Category: PHB Series

Here’s where you can browse through the many posts we’ve shared on the Poptropica Help Blog, sorted by series.

Contests, Poppies

Welcome to the Poppies!

Slanted Fish

poppies nominations

UPDATE: Hey guys, thanks for nominating your favorites! The nomination round is now officially closed. The voting round has begun, so cast your votes now! 🙂

Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to The Poppies. That’s the Poptropica Community Awards, hosted by the Poptropica Help Network (PHN), which includes this blog (the PHB).

This popping, stellar event is the first of its kind, and will include a week for nominations (starting now!), followed by a week for voting (check back next week for the polls!), and finally, we’ll be announcing the winners as we celebrate the PHB’s upcoming 7th birthday on July 26th, 2015.

First up is the nomination round. How this works is we’ll announce each award category, followed by a brief description (see below). Then, in the comments section, you let us know who or what you feel is worth that award! You can nominate for as many or as little awards as you like.

Without further ado, the awards up for grabs are:

  1. Best Creator: Who’s your favorite Poptropica Creator? Is it the nommable Captain Crawfish, or perhaps the lost-to-time Shark Boy? Check the PHB’s Creators Database for a list.
  2. Best Dialogue: What is the all-time best, wittiest line of dialogue ever spoken by any Poptropica character?
  3. Best Dressed NPC (male): Who’s the handsomest of Poptropican characters? This category is for the guys. (NPC stands for non-player character, so please do not nominate your friends.)
  4. Best Dressed NPC (female): Who’s the prettiest of Poptropican characters? This category is for the girls. (Again, this category is not for players!)
  5. Best Island (overall): What’s the greatest island of all time, from plot to characters, artwork to soundtrack (if applicable), and everything in between?
  6. Best Poptropican Name: What Poptropican name combination sounds the best? For a list of possible Poptropica names, click here.
  7. Best Soundtrack: Which music soundtrack from any of the SUIs (sound-updated islands) tickles your fancy? For some possible nominations, you can listen to and get the names of soundtracks on composer Jeff Heim’s soundcloud.
  8. Best Storyline in an Island: Of all the islands, which one has the greatest plot? Which storyline did you most enjoy?
  9. Best Villain: Who’s your favorite Poptropica villain?

In addition to Poptropica-specific awards, there are also categories for those in the Poptropica community/fandom that you know and love!

  1. Best Current PHB Author: We’ve got a host of staff members here who regularly deliver news and other improvements to the PHB, but everyone’s different, even down to their senses of humor. The current staff are Brave Tomato, Blake, HPuterpop, Samwow5, Spotted Dragon, Slanted Fish, Slippery Raptor, and Ultimate iPad Expert – and all of us are automatically nominated!
  2. Best Fan Art: Poptropican artists the world over have created many pieces of fan art, but which pieces have you seen that might deserve the title of ‘best’? The PHB magazines are a good place to start scouting for fan art!
  3. Best Fansite (outside of the PHN): The Poptropica Help Network includes this blog, the PHC (chat), our Twitter, videos, and wiki, but outside of our network lies a realm of other Poptropica fan sites as well. Nominate your favorites – just to be clear, this is for sites that aren’t included in the list mentioned in the previous sentence.
  4. Best PHB April Fools’ Prank: We’ve done a lot of April fools’ pranks over the years, but which one got you good? Was it the ‘Club Penguin Help Blog’ of 2009? Sending in Agent Chicken Wing in 2010? Reverting to Scary Tomato’s old header in 2011? Gamer Guy’s Mega Fighting Bots, Poptropica-bashing fan site in 2014? Or perhaps this year’s Omegon takeover?
  5. Best The POPCORN Magazine Issue: Which PHB magazine issue had all the best stories, fan art, and so on? Read them on our Magazines page and nominate your faves.
  6. Best Wiki Article: Over on the Poptropica Wiki (part of the PHN), we’ve got over 800 articles for islands, scenes, items, characters, and so on. But which article is the best?

Now for some undesirable awards! We’re not that mean, though, so we’ll only be giving a few, and it’s just for fun – no offence intended. 😉

  1. Worst Island: Poptropica is full of great islands, but not every island was a winner. Which, in your opinion, was the worst of them all (and why)?
  2. Worst Poptropican Name: There are plenty of decent Poptropica names out there, but not every name is created equal and there’s potentially some pretty disastrous combinations as well. Nominate as you see fit!
  3. Worst Poptropica Moment: What’s the worst thing that has happened in your Poptropica experience? Anything unfortunate is fair game, from glitches that made you restart an island to the time the Jersey Devil on Cryptids Island made you cower under your chair in fear.

