March has already come to an end and spring is just around the corner. March was relatively eventful on Virtual Popstar with rule changes, new team members, some changes with MCW and then undoing those changes… That’s eventful for VP, right? It wasn’t as eventful as last month when we time travelled a few years back, but we did experience some issues with the server this month as well. The site was down on March 21st for a while, but we are getting rather used to that now. Apparently, the developers have started working on adding the new game to VP which resulted in the site going down, but hopefully, we can get the game soon without the site having to go down more. In case the server would go down though, then you can usually find some updates on the SMT social media pages and/or on the new VP Discord. While we are talking about the people working on VP, you should keep reading, because the truth about Etjen will be revealed in this magazine!

We also want to remind everyone that the NewsTeam applications are still open, we are looking for both writers and layouters. If you like writing or graphic design, then don’t hesitate to apply! You can find the application form here.

MCW
The Mega Credit set Week of March was a bit later than usual, it went on from March 7th to the 13th. The Admins announced that the €2 set would be removed from now on, but due to a lot of feedback criticizing this decision, the €2 set was re-introduced. As a little change, the €96 set wasn’t made by Solovey this time, it was a beautiful set by Aske. However, the €48 and the €96 sets also came with bonus sets designed by Solovey. The female sets were designed by; Talent and Klavier (€2), Autumn (€6), Evie (€12), Lamb (€24), Wishbone + Solovey bonus set (€48) and Aske + Solovey bonus set (€96). The male sets were designed by; Talent and Klavier (€2), Sanctuary (€6) and Misjel (€12). To see all the sets, click here.

Auction
The auction of March was during the weekend, March 12th to March 13th. The female users could get a credit set by Solovey and a popdollar set by Ouch. Unfortunately, the males got nothing this month either since the sets have to be prioritized for other things.

 


This month the moderators also announced a few rule changes. The major changes are that they announced that the ES part of the advertisement rule had been removed, which now allowed discussions about ES on VP. The other major change is that the banner part of the foreign languages rule got removed, which now allowed banners in foreign languages as long as it wasn’t anything inappropriate written on the banner. Except for these changes, some minor wording changes were also done to the rules.

Something very exciting happened in the beginning of March: BT announced their new members! Foregoing the usual bootcamp, their new layouters were announced right away. Disposable, Liv and Talent all joined the team, while Kofod who has previously been a writer changed to be a layouter instead. Many congratulations from NT, and we are very much looking forward to reading your future blogs! In the same blog, BT also announced that they are changing things up a bit. Traditionally, their blogs have all been posted to the BT account, but from now on, the members are going to post their blogs to the writers’ personal blogs instead. The goal with this is to encourage people to publish their own blogs. The major articles where multiple bloggers come together to write a blog will still be posted to the BloggerTeam account, as will events and announcements. But if you want to make sure not to miss a BT blog, make sure to go follow the team’s writers: Panthola, Azriel, Evey, Brynhild and Octocat.

The Who Wore It Best in March was inspired by Squid Game. Rhinestone had designed some lovely Squid Game player outfits for the prizes. To win these, participants had to style a big black gun. The outfits were varied and very impressive, ranging from Bond girl to school shooter vibes to alien space warrior. The winners were announced on Instagram.


/ WWIB prizes

SMT’s March Raffle took place on Twitter. For a chance at winning some stunning prizes made by Talent, participants had to have a Twitter account and luck on their side. The winners were raffled in this forum.


/SMT’s raffle prize sets

An oldie made a comeback this month: Scriblb.io! During the weekend of 18th-20th of March, SMT hosted a Scribbl.io weekend with a total of 15 games. The two players with the highest score each round won, and females received a prize set designed by Ouch and males 100 cr. Players winning twice were allowed to gift their prize to a friend.


/Scribbl.io prize

The final competition in ET’s American Horror Story series started on the 28th of March and is still ongoing, with the deadline being on the 4th of April. For a chance to win a 80’s workout set made by Bones if you are a female account or 200 cr if you’re a male one, you have to dress up in your own best 80’s fashion. We are very much looking forward to seeing all your entries!


/Female prize for the American Horror Story comp

Another ET competition that is currently ongoing is a raffle! The only thing you have to do to enter is writing your username in the forum, and then you have a chance at winning some really cool sets made by Talent. Deadline is April 2nd, 10.00 CEST.


