Tag: Social Media

Baron's Airship, Fan Art Features, Member Gifts, Social Media, Steam Bundle

Kick Back at the Cabin of Curiosities ☺️🍹👟

Gentle Dolphin

Hey, Poptropicans! Yesterday’s big announcement certainly grabbed our attention, but let’s not forget the other stories lost in the shuffle.

The Red Baron is back with new treasures for all, so let’s climb aboard and check them out. Head into the Cabin of Curiosities and check out the winner of March’s costume contest: Spa Day by Chilly Feather!

The soft robe, cucumber face mask, and drink make this the perfect thing to wear after a long day of exploring Poptropica. This free ‘fit also comes with an equally free pair of pink bunny slippers, which the Creators clarify are not made from Dr. Hare. Sure, Creators, we’ll take your word for it… for now.

The Baron seems to have taken a liking to this particular costume, as she can be seen wearing the same cucumber face mask. She’s chillaxing after finding some fancy footwear. Players can purchase Grey Loafers, Red Shoes, and Yellow Flipflops for their feet as well as a Shoe Rack for their clubhouses, all of which cost 100 credits each. 👟👟

But wait, there’s more! Members can check out April’s member gifts: a pair of Butterfly Wings, a Butterfly Follower, and a Baby Fox Follower. This gift pack definitely fits the ongoing spring season, but I can’t get over how everything is so… orange. Not sure what you guys think about color choice, but five year old me would have loved these. 😂🧡

The hype for Poptropica’s Steam release has officially begun! On social media, the Creators released their first hint at one of the returning islands: “Don’t be shocked when life gives you lemons.”

The two most popular guesses so far are Survival Island and Shrink Ray Island, which use lemons in certain puzzles. The player powers a radio with a lemon battery in Survival Island: Episode 3, and CJ writes a secret message with lemon juice in Shrink Ray Island. Which classic island could this be referring to? 🤔🍋

Finally, the Creators featured a meme redraw by Instagram user happyclonetrooper aka Maroon Ring. Don’t worry, Maroon, we’re sure that Pop’s Steam game will have plenty of medallions for you to collect.

That’s all for now. What do you think of these new items? Which islands do you hope will appear in Pop’s Steam port? What do you think of the color orange? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

Thank you for reading, and have a good day!

—Gentle Dolphin 🐬

Social Media, Steam Bundle, Uncategorized

Full Steam Ahead: 13 Old Islands and Realms Returning as Downloads 🏝

Smart Bubbles

Poptropica fans waited in anticipation after the promise of a big announcement today. And at long last, we received the news:

Poptropica has selected 13 old islands as well as the Minecraft-esque Poptropica Realms to port for download on Steam, the video game distribution platform. Currently, there’s no word of an exact date or which islands will be included. However, they will be “dropping daily hints” starting tomorrow, so keep an eye out and start guessing!

While this is definitely exciting (and long overdue), we find it a bit odd for an online game to make the move to Steam. After all, why not just upload them to the Poptropica website?

Perhaps this could be related to Poptropica’s longevity. Many similar online games have either moved on to new platforms or simply shut down over time. Porting old islands to Steam could allow fans to continue exploring their favorite islands even in the event Poptropica itself has to shut down, as the game could live on without their servers.

Old promo image: this does not hint at the exact islands to come!

Plus, years of waiting (and an abandoned attempt with Pop Worlds) have shown that Pop seems to have had a lot of difficulty getting older Pop islands up and running on their own Haxe-based platform. The struggle of technology and moving away from Flash may be another factor in deciding to make this content on another platform.

This bundle will also include several features from the online game, including the ability to “customize personal clubhouses, adopt pets, and access multiplayer features like the arcade and common rooms.” It’s currently up in the air if this will be free or how much it will cost. The release date will be “in several weeks.”

Was this a response to desperate fans’ pleas? Either way, this may be a sign that Pop will focus on rebuilding itself, and prioritize past promises over new ideas. Also, will the islands be completely true to the originals, or will they add features such as unreleased music?

Which islands would you like to see? How do you feel about the Steam port, and what do you think it means for the future of Pop? Let us know! (I am 100% begging for the return of Astro-Knights and Ghost Story, as many of you probably would have guessed! 😆)

Castori honorem ~ Maryann/Smart Bubbles

Baron's Airship, Fan Art Features, Member Gifts, Monthly Costume Contests, Social Media, Store, Uncategorized

Baron’s airship and art are back! ⚓

Smart Bubbles

‘Allo Poptropicans! I am back and so is the Baron’s Airship, with 24 Carrot magic in the air~

Hop aboard and grab the most recent costume contest winner: the De-Man by Striped Thunder. (It’s free as always.) Remember these contests are held monthly, so there’s always a chance for you to join!

