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Post by Ian Wolf-Park on Oct 15, 2021 21:15:45 GMT -5
This was 'buried' in the editorial, but I think I should point this rule change out as it will affect future submissions.
Note that it wasn't Aesop that announced the rule change.
Anyways, thoughts on this relaxation of the rules?
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Post by June Scarlet on Oct 15, 2021 22:00:49 GMT -5
I'm curious as to whether this means that technology is simply allowed in our personal headcanons that we then publish in the Neopian Times, or if technology is going to be more widely seen in official canon as well.
Because, for instance, owners/humans are allowed in the Times, even though they're not a part of official plot canon.
Basically, Brynn with a cell phone - official, or just allowed in my comics now?
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Post by Blueysicle on Oct 15, 2021 22:30:57 GMT -5
I mean, if you ask me, I always thought the "No modern technology" rule was a little asinine, considering it doesn't necessarily have any bearing on how family-friendly a submission is. It especially got weird when that NT rule contradicted with content on the actual site; Nigel's car for one, but I vaguely recall an Editorial from a while back stating that stories based on Skies Over Meridell weren't allowed because of the airplanes.
I wonder if locomotives in Moltara would be alright now? I always erred on the side of caution by having Marlock-pulled carriages as the main mode of long-distance travel, so maybe 145 B.N. Moltara could do with an innovation before too long. xD
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Post by Kat on Oct 15, 2021 22:45:33 GMT -5
If you would look at very, very old NT submissions and even the earliest Storytelling contests, cars and phones were a thing; the tech rule was already in force by the time I started writing regularly in issues 130+.
My take is that we can use cars and phones in our personal headcanons. Item-wise we're already getting more tech in recent wearables. Neopias Top Gamer Chair, the monitor from the AC staff tournament, and an NC background that has a camping-type van in it. Still, I feel like there will be a distinction between the Neopia that sees these tech items, and the Neopia that plot/site characters experience that we can only watch and make fanfiction of.
I always thought that as long as this or that tech or vehicle existed somewhere on the site, it's fair game because it was an actual Neopian thing. I'm rather amused that it took them two decades to reverse this rule, though. You'd think by now some liberties would be taken with the NT rules as most of the audience is now well past their drinking ages (and yes, I do agree that tech doesn't make a story any less family-friendly, I'm just saying that the rules in general remain untouched). In any case I welcome this rule change (which will hopefully make it easier for other promising NT writers to think up story and comic ideas), although I myself still enjoy writing about pulled carriages and ships and our BFF, walking. Probably because I write for the NT to escape real life, and the less Neopia resembles real life, the better, haha.
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Post by June Scarlet on Oct 16, 2021 0:50:39 GMT -5
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Post by Huntress on Oct 16, 2021 11:10:14 GMT -5
I always figured that it was less an outright ban on tech (anything was always permissible as long as you slapped the Virtupets logo on it) and more the fact that there are so many varied worlds in Neopia at varying levels of tech that it's kind of difficult to cross-pollinate them within stories without making it weirdly jarring. You have the fantasylands of Altador, Meridell, Faerieland and a large number of others, but also the steampunk world of Moltara, the Victorian England of Neovia, the modern-cartoon-world of Neopia Central and the tech hub of Virtupets. Any given plots and site content generally stuck within a given world and conveniently didn't address the fact that Jazan could always have shown up at the festival site in Faeries' Ruin on a cool Virtupets motorbike since that would've been a very eh storytelling choice. If he was to now show up in a car, it'd still be an eh storytelling choice.
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Post by CrimsonShroud on Oct 16, 2021 21:08:04 GMT -5
For me, it's wild that a year and a half ago, we were fighting for humans to continue to be in the Times, and now all the sudden we're allowed everyday technology, just like that. Wait, humans were recently disallowed in the Times? I didn't know that. Good thing that was quickly resolved and humans are allowed again.
Although I'm glad that the NT submission rules are finally being addressed, I can't really say I'm all for allowing any kind of Earth-based technology in the Times now. Neopia is supposed to be a whole other planet after all (at least, those were the words of the old TNT from way back when).
