HOME | DD

Description
What are llama badges?

Llama badges were introduced to DeviantArt on April 1, 2010 as an April FoolÕs joke. They are these little tokens that users give to each other for free. You can only give one per account. Multiple accounts allow users to give more llamas. For instance, I can give you one from this account and one from and you can give one to each of these accounts. There is no known limit to the number of llamas a user can give out, though there is a spam filter that limits users to giving out about 40 per hour. I think the spam filter was introduced around the time Rubbing got banned for running a favorites generating script so fast it crashed the site. The parameters are complicated and I have not found any user able to explain it. There does not appear to be any administrative sanction for violating it. I have tripped the spam filter hundreds of times. I get locked out for 5-15 minutes, but nothing else happens. I heard a rumor that two users were banned for giving out too many though I found a way to prove these two users voluntarily deactivated. I simply invited them to a group I run on my main account, This is the easiest and most reliable way to check which users are banned and which are deactivated.

The maximum number of llamas a user can receive is 100,000. I have found 17 users who have pulled it off, as of August 30, 2017. I have done an extensive search and I do not believe there are any more. I have a list on my front page. Let me know of any you find who are not on that list. I am aware of two users actively trying to get it twice. One already has it once.

I have been on DeviantArt since November 2010 and for most of that time I took zero interest in llamas. I never gave out any. I did not know how. I don't think I knew about llamatrade because I never bothered to check my badges. I never even bothered to ask anybody what they were. I think this is how most DeviantArt users feel about llamas. Most llamas I give out are simply ignored and I think this is the experience of most traders. I know that my view abruptly changed in about June 2017 though I could not say why. I think it is more or less a game and this is how I have approached it.

Giving out llamas

To give out a llama to another user, go to that person's front page and click on the button on the top right that says give. The options are give a core membership, give points, give a llama badge, and give a cake badge. This is the order in which they were introduced. Llama badges are the only option that does not cost money. This might contribute to some users thinking they do. A more roundabout option is to click on the badges link above the give button, then click on llamas, then click give. An advantage to this is that it creates a direct link to give llamas, e.g. www.deviantart.com/littleyello… This is fast enough for most users. Most users, in any case, check the person's page to make sure they are giving a llama to the right person and they may also check for signs the person does not want llamas. I think most users who do not want llamas say so plainly on their page though I have found exceptions.

If you want to give out llamas quickly, try www.deviantart.com/kishan-baga… This tool modifies DeviantArt's code so that as soon as the page loads next to every username there is one of four options. If you can give a user a llama but have not done so there is a clickable llama+ button. If you have already given the person a llama there is an orange dot. If the person is on 's list of users who have 100,000 llamas, there is a brown box with yellow text that says 100K. Otherwise, there is an albino llama with a heart. The llama heart icon may mean that you have blocked that user, that user has blocked you, or you have found a user with 100,000 llamas not on 's list. I do not know of any other reason it would appear. I believe he has the same 17 users on his list that I do. I have noticed that his program sometimes gets confused by name changes. There is one user who has changed her username three times since getting 100,000 llamas last year.

has created an add on that makes 's tool run even faster. It can be found here: www.deviantart.com/hampshirebr… This tool is designed to plow through lists such as group membership lists. It is pretty much guaranteed to trip the spam filter, and it will also produce a lot of timeout errors because it runs so fast. If you search his comments he says how to slow it down.

that allows users to give you a llama with a single click and the default text encourages users to give llamas back. Instructions to create one for yourself can be found here: www.deviantart.com/nakos/art/L…

Strategy

Competitive llama traders (those who want a lot of llamas, as I do), typically look for people who return llamas. There are a lot more people who return llamas consistently than who give out llamas in order to get them back. I am not aware of anybody who gives out llamas and complains about getting them back, though I suspect it happens. I don't worry about it. I have given out more than 75,000 llamas on my main account and I can only remember three people complaining that I had given them a llama they did not want. However, you might want to block DyslexicGamer because he has advocated violence against llama givers. I wrote a journal about him on my main account. I did not name him there though I named his group, Check the journal on the front page. I have seen other users who are vulgar and obnoxious about it but I have not seen anyone else suggest violence about it.

A lot of people give llamas to people they know and like, so giving llamas to watchers, friends, etc. may be a good strategy.

Llama trading groups encourage, and some of them require, users to return llamas, so trading group members are a lot more likely than most users to return llamas. However, most of the trading groups do not even have anybody running them, so if you give out llamas to everyone in the trading groups, you will find that most of these accounts are abandoned, and the problem will only get worse over time.

Random giving is the baseline and the results are not encouraging. I think the return rate is somewhere around 1 in 30 to 1 in 50. Most users do not care enough to return llamas, and most accounts are abandoned. The abandoned account problem is not as bad with trading groups because they do not include accounts abandoned prior to April 1, 2010. The same applies to llama related deviations. I think giving llamas to people with deviations in their favorites supporting llama trading is a good strategy. Browsing newest deviations is a decent strategy because everyone you give a llama to is active. The most efficient strategy I have found is one suggested by Find an active trader, and search that person's badges for users returning llamas to them. Unfortunately, this is a time consuming and mentally taxing strategy, which is why I rarely use it. However, I have found that it is easier to use this strategy if you have multiple accounts because 's tool will automatically flag all the returns for you. Also, I think the results may be especially good if you do it across open alt accounts because people who decided for one reason or another to give a llama back to you even though they do not normally return them are likely to give one to your open alt.

