#uc trading

[sexybritishllama]

strap in folks it's time for another neopets drama update

some background reading before we begin: back when neopets wanted to introduce customisation (i.e. dressing up your pet) in 2007, they decided to 'convert' all existing pet art to align with a rigid body structure, rather than all having unique poses. it was just not feasible to create new pieces of art for hundreds of different pet poses every single time they released a new clothing them

customisation had been highly requested up until this point. however, the conversion was NOT popular. in some cases, particularly for basic colours, the change wasn't huge, but in other cases.... uh....

you get the idea. the more expensive colours like plushie, faerie, grey, royal and darigan got the worst of it because they had the more unique poses pre-conversion, and therefore it was largely agreed that the change to the stiff 'samey', frankly kinda goofy converted look did not look great

most users did not get a choice in having their neopet converted and it was done automatically, but if you had one of these colours where the change was huge, you were given the choice of converting or retaining the old pose (but not having the option to customise your pet). those pets that retained the old, pre-conversion poses are therefore referred to as 'unconverted', or UC for short

once a pet is converted, there's no returning to UC. you also couldn't create UC pets anymore, making UCs a limited resource that would only increase in value with time, particularly as people abandon their pets, leave the site, get frozen, etc.

i could write an entire dissertation on the drama that UC pets have caused for the pet trading economy, the neopet account black market, and general retention of the userbase, but to sum it up, people REALLY want UC pets. they are the single most coveted status symbol on the site

we skip forward now to 2023

the neopets team are planning to introduce UC pets back to the site, so that people will be able to create their own UC pets again for the first time post-converstion (legally at least)

they drip feed bits of information over the year about what this will look like. the main points are

changing a pet to UC will be done via some kind of item bought with neocash, the premium currency on neopets that you need to spend real money to get

putting this item on your pet will give it the UC art style appearance

so. not much really known. but expected release is set for january 2024

yesterday, they hosted an AMA focusing on the new UC pet system and how this was going to work. noticeably absent is any explanation of how much this is actually going to cost and whether it is going to involve any kind of gatcha mechanic, so that's causing our first lot of concern

second lot of drama is that the new UCs aren't actually going to be COMPLETELY the same as the old art, as they're making some small changes for style consistency, see below (old on top, new below):

the biggest drama, however, comes from how they're dealing with the 'original' UC pets. ALL pets will be getting forcibly converted on the 23rd, with anyone who has a pet that is already an original UC immediately receiving the UC neocash item. there's mention of possibly some kind of trophy or badge recognition for particularly old pets, but it's vague, and generally seems like it won't be possible to distinguish between the original UCs and these new ones

the people who already have OCs are not happy about this

people are allegedly pounding their pets, cancelling their premium, and quitting the site in protest. the boards are flooded with people complaining about the changes and laughing at the downfall of the 'neo-elite' in equal measure

it's t-minus 5 days until the second great conversion goes live. let's all pray for our souls

#eloise talks #neopets #neotag #this isnt even going into peoples displeasure at the fact you dont even need to be the og colour to make it oc #i.e. from what we can gather you can have a red kacheek #apply this nc uc item #and then it can look like an uc faerie kacheek? #AND the drama over this now destroying the uc market and possibly requiring people to get gift boxes for trading #i can keep going

[dailyfatefigures]

Mega Cat Project - Nyantomo Ookina Nyandam Mobile Suit Gundam SEED - Kira Yamato by MegaHouse

#FINE i guess i'd feel bad if i were to leave the gundam seed fans out (<< doesn't have anything against seed but is reluctant to step away #from the uc bc the only non-uc gundam series i've watched is Fucking Gwitch and we all know how that one went) #kira yamato #gundam seed #gundam #mobile suit gundam #anime figure #figure collecting #trading figure #not tm

[glowingkorbat]

my guesses for NCUC rollout (NOT FACTS this is Fully speculating just based on the AMA and general history of tnt nonsense)

