Difference between revisions of "Neopets.com"

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m (→‎Viacom (2005-2014): correcting. It would be kind of a bad deal if Neopets sold for $160. :P)
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[[Image:Neopets 2 layout.png|right|thumb|400px|Screenshot of the front page taken on 3 April 2012.]]
 
 
:''''''Neopets'''' redirects here. This article is about the website. For the inhabitants of [[Neopia]], see [[Neopet]]. For other uses, see [[Neopets (disambiguation)]].''
 
'''''Neopets.com''''' is a [[Wikipedia:Virtual pet|virtual pet]] site founded on 15 November, 1999. It is set in the world of [[Neopia]], a planet where creatures called [[Neopet]]s live. Players can create and adopt [[Neopet]]s, build and furnish a [[Neohome|home]], earn [[Neopoints|currency]] by playing [[games]], purchase [[items]], participate in a variety of [[events]]/feature, and interact with other users via the [[Neoboards]] and [[Nemail]]. Neopets can be painted different [[colour]]s and [[Neopet Customisation|customised]] with different clothing.
 
The site is free to play, supported by [[wikipedia:Display advertising|banner advertising]] and [[Wikipedia:Sponsor (commercial)|sponsored]] games. However, users may sign up for [[Neopets Premium]], introduced in 2004, for [[wikipedia:USD|$]]7.99 per month, which hides the advertising and provides access to special features including access to beta versions of developing games. Between 2006 and 2009, a subscription-based [[Neopets Mobile|mobile phone application]] was operated that allowed subscribers to access an [[Lutari Island|exclusive area]] of Neopia and care for their Neopets from their mobile phone. Additionally, in 2007, [[The Neopets Team]] introduced [[Neocash]], which can be bought for real money and used in turn to buy special wearable items for Neopets. It functions as a separate economy: Neocash and Neocash items cannot be traded for Neopoints.
 
== Company history ==
 
Development of the site began in [[1997]] and lasted up until late [[1999]] by then-College students [[Adam Powell]] and [[Donna Williams]]. During this period, the pair began to program, illustrate, and plan the foundations of Neopets still seen today.
 
The site officially launched on ''15 November, 1999''.
 
=== In-dependency (1999-2005) ===
 
Shortly after it's launch in ''November 1999'', Businessman [[Doug Dohring]], founder of the ''The Dohring Company'', immediately purchased the site from Adam and Donna for a disclosed amount. With the introduction of "''immersive advertising''", in which the site generates revenue through ads at no expense to the user, the site was both successful in profitability and use.
 
During this time, ''Neopets, Inc'' would begin to launch several divisions, such as a ''marketing'' team, and eventually move on to sell a line of [[Merchandise]] including Toys, Clothing, Video Games, and briefly food. In it's ever expanding realm of popularity and promotions, it would even move on to sponsor Pokemon in various campaigns and host a line of plushes through [[McDonalds]] in [[2005]] and [[2006]]. [[The Neopets Team]], who was also established during this period, would also see several of it's iconic and faithful members join.
 
From it's establishing as a company, up until it's eventual sale to [[Viacom]] in [[2005]], the site, and it's staff, established many of the  iconic characters, locations, events and functions Neopets is known for today.
 
=== Viacom (2005-2014) ===
 
On 20 June, [[2005]], [[Doug Dohring]], CEO and owner of ''Neopets, Inc'' sold the company to [[Viacom]] for a total of $160 million USD.<ref>http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/21/business/media/21viacom.html?_r=0</ref> Doug, who planned to stay with the company even after the purchase, commented on the purchase, saying: "''We have the ability to create properties with their own hero and villain characters that can be merchandised,''".
 
Upon it's purchase, ''Neopets, Inc.'' became [[Nickelodeon Virtual Worlds Group]], with the several additional departments opening in the company and that which still pertained to Neopets became known as ''NeoStudios''. Successfully launching a spin-off site [[Petpet Park]], and linked site [[Monkey Quest]], Viacom would later move on to introduce additional services such as [[Neopets Premium]], [[Neocash]] and the short-lived [[Neopets Mobile]].
 
Planning to fully '''marketize''' Neopets, plans were announced to launch a new lines of Merchandise, including toys and movies. Marketing campaigns such as [[Key Quest]] and [[Neocash]] were created as a result of [[Viacom]]'s ownership, with an array of of other merchandise such as [[Trading Cards]], Playsets, and videogames such as [[Puzzle Adventure]] and [[Quizara's Curse]]. In vein of past promotions the Neopets had with [[McDonalds]], [[Burger King]] was also used to host a variety of Neopets-themed plushes and figurines included with meals.
 
