Julie: Hi, my name is Julie, I work in digital marketing, I trade with crypto, I have adviced clients to sellin NFTs and I'm gonna explain the Neopets NFT controversy and whether it is a viable project. Also Julie: *Now in this section of the video I'm gonna dedicate myself to thoroughly roast these designs made by the Neopets Metaverse Collection for 7 minutes straight.*
As an artist I will never not be conflicted about NFTs. I mean, if you're an independent artist selling NFTs get that bag I guess, but it feels like something that shouldn't *need* blockchain to work. I mean, its just deviantart adoptables with extra steps and a larger carbon footprint, from what I see.
I don’t think it’s fair to characterize a negative reaction to NFTs as being knee-jerk, since that stance is very well supported and their concerns are still unaddressed. But good video, very thorough.
"Build-A-Bear will never partner with Neopets from this" top ten phrases that make you burst into tears. Seriously, it would be nice to get Neopets plushies but JumpStart just never wants to listen to the fanbase, they just keep digging themselves into a deeper into a hole.
The shade being thrown while you were scrolling through those other NFT games Twitter accounts was legendary. I really appreciated your perspective, as usual.
You grazed the topic slightly, but I just wanted to toss in my two cents and the response I've seen to NFTs. Artist twitter has been very sceptical not only because of the questionable quality of many NFTs and the environmental impact, but also because of the NFT bots on twitter brazenly stealing art. The fact that the neopets social team is copying and pasting fanart with no credit shows that they don't care at all about the creatives in their community. (Relating to who are these NFTs made for)
i personally disagree with crypto and nft trading but I really appreciate your insight and coverage on this entire Event. As an artist, i feel like the nft market especially is not in a mature place where art theft can be prevented with some people stealing works by deceased artists and creating nfts with them. your exploration of other nft games (of which i had no idea existed until now) makes me want to research and investigate these larger conversations more! thanks for your work.
Whaaaaat a system that is known to steal art from artists is also stealing art in their thread to explain NFT's? No way, never would've seen that coming
The amount of care and thought you put into this video FEELS like more than the NFT team put into the project 🙄 I know it’s flippant and maybe it’s because I’m jaded but if they put in a iota of genuine earnest effort this could’ve been great 😔
I mean, with the 5 minute mock-up... that one spoke volumes. 😂 But in all seriousness, I wholeheartedly agree. She weights the pron and cons, and give sound advice in how to manage community reactions and how to put forward a message to grow instead of allienate the invested audience, be it neoplayers or cryptobuyers. 🌻
This was a really well thought out and well-edited video, and those timestamps you made are fantastic! Excellent work as always! Really glad you decided to upload the extended edition
Thank you for explaining a lot of things that I didn't know about it! So now let me see if I get it right: the NFT neopets projects are NOT meant for neopets users and they know that. It's only meant for people that already buy NFT and will buy any of it it for cheap in hopes of getting more money later and that's it. They probably don't care about low quality artwork, getting references right or basically anything related to the neopets brand. They don't lose anything by not talking to the fanbase: the current neopets fanbase is just there to help keep it on life support, not develop the game. It's so sad that neopets fans and even some members of TNT can see the amazing potential the IP had, but Jumpstart never understood it and wasted it so we could get...this.
I enjoyed the video! I agree with your take. Another bit of evidence that the "explanation" thread was not in good faith is that the author took the opportunity to tag every single celebrity and NFT project they want to bring in, rather than focusing on the education. Tagging these other influencers is understandable in the right context, but comes off as opportunistic and as an attempt to garner more supporters to come and insult the haters in this context. Also, this little rant is aimed at no one in particular but as a software engineer, I'm so tired of block chain and NFTs. Can the technology be used to solve real problems? Absolutely. Is anyone using this technology in that manor? No, absolutely not. Any of these games can be built without NFTs and work in an identical manor. The benefit to an NFT is that you continue to own your asset in the inevitable event that the game goes under, meaning someone could build a new game that is compatible with that asset. However, NFTs are not currently storing the data associated with your account or character, simply pointing to it. So when a game goes down, you lose that data (whether it's an image or more extensive.) Until this industry problem is solved, there is effectively no difference to using NFTs vs just a regular database. It's simply another silicone Valley buzz word used to garner clout and unwarented market valuation, further increasing the chances of an impending tech bubble burst. (Sorry for the rant. This isn't aimed at you.)
