🦄 Ponytropica 🦄

#FreeThe15: finally free!

August 22, 2017August 22, 2017 Slippery Raptor

Slip here. Congratulations, Poptropicans! We’ve won free stuff!

In honor of the #FreeThe15 Challenge, the Creators have released, as promised, a whole bunch of new home decor you can find in the Home Store. Check out all the stuff!

house

ICYMI, the recently-concluded challenge had Poptropica fans takings snapshots of their ice cream machines inside their homes—quite peculiar, but free items, yay! A lot of players have joined in the challenge and this is what we get in return, which is pretty sweet! (pun intended)

Moreover, because of the fans’ unwavering and overwhelming support, the Creators decided to add 5 more home decorations—making it a total of 20 items! Here are the newly-added decors in the Home Store (click to enlarge the images):

Interestingly though, I’ve counted a total of 21 sweet new decor items for the house instead of 20. In spite of that, it’s still really cool to have new stuff: we’ve got a drumset, a shower, a chandelier, a shark statue, a baseball, and even a pet iguana!

Why don’t you play Poptropica Worlds to get your hands on the 21 brand new items on the Home Store! Time to redecorate our houses! What do you think of the #FreeThe15 challenge? Don’t forget to leave your thoughts below!

Random theory: I don’t know if you’ll believe me, but don’t you think that the Skullduggery Island painting foreshadows something? Are the Creators remastering Skullduggery, one of the hardest Poptropica islands, in Poptropica Worlds? What do you think?

skullduggery.

Anyway, stay awesome!

// 💦🐊 //

24 Carrot Island, PHB Sneak Peeks, Web Development

Curious icons and hare-raising items for Poptropica Worlds

August 21, 2017August 21, 2017 Brave Tomato

Hey guys, my name is Brave Tomato, and I have returned from the post-making dead to bring to you some miscellaneous items and assorted goodies from within the Poptropica files, shared courtesy of Pop glitcher idk.

This collection is all about icon designs for Poptropica Worlds, some of which we’ve seen multiple times, and others that are never-before-seen. Let’s take a look, shall we?

Among the first batch, there’s a strange lightning bolt symbol and crystal symbol. There has not been anything associated with these symbols in menus of Poptropica before, which makes their presence here curious. The closest thing I can associate with the crystal is Realms, but there is a likely chance I’ll be wrong. Only time will tell.

Here we also find what appears to be costumization button. This begs the question of whether the Creators are going to implement a Costumizer feature any time soon. After all, it has been a highly requested feature for Poptropica Worlds since day one, and already, players are missing the ability to steal that nice-looking shirt from some random guy on Main Street. How soon that will be is still up in the air.

There are also some icons that appear to have originally been planned to be used for the home decorating aspect of Worlds gameplay, including an ability to rotate or flip objects. We do have a rotate option in player homes that looks similar, but it’s only two-dimensional: we can’t, for instance, make a couch face the TV.

I feel like the flip aspect would have been very useful for any of the furniture, and the rotate would be cool for pictures hanging on the wall or anyone looking to make a topsy-turvy house. Whatever the case is, what else will come of this completely new aspect of gameplay?

Finally, among a collection of items from the new new 24 Carrot Island, the files also show some unused items. Among these are the curiously absent teleporter to the outside of the factory that was in the original 24 Carrot, and a post-it note with “Command: Eject” on it. The cinema ticket also looks different.

Why these were not included in the game is probably a matter of refining during the creative process of making the island, but it is still cool to see what might have been.

So with these findings, we not only get a high-definition look at some of the icons and symbols within Poptropica Worlds, but we also get to see stuff that did not make it in the game. From there, it allows us to draw our own conclusions on what could have been, or what might become in the future. Although things in Poptropica have been more… spontaneous than usual, there is still an instinctive curiosity to make guesses based on what we know.

Speaking of icons, we’ve recently had a makeover with the one that represents our Poptropica Help Blog site! Taking the iconic Poptropica blimp design to fit the letters “PHB,” Slanted Fish put together this new one, hoping to capture the Poptropican spirit of adventure. Although we’ve been using our classic blue-circle, white-lettered icon for years, it felt like time for a change, and we hope the new one tells a better story!

