Neopets Is The Death Of Chivalry
by Nurse
I have to admit I've only managed to skim through the variety of articles that are available on this site. They all seem to support the same message, that is Neopets is addictive and unfair. I thought a story of my own could only add fuel to the fire, so here it is.
I've already been made aware that Neopets practiced ruthless tactics, and I played anyway. I played because I knew I'd learned my lesson and I was not going to let it happen again.
When I started out to the game I'd say six years ago I was twelve and needed something to help me get away. Neopets did that, and I admired it for giving me some place to find comradery even if it wasn't real. I grew up loving to help and to give, and even if that wasn't a direct result of the loving atmosphere Neopets used to provide, I know it was at least related.
Neopets changed, and it was a little alarming at first. I had no idea it had been bought over by another corporation, I only knew that it was getting bigger and bigger and there was no way they could contain it. They developed a help the masses attitude, even though if I might be so bold as to say the masses are undeserving. Let's face it, the quality of neopets members has gone down hill. Maybe that's because it's no longer a positive place to be, it's dog eat dog and no one sticks around for long. They freeze people for being in the same general area of someone who's done something wrong. They don't take chances. Their concerns are not with individual pleas.
I thought about getting premium, I heard that TNT actually took premium concerns seriously since they were being fed money. I was about to get it, I wanted to be treated like an actual individual. That's when I heard. Several of my friends who were the most loyal patient and rule abiding members I know were frozen. It said they didn't know why they were frozen, they just were. They tried but couldn't get their accounts back, it was useless.
I realized that I didn't have time to get absorbed into neopets like I used to. I remembered when Neopets would be thrilling to me, and I'd run home just to jump on and I kept up with everything and everyone and it was the life. Not so anymore.
My best friend died in January of last year, and I was devastated. I quit for a while and fell out of the loop. When I came back, I wanted everything to be different. I had only one account named Nurse. I was and still am going to school for Nursing, so it fit me perfectly. My objective was to give to those who didn't have a fair chance. Let's face it, if you start out on Neopets now with nothing you'll get nowhere. I donated np to whoever wanted it, I adopted sick pets and healed them and gave medical items to those who requested them no matter the cost. I started a medical gallery and I answered any questions I got. I adopted the pet Guardian and made him into my dream pet; a maraquan draik. That took a long long time. Friends chipped in for the pb. I was given an orange krawk by a best friend of mine and everything was going swimmingly.
Some scammer wanted Guardian, bad.
I refused, obviously, though politely and they began the threats. "I know how to crack accounts," they said. They were really serious. I was afraid so I sent a report. I said I was afraid my account might get hacked and so in the following few weeks if I asked for anything from them to not give it to me because it might not be me, god forbid.
A few weeks went by and nothing happened. I never really did much on the site besides help others. I didn't do daily anythings and I rarely played games. I had only 1k to my name.
I was in the clear.
I got on a couple of days ago and found I'd been frozen for selling items or pets or whatever else they could think of. I was really surprised, but I knew immediately it must have been that scammer. It didn't kill me because Neopets is by no means my life. I rarely find time for it anymore, but because I've invested so much thought into it it was sort of frustrating. I made guardian as a symbol of hope for other members, that no matter how rough things get you still have someone watching over you. It was in memory of my best friend.
I filled out the designated forms and I mailed support staff who I heard were helpful and who'd actually helped me before but I have yet to receive any word. I know when I do it won't be good news. Everyone knows the reputation TNT has for not unfreezing accounts. They don't take the time. I am just one person in a sea of millions, I mean nothing to them.
I know I won't get my account back, and it's such a shame.
I mailed Bryan at neopets.com and thanked him for being the last of the chivalrous. He was taken off of support for unfreezing too many people. I wanted to personally thank him for taking all of us into consideration. I'm not bitter with TNT, and I don't want to exact revenge. I'm only disappointed. I think that it's a scary thing for so many children to get addicted to this site that offers comradery and friendly values where they can't find it elsewhere in reality. I think that it offers false hope, and is an extreme let down when they realize it's not what they thought it to be. I know that these are just pixels and data and that it's not real, but it offered something else that I couldn't help but admire.
I'm at a place in my life where I can let that go and be happy in reality too and I hope that all of you can do the same. This organization is not the positive one it used to be, and yes it is our faults too but we shouldn't play the blame game. We all came here for the same reason and at some point we all knew what we were getting into. It's good that we're all here spreading warnings but let's not make them a negative thing. We've been hurt, but it's going to be okay no matter what happens.
Always,
-Nurse