Altador Cup X

[mac]

I only played two games of YYB early on out of curiosity to see if anything changed. Does that mean I'm supposed to get a participation medal? I haven't gotten anything, and I like it that way. Maybe if I never look at the prize shop I can keep it off of my account... *laughs*

[Twillie]

At the shop, 18 points to spend on these great prizes! That's 18 gyros for me!

I know at the start of the month I said I was going to try to do better this year, at least get rank 1, but after 1 day of playing the games, I realized that... I don't like playing them. They're tedious, I'm only okay at them, and there's much better things I could do than morosely pound my keyboard to try and get over 6000 on Make Some Noise. So, I played for one day and nothing else. No regrets :3

Placing 5th overall though, I think that's the best Terror Mountain's ever done One could almost say they're 4th if you exclude Kiko Lake from the equation, as that was a victory not deserved.

[Ian Wolf-Park]

I think some of the prizes here are more deserving in the Staff Tournament one (like the Autographed Yooyuball).

Seriously, though, I am questioning the logic behind some of the prizes *glares at the species specifics wearables*

[Duke Pikachu]

ALTADOR CUP X REVIEW:
I know it's a bit early to start a full review when there are clearly still things JS need to fix, but I feel I've seen enough that I can safely say this is the worst Altador Cup I've seen (and definitely is up there with being one of the worst events). I thought I've seen the lowest the Altador Cup could get with AC8 and AC9, but it takes something bad to make you realize that 8 and 9 weren't bad, they were just decent if not a bit bland. By then the AC had become a routine, even with the changes they did, but in the end I don't recall that many problems, we got to hang out with other players on the boards, and at least the prizes looked good and fun. But this year? With JS firing all but 5 members of TNT (if a leaked source it to believed) which includes all the content team, you'd wonder how were they going to do ACX? By blatantly copying AC9 with some new written stuff, creepy face art of the JS staff, and badly drawn prizes. And along the way we've had plenty of problems like the site going down, the Neoboards needing to be taken down near the end, and it needing to be extended except not really. Ladies and gentlemen, WELCOME TO THE NEW NEOPET STANDARD!

Staff Tourney:
Boy was this a mess and a bit insulting. Not a few months laying off most of TNT they held a Staff Tournament with many of the players being JS staff. "Well maybe it wouldn't be so bad" we thought, "maybe this will help us get to know the new staff, and look there is still some old members of TNT". Well everything was fine for the first round... until the end of it when we heard JS did ANOTHER round of lay offs including some staff who were actively participating in the Staff Tourney? WHAT?! Why put them in if you were just going to lay them off not soon after? Was this a sudden decision? If so why hold a Staff Tourney at all if you knew that at any moment any staff could be fired? Well anyway they then announced new staff would take over for the ones who were laid off... except they didn't, at least visually. Instead of drawing new faces, they instead decided to keep the laid off staff's caricatures up and have some people ghost play for them (probably people from their India department).
Speaking of faces, all I can say is WOW to some of those JS staff art. They're "realistically" drawn not only making many look uncanny valley-ish but they clash with the cartoony caricature of the old TNT art. Like you'd think they would try to match old TNT's art as best as they can but for some of them it looks like they took a photo of the person and just traced over it (explaining why you can see wrinkles on some of them).

Staff Tourney Prizes:
One of my favorite prizes from the AC isn't from then normal prize shop but from the Staff Tourney Prize Shop. Sure all you had to do was pick 5 staff and they don't sell for much, but the Staff Tourney Prize Shop had a sort of personality. Being a meta side event, the prizes were also meta referencing things that happened within the Neopet offices. TNT were a fun group of wacky people and equally wacky things went on. The Staff Tourney Prizes allowed us to see just a bit of what goes on in TNT offices, many being inside jokes but just from the item and description we sort of got a picture of what its about (though sometimes they would tell us or its referencing something we knew about). So, why do I mention all this? Because the JS Staff Tourney Prizes are bland and you have no idea what the items are referencing. Worst yet, pretty much all of them are useless gift items whereas TNT always made sure to provide us with a variety of item types. Let's take an individual look at each of the prizes:

SPOILER: Click to show

I'll list the item's name first (bolded), then have its description (in italics), how many points its worth, and finally my opinion which will be in red:

Crumpled Gift Wrap (This gift wrap will tell someone, someday, how much they mean to you.)(1 point): I don't get it. Did someone get a present wrapped in crumpled gift wrap? Is there gift wrap lying around the office that they joke they'll find a use for someday? Also traditionally the first staff tourney prizes is usually a food so even though it's worth little to no points at least you can feed it to your Neopets. This is a gift item, it's completely useless. And for 1 point you would think makes some sense, but the things is with next prize being worth 30 points if you have 29 or lower points and want to spend all your points you'd now have a lot of these useless items which previous prize shops at least provided your Neopet with a meal. You'll probably end up discarding all of them since no one would buy them since they'd probably have a whole batch of their own.
Set of Three Paper Airplanes (Even when ideas dont fly, these planes do.)(30 points): Okay, this one makes some sense since in the Editorial its joke ideas get around via paper airplanes. Cute, and this is one of the few items with a use as its a toy and with the next prize being 100 points that means at worst you'd get 3 of them. So this one isn't that bad. Though specifically a set of three?
Empty Mint Box (Great for storing ammunition.)(100 points): So what, do they fling tic-tacs at each other? That might have made for an amusing BD weapon or at the very least a food item (instead of it being empty they could have tic tacs spewing out of it). But no, its just a gift.
Forgotten Cushion (For sleepyheads.)(250 points): So is this an item for your Neohome? Or maybe its a wearable so that your "sleepyhead" Neopet can carry a pillow with them wherever they go. NOPE! Once again a gift, and what it's referencing is still a mystery. One thing about previous year prizes is that what they're based on was so odd you could easily picture an odd situation in your head. But many of these items are so mundane, so normal, that you're questioning what's so standout about what this prize is based on? This item sounds like its a cushion they just have somewhere in the office and they don't know where to put it. Whoo~.
Smelly Sock (Keeps you awake when nothing else does.)(450 points): Um, don't you mean sockS since there's two? Anyway I can see there being an amusing story with this, like a staff was sleeping so to wake them off they put someone's smelly sock under their noise. Funny idea for a prize, but that's as far as they went. It's a gift item thus does nothing. They could have made it a wearable or a weapon, but no. Useless smelly socks, sounds like a revenge item Dragona would have used.
Bouquet of Dried Roses ("O my Loves like a red, red rose…" Or was, in any case.)(1,000 points): "My Loves like"? Do you mean "My love is like"? *sigh* Guess they must have some dead flowers in the office they joke about, that's all this is telling me. It's useless of course. Could have made for an amusing wearable at least, like for an "anti-Valentines" theme or maybe "Undead Valentines" theme. Oh well.
The Lost Art of Avoiding Meetings (Simple ways to avoid meetings.)(1,000 points): Hey, an item based on a joke I could actually see TNT making. Though had TNT made it it would be funny, but here is just explains to me why JS is failing since no one is attending any meetings. Also would have avoiding meetings helped prevent TNT being laid off? I know, bad taste, but most of these prizes are just leaving a bitter taste in my mouth. Well at least this is a book so you can read it... presumably. From what I heard they forgot to activate it (now because of that I'm hoping this also means these other items weren't activated and once they are we'll find out some are wearable. Of course they don't have the wearable symbol on the bottom left so probably not).
Framed Photograph of an Expensive Toy Drone (The next best thing to an expensive toy drone.)(3,500 points): What? I'm guessing this is a picture hanging in their office? Don't see why or why they thought to make it into a prize. Also a bit out there as I don't think drones like that exist in Neopets. Oh, and this picture you would hang on a wall, well you would if it wasn't a gift item thus useless.
Superhero Mask ("Im here to fight for truth, coffee and a Habi app." With this mask on, you can say just about anything.)(5,000 points): One point for the description, the other for being a Batman mask... but nothing else. So, Habi app, something they're going to do or just a cruel joke? On second thought remove that joke. How about working on KeyQuest instead of making Habi jokes. And though its a Batman mask it's not a wearable so you can't wear it. Remove that point. So we're now back to 0. Also isn't this a bit risky? Like its no doubt the Batman mask, if DC Comics cared wouldn't it be within their rights to demand they remove/change the item? Also, WHAT DOES THIS HAVE TO DO WITH THE STAFF? Does one have a Batman mask at their desk? Why is that so notable, TNT had a ton of stuff at their desks but they never made like a Blue Police Box into an item.
Vile Liquid Dispensing Machine (Coffee, they said. Blech, we said.)(7,000 points): Okay, I get what the joke is... but is it a wearable like all the previous top prizes were? Something for your Neohome? Maybe a weapon? The answer if D, none of the above. Actually it's none period, its a gift and only a gift. Whoo~.

