PMFM (Poptropican Meme Face Mondays)

Poptropican Meme Face Mondays: Round 14

Heyyo Poptropicans, it’s Ultimate iPad Expert here.

PerfectMix

Sorry to burst your bubble Mr. stock photo scientist guy, but it’s already been invented. Welcome to round fourteen of PMFM (Poptropican Meme Face Mondays)!

PMFM-Round14

The lucky meme-faced Poptropicans this week are HPuterpop (who did last week’s PMFM round), Kaya, and Hyper Gamer! And here are the memes:

Feel free to click on the images to view them in their full glory. 😛

 

Want your own meme face?

Well, it’s simple. Comment on the most recent PMFM post (just choose the one of the list here). Be sure to follow the criteria below:

  • Very crucial: Wear the outfit you want to have in the meme face on Poptropica and keep it on for at least a week.
  • As mentioned, find the most recent PMFM post (it will be at the top of this list)
  • Include your Poptropican username in a comment.
  • Include the meme face you would like on your Poptropican in your comment (a link to an image of the meme is very preferred).
  • Post your comment and wait! (PMFM is operated on a first come-first serve basis, so your meme face will come after all of the ones before are released).
  • Just a note: You do not need to re-comment on newer posts if you haven’t gotten yours yet. Once I reply to your comment mentioning “You being added to the list,” then I have seen your comment and added it to my literal list, so yours will be made after each one before is made.

This completes round fourteen of meme faces. Tune in next Monday for the next Poptropican Meme Face Mondays!

What do you think about this week’s meme faces? Comment below.

• Ultimate iPad Expert •

My Place in Poptropica

My Place in Poptropica: Tall Cactus

This is the My Place in Poptropica story of Tall Cactus, a Poptropican who has only been playing for a little under a year, yet is very active in the community, and even has her own fansite! See the bottom of this post for details on sending in your own MPIP!

MyPlaceInPoptropica-TallCactus

Hi! It’s Tall Cactus, and today I am going to share my story of how I found and joined Poptropica. But before we begin, I just want to say that I’m not a longtime Poptropican compared to Slanted Fish and many others. In fact, my story is different from most. You’ll see why. Anyway, let’s just begin already!

Spring 2015 | A Game Called Poptropica

It was another boring day of school towards the end of March. It was raining outside, so we had indoor recess. I started wandering around the classroom, looking for something fun to do. I decided to watch the kids play on the computers. However, they weren’t playing the games I usually saw them playing. They were playing… you guessed it, good old Poptropica. 24 Carrot Island and Virus Hunter Island and PoptropiCon – although I didn’t know that at the time.

I asked them what they were playing, and you know the answer. I guess they saw how interested I was, so they told made I should make an account, too. I refused. Yeah, seriously, not kidding. I REFUSED. Fortunately, we had indoor recess again a few days later, and I did make an account, the same one I still play on today. The username is macandcheese520.

With that, Tall Cactus was born. I started completing islands in April, the first one being Mythology Island, with the help of the PHB’s awesome walkthroughs. I finished about 10 islands by the end of April. But, it was just something I did when I was bored. That all changed in May…

Summer 2015 | Poptropica’s Biggest Fan

Super Villain Island. That island was what got me obsessed with Poptropica. After playing that island, I realized that Poptropica was more than just some random game. It was one huge universe. The stories are what made me love Poptropica. I continued playing islands, this time enjoying them more and more.

Also around this time, I read countless Poptropica fan blogs, most of them inactive, looking back at old posts and fan fictions. I never commented though, even though I had an email and everything. I was a proud non-member, even though I could have just asked for a membership if I wanted to. I thought that becoming a member would make me not like the game as much and take it for granted.

Then came July. The Creators went and made 7 islands members only. I was furious. I had only completed 3 of those islands. So, I quit my dream of completing every island. Instead, I went to common rooms and tried getting cool outfits.

By the end of the summer, I had completed about 25 islands.

Fall 2015 | Membership and More

School started back up again. I thought it would make me stop playing Poptropica, but instead it made me play it even more. On September 4, I got membership. At this point, I started to complete islands again, knowing that I could play them all. My goal of getting every medallion was back. I finally did this at the end of November when I completed Astro-Knights Island. I was so proud of myself!

I continued reading Poptropica blogs, but still didn’t comment. I have no idea why.

