Wall Street Journal Article

[o_0]

Not wanting to spark any religious discussions, but I couldn't help looking at the last paragraph and wondering where the revenue for new servers is going...

[WIS]

Well, it is more correct than the other one that caused Neopets to remove luck and chance games for a certain country. (Well, the users under 13 anyway).

[Runevalkyrie]

Some of the plans for the future in that quite honestly frighten me as a casual Neopets player (read: the Movie plans)

[Nani]

Some of the plans for the future in that quite honestly frighten me as a casual Neopets player (read: the Movie plans)

I found that particularly disturbing. Hearing about the article last night, I literally began to yell, "There will be no movie!"

[hyperflutterby]

Users of the site become custodians of colorful, cartoon-like critters in Neopia, an imaginary world with its own currency (Neopoints), stock market (the Neodaq) and weather system

I find it interesting that nearly every article I read about Neopets has the Stock Market mentioned but that the average user probably has no idea where to even find it.

I find it even more interesting that it is repeatedly mentioned considering it is one of the most outdated sections of the site. I mean look at this guy:



He even has a gradient fill! When did those go out? 2nd year?

[coming2atvnearu]

Users of the site become custodians of colorful, cartoon-like critters in Neopia, an imaginary world with its own currency (Neopoints), stock market (the Neodaq) and weather system

I find it interesting that nearly every article I read about Neopets has the Stock Market mentioned but that the average user probably has no idea where to even find it.

I find it even more interesting that it is repeatedly mentioned considering it is one of the most outdated sections of the site. I mean look at this guy:



He even has a gradient fill! When did those go out? 2nd year?

Exactly.

It almost seems exploitive to continually name drop that part of the site without putting any effort into it whatsoever. There have been so many AWESOME ideas floating around about it (bringing back some consumer influence into the stock market instead of just dictated by the Team, having them reflect how their real life counterparts perform elsewhere on the site so if the bank does well NATN goes up, increasing the max number of stocks bought per day, etc.) yet they do Absolutely Nothing. It even took them a few weeks to bother to include the stocks that they announced in the news.

They need to put their money where their mouth is. If they decide that this area of the site is worth keeping, put the blooming effort into keeping it fresh and exciting.

[hyperflutterby]

Exactly.

It almost seems exploitive to continually name drop that part of the site without putting any effort into it whatsoever. There have been so many AWESOME ideas floating around about it (bringing back some consumer influence into the stock market instead of just dictated by the Team, having them reflect how their real life counterparts perform elsewhere on the site so if the bank does well NATN goes up, increasing the max number of stocks bought per day, etc.) yet they do Absolutely Nothing. It even took them a few weeks to bother to include the stocks that they announced in the news.

They need to put their money where their mouth is. If they decide that this area of the site is worth keeping, put the blooming effort into keeping it fresh and exciting.

To tell you the truth, I don't really want Neopets to touch the stock market. Yeah some updated images and maybe a few more companies would be nice, but that's where I make my money. I like the stock market being way too predictable, it means that I have a steady income with minimal effort. I figure if TNT actually stopped and did some math on the market, they would close it down real quick. I know people on the neodaq forums pull in a million a month just for a few minutes of clicking a day. You can't tell me that doesn't contribute significantly to inflation.

I just don't generally like them exploiting it for articles.

[IcyBlue]

Nice article for once. It was way better than what those biased Australian reporters wrote about neo! The author of this one seemed to have actually looked into the site and played for awhile.

[The Wonder Weezel]

Neopets is CLOSE to making deals with hollywood for a computer animated movie.....


If neopets makes a movie, I will quit. Not kidding, either. That would take it waaaayyy to far. I was surprised when they came out with the TCG, but thought that would be o.k.... a few plushies and t-shirts dont hurt, because you can show off your neopets pride, and have your favorite pet with you...

then there was neopets magazine.... reaaaalllllllllllly not needed. You dont need a magazine based on the website, i say.... especially since most of the content is 1)advertising b) things allready on the website with just some cooler drawings or b) a couple little sneak peaks that usually dont matter after since they are starting up those plots anyway.
Mcdonals was way too far, I say.Once I saw neopets in kids meals, i about gagged on my french fries.... i bought them to support neopets, but then they had cell phone covery things, bracelets, and then a VIDEO GAME?!?!?

and theres more, obviously.

but if they make a movie,...then.... thats the extreme. i will quit.