And before I end this I want to point out the costs of each prize. Comparing them with the last few years (I know, kicking it while its down, but bare with me), the costs are pretty low for the top prizes. Like 7k would only net your the 3rd top prize in previous years, but this year it's the cost of the top prize. One good round of guessing would let you be able to buy the top prize while in previous years you at least needed two or all three! Personally, I did rather meh this year. One of the players I picked didn't do so well while two of them just did okay... YET I still have enough points to get pretty much all the prizes (I'd need to skip one of the lower prizes, but I can just buy it if I wanted to do a small amount of NP from the Shop Wizard). If this was a previous year, while I'd still be able to buy the top prize, I wouldn't have enough to get all the prizes so I would actually have to pick one over the other. Not that would have mattered this year with many of them being useless gifts. Unless they reveal some of these items have an additional use like being a wearable or furniture, I'd recommend buying as many of the book as you can. At least that will probably at one point be readable thus have some value.

I need to take a break, here's some upcoming topics to look forward to:

Altador Cup Prizes: WHY ARE SOME OF THESE ITEMS HERE?!
Altador Rising (NC Accompaniment): Tracing, tracing everywhere.
Final Thoughts: This is what they do for the 10th anniversary of the AC?

[Chao]

So... I made myself play that much with the goal of getting enough points to be able to buy the stamp and then it takes only about 1% of the points I accumulated to buy that item??? I could understand it, if the coin was actually classed as 'coin' and as such collectible, so as to say: 'AC Stamp is so common, let's have a coin instead', but this way... I could have stopped playing once I reached rank 1.

[doctortomoe]

I didn't even get to rank 1 and I had enough points for the stamp.

[Ian Wolf-Park]

I will simply call this Cup the 'Copy and Paste' Cup. Fitting, seeing as how the majority of the event, including the prizes from the main shop, were essentially copied and pasted. JSN really set the standard low for the next event (if it happens).

As for the Staff Tournament, it was a slap in the face, no thanks to the layoff (most notably, Droplet, having just returned from maternity leave). And most of the prizes are essentially useless.

[Carolyn]

These prizes... I have no words. >_> Erm, that one AC BG was from a Burger King code. Also, wasn't that tent a super expensive prize shop item last year?

The only items I like are the green jersey and scarf. :X I could see a BVU student wearing them, haha.

[Deleted]

Man, someone at Jumpstaff and/or old TNT should file a complaint with some sort of business ethics group. The way this company is treating its employees is completely insane.

[Carolyn]

Jul 3, 2015 22:00:31 GMT -5 @fangofthedead said:

Man, someone at Jumpstaff and/or old TNT should file a complaint with some sort of business ethics group. The way this company is treating its employees is completely insane.

.... Dare I ask? D: Did something else happen?

[Deleted]

Jul 3, 2015 22:04:15 GMT -5 Carolyn said:

Jul 3, 2015 22:00:31 GMT -5 @fangofthedead said:

Man, someone at Jumpstaff and/or old TNT should file a complaint with some sort of business ethics group. The way this company is treating its employees is completely insane.

.... Dare I ask? D: Did something else happen?

No, I'm just talking about how they view all of their employees as being completely disposable.