@@PSJulie I think a true meta verse could be cool. But I'm not sure it'll ever exist. Mostly because it, by design, requires IP owners to relequish some level of control over their IP. A true meta verse would allow for you to play a racing game with your neopet NFt against my Kingdom Hearts character or w/e. But IP owners are highly protective of their brands and IPs. We unfortunately live in a world where you can get a cese and desist for selling your own fan art on red bubble if a company does not want you profiting from their IP. I just don't think we're there. We may see some small meta verses with buy in from new brands, but without support from big IP holders and a real vision on how they can hold some real restrictions on how their brand is used, I don't see it ever taking off. But that's just my thoughts. Again, I'd be stoked for a real meta verse and would be happy to be proven wrong.
So glad to see someone finally saying it. I actually worked with some very talented individuals to make a video explaining how block chain could be used to track the origin of raw materials like cobalt to ensure it's sourced ethically. IBM has even shown its use at CES 2020, but I am seriously concerned that the controversy and mishandling of block chain as a tool could make the public wary of adopting it in a more useful way.
@@PSJulie It was awesome, like the rest of the comments are saying the video is so refreshingly well thought through and I agree with almost everything. I only have one (minor, in my opinion) disagreement, which is regarding pepe the frog. I truly and wholeheartedly believe that it has been "reclaimed" in many communities, mainly thinking of Twitch. There is a small documentary style video from August 2021 called "The Story of Pepe: The True Face of Twitch" which takes a look at this. However, it obviously still can be used in a bigoted or bad faith capacity.
I love how you have a different shirt in every clip. IDK if it's intentional or just a product of filming on different days, but it's just so unique and entertaining to me lol
Haha it's a byproduct of filming across multiple days! Sometimes I keep the same shirt aside and wear it only while filming. But most of the time, I'm busy and can only film a little bit here and there over the span of multiple days! So i just do it wearing whatever I'm wearing. I'm glad you like it. Haha
Every time I watch one of your videos I am blown away by your intelligence and insight. I love that you put so much effort into your channel and I LOVE that your main topic is pet sims! It's awesome to have the ability to take something I loved as a child (and still love as an adult) and get to have adult conversation about it. This commentary isn't specific to this video, but definitely applies here. Anyways, just wanna say thanks for doing what you do! Love your channel! Great insight once again. Loved watching.
Goodness okay each additional video I watch by you gets more and more into places I wouldn't have expected but am thrilled to learn about. I have found someone who plays pet sims and discusses game design AND its connected implication in politics and society when relevant?! Lol, I just am really thrilled to have come across you and I wish you all the very best. This was a fantastic summary of NFT critiques in general, through the Neopets lens. I can definitely see why they are trying to do NFTs, and in theory they do have the perfect IP for it, from a distant perspective. It's wild how badly it's being done though. I can only hope they figure it out some day, because while I have many hesitations towards NFTs (primarily for the environment), I do think the movement of more humans truly valuing digital items is a big deal. As pet simmers we already have been valuing digital content like that, so it does seem natural for one of these pet sim sites to move in that direction. Also gotta mention that the moments of self-awareness on topics like "armchair" experts are great. You both acknowledge what you are doing, but at the same time you are actually doing the research and considering many sides so you are already protecting yourself from many of the "dangers" of speculation. Anyways, fantastic work, and thank you for tolerating my many comments as I watch all your videos!! xD
Haha no worries! I love your comments, I really appreciate your deep thinking in your responses. I can't wait for you to get to my December 2020 Marapets & Fatphobia video. I think you'll also enjoy the February 2021 Kickstarted game video.
Good video Julie. It opened my eye to the idea that a NFT for Neopets isn't necessarily a bad thing, but the way this one has been signaled to the community raises big red flags. To me it really seems like the target audience for this product are NFT-enthusiasts that are unaware of how this product has been antagonizing the core neopets community and want to buy the NFT in mass thinking that Neopets fans will follow. In essence it smells like a scam since the NFT-enthusiasts will flood-in with expectations to sell as soon as the neopets fans come, but if the community has been antagonized the entire time, there will be no fans. The enthusiasts will be left with a big flop in their hands and look to liquidate their assets as soon as possible. Then the bubble would pop. If they handled the product properly, I believe what they should do is tie the project with the actual neopets website and make it so the fans of the game desire the NFT. The enthusiasts would've flocked in naturally. But this is just my opinion, what do I know. In any cases, it is a shame you're retiring from Neopets for a while, I honestly follow your channel as my main source of Neopets news. I'll stay subscribed, and watch the other videos you post since I appreciate your content, but my main interest has always been neopets and neopets related stuff. Thought I should let you know, since I know you read the comments. Anyways, best wishes.
Thank you so much for the thoughtful comment! You eloquently summed up so many of the concerns and thoughts I have about the project. Now on the note of Neopets news-- I am taking a break from the game and do not wish to keep covering the Neopets NFT beat, but I may still make some more content. Stay tuned for what I mean.