On the other side of the Cabin of Curiosities, there is also some memorabilia released straight from 24 Carrot Island. If any of you want to decorate your clubhouse like that classic island, now is your chance! The full set includes the Carrot King Diner’s Booth (50 credits), Table (50), Hanging Lamp (50), Salt-n-Pepper Shakers (10 credits), Exit Sign (50), and Carrot King Sign (100). 🥕

Also off to the side, you can grab the returning Gothic Cheerleader costume for 100 credits. Dark yet alluring.

Over at Adventure Outfitters, we have some new items for the upcoming St. Patrick’s Day, the holiday of lucky green. ☘️

This includes a returning Leprechaun Costume and several green furnishing items for your clubhouse. Does the “wear green” rule count in Pop if your home is decked out in it? 🤔 You can also opt for the Mardi Gras Jester Costume which technically has some green.

Also, here is a whole paragraph just for that lion plush because it is so cute. I’d want one IRL. 🦁

March member gifts have also arrived, sprouting a Flower Crown, Crazy Bee Follower, and Flower Bow. Perhaps Poptropica could have a prettier and less deadly Hunger Games in the future.

The official Instagram also shared more memes, art, and mixes of the two, including my own piece remembering the classic Astro-Knights Island (soon to have its release anniversary in April)!

Meme by @happyclonetrooper
Clockpunk Astro-Knights by @maryanntheconqueror
Flipline characters in Poptropica by @vanessaphelan22
Goofball Island NPCs by @pinklightningmc
Kurapika (Pop style) by @mellowbleh
Pop comic by @a.jbox

And that’s all! I’ll get back to working on that Mordred piece now. Do you have any cute or cool ideas for future members’ gifts? And how are you going to “go green” on March 17? ☘️

Until my next news update, The Villain Saga post, or Astro-Knights ramble — see you around.

Castori honorem ~ Maryann/Smart Bubbles

Clubhouse, Contests, Fan Art Features, Goofball Island, Social Media, Store

Catch some Crazy Costumes and Clubhouses 🤪🎩🏠

Gentle Dolphin

Howdy, Poptropicans! It’s almost time to goof off because Goofball Island, the second 2020 Dream Island winner, will be released in a mere two days! Get silly and get ready to save this colorful island from a monochrome fate! 🤪🔍

To celebrate, Adventure Outfitters stocked up on some new items ranging from stylish to silly. The costume gallery features a new fashionable fall look: the Frosty Flannel. All players can purchase this grey get-up for 250 credits.

In stark contrast to this subdued look, the rest of the store boasts a wide array of wacky articles fitting for the upcoming release of Goofball Island. Our returning items are the various fast food costumes, the autumn clubhouse décor, and the Pie Pal Follower. There are also three new items: the Rawr-in Hat (100 credits), the Eye See You googly eyes (100 credits), and the Hatters Gonna Hat cuckoo clock hat (250 credits).

Think some goofy gear is enough to build anticipation for Goofball island? Heh heh… WRONG!!! The Pop Creators also invited players to join the Goofy Clubhouse Challenge! Players are tasked with creating the wackiest clubhouse with the only limit being their imaginations and their in-game wallets. The homeowners of the three nuttiest abodes will win an unspecified amount of credits.

Once you’re done decorating, go to the submissions page and enter either a short video of your clubhouse or your account username so the Creators can take a gander themselves. Act fast because this challenge ends on Monday, November 22, at 8pm PST.

pic: Silver Horse’s clubhouse

While you deck your dwellings with daffy decorations, don’t forget about November’s ongoing costume contest. You can enter your outfit designs until Friday, November 19th, at 8pm PST. Maybe you could design a bonkers costume based on Goofball Island? The possibilities are endless!

Now let’s check out some social media shenanigans! The Creators made a Youtube short all about dressing up our beloved pets, which is appropriately accompanied by “Who Let The Dogs Out” by Baha Men.

Over on Instagram, the Creators shared some more awesome fan content! There’s plenty of cool stuff from Poptropican doodles to Popsona drawings to poppin’ dank memes.

