Surveys

2019 PHB Readers’ Survey Results

Hello, everyone! I know it’s been about a month since our readers’ survey closed but no need to fear, the results are here! We received a total of 97 responses – a slight decrease from last year – from Poptropicans all around the world! We hope it’s enough people to accurately get an understanding of our more active readers.

Down below are various charts displaying the amount of people who answered for each question and how many people picked each answer. Let’s take a look-see!

Which of our past surveys did you participate in?

The PHB has held 5 surveys so far. The first was held 5 years ago in 2014, in 2015 there was no survey, and since 2016 we’ve done one every year. As usual, we were curious to see how many people that took our previous surveys had stuck around to participate in this year’s. (Note that the percentage total goes over 100% because of the ability to select multiple answers.)

As you can see here the number of participants who also took part in the 2014 survey has decreased from last year’s result of 11.6%, which is to be expected as the years go on. Most people who took this year’s survey also took part in our more recent years with 24% in 2016, 35.4% in2017, and 46.9% in 2018. More than half of you guys marked this down as your first time taking the survey which could mean we have some new readers amongst us. Welcome! You should stick around! 😉

What is your gender?

Next question was: “What is your gender?” Once again the amount of female readers is significantly larger than the amount of male readers. The gap between the two is even greater this year with a 43.3% difference as compared to last year which had only a 15.3% difference.

What is your age?

The amount of older kids and teens dominates the graph as usual but the amount of 12-14 year olds specifically has decreased while the amount of 15-18 year olds has increased.

For the second year in a row, the “22 or older” section of the graph has gotten larger and the “6-11” section has gotten smaller. This may have something to do with Poptropica not getting many new players these days. Most of us that have stuck around with the game since childhood are now adults.

What country do you live in?

Next, we wanted to know where you live in the world. The darker the shade of blue—the more people from that country that took the survey; the lighter the shade—the fewer survey takers there are from that country. If a country appears gray, that means there were no participants from that country.

Like previous years, the United States overwhelmingly has the most survey takers with over ¾ of the total number of participants. Something, I’ve noticed is that our reader base in Europe has almost completely diminished. Every other country shown on the map had less than 10 participants. Regardless, it’s amazing to know we have viewers from around the globe. 🙂

If you live in the US, which state or territory do you live in?

Taking a look at the U.S. alone now, the two states with the highest percentages are California (11.9%) and Florida (10.4%) followed by Pennsylvania (7.5%), North Carolina (6%), Illinois (6%), and Virginia (6%), which is not too different from what we’ve seen in the last couple of years.

Now onto actual game related questions!

When did you discover Poptropica?

Starting with “When did you discover Poptropica?”. Most of our readers found Poptropica in its early days. Poptropica is getting fewer and fewer new players as the years progress, probably due to lack of new content. For the first time in a few years, 2010 is no longer the most popular year for new players. That title now belongs to 2007 – the year Poptropica was first introduced.

How often do you play Poptropica?

As shown here, 24.7% of players play Poptropica a few times a week, which seems to always be one of the most popular choices. 5.2% of players make it a routine of playing at least once a day. Like always though, the graph is pretty split between all the options on this one.

Are you a member on Poptropica?

Wow, take a look at this! Non-members (including those who have never been a member previously) dominate the chart with well over 50% of the tally. Maybe in order to increase this number Poptropica will have to give more perks for being a member and give us something to really look forward to. The amount of members has decreased with each passing year but that could just be because of a smaller amount of participants in the survey this year.

And now to finish it off with the PHB-related questions! 😀

When did you first find the PHB?

Once again, 2016 leads the way with 21.1% of readers discovering us that year. Not too far behind is 2017 and behind that comes 2018. Around 10% of people who answered discovered the PHB in the first three years and are still here today. Crazy! Not too many viewers from 2019 but we’re not even halfway through the year yet, anything can happen. I guess we’ll find out how many people found the PHB in 2019 next year.

How did you find us?

Now moving on to the “How did you find us?” question. Expectedly, most people found the PHB by searching the web, which was also how I found it. Only 31.9% selected an answer other than “searching the web”. (Chart not shown because of too many “other” answers) It’s pretty cool that we’re reaching people through social media now too.

How often do you visit the PHB?

We then asked “How often do you visit the PHB?”. I was delighted to see better results than last year. Last year’s most selected answer was tied between “several times a week” and “a few times a week” with “once every couple of weeks” as the second most selected answer. The number one answer remained the same. However, this year, the second most popular choice is “once a day” followed by “a few times a day” coming in 3rd.

Which types of PHB posts do you enjoy?