Really appreciate how you sectioned this video. My favourite part was the MS Paint review, honestly you could rip into this so hard. Why are those images so low res? I thought their editor may have been lazy and taken assets from image search until you pointed out the image layers were wrong. If they have access to layers then why are the assets aliased and badly composited? This company is meant to be trading digital art and doesn't even have basic image handling skills. It's one big red flag.
I truly enjoy your videos! I think your approach as a professional differentiates you from the drama that plagues virtual social interactions. When I came back to Neopets this year, it was your videos that gave me a whole world of context (binge watched them for hours on a Sunday, and I just couldn't stop laughing!) Yet, it feels weird. This video felt like a reality check of just saying goodbye to the site. Those last 5 to 10 minutes... it left a bitter taste with how NetDragon & JumpStart are treating the IP. I really wish they could listen to your videos. In the beginning I thought I would definitely own 2 of my pets as NFTs, but with how everything has downspiralled... I think I rather customize imaginary pets through DTI than just having them even on Neopets (which besides Gaia Online, its the only web game I still play since the 2000!) 🌻 Thank you for such a wonderful talk Julie, I hope to see more marleting and business videos from you! 😊💝
I think have many reasons why they only use the blue, first one they don't know how to change color and blue tends to be the first on the basic colors, second they simple don't care and pick the first color again blue is the first one basic color so don't doubt is the first one and third they still couldn't work out how to use the other colors after stop using dress to impress. And the zoom on the cat was incredible
"What are the basic colors again? Red? No, too angry. Yellow? Too blah. Green? Wouldn't want people to think their custom pet was sick. Blue? EVERYONE in the WORLD loves blue! The sky is blue! Blue is the coolest! GIVE THEM ALL BLUE." >all the unique non-standard colors sit in a corner forgotten, inviting the non-blue basics to join them in turning grey 🙃
Incredible work yet again, Julie! You approach the entire situation so professionally, and the subtle shade scrolling through the other NFT Twitter threads was a riot. Again, we all appreciate the hard work and time you put into these (and your other) videos. Thank you so much for this!
This was super interesting, thank you!! And overall I agree. My husband is into crypto, likely has a couple nfts somewhere, and while i don't understand the appeal, I get why others do. But the way the neopets metaverse team is handling themselves is what really did it in for me. No real understanding of the brand, no positive interaction with the existing userbase, etc. I won't trust the company, and it's soured my Neopets experience knowing that the team developing the main site would partner with a company so ill-equipped to market and expand their IP.
Another amazing video! I could definitely see though that you were very tired with this topic. I totally understand wanting to talk about other things and look forward to more of your videos :)
Thanks for the deep dive on this. You are a very easy person to listen to explain something because you don't explain things in a way that makes you feel stupid and you have a great voice for public speaking and I personally consider this a form of that. Your knowledge seems to go VASTLY beyond the niche you're in and would love to see you keep making content that expands beyond that !! I actually LIKED the John Mayer video!!!
I was like to myself "why am I watching an hour long video when I have 3 hours of classes to get to that are in a similar format?" but I really don't regret it, fascinating lecture, prof! XD
Fantastic video! I appreciate how much research and time you dedicated for it. It really shows, and it kept my interest from start to finish. (As your videos tend to do, haha.) What a wild ride this has been. It's a shame fans seem to keep having the same conversations over and over with Neopets. Jumpstart has definitely missed opportunities for this IP in the past, and this recent decision to partner up with this company, and subsequent decision thus far to not sever that relationship after all this drama, seems to be just another mistake. I hope they start to listen to feedback. I'm still holding out for that Build-a-Bear collab. Fingers crossed x'D (And man, the more I stared those mock-up NFTs, the more issues I found--yikes that's bad.)
I still feel the same exact primal discomfort staring at that Soyjak (or indeed typing out the word "Soyjak") as I did the first time I saw it. (Luckily, your video was worth getting past the thumbnail 😜)
I think it’s valuable to take this professional and methodical approach to discussing the project. I don’t personally agree with the idea of cryptocurrency being a worthwhile pursuit but I really appreciate that someone like you with your perspective can speak to that idea while still addressing the inherent flaws of the metaverse project. that said, it had not even remotely crossed my mind that JS had always intended to sell the Neopets IP for its parts. “keeping on life support, let’s sell it now because this is what we bought it for” - I just sat here absorbing that for a full minute in abject horror. I think that makes sense but it’s awful and I don’t really have an eloquent way to say that. something about it puts a chill in me and I think it’s time I step away from neopets too.
waking up and seeing an hour long video from pet simmer julie covering the childhood ruining event that has been occupying my head rent free...feels good :)
Jumpstart loves to announce things and then never go through with them so that tracks, plus they seem to really love doing cheap partnerships so my assumption is that they just found 2 guys off Reddit and hired them.
