First of all: Many apologies for the very long delay in updates here on Poptrickia! Trust me, I haven't abandoned you; I've just been extremely busy because of the robotics team that I'm a part of, and balancing all my schoolwork and tests and projects on top of that. Now that I'm starting to get my life back in order again, I'm going to try to give Poptrickia the attention it deserves. So I bring you the traditional post-hiatus... MEGA-POST!
In recent news, the new Feats of Speed minigame is sweeping the Pop-nation. Why? Well, because it's the first time you can get shoes as an item your Poptropican can wear! All you have to do is go on Home Island and challenge Speedy Sam on his treadmill. If you defeat him at his own game, he'll give you the shoes. Each week, the color of the shoes, the type of the game, and the setting changes. So far, there's been purple, maroon, and blue shoes.
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The game is straightforward, since all you need to know are the basic skills of running and jumping in Poptropica, and Speedy Sam is not particularly good at it :). When you do get the shoes, they look surprisingly nice. I was expecting to find them somewhat jarring since I'm so used to the classic form of a Poptropican, but they fit right in. Except, of course, for the somewhat annoying trail effect:
If only the new Poptropica had a "Turn off Special Actions" feature like the classic one did.
(Technically though, this isn't the first time a Poptropican has been able to wear shoes, e.g. the Booted Bandit on Pelican Rock and another case I can't remember; it's just that this is the first time you can permanently wear shoes on your own Poptropican).
Speaking of big changes... Skinny Moon (who seems to be the semi-new PR person for Poptropica -- she now runs the Twitter for Poptropica and is a lot more outgoing, it seems, than anyone else before her) just posted about big changes to come to the game in the future (as in, later this year). They're pretty vague as of now, but here's the basics:
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First of all, the entire "look" of Poptropica (the website and the app) will get an overhaul. This could include the UI, and making it so that there isn't such a jarring border between classic Poptropica (with the old Islands, the Daily Pop, and Friends) and the newer interface (modern Islands, Realms, etc). They could be making a full transition to the newer mode. We've already seen indications of this, as they are making the menu in the newer islands , the older islands, and the Home screen more and more similar.
| Also, the concept of the Poptropican itself is going to change at a fundamental level. Something that's been virtually the same since the game's start in 2007. They've already given us shoes, which could actually be some sort of experiment into how players will react to the bigger change they're planning next year. We'll see some "new designs, new movements, and new looks for the Poptropican avatar," as well as an oft-requested feature: pets. |  |
Now this all seems intriguing, but we don't have enough information yet, so I can't really tell how "pets" will be different from, say, followers, and how the upgraded "designs and movements" will be different from the new player animations that we see in the newer Islands. It sounds like it has the potential to be a cool addition, but only time will tell, I guess.
And lastly, Skinny Moon mentions "the idea of a unified story that connects all of Poptropica in a way that we’ve never done before." This, to me, is the most concrete suggestion so far. It could be like Poptropica's origin story, something that is already being explored through Mystery of the Map, and possibly something that ties in with the Poptropica TV show that the Creators have been hinting at for nearly a year.
There's more, but it's so vague that it's nonsensical at this point. Normally Poptropica has a habit of developing new features and stories somewhat secretly in the background, and then suddenly jumping the news on us. It's not necessarily a bad thing -- it's always a nice surprise -- but it has led to many people looking for alternative sources of information for sneak peeks, like Poptrickia and other fan blogs. Now they're taking a new direction, by telling us the vague outline of their plan far ahead of schedule. Was that a good idea? Only time will tell.
 | Some older news (again, sorry I took so long)... Monkey Wrench Island has been released! This island is quite unique in that it's geared specifically towards newer players, focusing on teaching simple Poptropica skills. Yet it's still got the storyline and island development that old players are looking for in a new island. I haven't actually had time to play through it yet -- I know, shame on me -- but since it's very straightforward I think you guys will be fine if I don't make the walkthrough for a while. |
All in all, I think it's about time that Poptropica got a proper tutorial. For the longest time the best introduction that new players had was Early Poptropica Island. Simple, yes, but it's not self-explanatory nor is it exactly the pinnacle of Poptropica creative achievement. The Home Island tried to correct that, but it still fell short in my opinion, seeming more like a detached and abstract overview of the controls than a true taste of the game. Now a real island with a storyline, characters, and dare I say, a heart of its own, is the first real tutorial!
| And the Poptrickia Hide & Seek game is back again! This time, congratulations to Tall Cactus, the latest winner! She correctly guessed the special animated image to the right. There's already a new one up, so check it out on the Hide & Seek page!  |  |
