Yumei wrote:
I didn't think anyone would like the less random events, larger proportion of bad > good, lag, and ads. o.o And avatar inflation. But, eh. XD I'm weird like that.
Edit: Eheh, forgot to mention the good things. Lots more games, lots more shops to restock in, new pets (a glut of them >.>), and the occasional new plot.

Once again, I was just wondering... why would I have to be a New Member to enjoy things the way they are? Just curious, seriously. No one has ever been able to tell me.
Yes, there's lag. Yes, there's avatar inflation. Actually, I've had a lot more random events than from when I started, but then again, I play more often now, so that arguement can be stricken from the records. The ad's I didn't like, but I signed up with Premium and not only don't deal with the ads, but enjoy the SSW and other Premiums. That wasn't around a few years ago.
You list other positive things, and maybe I just look toward the positive more than the negative, but I see Neopets as a growing company. There's ads, but with the money they make from that, they manufacture notebooks, doorhangers, t-shirts... there's also plushies (I

plushies.) and other fun things. With the money from that, they can get more servers and more workers, and allow Neopia to expand even larger. There's more pets to choose from than ever before, even if they do seem to be on the cutesy side. Plots are more complex and fun than ever (I loved the puzzle-ness of the LDP and how it was a bit different for everybody, because that meant there was less cheating. Sure, I was told how to decipher my tablet, but I had to truck to read scrolls just like everybody else). A few years ago, there weren't collectable avatars to give me a goal. In fact, 3 years ago, I stopped playing for 6 months. I seriously had nothing to do. I had painted pets, I had a huge shop and millions of neopoints. There was literally NOTHING that kept me there. The few plots were all battle-based, and that simply got boring. My pets had great stats because I simply did quests all the time (who here remembers when you could just sign up for a quest and cancel it if it were expensive, and do another in about 30 min?) and books never disappeared, so they were uber-cheap, and my pets had read them all.
Then I came back when I came to college. To me, this was a super easy deal. So I donated my old pets to the pound, donated my money and stuff to the tree, including an awesome battle set (for the times). I froze my main account afterwards and started up on one that I had created simply for Wiz Searching for all of those faerie quests.
So imagine my surprise when suddenly, I was floundering! Sure, I had bunches of games to play, but I had never been good at restocking (being on dial-up... actually, I'm still bad at restocking) and suddenly paint brushes were COSTLY! I thought starting over, I'd be back to where I was in about 4 months with my new super-speedy internet.
It's been a few years, and I'm STILL not back to where I was at. Only for me, it's only partly because of inflation, etc. It's because there's so much to DO now! I have a pet I want painted a specific color and I'm saving up... then suddenly, OH There's a new weapon out that I want! Oh, I

that avatar... I need to spend a couple thousand on that! I'm making money FAR faster than I ever did before (I suddenly discovered the Igloo Garage Sale... made SO much money off of buying and selling!) but I'm just pulled in so many different directions! Go back, look at my goals for the upcoming year: There's SO many, and I have even more, but didn't want to be laughed at.
This is really long and I doubt anybody read all of it, because it's just basically my opinion. But inflation, pets up the wazoo, and ads have done more for me than the first few years ever did... it's kept me interested. It made me a paying member to avoid the ads and play even faster, it's made me make 4 side accounts to have all the pets I adore. And it's given me a reason to keep coming back each day to play games and interact with my pets and Neofriends... so I can buy what I like. It's a challenge... and what's the point of a game without it?
There's my $5 in why Neopia is better than it used to be... take it or leave it, but it's that's my story (literally, hehe) and I'm stickin' to it.
Edited: billions of times because I can't type!

Kyuubi made me this totally awesome set!!
I
<3 Kyuubi!