This was excellent and very informative. I know very little about marketing, economics, and crypto and I feel like I learned a lot while also engaging with a topic I care about. Thanks Julie!!
Once again, another really great video! Thanks for taking the time to upload, I don't think I would have known anything about the NFT/NM situation otherwise. Definitely leaves a bad taste in my mouth, I think I'll be stepping away as well.
You make a lot of good points but the argument about dog whistles seems pretty out there. Like the those who freak out about the OK hand gesture when that’s been around for years and used with many different contexts. That art though, yikes. It’s like they didn’t even try. Which then reflects badly on them because if they don’t care much about the art then why would a potential buyer think they care much about any of it.
There's a wide spectrum of people interpreting the dog whistles. I've had some people call me out on not blasting them loudly enough, and others saying that they're not real. And that sort of begs the question, if the dog whistle works for some and doesn't, what does that mean?
@@PSJulie There is the case of politics playing into what is a dog whistle and what isn’t, unfortunately. In many recent cases, those who deem something as a dog whistle are the only ones who see it as one. Some will see it because they were told it is and some won’t because they have no idea outsides it’s used context. Not in every case, but in most that I have seen over these last few years. So without more context of this person posting, it’s not really possible to know. I’m glad you looked into if it was commonly used in the community, but as of right now, I personally feel like it’s something to question but not something to camp out on.
@@PSJulie Part of me thinks it’s just an unfortunate side effect of millions of people people using and exchanging a huge spectrum of slang and dialect and idioms all in the same online space, which is itself so wide that we never see all sides of it. But I do think one element missing from the discussion here is pattern recognition. Words/memes that are used as dogwhistles are not the dogwhistle itself IMO: the dogwhistle is the use of them in a broader ideological context that supports and reinforces that interpretation. I mentioned this on r/neopets and got no response but I think it helps illustrate: the fixation on “fren” in the discourse was really surprising to me. I had no idea there was bad associations with it because I’ve only ever heard it used by dog blogs (like Thoughts of Dog). Use of “fren” alone can be divorced from a bad subreddit because it has a life outside of that. If I saw the text of that post I might assume it was a joke based on “pet speak.” Not on-brand for the sapient and fluent Neopets, but not actively courting nasty people either. But it’s the combination of that with the “hatoooour” meme (and Pepe I guess? I don’t recall a Pepe but you kept mentioning him) that starts to invite the interpretation that they’re using dogwhistles of some kind. And while nothing in the Metaverse team’s behavior AFAIK points unmistakably to any of the abhorrent viewpoints associated with those memes, they have nonetheless demonstrated the incredible lack of empathy and sense of entitlement that can be expected from a common troll, for whom dogwhistles are themselves co-opted to further sow chaos. (i hope this made sense, brain is mush right now I barely understand what I just wrote LOL)
Julie: Hi, my name is Julie, I work in digital marketing, I trade with crypto, I have adviced clients to sellin NFTs and I'm gonna explain the Neopets NFT controversy and whether it is a viable project.
Also Julie: *Now in this section of the video I'm gonna dedicate myself to thoroughly roast these designs made by the Neopets Metaverse Collection for 7 minutes straight.*
That "B*tch eating crackers" section was just PURE GOLD 🙏🙏🙏 Bless you
Thank you!
As an artist I will never not be conflicted about NFTs. I mean, if you're an independent artist selling NFTs get that bag I guess, but it feels like something that shouldn't *need* blockchain to work. I mean, its just deviantart adoptables with extra steps and a larger carbon footprint, from what I see.
I don’t think it’s fair to characterize a negative reaction to NFTs as being knee-jerk, since that stance is very well supported and their concerns are still unaddressed. But good video, very thorough.
"Build-A-Bear will never partner with Neopets from this" top ten phrases that make you burst into tears.
Seriously, it would be nice to get Neopets plushies but JumpStart just never wants to listen to the fanbase, they just keep digging themselves into a deeper into a hole.
The shade being thrown while you were scrolling through those other NFT games Twitter accounts was legendary. I really appreciated your perspective, as usual.
Hahaha thank you, i felt a little petty at that part.
"pet simmer julie is into crypto" wasn't a sentence I expected to digest today and I didn't expect it to sting as much as it does either. damn
You grazed the topic slightly, but I just wanted to toss in my two cents and the response I've seen to NFTs. Artist twitter has been very sceptical not only because of the questionable quality of many NFTs and the environmental impact, but also because of the NFT bots on twitter brazenly stealing art. The fact that the neopets social team is copying and pasting fanart with no credit shows that they don't care at all about the creatives in their community. (Relating to who are these NFTs made for)
That's really good additional context!
i personally disagree with crypto and nft trading but I really appreciate your insight and coverage on this entire Event. As an artist, i feel like the nft market especially is not in a mature place where art theft can be prevented with some people stealing works by deceased artists and creating nfts with them. your exploration of other nft games (of which i had no idea existed until now) makes me want to research and investigate these larger conversations more! thanks for your work.