[Duke Pikachu]

Altador Cup Prizes:
Now when I saw the Staff Tourney Prizes, though I was disappointed, I thought that at least they are making new items to be prizes. When I heard about the discovery of the prize shop I initially shrugged it off because the same thing happened last year and it too was odd but when it was finally released it was okay. So I figured at the very least they'll copy how last year's shop was setup except it'll be all new prizes (they may not have quality art or be activated, but there's a template they can follow (though that didn't help the Staff Tourney Prize Shop from being filled with useless gift items, but I digress)). So basically here's what I was expecting:

NC Mall Promotion (free)
Food and Gift items (1 to 45 points)
The 18 team themed prizes (50 points)
Previous years Jerseys (400 - 500 points)
This year winner's Jersey (600 points)
Winning team star player Action Figure (2k points)
Stamp (4.5k points)
Paint Brush based on last year's winners (10k points)
Wearable Top Prizes (12.5k and 19k points)
Yooyu based on either last or this year's winners (25k)

And of course various other items in-between to fill in gaps. But this was the basic template that you'd think JS would follow (or they could use another year's template, doesn't really matter except sometimes the top prize changes between Yooyu, powerful weapon, and paint brush. But since this was a copy of AC9 I thought the above was probably the most predictable). So going through the prizes I was kind of expecting things like Vintage Kiko Lake Jersey, Holbie Pinnock Action Figure, Halloween/Zombie/Ghost Paint Brush, and Halloween/Water Yooyu. Admittedly maybe I was expecting too much, I was hoping the template would help them focus their efforts. However I guess that was too much work or something as JS decided to wing it and did their own thing... which showed they have no clue what they're doing. So now I present you this year's AC prizes:

SPOILER: Click to show

Like with the Staff Tourney prizes I'm doing name of item in bold, description in italics, point cost, and my thoughts in red. HOWEVER I will be skipping the descriptions on some which I'll explain why.