The next question was “What type of PHB posts do you enjoy?” For this question respondents were able to mark as many options as they wished. The majority of you said news posts were your favorite – a whopping 78.4% of you to be exact! A lot of you also really enjoy Pop 5 and Community Creations posts which I had a feeling would be really popular among the viewers. Pop Fan Artist Spotlights, MPIPs, reviews, blog updates, and contests are also being received well by you guys. We’ll try to keep more cool posts coming for you all. You can guys also feel free to write up a guess post and send it to [email protected]!

Besides the PHB, what portions of the Poptropica Help Network (PHN) do you regularly browse?

Like last year, the Poptropica Wiki has the highest percentage with almost half of the total tally. Unlike last year though, the Poptropica Help Youtube channel is the second most browsed site of the PHN! The amount of readers active on the PHC has definitely dropped and it’s pretty apparent, so if you want to chat with other Poptropica players join us on Discord! 😀

What other Poptropica blogs/fansites do you frequently visit?

Lastly, we wanted to know what other active fan blogs in the community you frequently visit. There aren’t too many these days but there were definitely a select few who really stood out in the responses. Those blogs were Lucky Wing’s Blog O’ Fun, Red Tomato’s Poptropica Blog, Magic Heart’s Poptropica Blog, and a newer blog Quick Fang’s Pop Blog! Keep up the good work guys. You’re popular! 😎


Well, that about wraps up the 2019 survey results and analysis! I hope you all enjoyed this special look on our reader demographic!

What did you think of the results? Did any of them surprise you? Make sure to leave your thoughts in the comments section below!

See you next year with the 2020 readers’ survey! Pop on!

– Lucky Joker🍀

Community Creations

Community Creations: April 2019

community-creations-logo

Hello once again everyone! Spotted Dragon here bringing you the April recap for Community Creations! April’s theme was action & combat and 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

Slanted Fish by iHateFridays

iHateFridays - Slanted Fish

So much power in this piece! Fishy definitely looks ready for a fight, so the scene fits this month’s theme perfectly. The bold colors and glowing background bring a bunch of energy into an otherwise static setting. Moreover, the curves to Fishy’s outfit and hair show movement despite the stance being firm and stationary. I certainly wouldn’t wanna pick a fight with her! Great work. Find their DeviantArt here.

Poptropica: Choose Your Fighter by Maroon Raptor

Maroon Raptor - Poptropica Choose Your Fighter

How creative!!! Mimicking our recent April Fools prank, the idea of Poptropica being a combat game is super fun here. I especially love the particular characters chosen for this lineup. Both infamous villains and minute side characters are showcased, each with their own distinct personalities, skill sets, and flaws, showing the vast possibilities of the pseudo-game. I can only imagine how the fights would turn out! Brilliant design. Find their DeviantArt here.

Ready for Action & Combat by Quick Fang

Quick Fang - Ready for Action and Combat

A cute collage of characters! Poptropica’s photo booth is put to good use in this piece, allowing for a non-traditional submission that fits in swimmingly. I love the chaos of the setting shown through the different poses and emotions, as it ties into the chaos of action nicely. Makes the imagination run wild! What could possibly be going on??? Well done. Find the artist in the comment section. 😛

Dragon Keepers of Lightning & Ice by Silver Coyote

I walked into my cabin, a nice purple and orange castle like structure, welcomed by an owl that flew in through an open window. The brown barn owl held a parcel in its talons, as soon as I walked up to him, it dropped it onto my hand.

My name is Spotted Thunder, I have long brown hair and a Greek goddess crown. I have a dragon named Gale. He’s a purple wind dragon with two pairs of wings and aqua under scales.

I walked into my dorm, which I share with Skinny fish, Friendly Storm, Green Ring, and my cousin, Fearless Dragon. She has long blonde hair and she has a light fury named Pelus.

Looking at the return address, it was from Zeus, God of lighting and my dad. I opened the parcel and what was he thinking?

Picture this: a Sparrow size bird, frozen in ice. No, not the ones that melt.

I didn’t get this. Why on earth would a God who I proved my power twice in a battle would send me something that makes no sense?

CONTINUE READING

Dun dun duh! Though the story is not near completed, nor has gotten to any climactic action scene, the build up of this tale is definitely captivating. The reader is immediately thrown into the setting and a conflict is immediately in the air. What could that grumpy old Zeus want this time? Wonderful start to a story, I hope to see it flourish! Find their Wattpad here.

Combat Ready AU by Prickly Penguin

Prickly Penguin - Combat AU

Another super cool idea! This AU matches our theme perfectly, even fitting into our Smash! Crackle! Pop! pseudo-game. The sketchy design makes the piece feel like actual concept art, while still showing some nice action! From the characters, to the health bars, to the stage, this game looks like an absolute blast. Anyone else imagining Ringmaster Raven using a whip to say “Get over here!”? Just me? Anyway, find their Tumblr here, where you can see more art of this energetic AU.