That’s all for now. Are you looking forward to Goofball Island’s release? Do you think it will be a laugh-out-loud joyride or a foolish folly? Will you get into the silly spirit and dress up yourself and your clubhouse? Let us know in the comments below.

Thank you for reading, and have a good day!

—Gentle Dolphin 🐬

App, Paradise Island, Sneak Peeks, Social Media

Airways and Animal Jam ✈️🦊

Slanted Fish

Hey Poptropicans! In a stunning turn of events, Poptropica has suddenly, somehow managed to do the unexpected: shared actual sneak peek images of something they’re working on, and post a controversial tweet.

Let’s fly into the first thing: sneak peeks! Over on the Creators’ Blog, they shared a post teasing “new stuff” they’re working on. As is the case with their communications these days, the writing is sparse, leaving much to the imagination. But whatever Poptropica Airways is, it’s about to make a landing.

Could planes be the new blimps? That might explain the recent disappearance of the beloved, Poppies-award-winning blimp decor in clubhouses, even while blimps continue to be our Poptropicans’ mode of inter-island travel. But if that’s the case—even conceding that planes might be a more modern form of travel—Poptropica would certainly be losing a very iconic part of its identity! Even the Creators’ Blog uses the blimp in their branding.

And what to make of the blimp photo on the clerk’s desk? Is it a tribute to a soon-to-be past, or will blimps be relegated to being the beat-up rafts to the Phoenix Warbirds of the air? (That’s a Skullduggery Island metaphor, btw.)

Or is this part of a new island adventure? The post does also say they’re working on converting islands, with Time Tangled and Mythology in progress right now—which seems to leave little room for the planning and developing of an entirely new island. But who knows?

Now onto the next juicy news: yes, for the second time in 2020, Poptropica managed to tweet something controversial. (In case you missed it, Poptropica briefly endorsed Joe Biden for US president on Twitter.)

It all started when the Poptropica app reached #1 somewhere in Apple’s App Store, knocking out Fortnite for the top spot. Of course, this called for a celebratory post (and story) on Instagram that started innocently enough, mentioning how they’d outlasted games like Club Penguin and Animal Jam.

But Poptropica’s tone was a little more over-the-top with the gloating on Twitter. In addition to a similar post sharing the same news, Poptropica also responded to a Twitter thread from Animal Jam co-founder Clark Stacey by saying, “First #clubpenguin and now #animaljam too? It’s lonely at the top. #poptropicaforever.” Poptropica’s tweet was pulled in less than a day, but we saved some pics, plus Mr. Stacey’s unamused response, which remains.

Mr. Stacey’s original Twitter commentary had been about the struggles of kids’ game developers being incentivised to create their games for a general audience rather than specifically for the kids category of game lists, as well as Apple’s ambiguity about why they were rejecting game updates to Animal Jam and other kids’ games. And instead of offering sympathy from a fellow kids’ game developer, Poptropica decided to gloat.

The Animal Jam co-founder swiftly called them out for being “childish” and “sloppyheaded,” adding that “the Poptropica I know was above this sort of thing.” Which brings us to the question, what’s up with Poptropica’s lackluster communications to players lately? Since Skinny Moon left in 2017, the years of general silence (with occasional vague updates) that followed were unimpressive enough, but this year’s (albeit deleted) Twitter blunders are bewildering. We sure do miss the days when Poptropica had a dedicated social media manager who took the time of day to respond to players’ questions!

By the way, Fortnite’s fall from the top spot is likely related to the game recently being pulled from both Apple’s App Store and Google’s Play store for trying to circumvent the stores’ 30% “tax” on in-app purchases by offering a direct-payment option away from the app stores.

In-app purchases give a cut of the cost to the app stores.

But Poptropica does the exact same thing: even though you can buy a Pop membership through an in-app purchase (which gives a cut of the costs to the app store), you can also buy a membership directly on Poptropica’s website, which would allow Pop to keep 100% of the earnings. No matter where you buy the membership, it gets applied to your account on the app (as well as on the computer). So perhaps some sympathy for the predicaments of games like Fortnite is in order. After all, Poptropica could very well be at the same risk.

You can buy a membership on the app and directly from Poptropica’s website.

That wraps up these peculiar updates! What do you think Poptropica Airways will be? Thoughts on Poptropica’s Twitter habits? Hoorays for the app’s achievement? Sound off in the comments below!

~Slanted Fish 🐠