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Post by June Scarlet on Jan 14, 2023 17:22:30 GMT -5
Theme voting is in two days already! I want to sum up all the ideas proposed before then.
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Post by Liou on Jan 14, 2023 17:59:23 GMT -5
Yes let's round them up! So far I believe the themes with the most interest have been Kanrik-dunking, Bananas, and a fake Moltara Tower Plot. These can already be candidates to get a spot on the poll. Everybody, if you've seen a theme on this thread while lurking, please voice some sort of interest if you'd like it to make it into the poll and have a chance of being this year's one and only April Fools theme! Now, some comments on the latest suggestions: Hope I'm not too late. Doubt my Obelisk suggestion will ever get picked (BTW I did include a list of at least what I think would make for a good batch of Factions, which includes a Gamer group) I still think this could be an epic fake plot kind of prank. Do you have a pitch for the kind of story that could lead up to it? Why would they go after the Obelisk again long after it's old news and everyone's had enough of it? I think it could be made to work if we picked a set number of fake new factions, and especially a faction leader for each, as characters who would show up in every entry that's part of the prank. That's because I remember the buildup to the Obelisk event, in which we got so very hype with each faction video release, and each faction had a charismatic character as leader to rally around. That's also because I remember Faerie Wars as the most memorable prank, and part of that was having 6 characters at the head of the warring elemental factions, and they were referenced in many different entries, which made it so believable. 1-Player Challengers Revolt!With all the powerful weapons that have been given out to about every Neopian in recent years (Void Blade, Water Whip, Thunder Sticks, Feel Better Soup, etc.), the 1-Player Challengers are beginning to feel underprepared for the next wave of battling Neopets. Time for an upgrade! All 1-Player Challengers, from Chia Clown to the Space Faerie, are improving their prospects by reskinning strong Battledome Equipment and Abilities to make unique Battledome Equipment and Abilities of their them! The fight for supremacy of the Battledome has begone! I'm not sure I understand what the Battledome characters would be doing here and what the prank consists in. Is it that the low level challengers will adjust to become much too challenging for beginners? Like a parody of a site update that has been requested by battledomers for a very long time? Another random idea based loosely on Discord chatter: Tooth Faerie has disappeared. Teeth are piling up everywhere, other pets or faeries have to learn dentistry, cavity wraiths run amok... Although my ears prick at the mention of the Tooth Faerie, I've seen too many phobia warnings on "teeth getting damaged" or "teeth in unexpected places" kind of content to find this advisable. As a part of the same discord chatter… This is more of a longshot but maybe we do one where we all violate established canon or our own headcanons. Like Fyora being a tyrannical leader if I was to use an example for myself. Yeah it’s probably trickier since you’d have to egregiously go against canon for it to be obvious. I want to see the established canon/fanon writers do that for sure!! Now, if someone who's been on the site for one year and is on their second or third Neopian Times entry and is not at all familiar with site lore would like to participate in the collab, is there a way they could do something for this theme? Breaking headcanon/fanon only works if a reader has already-established fanon to refer to, like for a longer-running series. So on the side, I'm collecting data from the Neopets Weather pages in order to create a dataset to work with for an NT thing I may work on and submit next month, and I notice that the weather is... uh... my gosh. xD Think scorching summers as in 120-something Fahrenheit every day, or -40 blizzards everywhere, including Mystery Island, with a few exceptions. And then massive temperature changes over 24 hours. Twillie threw to me the idea of submitting NT stories that are Neopian-weather accurate. I decided that'd be a fun April Fools prank. Is the setting Mystery Island in January? Freezing-point blizzards! Is it a hot day in the Lost Desert? Hope you like 130F temperatures! Or if nothing else, just the wackiest weather you can think of. I love using those old site features that are just sitting there like old lore! What kind of jokes could one make out of this prank, aside from the classic "too cold/hot/wet/windy" weather inconvenience gags? The Neopian Times will stop operating because the company (TNPT) is bankrupt. Time to share your final tips and say your goodbyes. (Supplementary: Could possibly add Grey references? Since it's supposed to be sad news + Grey Day is on April 14.) Oh wow. This one would be sad, and well, a very realistic fear today, at least for me 8'D Could happen if we keep it not too heavy... It would be quite a prank. Fake goodbyes, dramatic ending monologues with extra tragedy and woe-is-me piled on top? |
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Post by Azusa on Jan 15, 2023 11:49:21 GMT -5
After reading the NT board on the site yesterday, I belatedly realized that this could very well happen and I'm terrified. Since I've only just returned to Neo, I'm still quite oblivious to how many things have changed.
