Clearing up a few common misconceptions.

[shroomy]

Following the wave of <b>Day of Action</b> support on ppt, I've noticed that several widespread misconceptions concerning The Neopets Team have yet to be addressed and/or confronted. A<i>hem</i>.

<b>Bots?</b>
As odd as it may sound to many of you, we handle our e-mail- and our <i>freezing</i>- by hand. We do not have bots that freeze upon any predetermined basis, nor do we let machines sort through our inboxes and have their way with the e-mails within; yes we <i>do</i> have form responses to certain questions (otherwise there's no way most concerns could be addressed), but each reponse is fitted to its e-mail by a live, human monitor.

No computers.

<b>Hundreds...?</b>
<i>Also</i> contrary to popular belief, we do not have hundreds of people working at the site; that can be easily determined by taking a quick look at the staff page. We have an average of 25 monitors give or take, and, as has been mentioned, it takes a lot of work for them to sort through all the e-mails.

Also remember that not all of our monitors are on-site (thus being able to keep an eye on the site 24/7), and mistakes <i>are</i> made- we admit- in the freezing departement without our knowledge.

<b>40%?</b>
I often see users quoting some dramatically unreliable source about '40%' being the amount of accounts on neopets frozen- that's about, at the time of writing, 31, 397,084 accounts. Please realize that to achieve this number, 25 monitors would have to be working 24/7 for the past five years freezing one account every two minutes. Yeah, um, it's not true.

<b>Um, brainwashing.</b>
I'm so very sorry that you have to suffer the 'slings and arrows of outrageous fortune' that have led you to be exposed to advertisements on the Neopets website, but I wish that you'd refrain from referring to it as brainwashing. Compared to television- an equatable entertainment source, in my mind- Neopets, well, it doesn't <i>even</i> compare. Sponsor games are there for the taking, and their banners make up an <i>umpteenth percent</i> of those displayed above your username. To be fair, I decided to reload a page on Neopets until I was shown an advertisement, and I stopped after 27 reloads because I was tired of hitting command-R.

Also remember that <i>really</i>- we all know you're not <i>stupid</i>. If you're so impressionable so as to buy an Avril Lavigne CD after playing a game for np, then so be it; very ferw of you are seriously influenced by the ads, and many avoid them specifically, so I doubt it's as much of a problem as you're making it out to be.

<b>OMG they do not understand my PAIN!!1</b>
...to say it eloquently. Maybe y'all didn't realize this, but most of the staff at Neopets <i>are</i> users- many of us were, in fact, introduced to our jobs <i>through</i> our love of the site. Consequently, we really do love neopets as a site just as much as the next user; we all have pets that we feed and fight with and care for, and (gasp!) we've all been affected by the glitches too. Before <i>and</i> after we've come to neopets we've all suffered immense losses in terms of items or neopoints, and you know what? We stuck it up, stepped back from our computer, got over it, and tried to figure out what happened.

My extreeemely valuable shop/gallery is completely empty at the moment and there's no way I can fix that fact, and I still love Neopets just as much as I did before- because to me the site's about <i>enjoying myself</i> and not about fake money... As much as i love it.

<b>They sure don't care about their users, those heartless cads... They don't even treat us like <i>individuals</i>!!</b>
Okay, look- if <i>you</i> wanted to be treated like individuals, why don't you start treating <i>us</i> like individuals?

Yes, consider that little nugget- while you're shouting to get individual attention from The Neopets Team, that, in turn, is all we are to you- <i>The Neopets Team</i>. And <i>of course</i> all we care about is money, and <i>of course</i> we just sit back and play cards all day, and <i>of course</i> we only semi-care about our users so our reputation doesn't get too tarnished... Yes, erm, it seems a bit unfair to disregard the fact that each of use works 8 hour days at the office, working our butts off to keep up to date with everything so as to not have the site lag.

There's been a big call for artists' overtime as of late just to get a particular project done, for example, so I'd rather you all sat back and acknowledged that we don't wallpaper our offices in cash and laugh mercilessly as we press the freeze button; we work, we play neopets in our spare time, and we (gasp!) <i>enjoy</i> what we do. We do everything for the well-being of the site <i>and</i> for the users, so just sit back for a second and imagine how keen we are to have our work stomped on on a daily basis. YAY!

---

Please don't let me discourage your Day of Action, though- it seems very important to you.

-S

[The Wonder Weezel]

shroomy, i hope you come back to read the replies to this... yeah, I believe i ppter started this, so some ppt'ers followed, but not all PPT'ers follow along with it, its not a PPT-wide thing. I never liked the idea from the star, but I'm just another player so I'm glad a staff member can finally post somethiing for people to read... they may actually listen to you! I'm sorry some people overreact with the whole subject. There were a few freezings that we thought to be unfair, but then people just got too wrapped up and created a whole conspieracy thing about Neopets and how bad they have it, even though Neopets is an amazing site. So please keep in mind, not all of us are like that, and thanks again for posting something that may clear the minds of some.