Unfortunately, past Neopets' 10th Birthday in [[2009]], Viacom began to cut all external merchandising and focus primarily on the sales of [[Nick Cash]], a pay-to-own virtual currency which seemingly 'succeeded' [[NeoCash]]. During this time, the number of [[Site Event]]s, content and features "lulled", with the company's focus shifting to the impending launch of [[Monkey Quest]].
 
On 17 March, 2014, it was announced that [[Viacom]] had sold ''Neopets.com'' and related properties to gaming industry [[JumpStart]].
 
=== JumpStart (2014-Present) ===
 
On 17 March, 2014, [[The Neopets Team]] announced the site's departure from [[Viacom]] after closing a deal with gaming company [[JumpStart]] for the purchase of [[Neopets.com]] and [[Petpet Park]].<ref>http://www.jellyneo.net/index.php?comments=9117</ref>
 
Though the details remained slim, users were assured that all sites features would be kept intact, and that both ''Neopets'' and ''Petpet Park'' would be "disconnected" from [[Monkey Quest]] at a later time after all of the site's assets are moved to JumpStart's servers. Users were given '''150 [[Neocash]]''' and two items, a Plushie [[Kiko]] representative of Viacom's '''''Spongebob Squarepants''''' ({{LinkJellyneo|item=56462|title=Cheerful Sponge Kiko Plushie}}), and a Plushie [[Gelert]] JumpStart's mascot ({{LinkJellyneo|item=56463|title=Friendly Brown Gelert Plushie}}).
 
==Gameplay==
Players of the site must sign up for a free account. This allows them to own Neopets and participate in the world. Each account can own up to four Neopets, a shop, a [[gallery]], and a Neohome each. A player may also sign up for up to four additional "side" accounts to own more Neopets, but they may not use these additional accounts to earn Neopoints. Players are expected to care for their Neopets, including [[food|feeding]] them, [[toy|playing]] with them, and curing them of any [[disease]]s they may catch. Players can use the [[Quick Ref]] page to keep track of their Neopet's needs.
 
Basic care of Neopets can be learned from [[Neopets Jr.]], a simple version of the site catering to young players or those new to the website.
 
Neopets has its own functional economy. Players earn Neopoints primarily from playing [[games]]. These Neopoints can be used to purchase [[item]]s. The main way new items enter the economy is when they are bought from [[wikipedia:Non-Player Character|NPC]] [[shop]]s. Items can be sold between users in player-owned shops, and many users turn a profit from buying up cheap [[item]]s, that have a high resell price, when shops restock. Items can be bartered for other items in the [[Trading Post]] or auctioned off at the [[Auction House]]. Some rarer items - such as [[paint brush]]es and [[Treasure Map]] pieces - are only given out by [[random event]]s or as prizes from [[plot]]s.
 
Plots are story lines that occur in the Neopets world. They often involve the release of new themed worlds, and users can follow the story and participate by solving puzzles or fighting in the [[Battledome]] - a game where trained Neopets are equipped and fight [[wikipedia:Turn-based strategy|turn based battles]] against other competitors. They are the main means that events effecting the whole of Neopia transpire.
 
Players may set themselves other goals, including collecting certain items to display in a gallery, or filling their [[Stamp Album]] or [[Neodeck]]. They may train and arm their Neopet for the Battledome, seek to paint and customise their Neopet, or decorate their Neohome. The most well decorated Neohomes can be entered into the Neohome Spotlight, which awards trophies to the players with the best Neohomes. Other spotlights include the [[Art Gallery]], to which the player may submit their drawings, the [[Poetry Contest]], and the [[Gallery Spotlight]]. The website also operates weekly contests like the [[Lenny Conundrum]] and the [[Caption Contest]].
 
The site also operates the [[Neopian Times]], which publishes player authored stories, articles, comics and series of long stories. It features an editorial where The Neopets Team answer players' questions too.
 
===Community===
A large portion of the site is given over to community interactions. Users can view other users' profiles (called [[user look-up]]s) and their Neopets and trade with them. Players over the age of 13, or those under 13 who have returned a parental permission form - in accordance with the USA's [[Wikipedia:Children's Online Privacy Protection Act|Children's Online Privacy Protection Act]] - can send [[Neomail|messages]] to each other, talk on the site's [[Neoboards|chat boards]], and can form themed [[guild]]s with their friends.
 
Certain games, like the [[Battledome]] and [[Kacheekers]], can be played with other players over the internet.
 
