Monthly Q&A with TNT

January 17, 2024

The January 2024 AMA took place at 5pm NST on January 17, 2024.

The AMA was first announced on January 10th, about seven days in advance.

This AMA was dubbed "NC Style Pet Edition" and will feature not only Neopets CEO Dom Law as usual, but also unspecified other TNT members, as well as Sosu, one of the Community Ambassadors for art & design. It will be moderated by Neopets YouTuber Kevin from KevinoGaming, who also moderated the December AMA.

Questions could be submitted in advance through a StrawPoll shared on Neopets social media. You may want to "View Results" before submitting; the only way to add support for other questions is to enter them exactly as an "Other" option. You can only submit one question!

How to Watch

The AMA was simulcasted on YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter/X. It remains available for viewing on all of these platforms:

Rewatch on YouTube »

Rewatch on Facebook »

Rewatch on Twitter/X »

Rare Item Code

TNT announced in advance that "ALL viewers who join live will receive an EXCLUSIVE unreleased prize" although it turned out to ultimately be an already-released item. The code was revealed as NEWYEAR24AMA near the end of the livestream, redeemable at Grundo Warehouse.

Although the image shown on the livestream said the code would only be valid for a few days, it remained available through sometime between June 23 and 27, 2024.

Recap

Questions for TNT Fae and TNT Ivy

Kevin started with a shoutout to the Neopets YouTube community! He then welcomed in TNT Fae and TNT Ivy.

Introductions?

• TNT Fae is an artist and a 15+ year player.
• TNT Ivy is a marketing coordinator and graphic designer. With TNT for ~1.5 years and also a longtime player since early 2000s.

Fae, tell us more about the official launch date of NC UCs?

• Tuesday, January 23rd.
• Fae has taken a lead role on the project.
• Officially confirm that the Deluxe Styling Studio Supplies bonus prize from Stocking Stufftacular is used for NC UCs.

Tell us about the development timeline of NC UCs?

• Got backburnered by other initiatives several times, and even had to completely restart the design at one point.
• "Some of the most scrutinized art that we've looked at." Want to make sure it maintains nostalgic charm with 2024 art sensibility.

What colours are part of this launch?

• Faerie, Darigan, and Grey.
• Not just already-existing UCs! "Some very new and very old faces" will be included.
• Ivy and Kevin want Tyrannian next.

Will we be seeing UCs that never got released?

• Yes! Not only the ones that have been UCs since 2007.
• Some will have updated line art.

Can you share some customisation examples?

• The Grey Draik on the left was customised by Ivy.
• The Faerie Hissi on the right was customised by Fae.

Were there challenges in the design process?

• "A very big hurdle was just the artwork itself." Wanted to make sure it looked good without sacrificing charm and nostalgia.
• They showed some side-by-side comparisons of the changes.
• TNT Fae gave shoutouts to Clammyhand and Weirdough.

After the AMA ended, while chatting in the r/Neopets Discord server, TNT Fae added this clarification:

i'll put a general clarifcation here for what seems the most concerning:
not ALL of the UC art got art updates/changes, ESPECIALLY live uc pets, so please don't try to speculate or worry super hard about that ❤️

in fact, most of it did not! there were a few issues that are pretty obvious with the live ucs like the very very thin lineart (or um the darigan gelerts entirely missing leg cough cough or the chunk missing from the uc plushie kougra mouth hehe)

After some controversial discussion about the changes to the Faerie Ixi in particular, TNT Ivy added in the r/Neopets Discord:

We updated the line art on some of the pets, and this also paves the way into fun things for the future. But we did not change much else... some of them just needed a bit of a glow-up. Also, we hear you about the faerie ixi and will talk about it as a team. 👏

What's happening to existing UCs?

• UC pets on the site "will not be going away, but they will be changing."
• All UCs on the site will receive a replacement item attached to them to keep them in the UC art style.
• Although they don't say it directly, it sounds like they will be converted and automatically granted the appropriate Styling Supplies to make them UC, and be otherwise indistinguishable from NC UCs.
• Some "particularly old pets, UC or not," will receive a trophy of some sort.

Towards the end of the AMA, TNT Fallie was chatting in the r/Neopets Discord. When asked "if royal pets arent available yet, they're just stuck converted?" she replied:

Grey/Darigan/Faerie will be available for purchase first, but our team is ensuring UC designs are still available to replace UC pets now. 🙂

And to a similar question on the Neopets Nation Facebook group, TNT Luna further clarified:

All pets (not just Faerie/Grey/Darigan) will be converted and given equivalent NC items that match their pet so they can still appear in the art they had! For example, any UC coco jubbies will get a replacement item

TNT Fae also added in the r/Neopets Discord server:

also clarification for live UC pets: UC pets that will be auto-converted on the 23rd WILL IMMEDIATELY receive a replacement item that will give them the same UC look. nobody will have to wait for it to be available for purchase in the NC mall~!

In response to questions about whether a pet will need to be painted a certain colour for the Styling Supplies to work, TNT Fae stated in the r/Neopets Discord that:

also: pets will NOT need to be painted a specific colour in order to work with the NC UC items. ❤️ you can stop feeding the hungry, hungry inflators

Later, TNT Fallie clarified even more plainly in the r/Neopets Discord to a confused user asking "wait so a pet does need to be painted then?" by responding:

Nope! So long as it's the same species.

Any final comments?

• Fae wants to assure that UCs will still be customised similarly as before.
• Ivy wants to reassure the Pound Chat that things will be good even if they are shocked right now.

