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A roadmap for the much maligned Neopets Metaverse NFT project has been released—and boy is it a lot of words saying nothing in particular. Even with the generic terms used ("There's gonna be PvP! And PvE! And progression! And it'll all be NFTs!"), the roadmap is extremely aspirational. No specific features mentioned, but there are some good nuggets that we think you should be aware of.

To start:

This update is brought to you by the Neopets team, project owner and lead of the Neopets Metaverse Collection NFT.

The first line out of the gate seems to walk back what was said earlier this week that the NFT project would not be impacting the Neopets.com team's ability to develop Neopets.com. With the Metaverse team members continuing to be obtuse about development organization, either the Neopets Metaverse team is intentionally misleading the community again that TNT is involved, or TNT's earlier statement that it was entirely run by a third party was a lie. (As you'll see, the roadmap is signed off as "Neopets, Inc." as well.)

Continuing on:

Our long term vision is to create a single application which players can use to interact with the entire Neopets Metaverse.

An entirely new version of Neopia is coming soon to a device near you—in three different stages. What's included? Let's break it down for you.

So-called "Stage 1" of the roadmap includes:

* player assets represented by a combination of fungible tokens and NFTs;
* compatibility and interaction with other fungible tokens and NFTs;
* progression of Neopets (gaining experience points, leveling up, achievements etc.);
* PvP gameplay and mechanisms;
* PvE gameplay and mechanisms;
* development and sale of parcels of in-game land;
* in-game social interaction with other players; and
* user generated content where developers and creators can make games on the Neopian Metaverse assets and host them on virtual land plots.

In other words, this new version of Neopia will be pay-to-win (all assets "represented by a combination of fungible tokens and NFTs"—pay for the Giant Omelette!) It will be able to interact with "other fungible tokens and NFTs", including the possibility of the R-rated NFT project the Metaverse team was congratulating last month. (Yay, porn in Neopia!) You'll somehow train your Neopet—but oddly, core gameplay actions like feeding it, caring for it, and customising it seem to be absent. And most interestingly, it will also have user-generated content—but more on that with "Stage 3".

The second stage of the project involves implementing a "pay-to-earn" economy, meaning if you play the game, you'll be awarded with NFTs.

This is what we want to create with the Neopian Metaverse — a universe where any player can earn tokens through skilled gameplay and contributions to the ecosystem. The construction and implementation for this Stage 2 will occur after the completion and finalization of Stage 1.

So, once they've grabbed all your cash during stage 1's heavy pay-to-win version, then they'll toss in the freebies!

"Stage 3" of the roadmap involves decentralizing the game and taking it out of the hands of JumpStart and The Neopets Team:

In addition, we see that the Neopian Metaverse could gradually evolve into a community-powered initiative (and potentially over time a decentralized autonomous organization).

...

This will also coincide with the project team’s ownership becoming less concentrated and therefore adding to the pace of decentralization.

...

Our ideal outcome is for the players and participants to organically grow and bloom into a vibrant and self-sustaining community that will be able to submit development proposals and vote on the direction of the Neopian Metaverse without our team’s intervention.

In other words, the Neopets Metaverse team wants to build a game, step away from it, and allow anyone to develop content for it. We can only imagine what kinds of fun content random internet users will come up with! Consistent lore? What's that? Family-friendly brand content? Maybe, but also likely no.

Lastly:

This article is issued by Neopets Inc. It is intended for informational purposes only regarding our future plans. It is not intended to be legally binding, nor is it intended to be an offer, solicitation or advice of any kind. Any forward-looking statements or information involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties, which may cause actual events to differ materially. No reliance should be placed on any such forward-looking statements or information.

The initiatives in this article, if they proceed, may not be available to all persons in all jurisdictions, and are subject to change. No regulatory authority in any jurisdiction has examined or approved of this article or any part thereof.

Please always read any applicable terms and conditions carefully and seek trusted advice as needed.

Aka none of this may even happen? (If we're lucky!)

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The entire team here at Jellyneo is firmly against this project. In protest of the Neopets Metaverse project marching onward, Jellyneo will be hosting a sitewide blackout from Friday, October 8th at 9:00 AM NST through Sunday, October 10th at 11:59 PM NST. During this time, you will be presented with an interstitial page explaining why we believe the Metaverse NFT project is bad for Neopets. We will also have several actions that you can take to make sure that JumpStart hears its community—something it clearly hasn't done in awhile. We hope you'll join the protest with us!

To celebrate Grarrl Day, a new colour is now available:


A new outfit themed to Galem Darkhand, former head of the Thieves Guild, is available—perfect for thieving your money when buying NFTs!

UPDATE, 6:45 PM NST: TNT has removed their original message and replaced it with a slightly edited version. See both below.

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Today, The Neopets Team has responded to a controversy that erupted 6 days ago within the Neopets Metaverse project's Discord server.