Whaaaaat a system that is known to steal art from artists is also stealing art in their thread to explain NFT's? No way, never would've seen that coming
We are all shocked
The amount of care and thought you put into this video FEELS like more than the NFT team put into the project 🙄 I know it’s flippant and maybe it’s because I’m jaded but if they put in a iota of genuine earnest effort this could’ve been great 😔
😂 thank you! I think
@@PSJulie Absolutely a compliment! You’re a thorough bad ass who (I think) explained this whole fiasco in a straightforward way 👍🏾
I mean, with the 5 minute mock-up... that one spoke volumes. 😂
But in all seriousness, I wholeheartedly agree. She weights the pron and cons, and give sound advice in how to manage community reactions and how to put forward a message to grow instead of allienate the invested audience, be it neoplayers or cryptobuyers. 🌻
This was a really well thought out and well-edited video, and those timestamps you made are fantastic! Excellent work as always! Really glad you decided to upload the extended edition
Thank you!
Thank you for explaining a lot of things that I didn't know about it! So now let me see if I get it right: the NFT neopets projects are NOT meant for neopets users and they know that. It's only meant for people that already buy NFT and will buy any of it it for cheap in hopes of getting more money later and that's it. They probably don't care about low quality artwork, getting references right or basically anything related to the neopets brand. They don't lose anything by not talking to the fanbase: the current neopets fanbase is just there to help keep it on life support, not develop the game.
It's so sad that neopets fans and even some members of TNT can see the amazing potential the IP had, but Jumpstart never understood it and wasted it so we could get...this.
So succinct! Next time you cover it and spare us all 59 minutes.😂
@@PSJulie oh nooo don't spare us, I love the detailed 1 hour videos
The whiplash I experienced when I heard fun browser based pet game Neopets and alt right dogwhistles in the same sentence
lurking around 8kun's Q boards and seeing the same phrases on a Neopets adjacent marketing account truly is just something else lmao
I enjoyed the video! I agree with your take.
Another bit of evidence that the "explanation" thread was not in good faith is that the author took the opportunity to tag every single celebrity and NFT project they want to bring in, rather than focusing on the education. Tagging these other influencers is understandable in the right context, but comes off as opportunistic and as an attempt to garner more supporters to come and insult the haters in this context.
Also, this little rant is aimed at no one in particular but as a software engineer, I'm so tired of block chain and NFTs. Can the technology be used to solve real problems? Absolutely. Is anyone using this technology in that manor? No, absolutely not. Any of these games can be built without NFTs and work in an identical manor. The benefit to an NFT is that you continue to own your asset in the inevitable event that the game goes under, meaning someone could build a new game that is compatible with that asset. However, NFTs are not currently storing the data associated with your account or character, simply pointing to it. So when a game goes down, you lose that data (whether it's an image or more extensive.) Until this industry problem is solved, there is effectively no difference to using NFTs vs just a regular database. It's simply another silicone Valley buzz word used to garner clout and unwarented market valuation, further increasing the chances of an impending tech bubble burst.
(Sorry for the rant. This isn't aimed at you.)
Thank you so much for the rant! I also hate the employment of buzzwords (I've yet to see an actual metaverse). Great points!
@@PSJulie I think a true meta verse could be cool. But I'm not sure it'll ever exist. Mostly because it, by design, requires IP owners to relequish some level of control over their IP. A true meta verse would allow for you to play a racing game with your neopet NFt against my Kingdom Hearts character or w/e. But IP owners are highly protective of their brands and IPs. We unfortunately live in a world where you can get a cese and desist for selling your own fan art on red bubble if a company does not want you profiting from their IP. I just don't think we're there. We may see some small meta verses with buy in from new brands, but without support from big IP holders and a real vision on how they can hold some real restrictions on how their brand is used, I don't see it ever taking off. But that's just my thoughts.
Again, I'd be stoked for a real meta verse and would be happy to be proven wrong.
So glad to see someone finally saying it. I actually worked with some very talented individuals to make a video explaining how block chain could be used to track the origin of raw materials like cobalt to ensure it's sourced ethically. IBM has even shown its use at CES 2020, but I am seriously concerned that the controversy and mishandling of block chain as a tool could make the public wary of adopting it in a more useful way.
I love how well you are picking apart the way they communicate (alt right adjacent messaging and so on)... And I am only 20 minutes in.
I hope the rest was good too!
