Creators

Outfits of weak communications from Creators

LJ

Hello, Poptropicans!

It’s Lucky Joker here and if you’ve been following the Poptropica Creators’ Blog lately, then you know a new series has been introduced called “Outfit of the Week.”

You might also have noticed some discrepancies between the image and the actual descriptions on how to get the costume. We poked fun at this in our April Fools prank when contradictions appeared last week, but the inaccuracies have only continued. In this week’s Mermaid costume, again in contradiction to the image itself, the avatar’s skin is anything but blue, and there is no fin to be seen. See for yourself:

OutfitoftheWeek-Mermaid.png

“So the writer made a mistake—cut ’em some slack!”

Well, considering it’s not the first time, we’re worried that the bad blogging will be a pattern. Take a look at the inconsistencies from last week’s Hippie Hitchhiker outfit:

outfitoftheweek-hippiehitchhiker

As you can see, there are a lot of issues here, starting with the lack of a beanie or dreadlocks. On top of that, they didn’t even bother to give that post a title.

We know that Captain Crawfish, who signs off most posts on the Creators’ Blog, used to be the alias of Mitch Krpata, one of several Poptropica staff who was recently let go. Crawfish is still signing off these posts, so it seems likely someone else has taken over his alias to resume the blogging.

But still, it’s not unreasonable for us to expect them to write something better than the short and irrelevant posts we’ve been getting—that’s if we get anything at all.

We do appreciate that the Creators are giving us some content between island releases, but we’d appreciate a little more effort in their communications. In fact, while they’ve been silent on the blog for three months, then writing about islands that came out more than two years ago (which we also poked fun at), they’ve made zero mention on the blog of their most recent Worlds island, Greek Sea Odyssey. The lack of proper attention in recent posts is concerning and even a little saddening.

On the topic of Outfit of the Week ideas, here at the PHB we’ve got 100+ creative outfits over on our Costumes page with contributions from many Poptropicans over the years. We can guarantee that, for the most part, the descriptions there are pretty accurate.

What are your thoughts on the Creators’ communications lately? Share them in the comments below. Thanks for reading, as always! Talk to you in the next one.

– Lucky Joker 🍀

Guest Posts, PopTROPEica

Pop-TROPE-ica: Exhibits for Education

Slanted Fish

Hey Poptropicans—this is a guest post by Beefy Dragon, who’s bringing back our “Pop-TROPE-ica” series with her take on Poptropica’s approach to education, particularly to the trope of exhibits more commonly seen on Poptropica Worlds. Enjoy!

trope ed

What’s up, PHB readers? It’s guest writer Beefy Dragon. Welcome to another installment in the Pop-TROPE-ica series. It’s been a while since the last one, so for the new readers, Pop-trope-ica posts discuss common threads that run through many Poptropica islands, a.k.a. “tropes.”

This time, we’ll be discussing education, a core feature of Poptropica, from Original to Worlds, manifested in exhibits and other fun forms.

Pop Art Screencap

Education has been one of Poptropica’s goals since the beginning. Heck, their About Us page even includes the word “learning.” The first island, Early Poptropica, features an art gallery, where you can talk to and learn about various painters, as well as view famous works of art. Since then, learning has been more seamlessly woven into gameplay.

About Us Screencap

On Counterfeit Island, you learn about some of the ways museums identify forgeries (and learn a few words of French, Ballon Boy’s native language). Time Tangled Island has you interacting with different points in history. Zomberry Island has you finding clues to solve a logic puzzle. Game Show Island has a quiz show teaching you about such topics as homophones, sports, famous landmarks, and pop culture.

These types of educational puzzles and games are on every Poptropica island in various forms, and they tend to be enjoyable and interesting.

Game Show Screencap

That’s not even getting into the many references to books and other pieces of popular culture scattered throughout the islands. On Vampire’s Curse, for example, we encounter lots of vampire lore, stemming from the classic Dracula by Bram Stoker. Not coincidentally, the island features Count “Bram.” (Eh?) The plot of the last two episodes of Survival Island is heavily inspired by The Most Dangerous Game, a short story featured in many a high school English class. There are also islands based explicitly on more modern books, such as the two Wimpy Kid islands, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Nabooti, and Red Dragon (based on the Magic Tree House series).

