Category: Social Media

Fan Art Features, Social Media, Web Development

Mocktropica strikes back: #DrBeev features and video ad in-betweeners

Slanted Fish

Hey Poptropicans! We’ve got a couple of Mocktropica-adjacent updates to share this weekend. Let’s start with the fun one…

With the end of September comes the conclusion of Poptropica’s #DrBeev mini art contest to draw the beloved furry doctor of Mocktropica Island in one’s own style. Check out the beev-tiful creations they featured on their Instagram story on Thursday:

  • by Gentle Dolphin (@phs_animations)
  • by @birdie_bea
  • “Dr. Nyah” (a parody of Dr. Beev) by @kidwhom
  • by @happyclonetrooper
  • by @MaryannTheConqueror

Although they mentioned a prize of 10,000 credits in their original post about the drawing challenge, we haven’t heard any word yet about anyone receiving the prize. We’ll let you know if we get an update!

Dr. Beev isn’t the only thing Poptropicans are drawing! Have you seen the Poptober drawing challenge yet? It’ll give you plenty of ideas for Poptropica inspired creations throughout the month of October!

Check out this artwork from the PHB’s own Lucky Joker for the first Poptober prompt, “Island.” In this case, he went with Ghost Story Island and the love triangle of the tale. Learn more about Poptober here!

“Triade D’amour (Poptober Day 1: Island)” by Lucky Joker

And for more Poptropica fan art, check out Community Creations! This month’s theme is “Monsters.” 🐲

In other not-so-fun news, an unwelcome surprise may now greet you as you travel from scene to scene in Poptropica: full game screen video ads.

With sidebar ads, footer ads including a video ad already, and now the full game screen video ad, the Poptropica browser is literally all ads.

The ads so far have been for kids’ products like Nerf guns, Minecraft Dungeons, and LEGO Mario. (Thanks to Dangerous Icicle and Gentle Dolphin for their reporting.)

The ads are about 15 seconds long and are not skippable. So far, these ads only appear in the Haxe version of the game. They don’t show up every time, but they do appear every now and then, and a regular loading screen will come up after the ad itself ends.

And yes, they’re rather annoying.

This isn’t the first time Poptropica has tried to do this, either. Back in 2014, video ads also appeared in between scenes to advertise for Galactic Hot Dogs, a book series owned by Poptropica’s parent company StoryArc Media which also has its own Poptropica island. After receiving much backlash from players, the video ads disappeared within a month.

Plus, doesn’t this bear some resemblance to yet another aspect of Mocktropica Island? Mocktropica has turned out to be something of a prophecy for Poptropica’s current state for quite some time now…

A scene from Mocktropica Island where the player is charged for simply trying to leave a scene in the game.

With this stunt, Poptropica seems more desperate than ever to make money from and for the game. We don’t know what their financial situation looks like, but can only make guesses from moves like this one that it seems, more than ever, that things aren’t going well.

Video ads you’re forced to view are an easy way for Poptropica to make a buck, and definitely much quicker than creating a whole island for advertising, but it comes at a great cost in a different way: the players’ user experience. Who wants to play a game where the screen is all ads? And ultimately, there is no Poptropica without the players.

So for Poptropica to be willing to sacrifice that, despite their long track record of creating actual non-intrusive engaging ads in the past, is a big sign that either they care more about lining their pockets than their players’ experiences, or they’ve hit a low enough point they’ll do whatever it takes to make enough to keep Poptropica afloat.

We may love Dr. Beev but we certainly don’t love the other elements Poptropica is borrowing from Mocktropica Island! Do you agree? What do you think? Share with us in the comments and on the PHC!

“Poptober Day 2: Carnival” by Magniventris

On a lighter note, we hope you’ll join us for Poptober and Community Creations this month! And there’s at least one more big event to look out for this spooky season: the PHB’s Halloween costume contest! Details dropping very soon, so stay tuned… 🎃

~🐠

Guest Posts, Social Media

Introducing: Poptober drawing challenge 🖌

Slanted Fish

Hey Poptropicans, this is a guest post from MaryannTheConqueror.

It’s October! We are finally in the midst of fall, a time of color-changing leaves, pumpkin spice, spooky season… and art challenges!

While art challenges can exist year-round, many are set in October, especially after the “Inktober” trend. Since then, many alternative challenges have sprung up, including something for Poptropica enthusiasts. Introducing the Poptropica drawing challenge: Poptober!

The goal of this challenge is simple: draw something every day according to each of the prompts! Of course, you will not be shamed if you cannot make all the days (I doubt I will). Or, if you’re feeling a lower commitment, check out happyclonetrooper’s version of the Poptober challenge, with weekly instead of daily prompts.