Finally, on December 29th, I couldn’t take it any longer. I made my first comment on the PHB. It was on the Avatar Studio Gift page, where I found and shared ZeusASG. After that, I started commenting on every post, and on island guides where I helped people. A couple weeks later, I started commenting on other Poptropica blogs. Eventually, I wanted to start my own.

2016 & beyond | Blogging

On Janurary 16th, 2016, I finally did it. I founded Tall Cactus’ Poptropica Blog (tallcactuspoptropicablog.wordpress.com). A few days later, I became an author on Cuddly Knuckle’s Blog and Explore, Collect, Compete. It’s been really fun.

I have a lot planned for my blog. And I’m very excited for the future of Poptropica and its community. I want to thank the PHB authors, Mighty Gamer, Cuddly Knuckle, and everyone else who is reading this. For helping me have a place. A place in Poptropica.

Hope you enjoyed this “My Place in Poptropica” story! Feel free to send in your own (please include a minimum of 550 words, type with good spelling and grammar, divide it into labeled sections, and include your username). Look out for more community MPIPs in the future!

~the PHB.

Uncategorized

Can the PHC 2.0 pursue?

phc2

This post is written by the ever growing PHC community (and yours truly)! Enjoy the update.

Heyyo Poptropicans!

Today, we have a huge announcement. The Poptropica Help Chat (PHC) has been around for years, and a deep community has been built around it. People come and go, chatting with fellow Poptropicans from all over the world.

A different Poptropica chatroom has been a frequent topic but up until now, no one has done anything about it. We’ve been wanting a chatting site that works better, is less laggy, and is more pleasing to the eye. Recently, we found a site called Discord. We’ve set up a new PHC (or PHC 2.0 as we’ve been calling it), and for the past couple of days we’ve been chatting with a bunch of community members. The main consensus from everyone who has used it has been “YES!” Just about everyone loves the fluid, streamlined look and feel of the system.

But before it’s set in stone, we want to see which site you guys prefer. To do this, you’ll find a poll at the bottom of this post. This poll will determine the PHC’s future – Xat or Discord?

Before you vote, here are some things you should know about the new site, Discord, and why we really love it:

Discord offers many specialities that Xat does not offer. One of the many is text channels. Text channels are kind of like different rooms, in a sense. Different channels contain discussions on different topics. So, you can talk about something you like and not be interrupted by a different conversation.

One notable perk is an always-running voice channel. You can talk with (or simply listen to) Poptropicans with a click of a button! At least as of now, some of the PHB authors are on these chats, and we’re sure this feature will be popular when we have parties.

Discord also supports media embedding. This allows you to post images, gifs, and links directly into the chat. If you post a link, you can view a small preview of that page, right in the chat, without having to go to the site. It’s a nifty feature and definitely is easier to use.

The PHC on the go? Absolutely! The Discord app is available for download on the App Store and Google Play, so you can chat whenever and wherever you are.

We’re not just here to convince you to like Discord better. You deserve to choose which you prefer, but we suggest you check both sites out and make the decision for yourself. If you like Xat more – go for it! If you want Discord – go for it! Every vote matters. Xat has been with us for years, and we can understand the attachment!

We know many of you who have been on the PHC may be comfortable with Xat. It’s true that it’s been the place for many Poptropica parties over the years, and comes with a plethora of fun emojis and animated powers. However, we feel that the practical features of Discord outweigh the aesthetics of Xat, while offering an even better aesthetic experience. With its clean interface, ability to insert media (think of all the memes!), satisfying customization, and wide range of emojis that don’t cause the amount of lag that Xat does, we think you’ll find that Discord is a better alternative. But hey, it’s all up to you. 🙂

We think the best way for you to see how great Discord is is for you to go try it. Visit Discord.me/thePHC to join the conversation!

 

-the Discord PHC community

Graphic Novels, Home Island, Photo Booth

Photo Booth for Mystery of the Map!

Hey everyone, Spotted Dragon here with another Poptropica update! Two posts in one week from SD? What??? Yeah yeah, anyway…

Getting straight to the point, a Mystery of the Map themed Photo Booth has appeared on Home Island! Thanks to Slippery Raptor for the pictures. 😛 In case you’re wondering why MotM, it’s because the first installment of the graphic novel is coming on March 1st and you can pre-order it now! 🙂

photo booth

A whole new set of backgrounds are included… as well as many characters that can join you in your photo! Sadly, Octavian is missing. (If you’re interested, you can click to view the full images.)

