My Take on Neopets in General. (Whats yours?)

[kiay]

Also, some time ago, before christmas i think, Adam was here and he promised us an updated, much much much more concise and informative list of rules to help make play safer. That was at least 5 months ago. Could you ask him whether or not that is actually happening?

It did happen, there was a note in the news saying that terms and conditions were updated.

[dbzlabrat]

Lots of good insight skullsplitter! So very true..
I agree wholeheartedly with you on the battledome subject.. couldn't have summed it up better myself.

[Paulisacretin]

Also, some time ago, before christmas i think, Adam was here and he promised us an updated, much much much more concise and informative list of rules to help make play safer. That was at least 5 months ago. Could you ask him whether or not that is actually happening?

It did happen, there was a note in the news saying that terms and conditions were updated.

I looked at the toc recently and it didnt seem greatly informative, they need a REAL update

[Keith]

We can play free, granted, but the fact is - we are paying them. Every pageview is another fraction of a cent added to their paychecks. And for this we should be respected more. Some of us waste over 12 hours a day everyday at ungodly hours on neopets. Then after years of this get frozen.

I think I have the right to complain - unpolitelty.

And you wonder why you don't get a response?
You'd be amazed at how fare being polite will take you in life, they're providing you a free service. And do you know how small the fraction of the cent is? Probably incredibly minute. I doubt it's anywhere above 1/16th of a cent per page view.
To be honest, I don't think any of us can really say how much the staff makes, and to be honest, I doubt it's a whole lot.
I don't think it's fair to make all of these accusations about the money thats in the site, because we can't really say for certain. Sure theres "projections" in magazines and newspaper but i'll put it this way.
My dad works for a multi million dollar camera store. They do a whole lot of business.
He couldn't support our family on our own. He makes probably 13 bucks an hour plus commision.
Thats how much trickles down to him. Most of it's put back into property rites of the 7 locations of the store. Paying staff, buying more merchandise. IE It's mainly invested back into the store.
I like to think of that before I go and accuse Neo of anything to do with their "millions" of dollars.

I remember reading somewhere that a year or two ago neopets income was I believe at least like 7 million dollars, and that was a couple years ago. THey're probably making twice that. And what about that big mcdonalds promotion? That had to earn them a lot of money!

[ahoteinrun]

I remember reading somewhere that a year or two ago neopets income was I believe at least like 7 million dollars, and that was a couple years ago. THey're probably making twice that. And what about that big mcdonalds promotion? That had to earn them a lot of money!

Until you're in the company, looking at the books, and you have an insiders knowledge of whats going on, you don't have an argument. Because you don't have the information to back yourself up. Newspapers, and magazines can say a lot of things, but that doesn't make them true.

[raudf]

And, as a sincere concern to those who spend 12 hours a day on Neopets, don't spend 12 hours a day on Neopets. I spent 12 hours on Neopets yesterday, yes, but that's because I was working the entire time- you need to take a break, step away from the computer, and forget for a second that you have virtual pets waiting to be fed... It is seriously unhealthy to be that addicted to a website, and I would gladly discourage people from coming to Neopets if it meant they would get out and away a bit more.

-C

You know what, Shroomy? You just proved the point with that statement that most of the people are making about TNT. Hate to say it, but this offended me, and I don't spend that much time on Neopets. Why does it bother me? Simple, because it means that you are attacking players who have been loyal fans and support the site overall. We're here trying to find a way to make your bosses listen to us too. Freesite or no, if you don't have players, you don't have a site. How do I know this? Because I run a site with players and I do it for free too. It's heck to attract them and if you don't have a good customer support system, you won't keep them.

Because of this post, I almost decided to quit again, because here is a representative of the site telling us that it's unhealthy to spend this much time on a site!

