Clubhouse, Home Island, Membership, Store

A Little Color In Your Summer: Pop Worlds Updates

Hey everyone! Spotted Dragon here with a Poptropica Worlds summer update! And this one comes with a lot of big additions to the game that we’ve been waiting for.

popworlds summer update 1

I’ll start off with what everyone will be happy to hear about: the colorizer is here! This is a feature that many of us have missed and it’s one that was even listed in our first Pop Petitions post!

With it, you can color your hair and skin any way you see fit! Just like in Original Poptropica. Once you change colors, you won’t be able to go back to the exact tone you had when you first logged in, unless it’s included in the basic palette we’re provided, but either way this is a big step forward for our customizing possibilities.

popworlds summer update 4

The colorizer is located in the closet, but there is one big drawback: only members can pick any color they want. The rest of us can only pick colors from a small color palette. While the addition of the colorizer is great and everything, this puts a damper on the feature for most players.

Talking about changing colors, this isn’t the only update bringing color into our summer (or… not depending on where you live). We also get two new color changing outfits! There is a male and female version, but every player is able to buy both, no matter your gender! That’s great if I do say so myself.

popworlds summer update 5

Sadly, many accessories in these outfits are for members only. But they do look pretty cool! A Poptropican in the a full color changing outfit also shows up on Home Island, right outside your door, to tell you about the new things in the store. In addition to these color changing costumes, there are also new summer themed outfits in store! We’ve seen promises for these outfits before, but they haven’t shown up until now.

popworlds summer update 6

Crop tops and rompers, huh? These 8 brand new costumes have a very modern look to them. Anyway, all outfits are available to players of any gender too, which I’m glad to see is becoming a norm for Poptropica. Sadly, many of these outfits are completely members only.

I am a bit disappointed about all the membership restrictions, but I do like some of the new accessories. If only we could customize lips/mouths at this point too, right?

Lastly, we have one more summer update to share… a House Expansion! We’ve all seen the locked doors in our house and it’s finally time to unlock one of them. What lies behind the door you ask? A beach themed room, fit for summer! My apologies to those living where it’s not summer at the moment.

popworlds summer update 2

Personally, I was expecting these expansions to just be like the main room we already have. I was not expecting an entire theme! Anyway, to get into this room you have to first find the key. No, it’s not hidden somewhere where you’ll have to go on a quest to find it (which is a bit disappointing to be honest). The key is simply located in the Decor Shop, under the (you guessed it) key tab.

After unlocking the room, you also gain access to new beach themed decor! 19 new items should be available to purchase, marked in the store with a blue banner and key symbol. From pineapple wallpaper to windows with a palm tree view, there’s lots of new items to choose from.

popworlds summer update 3

Sadly, expansions are for members only. I saw this coming, but it (like the other membership restrictions) is super disappointing. I understand that Poptropica needs membership to earn money (and that membership needs to be worth buying), but I feel like regular players (like myself) are gonna be missing out on a lot.

With these summer updates, many players have been complaining about missing house decor and house resets. Even before this update, missing items have been a problem. But fear not!

According to Poptropica’s Twitter, this issue shouldn’t be a problem any more.

So how do you guys feel about these updates? Let us know in the comments below.

~SD

Pop Petitions

Pop Petition: What We Want From Pop Worlds, Pt. 2

Pop Petition Header

Hello once again Poptropicans! Spotted Dragon here with the second installment of our new Pop Petitions series! We received a lot of feedback on our last petition post and I’m thrilled to see not only all the support expressed for this series but also to be hearing all of your shared concerns.

If you aren’t familiar with this series, it is basically a compilation of what the PHB authors and community want to see happen in Poptropica.

No one is fully adjusted to Poptropica Worlds yet and with all the changes it brought with it, there is no way we could fit all of our thoughts in just one post. I mean, we’ve already made more than our fair share of reviews on the subject. Anyway, this will serve as a continuation of our last petition, so let’s just jump in!

#1: Imported Outfits

I have a sneaking feeling that your eyes might have lit up when first reading the title of this section. We all miss our old Poptropican’s outfit, especially those of us who have an iconic look. When Poptropica Worlds was first announced, we were reassured that our accounts could be imported, but recently we realized that did not include our old costumes.