Dyeworks Hue Brew Potion (Free): Skipping description because this was in last year's prize shop. If I recall they recently recolored a whole batch of clothes like the month before so this was an obvious choice to use again. If I were JS I'd maybe release more recolored clothes, they takes little effort and at least it's good TNT art (though hopefully they don't mess it up).
Traditional Altadorian Gyro (1 point): Another skip because this is a pre-existing item. And you know what, fine. I'm okay with this. I mean, its just a 1 point food item. Resources are stretched and personally I'd prefer they focus their effort on making the expensive prizes look good and if that means the lower prizes might be already existing items, then fine. Of course JS could just release a smaller prize shop but I guess JS really wants to show us they're as good as TNT by provided just as big of a prize shop. However if that was the case I question how they thought we'd overlook some of the things coming up.
Yooyuball Gummies (An explosion of flavours!)(10 points): See the Yooyu's pose? Get used to that, we're going to be seeing it A LOT. Anyway its a cheap food item that's pretty much a recoloring of the Yooyu when it come out of the pit between rounds during a game of Yooyuball. Sure its a new item but nothing special. Though with that description shouldn't it look like a Clockwork Yooyu?
Altador Slushie Snowglobe (Oh, for the love of Altador slushies!)(25 points): Oh, for the love of photoshop! Nothing on this is original. The snowglobe itself (including the snow "falling" in it) is from AC5's team prizes and the Slushie in it is a still image of the Berry Blend Slushie (with the N logo removed too). Once its a cheap prize so whatever, though with that said they couldn't use one of the slushies that's in Slushie Slinger? Or why not use another team prize and use the team slushies from AC3 and 4.
Yooyuball Pizza (25 points): BTW also get use to them calling every Yooyu item Yooyuball. Of course we can't blame JS for this one as this is another already existing item hence I didn't add the description. It's kind of odd they're already mixing the old with the new items. Either they're trying to hide they're re-using old items or are just using the old items as filler.
Yooyuball Cookies (These cookies capture the spirit of yooyus.)(30 points): Nothing much to say here, they just took the spread Yooyu pose, colored it like a cookie, and shrunk & warped the image. Now I know TNT did the same thing, but at least TNT would occasionally use a different pose. And this segues into the next prize...
(Team) Yooyuball (45 points): Oh jeez... Well, let's look at this from a different angle. Instead of a team prize and a top Yooyu prize, they combined them thus knocking down two Pteri with one stone... Huh? What's that? They're toys?! But they look like normal Yooyu except in the spread pose! If they were meant to be Yooyuballs shouldn't they be rolled up? *sigh* Yes, these are rather odd team prizes, like I guess the idea is there but the art just doesn't match. Speaking of which, wow did they go recolor crazy. Now to give credit they sometimes did get fancy like with the Krawk Island, Darigan (name is kind of edging close to Darigan Yooyu), and Meridell colors/pattern and even added some additional things like a flame to the Moltara and hair swirl to the Kiko Lake. Also they each have sort of their own unique descriptions (though they all pretty much mean the same thing, except for Kreludor and that's why I like it the best). But still, they're mainly recolors of old art (which is the crime here, at least previous year team prizes was new base art that was recolored) that doesn't match with what its suppose to be. Well at least you'll be able to collect all 16 easily. Yes, SIXTEEN. They forgot Faerieland and Mystery Island! How did this get approved? Even if you don't immediately see it you should at least COUNT HOW MANY THERE ARE!
Commentator microphone (Can you say it like Tobias and Hovri?)(50 points): A toy? Ah, that would have been a neat wearable! Also shouldn't the "m" in "microphone" be capitalized since that's the item's name? Also what do they mean by the description? Say what? Anyway its an okay prize, just a missed opportunity.
2015 Altador Cup Jersey (A sporty jersey for Altador Cup fans.)(55 points): You couldn't put Kiko Lake's logo on a Jersey and recolor it Kiko Lake colors? I mean for a generic jersey it looks nice, but Team Kiko Lake won (nevermind how they won, they still won) so they deserve a jersey. Also they don't have previous year Jerseys. Out of all the old items they could have brought back to fill out the prize shop, they excluded the ones that TNT always brought back? And wait, 2015? Neopets doesn't use real world years except for NC tokens and capsules. That should be either ACX or Y17.
Faerie Eyrie Morphing Potion (55 points): What? What's that doing here? There isn't even a Faerie Eyrie Altador Cup player, and if there was I doubt they'd be on Team Haunted Woods or Kiko Lake! And why is it so cheap? If I was a Faerie Eyrie owner I'd be P1$$3D that any who played at least 5 games of Yooyuball/10 games of SlSl/55 games of MSN or SoSd (aka no time at all) would be able to get a Faerie Eyrie. To put this in perspective, before this if you wanted a Faerie Eyrie you'd need a Faerie Paint Brush (1.5 mil) and possibly an Eyrie Morphing Potion (cheapest being Pirate for 5.4k). The FEMP used to cost 1.5 mil... but NOW it has dropped to under 20k. Good job JS, you're causing havoc with the Neopets economy!
Altador Cup X Collectible Stamp (Add this to your stamp collection!)(60 points): ... Excuse me *I leave to another room and a second later you hear screaming go on for several minutes. I return soon after with a red face* Now that I got that out of my system... WHY THE @#$% IS THE STAMP 60 POINTS?!?!?! DID THEY DO ANY @#$%ING RESEARCH?!?!?! DIDN'T THEY SEE HOW MUCH IT USUALLY IS ON PREVIOUS PRIZE SHOPS?!?!?! HELLO, THAT'S A CLUE!!! I just can't... I just can't, that's all I can say, I just can't. I need to move on. Oh, and brilliant description there, took you all night to think that one up, JS? Well WAKE UP because guess what? It's not activated yet so you can't put it in the Stamp Album!
