To celebrate the 25th anniversary of the popular web game, The Neopets Team (TNT) has a number of exciting things going. Neopets is back and better than ever, pushing into all new markets and revisiting old ones while freshening up the game that started it all.
A Brief History
Neopets was originally launched in 1999 by Adam Powell and Donna Williams. The game began in a fantastically late-90s, early-internet state, complete with truly odd choices. For example, the original Bruce was an image of a man named Bruce Forsyth rather than the penguin-adjacent creature we know today. Despite this, or maybe in part because of it, Neopets absolutely blew up. It quickly outgrew its servers, and the creators had to start looking for investors.
In came Doug Dohring. In early 2000, Doug bought Neopets and formed Neopets, Inc. This brought with it some positive changes, such as numerous site upgrades, migrating to better servers, and the merch shop. However, this also ushered in immersive advertising on the site. Players could feed their Neopets McDonalds and Chef Boyardee, and earn Neopoints by watching advertisements in the Disney Theatre. For obvious reasons, this was controversial.
Even more controversial, however, was when the public discovered Doug’s connections to Scientology. Users and parents were concerned that the Church of Scientology would influence content on the site. However, Adam and Donna drew a hard line on their ability to change Neopets. There was some impact on how the company was run behind the scenes, but the game itself was completely unaffected.
In 2005, Viacom bought out Neopets, Inc. for $160 million, and the creators left the company. One of the first things that Viacom would do is update the artwork. At this point, the game had used several different artists and, as a result, art tended to be of varying quality, and by doing an art overhaul, Viacom hoped to remedy this. At the same time, the overhaul served to regularize the poses of each Neopet species for use with the new customization system they were rolling out. The resulting mass conversion of Neopets into the new art style created a huge controversy.
Almost all Neopets were forcibly converted to the new style, but some were unaffected. Whether or not a pet was touched was down to which color they were sporting. Because of this, unconverted pets (UCs) were extremely rare, made rarer by some users voluntarily converting them so that they could experiment with the customization. Consequently, UCs became items of incredible value and were hotly traded. A UC black market even developed, where players were paying real money for unconverted pets.
In 2014, a company called Jumpstart would take over Neopets. At the beginning of their takeover, the site was riddled with issues. Users believed that Jumpstart didn’t care enough to maintain the game properly, and many said goodbye to Neopets. However, after some time had passed, Jumpstart fixed the problems with the site, and it turned out that there had simply been a messy transition. The damage had been done, however, and the site was in decline.
The Neopets Team (TNT) would begin cracking down on UC hackers in 2020. Anyone found in possession of a hacked pet would have their account frozen and be banned from the site. Many users, fearful that the pets that they had spent months trading to get were illicit, began to ask to have trades reversed. TNT would do this, but players were upset over the loss of their beloved pets. In order to ameliorate the issue, TNT resorted to something that they had insisted was impossible: the creation of new UCs. Although fans were happy to have their pets back, TNT had confirmed that they had been lying to the community for years.
In 2021, Neopets NFTs were announced. I’m sure it comes as no surprise that this was a wildly unpopular move, and even the Neopets staff had reportedly been blindsided by the announcement. Despite outrage, some of the NFTs did sell, but they eventually ended the project. This, predictably, led to even further outrage, complete with “rug pull” accusations. Unfortunately, this would do further damage to the brand.
Why Play Now?
For starters, Neopets, Inc. is now an independent company for the first time since 2005, with TNT having complete control over the brand. Neopets is celebrating its 25th anniversary, which is a major milestone, and suitably there are a number of exciting things happening. Most significantly, the first major plot event since 2010 is happening right now, and some believe it could be the biggest event to ever come to the site.
As of writing this, Altador Cup XIX is ongoing, which, for those not in the know, is a yearly Yooyu Ball championship. Users can play the Yooyu Ball minigame to earn points for the team they have chosen to support. This year is Decardia’s first entry into the tournament, as well. Fans may recognize the name from Neopets spinoff Tales of Decardia. As rookies, their chances of winning are most likely slim, but they may also surprise.
The Neopets merch store has reopened after being closed for years. There’s a new card game already out, and a tabletop role-playing game on Kickstarter. Tales of Decardia received a significant update recently, for the first time since launch. Faerie’s Hope might be returning soon, and the World of Neopets game is in development. If you have ever wanted a UC, the new Styling Studio gives you the ability to apply a “nostalgic” skin to your pet if you’re willing to pony up a little Neocash. There’s so much to get psyched about that there’s never been a better time to return to the game or to visit Neopia for the first time.
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