Honorable Mentions

Amazing submissions everyone! I loved seeing all the action scenes. But remember, no Endgame spoilers in the comment section!!! 😉


May: 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-fics, Pop clubhouses, 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 May’s theme? May’s theme is…

Houses & Architecture!

Like the characters, the setting of Poptropica takes a bunch of effort to design. And on urban islands, that means a lot of building designs, oh which each has to fit the surrounding aesthetic. Plus, houses have become a big aspect of our Poptropican’s world as of late! So, with all that reasoning, I think it’s time to give our homes and other buildings a bigger spotlight in your work this month!

So what can you make? Well, send in screenshots of your own Poptropican Home of course! But that’s not all. Maybe draw your Poptropican’s dream room, or have Count Bram’s castle be the center of your piece! Write a story surrounding the creepy haunted house or design an entirely new building for an entirely new island! The limits are up to you, so have fun! 😛

house

  • Comment below with a link to whatever you’ve created OR share it with me (SydVC aka Spotted Dragon) on DeviantArtTwitter, 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

Guest Posts, PHB Specials

PHB Special: Unsatisfying Island Endings

This is a guest post by Comical Carrot about island quests with unsatisfying endings. Note: Spoilers abound. Enjoy!

Hi, I’m Comical Carrot!

To me, the best part about completing an island in Poptropica is the satisfying feeling of saving people or solving a mystery. Most of the islands have intense and fun endings, like the Mystery Train chase scene, or the defeat of El Mustachio in Wild West. However, there are certain islands with unsettling and unsatisfying endings, where the player is confused, frustrated, and overall sad… and that’s the topic of this post.

Bonus Quest Endings

Sometimes, an island doesn’t just end at the end—there are bonus quests! People who aren’t members might relate to the frustration, since these bonus bits are for members only.

Twisted Thicket

In this island, you spend a ton of time trying to figure out the secret and mystery in the heart of the magical forest. The climax and most intense part is when the player has to destroy and slow down all the construction vehicles in order to prevent them from killing the forest and its creatures. After the player stops the construction, you feel happy to have saved the forest.

But wait! The special orb of the forest is cracked and is missing pieces. In order to collect the pieces, you have to do the BONUS QUEST!

I remember seeing this (as a nonmember) and feeling super frustrated and guilty as I saw the poor forest creatures fading away and desperate for help. The island isn’t truly finished and you can’t say that you have saved them at all. It’s not conclusive, and you pretty much can’t progress any further without membership.

Poptropolis Games

In this island, you compete in an Olympic-like competition and need to win first place overall in order to beat the island. After you’ve won as many games as you can and come out on top, you are awarded the medallion. Yay! You’re a winner and the best Poptropican athlete of all time.

But wait! There’s some grumpy old guy who wants to battle you for the title! And… it’s a bonus quest. Seeing this, the nonmember players know that they haven’t really finished the island and they can’t really claim their recognition properly.

There are other islands that could fit this inaccessible bonus ending category, too, like in Vampire’s Curse when you’re hunted, or saving the oil spill in SOS Island. But Poptropolis Games and Twisted Thicket are the more frustrating ones, in my opinion.

Cheated Endings

These are the endings where you feel cheated out of your hard work and victory by another character swooping in to be the “hero.”

Vampire’s Curse

Here you’ve risked your life and entered the lair of the vampire, found a cure, and rescued Katya. Who gets the praise in the end? Katya’s sleazy boyfriend, Christopher!

Yes, you do get the medallion, but Katya barely even thanks you! Not only did he want to get away from his girlfriend, but he also took all the credit for your hard work? What do you get in return? A medallion that the vampire dropped and a weird hunter coming for your life. Great.

(Big Nate Island also ends like this, where you don’t get the credit for discovering the treasure, but you still at least get the medallion in the end…)

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

After surprisingly getting a golden ticket, the player ventures into the Willy Wonka chocolate factory, where they pass multiple tests and save the lives of the other kid contestants. You even save Charlie in the end! So who gets the key to the factory? Not you — Charlie!

Now I know this is kind of a stretch as the player doesn’t need the factory since they are an adventurer who just wants to help others out while Charlie and his family needs the money. (Also in the original story, your character obviously isn’t in it, let alone wins the factory.) This one wasn’t as bad as the other endings in this category, I think.

Super Power

I’m not even going to talk too much about this island. You do the hard work of defeating every villain in a unique and clever way, and do MOST of the work in defeating Betty Jetty. But who gets the credit and the medallion? Ned Noodlehead!

In the end, you still get the medallion, but not because the citizens of the island think you deserve it, but because you traded it for a simple hotdog. All your hard work was just as special as a plain old hotdog.

Weird Endings

And these are the endings where you have no idea what just happened…

Lunar Colony

In Lunar Colony, after finally meeting up with Salerno and almost saving her, she vanishes into another dimension. Once you come back to Earth, you see Salerno in some other planet or world, with unsettling things in the background. Sure, she made it to her dream destination, but the player is left with the concern of whether or not she will survive.

