Category: PHB Series

Put away the pitchforks, Poptropicans… the Poptropica Hate Blog has had its day, and the real PHB’s back to say: April Fools!

Many of you joined in on the mutiny with such fiery passion that sometimes the line felt blurred between genuine and exaggerated criticisms! Enjoy some reaction highlights from the comments (click to view full size). There’s more where they came from!

Now that the ruse is revealed, we want to pull back the curtain and share a bit about the making of the Poptropica Hate Blog.

As evident from all the complaints that came pouring in, our hot takes were in fact inspired by real sentiments from the fandom that have been brewing over years of frustration for what the game has become.

For the prank, though, we mainly wanted to highlight the worst of the outrage mentality and amplify our grievances with over-the-top outcries. The PHB team put together many ideas for rants, with memes and written contributions from Gentle Dolphin, MaryannTheConqueror, Purple Paw, and Slanted Fish. Plus, Purple Paw came up with a brilliant illustrated header to go with all the anger. Check out all the little details!

Our declaration of how “Poptropica is canceled” covered a lot of bases, from costumes to social media and Roblox. While some of the rage is definitely real and echoes the protests of Poptropicans, the truth is always more complicated. Despite the disappointments, we at the PHB still hold onto a love for what Pop was, and hope for what Pop could be.

Most of the people criticizing Poptropica aren’t just “haters” though. Most of us were big fans in the past, which is why we hate to see how they’re ruining the game.

Perfect Sky (former PHB writer) on the hate blog

For all the frustrated followers of Pop out there, we hear you! The Pop Hate Blog might be a joke, but it clearly touched some nerves.

So, what to do with all the hate? For sure, we can grieve for what we’ve lost and gripe about dreams that disappear.

But at the same time, that energy can be draining, so it’s worth trying to see things from a more generous point of view, too. And ultimately, that’s what we keep working at here on the Poptropica Help Blog. To critique and affirm. Even when we’re hateful, we can also be hopeful.

Love it or hate it, we’ll be here.

~the PHB 💙

Fellow haters, it’s time we rise up against the mutilation of Poptropica!!

With every update that isn’t an old island returning, one thing becomes abundantly clear: Poptropica doesn’t care about building a quality game anymore. And we’re done building them up! From now on, the Poptropica Help Blog is going to be a Poptropica Hate Blog. 😤

Honestly, with so much to be mad about, where do we even begin? 🙄 Let’s count the ways in which Poptropica has sinned against us; everything they’ve given that no one asked for: Costumes. Membership. Side quests. Social media. Contests. And… Roblox??

Perhaps you’ve noticed that Poptropica has developed a strange obsession with costumes over the past few years: new costumes, new areas and revamps for costume shops, monthly costume contests. Booorrrriinnng… and it never ends!! 👘 There’s no denying it: they’re spending more time on these instead of the islands, i.e. the actual game!

What is the one thing they can’t stop churning out? Store updates. 💸 They’re more than happy to keep their promises and stay up to date with weekly store rotations and monthly costume contests, but year on year we’re coming up with almost no new islands. What gives??

And okay, we can appreciate a cute fit every now and then. But new stuff every week? That just seems excessive. If this were real life, they’d be indulging in some very unsustainable fast fashion practices right now. And even though it’s virtual, why are they emulating such toxic practices and encouraging so much consumerism anyway? What kind of message does that send to kids — the values of superficial spending, hungrily hoarding, and dressing to impress? Come on, think of the children!!

Oh, but the consumerism extends to real life, too — the good stuff is too often locked under the paywall of membership. 🤑 Rare is the parent or guardian who will fork over a few bucks a month for your extra Poptropica perks, but should you be so blessed, only then will you get to enjoy fractions of old islands, new side-quests made for babies, and half the store in exclusive items. Back in our day, we had full islands for free, and now you have to pay for a partial island without all the episodes? Not only is that a terrible deal, but the whole membership model just reeks of capitalist greed and reveals the unfairness of class privilege. Canceled!!!

