The Totemlands

The Totemlands or Totem Lands was a 2D graphical chat in which users uploaded animal avatars and rooms, and chat in those rooms with their avatars. The Totemlands promoted the use of all animals, both real and mythical, rather than a limited species set. The site had a very active and friendly artistic community.

The user controlled an image of their character on a background scene, such as a forest or a meadow. Users could explore the world and interact with other users by chatting and changing "poses" to make their characters do different actions and express their mood. All animals except humans were accepted, both real and imaginary, and role-play was welcomed. The site had an active artistic community that thrived in both the forums and on the chat. There was no monthly fee associated with using the site; it was completely free. This contributed to The Totemlands being taken offline in early 2010.

Origins
The Totemlands was originally conceived by Foxgrin. Foxgrin was a prominent administrator of Wolfhome, and assisted underdog in bringing the site back to life in 2006. After working as an administrator for a while, Foxgrin decided to branch out and start a chat that catered to all species, not the limited species list accepted by Wolfhome. After initial attempts at collaboration with underdog failed, she turned to Wabledoodle who created the first version of The Totemlands. The forums were opened in mid December of 2008, with much promotion of a January release. The chat went live in January of 2009.

The redesign
In August of 2009 the site underwent a massive layout redesign, making it look much sleeker than before. Features such as unified account management pages and gorgeous illustration made the site more attractive for users.

Closing
Unfortunately, The Totemlands went offline in early 2010 around a year after the chat opened. Two of the main reasons for this were lack of available funds and inactivity of the owners. The announcement for the site's closing was made only days before Foxgrin and Wabledoodle intended to take down their project, but the stunned userbase managed to convince them to keep the chat up for another week, providing the necessary donations to pay for the extra time. The public forums were kept open several months afterward, but they were also taken down when it became clear that they were abandoned.

The Totemlands created a community that is still recognizable and remains mostly in touch.