PHB Specials – Page 12 – 🦄 Ponytropica 🦄

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.

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Is Poptropica turning into Mocktropica Island?

February 26, 2019June 4, 2019 Slanted Fish

Now there’s a question. Is Poptropica now fulfilling the prophecy about itself it set out in its own self-parody in the 36th island—and not in a good way?

I’m Slanted Fish, here to examine just how much Poptropica is falling into the traps it once warned about. Let’s take a look at the evidence.

For those who need a refresher, Mocktropica Island is a bit of a self-parody of Poptropica, imagining what things would be like when development of the game world goes haywire. It’s a fictional tale, but like many good stories, it does contain some truth.

And lately, it seems like Poptropica’s development is in crisis: we don’t hear as much from the Creators as we used to, and when we do, they’re tinkling with visual updates here and there, rather than the meat of the game: the story quests. In fact, it’s been a whole year since the latest island, Greek Sea Odyssey, was released on Poptropica Worlds, and Poptropica Original hasn’t had a new island since 2016’s Monkey Wrench. So, robot boss battles aside, has Mocktropica predicted the fate of the game?

Pets: the focus on aesthetics

One feature Mocktropica played with was the idea of pets for Poptropicans. Back when the island first came out in 2013, there weren’t exactly pets in Poptropica, though we did have “Followers” available from ads or in the store (such as the dragon in the picture above). But the Creators knew when they were making this island that pets were a popular requested feature for the game, so in the story, we have kids cheering for the introduction of pets.

And don’t get me wrong, Poptropica pets are great! This year the Pet Barn on Home Island finally opened, offering cute critters for players to adopt.

Pet lizards introduced to the Pet Barn in 2019.

But that’s just the thing, too: while the Creators focused on aesthetic updates like pets (not to mention the redesign of Home Island and various features like the Arcade, Clubhouses, Friends profiles, the upheaval of the store into a rotational system, and more), they neglected the heart of Poptropica itself… the island quests.

Coins: the allure of membership

Pop Coin currency is suggested on Mocktropica Island.

While Poptropica hasn’t gotten quite as extreme as Mocktropica when it comes to currency, the Pop Coin system does hint at something sinister: charging players to pay real-life money for basic features of the game. In Poptropica, we know it as membership.

Membership wasn’t always like it is now. These days, every update seems to come with a significant portion exclusive to members only: store updates, pets, the new friends profiles, and so on. But back when we saw new islands every once in a while, each update wasn’t so member-focused, in part because membership already had a big draw: early access to new islands. With no new islands, the Creators have to find more ways to make membership attractive for the sake of profits, but it’s only causing players—many without the means of purchasing power—to resent them for it.

Read more in this 2017 PHB article: Is Poptropica becoming pay-to-play?

Pop-ups: Achievements and Ad Units

Achievements? Well, Poptropica has had ways of marking a player’s achievements with features like island medallions and album photos, and fortunately, they’re not annoying pop-ups like on Mocktropica—in fact, they’re pretty creative.

But not so fast. Remember the ad sales lady on Mocktropica and the obnoxious pop-up ads she made float around on your screen? While Poptropica hasn’t quite reached that level of distaste, it has since introduced a pretty off-putting pop-up ad at the bottom of the screen that re-appears whenever you change scenes. Sadly, it’s been there for a while and looks like it intends to stay. As if the banner wrapper ads weren’t enough!

Advertising your own game on your own game? Not exactly effective, either.

Developers: Where have they gone?

On Mocktropica Island, Poptropica developers were fired by new management.

A year ago, Poptropica inexplicably let go of some valuable senior-level employees who had contributed to the game for about a whole decade. A former Creator, Jessica (aka Skinny Moon), even confirmed in March 2018 that “most of the company is gone,” referring to employees she’d worked with prior to that point. Since then, we haven’t had names—not even aliases!—to connect us with the Poptropica team.

On this front, Mocktropica definitely predicted a bleak turn for Poptropica. These days, Poptropica rarely updates their official blog, on time if it all—even for bigger releases—and as outlined above, game updates are not only fewer and farther between, but when they do occur, they’re not what anybody really asked for. Sure, releasing some new items and redecorating some interfaces is mildly interesting, but they’re not going to keep anybody’s attention for long. But you know what will, Poptropica Creators?

Stories—specifically, islands!

Former president of Poptropica, Jess Brallier, says it best in this video from 2013, recently discovered by Osmium and re-posted from “Future Think” by idk:

Right out of this publisher’s mouth: “We’re not doing a virtual world to create a social networking opportunity, not to house games, not to host a virtual economy, but to tell stories… the point of Poptropica is to tell kids stories in the literacy of their choosing.“

Does that sound like the Poptropica of the present to you? Well, I’ve been following Poptropica through the years, and let me tell you: the success is in the stories it tells. The most anticipated updates have always been the islands—those quirky quests were what made Poptropica “Poptropica.” Pets, member perks, fun items—those are best left as secondary.

