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Post by mac on Mar 21, 2019 20:00:20 GMT -5
I thought it would be fun to pick everyone's brains about this topic since I have heard a lot of different opinions about it either in passing or from friends: Do you see yourself writing Neopets fan fiction or drawing Neopets fan art after you have stopped playing it? Either because you quit or because of the site's eventual demise, whichever comes first. Or if you'd prefer, a less extreme version of this question could be: Do you feel compelled to create Neopets fan works when you are on hiatus from playing?
Most commonly what I see from those that have moved on from Neopets is they will take their 'pets with them and redesign those characters so they are no longer Neopets. And it makes sense, people spend years developing these characters and they hold a special place in their hearts. It also makes sense from a copyright/ownership standpoint if they want to continue to use them in other projects. I think this is neat and it's fun to see how these characters evolve over time. Many of my friends have OCs that were originally Neopets. But regardless of using them in other projects or not, it's rare to see people keep their characters as Neopets after they quit. If it doesn't "have to be" a Neopet anymore, they are quick to change it.
As for official site characters, continued interest in them from ex-players is a rarity as well. There was a (somewhat brief) moment in time where Neopets had substantial social media communities that created a ton of fan content during events and other on-site happenings. It was a fun way to interact with other Neopets fans, theorize, and joke about current events. People still post about Neopets in these places, but I would say that community feeling has dissipated. The lack of fresh, well-thought-out and engaging content to keep people inspired (and invested in the site in general) made them eventually drift away. Most content I see posted online is pending contest entries, with not much being drawn or written "for fun" or because someone genuinely enjoyed something. And naturally, it's rare to see regular Neopets fan works of any kind from someone who has quit, not even to revisit or reminisce about content that happened in the past that they did enjoy.
I guess, in short, I want to say ... everyone here is well aware of how Neopets is bursting at the seams when it comes to characters and world-building goodness. We had a solid 15 years of great content. But even with that, it feels like most of the people still around only create Neopets fan works when they are going to use them or submit them to Neopets proper. Most would seemingly rather create something else if they had the choice. It is as if Neopets does not have strong enough appeal to stand on its own. There is nothing wrong with this, of course. It is what it is.
As for me, I know I am an odd duck. I stopped participating in anything on Neopets in 2015, and that's when I also stopped regarding any new lore on-site as canon. Despite this, I still draw Neopets fan art regularly. My only OC is still a Hissi and I have no intention of changing her. And I never once considered any of this weird until my friends started pointing it out to me, both those that have never played Neopets and ex-players I still chat with. And they are right, it is a little weird. In my case, I guess my love of Neopets was strong enough to outlive me quitting the site. I don't know if I'll still be creating Neopets fan works in the far, far future, but as of now I still love Neopia just as much as I did when I started.
I'm curious to know how people active on this forum feel about this topic and how it applies to them since Neopets lore is so important to this niche community. Does Neopets interest you enough for you to continue creating fan works, even if the site isn't there to support it? If you have your own characters, do you see yourself changing them if you ever decide to move on? Am I totally off-base with anything I said? Any other thoughts, I'd love to hear. Thanks.
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Post by Zoey on Mar 21, 2019 21:54:11 GMT -5
That's a good question. I took the art things I learned from Neopets with me after I "left" in middle school. But by then my OCs were inspired by TV shows and such, so it wasn't much of a re-design of my Neopets characters but rather just creating new, non-Neo characters entirely.
But Neopets gave me so much that I continued building upon--art, writing, knowledge about the stock market, etc., so even when I had not played Neopets for nearly a decade, I don't think it would be fair to say I had completely abandoned everything from the site. I still draw from what I subconsciously remember of Neopets, although it is very, very indirectly these days.
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Post by Twillie on Mar 21, 2019 22:16:52 GMT -5
I kind of feel obligated to make Neo fan content with my comic series, although those comics I make for myself rather than for the NT these days. I create the story because I want to see it through, not so much because I want it published on Neopets. The latter is more just an after thought.