Brave Tomato - PHB Pixels
Awesome pixel renditions of the PHB team from Brave Tomato.

Granted, it’s obviously not a surprise that we lost our old style. It would be a big stretch to assume that each bit of clothing we know and love would get revamped for Pop Worlds, but that doesn’t lessen our loss. Everyone still wants their old clothes back, but the Creators have said that that will not be happening.

It was a long shot to hope for direct transportation of our original designs, but I don’t think it’s too much to ask for at least more costumes to purchase. Specifically, more costumes with clothing that’s as similar as possible to a lot of original Poptropica looks. Even more specifically, more costumes that are available to everyone and not only members. I mean… I just want my blue hoodie back guys.

#2: Interaction

When it comes down to it, Poptropica is a game. More on that, Poptropica Worlds is supposed to be better than the original, right? And that means improved game-play. This not only means better interaction in our quests, but better interaction in average scenes as well.

houses

I think we all know that Crisis Caverns Island was lacking in some categories, but we go into more detail on that in our review. However, I do need to bring up the fact that the quest had very minimal elements of interaction. There were lots of things that looked like platforms that actually couldn’t be jumped onto for example.

I’m not only talking about limitations in exploration, but simple fun features too. I think it would be much more interesting to have things in our houses that we can actually use for instance. Wouldn’t it be cool to be able to flip through TV channels (I’d love to watch some Bucky Lucas clips), or serve yourself some ice cream, or play pong on your computer, or design your own posters, or anything like that? Even hidden Easter eggs like the old Hypnotic Costume can spark interest. Little things like this can be what really make a game unique and while it’s not a necessity, I think it would enhance Poptropica World’s whole experience.

#3: Glitch Improvement

No, calm down glitching community, I don’t mean to take away your fun. Actually, I’m talking about fixing all the unwanted glitches. Of course it is inevitable for a game still in progress to have a multitude of problems, but there are some big ones that I think need addressing as soon as possible.

bleach

Yes, we are all familiar with the “Bleachy Boy” glitch by now, but that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Many other problems have been reported, spanning from flying through walls to disappearing items. Some of these problems have quick fixes, like just refreshing the page, but others have stopped players from completing Crisis Caverns indefinitely and have made simply enjoying the game impossible.

I’m sure it’s only a matter of time until a majority of these problems get fixed, but at the moment it is causing a big hassle for just about everyone. Not only is glitching a big dilemma, but so is lag and poor game response in general. Not that all this isn’t new, but eliminating stuff like this would improve the whole experience tremendously.

#4: Islands

This one is no surprise. In fact, it is guaranteed that Poptropica World’s has more islands in its future, since it wouldn’t be Poptropica without them. I can’t stress enough that I understand Pop Worlds is still new and so still has a long way to go. We aren’t expecting new islands immediately, but it’s still something to look forward to.

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Similar to importing our old costumes, I’m sure we’d all love to see some of our old favorite islands get added to this new world. Another big dream, I know, but still a nice thought. While original Poptropica is still up, it’s in the shadow of Pop Worlds now and we simply don’t want to see our old adventures fade away.

Islands and their story lines take up the majority of Poptropica’s game play. With nothing left to do in game, players tend to quickly get bored and that is what leads to the game being forgotten. New islands can’t be pumped out each week, but the countdown to new releases is something we all get excited for.

#5: Costume Closet

This one shouldn’t be a big surprise either. It ties into us wanting more customizing options as well as us wanting the Friends page back. While “saving up to 30 outfits” was always a members only paradise, some of Poptropica’s oldest players will even remember the costume collector item card that allowed for the saving of a simple 3 outfits.

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While we do technically already have a “closet” in Poptropica Worlds, it only holds the clothes that we have purchased through the store. When it becomes possible to customize random Poptropicans you meet on your adventures though, how will you save those awesome looks for later?

Whether or not we are able to save more of our looks in the future, I think one thing is clear to everyone: we want more customizing! Right now, we are stuck with whatever look we chose when we first logged in. I don’t know about you guys, but I’m regretting not choosing those rainbow shoes right about now…


Despite these setbacks, we still think Poptropica Worlds has a lot of good features as well as potential for more, as outlined in our last Pop Petition post and our Poptropica Worlds Review. This post isn’t meant to bad mouth the game, but simply to let the Creators know what their fanbase wants.

