What's up with flash/neopets?

[GillyTook]

I keep getting nagging reminders that flash is going away after this month.  I also see that neopets hasn't really updated anything on the site in a while.  I still have to enable flash on the various pages most of the time when I log in.  Are they planning to just do away with the stuff that's still flash based (and aren't most of the games?) or have they been working behind the scenes, and just planning to unveil everything at once?  Or is this why there's the big push to the (omg, no, it's soooo ugly) mobile site version, since it'd probably use different coding?

[Scoobert_Doo]

Here is a link to JellyNeo's article on the end of Flash: https://www.jellyneo.net/?go=end_of_flash_support

It lists some items that have been converted.

So...yes, that's why Neopets created the "mobile" site version. That's what Neopets will be, after 31 Dec 2020, when browsers stop supporting Flash. I don't believe they are planning on "to just do away with the stuff that's still flash based", but they did mention games that aren't popular/played a lot, may not make the conversion. And, I think converting to Flash is taking longer than they expected. (Reason for no Daily Dare or Games Master Challenge, this year). They have been working behind the scenes, but also mentioned changes they have made, which can only be seen by changing to the "mobile" site version. (Yes, I still stay on the "Classic" site, for now.) There have been numerous Neopian Times Editorials, in the past few years, about converting/moving away from Flash. I'm expecting some parts of Neopets to not work, after the New Year, but sure they will keep converting and releasing the updates, throughout 2021. (Well, hopeful, anyway).

I'm not a fan of the "mobile" site version, either, but, if it keeps Neopets on the 'Net, I guess I'll have to get used to it. At least it will be accessible from a desktop/laptop, phone or tablet.

I'm more concerned about the games. Not sure which games may not make the "cut", and, what I got from the Neopian Times Editorial (or it could have been from a Q&A Neopets had "offsite"), that they aren't going to let us know the "list" of not popular/played games, for now, so we can't try to make them "popular" again.

I have been trying "ruffle" - https://ruffle.rs/, a Flash emulator, with Firefox, and may use that, at the end of year/next year, if some parts of Neopets are still Flash based/stop working. I can view some parts of Neopets with it, like the Map of Neopia, but the games - not so much. It is still a "work in progress", but glad it is there.

[GillyTook]

Thank you.  I just. . . guess I had not realised how close to the end of the year it was until I noticed the advent calendar and was like "ooohhh."  Really hoping they keep the classic site.  I spent a lot of effort to get a couple of those plot backgrounds and they look way better than the mobile site does.

[Scoobert_Doo]

They have converted a few of the plot backgrounds, for the beta site (Altadorian Constellations & Haunted Woods), and will be "converting" them all:

Quote

Will the site themes we've unlocked through playing Neopets all these years go away with the conversion to the mobile version of the site? I will miss seeing the Werelupe King at the bottom of the page when using the Halloween theme. ~~valleypark
We're bringing all of the existing themes (plus some news ones eventually!) over to mobile, so don't worry! They may look different than the ones you're used to, but we hope you like them. ~~gutterfoot

ref: http://www.neopets.com/ntimes/index.phtml?section=editorial&issue=917

(7th question)

Of course, not sure "how" they will look, in mobile, as "may look different than the ones you're used to", but I hope they keep the art/spirit/intent of the originals. I, too, worked to get many of them, and spent Charity Corner points on "perks" to get ones I didn't get/have. (Got 2 or 4 that way).

As for keeping the "Classic" site:

Quote

Once the beta is over, can we still use the old version of the site by opting out of the new one on PC? I'd like to only use the mobile friendly site on my MOBILE, not PC. ~~thebananasaurus
Nope, sorry. Once the beta is ready for full release, this layout will exist site-wide. It's a responsive layout that changes depending on what device you're on. Several key navigation features aren't implemented yet, so we hope you'll warm up to it once it's fully complete. ~~van Doodle

ref: http://www.neopets.com/ntimes/index.phtml?section=editorial&issue=916

(5th question)

Personally, I will be sad when the "Classic" Neopets site is gone. This may sound strange, but I like going to Neopets because it looks like "classic" early 2000s Internet. Sure, it seems "cheesy" now, but, other than the ads, it has a simple, uncomplicated feel. It helps me de-stress, after a rough day of work.