[1lewysgal]

But you don't HAVE to look at the books to figure out that a company with as much merchandising as NeoPets not to mention the 78,638,005 users (yep, I just looked it up) SHOULD be able to afford more than 25 staffers to try and keep up with all that!
I just have a problem with the fact that a fellow guild member of mine was warned for posting in a mostly older female guild about breast cancer awareness week. Come on!

[ahoteinrun]

You know what, Shroomy? You just proved the point with that statement that most of the people are making about TNT. Hate to say it, but this offended me, and I don't spend that much time on Neopets. Why does it bother me? Simple, because it means that you are attacking players who have been loyal fans and support the site overall. We're here trying to find a way to make your bosses listen to us too. Freesite or no, if you don't have players, you don't have a site. How do I know this? Because I run a site with players and I do it for free too. It's heck to attract them and if you don't have a good customer support system, you won't keep them.

Because of this post, I almost decided to quit again, because here is a representative of the site telling us that it's unhealthy to spend this much time on a site!

So she comes here, in good faith, tries to make a few points, nobody listens to her, people personally attack her, and the site, and the staff... and she says it's unhealthy to spend 12 hours a day playing a game (WHICH IT IS)... and does so in a perfectly pleasant manner, and you decide to quit?

No wonder the staff is how they are. Taking all this abuse from users.
It bothers me to the point of no longer having anything to do with this or any other thread about the DOA on this site, or any site.

You people aren't the only one who can "take action".

[Morningstar]

My opinion is that we play for free. I don't feel that we have a right to demand anything.

We can request, politely.

Wrong, we don't play for free. We pay with our time. Without our time invested in the site, Neopets is nothing. And the sponsors pay Neopets for our time. The more people who play on the site and the more time that each of us plays translates into more dollars given to Neopets, Inc. by the sponsors.

As I said in an earlier post, playing Neopets is no different than watching TV or listening to the radio--just a different form of media. Those things are "free" also. But, we pay for them with our time. And our time is valuable--otherwise, sponsors wouldn't pay millions for TV ads during the SuperBowl.

Those TV and radio advertisers want us to buy their product instead someone else's product so they are willing to pay big bucks to advertise. Same holds true with Neopets' sponsors--McD's wants us to think of them instead of Wendy's or Burger King when we are thinking fast food. Disney wants us to remember their name instead of Cartoon Network or Nickelodeon.

And, because our time is valuable to these sponsors, it should also be very important to Neopets.

As consumers of these sponsors' products, we have the right to complain about anything unacceptable that we see or hear in any type of media, regardless of whether or not we pay money for the media. Example: when is the last time you saw a cigarette commercial on TV? Probably never, unless you are as old as me. Why? Because people who watched TV put so much pressure on the TV networks and the government about the negative impact of those the ads that they were finally taken off the air forever.

Sure TV and radio stations have an occasional glitch now and then--there is dead air every once in a while on the radio station. Every so often, the TV station messes up and you see a screen saying we are experiencing technical problems. But those are rare occasions.

Imagine if TV or radio stations were able to get away with the amount of glitches that Neopets experiences. You are trying to watch the Super Bowl but none of the cameras are in focus. You are listening to your favorite song on the radio and it skips for a 1/2 hour before anyone at the station realizes it. You are watching the final season episode cliffhanger of your favorite show when the local network takes it off the air to do some routine maintenance. The viewers and listeners wouldn't put up with it--nor would those advertisers paying for the commercials during that time period.

So why should Neopets be any different? It's time they got off their "high horse" and realized that. Maybe, we should ask the sponsors' head honchos to play the site for awhile or get their kids or grandkids to sign up for a Neopets account. Then see how happy they are with the site once they have experienced it first-hand.

Edit: And, just in case you need to know, I am always polite when I am dealing with anyone in a customer service function--firm and direct in my stance but polite--because everyone deserves respect--particularly, those poor customer service people who get repeatedly yelled at for stuff they have no personal control over.

