Here are some of the notable information I want to comment on:
1. They stayed away from topics about judging how JS is running the site and future careers. In addition they don't know a lot that happened on the executive level since those happened in other offices far away from the Neopets office.
C. Understandable, as we'll found out later some are still a bit bitter about the lay offs. This is suppose to be a chance to ask ex-TNT members about their time an experience at Neopets, not on their controversial leaving. I'm also assuming some may want to keep quiet on what they're doing now as its personal and not related to the discussion topic.
2. Favorite puns/pop culture references were with plot prizes. Many are inside jokes discussed during lunch. E-Z Brand items were notably a ton of fun to make. They intentionally included memes late because players kept asking them why.
C. I always liked the E-Z Brand items, they're both creative and a nice reminder of certain parts of a(n) event/plot. Though its nice to find out some of the fun they had with making the prizes, I think it does show through which makes the prizes feel more fun.
3. Concerning writing plots, ones which had TCG sets were somewhat constrained by what was depicted in the TCG set.
C. Yet most of the plots which had TCG sets I could point to cards which either had nothing to do or contradict the end plot. I always figured the TCG was probably based on first drafts/initial ideas for the plot, though according to this the TCG sounded like it was part of the process being a sort of storyboard.
4. Innocent users getting unfairly frozen is a lot less common than what us players made ourselve to believe. Many frozen cases were due to players "cybering" (cyber sex). Mr. Insane in particular had a bad experience when on Christmas morning he had to deal with a player who found an exploit and was giving away millions of NP, giving him a dim view on game hackers.
C. Kind of figured many freezing cases involved users breaking the more "conduct" rules rather cheating or scamming. Though this does explain why TNT took anything that looks like someone is cheating in their games very strictly.
5. There were never any definite plans made for Lutari Island after Neopets Mobile was discontinued. They did brainstorm some ideas like keeping it a paid feature, such as making it a Premium bonus (adding more stuff to it as well).
C. Disappointing. After Neopets Mobile you would have thought they had some plans for Lutari Island after having built it up. I wonder if the new Neopets Mobile had gone through would Lutari Island have been made available again, though since they didn't mention it maybe they didn't.
6. The new mobile version of Neopets was ready for launch but when JS bought Neopets they cancelled it, wanting to go a different direction. They said if they were to relaunch Neopets they would start small on mobile. Finally they recommend going Mobile instead of making a browser-based virtual pet site.
C. First off, I don't know how a mobile version of Neopets would get in the way with any direction they wanted to take the site. Though I think now JS is maybe regretting that decision, Neopets really needs to go mobile.
7. It was against the rules for Staff members to help normal players concerning giving them items/NP, even to each other with their being one documented case of.
C. I guess this is also why they say they can't garuntee the return of your NP and Items if you get hacked (aside of not knowing if what the player says was taken is true). I wonder what that incident of one staff member helping out another was about.
8. No official NeoQuest 3 was planned. NQ2 took a lot of time to code and was popular so they didn't want to just make another version.
C. Makes sense, NeoQuest has always been an inspirational and passion project of Mr. Insane I believe so unless he felt he could push the boundaries of the next iteration there was no need for a third. Still would have liked one, continue following the RPG tropes like maybe having constantly changing and/or swappable party members.
9. World of Neopets, the Neopets MMO, was their biggest project shut down. A point came when Viacom began shutting down a lot of projects, including many of their own. It was going to be a different environment from the site, a isometric MMORPG with 2D & 3D assets.
C. So sort of sounded like Petpet Park except with Neopets. Might have given it a try, would have really liked to explore Neopia at least. I wonder if Viacom shutting things down was a hint they decided to sell Neopets.
10. NeoSchools worked similar to the Training Schools. Your Neopet will attend classes and increase in a new set of stats. However the new stats didn't do much if anything.
C. Hm, don't know how they sounds any less "fun" than training at the Training School, but at least the BD stats had a purpose. Let's see, the NeoSchool subjects were Math, Science, Language, Art, Spelling, Potions, Gym, and History. I can see where some of those "stats" would be hard to put into a mechanic on the site. Also you have to wonder if the benefits would be worth the hassle. Maybe NeoSchool needed some more time in the think tank or completely re-imagined.
