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Post by Huntress on Mar 9, 2015 14:38:05 GMT -5
Someone copypasted what looks like a response from Jumpstart people on the Neopets Facebook (why yes I follow what people have been posting on the Neopets Facebook):
One way or another it's always a good thing to hone some of those disgruntled customer complaint letter writing skills (politely). It's an important skill to have these days xD Although I won't be writing anything until we find out what the heck is actually going to happen.
Little bit of transparency would be nice, in any case e___e It's like sitting in a hospital waiting for news from a difficult surgery.
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Post by Shinko on Mar 9, 2015 14:47:45 GMT -5
Someone copypasted what looks like a response from Jumpstart people on the Neopets Facebook (why yes I follow what people have been posting on the Neopets Facebook): One way or another it's always a good thing to hone some of those disgruntled customer complaint letter writing skills (politely). It's an important skill to have these days xD Although I won't be writing anything until we find out what the heck is actually going to happen. Little bit of transparency would be nice, in any case e___e It's like sitting in a hospital waiting for news from a difficult surgery. Ahhh, that makes a good deal more sense. Wording is important guys! Still, it's hard to address questions to the neopets social media accounts when so far those questions are mostly being ignored. @.@ Hopefully they'll be actually answered soon. |
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Post by Breakingchains on Mar 9, 2015 14:50:55 GMT -5
One way or another it's always a good thing to hone some of those disgruntled customer complaint letter writing skills (politely). It's an important skill to have these days xD Truth. I went ahead and wrote but just kept it kind of vague, explaining that many of us stuck with Neo for so long because of its creative streak, we've got this entire fan forum about it that is still large and active, many of us learned to code, write, draw, etc. as kids because of Neo, we understand we're going into new territory here but neo has always run off creativity and we have some concerns about the future of such features blah blah. (In much more professional language of course. xD;) If I put my frustration aside, I can kind of see why they pulled those replies because that's just using the wrong outlet. Still doing my darndest to reserve judgment until something gets said. |
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Post by Duke Pikachu on Mar 9, 2015 14:52:57 GMT -5
NEOPETS FACEBOOK UPDATES!
What it says is rather odd, they say they still plan on releasing new content (without a content team?) and providing resources to keep improve the site (with only a handful of programmers?). Though at least they say they're not closing Neopets, using Ghoul Catchers as proof they're dedication. It's also from the CEO of JumpStart.
Anyone know what to make of it?
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Post by Geodude 🌻 on Mar 9, 2015 14:58:38 GMT -5
It sounds like they will have to pull resources from existing Jumpstart teams. I'm guessing they will reassign existing employees to Neopets in the coming weeks/months.
I am witnessing the other side of an acquisition right now (from the acquiring company's perspective) and people from both sides are being reassigned.
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Post by Breakingchains on Mar 9, 2015 14:58:39 GMT -5
Hey! They wrote actual words. To users. About things!
I'm guessing they will be bringing existing employees in to form a new Neopets staff and shuttering/finishing up something else. (EDIT: ninja'd) Whether the new "TNT" already understands and grasps the site's flavor and focus, or will be shaky and weird for a while, or will go in a totally new direction is something we will find out. Still, this makes me feel more hopeful.
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Post by Stephanie (swordlilly) on Mar 9, 2015 15:00:31 GMT -5
I wonder how independent the site actually is? As in, how much day-to-day maintenance does it require? Stuff like dailies and shops and flash games should be pretty trouble-free, whatever code they have just runs without anyone having to muck with it. The contests and the NC Mall and whatever plotstuff probably need more involvement. What'm saying is, wouldn't some bulk of the site be able to exist on its own, kinda like Windows XP - without added support or updates, but with the existing stuff still functional? It'd take up server space, but not necessarily staff hours. I don't know what exactly goes on behind the scenes, so this is just me trying to imagine, but one reason why programs like Adobe Reader and so on have to be constantly updated even though from the user's perspective they work fine, is because of security updates. These updates are a constant battle against ongoing attacks. From our perspective it might feel like playing flash games, buying from shops etc. is something that should just work on its own, but in reality there are bad people hacking at the code all the time. In order for the site to not degenerate into a cheat-fest, there needs to be staff on board to constantly monitor changes and make security updates. (This is something that was explained to me when I complained about having to update all the time.  I didn't see why I had to give up Windows XP for Windows 7, or Microsoft Word 2007 for Microsoft 2010 or whatever when what I was using felt like it was working perfectly fine. But yeah-- security updates.) If they cut back on the staff who normally do these updates, then small features would fall away one by one until there is very little left. Bilge Dice and the Kadoatery are examples of features that recently became too vulnerable. Anyway, it makes sense for them to try to focus on just basic site functionality right now. I do share the concern that when they hire content developers again, what we see will be a very different Neopets than we're used to, but I guess we'll just have to wait and see. |
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Post by Geodude 🌻 on Mar 9, 2015 15:03:31 GMT -5
If only people were all angels online and then we wouldn't need security updates . |
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Post by Herdy on Mar 9, 2015 15:05:47 GMT -5
