Neopets has really gone downhill
By c0larfreeze
It's now been a year since my first Christmas playing Neopets... and guess what? They STILL haven't fixed some of their problems. Although they have updated login security (you now have to clarify that the pet that pops up at the top is your active pet) they have not done a thing about being more efficient in freezing real scammers and cheaters. For instance, there was this one person on the chat boards, not too long ago, saying they were giving away free things. I knew this was a scam, so I mailed him, asking how I would go about getting these things he was giving away. He then sent me an obvious scam, about how his computer had a glitch, he couldn't use any public things (such as the trading post and shops... although he could use Neomail... funny that) and would I please send him something in return for the things he would give me, so he wouldn't go broke. When I reported him, and replied saying that I had done so, he went on and on at me about how he wouldn't get frozen because Neopets didn't care about scammers. And, do you know what? He was right. He is still playing Neopets as I write this article... his username is xgordzx (at least, he was playing when I wrote this, by the time you read this, he will hopefully be frozen). I kept his mails, and made repoting him a daily ritual, but I never recieved one single word from Neopets. Not one.
Another thing that is wrong with them is the way that some users make friends with staff. One of my 'friends' that I had known for a while told me he was a hacker. He said that he never got frozen, because he knew Adam (borovan) and it turns out he did. He is still playing today, although I managed to convince him to stop hacking people.
As I'm sure you've heard alot of people say, Neopets has really gone downhill. In the 'good old days' it was easy to make Neopoints. Hypno Helmets costed about 1k, and there was no inflation and not nearly as much scamming. But, once Neopets begain introducing new items, people got more and more greedy. People started hoarding things and upping their prices, and scamming and hacking to make fake money to buy fake items. And, the staff are not nearly so responsive as they used to be.
I would like to finish with a little story... my best friend on Neopets (whose name I will not give out, as they may not want that) was doing really well. They had about 5 million pure Neopoints, and about 10 million worth of items. They had played Neopets since almost the beginning, and had really handled all the inflation well. They restocked, and were amazing at it. I myself made money by trading, but this person was the fastest restocker I had ever seen, and I have yet to see better. They restocked many Faerie Dolls, and eventually, their skills led them to being able to buy a Seasonal Attack Pea from Smugglers Cove. But, one day, they tried to log in, and found their account they had worked so hard for was frozen. The reason? They had been accused of using an 'Autobuyer' (a program that automtically buys anything in a shop you tell it to... can be very profitable, but definately against the rules). Me and my friend mailed the staff so many times that I thought their inbox must be full, but to no avail. They insisted that my friend had used an Autobuyer. In fact, it was because my friend was so good and fast at restocking. They caught the staf's eye, and the next magical plushie that my friend bought, they decided it was too convinient, and froze them. Amazingly, my friend is still here, and still playing. They decided they wouldn't be beaten, and only restock occasionally. I admire them. Still, they'll never be able to replace all the hard work they put into their account, so I have a message for you: Don't be too good on Neopets. The staff won' stand for it.
~c0larfreeze.