Or… fine. Let’s try our patience and put up with their weird new additions, their costumes and member gifts, and other wearisome whatnot. But when it comes to their horrible new methods of “storytelling,” we’ve gotta stop and say no to side quests. Disjointed, unorganized, facepalm-worthy, Mocktropica-esque side quests.

When the Creators promised a “year of stories” back in 2021, we were hoping they’d fill the year with real good Poptropica stories; y’know, stories with original characters and intricate plots. Stories told in the space of an island. Guess we shouldn’t have been so quick to assume! Fragments of unicorns and fairytales and bee-themed news reporters and who knows what else scattered about; we can’t keep up anymore!! Creators, if you care at all about our wellbeing, you’ll refrain from releasing such headache-inducing content, please and thank you!!!

Plus, can we talk about Amelia popping up all over the place? Pop’s Amelia, as you may know, is based on a real historical figure, Amelia Earhart. Why use Amelia as the central character of a story when there are sooo many original characters they could instead!? Especially when the real Amelia Earhart didn’t even like tea and had no known affiliations with unicorns?? ☕️ How dare Poptropica call themselves an educational site and then share such obvious misinformation!!

While they’re busy not bringing back the old islands, though, they sure like to bring up references to those classics on social media to chase that clout. 📱 After they remembered who Betty Jetty was, it seems nostalgia has been their trustworthy strategy for reeling in the fans — which would work if those characters and islands still existed, but alas, all we have are weird TikToks about how Ringmaster Raven is a liberal.

Plus, they think they can distract us with all those contests? 🏅 We’re not even playing the game anymore, we’re asked to go offline (excuse me?) and dream up costume designs and island plotlines for the honor of having them featured in the game or on their blog. What, are we having to do the Pop Creators’ work because they can’t come up with good ideas anymore? And why are we making more costumes when we already have weekly store hauls?? Told you Poptropica has a shopaholic problem.

But wait, there’s more. Let’s talk about that Roblox game Poptropica recently released, which just about embodies everything that’s wrong with the state of the game today. No, we’re not talking about the Zomberry game that’s dropping today, because we already decided to boycott it as this post was being written. 😤

That’s because we’re not crazy about Unicorn Frenzy, the pathetic pastel pony pile-up. 🦄 No story or substance related to the game, and it’s not even on Poptropica’s platform? It’s evident that the Pop Creators are making a vain attempt to appeal to Roblox’s much larger fanbase, but what’s the point when we can’t even gather five players to start a game at any given moment?? Besides, the sickeningly saccharine scenery is a poor imitation of My Little Pony Generation 3’s beautiful visuals. Sadly, it reveals the Poptropica of today: soullessly devoid of originality.

Where’s the Poptropica we loved? All we want are the old islands back, or at least new ones that could be just as good — yet we’ve gotten everything but. If actions speak louder than words, Poptropica’s tone-deaf updates are violence crushing our once-hopeful hearts. 🔪💙

And not for lack of trying: we’ve shared Pop Petition posts, contributed to countless comments on social media, and even made a music video for the cause. We know they hear us, but their silence is suffocating.

Meanwhile, the Poptropica of the present just isn’t cutting it. So from this day forth, we’re not the Poptropica Help Blog anymore. We’re more like a “Help Poptropica” Blog now. Because this game really needs some help.

We’re calling it now: Poptropica is canceled. It’s too far gone. Cut it out of your life and join the chorus of haters pronouncing it dead. Until the ashes of Captain Crawfish, Gretchen Grimlock, and all our old faves rise from their graves, we’re just gonna be here to gripe. Let’s let it all out!!

In the comments, bring your rage, your sorrows, your calloused hearts! Join us in taking down these posers who call themselves storytellers. 🤯 LET LOOSE YOUR HATRED! WE DESERVE BETTER!! 😤😤

Dare to dissent,

🔥💀💔 The Poptropica Hate Blog 💔💀🔥