NeoPets

"The goods and bads of this addictive site"

Introduction:
I started neopets about two years ago. It was a hot summer day, and I was bored, so I decided to do a search for ''interesting websites'' to help pass the time. I had no idea what I was about to get myself into. www.neopets.com is a website where you create, raise, feed, and play with virtual creatures- what they call neopets. However, this is far different from your average online-pet site…

Gameplay-
The main aspect of the game is to gain lots of the currency at neopets.com, called ''neopoints''. Using these things, players buy things such as weapons for their pet (to fight against other pets or 1 player opponents in an extensive battle area called the ''battledome''), buying paintbrushes to paint their pets different colors, or building their dream ''Neohome'' Although neopets doesn't offer a specific goal, many players have their own. Whether it is to save up for that prized battle weapon, or counting pennies for that second Pirate Paint brush, there's always something to do.

Graphics-
Although as it is an online site, graphics are very limited, but for what they can do, neopets does it. Colorful, imaginative drawings fill all the pages, and make it very easy to get around. A common goal for many neopets owners is to paint their pets. This is where a majority of the art comes in. There are tons of possibilities to paint your pet, some very creative (such as Pirate, Desert, Fire, Christmas, or Halloween), others very basic such as red, green, blue, yellow, striped, and spotted. All of the pets are well drawn though, and new pet colors are constantly being added to the site.

Replay Value-
Again, while there is no ''finishing'' neopets, you can be guaranteed that it will capture your attention for a long time to come. There's always something new for you to work for.

The bad-
As with everything in the world, there is always some flaws. Neopets is no exception. Some bad things include…

The chats-
The chats have been recently redone, and I think that they reek. It has turned them into more of a ''forum'' then what they used to be-useful. The staff has made it so that whenever a topic is posted in, it rises to the top again. I find this very annoying, but this is simply an opinion.

Unpunctual staff-
Yes, this is one of the most annoying things of the site in my opinion. The staff will promise something (on the news page) and will state a certain date often, but almost always they fail to meet that date. A classic example is of the old ''Darigan-vs-Merdell'' war/plot. You'll often here things such as ''Yay! We have scheduled the war to start August 5th, so make sure you're there!''. When August 5th comes around, nothing. The next day? Nothing. Sometimes it takes up to weeks later to have something new actually coming out. At the time of writing this, we are currently waiting for a new thing called ''Neoschools'', which was promised to us on the 8th of September. Right now it's already 2 weeks past that date, and not even an excuse or notice about it. Although I respect that the staff is indeed, very busy, it would be better to give no dates at all, than false ones.

Scammers-
While most of the people in neopets are friendly, there are those who attempt to take advantage of new people. These people are called ''scammers''. Simply use common sense, and you'll more than likely do just fine.


''I think I've been scammed/hacked''-
If you have any suspicion that someone has been into your account (like lost items, NP,) and you still have access to your account, the first thing that you need to do is to change your password. You can do that by clicking ''Help'' on the yellow toolbar to the left of any neopets page, and then clicking ''User prefs'' at the top of the screen. From there you need to change your password to something else that you can remember. Secondly, if you have any suspicion that you have been to a cookie grabber site, click back onto your desktop and right click the Internet Explorer picture. Then go down to where it says ''Properties'' and click. From there, you will have a little box open. You'll see a button that says either ''Delete Files'' or ''Delete Cookies'' on newer computers. Click it, then click ''Ok''. If the button only said ''Delete Files'' instead of ''Delete Cookies'', there's one more step to safety. To the immediate right of the ''Delete Files'' button there should be a button that says ''Settings''. Click it, then click at the bottom where it says ''View Files''. A box will pop up, with your cookies inside of it. Highlight all of them, and then press ''delete''. Congrats, your account may have been saved.

Conclusion-
While it may be tough and confusing for newbies to start out on neopets, the site becomes very manageable in a very short time. If you stick with it, neopets.com will surely be an enjoyable experience. In time you may even become addicted to it, like so many have been already.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 09/22/03