I absolutely do not want it to become a reality and I don't want to feed this idea to TNT either if they haven't thought of it yet. For these reasons, I think it's best that this idea doesn't make it to the polls XD
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Post by Duke Pikachu on Jan 15, 2023 20:04:17 GMT -5
Hope I'm not too late. Doubt my Obelisk suggestion will ever get picked (BTW I did include a list of at least what I think would make for a good batch of Factions, which includes a Gamer group) I still think this could be an epic fake plot kind of prank. Do you have a pitch for the kind of story that could lead up to it? Why would they go after the Obelisk again long after it's old news and everyone's had enough of it? I think it could be made to work if we picked a set number of fake new factions, and especially a faction leader for each, as characters who would show up in every entry that's part of the prank. That's because I remember the buildup to the Obelisk event, in which we got so very hype with each faction video release, and each faction had a charismatic character as leader to rally around. That's also because I remember Faerie Wars as the most memorable prank, and part of that was having 6 characters at the head of the warring elemental factions, and they were referenced in many different entries, which made it so believable. Certainly would be an epic prank if we were able to coordinate it, which is the problem. While I'm fully behind my list and bring it up whenever this idea is considered, I am fully aware that others would have their own ideas and want to do their own thing. However, I don't think this idea would work without a set group of new Factions so everyone knows what to write about. And I don't think other ideas like "everyone comes up with their own faction" or "there are rumors of new factions but no one knows who they are". This isn't something like Goldrush or Wraithland, an entire made up land thus everyone can come up with something and its plausible as a land is a big place; Factions are rather specific. So I apologize if I sound pushy. And if you're wondering why I am making a deal out of it, I like April Fools pranks when they have a tinge of believability, with every article, story, and comic adding to the lore of the prank to make it more believable and grand. Should of course be fun to read, but the more cohesion there is the more readers are able/willing to suspend their disbelief. Anyway, just wanted to get that out of the way incase people think I'm being pushy. So, a pitch. Don't know if I said it, but my idea is that, after a few years of fighting each other and NO progress being made, both the existing Factions and The Oracle are wondering if a mistake was made. For the Factions, the cost of continual fighting is high and The Oracle gives them only vague words. For The Oracle, despite the wisdom it has shared so far none of the Factions have lived up to their potential. The Factions want extended breaks to focus on other ventures and build-up their resources & finances, so The Oracle agrees to send out an invitation for new Factions to join The Battlegrounds. These new factions have their reason in joining, like for the ones I suggested I gave all but The Highscorers (the Gamer group) a reason they and their leader would decide to join in despite the current Factions seemingly having lost exclusive interest in The Obelisk (maybe The Oracle would also promise to grant the Factions better benefits now that more are joining in and thus all need some personal reward to both remain and perform better). And I did suggest, not by name, what the leader of each of the Factions I suggested would be and a bit of their backstory. If this idea was chosen to be the theme of the April Fools prank I would imagine we'd have a think tank both here and on the NT Neoboards about what Factions are we choosing and what the leaders names would be. Right now it's only vague because I don't want to completely take all creative decisions away. Basically the 1-Player Challengers would be creating new BD Equipment and Faerie Abilities which make them a much tougher fight. While name and appearance of the equipment and Abilities would be unique, "behind the scenes" the Equipment and Abilities are pretty much reskins of strong BD equipment and Abilities but using different icons appropriate to the new equipment and Ability. And they could also get increases in their Difficulty rankings (and we could throw in a joke about a new fourth Difficulty which has their number increase for each victory). |
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Post by Liou on Jan 16, 2023 6:53:24 GMT -5
