<
https://www.inverse.com/gaming/neopets-new-plot-2024-uc-pets-paintbrush-colors-mcu-exclusive-neopass>
"Do you remember the old Flash-powered website
Neopets? Because I do.
In the early 2000s, as a kid, I logged on to see my virtual pets, play
minigames, and participate in an all-encompassing story that was taking over
the website and the fictional realm of Neopia. First,
Neopets released a
comic strip depicting pirates fighting against mermaid-like pets. Players could
then join either faction, enlisting in battle against pirates or mermaids to
earn prizes such as trophies or chatroom avatars. For a kid who wasn’t allowed
to own a console growing up, this was my
Final Fantasy.
Neopets is now approaching its 25th anniversary (the site launched on Nov.
15, 1999) and it’s finally listening to fans and bringing back the reasons
people fell in love with the site in the first place. It’s also slowly fixing
broken parts of the site (after Adobe Flash’s demise, large swaths of
Neopets
became unplayable). Sitewide campaigns and limited-edition pets are making
their long-awaited return. If you were ever one of those fans who pined after
rare pets standing in cool poses but missed the boat two decades ago, a new
chance has finally arrived.
“It feels like 2005 again,”
Neopets art coordinator Ciara Slaton tells
Inverse. “Weird to say, but that’s how
Neopets feels right now.”
It’s an about-face for a company that announced in 2021 that it would build
nonfungible tokens and court the cryptocurrency crowd, all statements that
alienated loyal fans. The NFT initiative has since been paused. Now,
Neopets
is leaning into fandom. The company is returning to what works while offering
fans the chance to buy merchandise they might actually want, including tarot
cards, a trading card game, and an upcoming tabletop role-playing game."
Via
Garbage Day: All the CEOs want to be podcasters now
https://www.garbageday.email/p/ceos-want-podcasters-now
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
