger and was first started in 2005. We were ahead of our times in many ways, giving players many different ways to communicate. Those who like to chat in a slower, simpler way have MaraMail, Forums, Club Chat and those who prefer fast, shorter instant chat have had MaraTalk. The new MaraTalk is an upgrade to the way that these chats happen - they are not a replacement of the old way! This is an ongoing project and we have many, many exciting changes and additions to come but now is the time to announce some of the changes made so far...


The new MaraTalk has many new features but the main improvement is that Group Chat works again (it was closed for several years) and it is all 100% mobile friendly, fast, light on data and works on all devices. As MaraTalk really is only useful for those who like 'instant chat' we have made it faster, easier to switch between MaraTalk, Adult Chat, Group Chats, Private one to one chat and your Club Chat. They all use the same system and you receive real time alerts, sounds and notifications while you chat. You can open this full screen or in a new window - as its fully responsive, you can resize the window to the size and shape that works best for you.


Our free image upload service Mara.Pics is also linked with each chat. Simply press the Mara.Pics icon (the paperclip) and you'll be able to browse each of your folders and images. Simply press 'Share' and it will be added to any conversation. The upload icon also redirects you to Mara.Pics, automatically logging you in, to allow you to upload images with ease.

We have also integrated the site Alerts into the new MaraTalk system. This new system is not a replacement, its in addition to the current Alerts system. The new system means you will not miss any site alerts while you are chatting. All alerts are grouped together by type and each can be viewed in order like a MaraTalk conversation. The benefit of this is that you can Mute Specific Alerts - this is especially useful for those with lots of pets being inundated with Fairy Rewards!!

There are also new alerts that appear inside of MaraTalk conversations. Club Chat will tell you when a new player joins the club, leaves the club and close to 500 more messages in the club. MaraTalk will tell everyone when a Random Event prize is won inside that chat and when a player is about to hit another 1,000 message count goal.


And finally, the way that Feeds work has been improved. As Feeds are designed to be instant like MaraTalk, they have been integrated into this new system and follow a similar design. Feeds will update automatically in real time whenever you have this feature opened. It can be opened in full screen, a new tab or resized to suit your needs. There will be lots of new features and improvements coming to feeds in the future too!

King Baspinar has hired even more of Marada's top scientists to find out what Queen Eleka is doing. The Addow, Astro, Azul, Doyle, Equilor, Feliz, Flab, Gizmo, Grint, Huthiq and Ike can now wear the Mad Scientist Costume.

Remember, all pets wearing this costume will receive FREE TRAINING at the Gym and Elite Gym and FREE LESSONS at the School and University until July 1st.

All Wizard and Mad Scientist pets will receive FREE TRAINING at the Gym and Elite Gym and FREE LESSONS at the School and University until July 1st.

A new Wizard Account Upgrade Set has been released, with 7 new Wizard themed items, a retired Wizard Costume and either an Wizard Enchanted Plushie or Wizard Potion. This set is on sale until August 31st. You can choose if you would like the main prize to be an Enchanted Wizard Plushie or Potion. There is 1 in 3 chance you will receive a limited edition Sindi instead of Addow, Equilor, Murfin, Newth, Osafo and Tantua.





Can you find these new Hidden Avatars?

One of our oldest missions, Ublish's Lair has been updated. We have also started to revamp the stars that his mission can ask for.

The Figaro, Kaala, Paffuto, Quell, Reese, Speiro and Yakubi can now wear the Recycled Costume.

Can you find the new 'Water Me' Hidden Avatar?

The Organic Minipets that can be grown at the Gardening feature in Gigantic Paradise have been updated.

The shopkeeper of the Illegal Concoctions Shop on the planet of Enpiah has been updated. There are new bonus prizes you can win randomly while playing Kamilah Codes.

The Kamilah Code item artwork has been updated to match the new design we used for the game.

There are new rewards that you can win from the Kamilah Codes game. Every time you send a score that is high enough, you will win one of these new item prizes. Just like the other High Score Rewards, you will only win one prize each time you send a score high enough. These prizes are additional to any MP, Score Points or Bonus Prizes you may also win. You can click the 'High Score Rewards' link on any game to see which score you need for each prize. Prizes include a new Kamilah Code 00, asked for at the Kamilah Pyramid, which can only be won from this game.

BREAKING NEWS
Ever since the Yeti family of Biala Mountain discovered oil, huge quantities have been extracted from the ground in Mine Marada. All of this activity brought the ants of the Ant Hill closer to the surface but it also disturbed the Wallop and brought them above ground - just in time for King Baspinar's Palladium Jubilee! He loves Wallops so much he passed laws to protect them and restrict their ownership but they've become a nuisance, popping up and leaving mole holes over Marada.