Buying and selling llamas

Shortly after llama badges were introduced, some users started offering points to anyone who would give them one. I was not around, so I can only guess at the details. On April 3, 2010, posted a journal advertising llamatrade.deviantart.com where users can buy and sell llama badges. Simply follow the link above and you will see a tool that looks like a calculator where you enter the number of points you are offering per llama (most people offer one; I have only seen one competitive trader offer more), the total number of points are offering, click the checkbox that you have read the terms and conditions for points, and then click make an offer. You will see two offers, one of which says how many points you have offered and the other one just says how many points per llama you have offered. This confused me the first time I tried it because I could not figure out what my offer was. It will appear in this format: 1/20, where 1 is the number of points per llama and 20 is the total points offered. Refresh and the denominator will drop as your points are spent. This is a fast tool. I once bought 20 llamas there in less than one minute.

Llamatrade is not hard to find. DeviantArt put a link to it in everyone's badges, which says "Trade Points for Llamas?" Beneath the link are up to three recent offers (up to a few minutes expired). If you see three, click on llamatrade, because your badges only display three.

Llamatrade is by far the fastest way to get llamas. I know of a user who bought about 1000 of them in an hour there. That is about 25 times faster than you can give them out, and I know of no strategy that gets you back more than half of the llamas you give out, except perhaps for sharing returns across open alt accounts. Most people don't care about llamas but they want points. That is why llamatrade works so well. People race to get a point from you.

I think llamatrade may be a double-edged sword for llama traders. It is an easy way to get points, which most traders want. I think nearly everyone who buys llamas on llamatrade also sells them there, to get more points to buy more llamas. Llamatrade is also a way to get llamas. Most of the people who have 100,000 llamas bought more than half of them there. However, I think a lot of people who know about llamatrade are cautious about who they give out llamas to, because they would like to preserve opportunities to sell llamas. I know of a few dozen llamatrade offers I have missed out on because I already gave the person one. It could easily be over 100, since I do not keep close track of who I sell llamas to so when I see that "Already given" message, I generally do not know if it was a gift or a sale. The only way I could find out is to closely inspect my point transaction history, and it is simply not worth it to me. If this upsets you, just stop trading. But I think I secure a lot more of these offers than most people do because I check my badges multiple times each day.

Description
What are llama badges?

Llama badges were introduced to DeviantArt on April 1, 2010 as an April FoolÕs joke. They are these little tokens that users give to each other for free. You can only give one per account. Multiple accounts allow users to give more llamas. For instance, I can give you one from this account and one from and you can give one to each of these accounts. There is no known limit to the number of llamas a user can give out, though there is a spam filter that limits users to giving out about 40 per hour. I think the spam filter was introduced around the time Rubbing got banned for running a favorites generating script so fast it crashed the site. The parameters are complicated and I have not found any user able to explain it. There does not appear to be any administrative sanction for violating it. I have tripped the spam filter hundreds of times. I get locked out for 5-15 minutes, but nothing else happens. I heard a rumor that two users were banned for giving out too many though I found a way to prove these two users voluntarily deactivated. I simply invited them to a group I run on my main account, This is the easiest and most reliable way to check which users are banned and which are deactivated.

The maximum number of llamas a user can receive is 100,000. I have found 17 users who have pulled it off, as of August 30, 2017. I have done an extensive search and I do not believe there are any more. I have a list on my front page. Let me know of any you find who are not on that list. I am aware of two users actively trying to get it twice. One already has it once.

I have been on DeviantArt since November 2010 and for most of that time I took zero interest in llamas. I never gave out any. I did not know how. I don't think I knew about llamatrade because I never bothered to check my badges. I never even bothered to ask anybody what they were. I think this is how most DeviantArt users feel about llamas. Most llamas I give out are simply ignored and I think this is the experience of most traders. I know that my view abruptly changed in about June 2017 though I could not say why. I think it is more or less a game and this is how I have approached it.

Giving out llamas

To give out a llama to another user, go to that person's front page and click on the button on the top right that says give. The options are give a core membership, give points, give a llama badge, and give a cake badge. This is the order in which they were introduced. Llama badges are the only option that does not cost money. This might contribute to some users thinking they do. A more roundabout option is to click on the badges link above the give button, then click on llamas, then click give. An advantage to this is that it creates a direct link to give llamas, e.g. www.deviantart.com/littleyello… This is fast enough for most users. Most users, in any case, check the person's page to make sure they are giving a llama to the right person and they may also check for signs the person does not want llamas. I think most users who do not want llamas say so plainly on their page though I have found exceptions.

