Neopets: I'll never get those years back in my life
By Intellex, AKA Merz.
Hello, David.
Let me first start this article with how it all began:
I remember when I was a child, weak-willed and nothing to do in my life. Neopets was the Buzz around my primary school and all the children talked about how 'cool' it was. I figured I wanted to check what was so 'cool' about this Neopets... so I went on
and created an account. A big mistake, a huge one. I was around the age of 9 when I first joined Neopets, over the span of nine
years the site kept bringing me back for lots of reasons I will list later. I was in love.
The first years when I was a juvenile were simple years... Neopets wasn't the money-hungry corporation as it is today and the
people on there weren't after Fame and fortune, heck! Everyone on there was just after plain good old fun. These days I've
seen people waste 5000 dollars on NC (No this is real!) I mean, that was another bell that woke me up... why would you spend
hard earned money such as 5000 dollars, that could be taken away from you so easily! TNT could freeze you if they wanted too,
under absolutely any reason.
I joined the HC and became quite popular with my weekly giveaways of sketches I'd draw for people. People loved my sketches
and I felt like I mattered, like I was needed... I just felt so important (this is one of the reasons why I kept going back). If you
happen to go on there you'll still see my sketches floating around on there. That was another part of my addiction, I started to
neglect myself and my own bodily needs just to earn what? nothing... It was all a loss of time for me. I'd earn points, lots and
lots of points for pets and character's that didn't belong to me! They belonged to Neopets and they were their property.
I loved my pets, I really did... I spent hundreds of hours developing good character's and they were alive to me... they had
their own identity, but I realized: What was the point, what was the point if the character's for those Neopets we're Neopets'
property and their property alone, it was a waste.
I chose to quit mainly because...
Neopets has made me a very cynical person, a very negative and insecure person. Why? because of the stress the game
generates! All those hours, those tireless hours earning Neopoints for pixelated pets... to become better liked among
the community, to be remotely respected... and I've taken nine years of this. It's truly ruined me, turned me into a person
that constantly complains and is just aggravated by the lack of sleep. I've been so used to my sleep pattern over nine years
I cannot break out of sleeping until the morning. I may have felt respected for my hard-hours spent on my sketches for people,
but in truth that respect was false... people didn't care that it took me hours. It was just a number, my sketch was just a number
to their ever vast collection of fanart. I pictured myself within ten years, If I would be playing Neopets... I didn't see myself, I
figure it's better to quit now before I waste another decade on this game.
My addiction would go as far as towards:
1. I would dream about Neopets in my sleep.
2. The only type of conversation among my real-life friends was Neopets.
3. I'd turn-down social outings and important times of my life, such as my birthday and waste it all on Neopets.
4. I'd stay up until 4 in the morning or more earning Neopoints and sketching things for people... they would hardly appreciate it.
5. All I'd draw is Neopets, and only Neopets.
6. I would become enraged and so very angry if I were distracted away from Neopets or if anything ever happened to the internet or
the power.
7. I'd neglect my bodily needs for hours on end, such as my bladder and my need to eat.
8. The first thing I'd do in the morning is play Neopets, and I'd miss out on Breakfast and Lunch normally.
9. I noticed I was gaining weight and I was socially adequate, I also was extremely out-of-shape due to nine years of sitting
down.
So came the quitting... I announced I'd be leaving in two months and I was giving away my stuff on the PC. What happened? People
flocked to my board and abused me for leaving, saying that I can't manage my time and that I was weak. I had enough of this, I tried
to be kind by putting my pets up for adoption before I left, but this was the final straw. People on Neopets and the state of their kindness
has gone down hill, literally! I asked for the self-freeze link and this girl named Summer abused me... calling me a troll and an attention
seeker, I never wanted to go so badly in my life. So I find out that the self-freeze link is
glitched, I wanted to be rid of Neopets... I didn't
care about the applications for my pets anymore, people we're just so rude on there! So there was only one drastic thing to do and that
was to hand my account over to my Troll friend, Josh. He went on the boards and abused people in an attempt to get my account frozen,
what happened? TNT didn't freeze the account, they silenced it... silenced it because they most probably wanted me to keep buying
their products as I had with a 10 dollar NC card. They disgust me. So there was only one thing to do, and with the power I had left
I created Neopet names that slandered Neopets and their staff, I had no other choice.
I ruined my life on Neopets, please... don't make the same mistake I did. I never went to college because I failed every single subject
from this game. I am writing this story to help other's out with the problem of addiction. Listen to me... you'll know other's in your life
that have never ever heard of Neopets and they still survive day-to-day life with no affliction, If they can survive so can you. Neopets
is just a GAME, It's just a game with static pictures that are made of pixels and vectors. They are not real, they do not live and they
are drawn by PEOPLE. What you achieve on the game does not concern real-life, and if you come across a stranger and bring it up
in conversation, they will turn the other cheek... It is irrelevant. People will say it's just for fun, but what is fun when it comes with
frustration, addiction, and loss of social life? I ask you! Is it worth it? Is it worth nearly wasting nearly a decade of your short life
in this make-up game that has no constructive relevance to real life? Please... ask yourself. If you think there is no other life outside
of Neopets, you truly need help, not in an insulting way but in a sympathetic way. Trust me when I say this... you're alive and you're
breathing! There is life, go outside, get a REAL hobby.
Me in 2011: Eating dinner in front of the computer screen, carpal-tunnel from excessive gaming and drawing, stuffing face with Junk-food in front of computer, sitting
on Neopets for 16-18 hours, never going out anywhere, lack of sleep, no social life, excessive eye-strain, gaining weight. Getting depressed.
Me in 2012: Taking up jogging, donating my time into the studies of Anatomy and figure-drawing, now going to bed at 8-10 at night and waking at 5-6 AM, working
a casual job and spending it on things that matter such as Art supplies and Graphics tablets, don't need correction-glasses anymore. Life couldn't be better.
~ Merz, AKA Intellex on Neopets.