Certainly would be an epic prank if we were able to coordinate it, which is the problem. While I'm fully behind my list and bring it up whenever this idea is considered, I am fully aware that others would have their own ideas and want to do their own thing. However, I don't think this idea would work without a set group of new Factions so everyone knows what to write about. And I don't think other ideas like "everyone comes up with their own faction" or "there are rumors of new factions but no one knows who they are". This isn't something like Goldrush or Wraithland, an entire made up land thus everyone can come up with something and its plausible as a land is a big place; Factions are rather specific. So I apologize if I sound pushy. And if you're wondering why I am making a deal out of it, I like April Fools pranks when they have a tinge of believability, with every article, story, and comic adding to the lore of the prank to make it more believable and grand. Should of course be fun to read, but the more cohesion there is the more readers are able/willing to suspend their disbelief. Anyway, just wanted to get that out of the way incase people think I'm being pushy. So, a pitch. Don't know if I said it, but my idea is that, after a few years of fighting each other and NO progress being made, both the existing Factions and The Oracle are wondering if a mistake was made. For the Factions, the cost of continual fighting is high and The Oracle gives them only vague words. For The Oracle, despite the wisdom it has shared so far none of the Factions have lived up to their potential. The Factions want extended breaks to focus on other ventures and build-up their resources & finances, so The Oracle agrees to send out an invitation for new Factions to join The Battlegrounds. These new factions have their reason in joining, like for the ones I suggested I gave all but The Highscorers (the Gamer group) a reason they and their leader would decide to join in despite the current Factions seemingly having lost exclusive interest in The Obelisk (maybe The Oracle would also promise to grant the Factions better benefits now that more are joining in and thus all need some personal reward to both remain and perform better). And I did suggest, not by name, what the leader of each of the Factions I suggested would be and a bit of their backstory. If this idea was chosen to be the theme of the April Fools prank I would imagine we'd have a think tank both here and on the NT Neoboards about what Factions are we choosing and what the leaders names would be. Right now it's only vague because I don't want to completely take all creative decisions away. I think a set group of Factions is the best way to do this, like with Faerie Wars. Six seems like a good number to me? Six elements, six Obelisk bosses, six original factions, so six new (prank) factions. That seems just enough to manage. The faction leaders should be set, maybe the lower level Battledome challengers can be left as free real estate instead? Also the original factions had 3 out of 6 female leaders all those years ago so I think the same can be managed here. I agree that a prank of this scale would need tighter rules and commitment than Wraithland, Flashpocalypse, and most of the others. Heck, I've been waiting for a prank of this scale and this believability to happen again for a long time, myself! It just needs enough committed participants. But even if we come up with a very specific prank concept, there is no way that people won't run away with the theme a bit, especially newer players and participants. It happens for every themed collab, and while I love and really prefer a cohesive theme, we don't want to be the fun police either. So, if we go with this prank, I think we'll also need to be prepared for compromise and interpretation. While with most collabs we gather opinions from the Neoboards, for April Fools I'm always more hesitant and afraid to divulge the prank too much - especially for a prank of this scale, it'd be a pity to leak it to most of the playerbase. In past years we had discreet threads to let people know there was a collab without directly mentioning the prank theme in the actual thread. I'm not sure and will wait for others weigh in on this matter. ((well, as with other matters, but especially this one xD)) On the story pitch: acknowledging that this has been going on for years with no progress - yes, I like! This is a lampshade for the entire old skirmish feature. The Oracle invites new factions to join in: I like this too, I approve of the Oracle treating the factions as disposable! However, the older factions deciding, reasonably, to