Until next time, BT out!

Pop 5

Pop 5: The Very Worst Poptropicans

August 18, 2017August 19, 2017 Happy Lobster

Heya there! It’s Happy Lobster, with yet another Pop 5!

So, Poptropica is full of brilliant and likable characters… but there are also a lot of Poptropicans who are more than a bit of a pain to be around. This post is all about the latter. Here’s a list of 5 characters who are out to ruin Poptropicans’ lives!

#5: The Warden (Escape From Pelican Rock Island)

Well, this slightly pretentious warden from EFPR Island isn’t exactly the most likable person: he has no respect for any of his prisoners (which maybe isn’t a great surprise, being the warden of a prison), particularly you.

That’s to be expected, but still, he’s a little more cranky than your average prison warden.

#4: Zeus (Mythology Island)

MythologyCharacter For the king of the gods in Greek mythology, he definitely doesn’t make a great impression throughout Mythology Island. From sending you off to collect some sacred items in return for immortality to laughing in your face once you obtain them, he’s definitely not doing you any favors… just trying to dominate Poptropica.

Then [spoiler], when he re-appears in Super Villain, he asks you to fetch some more powerful objects, and once you get them, he laughs in your face and tries to take over Poptropica, again. Bit of a one-track mind, Zeus has.

#3: Myron Van Buren (Survival Island)

Myronvanburen

Over in Survival Island, MVB spies on you during three of its episodes, where you nearly freeze to death, nearly starve to death and nearly fall off a radio tower multiple times. Then, when you manage to get the radio tower working, he conveniently arrives to rescue you as if he only found you because of the radio.

Then he gives you a warm bed, a “kind” gesture only slightly ruined by giving you a poisoned meal to make you drowsy, locking your bedroom door, and then announcing that you get the honor of being the subject of his hunt, as if you were some prize animal. Well, at least he fills just about all villain conventions.

#2: Kirk Strayer (Back Lot Island)

Kirk Strayer is supposed to be one of the greatest and most famous actors of all time in Poptropica. (Well, I’d never heard of him till I set foot on Back Lot Island, but I digress.) Anyway, when you actually meet him in person… well, he turns out to be a bit of a disappointment.

He throws a temper tantrum when you interrupt his acting and storms away to his caravan, forcing you and the director Carson Willis to chase after him. He says he’ll only come out if you fetch him a “half-caf leviathan latte-espresso, on the double!” and throws a coffee cup out of the window. (Well, at least you learn some random coffee information no-one asked for.) Then, you find him arguing with Carson yet again about how he doesn’t want to act as a gorilla.

Well, at least he does a exceedingly superb job of acting a spoiled brat.

#1: Samuel Brains (Zomberry Island)

This guy was the whole reason the Zomberry epidemic began – it was all because of his infected blueberries – and, to make up for it, he gives out his deepest sympathies and apologies about it by… giving free certificates for his own smoothies?!

samuelbrains

Moreover, why does he look like he picked out his outfit while blindfolded? Maybe that’s one of the ~~many~~ reasons Sarah Snooty didn’t enjoy her birthday party so much. For someone with the name Brains, you’d think he’d have some, huh?

ewsamuel

And on that note, that concludes this post. Is there any other Poptropican who’s even more irritating and annoying who deserves to be on this list? Share your thoughts and loathing in the comments below!

Stay popping! ^^

–

Pop 5

Pop 5: Most Detestable Updates

August 17, 2017August 15, 2017 Purple Claw

This post originally appeared on Clawtropica as Pop 7: Poptropica’s Most Hated Updates. The PHB version has been made into a Pop 5, and we encourage you to see the original post for the last two items. This list represents only the opinions of the author, Purple Claw.

pop5 hated

Poptropica is a really interesting game, to say at least. Although it’s got an awesome community of fans, we’re sometimes left hoping for better. So let’s take a look at some of the most hated updates in Poptropica’s history!

Keep in mind that I don’t necessarily hate all these updates myself (hate is a really strong word, after all), but they are disliked by a majority of Poptropica fans.

