A new era of Neopets begins!

[Buizel]

On the ambassador part, the Metaverse had a program like this, so I'm assuming Neo is adapting it. If it's anything like the Metaverse version, it's just people that come in and do small talk from time to time, and when you ask about anything upcoming, you just get told that whatever you're asking about is coming Soon (tm).

So basically, they're like the community managers we get from time to time.

[Stardew]

Meh, all I see is more promises that haven't really been upheld before. Yeah, they've got maybe slightly more of a budget now, but 4 million for a big company is... well, peanuts. I can see them spending on some crappy mobile game that'll "totally attract all the old neopets players" and then completely botch the landing, meaning all the money is spent and they've got nothing to show for it.

I want to be optimistic, I truly do. It sounds like they got a really good deal and considering that, apparently, the site has been running at a loss for a decade, it's kind of a big deal that it's even still around. I'm glad it is, but I hope they're making smart choices with the money they've got.

If they can deliver on their promises, especially by finally making the site run well on mobile, get the games back, and update the site to not be unplayable, I can sorta see a resurgence in popularity happen. We might also actually get kids interested in it again if it's playable on mobile. No gen alpha kid is going to be playing on a computer. They just aren't.

Lastly, what the hell is this brand ambassador thing? Do I even want to know? I'm imagining some Tiktoker promoting the game in exchange for merch or something.

[♥ Blissey ♥]

i don't have a lot to say about the proposed changes themselves - i'm gonna remain as neutral as possible until changes start actually being made - but i wanna complain about the nc giveaway thing

or more of a rant on gleam in general. i haaate that you need to use ultra-invasive sites like facebook and tiktok to get votes in. i legit do not use any of the sites they have for you to vote with, i just have shells with fake names.
and even then i feel super icky about logging into them again. it's like they coat my browser in something weird and sticky that i feel like i need to wash off.

i do want the nc, though. no way in hell am i gonna hit 30+ entries for the top tier

edit: i also hope that, if they are doing the ambassador thing, that izzzyzzz is picked to be one. they are one of my favorite youtubers, and one of the only youtubers i know to cover neopets in any capacity besides "lol my pets from 2004 are dying!!!1!"

[I_royalty_I]

When you see brand ambassador think "influence" and "promoter" instead - at least that's how I'm looking at it.
I was an ambassador for a few different crypto projects and it basically involved being around to answer questions when the team wasn't always available. It involved helping promote contests and news that was coming out. It involved joining the occasional call to sync with the team to hear about development and how updates were progressing so we could be informed and effectively share and assist members of the community.

All of this came with the benefit of getting "free" swag and gear, as well as being paid in the crypto I was helping promote. It wasn't difficult work at all and I mostly did it for selfish reasons to have a direct line to the key players on the team for any concerns or to steer them towards decisions that the community would benefit from most.

I can see TNT pushing onto platforms like TikTok for sure - and honestly, that wouldn't be the worst avenue to take.

[5945]

Only time will tell how exciting things will be, hopefully they stick to their word and update the community so they can see progress and intentions behind decisions.

[Synth Salazzle]

Maybe keyquest will come back and maybe new TNT will unfreeze my old 2009 main that tony p wrongfully banned for "multiaccounting" (hey you fuck, have you never heard of 2 people having 5 accounts on one pc before?) and brought me to these places in the first place.

[Evelynn]

This is super exciting, but the brand ambassador stuff leaves me wondering, because I can see it going one of two ways.
The first being that they put out applications on Discord or somewhere for people within the community, or they outright invite certain people to become ambassadors from within the community.This can be a good or bad thing depending on how they do it, and which people they end up choosing. I can see people like jawsch or coach being involved in this, for example.

The second way which makes me a bit more skeptical is paid sponsorships. Early 2000s core is a huge trend lately, has been for a while. They can definitely find a market in that and drum up some old nostalgia for the site with it, but it has the potential of being the ultimate cringe. Neopets does not have many new users, so their best bet is to appeal to old users. If they start trying to appeal to new users though, that's where things can be a bit problematic, I think. Please god no tiktok stars talking about Neopets.