And that brings us to 18 awards, in celebration of our recent milestone of 18 million hits (well, 18.4m now) – and also, of course, the upcoming 7th birthday of the PHB.

Nominations will take place starting now, so sound off in the comments who you think deserves the awards! Please limit your nominations to a maximum of three per award. To strengthen your nomination, you can also include a quick reason why you think they (or it) deserve(s) the award.

If no nominations for a certain award are made, the PHB authors will use their own judgment to come up with some options. Next week’s poll options will be based on the most popular nominations, so check back then for the next round and cast your votes then! Plus, stay tuned for the PHB for details on birthday parties and winner announcements. 😉 But for now…

Start nominating in the comments below!

Stay popping, Poptropicans, and pop in for the Poppies. 😀

Arabian Nights Island, Popspiracy Theories

BTS Overview & Theory: Arabian Nights Ep. 3

Slanted Fish

BTS - Arabian Nights 3

Hey everyone, and welcome back to our Behind the Scenes Overview & Theory series! This time, we’ll be covering Arabian Nights Ep. 3: Careful What You Wish For, written by several of us on the PHB staff. Be sure to also check out the BTS post for Arabian Nights Ep. 2!

The episode will be released tomorrow for members, and is expected to be out mid-July for non-members. Without further ado, scroll down for spoilers!

:: description ::

Like always, let’s start off with the basics. Here’s the episode description:

The genie is out of the bottle, and now everyone wants a chance to make their wishes come true. But whether you’re a greedy merchant, a lovelorn palace guard, or a Sultan with a long-buried secret, heed this advice: be careful what you wish for!

Dun, dun duh!!! 😀

:: daily pop sneak peeks ::

Let’s take a look at the Daily Pops – we were only able to find relevant images posted from January to April 2015. After that, there were none, as they focused on pictures for Timmy Failure Island instead. This episode has been a long time in coming!

You can tell that all of these sneak peeks have a chance of relating to the island, but a few of them are only maybes, such as the Skeleton Key and Dust to Dust…

:: items ::

That is, until you see the items for the island!

As you can see, the Skeleton Key and Moon Dust/Stone are shown. Before moving on, there are a couple of things we need to note about the items.

While the Moon Dust and Moonstone are two separate items, the Crystals are only one item (in different forms). Regarding the Divination Dust, “Divination” is seeking knowledge by supernatural means. Also, a geode is basically a rock lined with crystals.

:: scenes & dialogue ::

Okay, now we can move on to the layout of the map and the scenes that take place. What happens is inferred from the dialogue we have uncovered for each scene.

First, we have the Treasure Keep. Nothing visual is significant besides the background.

arabian nights ep3 treasure keep bts image 1

The treasure room is the place where we left off. In this scene, we will finally see the genie face to face and he will grant the first wish, made by Brutus, the muscleman for the 40 thieves. Brutus wishes to make everything that he touches turn to dust.

But the treasure keep is part of the thieves’ lair, where you were being held prisoner last episode! Don’t worry, you’ll live to see the Desert outside, once someone (the princess?) gets you out just as the thieves’ cave collapses.

desert

You’ll also be revisiting the Bazaar, which we don’t have a picture for, but for which the dialogue is rich with hints of genie hunting, camel chasing, and more item trading.

Beside the bazaar, as you may recall from the first episode, is the Palace Exterior. Here, the Master of Coin for the 40 Thieves wishes to hold infinite wealth – only to have the genie turn him into a treasure chest! Careful what you wish for, indeed!

palaceexterior

Inside, of course, is the Palace Interior, which is still looking completely ransacked. In nervous words, you tell the Sultan that you had the lamp but lost it, and that the last time you saw the Vizier, he had vanished into thin air. (Well, he did!)

palace interior

In the Atrium, for which we only have this snippet of a look inside, your character watches someone enter the lamp room, and also realizes that the sultan and genie must have met before.

atriumThen there’s the Lamp Room. As the name suggests, the lamp room holds the genie’s lamp, the magical instrument where wishes are being made.

EqvMQCc

Also in the palace is the Princess Room, where you barge in and also discover the name “Samhal”, which may be the genie’s true name. Judging by the knifed drawing on the wall, however, she’s not too fond of the genie. Also, check out BT’s theory post about why the princess seems so sad!

princess room

Finally, there’s the Vizier Room, which houses a crafting table, kind of like in the previous episode. Plus, you make an obligatory Disney reference: “Hey, a magic carpet! Now I’m in a whole new world.”

vizier room

:: final theory ::

In Arabian Nights, Episode 3: Careful What You Wish For, the genie has been released and everyone’s getting a chance to make a wish. However, the granted wishes don’t always turn out to be what people imagined: as we can see in the “Oh Baby” Daily Pop and desert dialogue, one man wishing to be “young” gets turned into a baby – and that’s just one!