All of these examples are expertly incorporated into the plots of the islands. They all feel perfectly natural, and are important for completing the quest of the island. You feel like you’re doing good things by completing these games.

This brings us to Poptropica Worlds. While looking for ways to continue this pattern of learning, the Creators have taken the concept of Early Poptropica’s Pop Art Museum and applied it to every single Island on Worlds so far (we’re not counting Dr. Hare’s Revenge).

The issue for me is, the Museums on Worlds feel considerably less fun, considering there is less interaction with characters. They’ve got many plaques you can click on to learn about whatever the island’s “thing” is—so far, natural parks, Greek mythology, and carrots. Thrilling.

The museums are not requirements for completing the island, and I personally find them pretty boring. (Seriously, real-life museums are more interesting, because you get to see the artifacts and exhibits they’re referring to in 3D Ultra-HD graphics.) I imagine it’s not uncommon for players to simply skip over most of the exhibits after reading one or two.

Now, imagine if the islands had found a way to incorporate this information naturally! Instead of a few minor changes to the quests, the remastered 24 Carrot Island could have featured a mini-game where you sort carrots by color, conveying information about different types of carrots in a much more interactive way. Greek Sea Odyssey could have revealed more about the characters and myths behind them while we actually talked to them, rather than just hiding it away in a little museum in the back of the ship. You see what I mean?

Hopefully Worlds will try a different approach that has the fun of what Poptropica Original offered. Maybe while remaking old islands, the Creators will begin to see the value in interactive and fun mini-games, and future original stories will include more of them. Looking forward to many more Poptropica adventures!

–Beefy Dragon

Hope you enjoyed this guest post by Beefy Dragon! If you did, be sure to check out the other posts in our Pop-TROPE-ica series.

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 Write for the PHB page. We also encourage sharing blog posts on the PHC.

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

Uncategorized

New Smiles & Styles for New Poptropicans

LJ

Hello, everyone!

Lucky Joker here to report a minor update that has sneakily made its way onto Poptropica Original in the create a character process.

Lots of new hair and mouth options (some of which are purchasable in the game, like the lips from the Pop Star outfit, for example) have been added in for both boys and girls—replacing many of the older ones.

Here are some GIFs showing all of the new stuff: (Click the images to enlarge them or visit Poptropica for crisper quality.)

You can even see some of the randomized NPCs sporting these new looks too! That’s how I came across this update in the first place. 😛

New NPC looks.png

Though this update is pretty insignificant, I have to say that I absolutely love the new variety of hairstyles—especially the afro!

Well, that about wraps this post up. Thanks for reading, as always! Talk to you in the next one.

– Lucky Joker 🍀

Community Creations

Community Creations: March 2018

Spotted Dragon

community-creations-logo

Hello once again everyone! Spotted Dragon here bringing you the March recap for Community Creations! March’s theme was historical 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

Amenthes and Keres by WitchyArtistGal (formerly TechnoBunny16)

WitchyArtistGal - Amenthes and Keres

In Poptropica, we’ve traveled to many different time periods, but no one island has been centered completely around Egyptian mythology (though we do see Egypt in Nabooti Island). Still, Poptropica loves its mythology and this drawing not only features an Egyptian character, but a Greek one as well! I especially like the incorporation of animal legs and tail, which aren’t too common in the game. Though the photo quality is a bit rough, you can still tell that the colors and outfits are spot on, working well together. Find her DeviantArt here.

Medusa by SuperFlameKitty

SuperFlameKitty - Medusa

Unsurprisingly, another mythology piece! Though, this one is a bit darker. Not only does it give us a glimpse into Medusa’s backstory, but it also brings up a theory of why Poptropicans don’t have necks. The artist explains,

The myth is that when Medusa was hunted down by a warrior, he only managed to cut off her neck. Right before she was about to die, through sheer determination, her head started floating and she survived the beheading. Athena, impressed, declared that surviving without a neck was a sign of strength. And bada bing bada boom. Poptropicans now don’t have necks.