NC Mall will crash relentlessly the first week or so (bad)

there will be different UC Styling sets (not just one item) and they will be accessible only by mystery capsule, meaning you’ll have to either buy multiple capsules to get the specific one you want or you’ll have to trade other users. Capsules will be at least 350NC (very bad. Will cause new levels of userbase backlash that will probably go ignored)

Styling sets will connect to your pet permanently. Existing UCs will have it pre attached. New UCs will have to acquire their desired set and attach it to their pet in a NC Mall substore hosted by the lutari silhouette we got a preview of. Once attached it can be toggled on and off but cannot be removed, and it will stay attached when pets are trading or adopted out (generally good. Keeps some of the PC trading functioning [people who don’t want to spend real money willing to trade names for UCs], saves users from needing gift boxes when transferring UC pets between their account. Does mean you need to purchase more style sets though since you can’t swap them from one pet to another on a whim)

new artwork will generally be nice looking but some will be considered general downgrades and the whole forced change will still be met with vitriol (neutral)

well named pets and aged pets will be the primary pool and status symbol. Probably more name for name trading in general if UCs are easy to access (neutral)

As confirmed via discord, pets will not have to be pre painted with your desired UC colour to have the style set applied. Faerie, Grey, and Darigan paint brushes will deflate as they are now essentially buyable with real money but non-UC colour paint brushes will remain high. (Good for managing paint brush inflation, bad for the ethics of suddenly being able to essentially pay real money to paint your pet)

hundreds of users will quit due to disliking new art or disliking that their (sometimes) hard earned status symbols have been reduced to nothing. Two thirds of those users will come back, because after a certain amount of time on this site no one ever really quits Neopets. (neutral)

#loud glowing #I’m just running my mouth and theorizing. I hope I’m wrong about some of these #thoughts? I really love hearing the range of responses to this decision #as someone who is overall neutral #(have a few lower tier UCs that I didn’t grind overly hard in the PC to get since two were adopted and one was a short trade chain) #(spent too much fucking money on customizing my other pets to bother making them UC) #(feels bad for people who’s trading hobbies or pet art are greatly affected but overall I just love when Shit Is Going Down on Neopets)

[transchomby]

I think I hauve covid

#obsessively checking the news every day finally paid off. losing my marbles #neopets #neotag #mutant maraquan chomby #anyways i just know the uc trading scene will be in shambles

[shyshoyru]

I think reading everyone's opinions that stuff is burning down bc of these decisions has me being bummed out. I was a lil excited about the changes and mostly curious about how the implementation is going to go. But in the end I sincerely want to believe it'll add to the site and is a compromise between behind the scenes stuff and frontend stuff ppl have been clamoring for. I guess I just want everyone to be happy and that's unrealistic

It's not really gonna change which pets I keep bc I'm more of the character stuff. I had fun trading and I also drove myself loopy trading and frustrated to tears. I just hope users and the staff can find more ways to engage w/ the site instead of...the valuable pet game?

I know some people are pointing out that making UCs NC means they'll be unreachable to ppl who don't get NC. I'll be real which is more likely: trade/adopt one of the many limited UCs or get gifted enough NC/gifted the UC token.

#I got all my UCs either through sheer luck in trading and being gifted them #im forever grateful for them bc of the sentiment of ppl who gave them to me #its just some pixels and someone wnated to make my day better :) #shoyru squeaks

[eightw]

i bought a styling item and got a darigan grundo, then promptly realized i don't actually want an uc pet almost at all 😭 at least it was only 300nc, but still, i don't want this anymoreee

#open to trading options ig if any of you want a darigan grundo. i'd only go for other uc things tho #maybe if they release basic color uc's i'd get a blue wocky? or a mutant grundo? #i like my customizations too much to care about uc #neopets

[magichats-fr]