@@PSJulie It was awesome, like the rest of the comments are saying the video is so refreshingly well thought through and I agree with almost everything. I only have one (minor, in my opinion) disagreement, which is regarding pepe the frog. I truly and wholeheartedly believe that it has been "reclaimed" in many communities, mainly thinking of Twitch. There is a small documentary style video from August 2021 called "The Story of Pepe: The True Face of Twitch" which takes a look at this. However, it obviously still can be used in a bigoted or bad faith capacity.
I can't be the only person who sees wojacks of any kind and has an immediate "eff you" response, can I?
I love how you have a different shirt in every clip. IDK if it's intentional or just a product of filming on different days, but it's just so unique and entertaining to me lol
Haha it's a byproduct of filming across multiple days! Sometimes I keep the same shirt aside and wear it only while filming. But most of the time, I'm busy and can only film a little bit here and there over the span of multiple days! So i just do it wearing whatever I'm wearing. I'm glad you like it. Haha
@@PSJulie love it. Not entirely sure why, but I do. Never change!
Every time I watch one of your videos I am blown away by your intelligence and insight. I love that you put so much effort into your channel and I LOVE that your main topic is pet sims! It's awesome to have the ability to take something I loved as a child (and still love as an adult) and get to have adult conversation about it. This commentary isn't specific to this video, but definitely applies here.
Anyways, just wanna say thanks for doing what you do! Love your channel! Great insight once again. Loved watching.
This video is the chocolate fountain for my parrot mind to soak in.
Sure
I hope that parrot is ok.
In using this metaphor in my day-to-day life now.
>frens
Thats a no from me, sorry corporate brand you are not infact my friend
Goodness okay each additional video I watch by you gets more and more into places I wouldn't have expected but am thrilled to learn about. I have found someone who plays pet sims and discusses game design AND its connected implication in politics and society when relevant?! Lol, I just am really thrilled to have come across you and I wish you all the very best.
This was a fantastic summary of NFT critiques in general, through the Neopets lens. I can definitely see why they are trying to do NFTs, and in theory they do have the perfect IP for it, from a distant perspective. It's wild how badly it's being done though. I can only hope they figure it out some day, because while I have many hesitations towards NFTs (primarily for the environment), I do think the movement of more humans truly valuing digital items is a big deal. As pet simmers we already have been valuing digital content like that, so it does seem natural for one of these pet sim sites to move in that direction.
Also gotta mention that the moments of self-awareness on topics like "armchair" experts are great. You both acknowledge what you are doing, but at the same time you are actually doing the research and considering many sides so you are already protecting yourself from many of the "dangers" of speculation. Anyways, fantastic work, and thank you for tolerating my many comments as I watch all your videos!! xD
Haha no worries! I love your comments, I really appreciate your deep thinking in your responses.
I can't wait for you to get to my December 2020 Marapets & Fatphobia video. I think you'll also enjoy the February 2021 Kickstarted game video.
@@PSJulie Oh good, I'm so glad. & dang, recommendations? Thank you so much! :D
The people making guild layouts and pet page profiles are putting in more effort than this 😆
Truly
Good video Julie. It opened my eye to the idea that a NFT for Neopets isn't necessarily a bad thing, but the way this one has been signaled to the community raises big red flags.
To me it really seems like the target audience for this product are NFT-enthusiasts that are unaware of how this product has been antagonizing the core neopets community and want to buy the NFT in mass thinking that Neopets fans will follow.
In essence it smells like a scam since the NFT-enthusiasts will flood-in with expectations to sell as soon as the neopets fans come, but if the community has been antagonized the entire time, there will be no fans. The enthusiasts will be left with a big flop in their hands and look to liquidate their assets as soon as possible. Then the bubble would pop.
If they handled the product properly, I believe what they should do is tie the project with the actual neopets website and make it so the fans of the game desire the NFT. The enthusiasts would've flocked in naturally. But this is just my opinion, what do I know.
In any cases, it is a shame you're retiring from Neopets for a while, I honestly follow your channel as my main source of Neopets news. I'll stay subscribed, and watch the other videos you post since I appreciate your content, but my main interest has always been neopets and neopets related stuff. Thought I should let you know, since I know you read the comments. Anyways, best wishes.
Thank you so much for the thoughtful comment! You eloquently summed up so many of the concerns and thoughts I have about the project.
Now on the note of Neopets news-- I am taking a break from the game and do not wish to keep covering the Neopets NFT beat, but I may still make some more content. Stay tuned for what I mean.
All NFTs are planet killers, fyi.
Really appreciate how you sectioned this video. My favourite part was the MS Paint review, honestly you could rip into this so hard. Why are those images so low res? I thought their editor may have been lazy and taken assets from image search until you pointed out the image layers were wrong. If they have access to layers then why are the assets aliased and badly composited? This company is meant to be trading digital art and doesn't even have basic image handling skills. It's one big red flag.