And remember, that article on the front page was just an article that had one person's point of view, and alot of people posted in the comments to support it, alot of people went against it. Those people can be anybody who wants to post there, not just PPT'ers. The comments are free to all Neopets Players, so please dont think its just a bunch of people from Pinkpt badmouthing The Neopets Team, its not.

Last edited by The Wonder Weezel on Thu Jul 01, 2004 5:26 am, edited 1 time in total.

[T.M.W.A.C.H.N]

Note that anything which appears on PPT does not solely exemplify the thoughts of either myself or the staff. Anything which appears on PPT does not encompass the aim to 'idolize' nor 'bash' Neopets and their staff. These postings are the views, thoughts and opinions of the neopian populace.

Not all of the PPT members/staff are in favor of the DoA

[DiscordantNote]

Welcome to PPT!

It's good to hear from an actual staff member. There have been too many rumors floating around, and it hasn't been until now since someone who actually knows what's going on has said something. It's a bit of a relief. Either way, you can't understand the argument fully until you've seen both sides, otherwise you'll tend to side with the one you know more about. maybe people will see this and think differently about their position in all of this.

A few suggestions though: You said that there's often too few staff to do an accurate monitoring/sorting. Why not hire some more people or get some volunteers? There's bound to be plenty of trustworthy people out there who are loyal fans to the site that would love to help. With the sponser games, you could group them into a category specifically for them, so if people don't want to be bombarded by them they don't have to be, yet the people who want to play them can still do so. Besides, a slight revamping of the games room might not be a bad idea.

[Marshmallow Sky]

Amen! Preac it brudda (or sista)

I have often been irritated by the cynics among us. You guys over there are doing a great job and i laud u for that.

Now if you could just get your pals at tnt to lighten up a bit and have some fun, we'd all appreciate it.

[Johnnydontgo]

Um, brainwashing.
I'm so very sorry that you have to suffer the 'slings and arrows of outrageous fortune' that have led you to be exposed to advertisements on the Neopets website, but I wish that you'd refrain from referring to it as brainwashing. Compared to television- an equatable entertainment source, in my mind- Neopets, well, it doesn't even compare. Sponsor games are there for the taking, and their banners make up an umpteenth percent of those displayed above your username. To be fair, I decided to reload a page on Neopets until I was shown an advertisement, and I stopped after 27 reloads because I was tired of hitting command-R.

Also remember that really- we all know you're not stupid. If you're so impressionable so as to buy an Avril Lavigne CD after playing a game for np, then so be it; very ferw of you are seriously influenced by the ads, and many avoid them specifically, so I doubt it's as much of a problem as you're making it out to be.

The majority of the "brainwashing" discussion was borne from a Times article written about the topic. Neopets was their main target in the article, and it brought up many valid points. No, the majority of the members at PPT are not going to immediately walk into a store and ask for the new Avril CD in some zombified stupor. But perhaps you've failed to realize that #1: PPT is a miniscule percentage of the players on Neopets, and #2: Most members of PPT are over the age of 12. The Times article, and, subsequently, the PPT conversation, was focusing on the younger set of Neopians.

The main complaint that I have seen (and my complaint as well) is that it seems that Neopets makes quite a few false promises, and never redeems themselves with a belated action, much less an apology. Neoschools was touted as being "the next big thing", then suddenly was wiped off the "Coming Soon" list, never to be heard of again. Lenny Conundrum has been brought up in the Editorial more than once, and no action has been taken there. Petpets and Faerie abilities mysteriously disappear, and all the users get in response is, "We've had some problems on the site, it should be fixed now", however, nothing had been fixed at all. We understand that it's a full time job to keep up a site as large as Neopets. But you know what? If 25 monitors aren't enough, hire more. I also find it really hard to believe that there are no "Freeze-Bots" (for lack of a better phrase), since I know several people have gotten a message stating "You've been frozen, but we don't know why". If there is an actual person writing that message, then they need to be fired.

Also, please understand that this is a Neopets related forum. If Neopets ran perfectly, and everything was 1NP, we would all still find something to complain about because, well, we care about Neopets so much. If the smallest thing goes wrong, we freak out. That should be some sort of veiled compliment to you, at the very least.

P.S.- Who's shroomy, anyway?

[The Wonder Weezel]

Shroomy is an outstanding Neopets Artist.

[Johnnydontgo]

Shroomy is an outstanding Neopets Artist.

Thanks, TWW, wasn't sure exactly. The only name I remembered from the old forums was borovan.