And skullsplitter is right on the money. Anymore, you have to play the site a lot of hours just to make it. I have a plushie gallery of about 550 plushies--during the month of June, Neopets released 25 new ones--and that's not counting the magicals. That's like having to buy almost one a day. And, they don't cost 100 nps--more like 100,000 because most of them are rarity 92 and above.

I checked and in the past 365 days, Neopets has released approximately 300 plushies (not counting those blasted expensive magicals)--that again is almost 1 a day. This is over twice as many as was released the prior year and the year before that. How can I possibly get any of the older ones (a lot of which go for 1 million) if I have to keep buying all of these new ones?

If you want me to quit the site for good, keep releasing more and more plushies--because that is the only reason that I still play.

Last edited by Morningstar on Sat Jul 03, 2004 4:19 am, edited 2 times in total.

[elsakoo]

No wonder the staff is how they are. Taking all this abuse from users.
It bothers me to the point of no longer having anything to do with this or any other thread about the DOA on this site, or any site.

You people aren't the only one who can "take action".

our behavior is only a reaction to their behavior, and now they are reacting to us.

Say some users get frozen for no reason, this breeds disreguard for the rules(if i get froze for following the law, why follow it?) and discontent begins to spread. TNT mistakenly tightens the rules in response and the problem worsens. They shut out the users begging to be unfrozen, wether they were iced rightly or wrongly, it doesnt matter, because there are thousands of them. We get angrier, we bash them more, they get angrier, they punish us more, then We get angrier... you get the point.
We arent inherently evil or rotten, and the staff isnt totally innocent victims either(and vice versa)

[ocean_wave]

very well said morning star! I agree 100% with your statements. The time (and especially attention) loyal players spend should be far more respected and valued by neopets than it currently is.

[Azzie]

So far my time on Neopets has been ok *touchwood*

I have a 3 year old account which has never been frozen and 2 other side accounts which are also not on ice mode.

When i do have issues, which is not often, i send a mail through the contact us page.

I contacted neopets when i waws going away during december and i needed my friend to go into my account to get my advent things for me. I got a email telling me that it would be ok for me to do so. But i decided not to tempt fate and since i was gone for a few days only, i just bought the items when i came back.

I also sent in a neomail when i was having problems keeping my items in my neohome in place. I sent in a neomail explaining my frustration and someone sentback a reply that they were going to try and resolve the problem. And they did do that so i managed to get my neohome set up properly.

I try not to be rude in my mails since the person reading the mail will most likely have already gone through many other emails with a rude tone Besides all the downtime and some glitches and whatnot, it's fine for me. i don't have issues with the promotions.

I have issues with the new buying system but i know that it's no use complaining about it though

[Mystique]

ok, i know despite so many debates, it is impossible to change the views of certain pro-neopets players. fine, we can all do what they preach. the site's free, we shouldn't complain, act to improve anything, just lay back and take anything. now, isn't THAT what the majority of us have been doing all these years? situations did not turn for the better but worse in terms of freezings, glitches and more recently report-abuse. sure, we get arguably better graphics and more content and the site's still free but overall the attitude of players have become more uptight with everyone taking precautions.

b4 my first account was frozen on the charge for "autobuying" more than 2 years ago. i never have to take precautions, except against scammers. i have 1 main acct which also acts as my gallery and another account which i used access the shop wiz when i get a faerie quest. no glitches and players can post friendly off-topic messages w/o having to worry. but then, the freezings began, glitches become more rampant and i can't say that they didn't contribute to some of the most stressful trend that can be seen at the neoboards.

perhaps, it is a fear of getting frozen but i think certain players seem to naively think that by been active neopolice, they can show TNT that they are rules abiding players and hopefully add weight to their credibility. it could contribute to more players shouting "report!" for every tiny offence they see.

now, back to the topic of been polite. it's darn easy to preach about politeness but for some cases, it's really hard. i know there are successful cases of frozen accounts getting unfrozen but for me, it isn't so. for the whole of 6 mths when i emailed many times to the official support email and individual staff emails, i got 2 personal response out of dozens of automated ones. in every of my email, i was nothing short of polite, not because i should, but because i have to. it is the only way i can hope to get my account back and losing my temper can only ensure that i lose everything. one of the personal response was "you must have done something wrong to get frozen. you won't get your account back". the other one was just a one sentence email "you won't get your account back. at that point, i believe i must have been a saint for not losing my temper which i later regretted. i should have sent a vitriolic email full of anger and force but for some reasons i didn't.

