Slanted Fish

(This is a guest post by Happy Lobster, Shaky Skunk, and Tall Cactus, PHB readers here to share some Poptropica thoughts. Keep in mind that what they present is only theory, not to be taken as fact. If you have a Popspiracy, see below for details on guest posting! Enjoy! –SlantedFish)

popspiracy

What’s popping, Poptropicans? Happy Lobster, Shaky Skunk and Tall Cactus here, and today we’re going to be sharing our mega theories about the origins of Poptropica. HL and Shaky were writing separate theories for the PHB, but since they were both similar, they decided to combine the posts together. Then Tall Cactus wanted to help, since she’s basically the queen of theories. Well, that being said, let’s get started!

The Realms Theory

Hey there, it’s HL here with an immense Popspiracy that I’m surprised no-one has brought up before. You may know me from Discord, the Forums, the comments of PHB posts and the blogs I work on, which includes my blog, HLPB, and the others I work on: PSB, ECC and Clawtropica. Usually, I’d save things like this just for the blogs I actually work on, but as I said before, it’s immense. Mind-blowing. Tremendous. Everyone should know about it. So, let’s get started! Just make sure that you ain’t feeling sleepy right now, because this Popspiracy has about 900 words.

To begin with, my Popspiracy is about… Poptropica. And not a particular concept in the game, but the concept of itself. It delves deeper and deeper into the roots of Poptropica, revealing its greatest secret. The true origin of Poptropica, whereas Shaky will describe each possible aspect of the beginning. This does follow the amazing theories of Poptropica by both Koi and Purple Claw. So just to sum things up, Koi’s theory was about the fact that Poptropicans are possibly descended from aliens, and Purple Claw’s theory was about the fact that Poptropica could possibly be one of the bubble-like orbs we see when we visit the realm of… well, Realms. Feel free to probe deeper into these theories via the links if you want to see the exact foundations of these theories.

So with that out of the way, my question is: Why, when a new Poptropican is born, is it that they enter a world that is exactly the equivalent of all other Poptropicans’ worlds, with the same characters, landscapes, and quests, and yet Poptropicans never encounter each other (apart from Multiverses) in the same world?

The answer isn’t simple. But let’s walk the road that’ll lead to the ultimate answer. Firstly, as PC says, the general world of Poptropica is a Realm. Poptropica isn’t endless, like the other Realms, but it is ever-expanding, and it’s probably as large – if not even larger – than the space in each Realm we’ve bothered to explore.

pop realms

So what if – there are multiple, individual Realms of Poptropica? Read on to hear our ideas!

Continue reading “Popspiracy: The Origin of Poptropica” →

Contests

PHB Tribal Tournament: Artistic Athletes!

August 8, 2016August 26, 2016 Slanted Fish

“Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art… It has no survival value; rather it is one of those things which give value to survival,” penned the writer C.S. Lewis. And indeed – for this next round in the PHB Tribal Tournament, we’re now calling on the artists to bring value to survive in these games. Read on for the details!

If you are new to the PHB Tribal Tournament, please read up on the event details here so that you’re all caught up. If you have questions, comment below!

This next round of the tourney is called Artistic Athletes, and we’re going to be looking for your best Poptropica art, which comes in several categories:

Visual art! Draw or paint your best Poptropica fan art.
Fan fiction! Write the next great Poptropica novel, tribe cheer, short story, poem, screenplay, or other written masterpieces!
Fashion! Put together a stunningly stylish summer outfit for the Games! Tell us the username and/or take a screenshot of the character.
Realms! Create your own games stadium or other work of athletic art with Poptropica Realms!

You may submit a creation you’ve made before, but extra consideration will be given to entries that are tribe-themed or related to the Poptropolis Games, so we recommend that you try to match that theme. You can enter as many times into as many categories as you like to increase your chances of being selected.

To enter your work, you can either post in your tribe’s channel on the PHC (as we have been doing with the other rounds of the tournament), tweet us on Twitter @Poptropica_Help with the tribe you’re representing, or email us at [email protected] (again, with the name of your tribe). You have until August 21 24 (extended time!) to enter!