Sure, one could argue that the old NT featured cars and other technologies, not to mention the old flash game The Haunted House, which had a Quiggle and a Kacheek driving a car through the Haunted Woods at the beginning, also the existence of soccer before Yooyuball was even a thought, but that was before the site had fully developed its world building, or that Neopets itself did break its own lore at times (the old advergame involving a Kacheek running errands while driving a car, though that was an ad so I suppose they decided to give some leeway in that regard), but to a longtime player like me, this just feels rather jarring and would make Neopia look like a carbon copy of Earth, sapping away a whole lot of the fantastical elements and charm that made the world of Neopia and the site itself unique. Unless they take some creative liberties with the Earth-based technology, but that remains to be seen.
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Post by June Scarlet on Oct 16, 2021 21:40:39 GMT -5
I mean, it's not necessarily good writing to have anachronistic details in a piece like cars and cell phones. But I think it's nice to have the option now. There's some areas, like Neopia Central, where cars would fit, and we had to dance around the issue. And while veteran writers are used to writing around the rules, new writers could be and were rejected for mentioning such everyday technology, which I'm sure is discouraging.
But I mean, there's also the potential for amazing creativity. The Artemis Fowl series combines magic and technology to stunning effect.
It's also nice to have more potential for characters as well. I mean, sure there's always the "slap a Virtupets Sticker on it" trope, but it has its problems. For instance, my Coder Mynci Colaina, what does she program? I don't really see her working for Dr. Sloth, nor for the Resistance, and you're pretty much one or the other when it comes to space technology. That's why her character never got very far, I wasn't sure how to handle it. But now she can ride the technology boom hitting Neopia, and actually exist, pretty much.
I mean, technology isn't family-unfriendly, so the rule was more of a way to keep the Times in line with canon Neopia. But when they tried to change the rule to no humans/owners, we rebuked that (rightly so). I don't think this rule change really hurts anyone, just makes things more open.
Also, now that we have this rule change, I wonder what other rules might be on the table for discussion. What other things have we been tip-toeing around?
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Post by Kat on Oct 16, 2021 21:46:43 GMT -5
Last year, the NT started to reject humans from submissions but we made a pushback so they would continue to be allowed like always. Don't forget Bumper Cars. Which is now Ugga Smash. Which now features car-like contraptions.  But yeah, I agree that the allure of Neopia was always the fact that it's entirely different from Earth, with varied lands you can pick and choose from to set your story in. There have been canon "crossovers" like the Cybunny Scout crashing into Tyrannia from space but you know what I mean. That's why I said I personally wouldn't be using this rule. |
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Post by Twillie on Oct 17, 2021 0:51:09 GMT -5
I always took the "no tech" rule as a way to keep NT submissions closer to Neopian canon than real life as well. Although even then, this was never fully consistent with either site canon or what they've allowed in the NT before. There's relics left on the site, with Nigel being mentioned a lot, and I've already seen things like cell phones being admitted into the NT. Modern technology is rather broad anyway, as well as what counts or doesn't count as acceptable. I think it often came down to what was easier to disguise- you can give a phone many names and creative designs, but a car can be harder to dress up and fit into the different Neopian worlds.
I'm cautiously optimistic about this rule change. My feelings are rather mixed, as I can see good opportunity coming from this but also a clashing with the general vision of Neopia. For myself, I'm glad to have more options on long distance communication, as that's something I've always had trouble figuring out in my head, but would come in handy. However, I do like keeping Neopia and our world separate, and things like mass use of cars and smartphones would feel too out of place. I dunno what fully opening the floodgates will look like for the NT, but I'm at least gonna be taking baby steps in implementing tech into my stories, if at all. I like to imagine that Neopets in general is stuck in the 90's and early 00's at latest with their tech lol.
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Post by PFA on Oct 17, 2021 20:13:48 GMT -5
I eagerly await the influx of comics about Meridellians being confused by computers
In all seriousness, it's nice that we have phones as an option now, as that's been an issue to write around for a lot of people, myself included. XD Cars feel more out-of-place to me, though I fully admit that might be the old fogey in me talking, haha. I guess if someone wants to write a car chase into their NT series, more power to them.
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