#5: THE HOME ISLAND MOVIE THEATER

new2bmovie2btheater2bon2bpoptropica2521

When the Movie Theater first showed up, everyone was super pumped about what would be inside… but when it got released, everyone absolutely hated it.

The design of the building and the rich man outside the building talking about it made it look like it was going to be AMAZING, but it was… um… how do I put this up nicely… a pile of crap (I failed at being nice, oops).

Sorry, Poptropica, but if you want to appeal to the younger kids, you’ll have to try better than putting nursery rhymes and other cringe-y videos for kids under the age of 4. And think of all the older kids who were completely turned off by the juvenile videos!

Most disappointingly, these videos weren’t even made by Poptropica. Considering Poptropica’s animation and artistic quality, I’m sure they could’ve made a series of videos much better than what we got in the theater.

#4: THE REMOVAL OF IN-ISLAND MAPS

mapupdated

Remember the in-island maps? No no, not the Islands Map that brings you to different islands; that still exists. I’m talking about the maps that could be found in each classic island. If you’re not aware, they were removed in 2015! Like, why would you wanna remove a really useful tool anyway? That doesn’t make any sense.

I mean, I get that some islands and pretty easy and you can complete them without a map (like Shark Tooth or 24 Carrot), but there are also some pretty difficult islands where you can easily get lost (such as Vampire’s Curse or Cryptids). Maybe they didn’t want to continue making them for newer islands (they stopped when SUIs came out) but they still could’ve kept the old ones.

By the way, if you really need a map, you can visit the PHB’s map page. There’s a map for every Poptropica original island, and we even made a few of our own for SUIs which didn’t come with their own maps.

#3: MEMBERSHIP

membership

Membership, which is paid subscription for extra benefits, is a way to keep Poptropica alive with financial support. Like it or not, it’s not going anywhere. It was first released in 2010, but a large population of players still prefer to play for free.

While membership does not affect actually playing through an island (that is, if you’re not playing a members-only island), a lot of other things require membership.

Membership has its own pros and cons. First of all, without the financial support that membership brings in, we wouldn’t have Poptropica or Pop Worlds. Poptropica needs to make money to pay its talented creators to keep making cool things.

While membership doesn’t interfere too much on Poptropica Original, it unfortunately took a turn for the worse with some recent updates on Poptropica Worlds. You can read more about it in this PHB analysis or this Clawtropica rant.

#2: SOUND-UPDATED ISLANDS (SUIs)

nowwithsound2

Sound Updated Island aren’t considered that bad anymore. I mean, who doesn’t love Jeff Heim’s music? But when SUIs first came out, they were SUPER glitchy. Even now, they sometimes still are.

SUIs started with the announcement for Beta Carotene, where members got to beta test the SUI version of 24 Carrot Island. Since it was a beta test, it was almost guaranteed there would be some bugs.

However, when SUIs OFFICIALLY came out, they were still super glitchy. Some people hated SUIs but kept playing Poptropica. Others, however, were so disappointed that they quit the game altogether.

Fortunately, Sound Updated Islands have since improved and are now less glitchy, but most people still prefer classics over SUIs, including me. Even though I myself was never really affected by the SUIs’ initial glitchiness, since I started playing Poptropica in 2014 (a year after SUIs were introduced), I still prefer classic islands anyway.

#1: MAKING SEVEN SPONSORED ISLANDS MEMBERS ONLY

7reasons

I don’t know what got into the Creators, but this idea was a major blow. You think I’m exaggerating, but I’m not. The idea of making 7 Islands members-only was hated so much, that it was voted “Worst Poptropica Update” in the Poppies Awards… twice!

I was really mad when that happened, since I hadn’t had the chance to beat one of those islands (Red Dragon Island) before it was locked to non-members.

Fortunately, the Creators made some amends by releasing one of the islands back to everyone during their March Madness contest, and I was able to play Red Dragon since that was the winning island.

You can also get the island medallions through the glitching tool iPop, but it’s not quite the same as actually playing the island. Besides, not everyone knows about glitching.

Making non-members play a new island a month later was one thing, but making seven islands members-only was a bit TOO mean, don’t you think?