[ahoteinrun]

Who's shroomy, anyway?

Shroomy, is a artist on neo.
*blinks*
And a darn good one at that, she (you, if you're reading this) has posted on PPT before. Entered a PPTMAC too and won if i'm not mistaken.

And thankyou Shroomy for your viewpoint. I agree with you, and despite my animosity towards the Neo art gallery, and beauty contests i'm glad to hear a new viewpoint on the matter. It's rather refreashing as a change.
And I do hope it clears up some misconceptions.

[remybuxaplentyfan]

Although I was going to participate in the Day of Action, I do see your point, Shroomy. If people don't like advertisement games or offers, they can just avoid them.
I never knew that all of the freezings were done by hand. That's amazing, to say the least, considering all the millions of usernames out there that have to be monitored.
Thanks for posting this!

[Goala]

Shroomy, I'd like to say that I think you all are doing a fantastic job, and I thank you guys sincerely for providing me with such an enjoyable and endlessly diverting source of entertainment.

Keep up the good work. *thumbs up*

[Johnnydontgo]

Although I was going to participate in the Day of Action, I do see your point, Shroomy. If people don't like advertisement games or offers, they can just avoid them.
I never knew that all of the freezings were done by hand. That's amazing, to say the least, considering all the millions of usernames out there that have to be monitored.
Thanks for posting this!

I didn't participate in it either, for the same reason. I'm 23 years old, if I don't want to see ads, I won't play the games. Personally, the sponsor games are sometimes fun, and don't bother me in the slightest.

I feel sorry for shroomy, who comes in here to read the boards and finds nothing but threads titled "How TNT screwed up again", or "Neopet peeves". As enormous as Neopets is, I think it runs as smoothly as anyone can expect it to. It's not as if every programmer and every artist is getting a cut of the McDonald's profits, and I doubt highly that the promotion (or any promo for that matter) changes their work habits.

I seem to be the only one not backing down from my discontent, so give me a chance to explain my point. My issue isn't the ads, it isn't the frezings, and it certainly isn't the amount of work the artists and programmers put into the site (which I'm sure is alot). My anger focuses on the fact that when something DOES go wrong, there are no explanations, or warnings. If I hadn't been on PPT the day the mass email/password glitch hit, I never would have known there was a problem. If I hadn't read the PPT forums, I wouldn't know what had happened to my petpets. Is it so hard for whoever's in charge of updates to post on the news page that perhaps "The Trading Post will be down while we repair a glitch that makes your items disappear"? Okay, I'm done defending myself.

[everconfused]

Shroomy, first I would like to thank you for taking the time to write. I have read the article on the DoA and personally I would not take part in it for my own reasons.

I do love Neopets even though I am one to complain about things that seem, in my (and many others') opinion to be unfair. But Neopets has been for me at times a true lifesaver and escape (I am disabled and many times cannot even leave my home). Presently I do not play games, and I am using my speech program to "type" this due to some severe problems with my hands. I do not use this on the site, as I am unsure if this would be considered against the rules. I simply do not do much on the site right now aside from caring for my pets.

-----

As to Bots. It is the understanding of many people that there are such things, especially in the games room and that certain games, for whatever reason, seem to make people look as if they're "cheating" (volcano run comes to mind) when in fact they're not and people have been frozen for cheating on flash games unfairly. Is it true that the games do use some sort of "bot"? Just curious.

-----

As far as responses to questions, we all appreciate when we do receive a response as most of us are sensitive to the fact that there are only so many staff compared to the number of players sending those questions. My concern is that at times responses received from Support are either vague or seem to be in direct conflict with the T&C (i.e. - the "New" T&C states only earn on one account, yet people write and ask if they can play games on other accounts and are told yes; I have written asking if I can use the trading post to send items/np to my gallery from my main acount and was told "I think that's ok" and also if I could enter the gallery/site spotlite as my gallery is not my main account and was told that the person didn't think so, but was not sure).

I believe that something many of us truly want and need is a full and complete listing in the terms and conditions of what is and is not allowed instead of the current confusion due to the vague and incomplete T&C as it stands now and people receiving conflicting responses to the same questions.

-----

Monitors/Staff. I have the utmost respect for your monitors and staff. They work very hard for all of us and I cannot imagine what a difficult job it must be at times. I do hope that at some point more staff can be hired. This would benefit everyone. In the meantime, I thank you for all the times inappropriate posts have been cleared, questions answered, etc.

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Brainwashed? I do not in the least feel brainwashed by the sponsor ads or games or items. Most of us do understand the need for the sponsors that does help keep Neopets free for all of us. If someone is too young to understand the ads, etc., then their parents should sit with them and talk about it. It's no different than television, magazines, radio, billboards -- advertising is everywhere. I found the article in Time Magazine to be very biased and misinformed. I do admit to being close to addicted to your wonderful plushies, though!