I think it’s pretty clear that Poptropica has, in not all, but some ways, followed right into the footsteps of Mocktropica Island. An island created as a cautionary tale is unfolding right before us, and the Poptropica Creators of the present would do well to pay attention and revisit what the Creators of the past have tried to warn us all about when they created Mocktropica.

What does Poptropica need right now? Well…

I think I speak for many Poptropicans when I say that I truly hope to see Poptropica return to what made it successful: the stories, or in other words, the islands. Oh Poptropica, where will your yellow blimp take us next?

—Slanted Fish 🐠

PHB Specials

PHB Sp00py Special: Guess the Horror Scene!👻

October 31, 2018October 31, 2018 LJ

Horror movies have been around pretty much since the beginning of film’s history (with the first ever being “The Haunted Castle”, released in 1896!), and have become a staple in many households during the Halloween season.

BOO! How’s it going, spooktropicans? It’s Lucky Joker here and today I bring you a horrifying Halloween treat! I’ve recreated iconic scenes (Poptropica style 😎) from various films in the horror genre, and it’s your job to guess which one each of them are from! Enjoy, and good luck! 🍀

(Note: Answers are hidden at the bottom of this post — highlight the text to reveal them. 👀)

1) “Come play with us”

PHBHalloweenSpecial1

Little Danny explores the halls of the Overlook Hotel when he comes across a strange pair of twin girls standing at the end of a hallway, who seemingly know his name. As they invite him to play, they continuously get closer and closer to him with each line, much to Danny’s horror.

2) “More effective than wolfsbane”

Vampire hunter, Professor Abraham Van Helsing, scares the count away by holding up a crucifix.

3) “Squawk!”

PHBHalloweenSpecial5

A homicidal swarm of seagulls crashes a child’s party causing quite a stir as Melanie, Annie, and Mitch try to rush the children into the house.

4) “They’re all gonna laugh at you”

PHBHalloweenSpecial3

When a girl who was only made to feel like an outcast all her life wins the title of prom queen at the highly awaited end-of-the-year dance, all seems miraculous and like a dream come true. When a bucket of pig’s blood is poured over her on stage as part of a malicious prank, everyone laughs at her, and all goes downhill.

5) “The power of Christ compels you!”

PHBHalloweenSpecial7

Father Karras stands alongside Father Merrin as they attempt to expel the demon inside the suffering, possessed Regan.

6) “Get out of the water!”

PHBHalloweenSpecial2

It’s Independence Day, and everyone is having fun at the beach on Amity Island. Panic erupts when Alex is fatally attacked by an angry shark, marking this tragedy as the second shark attack on the island.

7) “We all go a little mad sometimes”

PHBHalloweenSpecial4

Marion is stabbed to death in the shower at the unsettlingly vacant Bates Motel by a disguised Norman Bates, the hotelier.

So, how many did you recognize? Feel free to leave your guesses in the comments below. By the way, check out my Pop Halloween costume this year, hehe:

MermanJoker

Stay safe everybody and have a happy Halloween!

– Merman Joker 🧜‍♂️

Answers:

The Shining
Dracula
The Birds
Carrie
The Exorcist
Jaws
Psycho

Contests, PHB Specials

PHB Special: Pop the Difference, Round 2 – Answers and Winners!

February 22, 2018May 6, 2019 LJ

Hello, Poptropicans!

Last week I posted 4 pairs of Poptropica images, each with 10 differences. Quite a few people participated, but not everyone found all of the differences. Now it’s time to reveal the answers and winners here!

1) Harbor Prison Hunt

2) Nightly Nose-Around

3) Folklore Forage

4) Sundae Search

Some of these were pretty difficult! How many did you end up finding?

And now to announce the winners…

Congratulations to the winner of the 3-month membership grand-prize, AlexaHattomi, for being the first person to spot all forty differences, as well as runner-ups, Tough Sky and Jacob_Da_Boss, who will each receive a 1-month membership! If that’s you, look out for an email from us and let us know your username in order to receive your prize.

Thank you to everyone who participated in this mini contest! Perhaps there’ll be more in the future…

– Lucky Joker 🍀

Contests, PHB Specials

PHB Special: Pop the Difference, Round 2

February 14, 2018May 6, 2019 LJ

Hello, Poptropicans!

Lucky Joker here with a Pop the Difference special for you guys. It was over a year ago that I posted the original Pop the Difference special, so I thought I would do another one.

Down below are four pairs of Poptropica images, and each pair contains ten differences. Some differences may be obvious and easy to spot, while others may be more obscure — so look carefully! Let’s see how many you can find… Good luck!