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Neopets is an online virtual pet game that allows players to care for and customize their own virtual pets called Neopets. Launched in 1999, Neopets allows users to explore an expansive virtual world with their Neopets, participate in activities and games to earn rewards, and interact with other players.
With its cute graphics and addictive gameplay, Neopets appealed to millions of young people in the early 2000s and developed a strong following that continues today. At its peak, the site boasted over 30 million active accounts.
History of Neopets
Neopets was created in 1999 by Adam Powell and Donna Williams, who were inspired by the Tamagotchi virtual pet craze at the time. The Neopets website officially launched on November 15, 1999.
Within its first few months, Neopets grew rapidly to over 800,000 active accounts. This early growth was fueled by word of mouth in online communities. Neopets provided a fun escape for kids on the emerging Internet.
In June 2005, Viacom purchased Neopets for $160 million. Under Viacom, Neopets continued expanding, translating the site into multiple languages. However, in 2014, JumpStart acquired Neopets from Viacom for just $5 million, a fraction of Viacom’s original purchasing price.
Today, JumpStart continues to run Neopets, adding new features and updates to maintaininterest in the classic virtual world.
Neopets’ Popularity and Impact
At its peak in the early 2000s, Neopets was one of the most popular sites amongst youth. Its games were played over 200 million times daily. Neopets even spawned real-world merchandise, including trading cards, plush toys, and McDonald’s Happy Meal toys.
Neopets had a significant social impact by creating an online community where kids could play and explore creatively outside of school. Developing their Neopets taught financial literacy, HTML skills, and entrepreneurship.
Although the number of active Neopets users has declined from its early 2000s heyday, a dedicated fanbase remains. Nostalgic millennials look back fondly on the memories and lessons learned by playing Neopets as kids.
Creating and Customizing Your Neopet
Choosing your Neopet Species
The first step in creating your Neopet is choosing its species. There are over 50 colorful species to choose from, including cats, dogs, reptiles, birds, aquatic creatures, and mythical beings.
Some popular species include Acaras, Cybunnies, and Kacheeks. Each species has its own characteristics, giving players strategic benefits in battles, quests, and contests.
Naming Your Neopet
After selecting its species, you get to name your Neopet. Neopets’ names must be between 2 to 15 letters long, original, and appropriate for all ages.
Many players choose fun, made-up names like “Squiglepoof” or names based on food like “BlueberryPie.” Names referencing pop culture or real people are not allowed.
Customizing Your Neopet’s Appearance
One of the most enjoyable parts of Neopets is customizing your Neopet’s appearance. You can change its fur or scale colors, dress it in clothes, give it accessories, and design its background scene.
The Neopets artists are always adding new wearable items and paint brush colors to allow seemingly endless customizations. Popular paintbrush colors that change a Neopet’s color permanently include Baby, Maraquan (underwater), and Faerie.
Exploring Neopets
Navigating Neopets
The Neopets website has an intuitive, easy-to-navigate interface. The header allows quick navigation between different areas like the Shop Wizard, Explore, Games, and more.
The left sidebar lists your Neopet’s vital stats like its health, hunger, mood, and energy. Icons also provide quick access to your Neopet’s inventory, profile, and more.
Visiting Different Locations
Neopia is divided into different worlds to explore, each with unique activities.Popular worlds include Faerieland, Mystery Island, Lost Desert, and Tyrannia.
Within each world are special locations like concert halls, restaurants, schools, and arcades. Transportation between areas is done via boats, hot air balloons, or flying with your Neopet.
Participating in Activities and Games
Each location in Neopia provides different games and activities to earn Neopoints. Activities range from Battledome fighting to typing practice games to puzzle challenges.
Some popular games include Meerca Chase, Ultimate Bullseye, Snow Wars, and Magma Blaster. Games cater to different skill levels and interests. Battling Scorchios or playing Cheeseroller offers something for everyone!
Caring for Your Neopet
Feeding Your Neopet
Like real pets, Neopets need to be fed regularly to stay healthy. You can buy food like sandwiches and berries using Neopoints earned from games. Apple, Omelette, and Jelly are affordable options.
You should also feed Neopets nutritional supplements like vitamins. Spoiling your Neopet with gourmet foods for special occasions can boost its mood substantially.
Playing With Your Neopet
Playing games with your Neopet like Find Four or Barf Boat Racing will increase its happiness. You can also read books together or take your Neopet to the Concert Hall for entertainment.
Sharing laughs with your Neopet by telling jokes keeps your bond strong too. A happy Neopet behaves better than a bored, lonely one.
Bathing and Grooming Your Neopet
Basic hygiene is important for any Neopet. Give your Neopet baths regularly using Neopoint-purchased grooming items. Brush its hair after baths.
You can pamper your Neopet by getting a painted color change or new clothes at the Neopets Beauty Parlor. A well-groomed Neopet feels loved.
Making Money in Neopets
Earning Neopoints Through Jobs and Activities
The main currency in Neopia is Neopoints. These can be earned through the games and employment. Popular jobs include delivering pizzas or working shifts at food stands.
Restocking your own Neopets shop with cheap items to resell at a markup is another profitable option. The more time you invest playing games and working, the more Neopoints you can accumulate.
Trading Neopoints With Other Players
Trading Neopoints or items with other users is a key part of the Neopets economy. You can offer trades on the Trading Post board.
Buying from players’ shops allows you to find deals on rare items. Building trust and establishing trading partners leads to lucrative exchange opportunities.
Investing in Neopoints and Stocks
Savvy Neopets players invest excess Neopoints to grow their wealth. You can deposit Neopoints in the National Neopian Bank to earn interest over time.
