Gutterfoot is now leaving Neopets

[Politoed]

Such sad news

[Autobot]

i'd like to think that JS hires people with some level of passion or knowledge of the site, so it's kinda sad to see people eventually leaving; i can't help but think of how the site might have been improved/changed if they had stayed (but not really surprising; there are plenty of other similar jobs out there that are more rewarding than what TNT does, right?)

but no amount of knowledge or passion can outdo the influence of $$$, which is something i think JS is generally more concerned with rather than the site itself or its userbase. i hope gutterfoot finds someplace that can give her more than what JS has.

[Flordibel]

Aww, I'm so sad to see Gutterfoot go! She was fun and cute and active onsite and in the Discord, and I felt like she was sort of the drive behind the redesign. Vandoodle has left as well (he left a while back), and with Scrappy gone, I wonder who's taking charge of the site redesign?

[dustyc]

Sad, Gutterfoot always seemed cool in my book, so I hope this is good news for her and she's onto bigger and better things.

Speaking of remaining staff, I wonder whatever happened to the person they hired to be the community manager last summer, who then moved to work in a different position without any announcement about it. Lol.

[Lyrichord]

Aww, I'm so sad to see Gutterfoot go! She was fun and cute and active onsite and in the Discord, and I felt like she was sort of the drive behind the redesign. Vandoodle has left as well (he left a while back), and with Scrappy gone, I wonder who's taking charge of the site redesign?

I had been wondering why Valentines felt a little down this year, and I realized, no upgraded beta site theme. With fewer people in site design it makes a lot more sense.

[Miri]

These people have more turnover than a sales job

[Bakugo]

Neopets: you miss a little, you miss a lot. I just read about Scrappy and thought, "It's fine, Gutterfoot is still here." RIP.

The problem with replacing staff is finding people who are familiar with twenty years of lore and the general culture. Is there anyone like that left? I guess with the turn the economy has taken, we should have expected this. It's not like JS offers competitive wages, or even values this site. Why the fuck did they buy it again?

[Sam_20188]

Is Aesop still there?
Will we ever find out what that hunk looks like irl?!? Sigh.

Sucks about Gutter & Scrappy. I hope whatever they have next on the horizon brings them happiness.

(you need an account to see links)

Yup was cute enough to follow on Instagram.

[oventoast]

Maybe I'm just a contrarian and I hope this doesn't come off as rude, but I don't really see this as the "ship sinking" or the end of Neopets. Like, yeah, she and Scrappy were very communicative and likeable and clearly had a passion for the site (or it seemed that way)... but to me it felt like other than communicating with the community (which is appreciated but not the entirety of their roles), it doesn't really feel to me like they had a vision or a path forward? Maybe that was to do with management and the way the firm is structured, but I just don't see the significant changes to the game design or brand design or mechanics over the last 3 years, and I don't feel the same level of impending doom I felt when van Doodle left (and arguably the whole mobile conversion has stalled to a halt ever since).

I guess my point is that, yes, most of the site is not even functioning, despite these folks being employed for the last 3-4 years to fix exactly the things that aren't functioning! So how could things possibly get worse? Who knows, they might luck into someone who doesn't really care about the site but has just enough talent and drive to push things along temporarily (rather than hiring a bunch of superfans with no coherent vision or tangible skills...)

Most likely, nothing will really change. They will hire another cheery person who desperately wants to start their career in this industry and then that person will spend 2-3 years "communicating" aimlessly with the site's members. No new content, no bugs fixed, just empty promises.

Someone spoke about this at some point on clraik I think -- the job is a great jump-off point, not something for longevity. JS salaries have been so stagnant, it is not the best environment to work in probably and it is not the best firm to have on your resume, but it gets your foot in the door, so obviously you will have a retention problem.

The firm I work at has a similar retention problem but I wouldn't say it is a terrible place to work or dying or a sinking ship or anything. It's just not the kind of job most people want to stay at forever. Most of the people my firm hires are desperate to get their foot in the industry. You hit your ceiling after 2-4 years and you get awarded with all of these better options (esp now with a hiring boom in most industries)... why not leave? They can very easily make more money by switching and probably get a better experience too.

Also the fact that they don't have public job postings up for these positions does not mean they aren't hiring for them per se. They could be just working with recruiters. I know that my firm only puts public postings up when it is very desperate for talent and has exhausted all other avenues.

Neopets: you miss a little, you miss a lot. I just read about Scrappy and thought, "It's fine, Gutterfoot is still here." RIP.

The problem with replacing staff is finding people who are familiar with twenty years of lore and the general culture. Is there anyone like that left? I guess with the turn the economy has taken, we should have expected this. It's not like JS offers competitive wages, or even values this site. Why the fuck did they buy it again?

That's the thing that bothers me the most. The site is full of players who are frequently dying to help out. Literally not a day goes by where I don't see the userbase suggesting or volunteering to do something on the site (hell, check out the latest NT where once again someone has offered support), whether it is new pet content, new avatars, fixing site bugs, or even games (jordle!)... Not exploiting this is probably the most backwards decision management has made over these years. Other game communities have done it for years now and have been better for it. Arguably, it is probably a more fatal to the long-term success of Neopets than the slow adoption of mobile shit is.

Think about the most memorable content over the last few years. Maybe I am biased, but a lot of the stuff that sticks out to me was user-inspired or user-implemented (certainly can't remember anything I liked that Gutterfoot or Scrappy ever did).

I just really don't understand why they don't allow the community to play a bigger role. They have the fansite infrastructure already there (maybe arguably it is captured?). To me, it's indicative of leftover sentiment from the Viacom years (which I think JS doesn't actually hold, because I don't think they are actually capable of holding any coherent sentiment, given they are an underfunded mess with zero direction). That sentiment -- or more appropriately resentment -- being a vehement distrust and infantilizing attitude towards its userbase. I hope you all know what I'm talking about.

[Saturnine]

This can't be good... she seemed like she cared... then again, she was just one person in a already very troubled staff
Hope she found something better!