Amid all this, there’s drama in the royal family – if you’ve read BT’s theory post about the princess, our speculation is that the princess, jealous of the bond between the genie and her father, the sultan, broke bad on her own and became one of the 40 thieves – the leader, in fact. That’s why she’s been forcing prisoners to rub lamps: to find the right one so she can get rid of the genie herself. We can tell by her bedroom wall that she really wants the genie gone.

Of course, the sultan has recruited you to help him, as well as his wise friend the Vizier – who, despite his “vanishing” in Episode 2, might just make a return.

So that’s our theory and evidence for the final episode of Arabian Nights! Check back here on the PHB for a guide when the island releases tomorrow for members.

Stay popping, Poptropicans. 😀

Ten things you DIDN'T know about Poptropica!

10 things you DIDN’T know about Poptropica #3

HPuterpop

Hi Gs,

This is the third post that I’ve made concerning strange and interesting facts about Poptropica – check out the first and second ones by clicking the links. Enjoy!

1. Dr. Spyglass’ early years

On Lunar Colony Island, during the bonus quest, you have to decode some alien messages sent by Salerno. The decoder screen shown also has a hidden badge laying behind the decoding machine. On the card, you can see Dr. Spyglass from Spy Island – he used to work at PASE!

youdidntknow3

2. Daphne Dreadnaught

For some of you old timers, you may remember “Spook Central”, a mini-quest promo for Ghost Story Island. From the map, you would arrive in a laboratory. A steam punk woman is working on a machine. She tells you that she was containing ghosts in the machine, and that the machine failed. The ghosts were scattered across Poptropica.

From the folder of ghost information she gives you, you can see that her name is Daphne Dreadnaught – and, if you snoop around the laboratory, you will find a pair of ultra vision goggles; she knew Dr. Spyglass?!

daphneTrivia

3. Jess and Mary’s Bakery

On Super Power Island, inside the subway, you can find a poster. It says “Jess and Mary’s Bakery”. This is a direct reference to Jess Brallier and presumably his wife, Mary. (So many Easter eggs inside this subway!)

jessBakery

4. Richard the Lionheart

The king of Arturus’s name is Richard – you find it in the book, subtly hidden. Richard the Lionheart was a king in medieval times, and not only did he look very similar to the King of Arturus, but take a look at the Lionheart’s crest:

richardSimilar

5. Pencil Warrior Cover Mistake

On the cover of the colouring book Pencil Warrior, there was an island medallion for ‘Time Twisted Island’ (the original name for Time Tangled Island). However, this was removed after a few printings (I have one of the books with it!).

WIN_20150609_164747

6. Hot Air Balloon rides

On Cryptids Island, inside the common room (Bert’s Bed & Breakfast), you can find a paper pinned to the community board. It says “Hot air balloon for rent” – a possible Easter egg – or inspiration – for the A-1 balloon rides that Octavian runs in the Poptropica graphic novels.

octavian

7. The origins of the three mystical items of Astro-Knights

Some may know this, but only the ones who read closely – you’ll find out from the Mystical Weapons of Arturus book that you receive during Astro-Knights Island that these mystical items were wielded/created/found in three different ways by strangely specific people:

  • The Laser Lance was wielded by Sir Pugilist.
  • The Force Shield was found in a deep cavern by Bristol the Miner.
  • The Ice Arrow was crafted by Rime the Wizard.

originsMysticalItems

8. H.G. Wells

A lot of people in the Poptropica staff must like writer H.G. Wells – his works have been referenced numerous times throughout Poptropica. On Shrink Ray Island, C.J. owns his book, The Time Machine.

On Zomberry Island, a poster on Gamer Guy’s wall – when translated to English – says ‘War of the Islands’ – a reference to H.G.’s book, War of the Worlds.

In the Cryptids Island book, Harold Mews makes note of a time when he went to an island to help out a strange doctor named H.G. – the doctor took credit for his work and tried to feed him to a puma – a reference to The Island of Doctor Moreau.

9. Paint Palette Watch

If you’ve read my post on the forgotten items that Poptropica has hidden in it’s files, you’ll know about an item called a ‘Paint Palette Watch’. This was intended to be in Counterfeit Island. The watch makes an appearance in the Poptropica Friends book – strange cameo!

paintpalettewatch
Thanks to Sleimok for the image.