You can use any medium, make your drawings as simple or complex as you wish, and interpret the prompts any way you choose. If you want to, you can even combine challenges (such as making all the subjects cats, or doing all the drawings in ink like the original Inktober). Just have fun, don’t stress, and make art!

To share your Poptober drawings with the world, you can post wherever the Poptropica fan art appreciators are: some places to start are the PHC’s #art channel on Discord, the We-Love-Poptropica DeviantArt group, Instagram and Twitter with the #Poptropica tag, and even the comments of this post. Excited to see what you make!

And for more creative endeavors in the fandom, keep an eye out for the PHB’s monthly Community Creations coming later today.

Have a great start to the spooky season!

Hope you enjoyed this guest post by MaryannTheConqueror. If you did, be sure to check out another recent post of hers: a ramble review on Ghost Story Island. And of course, join in on the fun on the PHC Discord.

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, and share blog posts on the PHC.

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

Contests, Fan Art Features, Social Media, YouTubers

Sweet creations from all dimensions 🎨🎥🎂

Gentle Dolphin

Hello, everyone! It’s been an eventful birthday month for Poptropica, and the festivities are still going strong. Now, the Pop Creators have introduced a mini contest on Instagram with a prize of 10,000 credits!

And it gets better: the subject is none other than the iconic Dr. Beev, the Mocktropica pseudo-character turned celebrity who even made a brief appearance in the game earlier this week. The challenge for the contest is to draw Dr. Beev in your style (be sure to post with the tag #drbeev).

Check out that high-res pic of the Beev straight out of the bin! You know what they say, one Creator’s trash is an entire community’s treasure.

The trash bin on Mocktropica Island, featuring “discarded” character parodies like the great Dr. Beev (who’s arguably cooler than Dr. Hare).

Share your Beev tributes from now until September 30 (next next Wednesday) for a chance at those sweet credits!

September has seen a plethora of Poptropica content, from surprise fan art features to the ongoing Poptropica Month video event. Let’s take some time to highlight some of the wonderful stuff that we (and the Creators) are loving.

The Creators shared two more pieces of fan art on their Instagram story. This time, we have an Poptropican persona drawing (a.k.a. a Popsona) by @petalshere and a 24 Carrot illustration by @ihatefridaysihf.

The fan features don’t stop on Instagram! The Creators’ Blog also shared a YouTube video by happyclonetrooper, who created a 3D model of her Popsona, Maroon Ring. Cool to see Poptropicans in the third dimension!

On the topic of YouTube, let’s take a moment to appreciate a few of the many Poptropica Month videos made so far!

Our first feature is from Theo of Dimension Bros, who posted a video on his personal channel in which he bakes a Poptropica birthday cake. Delicious, and reminiscent of Poptropica’s own 9th birthday cake! 😋

Next, here’s one from TheOrangeHe answering questions from MaryannTheConqueror‘s Poptropica Month tag. Several other creators have joined in on the tag as well, so that could be a good place to start if you’re interested in participating as a creator in Pop Month!

Finally, here’s a short and sweet animated meme by Kid Whom Has A Hat, featuring the song “Weak” by AJR amid a slight spoiler for Octavian in the Poptropica graphic novels (read the first one on our Comics page!).

We’ll leave you with one more thing to contemplate, a question that was also the subject of a recent Instagram story from the Pop Creators: How would you explain Poptropica in a single sentence to a friend?

As always, share your thoughts in the comments and on our PHC Discord server! After all, the Dr. Beev shenanigans certainly showed us the Creators are lurking…

Thank you for reading, and have a good day!

—Gentle Dolphin 🐬

Astro-Knights Island, Bonus Items, Fan Art Features, Social Media

Launch thyself by birthday rocket 🚀

Slanted Fish

Hey Poptropicans! Poptropica’s birthday month festivities continue to make a bang with the new 13th Birthday Flying Rocket, which gets added to your items when you log in to the Flash version of the game. (Update: It’s now on Haxe, too!)

The rocket works much like the magic carpet, gliding you through the air with pops of “13” fireworks trailing behind (in fact, you may also notice the magic carpet’s glittery gold dust accompanying your rocket). We’re not sure if the Creators will add this flying vessel to Haxe, but pro tip: you can use idk’s Format Loader to switch between Flash and Haxe.

And that’s not all that’s new in the soon-to-be-obsolete Flash version of Poptropica! In case you missed it, we’ve been visited by none other than the great Dr. Beev himself, and he’s still hanging around! Catch up on the Beev Day festivities in our recap post.

Update: As of Thursday, Dr. Beev has left the chat game. 😢 We’ll miss you, Beev!