It's still tricky to justify though, as on the one hand, for better or worse, my Blossoms project is one of the most indicative pieces of my work and progress as an artist, and I would love to share it. But there's that Neopets barrier for those unfamiliar with the site, which at best would cause confusion and at worst could tarnish the value of the comics and my own reputation as an artist. I know these days fanworks and fanfiction are more well known and perhaps even more welcome than ever, but I still feel weird sharing it with professionals or connections and hoping they take me seriously. (that being said, all my comics are still on my website, alongside a page explaining what Neopets is and any context for the comic itself)
But at the same time, I can't change the characters or setting. For one, that would be even more work than just explaining what Neopets is, and I am not going back to redo those 60+ comics I already have. And also, I honestly don't want to. It'd kind of break my heart to do so as I still have a fond attachment to Neopets through this comic, and I love playing with the lore already there and giving it my own spin. These characters' species, designs, and dynamics with each other are entrenched in Neopets lore to at least some extent, and I just don't know if I could detach the two from each other.
In a perfect world, I would continue making the comic without a second's thought as I still love the story and characters no matter what. I just wish it was easier sharing with people outside the community.
Outside of Blossoms and its characters, I'm not sure if I'd still make Neopets fanworks. Blossoms is what originally got me back into the site six or seven years ago, so it's kinda hard to say if I'd even be playing Neopets at all without it. I'd probably still get flashes of nostalgia and check back into the site at points, but I'm not sure if I'd be compelled enough to create a new account and pets if there wasn't a comic attached to them.
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Post by mac on Mar 23, 2019 7:53:29 GMT -5
It's still tricky to justify though, as on the one hand, for better or worse, my Blossoms project is one of the most indicative pieces of my work and progress as an artist, and I would love to share it. But there's that Neopets barrier for those unfamiliar with the site, which at best would cause confusion and at worst could tarnish the value of the comics and my own reputation as an artist. I know these days fanworks and fanfiction are more well known and perhaps even more welcome than ever, but I still feel weird sharing it with professionals or connections and hoping they take me seriously. (that being said, all my comics are still on my website, alongside a page explaining what Neopets is and any context for the comic itself) I'm glad you brought this up because it's an important point. I have heard similar concerns from friends that are on the road to pursuing illustration as more than just a hobby/freelance. Even though they may still like Neopets, they feel that working on Neopets-inspired pieces is wasted time since it isn't appropriate for their portfolio. And similarly to what Zoey mentioned, for some, Neopets was more of a stepping stone for early skill development that they have since matured from. Neopets fan art may not be the best indicator of overall skill for an artist, but it all comes down to what potential employers are looking for, I guess. It may still have application in some instances. By the way, where is your site? I must be blind or dumb (probably both) because I can't find it. |
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Post by Ginz ❤ on Mar 23, 2019 12:20:35 GMT -5
I stopped playing Neopets proper back in... whenever the mass layoffs happened. I can't say I've properly quit because I still occasionally log in and poke around for the nostalgia. I haven't participated in any events in a while, though, with the exception of the faerie quests, that's always fun!
Anyway, I definitely did stop creating Neopets content for a while. It's not something I'm super interested in anymore, even though I wouldn't say I never do it. Last year I drew a few characters/OCs as birthday presents for friends, and that was fun. ^^ I have a lot of love for my pets. They'll always have a special place in my heart, but I'm afraid I never really put much thought into them as "characters". I gave them vague personalities, but not any kind of unique designs, and I would find it weird to think of them as anything else but Neopets.
I don't know, I guess what I'm saying is that I definitely would (and have) drawn Neo fanart since I stopped playing, and I might do more in the future, but it's more of an occasional nostalgic thing than something I'd consider doing consistently like I once did. I think it's awesome that you do, though! I don't find that weird, actually. I feel like if Neo was an important part of your life and you still love that lore and characters, why not continue creating art inspired by it? I know Neo was often about what was ongoing... the current plot, the current event, etc.. but I don't think you have to stay current to enjoy it.