What about you guys? What improvements do YOU want to see on Worlds? Shout out your suggestions in the comments below!

~SD

Community Creations

Community Creations: June 2017

community-creations-logo

Hello once again everyone! Spotted Dragon here bringing you the June recap for Community Creations! This month’s theme was Poptropica Worlds. The featured work is not in any particular order. Be sure to check out all the featured artists!

No clue what’s going on? Go see our intro post.

Top 5 Picks

Crisis Caverns by Jesta7

Jesta7 - Crisis Caverns

Despite some disappointments from Crisis Caverns, I think we can all agree that the island had beautiful scenes. Taking inspiration from those scenes, this drawing excellently uses lighting to its advantage. Stunning shading and a very cool color scheme. Everything gives off an intense, motivated vibe. Brilliant! Find her DeviantArt here.

Crisis Caverns by HappyCloneTrooper

HappyCloneTrooper - Crisis Caverns

Another piece that captures the beauty of Crisis Caverns Island very well. The bright, glowing crystals easily captivate the eye and make it hard to look away. Though the entire drawing is fairly simple, it makes for a crazy cool background and expresses a great use of geometric shapes. The lighting and pink tone in my opinion are just great. Find her DeviantArt here.

Meeting Poptropica World’s Happy Sun by TechnoBunny16

TechnoBunny16 - Meeting Poptropica World's Happy Sun

Yep, it’s what we all first saw when Poptropica Worlds was announced… fingers. A simple figure drawing, yes, but a very accurate portrayal of what our original Poptropicans would feel upon meeting their new counter-parts. We all had to give up on some key parts of our old outfits, but that doesn’t mean our new characters can’t have just as cute of a design! Humorous and adorable. Find her DeviantArt here.

Who Spilled the Bleach? by Jellow McFellow

JelloMcFellow - Who Spilled the Bleach

Okay, I couldn’t not include this piece, because it’s just too relateable. With Poptropica Worlds’ release, many, many glitches were released along side it. Including one in particular now widely known as Bleachy Boy, where all of a Poptropican’s clothes and color disappear. The situation in the drawing is hilarious and it provides a feeling that lots of us are all too familiar with. Well done, haha! Find his DeviantArt here.

The Poptropica Worlds Gang by Yumgirl

Yumgirl - The Poptropica Worlds Gang

Very cute characters that you can just tell had a lot of thought put into them. Don’t believe me? Well, you can read each Poptropican’s detailed description yourself. We all have our beloved Poptropica OC’s, but there aren’t nearly as many Poptropica Worlds specific OC’s our there yet. Simple composition, but adorable and well drawn! Find her DeviantArt here.

Honorable Mentions

Click to view the images in full.

July: How do I Participate?

Community Creations is a cool series for anyone in the Poptropica community to join in on. To sum up what it’s about, it’s basically a chance to show off your artwork, creepy fan-fic, realms, costumes, and anything else that pops into your mind.

If we really like the piece you submit, we will feature it here on the PHB! As long as it relates to that month’s theme. So what is July’s theme? July’s theme is…

Literature!

We tend to mainly get visual art submissions, but remember that this series embraces all forms of creativity! So, I wanted to provide a month that focuses the spotlight on other media. That being said, visual art is still welcomed this month!

Ever wanted to cross over Poptropica with your favorite book series? Now’s your chance! Ever want to see a Harry Potter or Hunger Games Island? Make it yourself!

harrypop

Any and all written work will be accepted this month, no matter the theme of it. Just has to be Poptropica related as usual! Poetry, songs, fan-fic, etc. are included. But if you’re not much of a writer, don’t worry! Just make your piece relate to a famous novel, comic, poet, etc. Make sense? You can even make a book character into a Poptropica costume if your heart desires!

  • Submitting: Comment below with a link to whatever you’ve created OR share it with me (SydVC aka Spotted Dragon) on DeviantArt, Twitter, or Discord.
  • Results: I will feature 5 of the submissions as well as 3 honorable mentions.
  • Limitations: Nothing NSFW, and make sure you relate to the theme.
  • Due Date: I will take any entries before the end of this month. Submit as many things as you’d like!