-----

Not caring about the users. Well, to be completely honest, many of us don't feel that the majority of members are cared about. It seems that the really "well known" or "famous" players get treated differently than the rest of us.

For example, someone I know got a warning for over-reporting and was then frozen for that - breaking the rules after a warning was given. During the same time a very well known player for whatever reason decided to name call and generally harass new players (that 4 letter n word), received a warning, kept going and was frozen for the same breaking the rules after a warning.

The person frozen for over-reporting (scams, guilds with contests, etc.) was told in an email that they would not get their account back as they broke the rules. The well-known person who was frozen for the same reason (breaking the rules after a warning) had their account back in under a week.

-----

We would like to be told if there are problems, glitches, etc. on the site so we don't use the tp, auction, unequip, whatever. And we feel that we should definitely be advised when something like that security glitch happened. That would go a very long way to personalizing and humanizing (is that a word?) the staff, making the users feel more confident that a problem is acknowledged and is being worked on.

Many other sites have problems, glitches, whatever. We can understand that things go wrong, mistakes are made, servers go down, whatever. But the other sites I go to make an effort to put something up saying there's a problem with (insert whatever here) and is being worked on. In the meantime, that (whatever) is down. And members are kept updated on what's happening and when the problem is fixed.

-----

And I'm so sorry your gallery is empty! That is a terrible thing, I know how much time, energy, thought and yes, hard earned np goes into a gallery. I may not have much, but if I can help please feel free to pm me. I would do no less for anyone else here on this forum as well as the wonderful friends I have made on the site.

Again, I thank you for writing. It was very generous of you to do so, as this whole DoA issue, as well as the reasons for it could simply have been ignored by all of you.

[bgryph]

In case it wasn't clear in my posts, I wanted to mention that my comments about "TNT" were directed to the people who make company policy (hire decisions, what's done next on the site, etc.) and also to the people who decide what users are (and more often, are not) told about what's going on when major site glitches occur. They're not directed at the artists, the programmers, the customer service people, or anyone else not making the big decisions at Neopets. And certainly not at you personally, Shroomy :-)

That said, I'm not backing down from my original statements. I don't think that "suck it up" is an appropriate company response to glitches users encounter on the site -- not if Neopets wants its users to stay users, rather than ex-users. This is especially true of a site largely marketed towards children.

And I think that a lot of problems could be solved by better communication between TNT and users. Remember, all we know about what's going on in Glendale is what we read in the New Features and Editorial pages and what we glean from comments dropped on fan sites like this one. Neopets may be working like the dickens to try to stop people's items from being glitched away, but unless someone tells us we can't know that.

From here, we just see a lot of people losing items or even accounts in major site glitches. We're typically not told what's happening until it's over, at least not via official channels. When it is over, often all we see is a glib, "Oops, there were a few problems, but it's fixed now!" message on New Features. Comments like this look like they're trying to minimalize site problems and conveys the impression that Neopets thinks large site glitches are no big deal. Presumably that's not the case -- anyone following the big password glitch threads on PPT could guess from Adam's comments that an enormous of work was being put in trying to contain it, for example. But like I said, when all you have to work with is what's in New Features, the "no big deal" tone of the comments about site problems conveys an impression that Neopets doesn't really care about said problems.

I think the Lab Map glitch is a perfect example of what I'm talking about. People were still speculating and complaining about the Lab Map glitch for ages and ages after it was fixed (or at least, dealt with as well as it could be given the elusive nature of the glitch) because no one told us that it was fixed until recently. Now that we know, for the most part people are satisfied and not complaining.

As far as why we refer to TNT as TNT and not individually -- well, I can't speak for anyone else, but I really don't know who does what at Neopets. If someone tells me who makes these decisions I'll start complaining just about them. :-)

Personally, I don't have a problem with the ads on Neopets. I mean, having ads is kind of the point of the site, after all. Nader and his consumer group may have problems with it, but don't blame me, I didn't vote for him. :-) However, I should point out that "very few users are influenced by the ads" likely isn't what the sales people at Neopets are telling sponsors when trying to get them to buy ads. :-P

:shrug: Decision-making is what I study and I have to say: I think anyone who thinks that they're not influenced by advertising is kidding themselves. Luckily for our capitalist society, lots of people kid themselves on a regular basis -- otherwise ads wouldn't work as well as they do. :-)

Last edited by bgryph on Thu Jul 01, 2004 6:09 am, edited 1 time in total.

[untouchable dragon]

well, TNT, in my opinion, just do a GREAT job, we only see their mistakes, we always tend to forget that in the first place it was them who created the site, if we argue too much, they can easily stop mantaining the site, and neopets would be no more