Pink Poogle Toy Forum

Is anyone else noticing that our once humble neopets is becoming increasingly business orientated?

I personally never thought there would be a time where real money would be exchanged for a special neopet currency, but I can understand Viacom wanting to milk neopets for all its got, considering they spent $160 million buying the site

To me it feels like an exploitation of something that was more innocent, or am I just cynical?

Neopets is a business - therefore the management of the company needs to grow and expand as the business permits. No growth - no money - no business.



That is the nature of business in a nutshell - why buy a company if you are not going to expand and make profit? I personally don't know how Viacom operates, so I can't judge if they are 'milking' Neopets.

Neopets could never sustain themselves as a backwater operation, they have grown too big and are too popular. New management and a new direction was always going to happen.

I had a knee-jerk reaction to Premium, Neocash etc I am still uncertain of how it will effect my playing in the long run but for the moment I am still content.

As for cynical? I am a cynical person in all walks of life - I seek my own judgement and don't look at outside influences. I can still play Neo and enjoy it, until then I don't see anything wrong with progress.

One would have to assume neopets was more than merely sustainable considering the expansion of both the site and neopet team over the 7 years as an independent endeavour

The sheer fact that Viacom would spend $160 million to buy the company shows that their revenue would be significantly large, epically compared to that of a backwater operation

Personally the neo cash mall seems like a cheap ploy when they have things like the customisation spotlight and notable neopets on the home page. But in terms of the business side, this will make Viacom a lot of money, they're selling virtual products which only has one expenses (their initial design and creation), after that they have an infinite supply at no other cost

Thanks for explaining the 'no money, no business' concept, it seems to support my opening statement, neopets must have been making money, a lot of money to get to where they are now, because I remember when they were a backwater operation

Gosh I miss Fuzzle, The Macey Grey neopet and when Bruce was a man and not a penguin like creature

You're right, Neopets is business, as owners Viacom have the right to take it any direction they want to

But In my eyes neopets is shifting away from a free recreational site to something more money orientated

I've been bitter about the increased blatancy with which Viacom is trying to profit off of this site for a long time now. The latest neocash and neomall was just ridiculous in my mind...instead of fixing the many MANY problems that have been ignored for months, TnT decides they would rather have the money and sell virtual products (the worst part being that they have an expiry date after what, 3 months?). I really wouldn't mind so much if there was a fraction of that focus on other areas on neopets.

Times like these I wonder why I bother to keep playing...

For me, Neopets is a business, and while I don't plan on using the NC Mall so it really doesn't effect me. Though I wish they would work on updating and fixing content like the pound, TNT seems to think that new content brings new users, which brings more money. Neopets is a busiuness and businesses make money.

Remember? Remember when Viacom took over the site, and the general consensus was eh, TNT never actually owned the site anyways, it'll be the same, Viacom won't touch a thing.

Haha, we were so wrong.

I think the bright bulb of the Neopet potential with it's youthful 'Submersive Advertising' has burned out. It was the idea that all advertising could be done unintrusively through games (that earn neopoints) that made Neopets a fresh and interesting. What it is now is very far away from that precept.

If this is something that you felt happening or just noticed, then you might be disappointed with Neopets. I recommend moving to a smaller site with a different orientation if it seriously bugs you. Although most people have adapted or stopped playing my now.

Not just a man....

BRUCE FORSYTH!



Nice to see you, to see you.... NICE!

Legend!


I don't really miss that though. T'was fun but there was bugger all to do. I miss a small amount the interaction with Donna and Adam, the sillyness that surrounded them and the fun we had when they opened the Fan Clubs on the new "Neo Chat". But those days aren't coming back, there are just too many people online nowadays.

I'm fine the way the site is now. Although I do wish they'd scrap the Altador Cup, it was fun the first time. Seccond time was "all right" with a terrible trophy system, but I can see it becoming very tedious and time consuming. New long interesting plots for the win!!!

Yeah, I knew Bruce was based on an actual person, I remember googling him but as to this day I still have no idea who he is

I'm not one to be an anti-progressionist, just identifying it as a more innocent time in neopets

neopets has the potential to be a very strong marketing tool, it has a fairly strong demographic of young children who would be quite influenced by targeted advertisements, and this is something I think we'll see more of in the future as well as other revenue raising schemes

I'm not trying to raise a moral issue with that (I don't think there is one), I'm more concerned of how this will affect my usage of the site

reminiscing, I really wished I stocked up on 90np bottled faeries, 20np neggs and all the mushrooms from the short-lived mushroom shop not to mention all the other items that have become a rarity over the years

I totally agree with you about the altador cup, I wasn't expecting it to become an annual event and after the second year I'm already sick of it

Definitely new long plots ftw, but I still miss the wars

I personally find plots boring and tedious. I would be ecstatic if TnT were to run another war like in the good old days, but I really have given up hope on a war. Best thing I can hope for now is a plot with battling components.

As for things I should have stocked up on...first thing that pops to mind is the H4K helmets (then known as hypno helmets), second thing is I should have towered a few jade scorchstones before they retired...I'd be rolling in np by now

Ahh, I enjoy plots. I usually have a bash at solving the problems and if I fail I go onto the plot chats and have a natter about it there which is always fun. I prefer those puzzles where you really have to use your brain, it makes me dead chuffed when I complete them.

As for wars, I used to like them but I'm not sure if they would work any more. I'm happy with the battles within plots, it's easier on my little 56k modem. =D

*Has a lot of mushrooms* Mine!

Bruce=legend

He's a British legend on TV. Try http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bruce_Forsyth

I honestly don't mind the fact that Neopets is a business (and acts like one). I don't even mind the NC Mall; I still maintain that it's ridiculous to spend money on something that you're simply RENTING, but hey...if you want to blow your money, go for it. Yay capitalism!

I do wish, however, that they would spend less time revamping games and creating new items for the NC Mall and spend more time updating the site in places that really really need it (aka the Battledome) and getting things that have been down a long time back up again (aka the pound).

If they want this to be a successful business venture, they need to start thinking about what their users want and focus on those things as well as those things that will solely bring in money.