Now about earning points! How this works is this:

The representative of each tribe (one of the eight PHB staff) will go through all the entries for their tribe and select what they feel is the top choice for each of the four categories.
The selections will then be brought up to all the PHB staff, who will each rank every selected entry – except from their own tribe, to eliminate bias – from what they feel is the strongest to least strong. If your tribe has no entries for any category, then sorry – you won’t earn points for that category, so your best bet is to enter something!
We’ll then count up the place numbers each selected entry has received and divide it by the number of placements given through votes to get an average for each. The smaller the score average, the higher it ranks (for example, if a piece wins multiple “1” (first) places, it has a smaller total score but has been voted higher). From there, the first place piece in each category will receive 80 points, second will receive 70 points, and so on down the line.

Also, here’s an animation I made (of the PHB tribe reps working out) to inspire you guys to participate in the Tribal Tournament, particularly for this creative round! Game on, Poptropicans!

tribepop

Don’t forget, you can still earn points for your tribe by joining in the Medal Marathon, all the way through August 24! Check out the original Tribal Tournament post for details.

We’ve been getting lots of enthusiasm on the PHC about the tribe tournament, which is awesome – keep it up, and join in if you haven’t already! We’re also excited to see your art, so get creative! 😀

Brush up on those skills and show us what you’ve got!

– the PHB tribe reps –

Contests, PHB Parties

Recap: PHB Tribal Tournament – Opening Ceremony!

August 6, 2016 Slanted Fish

Ladies and gentlemen, the Poptropica Help Blog presents… the PHB Tribal Tournament!

And here come the tribes now! Bravely brandishing her black flag, the dread pirate Brave Tomato waves to the crowd, leading a few of her fellow Black Flags into the ceremony. Don’t you dare throw a tomato.

Then comes the captain of the Flying Squid, Slanted Fish, guiding her school of fish in the procession. She reaches for an arrow and lights up the flame of the Games!

We couldn’t have televised these grand events without our technical support – here come the Nanobots now, led by the fearless Spotted Dragon, and down the track they march!

Once night falls, you may see more of them, but next come the Nightcrawlers, with HPuterpop at the forefront while the rest of the team crawls on by!

They surely aren’t lost – the Pathfinders know where it’s at, because they’ve arrived right on time, carefully calculating every step with their golden compasses and making their leader Koi proud!

Descending from the heavens now are the Seraphim, with archangel Ylimegirl proudly directing her fellow tribesmates as they fly into flawless formation. A majestic sight to behold!

Fwooom! The Poptropolis inferno is further ignited as the Wildfire team arrives, blazing the flames to new heights! It’s totally lit, and they know it, with feisty skipper Slippery Raptor leading the cheer: “What team?!” “WILDFIRE!”

Finally, finishing the procession we have the Yellowjackets, with bee king Ultimate iPad Expert leading his colony. They sure know what the buzz is all about!

And that’s all eight Tribes of the Tribal Tournament! Give a cheer for your team!!

–

Earlier this week, we invited everyone to attend the Opening Ceremony of our Tribal Tournament, and were pumped to see many of you there! You can check out the recap picture above to see some of the highlights, which included Multiverse game battles, dressing up in cool tribe hats and other spirited gear, and of course, having fun on the PHC! Thanks to Ylimegirl and WimpyKidFan for their contributions to the collage, and thanks to all who came and played! Hope you enjoyed the Rio 2016 Olympics opening ceremony later that day as well – which country are you rooting for? 😉

The Tribal Tournament continues in full swing, and remember, you can keep earning points for your tribe by playing through Poptropolis Games Island and uploading a screenshot of your final scoreboard (as many times as you can!) either via the PHC (on your tribe channel) or this form (if you can’t get on the PHC). We’re not revealing scores until the end, but for now, these are the tribes in the lead:

Seraphim 👼
Yellowjackets 🐝
Pathfinders 🔦

Congratulations if your tribe is among the top three! If not – it’s time to step up your game!

Start with the Medal Marathon (more details in our original post), and look forward to more tribal competitions coming soon!

Get competing, and of course, enjoy the epic Poptropolis Games music!

