TNT's assurance that all of our items will return--ha, ha!

[SpiraLethe]

Sure, it costs for these things. But think about it. There's the TCG, the countless merchandise they're always releasing, the many different sponsor games, the promotions, and let's not forget the latest game you have to pay to download in order to get a 50x50 image! I'd say that they're doing quite well, personally...

And yes, I am annoyed with their countless glitches. My NeoQuest game has just reset itself, and I had almost finished, after putting many many hours into it. Not cool.

And I doubt the staff members are the ones pocketing most of that money...

Heh. Mine is gone as well and I was half way through it on insane. All my faerie abilities have also disappeared. I had quite a few of those. The next thing you know, I'll end up with a weak level one pet. That would really make my blood boil.

[Lynx]

Thankfully this past week I've been too busy with college to play Neopets so since I didn't do anything, I didn't lose anything either. Playing like this it's not fun at all, I feel like I'm in the real world and have to be scared that I'm going to get mugged constantly. If I lose any of my battledome weapons I'm gonna have a huge fit.

[SpiraLethe]

Thankfully this past week I've been too busy with college to play Neopets so since I didn't do anything, I didn't lose anything either. Playing like this it's not fun at all, I feel like I'm in the real world and have to be scared that I'm going to get mugged constantly. If I lose any of my battledome weapons I'm gonna have a huge fit.

Don't remind me of the possibilities. Most of my NP is currently equipped to my strongest pet.

[Bangel]

I've said this before, and I'll say it again.

Give TNT some credit, would you? They created a site that they worked hard on, and if it wasn't a good site, you wouldn't be playing it. The creators of Neopets are only human. They make mistakes, too. So give some credit where credit is due, alright?

And what you all are complaining about is pixels on a computer screen. I understand how you're upset, but remember that Neopets isn't real. It's not like you've lost a real house or an entire real computer. So just get over it already- I'm sure the items will be returned eventually. Better later than never, right?

[DiscordantNote]

I've said this before, and I'll say it again.

Give TNT some credit, would you? They created a site that they worked hard on, and if it wasn't a good site, you wouldn't be playing it. The creators of Neopets are only human. They make mistakes, too. So give some credit where credit is due, alright?

And what you all are complaining about is pixels on a computer screen. I understand how you're upset, but remember that Neopets isn't real. It's not like you've lost a real house or an entire real computer. So just get over it already- I'm sure the items will be returned eventually. Better later than never, right?

You speak the truth. But, there are still people, especially the younger ones who play the site, who won't understand that even after being told.

[amarise]

I've said this before, and I'll say it again.

Give TNT some credit, would you? They created a site that they worked hard on, and if it wasn't a good site, you wouldn't be playing it. The creators of Neopets are only human. They make mistakes, too. So give some credit where credit is due, alright?

And what you all are complaining about is pixels on a computer screen. I understand how you're upset, but remember that Neopets isn't real. It's not like you've lost a real house or an entire real computer. So just get over it already- I'm sure the items will be returned eventually. Better later than never, right?

And I've said this before:

It's not the items. It's not the money. It's the TIME wasted on neopets. Who cares about money, if I really tried I could make 500k or more each day. At the moment, I could afford just about anything except the really good items. But what about my time? I can't get that back. If I spend, say, 5 hours one day doing nothing but pricing items in my shop, and they undo all of that (without re-doing it, might I add) then I have lost 5 hours of my life for no purpose whatsoever. Most people can re-make the things they lose, so while those glitches are really awful, they're forgivable. But Neo doesn't value our time, and that's the one thing that matters in real life, and it's something precious that we can never make back again.

[Valé]

Well Said! I don't knwo what happens with TNT, and I hope it get fixed ASAP! :twisted:

[shapu]

I don't so much care that I've lost my petpet or my faerie abilities - the original Grozny the Ganuthor was lost to the turmaculus, and the new one, much as he looks like the old, isn't the same. He just isn't.

And faerie abilities - well, I can save up for them.

Same with the avatars (which, you may notice, are gone as well).

And really, it's not about the time factor either. If I had something better to do, I'd do it. I don't. So I play neo to kill time.