For those out of the loop, on September 28th, an anti-gay slur (that we will not repost here) was left unremoved on the Neopets NFT project's Discord server. When confronted by various Neopets community members, the moderator at the center of this controversy, NinjaPengu, failed to remove the slur for several hours, claimed that they needed a "phd in AI" to anticipate adding such slurs to their automated mod tools, and said those who were complaining about the lack of moderation was spreading "FUD" (stands for fear, uncertainty, and doubt—used frequently in the NFT community to discredit the opinions of others).

You can view screenshots of the aftermath on our Twitter feed, @jellyneo.

We at Jellyneo have confirmed that moderator NinjaPengu was only removed today, October 4th around 11:30 AM NST, and was even being called a manager of the project as late as this morning at 8:35 AM NST.

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UPDATE, 6:45 PM NST: It looks like the original post from TNT on the Neoboards was removed and replaced with an updated version. Notably, the updated version strikes out a sentence saying their NFT partners are having "communication issues." Below is the updated version:

Hi everyone,

Thank you all for taking the time to share your thoughts with us. The Neopets Team stands with and supports the LGBTQIA+ community; as such, we've taken note of your concerns internally and we sincerely apologize for any frustration this situation may have caused. We will be sure to pass your thoughts along to the appropriate / responsible parties and want to let you know that the moderator at the center of the controversy has been removed from their position. We also wish to clarify that the "Neopets Metaverse Discord" is managed by a third party.

Additionally, we appreciate the time taken to share your concerns with us regarding NFTs.

We'd like to reiterate that our involvement in the NFT project alongside our partner advisors (Moonvault and Cherrypicks) is happening independent of the support we provide to the Neopets site and will not interfere with our development plans for the site. Please know we remain dedicated to improving the Neopets site and will have more site conversions, updates, and new features for you in the near future.

Thanks everyone,
Petra, Gutterfoot, Scrappy & The Neopets Team

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Below is the original response that TNT posted on the Neoboards (link now broken):

Hi everyone,

Thank you all for taking the time to share your thoughts with us. We are aware of the communication issues with our NFT partner companies and are working to address them as soon as possible. The Neopets Team stands with and supports the LGBTQIA+ community; as such, we've taken note of your concerns internally and we sincerely apologize for any frustration this situation may have caused. We will be sure to pass your thoughts along to the appropriate/responsible parties and want to let you know that the moderator at the center of the controversy has been removed from their position. We also wish to clarify that the "Neopets Metaverse Discord" is not owned nor managed by the Neopets Team or JumpStart Games.

Additionally, we appreciate the time taken to share your concerns with us regarding NFTs.

We'd like to reiterate that the NFT's in question are being created by a partner company, and not by the Neopets team directly, allowing our development plans to remain uninterrupted. Please know we remain dedicated to improving the Neopets site and will have more site conversions, updates, and new features for you in the near future.

Thanks everyone,
Petra, Gutterfoot, Scrappy & The Neopets Team

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Also important to note is this line, confirming that TNT is not directly involved with the Neopets Metaverse:

We also wish to clarify that the "Neopets Metaverse Discord" is not owned nor managed by the Neopets Team or JumpStart Games.

Which was updated at 6:43 PM NST (Oct 4th) to say:

We also wish to clarify that the "Neopets Metaverse Discord" is managed by a third party.

Up until now, the Neopets Metaverse team has been falsely claiming that the project and its Discord server is directly owned, run by, and part of The Neopets Team directly. It is unclear if the Metaverse team was intentionally spreading misinformation, or if they are unclear on who "The Neopets Team" is.

In addition, community manager Petra was in the /r/Neopets Discord server today and is quoted as saying TNT is limited in terms of what they can say and do:

I actually want to thank you all for the ping. We have been limited on what we are allowed to say, but we've been reading everything and sharing your thoughts with the appropriate people.

The Neopets Metaverse hasn't even gotten off the ground yet in selling NFTs, yet this is the third controversy that has erupted from the much maligned project. As a reminder, the first was @neopets calling this project an unaffiliated scam on Twitter due to no one from TNT being made aware of the project; and the second was the Neopets Metaverse team posting links to R-rated content alongside the Neopets name on Twitter, apparently not being briefed that Neopets is a family-friendly environment.

Stay tuned to Jellyneo, we'll be keeping you up to date on the controversial Metaverse project as more unfolds.

The first item for the Neopia On Ice collection is now released, and features Tarla! This item will only be available in October


It is unknown if this wearable will also feature in the Metaverse NFT offering, or if it will only feature wearables that were active at the point they lifted assets from a Neopets fan site.

A brand new month is here, and with it another chance to collect some freebie foods and Neopoints! No NFTs are on offer.


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Not in a position to donate, but want to help out by contributing some of your time? We're always looking for help on different projects! Check out the Contribute to Jellyneo page (also linked on the sidebar) to see what we currently need help with at the moment. Projects include: submitting data for existing articles (like Test Your Strength results), writing new articles, helping us research old Neopian content, modeling wearables, and more!