It's not rocket science, but it's still too hard for them!
In my mind, UCs were the OG Neopets crypto.
I truly enjoy your videos! I think your approach as a professional differentiates you from the drama that plagues virtual social interactions.
When I came back to Neopets this year, it was your videos that gave me a whole world of context (binge watched them for hours on a Sunday, and I just couldn't stop laughing!)
Yet, it feels weird. This video felt like a reality check of just saying goodbye to the site. Those last 5 to 10 minutes... it left a bitter taste with how NetDragon & JumpStart are treating the IP.
I really wish they could listen to your videos. In the beginning I thought I would definitely own 2 of my pets as NFTs, but with how everything has downspiralled... I think I rather customize imaginary pets through DTI than just having them even on Neopets (which besides Gaia Online, its the only web game I still play since the 2000!) 🌻
Thank you for such a wonderful talk Julie, I hope to see more marleting and business videos from you! 😊💝
Thank you so much!
I think have many reasons why they only use the blue, first one they don't know how to change color and blue tends to be the first on the basic colors, second they simple don't care and pick the first color again blue is the first one basic color so don't doubt is the first one and third they still couldn't work out how to use the other colors after stop using dress to impress.
And the zoom on the cat was incredible
I'll tell the cat you were pleased
Darigan wocky would have been so awesome, or a stealthy pet whose deep purple with bright blue would have looked phenomenal. D:
"What are the basic colors again? Red? No, too angry. Yellow? Too blah. Green? Wouldn't want people to think their custom pet was sick. Blue? EVERYONE in the WORLD loves blue! The sky is blue! Blue is the coolest! GIVE THEM ALL BLUE." >all the unique non-standard colors sit in a corner forgotten, inviting the non-blue basics to join them in turning grey 🙃
Incredible work yet again, Julie! You approach the entire situation so professionally, and the subtle shade scrolling through the other NFT Twitter threads was a riot. Again, we all appreciate the hard work and time you put into these (and your other) videos. Thank you so much for this!
Thank you so much!
This was super interesting, thank you!! And overall I agree. My husband is into crypto, likely has a couple nfts somewhere, and while i don't understand the appeal, I get why others do.
But the way the neopets metaverse team is handling themselves is what really did it in for me. No real understanding of the brand, no positive interaction with the existing userbase, etc. I won't trust the company, and it's soured my Neopets experience knowing that the team developing the main site would partner with a company so ill-equipped to market and expand their IP.
My skepticism is about the team. They've fumbled at every opportunity.
@@PSJulie they really, really have and it's sad.
Another amazing video! I could definitely see though that you were very tired with this topic. I totally understand wanting to talk about other things and look forward to more of your videos :)
Thank you!
Thanks for the deep dive on this. You are a very easy person to listen to explain something because you don't explain things in a way that makes you feel stupid and you have a great voice for public speaking and I personally consider this a form of that. Your knowledge seems to go VASTLY beyond the niche you're in and would love to see you keep making content that expands beyond that !! I actually LIKED the John Mayer video!!!
I was like to myself "why am I watching an hour long video when I have 3 hours of classes to get to that are in a similar format?" but I really don't regret it, fascinating lecture, prof! XD
Oh no!! Go do the homework, I'll still be here later, i promise!
The zoom in at 56:22…. Cinematic perfection.
Fantastic video! I appreciate how much research and time you dedicated for it. It really shows, and it kept my interest from start to finish. (As your videos tend to do, haha.) What a wild ride this has been. It's a shame fans seem to keep having the same conversations over and over with Neopets. Jumpstart has definitely missed opportunities for this IP in the past, and this recent decision to partner up with this company, and subsequent decision thus far to not sever that relationship after all this drama, seems to be just another mistake. I hope they start to listen to feedback. I'm still holding out for that Build-a-Bear collab. Fingers crossed x'D
(And man, the more I stared those mock-up NFTs, the more issues I found--yikes that's bad.)
You're so entertaining! Could listen to you talk for hours, thanks so much for your insight :)
Thank you!
I still feel the same exact primal discomfort staring at that Soyjak (or indeed typing out the word "Soyjak") as I did the first time I saw it. (Luckily, your video was worth getting past the thumbnail 😜)
I think it’s valuable to take this professional and methodical approach to discussing the project. I don’t personally agree with the idea of cryptocurrency being a worthwhile pursuit but I really appreciate that someone like you with your perspective can speak to that idea while still addressing the inherent flaws of the metaverse project.
that said, it had not even remotely crossed my mind that JS had always intended to sell the Neopets IP for its parts. “keeping on life support, let’s sell it now because this is what we bought it for” - I just sat here absorbing that for a full minute in abject horror. I think that makes sense but it’s awful and I don’t really have an eloquent way to say that. something about it puts a chill in me and I think it’s time I step away from neopets too.