/The prizes for ET’s raffle

This month ET also announced the winners for its cat-inspired Meowww competition. All males who entered won by default, each receiving 200cr. The female winners received a very cute set designed by Liv.


/Female prize for the Meowww competition

This month has been an eventful one (please excuse the bad pun...), with no less than four different events hosted by the Event Team, Social Media Team, and Design Team. All three teams hosted a design event each, with differing rules. For SMT's event, there is no theme. There are two sets you can obtain by submitting “high-quality” designs, either by making full sets (the first needs to be for males) or three batches of single items converted for both female and male bases. If you decide to make a male set, you will receive the first design made by SiXsiXsiX and Misjel. If you instead choose to make single items, you will need to make a total of three different items (or six, since they need to be converted) to receive the full set. After that, you can either make another set (for females or males), or another three batches of single items converted for both genders to receive the second set made by Uhyre. You have until the 31st of May to submit your designs, so there is plenty of time left. For more information, check out this thread.

For ET's event, the theme is Easter. However, is is not mandatory to create designs according to the theme. In this event, there are also two sets to be obtained. The first, made by Aphrodite (for females) and Helmi (for males), is a reward for those who have shown effort in making their designs. To receive the second set made by Talent, the designed set needs to be “usable”. The deadline is 26th of April, so you have almost a month left to send in your designs. For more information, click here. DT's event is another male design motivation event, meaning that only sets for males will be accepted. Those who send in a design that is “good quality” and “usable straight away” will be rewarded with a set made by Bones. The deadline is 30th of June, which means you have three months to submit your designs. For more information, check out the thread here.

Finally, ET also hosted a poetry event with a participation prize made by Whydoiexist. To receive it, users had to write a poem inspired by the prize set, using three of the following words: wavy, pink, heart, collar, and jewel. A variety of poems were submitted, which all managed to incorporate the words in creative ways. To read the entries, check out this thread.

Ever since the baffling takeover of VP two months ago, where Kaj seemingly left the website in the hands of someone named Etjen and quietly moved on to greater pursuits, there is one question that has been burning on everyone's minds: Who is Etjen? Or, who is this mysterious figure who appeared out of nowhere to buy the sinking ship known as virtualpopstar.com? As the self-proclaimed most essential team on the site, we in the News Team were determined to get to the bottom of this, and thus began our search for answers. After weeks of careful investigation, interviewing people, digging in the archives, and using our best journalistic abilities, we finally came to a conclusion. Our research has shown that the only possible explanation is: Etjen is Kaj's alter ego. It is just as simple as it sounds. How else would you explain the “purchase” of a site like this? We all know user numbers are dwindling, as they have been for many, many months now. The TikTok contests have failed miserably in pulling people over to VP, instead dumping them all on the website I am now allowed to mention the name of, but will not. There is barely any money to be earned by keeping this site afloat, so why would anyone be so stupid as to invest in it?

Not convinced? Okay, let me break it down for you. Kaj was the laughing stock of the website, rightfully blamed for the lack of updates, and always mocked for his English. His appearances in threads were never well-received – no wonder he wanted to leave. The invention of Etjen as the brand new, incredibly anonymous, owner of VP enabled Kaj to make the exit from the site that he so desperately wanted. Remaining in the shadows also allows him to avoid criticism. And of course, his reluctance to step foot onto the website is completely necessary: Just one sentence of that characteristically broken English would be enough to expose him, which means he needs to stay hidden. Also, the parallels between the two owners are clear: They are both supposedly male. They both do business online. *Crickets chirping* Well, anyway, alter egos do not have to bear any resemblance to your real identity, so...

Finally, let us not forget the “coincidence” of Shadowjess quitting as admin at the exact same time. Just another move to make it seem like the website is undergoing a real transformation, when in actual fact, it is just the same old product in a slightly new packaging. Still not convinced? Well, go on. Keep believing that the almighty new owner is here to save VP. The News Team is not the place for fake news, so move along please. Of course, all you ardent supporters out there are very welcome to continue reading our material. Or join the team yourselves, so that you can also be a part of the group who makes sure to always give you the latest breaking news. Until next time, goodbye!