aql: Journey Recourdings

This is place grows and breathes as I traverse the internet. Virtual pet sites have introduced me to that peripheral web we now treasure, and here is where I want to document it. I argue strongly that our online identity is strongly influenced by the places we frequent, so I make it my goal to contribute to the places I find worth cherishing.

Subeta: Things manifesting in creature

Visit Subeta Read the code files on Subeta Visit my Subeta profile

Subeta has been my first real shot at pet sites. I was enthralled by all the amazing assets and creature designs, as well as a promising community that I feel could have turned into an amazing space for artists to express themselves. For my running theme I went for imaginary creatures that would represent some kind of materialization. How could I translate the design of a pet into a concept that I find interesting. How can we manifest emotions into matter and how far can we push a dated layout to look as fun as possible? I also created tribute pets for video game characters that I always loved and have them another twist. Here some profiles I feel fond of!

Vibes-Meter

40% [Lovable Mess]

For a place that used to be THE haven for people sick of Neopets, Subeta remains to be a great place to seek shelter. Fun minigames, an obscene amount of very cohesive and interesting pets and a clothing market with steady additions brings joy to my heart every time I log on. Unfortunately, the love for the project seems to have dwindled over the past few years with a small and sturdy community manning the empty forums. The few helpful people who will send you gifts and love kept me going for quite some time until the lack of a roadmap, buggy infrastructure and the hope for a v e r y distant rewriting of the site gave me a severe feeling of emptiness. The site lacks in a main thread mechanically. Creating and caring for your pet feels unfinished and the money-making Human Avatar system is just not what makes a pet site for me. Still, the amount of incredible art work on the site keeps me checking in to this day, and leaves me hoping for a complete overhaul using all those assets. I imagine the artists to make an incredible job when the site finally moves past ugly bootstrap layouts to bring their ideas to life. The site suffers from content bloat and will most-likely overwhelm any new completionist. If you are looking for a place to collect funny jpgs without much thinking, this is definitely a place for you - if you can look past the pricey pet slots. Many items are very hard to get by. A constant stream of items which barely anyone can get use of underlines the lack of thought that was put into designing the overall gameplay loop. The high Gacha rating comes from the terrible terrible terrible CSC vending machines that will use the premium currency for a chance to get themed items. They are well-hidden and the items are affordable for on-site currency, yet a recent addition of a $1000+ lootbox made me feel like there is more to come.

FlightRising: Big dragons and how to breed them

Visit FlightRising Visit my FR Lair

I couldn't get past the fact that breeding dragons would be a feature people would feel most-drawn to in the VPS space. FlightRising (FR) remains to be the most successful pet site to this day and despite the very 2015-esque aesthetic, I definitely understand where it all comes from. I love clicking my way through fresh hatches and crafting lineages for that one pretty offspring. I personally never went all-out on bigger breeding projects, but researching rarities and speculating outcomes definitely helped me get past some creative hurdles. I never got into the community aspect, yet the amount of work players put into their lairs is astounding and inspiring.

Where this site shines to me is the standard they provide to the breeding-based pet site market without biting off more than they could chew. There is a great sense of control over what you really want out of a breeding pair, and with the tremendous quality of the artwork, it's always a joy to hatch a fresh batch of eggs. The pace of new content is steady, reliable and communication is usually very earnest and clear. The large team managed to pull off something marketable, beautiful and unique, yet I fail to outline the edge - something that makes me invested in the world, the community and how I can help to shape this place.

90% [Polished and Pretty]

Poppyseed Pets

Visit Poppyseed Pets

100% [Perfectly Odd]

Genuinely innovative spin on a VPS with unique mechanics. BenMakesGames is a very dedicated soul who, in my opinion, needs way more support for this project. The creative ways one can interact with their pets is goofy, weird and always puts a smile on my face.

Lioden

Visit Lioden

50% [Just Off]

Many consider Lioden to be one of the more time-intensive and complex VPS. The artwork feels interesting, and customization to me even slightly outshines FlightRising with its very raw and thematical imagery. However, events do not hold back on their grind, the community is rather difficult to delve into and many concepts feel strange and lack reflexivity. Despite its focus on realism, the game didn't have to establish the weird interactions with lionesses or its odd relation to inbreeding. There is something very weird going on with that site, and it's hard to really wrap my head around it.

Moderneopets

Visit Moderneopets

70% [Slumbering Work of Love]

This one is a bit of an odd one. I have been deeply in love with the site since it was my introduction to Neopets as a whole. With its focus on creative freedom and lack of difficult grind I enjoyed sharing my creations with a welcoming community. The artwork outshines all Neopets clones to me with its detail and cohesion. However, the team is rather small and administration reliant on one person who also is responsible for all of the coding. Events are rather dull and after one ugly fall-out, the site has been in a state of hibernation. I still believe in the site's future; as to me, it feels like home.

The Final Outpost

Visit TFO

80% [Simple and to the Point]

While the overall interface looks rather hacky and dated, I always end up clicking my way through the site from time to time. The art and story on the site is remarkable. Where the creatures look masterfully sprited, the tone of the story lets you sink into the life of a researcher on a planet long abandoned, and it fits so perfectly into this small and dedicated community! I do hope for the future recoded website to offer even more oportunities to refine this little gem.

Grundo's Café

Visit GC

60% [Hard to Love]

This game has amassed a great following as one of the most content-rich and active Neopets clone. It features a strong set of games with varying events, fun colors and very frequent updates. It thrives on its competetive market and getting your dream pet is usually quite the challenge. I think it's fun and has so many tasks you can go for each and every day, yet I can't help but notice how much time it can eat up, and how difficult the community is for me to get into. The competetive aspect is rather daunting to me and makes me wish I had some friends to have started out with. The game can turn into a click-fest, and I personally dislike the customization of every pet. To some extent, it's less rewarding than the original Neopets.