Neopets NFTs are here!

[Autobot]

God I hope this uploads in a good resolution from my phone but the bottom line is that Lupe costs $160+ and that's funny as hell, but also oh my god???

Please log in to view spoilers.

To clarify it's not real, but god I'm just losing my mind that people are talking about wanting to buy a random customized neopet!! Who!! Why!!

[Gorilla]

In all my years on neopets I don't think I've ever seen nearly the entire playerbase stand in such solidarity. I have an appreciation for it despite the circumstances.

[Druid]

Ok looking at Jellyneo's response, which I think is what's steering/speaking for a large part of the community, it does seem like the problem is a LOT more "they aren't prioritizing the stuff they should be" than morality of NFTs. I really do feel like that's misguided - it isn't INSTEAD of TNT focusing on the stuff that aggressively needs fixing, it's an attempt to fund that. Is it stupid? Yes! Will it flop? Almost definitely! But I from the bottom of my heart don't understand the boycotts/blackouts/etc. Presumably whether or not TNT/Jumpstart regret making the deal, it has been done and the contracts etc are in place to allow this. It's exactly like when outside companies have been allowed to develop console games, TV shows, etc, just this time it's dropping the Just For Kids facade (which.. weren't we all in favour of that?) - its existence, failure, questionable staff, bad decisions, all of it exists separately from neopets.com

Also to clarify, this isn't coming from a TNT bootlicker place - I also separately have almost no faith in them and am extremely frustrated with the quality they've been putting out lately. But they cannot possibly think it's chill that half the site doesn't work, it's gotta be resources. Know how to increase resources? Money from selling the rights to other companies. I literally think this is a Hail Mary to improve the site.

[Gorilla]

Ok looking at Jellyneo's response, which I think is what's steering/speaking for a large part of the community, it does seem like the problem is a LOT more "they aren't prioritizing the stuff they should be" than morality of NFTs. I really do feel like that's misguided - it isn't INSTEAD of TNT focusing on the stuff that aggressively needs fixing, it's an attempt to fund that. Is it stupid? Yes! Will it flop? Almost definitely! But I from the bottom of my heart don't understand the boycotts/blackouts/etc. Presumably whether or not TNT/Jumpstart regret making the deal, it has been done and the contracts etc are in place to allow this. It's exactly like when outside companies have been allowed to develop console games, TV shows, etc, just this time it's dropping the Just For Kids facade (which.. weren't we all in favour of that?) - its existence, failure, questionable staff, bad decisions, all of it exists separately from neopets.com

Also to clarify, this isn't coming from a TNT bootlicker place - I also separately have almost no faith in them and am extremely frustrated with the quality they've been putting out lately. But they cannot possibly think it's chill that half the site doesn't work, it's gotta be resources. Know how to increase resources? Money from selling the rights to other companies. I literally think this is a Hail Mary to improve the site.

Did you see the part about the entirety of neopets being ported over to the metaverse?

[Druid]

Did you see the part about the entirety of neopets being ported over to the metaverse?

No, and rereading both the metaverse “long game” post and JN’s statement now I still don’t. They talk about turning it into an autonomous community, integration with other blockchain-compatible platforms, social interaction and user generated content and so on, but I see nothing about merging the existing game neopets.com with any of this & it seems like it’s meant to be a ground-up self-sufficient new thing. JN actually says “The goal is to fork Neopia, recreating it as a new "blockchain" game separate from Neopets.com.” Where does it say that?

[Gorilla]

No, and rereading both the metaverse “long game” post and JN’s statement now I still don’t. They talk about turning it into an autonomous community, integration with other blockchain-compatible platforms, social interaction and user generated content and so on, but I see nothing about merging the existing game neopets.com with any of this & it seems like it’s meant to be a ground-up self-sufficient new thing. JN actually says “The goal is to fork Neopia, recreating it as a new "blockchain" game separate from Neopets.com.” Where does it say that?

I am not a blockchain expert by any means, but just from a neopian perspective, my understanding of this is it's important to read between the lines and there is no way the parent company is going to maintain "both forks" of this road. If this is the world they want to build and make a quick buck out of, they're going to divert all hands on deck to it. Once they got the metaverse up and running, neopets.com would likely be ditched because it would not have the same profitability and certainly not the staff to maintain it, and no longer serves a purpose for the parent company. They don't have enough staff as it is and it seems like the staff they do have are always working on something behind the scenes that they're not allowed to talk about, and need to sign NDA's for.