Kau Sorceress Sandals (70 points): What is this doing here? A Kau specific clothing item based on a sorceress. WHAT DOES THAT HAVE TO DO WITH THE ALTADOR CUP?! There are tons of Altador Cup-related items you could use as filler, even ones from old prize shops, so why are you giving us random a Morphing Potion and species specific clothing? Who made this prize shop? Did they even understand what they were doing?
Altador Cup Collectible Pin (A collectible pin designed by and for Altador Cup fans.)(80 points): Hmm, this is kind of a bland item. What's Altador Cup about it? Looks more like a police badge. I don't see a Yooyu or the AC logo, there's a star which was also on the stamp but it's a generic star. Would be a neat wearable as I don't think we have a police badge yet, but its a gift so no luck.
Acara Rebel Sunglasses (100 points): ANOTHER SPECIES SPECIFIC ITEM?! Why? What does an Acara Rebel have to do with the AC? Is it because they're sunglasses? If there wasn't any sunglasses you could use either make a new one or don't use this idea!
Yooyuball Protein Shake (Keep up the strength during Altador Cup season with a rich, protein shake.)(100 point): New food item... you know the top prizes better be AWESOME if this is so far what we're being shown what new items they've been working on. Oh, and of course the spread Yooyu is reused here, because why not? Would have been neat if this was actually a stat increaser, but I'm not so sure if JS knows those exist.
2015 Yooyuball Sweatband (Get the look of an athletes sans the hard work!)(200 points): I'm going to REALLY hate that spread Yooyu image by the end of this. Anyway I guess its okay. Oh, and stop using real world years!
Commemorative Stainless Steel Water Bottle (An excellent conversation starter!)(250 points): I'd imagine the conversation would go something like this: "you wasted your points on that?". I guess its okay, thank Fyora they decided to use the All-Star Shield rather than the spread Yooyu. That alone actually makes it somewhat neat. But its a gift so does nothing.
Kiko Altador Heroine Bracelet (300 points): *eyebrows twitch* Well... at... least... it's... Altador... related... Also it's the last species wearable thankfully. Still, these shouldn't have been here. When I first saw these items I thought they were placeholders/reminders for a new prize based on sandals, sunglasses, and I guess a bracelet. Actually I wonder if JS even knows these are species specific? Like what did they think the species name in front of the item was for?
Honey Tea (Vocal Soother) (Soothe a sore throat after a day of making noise.)(300 points): OH MY FYORA SOMETHING UNIQUE! Well, at least for JS. So we have a medicine item here, wonder what it cures (if they remembered to activate it). Kikoughela like the last MSN-themed medicine? Kind of wish the image was more unique, there's really nothing MSN- or even AC-like about it. It's just a cup with a herb next to it.
Essence of Courage (400 points): *Sigh* It's not only an existing item, it's also a weak weapon. I sorta understand why they put it here but I think they could have found a better weapon or something representing what its trying to.
Altador Cup Backpack (400 points): This is a prize from AC6 and there is cost 300 points so it sort of got a promotion. Actually what it just means is that I don't think it'll really effect its market price, it was searchable on the Shop Wizard before ACX (despite being a decent looking wearable).
Altador Altador Cup Media Book (400 points): A pre-existing book and the only book this year, that stinks. If they made a new book I'd say that would have been worth investing in, but it wasn't to be. At least its AC themed so we can thank Fyora for that.
Strawberry Fields Forever Paint Brush (500 points): A Paint Brush... for 500 points. I REALLY want to do the whole leaving the room to scream sketch again like I did for the Stamp, but I'm afraid if I do my head will explode from anger. Seriously, DID JS DO ANY RESEARCH? You don't need to spend much time on Neopets to know that most Paint Brushes are valuable. Now while the Strawberry PB wasn't one that cost millions it still was worth a pretty nice chunk, except not anymore. According to JN's Item Database it went from a decent 200k right down to 50k and probably will fall a bit more. JS does know there is an economy side to Neopets, right? Also why Strawberry? I can't see the relation to HW or KL, or any team for that matter.
Camping at the Altador Cup (500 points): Speaking how something has fallen, this is a prize from AC9 and there it originally cost 8k. Did you spend that rather huge amount of points to get it and still have it? Well the jokes on you! It went the way of the Strawberry PB of being around 300k and going down to 50k in a matter of a day.
King Altador Kite (600 points): A pre-existing toy (like JS needed to pick a toy filler), though something odd is going on here. The kite is a rare item and despite its low point cost its sort of keeping its price. It was 600k pre-ACX and has just gone down to 500k. Now it could still decrease in cost, this is the first day, but just thought I'd note that. Oh, BTW, I wouldn't suggest buying a pre-existing item if its one you can buy from a shop, since, well, you can buy it from a shop. More will be entering the market rather easily. Still though there are plenty of new items you may want to put a bit of priority into (which now thinking about it makes the inclusion of existing items kind of pointless).