[CadmiumYellow]

What is the brand ambassador program and when will it begin?

The brand ambassador program will gather a group of influential Neopets players to work as liaisons to TNT, helping improve Neopets by advocating for the player community’s wants and needs. This program will be launched in the next couple of months, so TNT will begin accepting applications soon.

To be fair, from this description, I don't believe "influential players" is meant to mean "influencer" a la instagram, etc. I'm pretty sure they were going for "influential" as in "loud, active, daily long-term players who (in theory) understand what the site needs from a player's perspective, and can relay this as one cohesive voice to TNT" as opposed to surveys, dozens upon dozens of people unsolicitedly submitting opinions via ticket, etc.

It makes me nervous because trusting a tiny handful of pick-me players to advocate for what they want is unlikely to be representative of the community at large (or, most concerning to me, be something that will attract the type of personality that can handle that sort of position with humility and a level head), and not because i'm imagining a tiktok gal in heavy blush-y makeup raving about how cuuuuute the new Neopets merch is!!!! #sponsored #ad while on-site concerns go unaddressed (but I can also see that happening, so...)

But I also have no personal experience with other brands acting on similar language

EDIT to point out that when the neopets instagram went up, whoever ran that account claimed to also have this position (advocating for player wants), and i'm pretty sure Nosy Neopians was meant to have the same vibe as well, and nothing really came of either in a tangible way. But those are both now considered to have been done under the "old management," i suppose, so there's still "we'll see" potential.

[Synth Salazzle]

To be fair, from this description, I don't believe "influential players" is meant to mean "influencer" a la instagram, etc. I'm pretty sure they were going for "influential" as in "loud, active, daily long-term players who (in theory) understand what the site needs from a player's perspective, and can relay this as one cohesive voice to TNT" as opposed to surveys, dozens upon dozens of people unsolicitedly submitting opinions via ticket, etc.

It makes me nervous because trusting a tiny handful of pick-me players to advocate for what they want is unlikely to be representative of the community at large (or, most concerning to me, be something that will attract the type of personality that can handle that sort of position with humility and a level head), and not because i'm imagining a tiktok gal in heavy blush-y makeup raving about how cuuuuute the new Neopets merch is!!!! #sponsored #ad while on-site concerns go unaddressed (but I can also see that happening, so...)

But I also have no personal experience with other brands acting on similar language

EDIT to point out that when the neopets instagram went up, whoever ran that account claimed to also have this position (advocating for player wants), and i'm pretty sure Nosy Neopians was meant to have the same vibe as well, and nothing really came of either in a tangible way. But those are both now considered to have been done under the "old management," i suppose, so there's still "we'll see" potential.

not gonna lie I'm genuinely worried N_T is gonna be one of those people.

[Ridley]

This is super exciting, but the brand ambassador stuff leaves me wondering, because I can see it going one of two ways.
The first being that they put out applications on Discord or somewhere for people within the community, or they outright invite certain people to become ambassadors from within the community.This can be a good or bad thing depending on how they do it, and which people they end up choosing. I can see people like jawsch or coach being involved in this, for example.

The second way which makes me a bit more skeptical is paid sponsorships. Early 2000s core is a huge trend lately, has been for a while. They can definitely find a market in that and drum up some old nostalgia for the site with it, but it has the potential of being the ultimate cringe. Neopets does not have many new users, so their best bet is to appeal to old users. If they start trying to appeal to new users though, that's where things can be a bit problematic, I think. Please god no tiktok stars talking about Neopets.

I think if TNT believes the future of Neopets rides on Tiktok influencers, they might not understand why Neopets had appeal to begin with. It's an unpopular opinion but I would consult Adam, Donna and other older TNT members. Even if you don't listen to them 100% their understanding of the site during peak popularity seems like it would be invaluable for carving out a niche, especially if they lean into something such as an early '00s gimmick. There's also still existing software to play Flash games, why not build that up to resurrect the site's old games?