My Place in Poptropica

My Place in Poptropica: Popular Singer

August 6, 2016 Slanted Fish

This is the My Place in Poptropica story of Popular Singer, who has been playing Pop on-and-off since 7th grade and is now in college. See the bottom of this post for details on sending in your own MPIP!

mpip ps

2010–2011 | Discovering and Rediscovering Poptropica

Once upon a time I was playing online games at my best friend’s house. I believe I was in 7th grade, and I was watching my friend play a new game I had never seen before. What I saw surprised me: the character’s heads could pop off!!! I noticed the name of the game was Poptropica. I thought “Well, that makes a lot of sense!”

My friend explained to me that there were quests on different islands that your character could complete. She was playing Counterfeit Island, and was at the part where players have to go up onto the forklift to defeat the Black Widow (the hardest part of the game, am I right?). I remember creating an account and playing around with the game after that, but I did not continue to play after I left her house. My character’s name was something to do with ‘Moose’.

The next year, I was at another friend’s house because my parents were out of town. We had two hours of computer time per day, and my friends decided to play Poptropica. Since I couldn’t remember my login information, I created a new account, which is my current character Popular Singer. I did not even pay attention to the name generator, so I’m relieved I got a good one. The first island that my friends and I completed was Red Dragon Island. I love the Magic Tree House book series, so of course I had to finish it first. From there I went on to complete Counterfeit Island, since I’d been introduced to it before.

2012–2013 | Meeting Friends and Completing Islands

During this time, I started adding friends and finishing islands on weekends after my homework was completed. This was also during my goth phase, so I remember my costume saver being filled with bats, skulls, fangs, purple, and black. I also became obsessed with the hair dye on 24 Carrot Island, so it was not a surprise to see me with purple or blue hair at times.

Some of the islands I completed during this time were 24 Carrot Island, Shark Tooth Island, and Night Watch Island. I started watching walkthrough videos on YouTube, and through this, I discovered PHB. I visited quite frequently, but I haven’t commented in a while. I definitely need to change that!

2014–2015 | Exploring, and Taking a Hiatus

In 2014, I bought the Popstar outfit from the Store, which has sort of become my character’s trademark outfit. Before this, I wore a red and black dress and carried a staff. I worked on some of the newer islands, but with high school overwhelming me, I didn’t play much for nearly a year.

Then in 2015 I got back into Poptropica, and was excited about the new bigger screen updates and sound. I also downloaded the Poptropica app, which turned out to be a disappointment because I found it to be glitchy. I did finish Time Tangled Island on it, though. My character on the app was Mysterious Fox until my phone broke and I had to re-download it onto my new one.

I also had fun testing out Poptropica Realms. Here’s a sign I’d been on Poptropica for too long in one sitting: I was really tired of the movie Frozen, and ended up making Elsa’s dungeon in the snowy biome with Elsa as evil.

2016–present | Back in Business

I have a Windows tablet now, and I’ve been obsessed with playing Poptropica on a touch screen. I have pretty much finished all the new islands and I’m going back to the older islands now. Since I’m in college, I don’t have as much time to play, but it’s also the only virtual world I play on now, so it’s always my first go-to when I’m looking for something to play. I’m looking forward to the New Pop later this year! My username is cindy47b if you ever want to friend me!

–

Hope you enjoyed this “My Place in Poptropica” story! Feel free to send in your own (please include a minimum of 550 words, type with good spelling and grammar, divide it into labeled sections, and include your username). Look out for more community MPIPs in the future!

~the Poptropica Help Blog

Contests, PHB Parties

On your marks – here comes the PHB Tribal Tournament!

August 3, 2016 Slanted Fish

poptribe

Hey Poptropic-athletes! As you may be aware, the Rio Olympics of 2016 are coming up, and that’s sure to be exciting – so exciting, in fact, that here at the PHB, we’re bringing the fun of competition to the Poptropica community! In case the Poppies wasn’t enough exhilaration, we’ve got a BIG Tribal Tournament planned, and we’re looking for athletes of all kinds to compete. Are you ready?!

