neopets is a
fascinating little site, really. it's fairly
ingenious in its methods. it tries to be, and functions quite well as, a
microcosm of the entire
internet. and it's entirely free. they pay for themselves by running
banner ads, as they are a HIGH traffic site, and by
partnership programs with companies, wherein if the player signs up for an online
service, they are rewarded with
items, "money", or
prizes within the
neopets system.
it offers chat. it offers shopping and auctions (for fake items, with fake money, of course). it offers games upon games. it offers (graphically inoffensive) combat. it offers thought puzzles. it offers newsletters. it offers virtual pets type of things (as that is its premise). and, like every branch of the 'net, it has its own community of trolls and scammers. they're even in the process of adding a fully functional RPG to the site at the moment.
it's interesting in the crowds it collects. it has a higher female audience than most areas of the 'net. the age distribution is such: children 8-12 or so who are literally playing a game. kids 13-15 or so, mostly male, are the dominant hacker faction. then college students are the next major players, starting at about 18 or so. there's another gradual jump to the self-labeled "over 21" crowd, which runs to about 27 or so. then the last group is the "over the hill" neopians (residents of neopia, the land in which this is based) who are mostly out in the work world, and often parents who first came here for their children but stayed for themselves. this oldest group is more female than male, but both exist in abundance. its player range is much wider than would be suspected.
brief anecdotal pause about the player range.
1) i found out, after months of being in the dorms, that my next door neighbor had randomly started playing neopets some time ago.
2) i was down in the dorm computer lab friday, as my printer wonked out. down in the lab was the self-proclaimed "cool" resident goth girl in the dorm, busily typing away. i assumed she was doing a paper, but as i paid more attention, quickly realized she was playing neopets herself--and glaring defiantly at anyone who dared to look at her funny.
the basic premise of the site is that you can create (or 'adopt' from the pound) anywhere from one to four pets (and they have a fairly interesting assortment of creatures). you need to take care of them, feed them, keep them happy, etc. you can also train them to fight in the battledome, but to be successful there you must train them to raise their stats first, or they will meet with little success. to buy food, weapons for the 'dome, toys for your pets, items to increase their stats, if you want as a new feature you can build a home for them, etc etc you must earn money, called Neopoints. you can do this by playing some of the games, by running a shop and selling items, or any other number of ways.
one of the nicest (or worst, depending on how bad of an addiction you are trying to break) things about the site is that just when you've started to get bored of the current offerings, they come up with something completely different that gets you hooked all over again. *shrugs* it's well worth looking at if you have way too much time on your hands, and a fairly harmless diversion at 3 am when you suffer from insomnia. (personal experience? ^_^ naaaaah.)