To name an example of something else I'm a huge fan of, I wouldn't bat an eyelid at someone drawing/writing about the original Harry Potter series, even if they haven't kept up with or liked Cursed Child and Fantastic Beasts. Why should Neopets be different? Maybe I'm a little weird too, haha.
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Post by Herdy on Mar 23, 2019 13:40:33 GMT -5
Had the layoffs not happened I probably would have continued submitting to the NT at the same pace forever, but stepping away allowed me to reimagine the majority of my OC Times characters in a non-Neopets setting, and now I've done that they've become creations that wouldn't fit back into Neopia without significant changes. So even if I now wanted to carry on writing the Neopets version of them, it wouldn't make a lot of sense.
So now, I guess, stuff I'm going to do in the NT is more going to be focused on established site characters/lore. Stuff that I can't just transpose elsewhere. But yeah, should Neopets ever end I won't be in a great rush do carry on doing that sort of thing. What's always attracted me to the world of Neopets has been the idea of it as a present, evolving place. Once it is a dead story that fans are just tacking things onto, it isn't appealing to me.
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Post by Ryanruff13 on Mar 23, 2019 15:48:53 GMT -5
Fun question!
Even at my age, I view Neopets as one of the major ways to revisit my childhood nostalgia for self-therapeutic purposes, and me creating fanart is the biggest avenue to do so. So for a short answer, yes, I do envision myself creating Neopets fan content independently from my usage of the site itself (Despite my utter lack of output consisting of one comic published in the Neopian Times, I actually do have a lot of plans for my fan content).
The reason for me placing Neopets (and by extension, this forum) in such regard is that — as silly as this may sound — I believe that Neopets actually shaped much of who I am with regard to my aspirations in life, as it gave me a love for the media/arts (primarily writing) and for web development, mostly thanks to the Neopian Times and the Neopian Adventure Generator. (As a side note, most nostalgic and inspirational to me about the Neopian Times is Stoneman3x's Really Confused, followed by Laurensama's Faeries and Foes/Nonsensical Verbiage.) The inspiration that the site provided me was to the extent that I had to press myself to focus more on original content, because I was that attached to creating scenarios in my head with my Neopets-based OCs.
I will admit, though, often my mind tells me, "You could be using your time to do something so much bigger than writing for the Neopian Times," which is obviously true, but I then reason to myself that doing so is still a valuable means of art therapy for me, so it's still an important outlet for me.
If anything, it's also the spirit of the creative features of the site that I'm still going to retain later in my life. The memories of what inspired me are still going to last into Neopets' future (which I'm still cautiously optimistic about, don't get me wrong; JumpStart is getting there), and I'm going to put that inspiration to use in my future works.
(tbh I probably have many more thoughts about this which I'll add in a future post, but here you go for now.)
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Post by Ian Wolf-Park on Mar 23, 2019 22:33:41 GMT -5
Some may disagree with me on this point, but as a writer and not an artist, I have found it easier to transplant my Neo characters into my stories, mainly because they're my characters that I came up with, so I know how a particular character would react to a certain situation. For example, this is from an excerpt from a series that I'm writing, slightly modified from the initial text. The modification is not due to spoilers, but rather, because it's not finished and I'm hesitant about showing something that's incomplete at this point.
The character mentioning going to have nightmares (Elizabeth) is actually based off my Neo character, Blizzard the Blue Lupe, but because I cannot do a Neo crossover due to copyright issues (and incompatibility with each other), this is also a way to get around those issues. The character that she's talking to is an original character for my series, but has a counterpart in Ocean the White Usul. Also, just from the excerpt alone, one can probably infer that the series is somewhat darker than Neo.