No, what bothers me most isn't any of those things; instead, it's the fact that we can't seem to trust TNT to work for the players as much as they used to.

Perhaps Neopets has gotten too big...or it's just that the staff, the technical rather than the art staff, is too small. User relations are poor to worse, and the lack of notification is irritating and insulting. What, are we not smart enough to notice that our Groznys and our Drain Lifes are gone? Or are we just not smart enough to understand that TNT made a mistake, and is fixing it, but don't worry...really, just telling us that there was a mistake would be wonderful.

Why can't they just say, "Hey, there was a database glitch, we're working on it, don't worry"? They've done it in the past, but it's just not often enough.

Also, it seems that we, as players, can't really trust TNT to keep our accounts in good condition. I recognize that in a digital world with upwards of 60,000,000 unique users, stuff is going to break. It happens, I can live with it. But again, the technical side of the staff is obviously overworked, and now we're left in limbo...will I ever get Grozny back? Will he be lost again? What about that Rainbow Sticky Hand I lost on the trading post? Of course I won't get it back, because it was lost to a glitch...but why are there so many glitches?

The fact that TNT doesn't trust us with information, probably because they're very insecure that something went wrong, even if it wasn't their fault, and the fact that things go wrong so often, in the same way, without any sort of significant obvious effort to fix it...that's why I whine and complain. I don't think I've earned the right to do that - none of us has. But that doesn't stop me from it, and it won't stop anyone else, either. We're hurt. We're insulted. All I want is information - and is that too much to ask?

[Morningstar]

Well said, shapu.

I think all of our gripes have one thing in common: about the general disrespect that Neo has for its players. Because the site is "free," Neo bigwigs feel they can do anything-willy nilly-without warning and recompensation.

If they respected us, they would understand and recognize the amount of time the game requires in order to play it successfully.

If they respected us, they would, in turn, realize that our time is valuable--both to us and to them (in terms of viewing sponsor ads). And, would realize that if a glitch takes something away that spent any amount of item to obtain, the item ought to be returned.

If they respected us, they would give us warning ahead of time of database and server changes--or better yet, not try to keep the site up and running while making those changes but shut it down completely until the changes are completed.

If they respected us, they would admit their mistakes and apologize for them. And, have a policy that allowed a user to get compensated for a loss of items/nps. The technology is there to be able to capture error messages--any institution dealing with financial transacations has that technology--so why not Neopets?

And, I do think we have a right to whine. An internet game is no different than any other type of free media. It is free--but essentially, we pay for it--first by purchasing the technology required to have that media--we keep the TV, radio, computer, and internet companies in business. And, then by seeing or hearing the sponsor ads and buying the sponsor's products as a result of those ads.

And, in return, we are allowed to expect certain things from the media--a product that is, for the most part, reliable and consistently error-free.

You'd get upset if, while watching the season finale of your favorite show, your local station decided to do some maintenance work and just aired a blank screen. You'd get upset if your radio station only played the first 2 minutes of every song and then cut them off completely. You'd get upset if the camera crew at the Super Bowl didn't focus their cameras.

And mistakes do happen that are unavoidable--a TV station will go off the air every so often, a radio station will play dead air or the CD skips and you can't hear the end of a song. But, if that happened every day? Or, in the case of Neopets, several times a day? The public just wouldn't tolerate it.

It is time that Neopets execs got off their high horses and realized this.

[Keith]

I've said this before, and I'll say it again.

Give TNT some credit, would you? They created a site that they worked hard on, and if it wasn't a good site, you wouldn't be playing it. The creators of Neopets are only human. They make mistakes, too. So give some credit where credit is due, alright?

And what you all are complaining about is pixels on a computer screen. I understand how you're upset, but remember that Neopets isn't real. It's not like you've lost a real house or an entire real computer. So just get over it already- I'm sure the items will be returned eventually. Better later than never, right?

No, I'm not losing replacable items like a real house or a real computer... I'm losing something UNreplacable... My time!

And yea you're right... they're probably just waiting until the end of time to give me my baby paint brush, aren't they?

And I've said this, but I'll say it again...

