Pop Petition: What we want from the Creators’ Blog (and a message)

Yep, Spotted Dragon here with another Pop Petition! Like our previous petition posts, today we’ll be voicing some of our top concerns and hopes for our favorite game. And you’re welcome to chime in down in the comments!

There’s always room for improvement, right? Well I certainly think so. Not only have Poptropica islands been a bit lacking as of late, but the Creators’ Blog itself seems less than impressive lately as well. It seems like forever ago when we had frequent posts by notable personalities, but now it’s hard to tell who is doing the posting in the first place!

#1: Frequent Updates

This one seems a bit obvious, doesn’t it? A little update wouldn’t hurt anyone, and in fact would ease the minds of many fans! These days, what posts we do get from the Creators’ Blog seem to be “filler” at best.

It seems to me that the main purpose of the Creators’ Blog should be updates. Leaving Poptropicans completely in the dark about the game’s future simply sparks concerned theories and, well… posts like this. It is totally understandable that not everything can be revealed, but it’s hard to maintain interest in something that you know nothing about.

That being said, we have gotten some posts recently that fall under the “update” umbrella, ranging from ad announcements even to an actual island announcement. Posts like these certainly make me optimistic, but trends do not exactly show consistency, nor on-time publication. And it may just honestly be that we aren’t getting the right kind of updates we are hoping for?

#2: Fan Interaction

We’ve all seen the  comment capabilities on the blog, in hand with the “liking” system, but we’ve also had our fair share of complaints about it. We’ve also seen new interactive “games” being featured on the blog, like one that looks a whole lot like some of our own community members game ideas…

A big complaint we’ve already faced is the time it takes for a comment to get approved. While this is of course understandable, it does seem to take longer than necessarily… necessary. Additionally, there are original content concerns, which at this point is to be expected. The “guess the island” style game has circled fan blogs for years now, and the Creators are really late to the punch.

These issues are not only fixated on the Creators’ Blog, but stem to their other social media outlets too. Fans continue to miss Skinny Moon, Poptropica’s old social media manager, and for good reasons. With her in charge of social media, someone’s job was literally to interact with fans on a daily bases. Voices were heard more often then than ever, and since she has left that feeling has steadily declined. We persistently tweet questions and try reaching higher levels of interaction these days, but whoever is behind Poptropica’s Twitter (and Blog of course) today just doesn’t do as much as we’re looking for I suppose.

#3: Behind the Scenes Looks

Concept art, sneak peeks of upcoming features, HQ photos, you name it. Behind the Scenes pictures always seem to intrigue fans, if not only a little bit. And while we do get the occasional glance behind the curtain on the Creators’ Twitter, their blog posts are less than enticing in that department.

Again, it is understandable that not everything can be revealed. That would take the fun out of everything! But hints here and there lead to amazing theories and excitement among Poptropicans. With the length between island releases increasing, it is important to keep up moral and interest in the fanbase.

Though it’s nice to see some photos from HQ on Twitter fairly often I suppose, the Creators’ Blog continues to not live up to its potential. And our hunger for information on islands is constantly unsatisfied. This doesn’t mean we want a bunch of repetition between the social media platforms, but it does mean that the Creators should catch on to what their audience gravitates towards.

#4: The Archive Feature

Lucky Joker was quick to point out that the archive feature on the Creators’ Blog was recently removed. Though there is still a search-bar, the sidebar of the blog has always seemed a bit bare.

Currently, the sidebar on the blog consists of a little welcome message, social media links, a search-bar, popular posts, and the list of island info pages. But what if you want to… pop down memory lane? Archive features can be super useful when you need or want to look back at old posts. While a search-bar provides a similar service, sometimes you don’t know what a post’s title is, or you aren’t looking for anything specific. Archives are especially useful when you’re looking for something in a particular month or time-frame.

Though this feature obviously is not a constant need, it’s a nice tool for both those nostalgic Poptropicans and those intense researchers. It wouldn’t be used everyday, sure, but what’s the harm in keeping it up? It doesn’t take up a huge amount of space and it adds more purpose to the sidebar as a whole.

#5: ANSWERS!

Yes, this request definitely overlaps some points I’ve made in this post already, but I still think it deserves a full section of it’s own! Similar to fan interaction and frequent updates, I think “answers” sums up most of what I’m looking for.

All in all, we simply can’t have radio silence if we still want this fandom to thrive! The community is strong, but we would be lying if we didn’t acknowledge the diminishing interest in Poptropica. But is that anyone’s fault? No fan is to blame for slowly moving away from something that doesn’t update, retain relevance, and well… answer questions!

I know this request sounds vague, but it can be hard to pin down exactly what can save this game. It’s not that Poptropica isn’t fun anymore, or that characters aren’t appealing, or that storylines don’t pull you in. I think that a huge portion of the problem stems from how things are currently being run! Fans are left in the dark far too often. The Creators’ Blog should be a way for those behind Poptropica to reach out to its fanbase, to answer questions, and to collectively find ways to improve the game.

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Remember that this post isn’t meant to bash the Creators, but instead voice the opinions and suggestions of fans. We all want Poptropica to be as awesome as possible!

So, what are your thoughts? Do you agree with our list? What do you want to see more often on the Creators’ Blog? Be sure to let us know what other Pop Petitions we should make as well!

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Moving on however, I do have some bad news to add to the end of this post…

Silver Wolf has decided to leave the PHB, a choice that no one can blame her for, of course. Her passion for both blogging and Poptropica has lessened, as it does for many fans over time (not to mention how time consuming preparing for senior year of high school can be!). Still, what she brought to the community was thoughtful posts, creativity, and kindness!

I’ve personally become close friends with Wolfy over both of our author careers, and we started blogging around the same time. She will certainly be missed by all the PHB authors, but don’t worry too much! She will still be active on Discord and I may just force her to never leave DeviantArt.

She assures us that she will not be completely leaving the community, and will be sure to leave her own blog up. It was an honor for her to work on the PHB and she appreciates everything that this fandom gave her, including amazing friends and experiences!

~SD