I will always be sure to let you know I have seen your creation. Bonus points if you make a compelling description for your piece! While quality counts, I’m mainly looking for something to simply catch my eye, so don’t be afraid to join in!

So what are you waiting for? Go make something awesome!

~SD

Community Creations

Community Creations: May 2017

community-creations-logo

Hello once again everyone! Spotted Dragon here bringing you the May recap for Community Creations! This month’s theme was fairy tales and myths. The featured work is not in any particular order. Be sure to check out all the featured artists! 😉

No clue what’s going on? Go see our intro post.

Top 5 Picks

Fierce Flyer and the Dragon by Fierce Flyer

Fierce Flyer - Fierce Flyer and the Dragon

Bright colors evoke a great sense of adventure in this piece! Bringing to mind the dangers we all faced in islands like Astro-Knights, this drawing brings those emotions to life through this exciting scene. With all these bold colors, the rest of this epic adventure is left up to the imagination! Plus, don’t we all love spotted dragons? Perfect for our myth theme! Find his DeviantArt here.

Ghost Story by GoldenFox2019

GoldenFox2019 - Ghost Story

A beautiful, dark piece featuring the thrilling Ghost Story Island. The mist effects are wonderful and the glowing violin really draws in the viewer’s attention. I think Ghost Story Island holds a place in all of our hearts and it most certainly includes compelling myth elements. *Cue flashbacks of the “Are you looking for someone?” jump-scare* Find her DeviantArt here.

 Hulder by Lil’ Poptrystal (Elise)

LilPoptrystalTemp (Elise) - Hulder

A unique combination of traditional and digital art has a great impact on this drawing. It also combines Poptropica with a lesser known mythological creature called a hulder. They are beautiful women who use their captivating singing voices to lure men into caves. You learn something new everyday, right? The piece’s spooky effects and fun portrayal of Twisted Thicket Island is breath-taking  (just like the hulder herself). Find her DeviantArt here.

Hanging Around for a Bit by IceSquared

IceSquared - Hanging Around for a Bit

Inspired by Early Poptropica, this cute play on the classic fairy tale Jack and the Beanstalk is hilarious. The simple colors and composition of the objects give off a great storybook vibe and even provide the impression of a book cover. Just wait until he gets to see that purple giant! The cartoon-ish design easily depicts a fun setting and tone. Find his DeviantArt here.

Mysteries, Myths, and Legends by Sporty Boa

Sporty Boa - Mysteries, Myths, and Legends

Covering pretty much all of our theme’s bases, this drawing includes your classic knight, a big name from Greek mythology of course, and even the Elf Queen herself. All three of which are prominent in the world of Poptropica! Simplistic in design it may be, but it does prove how wide Poptropica’s storytelling can reach. Well made! Find his Twitter here.

Honorable Mentions

Click to view the images in full.

Super cool submissions like always guys! You make it hard to pick features every time. I love that I’m seeing a lot of regulars participate every month, but the more people the better! Can’t let the same people take the glory every month. 😉

June: How do I participate?

Community Creations is a cool series for anyone in the Poptropica community to join in on. To sum up what it’s about, it’s basically a chance to show off your artwork, creepy fan-fic, realms, costumes, and anything else that pops into your mind.

If we really like the piece you submit, we will feature it here on the PHB! As long as it relates to that month’s theme. So what is June’s theme? Junes’s theme is…

Poptropica Worlds!

Upon its recent release, Poptropica Worlds has sparked a lot of different reactions and opinions. Though most of us are still getting used to all the changes, that doesn’t mean we can’t use this even to spark artistic inspiration as well!

Draw some beautiful Crisis Caverns scenes, design a new outfit for your newly-styled Poptropican, show off how you decorated your house, and that’s just to name a few ideas! Remember that written work is also accepted, so come up with some creative ways to express your ideas on this big change!

Remember that you can submit not only drawings, but literature, costumes, etc. as well. And the more detail/backstory, the better! 😉

  • Submitting: Comment below with a link to whatever you’ve created OR share it with me (SydVC aka Spotted Dragon) on DeviantArt, Twitter, or Discord.
  • Results: I will feature 5 of the submissions as well as 3 honorable mentions.
  • Limitations: Nothing NSFW, and make sure you relate to the theme.
  • Due Date: I will take any entries before the end of this month. Submit as many things as you’d like!