Some of these updates may have ruined the whole game experience for some Poptropica players, but nothing’s perfect. At least Poptropica hasn’t flopped as badly as Club Penguin, which notoriously shut down to create a worser, mobile-only version of the game. (And Disney, if you ever buy Poptropica, I’m going to murder your CEO in your sleep.) Though Poptropica had its bad moments, it’s also been pretty awesome overall (and isn’t that why we’re still here?).

Anyway, thanks for reading this list! It took me a while to make, and if you enjoyed it, please show your support by checking out the original post and commenting below!

That’s PC, signing out ‘til my next post!

🐾 Purple Claw 🐾
🌊

Clubhouse, Cryptids Island, Social Media

Escape Cryptids with the #FreeThe15 Challenge

August 15, 2017August 16, 2017 Purple Claw

Hey there, good players of Poptropica!

It’s me, Purple Claw, with some interesting news — the ~~unknown~~ Creators are hosting another challenge that you should all know about! (There was also the visitors’ center challenge that we didn’t post about, but you can check it out here.)

Anyway, let’s get started, shall we?

So basically, the Creators are releasing 15 new house decor items, and we have to be the ones that have make that happen, through the power of social media!

Random PHB reader: Um, Purple Claw, what do you mean by that? We’re just plain fans! And why don’t you post more often?!

I’m glad you asked! Well, the Creators are giving us an opportunity to release some new sweet house decor items, but what we have to do is… uh… post pictures of the Ice Cream Machine inside our houses for some reason, and with the hashtag #FreeThe15. Here are the steps:

Step 1: Poptropicans must post a picture of the Ice Cream Machine from the Home Decor Store placed into their Pop Worlds Home.

Step 2: Don’t forget to use the hashtag #FreeThe15 in your entries so we can find it.

Step 3: Tag your friends and get them to post! We only release the 15 items if we get enough people to share their Ice Cream Machine in their Home and tag with #FreeThe15. The more people who enter, the greater the chances of unlocking these items!

Remember, this is a race against the clock- we need enough people to post with the hashtag by Monday to unlock all 15 items. The more Ice Cream Machines you have & pictures you post, the better! These items would be available for ALL PLAYERS, and we need EVERYONE to participate! Good luck, Poptropicans!

There’s a positive and a negative side to this. First of all, it’s free items, baby! Everyone loves ’em! But on the other hand, this kinda popped out of nowhere, and there seems to be no real rhyme or reason to it…

Don’t get me wrong; I love Poptropica challenges. But this one just felt so… random. In my opinion, I think that they should’ve just added the 15 new items without making this contest, but maybe this was their way of trying to increase the activity on social media. Still, the way they’re going about it feels half-hearted, with not much of a story to it.

If you want the new items to be added, please post the picture of your ice cream machine along with the #FreeThe15 hashtag on your social media pages. If you don’t have any social media, I can share yours on my twitter page – just DM me on Discord.

#FreeThe15 @Poptropica pic.twitter.com/HHf3Rg3bj8

— peasea (@Donatloul) August 15, 2017

In other news, yesterday, another post was published on the Creators’ Blog, promoting one of Poptropica’s most popular islands: Cryptids Island. Cryptids Island is well-known for its mythical creatures and its extraordinary adventure.

The post was pretty interesting, but the thing that stood out the most was this glorious drawing of the Loch Ness Monster, or Nessie:

It’s really nice! I really like the detail on the ocean, and I wish I would draw like that. However, it doesn’t quite look like the ordinary Poptropica style. When asked about it, the Creators wrote back that a Poptropica artist wanted to do things a bit differently to capture the mystery.

It was created to capture the mysterious mission of Cryptids Island, so one of our artists did it a bit differently.

— Official Poptropica (@Poptropica) August 15, 2017

Anyway, Cryptids is one of my favorite islands, and I really want it to be remastered for Poptropica Worlds, so I kinda hope (even though the chances are really low) that it might be. So I guess #CryptidsForWorlds..? I don’t know. XD

Anyway, thanks for reading this post! I’ll try to post more and stop being too lazy – but until then, I’m out!

🐾 Purple Claw 🐾
🌊