Edit: I think there were some more compelling points on the site events board topic about this but I'm not recalling them and I decided not to log in this weekend.

[Druid]

I am not a crypto expert by any means, but just from a neopian perspective, my understanding of this is it's important to read between the lines and there is no way the parent company is going to maintain "both forks" of this road. Once they got the metaverse up and running, in my mind, neopets.com would be ditched because it would not have the same profitability and certainly not the staff to maintain it. They don't have enough staff as it is and it seems like the staff they do have are always working on something behind the scenes that they're not allowed to talk about, and need to sign NDA's for.

This is my point about the companies behind the metaverse specifically not being TNT or JS - no parent company has to maintain both, this is a fully separate company who bought access to the lore and is messing around with it in hopes it’ll make them some money. Kind of like the exact spiritual opposite of Neopets Classic? It’s just a similar parallel game owned and controlled by different people.

Logistically, turning every existing asset on real neopets into NFT-compatible data isn’t practical/possible, which means even if we wanted to we couldn’t import our accounts over to metaverse, which means moving there completely would mean starting over, which means everyone would just quit and not do that. And while they mention some similar functions to existing neopets.com stuff, like training and PVP, they don’t appear to be building the exact same structure - no mention of painting or zapping, for example - so even outside of physical data compatibility it’d presumably be incompatible gameplay as well. Nowhere does it say merging is the intent, even in their ridiculous list of lofty plans.

Oh and actually! I’m not familiar with NFTs specifically, but buying crypto is a whole ordeal. You have to download different apps, attach your bank account, verify with photo ID.. it would cut out child accessibility completely.. I genuinely can’t see a timeline where this leads to TNT putting up a news post like “Hey guys, time to install Binance! And if you’re under 18 or don’t have direct control over your banking, sorry but bye!”.

If neopets.com goes bankrupt and closes it goes bankrupt and closes, but given that there is still a user base and there is still profit to be made there I don’t think that’s anyone’s plan. Yes they’re short staffed, yes they’re clearly struggling right now, but that’s why making a deal like this to put some money in the bank makes sense.

I feel like the fact that it’s NFTs has people confused - this project’s relevance to the original site is exactly the same is it would be if it were say, someone making a PS5 neopets RPG. It’s just a different, incompatible game on a completely different platform.

[Gorilla]

This is my point about the companies behind the metaverse specifically not being TNT or JS - no parent company has to maintain both, this is a fully separate company who bought access to the lore and is messing around with it in hopes it’ll make them some money. Kind of like the exact spiritual opposite of Neopets Classic? It’s just a similar parallel game owned and controlled by different people.

Logistically, turning every existing asset on real neopets into NFT-compatible data isn’t practical/possible, which means even if we wanted to we couldn’t import our accounts over to metaverse (or if we did it would be EXTRAODINARILY expensive, assuming every item etc has to be its own NFT), which means moving there completely would mean starting over, which means everyone would just quit and not do that. Nowhere does it say that’s the intent, even in their ridiculous list of lofty plans. If neopets.com goes bankrupt and closes it goes bankrupt and closes, but given that there is still a user base and there is still profit to be made there I don’t think that’s anyone’s plan. Yes they’re short staffed, yes they’re clearly struggling right now, but that’s why making a deal like this to put some money in the bank makes sense.

I feel like the fact that it’s NFTs has people confused - this project’s relevance to the original site is exactly the same is it would be if it were say, someone making a PS5 neopets RPG. It’s just a different, incompatible thing.

Hmm... I'm having trouble taking any of these press releases at face value due to the homophobia, racism, and general unprofessionalism displayed by these so called partner companies. They strike me as used car salemen types who will do anything to rope people into their little pyramid scheme. It's unclear to me whether TNT or JS are actually involved, and I no longer trust any of them enough to believe what they may say about it.

I guess we're going into the realm of speculation now so maybe it's just a matter of time will tell what will actually happen, but history has taught me that neopets.com only ever gets worse over time and never better.

Regardless, TNT's communication throughout this whole thing has been horrendously lacking, and people feel the need to resort to boycott to be heard. Especially if JN, who has always been neopets's largest supporter, is taking drastic action.

