Creators, Social Media

Old sketches, Original updates, and a mass unfollowing

Silver Wolf

Hiya, Silver Wolf here with some social media news and special art!

To start with, Nate Greenwall, the inventor of Dr. Hare who was recently let go from Poptropica, tweeted some really cool sneak peeks of old sketches! These drawings include costumes, buildings, and diagrams of islands.

The first photo contains many of the costumes we know and love today (including Captain Crawfish’s costume itself), but the second photo is where it gets more interesting. Most of the drawings are of scenes we have already seen from Shark Tooth, but there is one piece of paper that is cut off, describing an unknown island. It appears to end with an R, and there is a sketch labeled “GHOST SHIP” that has jellyfish obstacles, requiring you to talk to ghosts to get a combination for a chest. It looks less fleshed out than the other sketches, so it’s likely that it was never planned to be released.

The items in the third photo are also interesting, especially since you can see a small portion of what looks like an early version of the Flying Squid tribe room. There are also some sketches of the cheese curd factory on Mocktropica, including an odd drawing of a machine twisting a cow to get milk.

In other news, recently on Instagram, user karin2_arts asked under one of Poptropica’s photographs (@poptropicacreators) whether there will be any more updates coming to Poptropica Original. And somewhat surprisingly, they said yes!

Pop Update

So what could these updates include? Well, I have a feeling there won’t be a new island; after all, Poptropica Worlds will likely have all of the Original’s islands eventually, so there wouldn’t really be a point. Some more plausible updates could be new costumes, updates to Home Island, or possibly even a new mini-quest if we’re being ambitious. But who knows? Maybe the Creators will surprise us again!

Speaking of Creators, the official Poptropica Twitter (@Poptropica) has unfollowed hundreds of people, narrowing it down to just 19 accounts (the PHB’s Twitter is one of the few not unfollowed). One of the people unfollowed includes Jessica, also known as Skinny Moon, the previous social media manager. She tweeted:

She’s not wrong. After all, she brought the community together and made people excited for updates; Poptropica should value her opinion. Elitism creates isolation, and isolation creates unhappiness. Jessica also mentioned that this new social media direction could be because of employee changes:

We’ve known that some senior Poptropica employees have recently been let go, but she says “most of the company is gone.” What does this mean for Poptropica’s future? How will updates be done in a timely manner with few employees? Right now, the future of Poptropica is looking pretty grim…

What do you think of the sketches? Or the promise of updates coming to Poptropica Original worked on by unfamiliar employees? Leave your thoughts below!

–SW 🐺

My Place in Poptropica

My Place in Poptropica: Maroon Panda

Slanted Fish

This is the My Place in Poptropica story of Maroon Panda, who found Poptropica through competing with her best friend in searching for fun online games. See below for details on how to send in your MPIP story to be published here on the PHB!

mpip maroonpanda

Hi, my name’s Maroon Panda (username: Kit58kh), and here’s My Place In Poptropica!

2014 | Searching for fun online games

Me and my best friend had this thing where we would see who could find a good online game, and we’d spend literally months searching for one that fit all our standards.

One day I was browsing the web when I saw a list of games that included Poptropica (at the time, I thought it was Pop-ter-eca). What a weird name! Intrigued, I clicked on it and was brought to the home screen. I clicked “create a new character,” and my Poptropican was born!

My BFF always won our little contests about finding a good online game since she had an older brother to help her out, so finding Poptropica that day was a good day for me! I played for a couple days, then stopped, then picked it up again, and continued to play on and off for a while.

2015 | Telling my friend

I couldn’t figure out how to save my game, so I had way too many characters. I finally learned how, but then I couldn’t remember what my password or username was, so I made way too many accounts! Eventually, though, I settled on an account.

At this time, my 9-and-a-half birthday was coming up (my family didn’t celebrate my ninth birthday), and we were going to Legoland! That was the day I told my friend about Poptropica, because she said she loved puzzles. But she told me she already tried the game and didn’t like it. That made me sad and I stopped playing it for a while.

2016–present | Hey, remember that game?

Sometime in 2016, I randomly thought to myself, hey, what about Poptropica? I tried to log in, but I couldn’t remember my account. So I made another account and began playing.

I soon got stuck—these islands were a lot harder than I thought they were! In a search for answers, I googled and googled and googled until I found the *drumroll* PHB! As soon as I clicked into this site, I knew I liked it, and in fact it’s helped me finish a lot of islands.

I kept on completing islands until school got harder for me and I had to switch schools. I didn’t play for a while because I was focusing a lot on school. I also struggled with my over-active imagination, which made me think that some of the things I dreamed or thought about actually happened.

