NeoItems.net
NeoItems.net was a Japanese-based fansite and item database, founded on May 25, 2001 to provide a complete listing of Neopian items. It once hosted the largest online database of all known available or unavailable items within the game. The site was available in both English and Japanese.
There was a large, active forum integrated into the website with sections for Neopets. Membership to the forum used to be required to search the item database, a measure taken to reduce traffic, but participation through it was not.
The site was last seen in operation September 2nd, 2012.
History
NeoItems.net is credited as being the first complete item database for Neopets.com. Opened in 2003, it was constructed by a user then known as 'Webmaster', and established many of the features seen in most Item Databases today. It was run by by a Japanese company known as ThreadsDev, a company established by the creator of NeoItems.
The site ran smoothly for many years, receiving many updates and features during it's lifespan. It featured a thriving and active forum, which remained active for many years.
Unfortunately, with the birth of Jellyneo's Item Database, and Neopets no longer translating it's site to Japanese, the site began to fall out of regular use, and, in 2012, closed it's doors permanently. ThreadsDev still remains online, still operating the majority of it's original services to this day.
Features
NeoItems.net featured a wide variety of features, presenting many of the ideas and concepts found in most fansites today.
Item Database
The point of the site was to feature an Item Database for Neopets.com, listing every item, presently released and un released, for users to view with a searchable form.
During it's existence, users could search for items based on the item's name, description, category, release, price, image name, or association (User submitted tags such as 'Desert' or 'Evil'). The database long outlasted both the site's blog and forums, though it stopped receiving updates some time in 2007.
User accounts
User Accounts were a feature available from the start of the until it's closure.
They were originally implemented to cut down hosting costs, only allowing registered users to view and use the database. Due to demand, limitation was removed and all users, registered or not, could browse every section of the site.
This feature also doubled as a forum account, using custom made software to link both the forum and site accounts together.
Blog
The site once featured a blog, which would post daily news regarding new items, item discoveries, and overall news regarding Neopets.com and NeoItems.net. It lacked a commenting system, urging users to use the forum instead.
Forum
The site featured a forum, widely active until 2007. It was once the popular home to all sorts of Neopets-related chatting, such as discussion of plots, pets, news, and Neopets in general. It remained ever active it closed in 2012. It was powered by UBB.threads software.
When one attempts to visit the forums now, they will be presented with a link to the main site, which is now offline.
User-submitted articles
Another feature presented was User-submitted articles. This feature allowed users to create articles, such as game guides, or articles of general information, to the site. Articles were then reviewed by the staff, and posted to the site if seen to be both appropriate and useful.
A new article was featured on the homepage everyday until 2007, at which point the articles were deleted from the site in order to cut costs on hosting.
Annual events
NeoItems featured two annual events, the Easter Negg Hunt and Trick-Or-Treating, for Easter and Halloween respectively. They ran from 2004-2006/07.
The Easter Negg Hunt required users to search the site and database for particular items, giving hints to the negg's location. If a user found the page, a link would be provided pair with an image of a negg. When this negg was selected, a 'point' would be added to the user's account (Provided they had one), and they'd continue to search for other neggs.
The Trick-Or-Treating event worked exactly the same, but with a Halloween emphasis and images of candy rather than neggs.
Both events honoured the top Negg and Candy finders for both events, awarding special forum awards and receiving honourable mentions.
Staff
The site had known sevan staff members throughout it's existence, six of whom remained with the site until it's closure.
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'Webmaster' Moderators
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Closure
The site closed 2012, after having had fallen into a steady decline in 2006 following the opening of Jellyneo's Item Database and with Neopets.com no longer be translated to Japanese.
The front page of the site now reads "This site is currently down."
Other possible reasons for closure
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Speculation Has Happened! |
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The following section contains information of a speculative nature, and may or may not be true.
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It has been suggested that Jellyneo's Item Database was not the cause for NeoItems' death, but rather it help it lived on. Some believe Jellyneo's IDB was meant to be NeoItems' successor, with many of the original staff members moving to Jellyneo and utilizing information from NeoItems. Given the dates NeoItems stopped updating, and Jellyneo's IDB went into operation, this is a plausible theory.
This has yet to be confirmed or denied.
Trivia
- It was featured in the first issue of Neopets: The Official Magazine as a notable fansite, though like every site mentioned in that issue, it no longer exists.
See Also
External Links
- NeoItems.net (Offline)