With the King hiding away in his castle, the residents of Marada are taking on the Wallop problem themselves. Whenever you see a Wallop appear from a mole hole - give it a whack Wallop! To be sure that the King doesn't catch you hitting his beloved Wallops, you'll have to do it before the timer is up.

Earn 1MP per point. Earn up to the maximum of 2,000MP each play. You may also win a random bonus item prize whenever you send your score. Wallop! can be played up to 3 times per day.




Can you find the 'Wallop!' Hidden Avatar?

BREAKING NEWS
Queen Eleka's secret Academy of Witchcraft and Wizardry has been open for almost a week now and King Baspinar is starting to find out small pieces of information here and there. Will he find out and close it down? For now he only knows that it has some thing to do with magic so he demanded the immediate closure of Mining, restricting the supply of the minerals needed for magic to happen. He's determined to find out what Queen Eleka is doing...

As the Yeti family continue to Mine Marada of its oil, the ants of the Gigantic Paradise Ant Hill are being forced closer to the surface. It's no secret that a huge society of ants live in under Marada but until today, very little has been known about it. Seven of these ants have been caught and domesticated as Bug Minipets.
The Ant Hill has been relaunched. You can still visit for FREE once per day but you are now guaranteed a prize at each visit. You can still win an Injured Costume and the other prizes from the Ant Hill but there are also 45 new prizes to be won - including 7 new Bug Minipets and 30 new Injured Plushies!

The shopkeeper of the Footwear Shop in Puchalla Village has been updated.
The Capsule Machine has been refilled with new items. The previous items have now been retired.

The Laboratory in Enpiah, where DNA is used to illegal clone pets, has been updated with new artwork. To celebrate Dr Yekyll's new look, every operation between now and midnight June 6th is guaranteed to change one pet into a Mutant pet.


The Mining Tools shop has 70 new items. These extra items should, with time, ensure that this shop has more items in stock and this will help with the exciting new changes coming to the Mining feature.

The Cup Shuffle game in Vortex Park has been relaunched as the Swindler

The Lazy Fairy is very deceitful and has earned the notorious name of the Swindler. She will hide a random prize under one of her bins and then shuffle it. Follow the prize as she shuffles and each time you guess correctly, you will move to the next level. Guess incorrectly and you will lose the game.

Keep guessing correctly until she gets bored and she will let you keep the prize. But remember, she is very deceitful... you may find that she cheats and you walk away with nothing... You can still play for FREE once every hour but the game now requires both luck and skill. There are four types of game you could play, each with a different coloured bin:

The Computer Repair quests have been updated.

There are new bonus prizes you can win randomly while playing Rune Rescue.

BREAKING NEWS
Queen Eleka's secret Academy of Witchcraft and Wizardry opened to the citizens of Marada at midnight June 1st

All players are automatically sorted into one of four teams. There are over 125 different types of challenges you could be asked to complete - including quests, missions, games, restocking and battling! You will earn a point for your team after you complete each challenge and you may also win MP or an item prize. All prizes retire July 1st, at the end of the event.

There are 30 different badges for you to collect - one for each day in June. Complete 20 or more challenges each day and you will receive the badge. Each challenge will expire after 15 minutes if you do not complete it and you will be given a new challenge. Earn all 30 badges for a gold trophy on your profile, 20 for silver and 10 for bronze.

The more badges you earn, the more prizes that will unlock for you to win! Earn 5, 10, 15, 20 or 25 badges to unlock a larger selection of prizes to win. This means that a small amount of the item prizes can only be won from players who earn most badges!


Queen Eleka's academy is a secret and King Baspinar must not find out about it! More information will be revealed as the event progresses but we can tell you that there will be prizes for the players who earn the most points and there will also be extra prizes for all players (that earn enough badges) on a team that comes in 1st, 2nd and 3rd place.

A new Wizard Treasure Chest is on sale at the Account Upgrades Shop. It will automatically retire July 31st. You can open this item to receive 8 different, random new items, including new clothes, wigs, footwear, minipet, gourmet food, scenery and accessories. You will not receive duplicate items inside a single treasure chest.




Can you find these new Hidden Avatars?

There is less than 72 hours to go until Queen Eleka opens her secret Academy of Witchcraft and Wizardry

You will magically be sorted to join either Hocus Pucus, Spellcasting Snookles, Enchanting Ercuws or Levitating Latis

Which team will you be? With four teams this year, there will be different prizes for the teams that come in 1st, 2nd and 3rd place

BREAKING NEWS

Queen Eleka, the self-proclaimed leader of all that is dark and evil in Marada, is finally opening her secret Academy of Witchcraft and Wizardry to the public. With so many Apprentice Wizards in Marada, now is the time to for wand practice. As the ghosts approach, draw the symbols above each of them to attack. Earn 3MP per 2 Points. Earn up to the maximum of 2,000MP each play.