If you want to give out llamas quickly, try www.deviantart.com/kishan-baga… This tool modifies DeviantArt's code so that as soon as the page loads next to every username there is one of four options. If you can give a user a llama but have not done so there is a clickable llama+ button. If you have already given the person a llama there is an orange dot. If the person is on 's list of users who have 100,000 llamas, there is a brown box with yellow text that says 100K. Otherwise, there is an albino llama with a heart. The llama heart icon may mean that you have blocked that user, that user has blocked you, or you have found a user with 100,000 llamas not on 's list. I do not know of any other reason it would appear. I believe he has the same 17 users on his list that I do. I have noticed that his program sometimes gets confused by name changes. There is one user who has changed her username three times since getting 100,000 llamas last year.

has created an add on that makes 's tool run even faster. It can be found here: www.deviantart.com/hampshirebr… This tool is designed to plow through lists such as group membership lists. It is pretty much guaranteed to trip the spam filter, and it will also produce a lot of timeout errors because it runs so fast. If you search his comments he says how to slow it down.

that allows users to give you a llama with a single click and the default text encourages users to give llamas back. Instructions to create one for yourself can be found here: www.deviantart.com/nakos/art/L…

Strategy

Competitive llama traders (those who want a lot of llamas, as I do), typically look for people who return llamas. There are a lot more people who return llamas consistently than who give out llamas in order to get them back. I am not aware of anybody who gives out llamas and complains about getting them back, though I suspect it happens. I don't worry about it. I have given out more than 75,000 llamas on my main account and I can only remember three people complaining that I had given them a llama they did not want. However, you might want to block DyslexicGamer because he has advocated violence against llama givers. I wrote a journal about him on my main account. I did not name him there though I named his group, Check the journal on the front page. I have seen other users who are vulgar and obnoxious about it but I have not seen anyone else suggest violence about it.

A lot of people give llamas to people they know and like, so giving llamas to watchers, friends, etc. may be a good strategy.

Llama trading groups encourage, and some of them require, users to return llamas, so trading group members are a lot more likely than most users to return llamas. However, most of the trading groups do not even have anybody running them, so if you give out llamas to everyone in the trading groups, you will find that most of these accounts are abandoned, and the problem will only get worse over time.

Random giving is the baseline and the results are not encouraging. I think the return rate is somewhere around 1 in 30 to 1 in 50. Most users do not care enough to return llamas, and most accounts are abandoned. The abandoned account problem is not as bad with trading groups because they do not include accounts abandoned prior to April 1, 2010. The same applies to llama related deviations. I think giving llamas to people with deviations in their favorites supporting llama trading is a good strategy. Browsing newest deviations is a decent strategy because everyone you give a llama to is active. The most efficient strategy I have found is one suggested by Find an active trader, and search that person's badges for users returning llamas to them. Unfortunately, this is a time consuming and mentally taxing strategy, which is why I rarely use it. However, I have found that it is easier to use this strategy if you have multiple accounts because 's tool will automatically flag all the returns for you. Also, I think the results may be especially good if you do it across open alt accounts because people who decided for one reason or another to give a llama back to you even though they do not normally return them are likely to give one to your open alt.

Buying and selling llamas

Shortly after llama badges were introduced, some users started offering points to anyone who would give them one. I was not around, so I can only guess at the details. On April 3, 2010, posted a journal advertising llamatrade.deviantart.com where users can buy and sell llama badges. Simply follow the link above and you will see a tool that looks like a calculator where you enter the number of points you are offering per llama (most people offer one; I have only seen one competitive trader offer more), the total number of points are offering, click the checkbox that you have read the terms and conditions for points, and then click make an offer. You will see two offers, one of which says how many points you have offered and the other one just says how many points per llama you have offered. This confused me the first time I tried it because I could not figure out what my offer was. It will appear in this format: 1/20, where 1 is the number of points per llama and 20 is the total points offered. Refresh and the denominator will drop as your points are spent. This is a fast tool. I once bought 20 llamas there in less than one minute.

Llamatrade is not hard to find. DeviantArt put a link to it in everyone's badges, which says "Trade Points for Llamas?" Beneath the link are up to three recent offers (up to a few minutes expired). If you see three, click on llamatrade, because your badges only display three.

Llamatrade is by far the fastest way to get llamas. I know of a user who bought about 1000 of them in an hour there. That is about 25 times faster than you can give them out, and I know of no strategy that gets you back more than half of the llamas you give out, except perhaps for sharing returns across open alt accounts. Most people don't care about llamas but they want points. That is why llamatrade works so well. People race to get a point from you.

I think llamatrade may be a double-edged sword for llama traders. It is an easy way to get points, which most traders want. I think nearly everyone who buys llamas on llamatrade also sells them there, to get more points to buy more llamas. Llamatrade is also a way to get llamas. Most of the people who have 100,000 llamas bought more than half of them there. However, I think a lot of people who know about llamatrade are cautious about who they give out llamas to, because they would like to preserve opportunities to sell llamas. I know of a few dozen llamatrade offers I have missed out on because I already gave the person one. It could easily be over 100, since I do not keep close track of who I sell llamas to so when I see that "Already given" message, I generally do not know if it was a gift or a sale. The only way I could find out is to closely inspect my point transaction history, and it is simply not worth it to me. If this upsets you, just stop trading. But I think I secure a lot more of these offers than most people do because I check my badges multiple times each day.