Not to be a snark or anything - but releasing a game that's been more or less ready since January, but on only half of the advertised platforms and in a glitchy state for some, when you've just fired the majority of the people on the credits for it, is /not/ a great statement of how much you are committed to new Neopets content |
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Post by saramar on Mar 9, 2015 15:41:45 GMT -5
I've been following this topic since yesterday, but I just couldn't find a moment to write. Besides, I didn't really feel like speaking about this. I've been so down since I read the news. Frankly speaking, I just don't know what to think. I'm not sure what JS intends to do with the site. Everything I know is I'm not ready to give up on Neopets. Not yet. And I won't. I know I haven't been around for more than a decade like many of you. That's a fact. But two years are more than enough to become obsessed with attached to the site and my pets. Neopia is more than a fantasy world: it's a world where I can be myself and feel happy. My pets are more than simple pixel creatures: they're my characters. My friends. They make me smile. So I just need to remain optimistic, at least regarding the worst case scenario. I'll just keep enjoying the site as long as I can. I really hope they won't shut it down. Of course (one needs to be realistic), letting the site go stale without new contents would be awful. I'd still be happy to keep my dear pets for a while, but it's not a beautiful perspective. The idea of a completely new contents staff is scary as well, as JN pointed out. I agree with Duke Pikachu: the new staff won't probably know a lot about Neopian lore. However, I wonder if they could... I dunno, study the world and its history? I mean... I might sound naïve or something, but the new people might want to do everything properly. After all, I wasn't there during the major plots, but I know about Neopian lore. I'm not an expert, of course, but I still learned a lot, mostly because I like and enjoy it. (Or they might just go ahead and annihilate everything we know and love... Whatever, I'm trying to remain optimistic). Anyway, I'll just keep doing my dailies, feeding and taking care of my dear pets, playing my favourite games and all that kinds of stuff. Neopia is still alive, after all. I'm working on compiling almost-perfect copies of some things I'm proud of just in case, such as my User Lookups, Pet Lookups and Petpages with all my valuable achievements, or screenies of my Neopets. (Luckily enough, I keep most of my art, comics and pets' background stories in my computer and Deviantart). But I still want Neopets to be there... I guess everything we can do is wait and see. Themeguy, I must admit that gif of yours made me laugh, even if the matter is so sad. I hope all those great people who got fired will find an awesome new job as soon as possible. Also, I've got some sort of bittersweet feeling about the fact that the first comic I drew in a long while happened to be published in what might be the last issue of the Neopian Times. If the NT never comes back... man, I'll miss it  . But I'm so glad my pets could make it for one last time. |
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Post by Fraze on Mar 9, 2015 15:42:52 GMT -5
Hey! They wrote actual words. To users. About things! I'm guessing they will be bringing existing employees in to form a new Neopets staff and shuttering/finishing up something else. (EDIT: ninja'd) Whether the new "TNT" already understands and grasps the site's flavor and focus, or will be shaky and weird for a while, or will go in a totally new direction is something we will find out. Still, this makes me feel more hopeful. I'm honestly kind of hoping they do go in a new direction. Maybe not completely new, but the ethos of the site - the writing, the characters, the way the world and lore are put together, the sense of humor (ESPECIALLY the sense of humor) - are all so specific that I don't think anyone other than old TNT could do it properly; and if the new team tried to do so, it would just feel like the uncanny valley. Of course, the most desirable outcome would be that the new team are current or former players. Then they might be able to keep the site's style. But considering they'll probably be picked from current Jumpstart employees, that isn't something we can bet on. |
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Post by Ian Wolf-Park on Mar 9, 2015 15:45:29 GMT -5
Herdy pretty much summed up my response to Lord's post. I mean really, leaving a skeleton crew behind after letting the rest go doesn't scream 'everything will be all right' to me. Besides, all of the content crew were let go, so there's no one that would be able to train the incoming crew on the standards of the site. As others have previously mentioned, if one had the intention of letting people go, they would have a crew ready before this occurred.
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Post by Geodude 🌻 on Mar 9, 2015 16:08:39 GMT -5
Standards? Neopets follows standards? I jest because I don't think some parts of the site follow "standards" because they were written before standards were really established. By standards, I'm referring to code.
How do we know they don't have a crew? Did they say that? It may look like that but we can't know for sure right?
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Post by saramar on Mar 9, 2015 16:13:11 GMT -5
Oh well... I just read the updates AFTER writing my opinion. I'm glad the site is not over. However, let's see where this is going. As you say, many things could change in the future, and we might not like the changes. Also, I guess we'll have to wait and see if they're as committed with Neopets as they say. Time to be patient and hope for the best.
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Post by Duke Pikachu on Mar 9, 2015 17:14:08 GMT -5
So looks like there's no News (mainly cause they got rid of the person who wrote it). I hope they give us a way to ask questions, I have some questions that I'm not seeing an answer for. My questions: 1. Is the Neopian Times staying around? 2. If it isn't, what is going to happen to the existing issues? 3. If you're going to delete them, how long do we have? And that's not even getting into what they plan on doing with Droplet (I hate to say it, but once she gets off maternity leave they'll probably lay her off too). |
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I didn't see why I had to give up Windows XP for Windows 7, or Microsoft Word 2007 for Microsoft 2010 or whatever when what I was using felt like it was working perfectly fine. But yeah-- security updates.)
. But I'm so glad my pets could make it for one last time.