I had that same reaction, yeah. It was an appropriately ghoulish metaphor for the situation. Just such a waste… and for what?
This video could be an article, I love your eloquence! Glad you decided to share the longer version
Glad you enjoyed it!
waking up and seeing an hour long video from pet simmer julie covering the childhood ruining event that has been occupying my head rent free...feels good :)
Hope you enjoyed it!
Jumpstart loves to announce things and then never go through with them so that tracks, plus they seem to really love doing cheap partnerships so my assumption is that they just found 2 guys off Reddit and hired them.
one of the few public geniuses; thank you
Haha thank you
I gotta unfollow you, sadly, I can't support anyone who supports or trades in NFTs.
Same. Just watched this video and I’m shocked.
This was excellent and very informative. I know very little about marketing, economics, and crypto and I feel like I learned a lot while also engaging with a topic I care about. Thanks Julie!!
Glad you enjoyed it!
yeah NFT are dumb
Once again, another really great video! Thanks for taking the time to upload, I don't think I would have known anything about the NFT/NM situation otherwise. Definitely leaves a bad taste in my mouth, I think I'll be stepping away as well.
I'm about to make lunch to sit down and watch this! Excited :)
I hope you enjoyed it!
@@PSJulie I did! Amazing video. I love how into detail you went with explaining everything.
Very informative video, thank you!! :)
Glad it was helpful!
Wooo, I know what I'm watching tonight after work! 🤩
Hope you enjoyed it!
axie infinity actually does have a pepe at 44:44 (still watching right now but wanted to comment since you had mentioned not seeing any)
Hour video let's goooo
YES PLEASE CHECK OUT NEOPETS CLASSIC
I really enjoy your insight and structure!
GONNA WATCH ENTIRELY AS SOON AS I FINISH DINNER LOL
Priorities!
this video is just julie showing off her wardrobe
I didn't even try to hide it
I said hi earlier at the premier but now I'm so mf pumped to watch this YOOOOO
Thank you for this!
Glad it was helpful!
You make a lot of good points but the argument about dog whistles seems pretty out there. Like the those who freak out about the OK hand gesture when that’s been around for years and used with many different contexts.
That art though, yikes. It’s like they didn’t even try. Which then reflects badly on them because if they don’t care much about the art then why would a potential buyer think they care much about any of it.
There's a wide spectrum of people interpreting the dog whistles. I've had some people call me out on not blasting them loudly enough, and others saying that they're not real. And that sort of begs the question, if the dog whistle works for some and doesn't, what does that mean?
@@PSJulie There is the case of politics playing into what is a dog whistle and what isn’t, unfortunately. In many recent cases, those who deem something as a dog whistle are the only ones who see it as one. Some will see it because they were told it is and some won’t because they have no idea outsides it’s used context. Not in every case, but in most that I have seen over these last few years. So without more context of this person posting, it’s not really possible to know. I’m glad you looked into if it was commonly used in the community, but as of right now, I personally feel like it’s something to question but not something to camp out on.
@@PSJulie Part of me thinks it’s just an unfortunate side effect of millions of people people using and exchanging a huge spectrum of slang and dialect and idioms all in the same online space, which is itself so wide that we never see all sides of it. But I do think one element missing from the discussion here is pattern recognition. Words/memes that are used as dogwhistles are not the dogwhistle itself IMO: the dogwhistle is the use of them in a broader ideological context that supports and reinforces that interpretation.
I mentioned this on r/neopets and got no response but I think it helps illustrate: the fixation on “fren” in the discourse was really surprising to me. I had no idea there was bad associations with it because I’ve only ever heard it used by dog blogs (like Thoughts of Dog). Use of “fren” alone can be divorced from a bad subreddit because it has a life outside of that. If I saw the text of that post I might assume it was a joke based on “pet speak.” Not on-brand for the sapient and fluent Neopets, but not actively courting nasty people either. But it’s the combination of that with the “hatoooour” meme (and Pepe I guess? I don’t recall a Pepe but you kept mentioning him) that starts to invite the interpretation that they’re using dogwhistles of some kind. And while nothing in the Metaverse team’s behavior AFAIK points unmistakably to any of the abhorrent viewpoints associated with those memes, they have nonetheless demonstrated the incredible lack of empathy and sense of entitlement that can be expected from a common troll, for whom dogwhistles are themselves co-opted to further sow chaos.
(i hope this made sense, brain is mush right now I barely understand what I just wrote LOL)
Amazing video Julie!
those nfts that look like supporters look like someone was trying to make fun of low effort meme ar
nice chug jug