[Jasujo]

perhaps, it is a fear of getting frozen but i think certain players seem to naively think that by been active neopolice, they can show TNT that they are rules abiding players and hopefully add weight to their credibility. it could contribute to more players shouting "report!" for every tiny offence they see.

The sad thing is I have heard of people being frozen because they sent in too many reports. Not that the reports were right or wrong, but that they had reported too much. Not even reporting other people keeps you safe from the freeze ray.

[everconfused]

perhaps, it is a fear of getting frozen but i think certain players seem to naively think that by been active neopolice, they can show TNT that they are rules abiding players and hopefully add weight to their credibility. it could contribute to more players shouting "report!" for every tiny offence they see.

The sad thing is I have heard of people being frozen because they sent in too many reports. Not that the reports were right or wrong, but that they had reported too much. Not even reporting other people keeps you safe from the freeze ray.

Jasujo, that happened to a guild friend of mine. An older, active player who just can't stand seeing shop scams, guild contests, inappropriate posts, etc. She received a warning for "abusing the reporting system" and then was frozen for "continuing to break the rules" like a day later. She has been told by support that she will not get her account back because she broke the rules. Yet during the same time frame a "famous" person was harassing new players on the boards, calling them the n word and a few other things. Got a warning, then frozen for "continuing to break the rules". Got their account back in under a week.

Mystique, I agree that going around clicking that report this message or typing reported! will not make you look like an angel or a model neopian citizen. In fact, report happy people on the boards drive me insane. Some just report for anything and everything. I really think they need to take that report this message away from every post on the boards. Certain people have become neopolice and dare I say "power hungry"? Like, they have (or feel that they have) no power or authority in real life, but get them on the site and they suddenly have this power to try to directly affect someone else. Not talking about legitimate reporting here, more like an innocent off topic or wrong board type of post.


1lewysgal - I got my first warning in the close to 2 years I've been on the site -- the not posting outside commercial websites - for responding to a message on my guild board about going to ebay to get a mcdonald's plushie - and all my messages were cleared for that one post where I said that basically that might be a good idea, to check ebay for that plushie. During the time when there were 2 "official" ebay (granted for charity) auctions being advertised on the site.

Darklegendary, have you read the new T&C? It's at least as big of a vague mess as the last one. So there was not, in many peoples' opinion (including mine) any real update or improvement.


OK, as to sponsors. They are important and are needed. The immersive advertising is raising concerns with certain people/groups. I've never really thought about it one way or the other until last night.

Some people had been posting on the boards that in their user preferences they couldn't change their birthday. Don't know why you'd want or need to, but you can't anymore.

It was pointed out to me just last night by an observant person that when you play flash games now? You know in the address bar where it has all the game info, your username and your email? Well the first thing that shows up now is your birth date, year, month, day. Sounds like specific tracking as to age, etc. to me.

Like you may not be clicking the sponsor ads or going to the sponsor site where you can allegedly get np for signing up or whatever (I say allegedly because I did sign up with many when I first joined -- all's I've ever gotten is alot more spam email, no np for signing). You don't have to do any of that anymore, just play a sponsor game and basic age demographics/emails are tracked.

And from talking to this person and asking them if they've signed up for anything and where else did they go on the internet, well they say they basically use neoitems and neopets. They're getting around 5 to 10 spam emails a day and they never signed up for anything.[/u][/b]