Autographed Yooyuball (staff signatures) (A collectors item!)(600 points): @#$% YOU, JS! Sorry, sorry, it's just, just the ARROGANCE I sometimes get from JS. Like the top people of JS think they're top @#$% and everyone should like them without question. I bet you they think they're doing a good job running the site and/or they're the victims having to maintain the site (which if that's the case WHY DID YOU BUY NEOPETS). Anyway this honestly seems more like a Staff Tourney Prize then a normal AC prize. Like if its in the normal shop shouldn't it be signed by the AC players? You know what, between this and the kite, I'd rather the kite. At least the kite has good artwork and can be played with!
Entrance to Altador Background (What is behind the wall? This Entrance to Altador Background is only available if you have a virtual prize code from BURGER KING(R) in the US!)(1k points): The last of the cheap pre-existing item but boy does it show JS doesn't know what it's doing. Why? Well I included it description which notes something very interesting: "only available... from BURGER KING(R) in the US!". Yeah, at least with the previous old items they could hide they were old, but this one's description rats them out! Did they even read the description or did they just look at the name and image? And even though it costs more than the previous two it has fallen to being purchasable on the Shop Wizard.
Yooyuball Licensed Track Jacket (Slip on a cool jacket this season.)(2k points): So now that we've had out laughs, let's actually look at the real prizes of ACX. This jacket... actually doesn't look so bad. It has the spread Yooyu on it but it has a nice green and yellow look that gives it a sporty feel. I approve.
2015 Altador Cup Scarf (A must-have for Altador Cup fans.)(2k points): And an equally good looking scarf to match! Also this one uses the All-Star Shield like the water bottle did giving this item a bit of uniqueness. Once again I approve... though is it just me or does the top of the scarf read "AltadorE"?
Altador Cup X Collectible Gold Coin (Add this one to your hoard of collectibles.)(4k points): So there's a theory going around that JS might have tried bucking a trend by making this year's stamp cheap and instead use another collectable as the valuable album prize. Now if that's true I guess that's a clever idea, but much like other items they forgot to activate it and its also listed as a useless Gift instead of a Coin. Now if JS did what everyone think they're doing I'll give JS some kudos, but as of right now no. It's useless and if its meant to be a junk gift item then JS should not be allowed to make prize shops ever again. Like ask players to come up with decisions because at this point we know Neopets than the people running it (obvious exception goes to the very few old staff members still working there... which I'm sad to say but maybe you should consider moving on from Neopets... at least as long JS has it)!
2015 Winners Podium Background (Perfect if you love winning!)(8k points): Oh, it's animated, that's neat! But that said it kind of looks cheap. It doesn't even look like the AC stadium and the perspective is off making your Neopet look like a giant. Also the podium is in the background off to the side, when I heard of this item I thought it'll be like your Neopet was standing on it not just in front of it. Also once again they use the real world year.
Altador Cup Tricycle (Zip around Neopia on this Altador Cup Tricycle.)(8k points): Hmm, I'm going to guess they saw the Action Figure and didn't understand why that was worth so much even though its a toy. If that's true then it also means they didn't bother to check previous year prize shops, just AC9. While the Action Figures at least may have depicted someone's favorite player, this toy is worthless, don't spend your points on it unless it fits in your Gallery. The wearables are still the better option (maybe the coin if it becomes an album item).
Dimensional Jetsam Morphing Potion (13k points): ... Just no. This item is all sorts of no. There's no Dimensional Jetsam on any team. There's no reason to buy this (unless you want a Dimensional Jetsam). There's just no reason this should be here. Actually maybe this is a bit worst as Jetsams are a Limited Edition species so there MP did cost a bit even for the basic colors and combine that with the Dimensional PB costing nearly 700k, well let's just say if you were a Dimensional Jetsam owner you might be a bit annoyed. However this prize's rather high cost might keep people away so having a Dimensional Jetsam keeps some of its worth.
2015 Altador Cup Collectible Gold Whistle (Shrill and sharp, this gold whistle makes a statement.)(19k points): Another album item? Eitherway its right now useless so unless that changes (BTW you may not want to spend your points right now, especially with some glitches that are going on) I wouldn't recommend getting this. From the description though it sounded like maybe it could have been made into a BD weapon, but that would mean I trust JS to make a good BD weapon. Also real world year AGAIN.
Altador Cup Celebration Background (Celebrate the Altador Cup with this background.)(25k points): WOW, was this where all the work went? This Background is AWESOME! It's animated, looks like the Altdador Cup Stadium, has confetti, what more would you want? I say if you can afford this get at least one! Now if only JS put this amount of work into more of the prizes...
Plushie Paint Brush (30k points): Yup, this year's top prize is a PB. While other years also had PBs, notice a prize that was missing? A rather POPULAR prize? Yeah, NO YOOYU PETPET THIS YEAR! Uggh, and why Plushie? Referencing creepy dolls for HW? How Kiko look squishy? This should have been a Halloween, Zombie, or maybe even Wraith PB (of if they want it to reference Kiko Lake how about Water). Plushie PB is keeping its price at being over 2 mil but I think that's because no one is buying it. Especially when you have that awesome background. Skip it.