I swear I will get back to the usually scheduled flight rising posting

but also the neopets conversion 2.0 is upon neopets now (gonna roll out on the 23rd, i'd imagine any downtime relevant to that is happening today on the 22nd if there is any)

the paid UC Reckoning is upon them

#not fr #neopets #I usually try to not get into the drama because it's really not good for mental health #and this stuff is tame compared to how toxic neopets was about 10-15 years ago or so #but like it is wild seeing so many people saying that this is truly the end for neopets #I don't think it's that big a deal and it wasn't as if people weren't already paying money for UC's anywho #(not to dunk on folk who traded fairly for it but they are ignoring the issue of the black market you pay cash for UC side of UC trading) #I am a person who only is sort of into neopets these days (gonna take a bit more than that to get me to really go back)

[agender-mutant]

They got burnt :(

#neopets #UC neopets #i got literally the one i didn't want lol #cute tho so I think I'll keep it in the back pocket on my tradelist for now #if any followers wanna trade hmu #happy el muchacho monday tuesday

[neobastard]

as much as i kinda despise the new way, i have to admit the ease of getting the one or two UC pets that i really wanted but didn't want to deal with the elitism of the pound chat to obtain is admittedly very tempting

#neopets #UC trading is so insular now that even attempting to get the pets i want would literally take me until i'm 30 #i got shit to do with my life i'll just pay the damn $14 and go

[tibby]

unconverted halloween neopets my beloved....

#havent played neo in forever and i was never into uc trading or whatever but lord. uc halloween cys...

[digiknow]

#ucsb #uc santa barbara #gauchos #trade in #coupon #gaucho merch

[creepyjirachi]

every day i am tempted to start playing neopets

#i feel like it’s too hard to get into? and the economy is very luck based especially since the death of flash? #i was considering getting into it for UC trading because it sounded wild #but i heard UCs are basically totally over now #you can like. still trade for well named pets i guess but the hype isn’t really there u kno

[neovanesa]

Y'all I still can't believe they referenced the TNT Alice controversy

#whoever in the Discord pointed out that they dropped all these bombs to distract from the uc drama was right #this was a LOT of bombs to gloss over the fact that uc trading is going to explode

[whatisonthemoon]

Full article from June 23, 2015 - Foreign arms firms considering manufacturing in Philippines: official

MANILA (Reuters) - Weapons and munitions manufacturers from Canada, the United States, South Korea and South Africa are considering setting up operations in the Philippines once its first defense economic zone is launched, a senior government official said on Tuesday.

Rheinmetall Denel Munition of South Africa and a unit of South Korea’s S&T Holdings Co. top the list of defense companies looking to lease land in the Southeast Asian country, said Roger Gamban, chief of the state agency overseeing the country’s weapons and munitions output.

U.S.-based Colt’s Manufacturing Co and Canada’s Waterbury Farrel are also considering manufacturing in the Philippines, he told Reuters.

The move to launch a defense economic zone in the northwest Bataan province by August comes as Manila has become increasingly uneasy about China’s assertiveness in the South China Sea.

Under President Benigno Aquino, the Philippine government has embarked on a five-year, 75 billion-pesos ($1.68 billion) modernization program to improve its capability to defend its maritime borders.

The South Korean company has firmed up a proposal for a 2 billion pesos ($44 million) firearms manufacturing plant in the defense zone, Gamban said. Waterbury plans to set up a 2-billion-peso facility in the country, he said.

All four firms did not immediately respond to emails or calls by Reuters.

The Philippines currently produces munitions only for small caliber firearms, and imports all its medium and large caliber ammunitions. By getting foreign firms to produce munitions in the country, the government will cut short its procurement process and create jobs, Gamban said.

($1 = 45.13 Philippine pesos)

▲ Former fascist president of the Philippines Rodrigo Duterte

Related links and notes

South Korean dealer to set up firearms production in PH

A South Korean arms dealer apparently made a mark on President Rodrigo Duterte that it was the first booth he visited at the 3rd Asian Defense, Security and Crisis Management Exhibition and Conference (ADAS) 2018 in Pasay City on Wednesday night.

S & T Motiv Co., Ltd took part in the biennial defense expo held at the World Trade Center in Pasay City, alongside its new partner in the Philippines, the United Defense Manufacturing Corp. (UDMC).