Although I don't customize much, I do wonder how that is going.

[kacheekkawaii]

On 12/10/2020 at 5:11 AM, Scoobert_Doo said:

They have converted a few of the plot backgrounds, for the beta site (Altadorian Constellations & Haunted Woods), and will be "converting" them all:

ref: http://www.neopets.com/ntimes/index.phtml?section=editorial&issue=917

(7th question)

Of course, not sure "how" they will look, in mobile, as "may look different than the ones you're used to", but I hope they keep the art/spirit/intent of the originals. I, too, worked to get many of them, and spent Charity Corner points on "perks" to get ones I didn't get/have. (Got 2 or 4 that way).

As for keeping the "Classic" site:

ref: http://www.neopets.com/ntimes/index.phtml?section=editorial&issue=916

(5th question)

Personally, I will be sad when the "Classic" Neopets site is gone. This may sound strange, but I like going to Neopets because it looks like "classic" early 2000s Internet. Sure, it seems "cheesy" now, but, other than the ads, it has a simple, uncomplicated feel. It helps me de-stress, after a rough day of work.

Although I don't customize much, I do wonder how that is going.

i noticed the change too.... i liked the classic style.... i liked the design of the marketplace as well & other stuff on it....

[SimplyTragic]

OK, So I guess I was right to think that the way Neopets looks now when I login, is the way it's gonna look after TNT convert things. Im not liking it at all. I much prefer the classic site. But if it makes things run smoother, ok.

[Scoobert_Doo]

Having a hard time getting used to it, as Neopets already switched it over (to "mobile). Some things I can find, and others, well, I'll eventually find them. It seems strange, though. Some links take you back to "classic" looking Neopets. Feels like a Frankenstein-owian conversion. And, the games seem laggier than usual, but, at least I did earn NP. *Sigh* I think it will take a bit more time for me to get used to. Oh, I do miss my themes. The new "Tis The Season" is ok, but want my "Grey Day".

[berriganify]

yeah i'm have some trouble navigating too, but i'm sure that i'll get the hang of it as i use it more. i don't think it's necessarily ugly, just unfamiliar. my main complaint atm is the sidebar not being opened, but apparently that's coming.

and i'm missing my themes, too! i used to use the constellation theme, and while it has been converted.. it's pretty ugly and fuzzy lol, so i switched to the haunted woods theme. it's not quite the same though.

tnt did kind of drop the ball on not getting everything at least functional before pushing out the site. like yeah it's a huge project, and they're probably understaffed but at the same time, they've made some.. weird priorities. they should have focused on converting the pages that relied on flash first before doing pages that were just html, and now all the people that spent a ton of money on nc mall items are rightfully mad that they can't actually use them.

or idk, maybe they thought that they could get all the flash done before the end of the year and they didn't realise the scope of what was needed. either way, i think everyone's going to be miserable for a while. a lot of people are quitting, but most of them will probably be back eventually. hopefully everything will be a little more functional by then. i'm going to stick around because i'm mostly in it to just chill and write and browse the forums. idk maybe i just have a high tolerance for unfinished stuff.

what amazes me is how many people on the forums.. didn't know that classic was going away at the end of the year? (or those who want there to be both a classic site and a mobile site.. like tnt were barely able to maintain one site, i don't think they could manage two.) the rest of the outrage is kind of to be expected, though. it's a pretty big change, and add in everything that's broken, or unreachable without navigating through half a dozen different menus and yeah.. it's not exactly a fun time.

[jellysundae]

I'm having to give myself a stern talking to if I find myself looking at ANY thread other than the Shenkuu one on board 7 x'D The usual suspects are loving being overdramatic about this. I want to say things like: surely they dont seriously believe things in their current state are the end product? like this is all for dramatic effect, right?? But... well, that's all that's needed really isn't it, that but.

The lack of a quick stock option on the new pages is annoying. I mean it's easy to get to via a direct link, I've just been altering the url of any page, it's no hardship (no really, board 7, it isn't!) especially when all I generally need to do is type the q and it autofills the rest. But why it's not there to start with shows a worrying level of ignorance about how neo is used, I'd have thought.

The people quitting in a huff, well...