The Neopian Stock Market lets you buy and trade shares of Neopian companies. Buying undervalued stocks and reselling when prices increase earns big profits.
Battling and Training Your Neopet
Training Your Neopet’s Strength, Defense, and Agility
An important responsibility is training your Neopet’s batting skills at one of Neopia’s training schools. You can boost stats like health points, strength, defense, and agility through courses and training items.
Status increases help your Neopet perform better during Battledome fights and competitions. Consistent exercise leads to a strong, healthy Neopet.
Battling Other Neopets in the Battledome
The Battledome lets your Neopet engage in battles against other players’ Neopets or computer-controlled challengers. Battles use turn-based gameplay, with each Neopet taking swipes based on their stats.
Winning Battledome matches earns your Neopet prizes and improves its fighting abilities. Stronger Neopets will defeat more challenging foes over time.
Participating in Neopet Battling Tournaments
For elite Neopets fighters, tournaments exist to crown champions. In the month-long Altador Cup, teams of Neopet battlers represent their homelands. Fans can vote and support teams.
In March, Neopets holds an annual battling competition called the Daily Dare. Two Neopets legends place challenges for others to test their skills against. Unique prizes are awarded to winners.
Neopets’ Quests and Adventures
Embarking on Quests to Earn Rewards
NPCs will periodically offer unique quests by asking your Neopet to deliver an item or perform a task. Completing their requests earns exclusive prizes, trophies, or avatar designs.
Some elaborate quest storylines can take weeks and require help from friends. Neopets’ quests add an element of surprise and adventure.
Exploring Neopets’ Hidden Areas and Secrets
While much of Neopia is mapped out, secret areas exist for discovery. Puzzle games and fortuitous events sometimes reveal passages to mystical lands.
Dedicated Neopets explorers share tips online to access areas like the Deep Catacombs beneath Neopia Central, rumored to be filled with treasures.
Unraveling the Mysteries of Neopets
Strange occurrences called “plots” happen over weeks, creating mysteries for the Neopets community to jointly solve. They must decrypt clues and messages left by villains threatening Neopia.
These collaborative narrative events engage longtime Neopets fans. Solving elaborate plot mysteries together has strengthened the Neopets community since the early 2000s.
Neopets’ Social Features
Making Friends with Other Neopets Players
Neopets allows players to befriend one another. You can chat on the boards, send Neomail messages, or visit other users’ pages to learn about their interests.
Making genuine connections enhances the Neopets experience. Friends can exchange gifts, lend items, offer quest help, and share the joy of big milestones.
Joining Guilds and Clubs
Players with shared interests can join the same Neopets guilds to socialize in a smaller group setting. Guilds unite fans of activities like cooking, photography, gaming, and more.
Clubs exist for other niche interests, like fans of specific colors, species, books, TV shows, or celebrities referenced in Neopets content over the years.
Participating in Neopets’ Social Events
Site-wide events bring the entire Neopets community together virtually. During their annual Neopies award show, users vote for favorites in silly categories.
Game challenges like Caption Contest involve submitting entries to compete for limited edition prizes. The editorial section also highlights users’ stories and poems.
Neopets’ Customization and Creativity
Customizing Your Neopet’s Home
Let your creativity run wild while designing custom home layouts to express your Neopets’ style. Furniture, flooring, wallpaper, and outdoor scenery are available to construct your dream Neohome.
You can build and customize multiple rooms. Popular ones include gardens, kitchens, bedrooms, libraries, and recreation spaces with Neovision TVs or game tables.
Creating Your Own Neopets Shops and Businesses
Become an entrepreneur by opening your own Neopian shops to earn Neopoints. You control the shop name, appearance, and inventory.
Successful businesses require monitoring economic trends and demand for certain item types. Creative business themes and marketing also attract buyers.
Designing Your Own Neopets Artwork and Stories
Neopets encourages users to tap into their imagination through writing and art. You can draw custom images to share in your pet’s lookup profile.
The Neopian Times publishes user-written articles and short fiction stories. Young writers eagerly submit work for a chance at a coveted spot.
Neopets’ Monetization
Neopets’ Premium Features and Subscriptions
Neopets offers optional “Premium” subscriptions that unlock exclusive site features. Subscribers gain access to Premium-only pets, restricted items and clothing, and special locations.
Additional benefits include more daily rewards, discounted prices, and increased bank interest rates. A Premium subscription enhances the Neopets experience for invested fans.
Neopets’ Merchandise and Collectibles
The Neopets brand has produced tons of real world products over the years. Toys, school supplies, apparel, and other collectible merchandise are sold online and in stores featuring Neopets characters.
Some special virtual items could only be obtained by redeeming product codes included with merchandise purchases, driving collectors to buy.
Neopets’ Advertising and Partnerships
Neopets utilizes ads to generate revenue. Occasionally ads are integrated directly into the site experience through sponsored games, quests, or hub locations.
Neopets partnerships have included major brands like McDonald’s, Limited Too, and General Mills cereal promotions. These third-party collaborations expanded Neopets’ mainstream reach.
Neopets’ Future and Legacy
Neopets’ Continued Popularity and Growth
While Neopets is less popular today versus during its 2000s heyday, it still maintains a loyal fanbase numbering in the millions. The transition to mobile provides renewed access for younger generations.
Site updates, events, and new features continue rolling out to this day, showing JumpStart’s long-term commitment to growing Neopets rather than abandoning it.
Neopets’ Plans for the Future
In spring 2022, Neopets launched NFTs of its characters, sparking debate and backlash amongst long-time fans. It remains to be seen how Neopets will continue trying to modernize its brand.
One thing is certain: the nostalgic appeal of Neopets endures. For original players now raising their own kids, introducing Neopets to the next generation could spark the virtual world’s next renaissance.
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