Over the summer, my dad said I should start a blog, so I did—it was about games. I thought about the PHB, and got back into playing Poptropica. That’s when I finally made Maroon Panda, my current avatar. I also discovered Thinknoodles and started to watch his videos. And I finally made my little brother the account he had been asking (begging) for. His name is Speedy Panda (weird, right?) and his username is awesomeharms!

Thank you for taking the time to read my Poptropica story! Maroon Panda out!

Hope you enjoyed this “My Place in Poptropica” story!

If you haven’t already, we invite you to send in your own. Please include your username and a minimum of 500 words, typed with good spelling and grammar, and divided into labeled sections. If you send in your story, we will continue to post new community MPIPs!

Interested in writing for the PHB under a different Pop-topic? Take a look at our Write for the PHB page for ideas, guidelines, and more. We always welcome new guest posts!

~the Poptropica Help Blog

Community Creations

Community Creations: February 2018

Spotted Dragon

community-creations-logo

Hello once again everyone! Spotted Dragon here bringing you the February recap for Community Creations! February’s theme was colorful and the featured work is not in any particular order. Be sure to check out all the featured artists!

Can you believe this series has been around for a full year already? In Feb. 2017 we kicked things off with the theme of “shipping.” Your creations never cease to amaze us, so keep them coming! 😀

No clue what’s going on? Go see our intro post.

Top 5 Picks

Early Saturday Fishing by Ally

AllysArt - Early Saturday Fishing

Wonderful! Super soft and colorful, with great line work. This scene is not one you find often in Poptropica fan art, but it sure is beautiful! It’s very peaceful and all the colors work perfectly together. I can almost feel the fresh Spring air! Stunning! Find her Twitter here.

Color Changing by JordynGowens

JordynGowens - Color Changing Characters

Wow! Great spin on this month’s theme. You may recall some color-changing costumes that were added to the Poptropica Store a while back, and here they are again in this drawing! Of course, totally fitting for our color theme. The bright, neon tones really pop against the dark background, and the poses are super cool. Everything is drawn smoothly and simply. Excellent idea and execution! Find her DeviantArt here.

Friends’ Love by HfEvra

HfEvra - Friends' Love

Cute! The art style is spot on Poptropica Worlds. Super accurate, outfits and all.  The lighting also brings to life the setting, because of how bright the sun seems. And of course, the rainbow ties the already sweet and peaceful scene into our colorful theme. A great cherry on top of this adorable relationship shown! Find her DeviantArt here.

Lover Bois by CraftyPoptropican

CraftyPoptropican - Lover Bois

So bright! This artist is never afraid to use vibrant colors, which was perfect for this month. The warm tones that were used provide a heartfelt, warm mood in addition to all the surrounding flowers. A great scheme choice! I’m blushing just looking at it all. The emotion is break-taking, making this piece totally deserve a spotlight. Find his DeviantArt here.

Rainbows by Criaha

Criaha - Rainbows Gif

Ooh! Now this is definitely something we don’t see every month, considering this piece is animated! Obviously the rainbow effect is perfect for our theme, but the gif format sets it a part from other submissions. The unique colors across the character really seem to highlight the different emotions the Poptropican is expressing too. Not only is there detail in the changing facial expressions, but attention was even made towards the way the body is positioned. I can see the effort put into this one! Find her DeviantArt here.

Honorable Mentions

 

 

Eternal Colors by Red Tomato
Color Island by Purple Seagull
Happy Hare-entine’s Day by FlyingLuckECharm

Super colorful creations by everyone! Amazing as ever and always improving! With an open-ended theme like this one, your imagination is the only limit. And a late Happy Valentine’s Day! ❤

March: 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 March’s theme? March’s theme is…

Historical!

There’s no time like the present for this theme, aye? Lots of people think of St. Patrick’s Day when thinking of March, but not everyone celebrates such a holiday. That being said, it was influenced (like most holidays) by historical figures. Additionally, we’ve just recently reached Community Creation’s one year anniversary, a big milestone in the PHB’s history! Change is happening all around us, in and out of Poptropica. So let’s take a look back in our textbooks this month!

Maybe make Poptropica outfits for your favorite historical figures? Draw scenes from your favorite time period inspired islands, like Mystery Train and Time Tangled. Even recreate monuments in your Poptropica Worlds house perhaps. These are just a few ideas to get you started, because the possibilities are endless!

MysteryTrain1
Framed!
  • 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

Advertisements

It’s time to build! – LEGO Minecraft ad

LJ

Hello, everyone! It’s Lucky Joker here to walk you through a Lego Minecraft advertisement on Poptropica Original.

