Thanks for posting this! Super interesting to read. I never considered TNT/Snarkie's position on UC potions like many also mentioned.
I agree with @(you need an account to see links) though that enough time has passed and enough hand-changes have happened for Neopets (and the old team doesn't work there anymore right?) that selling a UC potion wouldn't look scummy by any means. Plus I'm pretty sure most of us already think JS is scummy for other reasons lmao.
Aero (01-05-2021)
(you need an account to see links)
(you need an account to see links)(you need an account to see links)
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[02/24/2013] Stealth CORE is made into the first standalone Neopets auto-player.
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Aero (01-05-2021),Alister (01-05-2021),Ariealle (01-05-2021),cuddlypanda (01-05-2021),Erik. (01-05-2021),Flordibel (01-06-2021),♥ lagrima ♥ (01-05-2021),maya (01-09-2021),Mito (01-05-2021),Pidgey (01-05-2021),♥ PrettySarcastic ♥ (01-05-2021),Rhymes with Witch (01-05-2021),Shimmery(01-05-2021),TsUNaMy WaVe (01-06-2021)
Cool to see the UC answer, but ugh I almost feel worse that they actively chose not to keep most unique art pets rather than just like running out of time. That the team sat down like "tyrannian uni, nope. RB lupe, nope. literal alien aisha, unique anthro colour and recurring neo lore for years, nope." Snarkie why
Also like.. I do remember everyone asking for pet clothes since the dawn of time, but obviously that was under the assumption that it would be on top of the amount of personality pets already had. I think if both options had been explained & polled at the time, with samples of new art, it would've been an overwhelming "wait no not like that".The monkey's paw got us guys
thank you for the gay rights peo ♥ @honeycomb ♥
Aero (01-05-2021),Autobot (01-06-2021),Corliss (01-06-2021),Double.Trouble (03-04-2021),maya (01-09-2021),Pringle (01-05-2021),Prose Edda (01-06-2021),Sakuras (01-07-2021),Stardust (01-05-2021)
This is so so true! I know for me a big part of it was that there were *already* clothing items onsite, you just couldn't do anything with them. I imagined my pretty UC faerie in dresses and with a pretty wig, in her usual pose... Not as a Neopets doll maker doll. It would probably be impossible to make wearables for all many poses (and counting) over time, but I still dream about it.
As for UCs, even though I have them I understand not ever wanting them. It makes a lot of sense. I feel like because they existed, people were never able to fully move on, and over time they only got *more* important, not less. Maybe if wearables had been done better it would've been different, but I really think it became an "unhealthy" game choice over time, an increasingly impossible goal to achieve without buying a pet. I honestly think it was UCs that led to pet trading being allowed since otherwise there was so way to get all the available pets in the game, and while I had fun trading over years, I remember how tied up I got in values, grass is always greener mentality. I'm still so relieved I bought UCs and freed myself from the cycle of longing over pixels I could never have.
Last edited by Corliss; 01-06-2021 at 06:24 AM.
*~a ghost in the sunlight~*
I was surprised somebody had the balls to ask about ad0! This was great reading thank you for posting
Thiiiiiiiis. The decisions made about what the pet pose for The Big Customization Switcheroo We Can Never Go Back would be for each pet were NOT thought out well. The hover hands, bashing Maraquans into nearly-the-generic-pose and then making them unable to wear normal clothes anyway, mangling various pets to give them a dressable/"dressable" pose, bashing every wearable onto every pet instead of dividing them into body types... and to this day there are only like 2 good wig/hair items because no one at neopets understands how to draw a wig to not look like shit on all the 3/4 posed pets.
Or that "Right Hand" and "Left Hand" are Stage Right and Stage Left, so none of my pets can hold a fucking shield AND a weapon because the shields are all Right Hand items... (I have an NC sword and shield for my main pet and it's fine but all the Altador Cup ones are like this, only my other pet with the Sword of Fire and Ice and a Maraquan shield work, because the shield is Right Hand and the sword is Left Hand because wearables are a fucking nightmare)
Not to mention that in asking for wearables people were looking at the jpgs of the existing clothing items and going "it would be cool if my pet could wear this"-- so naturally they made like 2 existing clothing items into wearables and forgot about the rest. Child me is still mad about some advent calendar items being forgotten forever, lol
There are a few pets that were improved by customization/were due for an update that never came because customization was clearly happening in the background, but it's clear that TNT got a big case of NEW THING IS BETTER-itis. I don't have much good to say about modern Activision-Blizzard, but when they updated character models in WoW several years ago it was with heavy community feedback, intention to preserve closely the features and expressions of the old models, letting you change nearly every feature of your character in the "Barber Shop" (...plastic surgeon...), and finally just straight up letting you toggle the old models on if you wanted. If Blizzard had treated their WoW players like TNT has always treated Neopets players, the fury would've been titanic.
LOL the UC answer elicited a chuckle from me. Since when did Neopets care about their actions looking like a cash grab? The ads, the sponsored games, the merch, the NC Mall...it was always first and foremost a business. As a business, why would you not give the customers something they've long asked for?
This was very interesting to read though and I love hearing about the old school hackers. Snarkie seems like a decent human being (so naturally she doesn't work there anymore). xD
Erik. (01-07-2021),maya (01-09-2021),Prose Edda (01-08-2021),Worlds (01-07-2021)
If it would've been an issue to make people pay to get their UC looks back, they could've just allowed us to get them for free. lol