[Druid]

Hmm... I'm having trouble taking any of these press releases at face value due to the homophobia, racism, and general unprofessionalism displayed by these so called partner companies. They strike me as used car salemen types who will do anything to rope people into their little pyramid scheme. It's unclear to me whether TNT or JS are actually involved, and I no longer trust any of them enough to believe what they may say about it.

I guess we're going into the realm of speculation now so maybe it's just a matter of time will tell what will actually happen, but history has taught me that neopets.com only ever gets worse over time and never better.

Regardless, TNT's communication throughout this whole thing has been horrendously lacking, and people feel the need to resort to boycott to be heard. Especially if JN, who has always been neopets's largest supporter, is taking drastic action.

Oh I totally agree that these companies seem like trash and I have absolutely no interest in this project. Luckily I also have no faith in this project and strongly suspect it’ll flop, wasting whatever money these guys spent on the rights. The main part of the backlash I do agree with is that after all those years of insisting on staying G-rated even to the site’s detriment, TNT/JS is now letting the NFT companies go rogue with public image.

But idk the speculation is exactly my point.. it seems like almost immediately an echo chamber was created that started with “NFTs are evil” (originally for the environmental impact, but that’s clearly gotten lost in the wash now), then was fuelled by the staff at this company being dicks, and now everyone’s freaking out because everyone’s freaking out - like woah there are protests? this must be dire.. holy shit JN has a statement up?? this ship must be sinking - and the whole reaction has spiraled out of control to the point where its creating ideas like “this is meant to replace the site” out of absolutely nowhere.

It’s true that TNT should’ve handled the information and reaction better, but I think since it’s just sticking the neopets name on a separate entity they didn’t expect anyone to care this much (which I think they mostly wouldn’t if the vicious cycle of fear-based rumours weren’t around). Them hiding that BC winner was shady af, but like in fairness it’s a bad look to promote protest* of a system you’ve just made a deal with. When you say people feel they have to resort to this level to be heard that’s fair, but the thing they think they’re responding to has gotten pretty far from what it actually is.

*protest at that stage purely over the concept of NFTs from an enviromental standpoint, not the structure of this game. Again I’m absolutely not in favour of the NFT game, I think it’s so, so stupid, and I too have enviromental concerns, but I also think this partnership is so small and shitty on the crypto scale that it isn’t even worth protesting

[Ice]

Just want to say thank you both for lots of Thoughts because I am too dumb to generate my own, I appreciate being able to read a lot of discourse

I think the bottom line is, that everyone is fucking fed up. Instead of pushing harder to focus on site revamp/slots/UCs (the latter two of which SHOULD have been the financial saving grace they needed to refund the site, not NFTs - we could argue in circles that they're trying to gain funding for Neopets.com thru NFTs but really I can't imagine whatever they're possibly generating from this farce is worth the hit they are clearly taking to their "reputation" and the true Neopets players' attitudes, just doesn't seem worth it. Why not continue milking NCCers ad nauseum until finally they are able to release pet slots/UCs?) JS decides this is a great thing to invest in, which we are all in agreement that wholeheartedly is not. Me at least with my outcry and protesting is fueled primarily by trying to shake JS by the neck over shark infested waters asking "Why do you guys keep making shittier and shittier decisions? Can you not listen to your userbase for one second?" Even if (as again we're all pretty sure it will) this NFT thing is a total flop and hopefully the cryptobros who invest in it lose money and everything blows over, I think it's high time the players retaliated harder on JS over their mismanagement, period. Kind of a straw that breaks the camel's back thing, it just happens to be NFTs this time. (Side note - I think the scummy mlm "get rich quick!" shittiness + other problems of NFTs being so unrelated to anything the players care about is quite different from JS pouring resources into a PS5 Neopets game or even a goddamn match 3 puzzle app. At least those can still be reasonably marketed toward the current playerbase, which JS should be focusing on retaining and working on building a positive relationship with.)

If we wait things out passively and see how the NFT stuff unfolds from the sidelines - pending any outcome that is worse than "no impact to Neopets.com" - it'll be way too late at that point to slap JS on the wrist. The damage will be done and perhaps it WILL be irreversible in some terrible way. I don't want to see Neopets go down (esp not like this) without a fight, and personally I think it needs to start now rather than later. If only we as players could push JS to be more accountable for their dumbass decision making, we wouldn't be in such dire straits to begin with...alas.