I may not be active as I used to be in the past, but do I see myself continuing to write Neo stories if I eventually quit or the site is terminated? It's unlikely. For me personally, it's viewing/interacting with the site that will potentially give me ideas for my next Neo series. If that 'spring' of ideas dries up, well, there's not much that I can do that will inspire me to write something based off of Neo.
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Post by mac on Mar 23, 2019 23:40:59 GMT -5
Really appreciate the responses so far. They have been really interesting to read. And thanks to whoever put forum badges on my account! That was kind of you to notice.
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Post by June Scarlet on Mar 25, 2019 19:03:44 GMT -5
I mean, if Neopets ever truly went away, then people wouldn't have to worry about copyright anymore, right? I could sell Neopets art if I wanted to, if there'd still be an audience for it. So I wouldn't really have a need to change my Gelert into a regular dog with boring short ears to make it entirely my own.
To look at how I'd create Neopets art in the future, first I need to look back at the past. Back when I started drawing Neopet comics, Neopets was pretty much my only publishing option. I was still new to the web, I didn't know about dA or NTWF or any other number of ways to self publish. Even finding out about Photobucket to host images on petpages was quite an accomplishment. So having my comics in the Times, that was huge.
Now that my third Ink arc is being published, I'm at a bit of a crossroads. I don't plan to quit Neopets, but I do have plans for non-Neopet comic series that I'd like to work on. And now there's venues for me to publish them. So I guess I don't need Neopets like I used to. But I still really enjoy it.
After Neopets I think I'd still draw my 'pets, I've put a lot of thought into my characters. But like, Dinner with the Scarlets? That's based off my interactions with the site, and if there's no site to interact with, then there's no comic. Ink I'd finish no matter what, but I've reached a good point in that series already, so I'm safe there.
So I guess I'm surprising myself by saying I'd move on, comic-wise at least. And comics are my main way of creating Neopets fanwork. But I think I'd draw my characters forever.
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Post by mac on Mar 25, 2019 23:50:40 GMT -5
I mean, if Neopets ever truly went away, then people wouldn't have to worry about copyright anymore, right? I could sell Neopets art if I wanted to, if there'd still be an audience for it. So I wouldn't really have a need to change my Gelert into a regular dog with boring short ears to make it entirely my own. If only! If Neopets shuts down and JumpStart goes defunct, NetDragon still retains all rights associated with Neopets and will continue to control and defend their ownership of the IP as long as they exist as a company. It doesn't matter if they use it or not. And even in the unlikeliest of scenarios, NetDragon folds, it will get scooped up by an equity firm or holding company and be squatted by them instead. In theory, Neopets will enter the public domain in 50 years based on US copyright law, without any additional legal tomfoolery. |
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Post by Blueysicle on Mar 26, 2019 0:40:55 GMT -5
Even though I've been stricken with a several year long case of writer's block and haven't published a series in the Times since 2014, I still think of my Infinity saga all the time. I've got all these ideas, plot lines, scenes, character interactions, and whatnot all floating around in my head that have still gone unwritten. And I do still have the urge to continue writing about it, despite how slowly I've made progress.
The thing about Infinity is that has to be a Neopets fanfiction; it cannot possibly work in any other setting. I can't make the characters human or some other brand of anthropomorphic animals. I can't stick the setting into some other planet's underground cave system and call it Not-Moltara. To do any of that would cause the whole story to fall apart. The reason why is... a pretty big spoiler that I'm obviously not going to divulge here. Point is, Infinity is way too entrenched into Neopets specifically to just slap a new coat of paint on it and call it an original story.
I suppose what I'm trying to say is that I've put far too much emotional energy into Infinity to just drop it. I really do want to see this story come to the end that I envisioned for it many years ago. And I'd be willing to do that even if that desire outlives the site itself.
However, I don't see myself doing other Neopets-related stories aside from Infinity if that scenario comes to pass. Again, it's mostly my own personal feelings towards the story that I've built up for over half a decade that's driving me. I simply wouldn't have the same attachment to any other Neopets-related ideas to motivate me to write it if the site is no more.
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