You can easily find the ad on the second page of the map. Go ahead and click the icon and walk right in! Talk to Steve to start the minigame.

legominecraft.png

There are three things that you need to build: a zombie, a ghast, and a chicken coop. To build each, just drag the pieces from the left into the template.

The game progressively gets harder for each construction, with more pieces to put together (but it really never gets too difficult), so you’ll be given more time to build. Here are the completed constructions pictured below for reference:

Once you’ve successfully built all three objects, you’ll be rewarded with Zombie Power and Pickaxe prize cards!

legominecraft5

Thanks for reading, as always! Talk to you in the next one.

– Lucky Joker ☘️

 

Creators, Greek Sea Odyssey Island

Several Creators sailing away on Greek seas

LJ

Hello, Poptropicans!

Captain Crawfish is back with a new video walkthrough for the newest island release, Greek Sea Odyssey—complete with sass and sarcasm!

We’ve also got a written Greek Sea Odyssey guide here on the PHB, and it’s got more than just walkthroughs—we even have trivia and museum info.

popworldsgreekisland

But back to that video… well, we’ve got some news. If you watch all the way to the end, at around the 15:55 mark, Captain Crawfish (who we know is voiced by Mitch Krpata) makes an unusual closing statement that’s rather sentimental:

Friends, Poptropicans — I’m Captain Crawfish. It has been the privilege of my life to bring you Poptropica over the last ten years. I love you!

Although it’s very subtle here, other sources show us that the Captain, aka Mitch Krpata, has parted ways with Poptropica, after ten years of service. Shocked? So are we.

Mitch Krpata, in case you’re not familiar, is a senior story developer and narrative designer for Poptropica, and author of three of the Poptropica graphic novels (The Lost Expedition, The Secret Society, and The End of Time).

The same day the Greek Sea Odyssey video came out, Krpata tweeted:

He’s also updated his LinkedIn page to show that he no longer works for StoryArc Media, Poptropica’s parent company:

mitchkrpatalinkedin.png

And he’s not the only one.

Nate Greenwall, who went under the alias Shark Guy (formerly Shark Boy), and was the inventor of beloved Poptropica icon Dr. Hare, also put out this tweet about working for Poptropica, in past tense:

Greenwall also had a few tips to share about his experience doing game design for a younger audience (or any age, really):

And we know of one more who’s gone: Lance Fry, a senior artist at Poptropica. You may be familiar with some of the work he’s done, featured here in this Pop Portfolio.

Well, his LinkedIn page indicates this was also his last month with StoryArc Media, and Fry has been tweeting about looking for full-time work, too.

lancefry

We also haven’t heard from Creators Dave and Stephanie in a while, either, suggesting that they may not be around either—though there isn’t any solid evidence on this yet.

The PHB reached out to Krpata for comment, and he confirmed that he and several others were let go this week. He also adds: “I’m so proud of the work we did and I can’t tell you how much your support mattered. Whatever Poptropica’s future, I’ll always be proud to have been a part of it.”

And Greenwall gave the PHB a shout-out:

So, why did this happen?

One thing to consider is the dwindling popularity of the game. It’s no secret Poptropica isn’t as popular as it once was. Krpata even stated this himself in an interview on The Oddball Show, which we covered here on the PHB.

As far as numbers go, Mitch reports that there are well over 500 million avatars created, and over 100 million players. However, he also says the game is “definitely not as cool now as it was before.” If you go to a school now and ask, “who knows Poptropica?” you might get about a dozen or so hands raised. But at the peak of Poptropica’s popularity, in 2010, every kid would be raising their hand – it was, for that while, the biggest site in the world for kids.

When companies become less popular, there is less of a need for a large number of employees to work for them, since the demand to produce content isn’t as high. This means that they’ll have to let some employees go. Poptropica is no exception.

This leads us to an even bigger question: What does this say about how Poptropica is doing financially?

When a company lets employees go, it usually indicates that they cannot afford to keep them around. It’s especially telling that these guys—Krpata, Greenwall, and Fry—all had senior positions, years of experience (a whole decade, even), and did not seem to want to be let go (the job searching indicates that it wasn’t like they had planned to move on elsewhere). We can’t confirm financial motivations, but we can speculate…

The fact that StoryArc Media chose to drop some of their most valuable team members (as opposed to those less experienced, if there were any) is pretty alarming. It could be that they had to make budget cuts because they couldn’t pay their best workers the salaries they deserved, or perhaps they had a falling out with the higher-ups that we don’t know about. Whatever the case may be, we’re sorry to see them go.

Update: Mitch Krpata published a blog post on his website about his current unemployment that offers some more insight into the incident, saying:

On Monday, I was informed that my position was being eliminated. Here I am.

Read more: The future, great and terrible.

– Lucky Joker 🍀