You can play Apprentice Wizard up to 3 times per day for FREE. Game resets at 00:00MST.

BREAKING NEWS
Queen Eleka has revealed the first phase of her new secret plan and you are all invited to join her Academy of Witchcraft and Wizardry from June 1st...

BREAKING NEWS
With Queen Eleka's evil plan now public, King Baspinar is taking no chances. He has Marada's best scientists secretly preparing for war in this old abandoned soda factory. Our third level based Game has been released.

Wacky Workshop has been added to Enpiah and has 60 levels for you to complete. Connect the pipes of this workshop to fill the bottle with his secret brew. Do this in the fewest moves to earn extra stars. You must earn three stars to complete a level.


Wacky Workshop (just like Pearl Hurl and Pumpkin Patch) has 60 Level Reward Prizes. These are one time prize rewards you will win as a bonus prize for each level. You only receive these once, as you can only complete each level once. You can play Wacky Workshop up to 4 times per day for FREE. Earn 1MP per 3 points. Earn up to the maximum of 2,000MP each play - if you complete a level with MP for its Level reward, you will receive the bonus MP too! Play and complete a level for the first time and you must send score to unlock the next level. Game resets at 00:00MST.




The main item prizes for this game are 3 retired items, Cola Potato, Can Trading Card and Soda Stamp from the 2006 Mega Marapoptastic Extraveganza Event and a Capsule Machine Token.

Another great prize for this game is the chance to skip any level of the Ublish's Lair Mission.
There are 15 levels that you will earn this reward, they stack and will be saved to your account to use at Ublish's Lair whenever you need to.
Whenever you start a Ublish's Lair mission, you can use one of these to pass the level without bringing the items that Ublish has asked for. You will move to the next level of the mission but you will forfeit any MP or item reward that mission level was to reward you but still gain any Hidden Avatar and pass any Goal related to that mission.

BREAKING NEWS
There have been new, very interesting developments on King Baspinar's self imposed lockdown. This story starts before his majesty's Palladium Jubilee celebrations, when oil was seen gushing from the ground just outside of Biala Mountain. This could be seen for many miles and was blocking the beautiful view of Marada from the King's castle. While most of Marada quickly forgot about it, the King could not and he traced it back to the Yeti family, Biala Mountain natives.

Dave the Yeti and his wife Beti were living in Biala long before a town was established. They've watched it grow forever bigger, with each new development taking away more of their natural habitat. When their children, Sweati, Confetti and Macheti were born, they needed a bigger cave. Digging deeper into the Biala Mountain rock they struck oil - which is what we all saw!

Queen Eleka heard of their discovery and has a new evil plan. Instead of pushing forward with her sardine oil assassination plot, she will Mine Marada for all of its oil. She'll use it to rebuild her castle and ultimately, reclaim her power. The King was one of the first to hear of her plans and went into hiding....

With just a straw and his family, Dave can drink all of the oil before Queen Eleka is able to Mine Marada. When the Yetis smell oil under the ground they will stop at it. Tap and hold until their extendable straw is the correct length to reach the oil under foot. If the straw is too short or too long to reach any oil the game will end.

Earn 25MP per point. Earn up to the maximum of 2,000MP each play. You may also win a random bonus item prize whenever you send your score. Mine Marada can be played up to 3 times per day.




Can you find the 'Mine Marada' Hidden Avatar?

There are new rewards that you can win from Pumpkin Patch.

Once you have completed a level and earned the one time only Level Rewards you will instead earn these new High Score Rewards each time you play and score high enough for a prize. These prizes are in addition to any MP you earn from the game. You can click the 'High Score Rewards' link on every game's page to see which score you need for each prize.

A new Venomous Victory feature has been released in Eleka's Castle.

Complete the Venomous Victory Treasure Map to permanently unlock this feature. You can then play this for FREE once every 24 Hours.

This map is currently in the Mad Scientist themed Account Upgrades set.

Roll the dice to move ahead on the board (roll a six and you can roll the dice again) and you will add MP to the prize pot at each move.
You could also earn your pet a Transformation or stat.

If you reach a Ladder, you will climb it and win a random Photo item prize. Stop at a Poera and you'll be swallowed, go backwards and this venomous attack will earn your pet a random transformation, without risk of it ever changing!

Your pet will only change to a random colour and/or species and then change back. If you have the Pet Stats Giftbox in your collection, you can also select which pet will receive the transformations and stats before you play.

Beat the skull to the end of the board to win the MP in the prize pot. You will also be given the choice to change your pet to any of the transformations you have earned during this game for FREE.

Lose the game and your pet will get sick and you will not win the MP in the prize pot.

