Hey Poptropicans, this is a guest post by Dizzy Feather. Enjoy!
Longtime players may remember an old feature that allowed one to copy outfit parts from NPCs and other players: the Costumizer. Accessible with a green shirt button, it used to be on every island. But nowadays you can only use the Customizer on a single island, PoptropiCon.
Why was this feature removed? Well, when it happened in 2021 along with the release of the current character customization screen, the Poptropica Creators offered this explanation:
The costumizer was removed because we were receiving many complaints about the feature. Older players had to spend the credits to purchase a costume or they may have had a discontinued outfit from the early days that is unavailable in the store. Meanwhile, a new player would be able to instantly copy and wear the same items from any older profile, sidestepping the other player’s efforts.
Poptropica Creators’ Blog (here)
As many players have pointed out already, the Costumizer was designed not only to allow costume pieces be copied, but also to prevent other, more exclusive pieces from being copied. All it would take to adjust a costume piece’s accessibility was a small change in the code.
Besides, the lack of the Costumizer isn’t fair to new players, who have no access to what were once extremely common outfits. With the new store constantly rotating outfits that I’ve seen a thousand times before, there may seem like many options, but they’re all limited to that pool. Instead, to access more pieces, they would need to turn to unofficial glitching tools like the ASG, which still doesn’t have everything.
Not only are new players left out of old store outfits, but also outfits that were available when a player first entered Poptropica. For example, I loved the pink, gray-striped shirt, but I have no way of getting it anymore on a new account. I lost count of how many times I’ve seen someone else wearing it, but now I can’t use the Costumizer to copy it.
Removing the Costumizer isn’t fair to old players either. Those who enjoyed this amazing feature for years, all of a sudden, can no longer use it, now left as just a memory to reminisce on.
With the slow pace of porting the islands back, having the Costumizer around would have been a nice way for players to pass the time, playing around with outfits from NPCs and other players. You can only replay an island, decorate your clubhouse, and play arcade games so many times without getting bored.
Bring the Costumizer back, Poptropica, and give truth back to the old advertisement that stated the game offered endless customization. Without the Costumizer, the possibilities may be wide for those with a lot of outfits in their closet, but they’re not quite as endless as they could be with the Costumizer.
– Dizzy Feather
Hope you enjoyed this guest post by Dizzy Feather. If you did, you might also enjoy other posts of hers, such as her party clubhouse tour.
The Poptropica Help Blog welcomes interesting Poptropica insights from anyone in the Poptropica community with thoughts to share. Interested in writing for the PHB? We’d love to hear from you!
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