According to S & T Motiv president and chief executive officer Kijoon Yu, he first met Mr. Duterte in June when the President visited South Korea and the firearms manufacturer, and the Korean Ministry of National Defense conducted a presentation of the company and its products.

Yu told the Inquirer on Thursday that he was even able to take a selfie with Duterte.  He noted that when the President walked to their booth, they were the only company with whom he took pictures with.

Gene Cariño, UDMC chairman and CEO, said that when Yu discussed the joint venture agreement between S&T Motiv and UDMC which was signed on Tuesday, “He was very happy. He was very pleased with the business model of producing firearms here (in the Philippines). He said that’s what he wants.”

Yu said the joint venture agreement involves a comprehensive cooperation between the two companies for firearms manufacturing and supply, and possible expansion into the overseas markets.

“Based on the joint venture agreement we signed we will continue to participate in the commercial biddings to satisfy the continued demand of the Philippines for arms… and expand in the future in terms of research and development on existing platforms and the development of new weapons,” he explained.

He said that while there are plans to set up a manufacturing facility in the country, the UDMC facilities will have to do in the meantime.

The plans, Yu pointed out, depend on how much the joint venture is able to expand.

“I’m not sure if UDMC’s existing facilities are wide enough to accommodate our future goals so we will gradually expand, think of some other locations as well,” he said, adding that S&T Motiv is still in discussions with the government on a possible firearms manufacturing facility at the government arsenal in Bataan.

He said that S&T Motiv and UDMC previously supplied 7,000 K3 light machine guns and has taken part in the bidding process for a small quantity of K2C1 rifles.

Yu explained about doing business in the Philippines, “Demand is here so that we can enjoy our business here in the Philippines. We do have a really good relationship in the government level and civil level as well. We have very good technological basis and infrastructure. Demand is there and there’s a good infrastructure and business structure around it so we can take advantage of those environment here in the Philippines.”

For his part, Cariño said UDMC, through the joint venture, can produce the firearms locally particularly in Parañaque City, as part of its commitment to supply quality and price-competitive products.

ADAS 2018 will conclude on Friday and features government agencies and defense and security manufacturers from Israel, the United States, Ukraine, Russia, the Czech Republic, France, Singapore, Indonesia, and China, showcasing their products and services.

The Moonies and the Military Industrial Complex

UDMC partners with S&T Motiv to develop new technological firearms

South Korea-Philippines Military Ties in Focus With New Firearms Deal

Death Squads in the Philippines by Doug Cunningham

The UC should be held responsible for supplying weapons that killed young Filipino activists

U.S. Department of State Transcribing the Soviet News Program on Moon’s Ties to the Military-Industrial Complex

Thoughts on Dying for the People

Moon didn’t know about the guns! - Bo Hi Pak, really?

Moon and Guns in the 60s

Sasakawa and Kodama may have had another reason for their alliance with Moon

Moon goes hunting with rifle, but he did not want to defend his country

Unification Church business manufactured the Vulcan 20mm cannon Moon business, Tong-il Heavy Industries, manufactures machine guns

#philippines #arms #snt motiv #s&t motiv #tongil heavy industries #tongil group #weapons #unification church in the philippines #unification church #uc businesses #uc assets #businesses #guns #the philippines #south korea #republic of korea #duterte #rodrigo duterte #weapon trade

[starryscorchiotcg]

Personally glad I adore Nimmos cause they have one(1) UC that I am disinterested in getting cause I actually prefer the converted, but I still wish I was an Ogrin nerd from the get go so I'd never have any interest in the PC to begin with lol

I've grown out of wanting a lot of UCs thankfully. Still want a select few, namely a plushie scorchio, but to be free from that would be so relieving

#sugar speaks #I'm thinking about how I spent so much time chasing UCs #and it's making me sad thinking back on all those applicaitons and trade attempts

[palms-upturned]

For US unions like the UAW — which has thousands of members in weapons factories making the bombs, missiles, and aircraft used by Israel, as well in university departments doing research linked to the Israeli military — the Palestinian trade union call to action is particularly relevant. When the UAW’s national leadership came out in support of a cease-fire on December 1, they also voted to establish a “Divestment and Just Transition Working Group.” The stated purpose of the working group is to study the UAW’s own economic ties to Israel and explore ways to convert war-related industries to production for peaceful purposes while ensuring a just transition for weapons workers.