Questions for Sosu and TNT Luna

Kevin then brought in Art & Design Ambassador Sosu and new Community Coordinator TNT Luna for some questions about the new fan art program.

Introductions?

• Sosu is from Buenos Aires and has played Neopets for almost 20 years. He is a community ambassador for art & design. He has formerly volunteered at Jellyneo and Sunnyneo. His favourite Neopets activity is making graphics.
• TNT Luna signed up for Neopets in 2008 after getting banned from Club Penguin. She replies to Neopets Instagram comments, and spends time in the r/Neopets subreddit, r/Neopets Discord, and Neopets Nation Facebook group.

Sosu, how has the ambassador program been?

• "The ambassador program has been nothing but great."

Luna, what can you tell us about the community art program?

• It was spearheaded by TNT Fallie.
• "Our goal is to promote and support artists who want to sell their fan art on the site itself."
• TNT takes no profits from the program; just want to promote talented fan artists.

What are the application deadlines?

• Still about 20 days left to apply.
• TNT has already received over 100 applications!
• No timeline yet on when they will be able to reply to applications.
• Applications will be reviewed by experienced TNT artists.

View the Fan Art Program FAQ »  Apply for the Fan Art Program »

Sosu, what is your journey in digital art?

• Has been interested in graphics since even before Neopets. His first ones were about anime.
• Neopets has helped him hone his skills and style.
• Started to sell his layout graphics during the pandemic after losing his job.
• Excited that the program will help others have the ability to sell their work too. He encourages other graphics makers and coders to apply in addition to more traditional artists.
• Luna added that she's happy to loosen up the previous very strict Neopets terms of service.

What's the story with becoming an authorized seller?

• Make sure to read all the details!
• Must have a shop with at least three listings, that is dedicated to only Neopets, and is not for NC cards.
• The strict requirements are due to Neopets needing to comply with COPPA, a US law that limits what content can be served to minors, since the shops will be linked from Neopets.com
• If you have questions, feel free to reach out to Sosu and Luna on the platform of your choosing!

Questions for Dom

Kevin then transitioned to a series of questions directed to Dom. These questions were paraphrased from among the highest voted on a StrawPoll shared in advance of the livestreams.

Dom started by sharing an infographic showing some statistics from 2023.

This was also shared on the Neopets LinkedIn page

In addition to these successes, Dom wanted to address some outstanding issues:

• With site lag/performance, Dom assured that TNT is continuing to actively work on infrastructure improvements.
• They have also hired an outside security firm that has already issued some preliminary recommendations for making Neopets safer.
• They have also claimed great progress on freezing the accounts of many major cheaters, including the infamous so-called Food Club Botter.

Which UC pets are being released first?

• Answered earlier (Faerie, Darigan, and Grey).
• Dom adds that feedback has been critical in how to release NC UCs, and they had to make some tradeoffs.
• "We have found a way that is most fair to the community" but "there is no perfect solution" and "all details will be released all at once next week."

Did a TNT staff member give away items equivalent to trillions of Neopoints to some users?

• Dom thanks the community for bringing this to his attention.
• TNT has started an internal investigation and "will keep the community posted."
• The alleged incident occurred in 2022, i.e. before the current management.
• There are a lot of logs to look through, so it will be time-consuming to investigate accurately.
• Accusations will be taken seriously and investigated thoroughly, but will not be a "witch hunt."

What is the stance on neo_truths?

• Dom assures that they are taking it seriously, and re-mentions their new external security firm.
• Hackers "might still have access to certain parts of Neopets, but rest assured I think most of the private data are very safe."
• Treating this as a bug bounty program, not just from neo_truths but also ambassadors and other community members. "To us, neo_truths has been acting like an ethical hacker...offering help to help us identify our vulnerabilities."
• neo_truths's tips come through tickets and TNT does not otherwise have a direct relationship with them.
• TNT has frozen a large number of known cheaters recently, in particular around exploiting item generation during the 2023 Faerie Festival and multiple account abuse during the 2023 Advent Calendar.
• Dom encourages people to report any "loopholes" that they find.

Are you planning to have more events internationally and change shipping fees?

• Many top countries for Neopets are far from the US!
• Most of TNT is in North America, so it is much easier to attend cons in North America.
• Dom welcomes suggestions on which cons to attend!
• As for shipping costs, TNT is working on a new e-shop that will be able to ship globally at a much lower shipping cost. Aiming for end of March!
• TNT is also expanding their licensing program to have licensees around the world instead of just USA. However, new licensees usually take 6-12 months to get products to market, so it may still be a while yet.

Is there any chance that stuck pet searching will be restored?

• "The real problem with stuck pets is stuck pets shouldn't exist to begin with."
• "The end goal is all pets appear in the Pound."
• Separately, Dom would also like to do a purge of old, inactive pets.

Would you ever consider setting up a legitimate NC trade system [similar to the Trading Post or Auction House]?

• It's a good idea in concept, but the existing Trading Post and Auction House already have issues & limitations.
• Want to tweak some settings and features with NP item trading to be more modernized, which would take priority over a new NC trading system.

When will the new TCG cards be released?

• Dom can't say yet! Many details are still under confidentiality restrictions with their partner, Upper Deck.
• Dom confirmed TNT's return to SDCC 2024 and their debut at Gen Con 2024 in Indianapolis this summer.

This page was written by Kenny and last updated on August 31, 2024.