I and many other people have spent our own precious time playing their site, making it a target for sponcors, earning them money, and many of us buy their merchandise. Yet when one of THEIR glitches poofs away my 600K [also known as 3 months of my life :wink: ] they dont return Items lost in glitches. So if they arent going to appreciate my time spent on them, I'm gonna do the same back. =D

And morningstar and shapu, extremely well put opinions!

[raudf]

It is time that Neopets execs got off their high horses and realized this.

The problem with working with a corporation is that it gets way too big to see it's feet (My boss at Montgomery Wards once said this to me before they closed down for good.) This is what has happened to Neopets.

In the beginning, Neopets was a small site run by two college students who just wanted to share some fun with others.

Enter a corporation which bought out the site, whose only goal is to make money, money and more money.

Results: A highly kiddiefied place with no regard about anything but the bottom dollar. It doesn't matter that the site glitches almost like clockwork, because it's not costing the corporation anything. They figure they can make it up in bulk, instead of quality.

Yeah, Neopets is only a game, but that's beside the point. It represents time and creativity of it's actual staff and players. That, my friends, is more than a bit priceless.

[Bangel]

I've said this before, and I'll say it again.

Give TNT some credit, would you? They created a site that they worked hard on, and if it wasn't a good site, you wouldn't be playing it. The creators of Neopets are only human. They make mistakes, too. So give some credit where credit is due, alright?

And what you all are complaining about is pixels on a computer screen. I understand how you're upset, but remember that Neopets isn't real. It's not like you've lost a real house or an entire real computer. So just get over it already- I'm sure the items will be returned eventually. Better later than never, right?

You speak the truth. But, there are still people, especially the younger ones who play the site, who won't understand that even after being told.

I should of realized that before wasting my time posting that.

[Mystique]

neopets have ceased to be really concerned with the majority of players since the time i was frozen which was more than 2 years ago. other than the select prominent players and their friends, you can be sure that you can never retrieve your item once they are glitched off or scammed. issit so difficult to trace back those item just for the players? quite unlikely or it would be applicable to ALL players.
as for players who like to say "it's just a game" to dismiss everything, i am sceptical if they really mean it. anything in life, even if it's a game, if you are truely involved, you would take it seriously becoz you have put in effort.
of coz, it's not like we have not given any credits to neopets...the fact that i am still playing the game after one frozen acct worth 50+m and nearly 3 years illustrate how i regard the game. it's the same for the majority of players; we love the game and becoz of that, we complain when things happen coz we have high expectations from it.

[shapu]

I think that all of us who gripe about Neopets, though, don't really place the onus on the staff - so much as the staff mentality.

Perhaps, in the end, the problem just comes down to being one of corporate attitude? Would Neopets be as diseased as we believe it is if it were still run by Adam and Donna?

Or would Neopets not have all of the many good points that it has if they hadn't sold out? Let's face it, for all of the gripes that we players have, Neopets is still a wonderfully full and original place.

Every website or company must make a decision when another company comes forward with a buyout offer: what will we lose?

My final thought on this thread: What has Neopets lost since becoming a corporation? And is it outweighed by what they've gained?

[Cranberry]

And, I do think we have a right to whine. An internet game is no different than any other type of free media. It is free--but essentially, we pay for it--first by purchasing the technology required to have that media--we keep the TV, radio, computer, and internet companies in business. And, then by seeing or hearing the sponsor ads and buying the sponsor's products as a result of those ads.

And, in return, we are allowed to expect certain things from the media--a product that is, for the most part, reliable and consistently error-free.

You'd get upset if, while watching the season finale of your favorite show, your local station decided to do some maintenance work and just aired a blank screen. You'd get upset if your radio station only played the first 2 minutes of every song and then cut them off completely. You'd get upset if the camera crew at the Super Bowl didn't focus their cameras.

Very well said. I don't really have anything to add, but I just felt I should quote this because some people just aren't getting the point.

Dawn2, yeah, it's "just a game," but like a lot of people here have said, most of us spend a lot of time on it, and we have the right to complain when all our work is undone and we're not compensated (and no, a lot of people don't get items they lost in glitches back, ever). Please stop telling people not to complain -- it's not your place to tell us how we should feel.