Neopets Should Go Get Hit By A NeoTruck
By A random girl from the UK
Ok, I really want to let off some steam about Neopets. It's turned into a mad
commercial hellhole - while they make money, their innocent and unaware players
earn 'Neopoints'. Sometimes I wonder if the website is just a cruel
psychological experiment to see how long the world can actually put up with
these virtual creations like ugly pixilated pets, robotic monitors with no
personality and a weird fake currency.
What is a Neopoint anyway? It is soooo hilarious, it really is, that we actually
accept whatever those guys at Neopets throw at us. I can't believe I actually
CARED about checking my interest, or looking at the little Verdana font in the
corner of the screen that told me how rich I was.
[sarcasm] Yeah, we're really going to get far in this life with a few bytes of
data. [/sarcasm] Neopets Corporation put on this fake act that their site in
educational for kids and that it teaches them about the real world. So how often
do a random ghosts appear in a HTML table and steal your money? How often
does a green chicken-guy with red eyes give you a potion? To be honest, all
Neopets teaches kids is to be suspicious of people tricking you into
getting your money, e.g. scammers.
I love ranting. Anyway, my next point is the staff. Those helpful, loving,
responsive staff who are always there to help. Not. My real wake-up call was
when I received a toy out of the blue. I was really appreciative of this,
but *snap* I got frozen. Turned out the toy was 'stolen'. How am I freaking
supposed to know that I /received/ a stolen plushie? I emailed the staff
requesting for my account back, and switched to a temporary account. Months
passed with no response so I figured their inbox must have been full so I
re-sent the message. Again, nothing so it can't have been a mistake. I think
that Neopets Corp. have made their million or whatever and actually don't care
about the enjoyment of their players, only that we get bombarded with ads and
have to play rubbish games advertising McDonalds. Ughhh.
I can't believe the site is even called Neopets. Surely it must be focused on
grooming and looking after a pet? Nooooo way. Back when I created my first
Neopet, I was completely disappointed and I felt like I'd been ripped off.
Seriously. I press a Blue Bandana icon, a popup window comes up, I ask for the
computer to make the pet wear it and... the pet looks exactly the same. PETS
CAN'T EVEN WEAR THE CLOTHES THAT YOU BUY FOR THEM. Same happens when you give
then make-up. Anyway, doesn't this convey the wrong message? That you can buy
Pink Lipstick and make a pet wear it? It makes me physically sick that Neopets
even allow this.
In conclusion, Neopets is a total waste of time. On the user lookups they have a
shield saying how long you've been playing - that's not a celebration of
achievement. The players who've been on for as long as those idiots Adam
and Donna and with a "Last Spotted: Under one day ago" need to get a
life. To think of the 2 or 3 years I wasted away, accumulating virtual and
useless money, makes me sad. Imagine what I could have been doing - making
new friends, (and I don't mean NeoFriends), playing sport or just having fun,
because Neopets was really 99% frustration and 1% fun, and if you were addicted
like me you'll know what I mean.
So get lost, Neopets. You're ruining lives.
- A random girl from the UK