But that’s not all! If you visit the Photo Booth now, you will also be greeted with a wide variety of new props! From beach to throne room to Viking fort to dining hall, there’s lots to choose from. 😀

You can pre-order the Mystery of the Map book now almost anywhere books are sold!

Okay, quitting that advertisement voice… *cough* That’s all for now guys! Keep checking in for more Poptropica updates. 😉

~SD

PHB Specials

Poptropica at the Game Developers’ Conference!

Hey Poptropicans! 😀

I recently came across a couple of interesting Poptropica PowerPoint presentations by Christopher Barney, a Creator thought to be Triton. These were made for the Game Developers’ Conference (GDC), the largest annual gathering of professional video game developers.

In 2013, Chris spoke on the topic of Poptropica Friends, and in 2015, the talk was on Poptropica Realms. As you go through these PowerPoints, you may already be familiar with some of the info presented, but keep in mind that this was for other game-makers who may not know much about Poptropica. While there are a lot of slides to sift through, it’s still worth a look!

GDC 2013 | 100 Million Friends You Can Never Know

In this Poptropica Friends presentation, we see the inside of the Creators’ process in creating the Friends feature. Below are some of the more interesting slides (it looks like a lot, but this is only part of it!). Click to enlarge the images, or click here view the full presentation!

Interspersed between some neat graphics, we can find a lot of information:

  • Pop Quizzes were originally going to be text-based.
  • Photos were made to reward progress as players went through islands. More than that, they were originally going to be Badges! This explains (as we can see on one of the slides) a sneak peek of Badge Albums we uncovered years ago.
  • The Creators carefully considered our experience with ads, and decided to spare us from bad ad placement. We appreciate it!
  • One slide shows a scene that appears to be from Shark Tooth Island, but there’s a hay tipi beside an “Enter Poptropica” sign that goes to the blimp. Is this an early idea for account creation?
  • Early designs for the Friends feature was Facebook-like with several vertical screens, and a player room with platforms was also considered (not sure how this may be different from common rooms).
  • The Map was originally going to have zooming, but it was too disorienting.
  • Girls are likelier than boys to change their mood on their profile. Happy and excited are the most popular moods. Bashful is the least popular.
  • Some Poptropicans choose a different country identity than where they’re from. (Side note: Why do they recognize Hong Kong as its own ‘country’ here, yet Hong Kong is not an option in the actual game when you select your country on your profile?)
  • Tribe members’ “play habits” conform to the theme of the tribe they’re in.
  • Tribal home pages and challenges may be coming in the future.

2015 | Turning 100,000,000 Friends Into Game Developers

A couple of years later, Chris presented a sequel to the previous talk, this time focusing on Poptropica Realms and how it adds user-generated content to Poptropica. Check out some of these noteworthy slides, or click here view the full presentation!

Some interesting takeaways from this presentation include:

  • There are about 8 million active users on Poptropica per month.
  • “Success makes innovation harder.” Hmm, food for thought.
  • Realms was created in part to give a new gameplay experience that still felt “Poptropica”.
  • Poptropica has to prioritize COPPA standards (children’s online privacy) when they allowing any form of sharing/user content.
  • Realms was originally thought of as a single infinite random world, and eventually became many worlds.
  • There’s some technology jargon in there for those interested.
  • Not everything went right the first try: prototypes had no tutorial, intros were too long or short, etc.
  • They sure got this right though: “Raising our (under age) players’ desire for membership does not increase their parents’ desire to buy it for them.”
  • Earlier Realms designs lacked a strong art style, player progression, motivation to build, and narrative direction.
  • Limited features meant there was not a lot to do for the less creatively-inclined player.
  • On average, Realms players spend over twice as much time on the site than those playing islands. Among the stats, 1.4 million players use Realms.
  • Sharing Realms would take more time to implement, so they held off on releasing that feature. Lots of public Realms have been visited, but only by about 30,000 users (not a lot compared to the other statistics).
  • Future plans include tying Realms with Friends, catering to more player types, multi-user Realms, tying island gameplay to Realms, and more.
  • Out of about 40 developers at Poptropica, the team dedicated to Realms is capped at 4, so that others could work on other Poptropica projects outside of Realms.
  • Chris Barney thinks it’s funny to end his presentations with an image of the Jersey Devil, often cited by players as one of the scariest Poptropica moments.

Well, that concludes these fascinating Poptropica presentations from a game developer’s perspective! Hope you enjoyed these insights! 😀

Stay popping, Poptropicans. 🐠🐠