Thu Jun 28, 2007 9:21 pm
Thu Jun 28, 2007 9:33 pm
anjuna wrote:If I worked in the office, I would 1) start a petition, 2) go on strike (with many others of course so as hopefully not to lose my job), 3) stage a coup!
Seriously. I didn't even realize the Pound was not back up. I am surprised that people are so beaten down by the changes that we hear so few complaints lately. Perhaps most of us are still in shock. I know I am. And just wondering what else is in store for us next ....
It seems like the orders being handed down from new management are not in line with what the creators, maintainers, and users of the site want. It is almost like a new site completely. If I had been introduced to "this Neopets" 30 months ago (with a very very cool beginning story to boot; PM me if you like such stories) I would not have bitten the bait.
I probably would have felt it was too modern, too much like all the other Internet information/imagery bombardment, too complicated, not to mention too CPU intensive, and hence more trouble than it was worth. It's almost like someone in management said, "Hmm, we so pwn all other pet sites and have for so long that we can afford to make huge changes that offend our supporting users and just be mediocre now."
It also seems that along with the change in management, old hardware is still suffering? I don't know why databases are still failing but you would think they could afford a high-end deal including more reliable, faster, modern hardware which requires less maintenance and fails less often. It seems their artists and programmers are overworked and all because perhaps someone decided it would be a good idea to implement quickref changes during an Aldator Cup double round robin in which it was VITAL to have databases working properly so that accurate counts could be made for score tallying. Just a bad idea. Don't overstretch. (Note that I don't know if such actually happened or not, but it is certainly a possibility. Therefore, I use this example to show what I think is just poor judgement. Not a good idea. Wait until after the Cup to start making huge overhauls to major site areas? Better idea.)
And what is this NeoCash someone mentioned? 'NeoTube' is bad enough. It is hard to comprehend the aim of all these changes being made so fast. Wouldn't their popularity increase, as well as understanding from their users, if they simply did even the smallest quickest poll before implementing such hideous features? Are they so above everything now that they wouldn't even revert a change that such a high percentage of users disliked?
And I thought TNT said they don't use an automatic program to judge if we were using one? What a strange message to get about auto-buying when you aren't even in a shop. I am sorry for the rant, but I am just so disappointed lately. I really feel more sorry for the people that have to work there, as I know it must be more hard on them having to do all this.
Thu Jun 28, 2007 9:55 pm
Thu Jun 28, 2007 10:00 pm
Thu Jun 28, 2007 10:28 pm
afyapardess wrote:Anjuna, I hear you.
NeoCash? After seeing a faerie floating in the air by the ear of someone's pet, I googled a bit and found this info page: http://sunnyneo.com/ncmall.php. It's in beta at the moment, and as far as I can gather you can't join the beta unless you were picked, but basically you spend real-life money to get NeoCash which you can then use to buy Customisation items for your pet. Some of them look quite cool - the wings of flame for instance - so would you pay a dollar to have those pixels on your pet? Would you pay another $1.50 for a clockwork petpet to roll in front of it? What about the hundreds of other items that are slated for NeoCash-only release? Where do you draw the line?
Your money buys you one year's 'rent' of the items, after which they disappear. And they can't be traded, sold or given away. Unless you want to open your wallet, you can't have them. And the artists? I doubt they have a choice... their time will now go into making paid-for items, not fun stuff for everyone.
This includes items I was expecting to be among the most basic things released for customisation... like more backgrounds, besides the generic starry ones and the Altador Cup support backgrounds. But no. You want your pet to be swimming in Maraqua? 200 NeoCash, please. You thought Customisation was created with the user experience in mind, and were trying to be positive about the changes to your Neopets, even though they now all look like they're about to punch you? Well, you can make them look really cool now! (If you pay for it.) Discovering NeoCash made me realise exactly what Customisation is about: turning Neopets into a pay-as-you-go site. I thought it was a joke at first... too similar to the April Fool about NeoCharge... but it's not April. And the NC items are real.
I mean, I'm a Premium member. I don't mind paying real money to improve my experience on a site I play daily. (I support Neopets financially, so they don't have to blast me with adverts; fair enough.) But there's a line to be drawn.... and beyond that line, your community sinks into a barely disguised fascia for a moneymaking machine. For me, personally, NeoCash just crossed it.
Fri Jun 29, 2007 12:35 am
Fri Jun 29, 2007 1:00 am
Sun Jul 01, 2007 2:53 am
Sun Jul 01, 2007 3:22 am
Dustin wrote:I've been getting a lot of 404s tonight.
Sun Jul 01, 2007 4:37 am
Sun Jul 01, 2007 4:53 am
Sun Jul 01, 2007 11:17 am