Basics in Neopets

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Neopets is an online virtual pet simulation game. The site was opened to the public November 15, 1999 by Adam Powell and Donna Williams, but the company was bought by Doug Dohring soon after being created. Currently it is owned by Viacom after a recent business transaction, valued at USD 160 million.

Neopets started out as a site for bored college students but quickly grew into a site with users of all ages (many adults play this site, some with children of their own), and is currently one of the most popular mainstream sites on the web. The game takes place in an alternate universe called Neopia. Users, called Neopians, care for their Neopets by feeding and playing with them. Users can also play games, trade, or play a mock stock market to earn Neopoints (NP), Neopian currency that can be used to purchase virtual items that interact with their Neopets, including food, toys, and others. Neopoints may not be traded or sold for currency, and vice versa, though such actions have been attempted on eBay and the like.

Although the company is based in the United States, its founders are British and the site retains British English spellings (though there are some exceptions). In addition to English, as of June 2005 the site is available translated (with varying degrees of completeness) into ten other languages: Dutch, Portuguese, German, French, Italian, Spanish, Chinese-simplified, Chinese-traditional, Japanese and Korean. Neopets Inc. also operates an Asian branch, which is partially owned by Green Dot Capital, a subsidiary of the investment vehicle of the Government of Singapore, Temasek Holdings.

As of July 2005, Neopets reports over 100 million accounts, and over 143 million pets (note that one account can have a maximum of 4 pets, and many users have several accounts). As of May 2005, a Neopets-affiliated video game producer cited about 35 million unique users, 11 million unique IP addresses per month, and 4 billion web page views per month. This producer also described 20% of the users as 18 or older, with the median of the remaining 80% at about 14 ([1]). Updated statistics may be found on the Neopets "Pet Central" Page. However, there is some doubt over the veracity of these statistics (see "Controversy" below).

On June 20, 2005, Viacom stated that it had bought Neopets in a deal that has been valued at approximately $160 million ([2]). According to Viacom, Dohring, the current CEO of Neopets, along with other Neopets senior managers, will continue to hold their positions after the acquisition has been completed. This has caused concern among players that various aspects of the site would change. Common fears include the website becoming "Pay to Play" or that the fantasy feel the site currently possesses would lessen.

Basics

After creating an account, players can have up to four different pets per account. Multiple accounts (up to five, according to the rules) can be created in order to have more pets, but using these accounts to gain an unfair advantage is prohibited.

As of December 2005, there are 52 Neopet species currently available, with most being fictionalized versions of real animals. There are 11 that are limited edition or restricted, meaning they are harder to obtain.(The newest species is the Ogrin.) For example, the Nimmo is a stylized frog, the Blumaroo is kangaroo-like, and the Pteri is a bird-like species. There are also Neopets versions of popular fantasy creatures, such as dragons (Draiks) and unicorns (Unis). Users can customize their pets by selecting gender, colour (with initial choice of red, blue, yellow, or green for most Neopets, with the exception of the Grundo, which can initially be purple, brown or white, too. Of course, these colours can be changed later with expensive paint brushes, ranging from shadow and ghost to disco and white), personality, and name (provided another user hasn't already chosen the name).

Beginning stats for "battling" in an arena named the "Battledome" are chosen randomly, seemingly by the roll of a dice. The categories for stats include Strength, Agility, Defense, and Maximum HP (hit points). These stats can be changed by "training" at the Mystery Island training school or Krawk Island Swashbuckling Academy, a blessing from a faerie after one of their quests, or by completing a secret laboratory map, and using the earned Lab Ray.

Players must take care of and feed their pets (although Neopets will never die, or starve to death). They can also read books and battle each other in a Battledome in a style akin to popular role-playing games such as Pokémon. Neglecting a Neopet will result in its unhappiness, which may have consequences such as turning blue if it's sad, or red if it's angry.

Neopians can give their pets a different colour past the basic choices, such as purple and grey, if they purchase or find (in a random event) a paint brush. Paint brushes can also change pets into a "colour" of a completely different style, such as "Pirate" or "Royal". Some colours cannot be obtained from a paint brush; "Robot", for instance, can only be achieved by using the Secret Laboratory ray. In a random event, the pet may turn the color "invisible". The Fountain Faerie can also paint a pet almost any colour, but first the player must complete a quest that is given randomly on rare occasions.

Neopians gain the Neopoints to care for their pets and purchase items by playing games. Items are then purchased in either main shops, which are automatically restocked by the game, or in user-owned shops (which are another way of earning Neopoints).

If a Neopian is caught breaking the rules as stated in the Neopets Terms and Conditions, their account will be "frozen". If an account is frozen, it means that the account is not at all accessible by the user or anybody else. If wrongfully accused, there is a response form to contact Neopets. Unfortunately, the Neopets team does not always respond promptly, and may sometimes take up to a month or more to reply.

Neopets has launched a premium service, which gives some additional options (such as the Super Shop Wizard and avatars not attainable otherwise). The Neopets Premium service is in its BETA testing stage and users can only apply for premium if they get an invite from another premium user or if they find the portal open for signups.

Once Neopians become comfortable with the basics, they can begin spending their Neopoints on items beyond caring for their pets. Popular goals include "Paint brushes" and other items which can change a pet into another colour or even a completely different style. Petpets (pets for your pet) are also quite popular. There are even "Petpetpets", small critters attached to a Petpet. Any of these goals can cost an enormous amount of Neopoints, and dedicated users will devote months to their acquisition.

Part of the reason why Neopets is so widely-used is that it is continually changing: new items, games, and plots (such as "Hannah and the Ice Caves" or "Curse of Maraqua" and the newly released "Lost Desert" plot) are introduced almost every day. The ability to amass large amounts of Neopoints and rare items is a challenge for competitive players, and someone who keeps up with the latest news has a greater chance of being the first one to obtain a rare item (and sell it before it drops in value) or to earn a top score in a new game.

Neopets has also installed "Neopets Jr.", a basic version of the site catering to the very young, which has been released to those who register as age eight or under.