Wow, I don't think you could have made a worst Prize Shop even if you tried. This Prize Shop shows JS clear lack of understanding Neopets both in what users want, tradition, and economically. I'm wondering if its at this point JS is realizing Neopets is harder to run than TNT made it look. Oh, But we're not done yet, because we have some other stuff to quickly address:

1. Final Standing Image. Why am I surprised that they didn't bother giving the winning teams' captains new poses. *sigh*
2. Trophies: Boy the trophies are bland this year, its just a rolled up Yooyu on a stand (which were recycled from last year, especially obvious with the ones for the winning teams). Well, all except for Meridell's Gold Trophy which is still the same from last year. And of course, guess which trophy I'm getting. Though why am I complaining, last year's Trophy looks awesome.
Well, it would look awesome having two, except for those who didn't accidentally collect their trophy before haven't gotten them added to their lookup. *sigh*
3. Missing Points: Now for some reason most people are missing points and it varies from under 1k to over 10k. And it's not saying they spent the points, it tells them they have less points to spend compared to what they earned throughout he cup. It's such an odd glitch.

Hopefully when Monday comes JS will start fixing these glitches and maybe activating the items.

Well its getting late, tomorrow I'll wrap up this review.

[The Scrac that Smiles Back]

Yeah, I'm one of the people missing points. I've spent 0, but my points left number is roughly half of my points earned number?

[Geodude 🌻]

Jul 3, 2015 10:55:16 GMT -5 Herdy said:

I did warn you guys

None of the album items are working currently, but the gift coin is worrying - JS so far have struggled to realise that non-stamps can still be stamps in action. They may think the coin is meant to just be a gift like the batman mask from the staff shop.

So who's looking forward to the inevitable Desert Diplomacy reskin they'll have planned for August?

Neopets is so fun these days, it's like watching someone go to the toilet on your lawn.

I don't think Princess Amira should be inviting everybody each year. Shouldn't diplomacy be conducted in various rulers' kingdoms on a rotational basis?

Joking aside, I wonder how low Neopets will get before KA and JS start delivering on their promises...if ever.

[Deleted]

The only reason I'm still on the site is because it gives me story ideas. Well, that and I've stopped caring about any events that aren't plots, although I REALLY hope we don't get another plot at this point. I'm 99% sure it'd be even WORSE than AotA.

Honestly? I think Viacom wanted to cut their losses on the site, but they didn't want to close it since it would tick off a lot of people. They tried shopping it around to other companies, and either A) nobody wanted anything to do with it other than Jumpstart, or B) Jumpstart was just the highest bidder.

After saying all that, I'd like to see old TNT band together as an independent group and make a spiritual successor virtual pet site like how the ex-Rare employees who made Banjo-Kazooie back in the day got back together as their own group to make Yooka-Laylee. Much like Yooka-Laylee (and some other spiritual successor games that I'm waiting for), they'd probably need a Kickstarter project to raise money for the site, but I'd love seeing the old gang come together and work on something for the older fans. I just hope they make species that can roughly correspond to my existing pets/characters on Neo.