Adam and Donna?

[Moogum]

Recently I've been getting this weird vibe when surfing around Neopets. It kinda doesn't seem as... personal... as it used to. I haven't really heard reference of Adam and Donna in a while, but before we used to always hear stuff about them randomly on the site. It just seems now that the site is run by a bunch of faceless employees.

For instance, we all knew that Donna did the Editorials, but I'm starting to think that she doesn't anymore. They seem much less personal than before, where they used to make random comments about how Adam is a loser and what not, and I think a while back it even said something that hinted she was no longer the one who did them. We used to get messages like "Sorry guys my cat died but don't worry I'll do a super-large editorial next week" but I haven't seen one of those in months.

It just feels like they are less involved in the site these days. Has anyone else been feeling a bit like this? (Or am I just a complete nut-job?)

[Holly]

No, no! You're definitely not nuts. I've felt the same way, somewhat. With Neopets growing as large as it has as a website and as a company, it's not all surprising that they aren't as personal as they once were. They have more employees because there are more jobs to be done, so the jobs that don't necessarily have to be done by Donna or Adam are done by others.
It's kind of sad that legal issues cause some things to be edited, too. Such as the wine turning into fruit juice or whatever o.O; And where are those voodoo dolls?! *pout* It's not a major issue, but just little things, I suppose... But that's what comes with growth and all o_o Yeah, ok, I'm done - just, basically, I agree with you ^^; (Oh, and the adds on the top of the page - those suck too XD)

[Mintfaerie]

Ya I keep getting that too. That it's more of a company for them then a game. Far Far back in the day they use to go in the chats they had in the shops and talk to people. I havn't heard anything personal from them in months and months.

[aliboy]

The editorial seems too wacky to be Donna writing it

[ikkin_with_attitude]

The editorial seems too wacky to be Donna writing it

From what I've seen, it seems to be Snarkie who's doing the editorials. At the very least, they both had the idea to post tips about creative contests at approximately the same time, and both like the idea of a "best of the worst."

I like the way that Snarkie's doing the editorial, though... she sure has a way of picking useful questions, yet still making it amusing.

[Moogum]

The editorial seems too wacky to be Donna writing it

From what I've seen, it seems to be Snarkie who's doing the editorials. At the very least, they both had the idea to post tips about creative contests at approximately the same time, and both like the idea of a "best of the worst."

I like the way that Snarkie's doing the editorial, though... she sure has a way of picking useful questions, yet still making it amusing.

If it is Snarkie I'd be glad. I just need to put a face to things as opposed to just thinking they are faceless suits.

[theonlysaneone]

They need to do another Sacrificers. Remember when they had people vote on which staff member would be killed each week by Mumbo Pango, and they would make the flash animations and everything? They should do more of that.

[Nefasturris]

They need to do another Sacrificers. Remember when they had people vote on which staff member would be killed each week by Mumbo Pango, and they would make the flash animations and everything? They should do more of that.

I remember that, and the old Mystery Island had a golden statue of Pop Tart after it was over since she was the last surviving member.

They should do another one... and have Lawyerbot in as well.

[WockyChocky]

you get that special 'neopet-word' sound when you enter DONNA in word pyramid.

[Flipsyde]

Probably because it IS a company now and since they are the creators of Neopets, they are the driving force behind it. Their vision is important. They're probably busy making these happen behind the scenes and making deals with companys and all that other stuff.

[Noisyamie]

I did try looking up something today and ended up with a "Adam says they are all mine!" I hadn't seen one of those in a long time!

It's really weird they started Neopets back in Guildford, England, where I used to live. I wonder if they've decided to retire and let the mindless drones do all their work for them.

[allnameswereout]

Although not necessarily the best example this phenomenom is typical when organisations (non-profit or commercial) get bigger: the "left arm" doesn't know what the "right arm" does; it gets more impersonal; users are more like a number; oldschool users want that "old time" and leave; and before you know it all really changed.

I bet this is how McDonalds became what it is. I bet this is how Google became what it is...

Personally i don't care who does the editorials. I think, whoever does it, should keep it both 1) informative and 2) funny. That is the case right now, in my opinion. You can't expect someone, wether its Snarkie or Donna or someone else, to do the same thing all their life since situations, people, and people's interests & priorities change.

[Huggles]

I don't believe Donna stopped doing editorials to make them less personal. I believe she was stopped because she was so bad at them. The truth of the matter is that she answered the most stupid and inane questions, made promises she never kept, and was the number one source of minsinformation on the site. It's the one thing I've read consistantly for years and I can sadly say that the above statement is factual. Many of the things she about how the site works were just not true. I love whoever's doing it now, be it Snarkie or a group of people, because despite the occasional stupid question, they've made it a useful resource again.

Last edited by Huggles on Thu Apr 06, 2006 4:28 am, edited 1 time in total.

[Moogum]

Although not necessarily the best example this phenomenom is typical when organisations (non-profit or commercial) get bigger: the "left arm" doesn't know what the "right arm" does; it gets more impersonal; users are more like a number; oldschool users want that "old time" and leave; and before you know it all really changed.

I bet this is how McDonalds became what it is. I bet this is how Google became what it is...

Personally i don't care who does the editorials. I think, whoever does it, should keep it both 1) informative and 2) funny. That is the case right now, in my opinion. You can't expect someone, wether its Snarkie or Donna or someone else, to do the same thing all their life since situations, people, and people's interests & priorities change.

Well the editorial was just an example. It used to be one of the ways that you could feel connected with the people behind the site, and that was cool. You knew who was answering it, and you could put a face to the words, and it made the site seem more... comfortable. It just seems like now, it truly is just one big corperation.

Shroomy once posted on here that she didn't like it when the term TNT was used because there was a bunch of real people behind the site. But, to me at least, that idea has felt missing in the past few months for some reason. We never really hear from any one person. It's all "We...".

[Q]

Definitely they've gone AWOL. No Neocam sightings, no mention, birthdays quiet...been like that since about the time of the big sale. Either they've moved on and we'll never be told since they're sort of the core of this big apple, or they are doing top secret stuff more behind the scenes for projects off the site.

The whole staff involvement is what has always made Neopets fun. Maybe it's because they humanize what could otherwise be a robotic gaming site? I duno, but toast just ain't toast without a sprinkle of TNT on top!

Time changes, people change, people move on, but I hope there is always that sort of personal side to Neopets that really connects us to Neopets, not just 'some online game where you get trophies and stuff'. Without TNT horsing around, the whole site loses the real Neopets flavour.