I remember seeing this, wondering what just happened, and how she even can communicate back to Earth. But at least people are now interested in space again…?

Nabooti

The ending of this island wasn’t so much concerning and unsettling, but it definitely was weird. The entire statue that you worked hard to place the sacred gems back into is… an alien? Yeah, I was super shocked by this but it was kind of cool and gave the island a unique vibe.

Other islands that could fit this section would be the subpar Back Lot Island movie at the end, and the fascinating but strange ending to the Mission Atlantis trilogy.

So that’s it for this post! Let me know what other bad endings to Poptropica islands you’d add to this list. To be fair, these bad endings aren’t actually so bad, since the islands themselves were fun and exhilarating to do.

Also, I’m considering buying a membership! Will doing the bonus quests help fill the frustration from the bonus quest ending islands? Let me know!

—Comical Carrot


Hope you enjoyed this PHB Special guest post by Comical Carrot! If you did, be sure to check out our other PHB specials!

The Poptropica Help Blog welcomes interesting Poptropica insights from anyone in the Poptropica community with thoughts to share. You can find some tips and guidelines on our page on how to Write for the PHB. We also encourage sharing blog posts on the PHC.

📰 If you have an idea for a PHB post, send it in! ✨

Pop Fan Artist Spotlights

Pop Fan Artist Spotlight: iLee-Font

Greeting, Poptropicans! It’s Lucky Joker with another Pop Fan Artist Spotlight! The highlighted artist this time around is my personal favorite artist at the moment, iLee-Font!

What I love about iLee-Font’s art is that as soon as you look at it, you can tell it’s their’s. ILee-Font draws in such a cool cartoonish style that just does Poptropica characters so well! Their artwork never ceases to impress me. Check out this gallery of their incredible art (click images to enlarge):

Pretty cool, am I right? If you wanna see more of their stunning work, head on over to their DeviantArt page for more.

ILee-Font tells me that art has always been a really important part of their life and is a great way to express their thoughts and ideas. They would eventually like to illustrate stories through comics or shows and just spread happiness to others. Very nice! 🙂

Well that concludes this spotlight! I hope you enjoyed this look into a Poptropica fan’s artwork. If you’ve made some of your own Poptropica fan art, we’d love for you to share it in our DeviantArt group gallery, We-Love-Poptropica. Also, don’t forget to check out all the other artists I’ve featured. You won’t be disappointed!

Thanks for reading as always and I’ll talk to you soon…pop on!

– Lucky Joker 🍀

Guest Posts, Pop Petitions

Pop Pet-ition: let pets have friends

This is a guest post by Quick Fang petitioning for a feature for pets on Poptropica to have their own profiles and befriend other pets. Enjoy!

Hey Poptropicans! It’s Quick Fang here with a request for the Creators.

So my pet kitten in Poptropica, Snowball, has been feeling a little lonely and bored these days. After all, as a Poptropican adventurer, I’ve been a little occupied with, you know, exploring islands, decking out my clubhouse, and buying new things for my pet and myself.

Ever since the pets feature was introduced, I’ve been thinking about the idea of having friends for our pets. This feature should be able to create new communities for our pets in Poptropica, so I think it’s worth a shot. And pets are even better than just followers, cuz’ we can deck them out in smashing outfits.

Sure, we could just meet up in the Arcade with our pets, but maybe Pet-tropicans (if you will) can do more to stay connected than just hanging out in the Arcade when their owners bring them there. Just think about it!

I’m wondering if Poptropica could actually make a friends profile for pets: the profiles could provide some basic info on our pets like their name (and yes, let’s have the ability to name our pets officially), their birthday (the day they were adopted from the Pet Barn), their colour, and some fun facts about them.

Or take it a step further and create templates for more full-fledged Petsonas (pet personas, which are like Popsonas, or Poptropica personas, but for pets). There are a couple examples on my blog.

Sometimes, pets really do look alike. But with the help of the Colorizer and costumes, you can mix and match to let people know that this really is your unique pet! So I’ll leave you with the Petsona of my kitten, Snowball:

Snowball enjoys the cold of Survival Island, playing outside, milk and fish. I’m her only friend, but I know Snowball would love more!

Share your pet with the Poptropica community, perhaps by commenting on this post! Stay awesome. This is Quick Fang, popping out.


Hope you enjoyed this Pop Petition guest post by Quick Fang! If you did, be sure to check out another guest post of hers: What would happen if there were no villains?

The Poptropica Help Blog welcomes interesting Poptropica insights from anyone in the Poptropica community with thoughts to share. You can find some tips and guidelines on our page on how to Write for the PHB. We also encourage sharing blog posts on the PHC.

📰 If you have an idea for a PHB post, send it in! ✨