back out in order to save their finances, that doesn't sound like the kind of thing we'd see in a plot comic or in an Obelisk teaser video. I think those usually have more dramatic happenings. While saving on finances sounds like a realistic thing for real adult life, I don't think it's as believable as something to happen in a Neopets plot. Do you think it could also be fitting for this concept if the Oracle banished the six older factions more drastically? to the Shadow Realm? I mean, the older factions all disappearing could add another layer to the prank - oh no, no more claiming their avatars! - while upping the stakes for the newer factions - if they don't do well enough, the Oracle Thanos-snaps them too D= As it happens I have just come up for a possible reason to justify the Gamers faction rising! =D "After years of practising battling in games, learning finer skills, acquiring better tactics, sharper reflexes and superior strategic thinking to any non-gamers, the Gamers of Neopia have finally decided it was time to test their skills on the battlefield. By "test", they mean prove themselves better than all the others with their lifelong experience of (simulated) battling." Could this work? For choosing six factions out of the list: I'm going to *experiment* with a *tentative* set of six. A rough draft as a preview of what the prank could look like, the set of six can be changed any time according to people's preferences! 1) Gamers/Highscorers
I think they are a must, for the sheer meme potential. If you don't want AAA or Roothless as the leader, it shouldn't be too hard to come up with a gamer bro character as the leader.
(for the name of the faction: Highscorers sounds like what they'd be called in a plot, but the idea of an actual group of neopets characters being called "Gamers", like all those people, is hilarious to me)
2) Knights of Three Kingdoms
For all our Neomedieval content creators C:
I like your concept for the leader's backstory, it seems like too much content for casual participants to absorb when it's in a paragraph, but if they get exposition through a little monologue like in the original Obelisk teasers, that should sum them up nicely.
May I suggest a lady knight though maybe perhaps >.>
3) Obelisk Smashers
Because I want the local Tyrannians to have a say in this too, dangit! That'd make a nice plot twist on the original Obelisk premise.
4) Space Rangers
I like this one specifically for the visual threat of the Obelisk itself being beamed up into space where nobody else can have it. =D
It would also allow for subtle references, tropes and memes from fandoms like the star wars and the doctor who. ... Actually your leader character might be a reference that flew over my head. just give them a tiny baby Grundo to protect and we're all set
The medley of aliens and Virtupets and Kreludor folks will be best shown in a visual sense. Dangit, this prank would definitely need a good proportion of artists joining in.
5) Faerie Brigade
Pikachu... 👉👈 I have a Different Pitch for this one.
Fyora is generally the Big Good who is Above Everything and the petty infighting, so I already like the idea of her suddenly being all "nope, actually we want it ^^" and the faeries actually fighting other Neopians, cue "Xandra was right" yells across Neopia.
I like it and I would totally roll with it, but I also have a different idea in my inspiration, so I will pitch it also:
Rebellious Faeries think Fyora is being too old and soft about staying on ground and they start a movement to Make Faerieland In The Sky Again (slogan liable to change), and basically all the Boomer Faeries rally around them to come get that Obelisk while Fyora stands embarrassedly in the background.
6) ... I'm leaving this one as a wildcard. Maybe a suggestion from outside the original list, based on an idea from more recent brainstorms, maybe allowing for more current pop culture parallels. Look everyone, juicy delicious brainstorm! come join in =D |
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Post by June Scarlet on Jan 16, 2023 12:34:24 GMT -5
Here's my shortlist on themes and what we will be voting on: Kanrik-dunking - Vote Bananas - Vote Fake Moltara Tower Plot - Vote Obelisk War Part II - Vote 1-Player Challengers Revolt! - Vote Tooth Faerie has disappeared - No Break Headcanons - Vote Neopian Accurate Weather- Vote Good-Bye NT - No Tooth Faerie disappearing I removed for possibly icky. Good-Bye NT I removed because it's hits too hard. I'll post the poll in about 8-9 hours from now. There isn't time to suggest any new themes at this point, but if I'm missing something, or if you have more comments, please let me know!