[Angus Young]

Same with me, a movie will cheesify neopets even more and the cheesiness of pokemon and all those other things is what killed them.

[Muse]

Neopets is CLOSE to making deals with hollywood for a computer animated movie.....


If neopets makes a movie, I will quit. Not kidding, either. That would take it waaaayyy to far. I was surprised when they came out with the TCG, but thought that would be o.k.... a few plushies and t-shirts dont hurt, because you can show off your neopets pride, and have your favorite pet with you...

then there was neopets magazine.... reaaaalllllllllllly not needed. You dont need a magazine based on the website, i say.... especially since most of the content is 1)advertising b) things allready on the website with just some cooler drawings or b) a couple little sneak peaks that usually dont matter after since they are starting up those plots anyway.
Mcdonals was way too far, I say.Once I saw neopets in kids meals, i about gagged on my french fries.... i bought them to support neopets, but then they had cell phone covery things, bracelets, and then a VIDEO GAME?!?!?

and theres more, obviously.

but if they make a movie,...then.... thats the extreme. i will quit.

I'll be right with you on that one. Honestly, haven't they learned anything from the Pokemon industry? Sure, they'll put out one movie for starters. Kids will go in droves and it'll do great. Then it will make them cocky and they'll make another and another. Kids grow up, interest will drop. My suggestion- just go straight to DVD if you want to make a movie.

I was quite surprised that Dohring was a scientologist. Makes you wonder what influence it may have that wasnt included in the article

[coming2atvnearu]

Neopets is CLOSE to making deals with hollywood for a computer animated movie.....


If neopets makes a movie, I will quit. Not kidding, either. That would take it waaaayyy to far. I was surprised when they came out with the TCG, but thought that would be o.k.... a few plushies and t-shirts dont hurt, because you can show off your neopets pride, and have your favorite pet with you...

then there was neopets magazine.... reaaaalllllllllllly not needed. You dont need a magazine based on the website, i say.... especially since most of the content is 1)advertising b) things allready on the website with just some cooler drawings or b) a couple little sneak peaks that usually dont matter after since they are starting up those plots anyway.
Mcdonals was way too far, I say.Once I saw neopets in kids meals, i about gagged on my french fries.... i bought them to support neopets, but then they had cell phone covery things, bracelets, and then a VIDEO GAME?!?!?

and theres more, obviously.

but if they make a movie,...then.... thats the extreme. i will quit.

I'll be right with you on that one. Honestly, haven't they learned anything from the Pokemon industry? Sure, they'll put out one movie for starters. Kids will go in droves and it'll do great. Then it will make them cocky and they'll make another and another. Kids grow up, interest will drop. My suggestion- just go straight to DVD if you want to make a movie.

I was quite surprised that Dohring was a scientologist. Makes you wonder what influence it may have that wasnt included in the article

Do a quick google search and you'll see what influence there was in his other companies.

[jabond102]

My favorite quotes from the article:

Online ads contribute 60% of Neopets' annual revenue...

Sony Corp. is developing a Neopets videogame for its PlayStation 2 and PSP consoles.

Retailers and promotional partners warn against dismissing Neopets as just another kid fad

Like all media aimed at kids, Neopets is likely to come under more scrutiny as it sells more advertising.

...page where users start the Lucky Charms game, for instance, a small-type disclaimer says the game is an ad, but no such message is within the game itself.

Last fall in Australia, a parents group complained to McDonald's, Neopets' partner in a local promotion, saying games of chance found ...

Very interesting article, the ads have taken over. I predicted in 2002 one day they would, and the day is coming.

[coming2atvnearu]

It is a surprisingly well researched article compared to the stuff we've seen before. Even down to the little backlash about being able to discuss religion on the NeoBoards. Wouldn't surprise me if this guy has visited PPT, at least in passing.

[Adam loves Hilary Duff]

NEOPETS MOVIE?
Someone kill me now.
(Not really, but a neopets movie will ruin everything)