Members of UAW Labor for Palestine say they have started making visits to a Colt factory in Connecticut, which holds a contract to supply rifles to the Israeli military, to talk with their fellow union members about Palestine, a cease-fire, and a just transition. They want to see the union’s leadership support such organizing activity.

“If UAW leaders decided to, they could, tomorrow, form a national organizing campaign to educate and mobilize rank-and-file towards the UAW’s own ceasefire and just transition call,” UAW Labor for Palestine members said in a statement. “They could hold weapons shop town halls in every region; they could connect their small cadre of volunteer organizers — like us — to the people we are so keen to organize with; they could even send some of their staff to help with this work.”

On January 21, the membership of UAW Local 551, which represents 4,600 autoworkers at Ford’s Chicago Assembly Plant (who were part of last year’s historic stand-up strike) endorsed the Palestinian trade unions’ call to not cooperate in the production and transportation of arms for Israel. Ten days later, UAW Locals 2865 and 5810, representing around forty-seven thousand academic workers at the University of California, passed a measure urging the union’s national leaders to ensure that the envisioned Divestment and Just Transition Working Group “has the needed resources to execute its mission, and that Palestinian, Arab and Muslim workers whose communities are disproportionately affected by U.S.-backed wars are well-represented on the committee.”

Members of UAW Locals 2865 and 5810 at UC Santa Cruz’s Astronomy Department have pledged to withhold any labor that supports militarism and to refuse research collaboration with military institutions and arms companies. In December, unionized academic workers from multiple universities formed Researchers Against War (RAW) to expose and cut ties between their research and warfare, and to organize in their labs and departments for more transparency about where the funding for their work comes from and more control over what their labor is used for. RAW, which was formed after a series of discussions by union members first convened by US Labor Against Racism and War last fall, hosted a national teach-in and planning meeting on February 12.

Meanwhile, public sector workers in New York City have begun their own campaign to divest their pension money from Israel. On January 25, rank-and-file members of AFSCME District Council (DC) 37 launched a petition calling on the New York City Employees’ Retirement System to divest the $115 million it holds in Israeli securities. The investments include $30 million in bonds that directly fund the Israeli military and its activities. “As rank-and-file members of DC 37 who contribute to and benefit from the New York City Employees’ Retirement System and care about the lives of working people everywhere, we refuse to support the Israeli government and the corporations that extract profit from the killing of innocent civilians,” the petition states.

In an election year when President Joe Biden and other Democratic candidates will depend heavily on organized labor for donations and especially get-out-the-vote efforts, rank and filers are also trying to push their unions to exert leverage on the president by getting him to firmly stand against the ongoing massacre in Gaza. NEA members with Educators for Palestine are calling on their union’s leaders to withdraw their support for Biden’s reelection campaign until he stops “sending military funding, equipment, and intelligence to Israel,” marching from AFT headquarters to NEA headquarters in Washington, DC on February 10 to assert their demand. Similarly, after the UAW International Executive Board endorsed Biden last month — a decision that sparked intense division within the union — UAW Labor for Palestine is demanding the endorsement be revoked “until [Biden] calls for a permanent ceasefire and stops sending weapons to Israel.”

#palestine #free palestine #labor #union strong #recommend reading the whole article bc as the author points out #us labor has had a long history of collaborating with israel and imperialist projects in general #pressure to stop the genocide is not going to come from union leadership #it’s coming from rank and files who are organizing their own initiatives and putting the heat on their leadership #uaw’s divestment and just transition group is intriguing to me bc it sets a precedent to pressure other machinist unions to follow #and bc part of their efforts involves building solidarity with palestine among rank and files nationwide