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Post by June Scarlet on Jan 16, 2023 21:15:16 GMT -5
Voting is up for the April Fools theme! You have a week to get your votes in! Also to get in discussion and push for your favorite themes!
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Post by downrightdude on Jan 17, 2023 0:26:28 GMT -5
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Post by RielCZ on Jan 17, 2023 1:39:59 GMT -5
I guess if Obelisk War II wins we'd have to have another discussion/vote on which 6 factions make the cut.  I generally like Liou 's iteration of factions/ideas for Obelisk War II.  I especially liked the revised motivation for the faeries, and one faction just being the Tyrannian locals wanting it back for themselves heh. Kinda combining some of Duke Pikachu 's original factions, I'd be for a Pirate-Ninja Unity team. Maybe after that one great collab, some pirates and ninjas finally realized how to work together and want this to be their first big plunder/theft/etc.! Teamwork! I of course propose Temmie, the ninja-pirate Cybunny from STC 902, as their leader.  *tosses downrightdude a banana* |
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Post by Kengplant on Jan 17, 2023 2:43:35 GMT -5
My top picks:
General: Easy peal-sy!
Bananas: There has been a marathon of themed issues and by the time april comes around we'll just barely be out of them. Bananas is easy to add to any story and is a classic "so random" topic. It's an easy entry point for anyone.
Fake plots: I've always wanted to participate in one of these... they're epic and feel like they have a longer lasting impact, but shouldn't be done too often. But last year was everyholiday I think? So it seems like it would be a good time to do one again.
Obelisk War II: I would consider this a neopian hot topic right now. Previous obelisk strategies are unreliable right now with regular upsets as the power of a few people doing a couple thousand battles for a small team can easily swing the numbers. I think there's a solid base being built up right now. The extra coordination needed to hash out the factions is the biggest drawback. ... My The Sea Collab also has a throw away plot point that lines up with a pirate faction and the obelisk... which I don't think would land on the day of but it MIGHT if its length spirals anymore out of control
Moltara Tower: much more open to interpretation than the obelisk war. Simple focal point with lots of possible branches. Who's in the tower? Are we fighting something? Are there puzzles? Would be fun to take advantage of the speculation about it while the addition to the map is still somewhat fresh. We couldn't do this one a year from now.
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Post by downrightdude on Jan 17, 2023 17:53:14 GMT -5
*places banana in glass case* Now the monkeys cannot eat it. |
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Post by June Scarlet on Jan 24, 2023 21:34:21 GMT -5
Voting is complete! We have a winner!
NT goes Bananas!
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Post by downrightdude on Jan 25, 2023 0:16:17 GMT -5
Voting is complete! We have a winner! NT goes Bananas! *fails widely* Oh my Snaw!! It's actually happening! Bananas will soon be ruling over the NT; this issue is sure to be a-peeling! And of course, I must share my emotional acceptance speech for the academy of NT collab voters. Especially since I forgot to vote. *Charlie the llama shares banana nut muffins* |
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Post by Duke Pikachu on Jan 25, 2023 23:10:47 GMT -5
Voting is complete! We have a winner! NT goes Bananas! |
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Post by Carolyn on Jan 26, 2023 10:30:35 GMT -5
So. I have a ridiculous story idea.
Kayla accidentally spills three potions on a snacking banana. When she misses her garbage can rim shot, Jeran slides on a banana peel... and time travels into the future.
Time Slip xD
It's temporary. Also, I've always wanted to write something this off-the-wall.
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I especially liked the revised motivation for the faeries, and one faction just being the Tyrannian locals wanting it back for themselves heh. 