BREAKING NEWS
After a week or so of rain, it's slowly stopping and the sun has come through, creating a beautiful Rainbow. The Rainbow Fairy informs us that a rainbow in Marada lasts around 6 to 24 hours usually but she thinks this time it'll be around for about 48 hours or 72 hours at the most!
What happens when there is a Rainbow? Well...

All Rainbow Pets will receive FREE training at the Gym and Elite Gym and FREE lessons at the School and University.

Whenever there is a rainbow in Marada, the Operations Portal, Whirlpool, Vortex Park Reservoir and Foxfire Pond are guaranteed to change your pet's colour, species or both!

The Account Upgrades Shop has a 2 for 1 promotion on all DNA items.

With all the beautiful colours in the sky, Drew doesn't need any more colour! He will only ask for the colour white, which is default for every player. This means you can complete his quests without the Glowing Egg collection requirement.

Play a game of Colours during the rainbow and even if you lose a game, you will still be a winner! Win, draw or lose this game and you'll get 2,500MP and a random colour Transformation for one of your pets.
Your pet will change to a random colour and/or species and then change back, possibly earning a new transformation for its collection. If you have the Pet Stats Giftbox in your collection, you can also select which pet will receive this transformation before you play!

The Leprechaun is busy chasing the rainbow. You'll have to wait until this rainbow leaves to complete his quests.

Whenever the rainbow appears, the retired Rainbow Treasure Chest is back on sale at the Account Upgrades Shop.
It will automatically retire again when the rainbow leaves Marada.

The Costumes, Contact Lenses, Eye Make Up, Face Make Up, Fake Costumes and Hair Dye Shops all have a 2 for 1 special on all items.

Complete a Farming quest and if you win a Ball of Yarn you will receive 2.

And finally, if your minipet can change colour, it will change colour when it rides the Fasoro Falls.

Introducing our new image upload service... Mara.Pics

Back in 2004 when MaraPets first launched, players needed a way to upload the images they use for their profiles, signatures, clubs, MaraSites, etc so MaraUploads was launched. Even though it was very basic and only gave each player 1MB of space, providing that to thousands of people for FREE was both expensive and a lot of hassle. In November 2009 we finally discontinued MaraUploads - there were much better FREE options on the internet and it simply did not provide us with good value for money.

Fast forward to today (ten and a half years later!!) and Mara.Pics has opened today for beta testing!

We believe once again that MaraPets players needed a quick and easy service to upload their images for FREE and will explain how and why in this news post. This service is provided FREE of charge to all Level 18 or higher players.

As your level increases, so does the amount of features and space you can use. Players can currently receive as much as 1GB (1,000MB) of FREE space, with lots of plans to increase and improve the service in the future.

You can simply visit https://mara.pics/ domain for now to access the service. It will automatically log you in if you are logged in MaraPets.

We have worked hard to make sure that Mara.Pics is very quick and easy to use and will explain some of its features below:

There are several ways to upload an image - we only accept PNG, JPG and GIF images. You can press the Browse button to upload multiple photos from your computer, tablet or mobile device. You can also select files from your computer and simply Drag & Drop them into the grey area that says 'Drop your photos here'. Level 30 and higher can take and upload photos directly from their mobile, tablet or laptop's camera - or webcam if they have one.

If you are working on graphics from many programs, like Photoshop, GIMP, etc you can copy any image direct from this program and simply Paste It (Ctrl + V) into the Mara.Pics upload page and it will automatically upload what you have copied!

Once uploaded, you can view your Photos in order of most recently uploaded or use the Organise section to move, rename and organise your photos into different folders. We even made each photo preview look like the Photo items on Marapets!

Even for those who do not have any images to upload or feel they have no use for this service, we've added one very useful feature! If you have an error or glitch around MaraPets that you want to report to us at the Help Forums, you can now very easily upload a Screenshot! Simply press the 'Prt Sc' button on your keyboard (or the screenshot buttons on your mobile/tablet device) and then when you get to the Mara.Pics upload page you can Paste It to automatically upload it!

Upload just one image at a time and it will automatically give you the option to Crop & Resize. We have also made it very easy for you to use any image that you upload - with quick copy and share buttons for MaraPets and social media!

Using the new Mara.Page Builder? The images you have uploaded to Mara.Pics will automatically be loaded into the page builder allowing you to simply drag and drop images into your Mara.Page directly from Mara.Pics!

A new Mad Scientist Account Upgrade Set has been released, with 7 new Mad Scientist themed items, a retired Mad Scientist Costume and either 5 or 6 random pieces of a new Treasure Map. This set is on sale until July 20th. There is 1 in 3 chance you will receive 6 random pieces instead of 5 - no set you purchase will have duplicate pieces. This set will be on sale for over two months because the Venomous Victory Treasure Map is for access to a new feature that will not be released until the end of this month or early next month.