===Rule breaking===
The Neopets Team have several systems in place for dealing with rule breaking. Minor infractions may often receive a warning at the discretion of the staff, whereas repeated or more serious infractions can be dealt with by suspension: this prevents a user from accessing their account or anything associated with it - e.g. its Neopets, its Neopoints, its shop - until the suspension has elapsed. Suspensions can be issued for different lengths of time, and subsequent suspensions tend to be longer.
 
For very serious or continued rule breaking, the player can be frozen. This permanently locks the user out of their account, and any other user who searches for that player will just receive a message that the account in question is frozen. If a player believes they have been wrongly frozen, they can submit a frozen account ticket in the Help section to have the case reviewed and submit extra information about what happened. All the details of the account remain saved, so if the review finds in favour of the player the account can be restored in its entirety.
 
For rule breaking specifically relating to the Neoboards or contacting other players, a user may be silenced for a period of time. While silenced, they can still play the site but cannot communicate with other players at all, nor modify their user or pet look-ups.
 
None of these actions are carried out by automatic systems: an employee of Neopets reviews each case before acting.
 
==Merchandise==
 
''Neopets'' produces a range of merchandise, including plushies, stickers, and stationary. The merchandise retails at many mainstream outlets such as [[Wikipedia:Wal-Mart|Wal-Mart]], [[Wikipedia:Target|Target]], and [[Wikipedia:Limited Too|Limited Too]] (which was the first outlet for Neopets merchandise). There are also online retailers involved, such as [http://99dogs.com 99dogs] and [[Wikipedia:Zazzle|Zazzle]].
 
In September 2003, the [[Neopets TCG|Neopets Trading Card Game]] was published by [[Wikipedia:Wizards of the Coast|Wizards of the Coast]]. The trading cards are a collectible card game based on characters and settings from the website. As well as being collected they can also be used in a two-player card game. In addition to the base set of cards, there have been nine expansions mostly set around the site's plots. The last expansion was released in 2006.
 
Several off-site video games have also been released, starting with ''[[Neopets: The Darkest Faerie]]'' in 2005 for the [[Wikipedia:PlayStation 2|PlayStation 2]] then ''[[Neopets: Petpet Adventures - The Wand of Wishing]]'' in 2006 for the [[Wikipedia:PlayStation Portable|PlayStation Portable]]. In 2008, ''[[Neopets Puzzle Adventure]]'' was released for the [[Wikipedia:Nintendo DS|Nintendo DS]], [[Wikipedia:Wii|Wii]], and [[Wikipedia:PC|PC]], and in 2009, the [[wikipedia:Leapfrog Didj|Leapfrog Didj]] exclusive title ''[[Quizara's Curse]]'' was launched. Five types of electronic handhelds have been released: four types of [[Mini Pals]], a keyring sized accessory where the player cares for a Neopet, and a [[wikipedia:Zizzle|Zizzle]] toy featuring ten games in one.
 
Between 2003 and 2008, [[Wikipedia:Beckett Media|Beckett Media]] published a bimonthly magazine called [[Neopets: The Official Magazine]]. Twenty six issues were published before the magazine was discontinued.
 
In 2005, it was reported that a [[Neopets (film)|''Neopets'' film]] was in pre-production, but nothing has materialised.
 
==Trivia==
*A [[Wikipedia:Google search|Google search]] feature was added to the basic Neopets search on November 21, 2006.
*Neopets was [[Neopets 2.0|re-modeled]] on April 26, 2007
 
==See also==
*[[:Category:Neopet Species|Neopet Species]]
*[[:Category:Neopia|Neopia]]
*[[:Category:Neopets Terminology|List of terms in Neopets]]
*[[List of Pop Culture References in Neopets]]
*[[:Category:Faeries|Faeries]]
 
==External links==
*[http://www.neopets.com Neopets Official Website]
*<s>[http://www.neopets.com/mini/index.phtml Neopets Jr.]</s> (defunct)
*[http://www.neopets.com/portal/index.phtml Premium Portal]
*'''Editorial:''' {{oed|51}}, {{oed|52}}, [http://www.neopets.com/ntimes/index.phtml?section=editorial&issue=221 221]
*'''Selected Petpages:''' [http://home.neopets.com/templates/homepage.phtml?pet_name=Leto Leto's Premium Neopets FAQ]
*[http://www.neopets.com/neopets_demo.phtml Introduction to the site]
*[http://info.neopets.com/presskit/index.html Official Neopets Press Kit]
 
== References ==
<references />
 
[[Category:Neopets]]

Latest revision as of 15:58, 10 June 2014

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