I looked at this board yesterday, fair amount of histrionics, with a fair amount of eye-rolling in response. I'm not going back in there though xD Pretty sure that "mass exodus" will be using the revolving door. I wonder if a lot of the ranting is basically like a security blanket? Amidst the dumpster fire of current RL, what's going on on neopets gives people known and safe stuff to scream and yell about?

Now we have some themes the snow-blind effect isn't bothering me, shockingly I actually like the tis the season one   the holly berry being a red neopets' star is a cute touch! I may leave it on that, until the animation annoys me, at least xD I was using the premium one which I like a lot, so I'm lucky to have that option, as the others don't do it for me at all.

If I can make a somewhat inappropriate comparison: I feel that TNT deciding which aspect of the site to convert first is almost like healthcare people having to decide who gets the covid vaccine first. There's numerous things that could all do with being done first. I think it was Gutterfoot who said they started out doing the most popular stuff first; eminently sensible, then had to switch to focusing solely on flash-based things as, unsurprisingly, stuff was taking longer than expected. Probably as horrifyingly ancient code was unearthed, plus that coding standard of - change one thing, and it breaks six other entirely unrelated things.

 

 

[Nielo]

5 hours ago, jellysundae said:

The lack of a quick stock option on the new pages is annoying. I mean it's easy to get to via a direct link, I've just been altering the url of any page, it's no hardship (no really, board 7, it isn't!) especially when all I generally need to do is type the q and it autofills the rest. But why it's not there to start with shows a worrying level of ignorance about how neo is used, I'd have thought.

 

I think, if you read through all the overly dramatic posts, that this is the exact issue a lot of people are most upset about. It's the "do they even know who's playing their game, and how?" question. Personally, while I'm not a fan of the new lay-out, I know I'll get used to it, and I understand that a lot of things are still broken (and will be for a while), because the mere thought of having to convert a code-base as old (and big) as Neo's to a completely new lay-out and platform makes me want to cry. 

But... it would've been nice if they'd made sure some of the basics would have been a priority. I know using the URL to go to quickstock (and, honestly, to my inventory too) is not much work, but... come on. This is such a core feature for many people, so the fact that it's apparently not even on their radar does bother me a little.

[jellysundae]

4 hours ago, Nielo said:

But... it would've been nice if they'd made sure some of the basics would have been a priority. I know using the URL to go to quickstock (and, honestly, to my inventory too) is not much work, but... come on. This is such a core feature for many people, so the fact that it's apparently not even on their radar does bother me a little.

I guess the problem is that the people working on the site don't actively play on it, not in the way dedicated players who restock/do dailies etc. do, so they're not aware of how vital quickstock, and access to your SDB, are.

[Nielo]

3 minutes ago, jellysundae said:

I guess the problem is that the people working on the site don't actively play on it, not in the way dedicated players who restock/do dailies etc. do, so they're not aware of how vital quickstock, and access to your SDB, are.

Yeah, that's probably it, but that's really the kind of thing they should've checked with their users when starting this redesign. I can't imagine this never came up on the board about the beta test though, so it makes me wonder if the whole 'focusing on mobile' thing isn't primarily to attract new users (which honestly seems like it'll be difficult to me, with all the games out there these days), and less about keeping the old ones around.

Or maybe they're just desperately under-staffed. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[jellysundae]

15 hours ago, Nielo said:

I can't imagine this never came up on the board about the beta test though

THIS! I realised this earlier *dumps blame entirely in beta-testers laps* x'D Seriously though, this should have been noticed way sooner.

15 hours ago, Nielo said:

Or maybe they're just desperately under-staffed. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I think that goes without saying, sadly.

[Scoobert_Doo]

Well, if the Neopets Mobile Beta is anything like the Battledome Beta, looks like it will be in "beta" for a long time. And "beta" usually means "working out the bugs still".

I like to believe that the pages will get more uniform throughout this year (2021), and they will work on getting the games converted over. Restocking is fine and all, but if Neopians cannot earn NP to purchase the restocked stuff in your store, or you cannot make NP to restock, then that does become a problem, at some point.

I do think JS/TNT waited too long to convert from Flash to HTML5. Adobe officially announced it in 2017, but the "writing was already on the wall", in 2015. Even then, I don't think they started converting until 2018. Anyhow, that is now in the past. It's 2021 and Neopets is still here. Just gotta make the most of it, and hope the "beta" gets better.