Poptropica has their own version of teams known as tribes, which you will have encountered if you’ve ever played Poptropolis Games Island or visited your own friend profile. If you don’t belong to a tribe yet (gasp), check out the PHB’s guide to Tribes and find one that suits you!

We’ll be kicking off the event with an Opening Ceremony on Friday, August 5, 2pm Eastern time (that’s 1pm Central, 12pm Mountain, 11am Pacific, and for all other time zones, check a time converter). It’ll be your usual party on the PHC at discord.me/thePHC – a completely safe chatroom environment where PHB staff and other Poptropicans regularly hang out – with Multiverse, games, and more!

As the invite graphic suggests, it’s earlier in the day so you have a chance to kick off the actual, NOT-Poptropica Olympics on TV later on! (The real-world Olympic ceremony starts at 7pm EST the same day!) Feel free to pop in and out as your schedule permits – you’ll usually find Poptropicans online at this time! (Also, shout-out to Yujo for designing the pixel-style tribe flags!)

poptribe opening

As you can see from the PHB header above, each of the PHB authors are representing one of the eight tribes of Poptropica. (Some of our profiles may say otherwise, since we had to make some compromises in order to each represent one of the eight.) Here they are –

Black Flags – Brave Tomato
Flying Squid – Slanted Fish
Nanobots – Spotted Dragon
Nightcrawlers – HPuterpop
Pathfinders – Koi
Seraphim – Ylimegirl
Wildfire – Slippery Raptor
Yellowjackets – Ultimate iPad Expert

And we’ve got a lot more planned for the tournament! However, to participate, it’s best if you can access the PHC (Poptropica Help Chat). (We would like to emphasize that it is a completely child-friendly environment, with moderators around to prevent trouble and block offensive content, and is used by many kids in the Poptropica community.)

Once you’ve picked a tribe, head over to the PHC, and create an account if you haven’t already (it only takes seconds). You’ll notice that we’ve set up channels (located to the left) that you can talk in – the #main channel is the main one. To the right, you’ll find a list of users online, including PHB staff and moderators. To join the Tribal Tournament, you should then alert one of the staff to add you into the tribe of your choice, either by asking on the #main channel or privately messaging a staff moderator.

You should soon be added into a role within the PHC that declares your chosen tribe. Choose wisely, because you can only be in one tribe! Once you’re added, you should see a new channel that has the name of your tribe. This is where you can communicate with others in your tribe and post things that can earn points for your tribe (more on that soon!).

For now, we’re announcing the first way you can earn points for your tribe… the MEDAL MARATHON!

poptribe medal

To compete in the Medal Marathon, all you have to do is:

Play Poptropolis Games Island, and right at the end, take a screenshot of the scoreboard (instructions here). Don’t worry if you forget, as long as you haven’t restarted the island – just click on the “Overall Rankings” scoreboard in the stadium area to see it. Please make sure the scoreboard is completed!
Head over to the PHC and find your tribe’s channel (as explained above). Post your screenshot of the scoreboard into your tribe’s channel (you can drag and drop the image into Discord, or click the upload button (instructions here). OR You can upload the picture at this form – no PHC participation needed!
That’s all! Your tribe representative (the PHB staffer assigned to your tribe) will calculate the points you’ve earned, along with the contributions of everyone else in the tribe.
You can do this as many times as you like to earn further points for your tribe. This will go on throughout most of the month, with the final day for the Medal Marathon being August 24.

poptropolis scoreboard

In case you’re wondering how points are calculated for this event, we’ll take the overall rank you earned and assign it a point value. If you are 1st place, as seen in the scoreboard above, you’ll get 8 points, 2nd will get 7, 3rd will get 6, 4th will get 5, 5th will get 4, 6th will get 3, 7th will get 2, and 8th place will earn 1 point. Each tribe rep will keep count of scores as the days go along, but we will not announce the points of every tribe until the end of the event!

Again, even if you can’t participate on the PHC, we hope you will at least earn points for your tribe by playing the Poptropolis Games Medal Marathon and uploading your scoreboard here.

We’ve got a few more things planned in this epic tribe showdown, but for now, go out and explore, collect, compete! May the best tribe win!

– the PHB tribe reps –