I will always be sure to let you know I have seen your creation. Bonus points if you make a compelling description for your piece! While quality counts, I’m mainly looking for something to simply catch my eye, so don’t be afraid to join in!

So what are you waiting for? Go make something awesome! 😀

~SD

Pop Petitions

Pop Petition: What We Want From Pop Worlds

Pop Petition Header

Hey Poptropicans, Spotted Dragon here, and I’m here to kick off a new PHB series!

Pop Petitions, a new PHB post series, will focus on what we (both the PHB team and all of you, the community) want to see changed or added in Poptropica (and/or its surrounding community). Or should I now say, Poptropica Worlds?

Yep, the cat is finally out of the bag and, as of this week, Poptropica Worlds was released the public. It’s not completely polished up yet, but we can at least see what direction the game is headed in from our first look at it!

There have been a lot of changes to what we all know and love from the classic game, but are all these changes necessarily bad? Lots of mixed emotions from everyone in the community on this, that’s for sure. So today, we’ll talk about some of the things that we want to see added to Poptropica Worlds.

#1: Costumizer

Yep, we all noticed it was gone… the Costumizer. We got to see a lot of cool new characters in Pop World’s release, along with a ton of new outfits, but no real way to get all of them. Sure, there was the customization of your character when you first log in, and there will always be the clothes in the store, but what happens when we get jealous of the people we meet on our adventures?

clothing

It’s a classic feature that I’m sure everyone wants back. Right now, I think it’s been tricky for everyone to get their Poptropican’s original look back, and adding this feature would be a step in the right direction, considering that some store apparel is limited to members only.

#2: Colorizer

Another classic feature that allows for infinite customization: the Colorizer! We all know the struggle right now of how tough it can be getting exactly the right skin and hair color for our avatars. Just like the Costumizer, the addition of this feature would really help us personalize our Poptropicans, so I for one hope it gets brought back.

CustomizerNewYou

I mean… what happens when I get the urge to virtually dye my hair? We’ve had a Colorizer on Home Island in the past, so it doesn’t seem like a stretch for it to be put back in the game.

#3: Friends

Adding friends, as well as customizing your own profile, has become a large part of Poptropica. It was fun to customize what your friends were wearing, earn photos from different islands, add costumes to your closet if you could, and so much more. But where has it gone?

Friends, statues, fires and babies.

Before, not only could you add friends, but you could also create multiverses, show off your personality, and more from your profile. Perhaps there could be better ways to personalize your account, and that might be something they’re working on, but it was definitely a nice feature to play around with when taking a break from an island.

#4: Multiverse

Similar to adding friends, Multiverse rooms have always been a fun way to meet up with your pals. Whether it was a random room or an intentionally created party room, Multiverses have always been a big part of the game. You could battle other Poptropicans in head-to-head games, or just relax and chat if you wanted to.

jan2014 multiverse

Adding onto Multiverses, I think it would be cool to have more options when it comes to interacting with friends. Maybe we could invite people to our cool new homes to party?

#5: Home Expansions & Home Island Features

One big new thing that Poptropica Worlds brought us was definitely our houses. Which makes sense, since we have a “Home Island,” right? Anyway, there are currently ways to customize your house, but only with what’s already there. What if we run out of room for our merch? It’s a problem I strongly relate to in the real world.

I think we could definitely benefit from house expansions, and if the locked doors inside our houses are any indicator, perhaps this feature is already on its way – so start saving those credits!

house

Not only would I like to see more house options, but I’d also like to see more features on Home Island itself. In the past, we’ve had the “New You” shop, the “Shop” (store), the photo booth, arcade, and most recently, a movie theater. While the theater was disappointing to most, it would be nice to make the island feel more like a home, with more interactive buildings (a Multiverse perhaps?).


These are just some of the perks that we (the PHB team) want to see, but what about you guys? What do YOU want to see added to Poptropica Worlds? Anything you aren’t liking so far? The new style is here to stay, but that doesn’t mean we can’t throw some other cool ideas out there.

But first things first, right? Let’s see more ISLANDS get added! 😀

~SD