While Ch@tables have updated and revamped their site www.pepsistuff.com has not.. a real shame. PepsiStuff is a little hard to navigate and many of you have popped back seeking directions.. here's a quick tour to help you find out what direction you're meant to be heading in...

Hit the front page and sign in (just as you would into any other Yahoo feature) in the top right hand corner.. or if you're already signed into Yahoo then hit "Click Here to Start" located off center in the middle of the page

If it's your first visit you're automatically awarded 100 points which you can use to redeem for a second character set (you're first set, Will Smith comes with the Chatable IMV) but to get additional Ch@table sets you're going to need to start collecting the points from Pespsi/Mountain Dew products.. to obtain more points read the information they provide re getting tokens from the products. More on the sets further down..

Now, if you're wanting to download the Yahoo PepsiStuff Messenger then you'll find the link located down the bottom left of the page after you sign in... to the right of the download link (shown circled in red in the screenshot) is the link to preview and redeem points for the Ch@table character sets. Remember you DO NOT have to have the PepsiStuff messenger installed to use the Ch@tables IMV or the characters (that was the case initially but has since changed) all you need is a recent version of the std Yahoo Messenger.. you do still need to register to get the character sets.. that's it though, so download only if you wish to have the Pepsi branded version....

At last check, the Pepsi version was 5001030..its a 2.90mb download with the file name ymsgr_pepsi.exe. It installs just the same as any other Yahoo! Messenger.. the interface is the same as with the icons, features etc.
The std Yahoo Messenger is currently at version 5001052... I'm sticking with the std version :-)

The only noticable difference between the std version and the Pepsi branded messenger is the background image... this of course can be removed/changed just as you would any other background image in a theme/skin.. Select Login, Preferences, Appearance, Current Theme.




Onto the Ch@table Character sets...
there are 6 sets available from Pepsi Stuff:
Go Buy a Clue collection 2 (.exe) 466kb download
Hey Batter Batter! collection 3 (.exe) 478kb download
Wooly Mammoths collection 4 (.exe) 465kb download
This IM is BYOB! collection 5 (.exe) 462kb download
Ferget About It! collection 6 (.exe) 462kb download
and to preview the characters in each set follow the links on the Pepsi page. Each set can be obtained for 100 points and is a downloadable exe file that you can quickly install and uninstall should you need to. Your account history is located at the top right of the page so if you need to download a set again that is the place to head to.


Using your Ch@table character in an IMV couldn't be simplier.. they are sorted by category (Hi's & Bye's, Diss & Dats, Flirtin & Funny) and once the category is selected sit in a row to the right of the Ch@table IMV. You use the red arrows to scroll the list or the Icons at the top to change category. To find out what the sound bite of the Ch@table Character is before you smack it into the IMVironment simply hover your mouse over the imagine and a text box with the phrase appears. Once you have your character worked out click on the image and it's automatcially inserted into the IMV. Unlike smileys they're not inserted into a line of text, these sit on a their own line and are used like a stand alone statement rather than part of a sentence.




If your fortunate enough to live in a participating country and can collect points to obtain all 6 sets of Ch@table Characters then you'll have a ball using the Ch@tables with your friends.. if you don't, then after a while the image to the left really starts to grate on your nerves! This was oh so familiar for me as I'm in a non participating country (NZ) and people who had obtained sets that I didn't have installed were of course using them, unaware that I didn't have the same set. I saw more "your buddy wants you to see..." than I did the character set that I had chosen with my 100 points for signing up (set 5). The problem is that both parties must have the same set installed the see the characters... that being if one of you has set 5 and the other has set 4 then you wont match up and neither will able to see each others characters. If you're not happy to hang out till February 2002 then there is a way around this.. all you need is someone from a participating country ;-)

Bring on my good friend Devin Lael Hartely...
Devin stepped in to help with the Ch@tables back in October.. he was a god send in many ways, chipping in to lend a hand when we had problems with the chatable sets (5 and 6) and he with stood my numerous "can you see.." , "I can't see...", "if you do this.. ", "if I do that.." sort of stuff... he has the patience of a saint and a personality to die for ;-) Point being Devin lives in a participating country and had managed to collect all 6 character sets by redeeming the points from Pepsi products and seeing the situation I was in (not being able to collect points myself due to where I live) he offered to give me some of his tokens so that I could obtain the points needed to get the Ch@table character sets I was missing! Dang is he a gem or what! Because of his good nature and generous offer within a few tokens I had all the points I needed to get my hands on the remaining sets... I'm now a happy Ch@table user.

It will be interesting to see what unfolds once Ch@tables are released to the world in February 2002... will they cross to different messengers? will we ALL of us be able to participate in upcoming promotions regardless of location? will Ch@tables give us the less politically correct smileys/expressions that we've all been waiting for? We can only wait and see.. I for one will the first to climb on board to test drive any new release they have as I think they are on the right track not only with their product but also with their expectional customer sevice.. thumbs up :-)