Joining the chorus of rockets is Poptropica music composer Jeff Heim, who recently dropped a new unreleased game track on Soundcloud called “Astro-Knights.” (Thanks for the tip, MaryannTheConqueror!) Does this mean the return of the fan favorite Astro-Knights Island?! At once majestic and soothing, this track is a definite mood. Hear it here!

Mr. Heim’s “Poptropica” playlist on Soundcloud includes over 50 soundtracks composed for Poptropica, so it’s a real treat to listen to! Other hits on the playlist include “Super Power” (which is heard on Poptropolis Games, although who knows if it’ll show up in a remake of Super Power Island?), and more recently for the times we’re in, “Virus Hunter Main Theme” and “Deadly Virus.” Which jam’s your fave?

Last but not least, check out this cool 3D rendered model of Survival Island icon Myron Van Buren created by @kidwhom on Instagram, which the Poptropica Creators featured in their story!

Not to be confused with another one of her creations, the Myron Van…

For more strangely delightful Poptropica memes, fan art, and more, join our PHC Discord community! Tally HONK!!

~🐠

Creators, Fan Art Features, Social Media, Web Development

#ThanksKinney, for the Poptropica memories

Slanted Fish

Hey Poptropicans! The Poptropica Creators have been on a roll lately with their social media, bringing us throwbacks, fun facts, and even a splash of magnanimity! Let’s pop in and take a look.

The Poptropica Creators’ Blog and Instagram spotlighted Jeff Kinney — the man who started Poptropica, yet is better known as the author of the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series — and invited fans to “let Mr. Kinney know how much Poptropica means to everyone” by sharing Poptropica memories that they promise they’ll share on social media and even with Mr. Kinney himself! You can create fan art, write letters, make videos, and more with the hashtag #ThanksKinney so the Creators can see.

  • Jeff Kinney with the proposed Dr. Hare’s Lair LEGO set which ran an unsuccessful but fun campaign in 2013.
  • Jeff Kinney celebrating Poptropica’s 9th birthday with a cake at Pop HQ in 2016.

On Instagram, the PHB (we’re @poptropicahare) asked if Jeff Kinney still gets involved with Poptropica’s development. The Creators liked the comment, but didn’t answer. Guess we’ll take that as a no…?

Other fans have been wondering about the founder’s silence about the game he created as well. In 2018, the PHB published a guest post that touches on Mr. Kinney’s deep investment into Wimpy Kid at the expense of leaving Poptropica behind. Even if he doesn’t come back to Poptropica, we hope his vision for the game can remain.

Still, #ThanksKinney for starting it all! And if you have Poptropica memories or creations to share, the deadline is September 20 (Sunday).

The Creators have been active on Instagram with two new stories featuring fan posts: one an animation of a dancing Binary Bard from @neon.bug, the other a fun fact about Monster Carnival characters from @happyclonetrooper. By the way, for more Poptropica fun facts, check out the trivia section at the end of all our PHB island guides!

Oh, and there’s more from Instagram: in an unusual act of spontaneous generosity, the Creators also reached out to Dimension Bros, the YouTuber duo behind Poptropica Month, to offer them free memberships! Here’s Theo’s first reaction of experiencing the Poptropica heavens open with access to newly unlocked features, including thousands of bonus credits to spend in the stores:

Theo also shared with the PHB that the gifted membership doesn’t expire until December 31, 2022 according to his account settings—which adds up to about 2 years and 4 months! That’s literally impossible for us regular plebs to attain, not counting auto-renewals, since you can only buy up to a year of membership at once.

The screenshot of the holy grail of Poptropica status.

This also seems to be the first time the Creators have ever given out free memberships outside of people winning their (and occasionally the PHB’s) contests. Pretty cool—hey Creators, want to hook us up too? 😉

In other news, as you may have noticed, the PHB website has a new look! Our previous theme from WordPress (which is the blogging platform we use) has been retired, so to keep things running for future updates, we’ve switched over to a new theme called Dara.

It may take a little getting used to, but we’ve tried to find one with similar elements to the previous. This new theme comes with bigger fonts and easy access to the PHB’s socials via the buttons on top, so we hope you’ll come to love it like we do!

And finally, after 8 days of tasks, achievements, and recycled gameplay, the activities on Paradise Island have come to a stop—at least for now. If you’ve made it past the day with the PoptropiCon “festival,” future days simply consist of logging in for daily credit rewards, which you can use to decorate your island, home, pets, or character.

At last, kick back and enjoy the waterfront… and the calming tropical music.

With Poptropica’s birthday month in full swing, there’s plenty going on in the fandom these days! Join in on creating and/or watching Poptropica Month videos, party with Dr. Beev stans next week, make something mask-related for Community Creations, and of course, give a #ThanksKinney for making this all possible. Pop on, Poptropicans. 🎉

~Slanted Fish 🐠