11. They regret having UC Neopets. They thought about charging for UC painting but thought it was unfair. They said they wouldn't do any more UCs and didn't want to charge for something they took away.
C. I can see where they're coming from not wanting to charge players for something they once had, though at the same time its up to a player whether they were willing to spend the money or not.
12. Not likely any of old TNT will ever come back to work for Neopets even if offered.
C. Understandable, the way they were treated during the layoffs is just unforgivable on JS's part. These people worked on the site for many years and made it into the success which convinced Viacom and JS to buy it... and then they're let go as if they're contribution meant nothing.
13. Dragona, snarkie, Mr. Insane, Dirigibles, Soupfaerie, Viola, and everyone that worked on Ghoul Catchers were already gone when the mass layoffs occured. Dirigibles and Soupfaerie are still a bit bitter about the first round of layoffs they got caught in. They miss working at Neopets, but don't play except for Dragona to feed her Zafara.
C. Once again, understandable. I probably would find it hard to participate in something I was kicked off from, plus when your an adult your free time is limited.
14. Key Quest was hard to maintain as it was built by an outside company with Java and no one on TNT was a Java expert. Viacom essentially kept it running.
C. So I guess this probably means KQ isn't coming back. Of course JS is still going to sell the Tokens in the Mall even though they now effectively do nothing. I would say give the Tokens a new function but I doubt JS has the time to do that.
*sigh*15. Less new Species and Colours were introduced due to having limited hours to spend and wanting to focus on Customisation. Adding a new species was particular difficult because of Customisation.
C. Kind of something we already knew on the Species side, though not sure why this was a case for Colours. Okay, I guess they couldn't really do Colours that give your Neopets clothing as they could just release the clothing as its own thing, but there's plenty of ideas for the Neopets base. Petpet Park proved that with all of its Colour options that Neopets didn't.
16. The Oracle had no plans made for it, it was just invented to fill a role. It was made to have no Species though it does look like a Kiko with a ghostly body.
C. I can't say I'm surprised. When the Battlegrounds were introduced it felt like that that's it for now. There's now a bi-weekly battling event and an opening for potential future stories to pull from. Speaking of which...
17. They freed The Darkest Faerie from her imprisonment and sent Altador looking for her in case they wanted to use that for a future event, but nothing ever came from it.
C. Sad this went no where, at least under TNT's vision. At least we got that Advent Calendar animation from it.
18. They were surprised how popular the Xweetok was, thinking players would think of it as a verminous rodent.
C. Don't know why they thought this. The base Xweetok looks cute, it sort of reminds me of a chinchilla.
19. Staff Caricatures are property of the site and TNT can do what they want with them. Staff members who left had items made with their faces as a tribute.
C. Watch now that JS releases a whole batch of TNT items now.
20. During the Tale of Woe, Mr. Insane was up till 9 PM on a Friday night tweaking the Potion Mixing puzzle while players were solving it.
C. Ugh, I remember how hectic that puzzle was with everyone trying to solve it. I feel its one of the puzzles that maybe TNT were a bit too ambitious with.
21. Neovision was discontinued as it cost more money to run than it was making back.
C. Not to mention I don't remember a lot of player participation since not many had the equipment or skills to make an animation. Still wished they kept the video files of the ones they had somewhere, even if its just in file format.
22. For Defenders of Neopia they knowingly broke canon for the sake of fun and to reference comic book.
C. In addition I feel that, though most worlds keep with their level of technology, there has to be some crossover. Especially with Neopia Central which I feel is meant to reflect the most to "our" world even if its just a giant shopping district.
23. They were about to revamp the site rules when Neopets got bought by JS and everyone working on it left. Some topics covered in the rule revamp included discussions of real life events, other social media platforms (Tumblr, Twitter, Facebook), and lessening restrictions on what could be drawn or wrote.
C. Wow, that would have been a major thing considering how many see the rules being too strict even for a site aimed at "kids" (though is mostly played by adults). I would like to see what exactly these changes were, just to compare and imagine how different the Neopets experience might be (well, maybe not for me, though I know there are a lot of users who are/were waiting to break free of the "child friendly" restraints that are the site rules).