Grim, but a super cool theory! The perspective/composition in the drawing is captivating, and the juxtaposition between the darkness enveloping Medusa and the light from the doorway creates great atmosphere. Emotional, detailed, and amazing! Find their DeviantArt here.

Mystery Train Island by Red Tomato

Red Tomato - Mystery Train Island

Mystery Train Island is definitely a classic adventure, bringing to life the late 1800s. This drawing is super cute, showing all characters aboard the train. Even some items and clues were included. Plus, I think the numerous ‘???” capture the plot perfectly, haha! At every turn, the hero is filled with questions of “whodunit?” The colors are bright and there is something in every corner of the page, adding to the chaotic memories of playing the island and running around the train! Cute, good job! Find Red Tomato often in the comments section.

1920s AU by BlazingAngel

BlazingAngel123 - 1920s AU

What a throwback! This piece was made a while ago, when a Poptropica Decades AU drawing trend was going around in our DeviantArt community. Not only does the black and white color scheme capture this time period, but the fashion and overall style does too. A great challenge! I love the motion and the comical expressions. Find her DeviantArt here.

Frida Kahlo (but she’s a Poptropican) by ArtisticAsianBunny

ArtisticAsianBunny - Frida Kahlo but she's a Poptropican

Throughout Poptropica’s many islands, numerous historical figures can be met along the way. Including artists! However, Frida Kahlo is not one of them. This is a great Poptropica representation of her in my opinion. If you don’t know, she was a greatly influential Mexican artist. Perfect for our historical theme, and perfect for art! The Poptropican’s design, along with the background show off her style well. Super cute too! Find her DeviantArt here.

Honorable Mentions

Pop Worlds Kimono by HfEvra
Leonardo da Vinci by SuperGrape1
Napolean by Tough Sky

It was very interesting to see everyone’s spin on historical figures and time periods! Especially when incorporated into the world of Poptropica. Super cool submissions, as always! Keep it up! 🙂

April: 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-fic, realms, 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 April’s theme? April’s theme is…

Humor!

If April showers bring May flowers, what do May flowers bring? …Pilgrims of course! No? Anyone? C’mon, it’s pretty funny. Anyway, spring is finally here (even though it feels like winter 2.0 for some people) and that typically means pastels and rainbows, despite the numerous rain showers. With some traditional April holidays comes pranks, jokes, and everything goofs. So why not have fun with it?

No matter what you submit, it’s gotta be funny. Not everyone may find it delightful, but I’m a sucker for a good pun, so you’ll probably end up tickling my funny bone no matter what. Maybe create a Poptropica centered comic, with all your favorite characters! Or perhaps make a costume with the most random accessories you can find? Even write a Poptropica themed joke book, with puns galore! The options to make people laugh are endless. (gif below from Pixel)

Greenfartgun

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

Pranks

April Fools! #2018 #WeStillBlogGood

Slanted Fish

aprilfools2018

April Fools, Poptropicans!

Yesterday, on April 1, the PHB declared that, inspired by the Poptropica Creators’ rehashed blogging and frivolous tweeting as of late, we were going to change things up here on our own site. Over the course of the day, we released over 10 silly posts on our blog, replete with hashtags and cute pics galore. We hope they made you smile. And don’t worry—it was all just an April Fools Day prank. Did we fool you?

You can catch up on the badly-inspired posts by scrolling down if you’re reading this on the homepage, or by clicking the links below:

The PHB team had fun coming up with these posts, and we hope you liked them too. Some of you even commented with your own hashtags—thanks for the love!

Rest assured, the Poptropica Help Blog will not be going the way of the Creators’ Blog—at least, not like this—and we’ll be leaving the tweeting style to Twitter. We plan to keep bringing you quality content and staying on top of things—and we hope the Creators will, sooner rather than later, get back on that track too. 😉

Thanks for sticking with us. Keep popping on, Poptropicans.

#peace #aprilfools #srslytho

– slantedfish 🐠 –