10. Mr. Silva’s Hero

On Shrink Ray Island, when you meet up with C.J. in Mr. Silva’s office, you can read some of the titles of the books he owns. There is The Science of Art, The Art of Science, The BIG Book of Villainy, and Who was Albert Einstein?. The latter is an actual book that is advertised in the Store with the Einstein costume (update: and it was written by Jess Brallier!). A small trophy of Albert Einstein is setting on Mr. Silva’s desk with the caption ‘My Hero’.

shrink-ray-10

—

How many facts did you know? How many did you not? To the person(s) that knew 5 or more – you get mentioned in the next ‘10 Things You DIDN’T Know About Poptropica’!

TAFN.

-HPuterpop

Advertisements, Popspiracy Theories, Social Media, The Missing Link

The Missing Link: Poptropica’s Glitchy Cash Cow

HPuterpop

(Disclaimer: The views expressed in this post represent those of the author, not the entire Poptropica Help Blog or its community. Further discussion can be found in the comments.)

Hi Gs,

In 2013, Jeff Kinney was interviewed on Skype. One of his points was that in order to keep up with the times, they would have to update to mobile soon. Now, I for one object. Poptropica is not a mobile game. There are 40+ islands online to play, each taking 1-2 hours, some exceeding, with amazing art, dialogue, story, and overall gameplay. Poptropica is just simply not a flippant game that you play whenever you’re bored. You have to set down and devote yourself to an island.

So the absurd idea that kids aren’t playing Poptropica online any more is, well, absurd. Poptropica is a game for your computer, it’s a desktop game. I’m excited for the day whenever they actually release a desktop version. With that said, Poptropica didn’t really seem to care about the obvious facts. They went ahead and started to pursue mobile.

poptropicaApp-head

And in this process, they became extremely greedy, and lost a lot of their quality. Here’s why:

I’ve extracted the Android Poptropica app, and found some key files that have traces of a company called ‘Milkman Games’. Looking that up, I found that this company specializes in converting flash games into apps – Android and iOS. With this said, you have to realize that Poptropica isn’t solely a flash game. It uses PHP & a number of other codes, which contributes to the majority of the major game play elements.

milkMan

So in an attempt to fix the game and be able to quickly and cheaply convert it into an app, they rebuilt the engine – in a matter of months, and with different developers than from the original game. This lead to what we know as SUIs. Anyone who has played SUIs know – they’re not as good as classic Poptropica islands. They aren’t as fluid, they’re glitchy, and likely to crash.

This is the one bad thing that’s happening to Poptropica.

Now we know the reason, and Poptropica can’t keep it under wraps any more. To prove it, you can just take a peek in the files. They have ‘Home’ Island, which is Tutorial Island on the app – verbatim, and updated to match the app. In fact, that’s where I got the Arcade sneak peaks.

homeIsTheree

So with this said, Poptropica’s little cheap scheme has been unveiled, and sadly, it’s growing every day as something irreversible. Unless the team gets their heads screwed on straight, Poptropica is going to become something not even considered a game, even less-so than what the gaming community once considered it.

TAFN.

-HPuterpop

Graphic Novels, Mystery of the Map Island, Popspiracy Theories, The Missing Link, Time Tangled Island

The Missing Link: Octavian’s secret

HPuterpop

Hi Gs,

So, you guys have faithfully been waiting for the next Missing Link about my giant Time Tangled theory – well, it looks like I was onto something.

If you guys have read any of the Mystery of the Map novel (which involves the origin of Poptropica), you may have realized that it basically debunked my theory – it looked like that time travel and inconsistencies have nothing to do with Poptropica’s wacky timeline. In fact, it didn’t look like there was much a timeline in the first place, what with the apparent viking island being a part of Poptropica as a whole, and not a teleported time period.

But just recently, I was looking through MotM at Octavian’s appearances, searching for an Easter egg. I found multiple Easter eggs throughout, not all about Octavian, and I’ll be posting more about those in the future, but for now, we’re talking about Octavian.

Two things to mention about the excerpts: first, Octavian saying “Because it is time.” If I have learned anything from the Flash on the CW, its to look out for double meanings in phrases. Time is mentioned indirectly multiple times throughout the book, not only by Octavian. So let’s think about the phrase as a double meaning; “Because it is time”. To preface, Mya shouts “Why are you doing this?!” while she hangs off of the balloon. So his motive for crashing the balloon is time. Now how does that fit in? Read more to find out!

Continue reading “The Missing Link: Octavian’s secret” →