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February 22, 2005
Corporate Predator Neopets Plans Expansion
Neopets.com, which submerges children in a world of "immersive advertising" for companies such as McDonald's (when American children are suffering from an epidemic of obesity), is planning a large expansion, according to an article in today's Wall Street Journal.
The Federal Trade Commission should prohibit Neopets from using "immersive advertising" as an unfair and deceptive form of advertising targeting our children. So many children cannot understand or defend themselves against Neopets' sophisticated marketing strategies.
Here's today's Wall Street Journal article.
http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB110903247669660414,00.html
Web's Addictive Neopets Are Ready for Big Career Leap
By Nick Wingfield
David Carliner, a Maplewood, N.J., 10-year-old, isn't supposed to use his computer Mondays through Thursdays. But he has been sneaking online recently to complete a brief but important mission: feeding a small menagerie of virtual pets on Neopets.com.
"I feed them until they're bloated so they'll be full for a couple of days," the fourth-grader says.
In the 1990s, Tamagotchi pets taught kids how to care for virtual critters that inhabited small, egg-shaped electronic gadgets. During the past several years, Neopets Inc. has quietly taken the phenomenon to new extremes with a vast online world that is one of the most popular and addictive Web sites among kids. Users of the site become custodians of colorful, cartoon-like critters in Neopia, an imaginary world with its own currency (Neopoints), stock market (the Neodaq) and weather system. Users also get a dose of product plugs from companies such as General Mills Inc. and McDonald's Corp.
In coming years, parents may see and hear a lot more about Neopets, as the creatures march off computer screens and into toy stores, videogames and even movie theaters -- a rare leap for characters that originated on the Internet. And Neopets is stepping up efforts to make money from the huge volume of traffic on its free Web site by signing licensing deals and selling ads, which are already stirring up controversy among some parents and watchdog groups.
Neopets Inc. is in talks to develop videogames, cellphone games and even a feature film for the virtual menagerie.
Most of Neopets' revenue comes from advertising, both banner ads and a form Neopets calls "immersive advertising" (it has even trademarked the term). Immersive ads are branded games on the Web site in which the brand and the message are inseparable from the rest of the content. One example: "Chocolate Lucky Charms: Mine Car Chase," a game in which players earn points by snapping up pieces of breakfast cereal.
Neopets declines to say how much General Mills, the maker of Lucky Charms cereal, paid for the brand exposure in the game. Online ads contribute 60% of Neopets' annual revenue, which is in the "eight figures," says Doug Dohring, Neopets' chairman and chief executive.
Offline businesses contribute the remaining 40%. Retailers such as Target Corp. sell Neopets plush toys, trading cards and jewelry. McDonald's Corp. gave away Neopets toys and cards with Happy Meals last year. Sony Corp. is developing a Neopets videogame for its PlayStation 2 and PSP consoles. Neopets is talking to game makers about delivering Neopets characters to cellphones, and in what may be its biggest partnership yet, the company says it is close to a deal with a Hollywood studio for a computer-animated Neopets movie.
"Neopets is really the only example of media I've seen that started online that might have the ability to capture market share in the offline world," says Quincy Smith, an investment banker at Allen & Co. in New York, which represents Neopets in discussions with potential partners.
Retailers and promotional partners warn against dismissing Neopets as just another kid fad. Mr. Dohring has "been very conscientious about building long-term awareness," says Paula Damaso, an executive vice president at Too Inc.'s Limited Too, which sells Neopets merchandise.
Like all media aimed at kids, Neopets is likely to come under more scrutiny as it sells more advertising. Online games incorporating brands of fast food, snacks and other kid-targeted products have rankled some watchdog groups. Such content should be clearly labeled as advertising, says Gary Ruskin, executive director of Commercial Alert, a nonprofit group founded by Ralph Nader.
Neopets' Mr. Dohring says immersive ads on the Neopets site are identified as advertising. On the page where users start the Lucky Charms game, for instance, a small-type disclaimer says the game is an ad, but no such message is within the game itself. Mr. Dohring says there is less advertising on Neopets.com than on many other Web sites. Neopets doesn't run ads on its home page, nor does it take pop-up ads.
Last fall in Australia, a parents group complained to McDonald's, Neopets' partner in a local promotion, saying games of chance found on Neopets.com were exposing children to gambling. In response, Neopets removed a handful of games from the Australian version of the Web site. "We were happy to accommodate them," says Stephanie Yost Cameron, Neopets' general counsel.
Neopets stands out among Web sites for its "stickiness," an industry term referring to how much time users spend on a site. During December, the 2.9 million visitors to Neopets.com spent on average more than three hours there, ranking the site fourth among all U.S. Internet users on that basis, according to measurement firm Nielsen//Netratings. That puts Neopets ahead of popular sites such as eBay and Yahoo. (Internet service providers AOL.com and Juno.com rank first and second respectively, with Electronic Arts' online gaming sites in third place.)
In contrast to many other online game sites, Neopets' audience is predominantly female. More than 25 million individuals around the world have created 90 million accounts on the site, the company estimates.
New users get started by providing their e-mail addresses and anonymous demographic information (users 13 and over are asked for their names), then selecting a Neopet to adopt; some of the critters, like the bovine Kau and the reptilian Krawk, vaguely resemble real animals. Users give their Neopets names, colors and preferred activities, such as "making friends" or "bullying others." Then users wander off to play games and fight other creatures inside the Battledome. The combat is decidedly bloodless: One weapon is a bent fork tied in a knot.
By playing games and doing other activities on the site, players earn Neopoints, a virtual currency they can use to buy food for their Neopets. Users are encouraged to visit often, whether to feed their Neopets or collect the virtual interest on the hoard of Neopoints many players amass. Neopets says it doesn't share e-mail addresses with marketers.
But there are no overall victors on the site. And Neopets that are left unfed don't die; they just become withered.
Some users become Neopets millionaires: Gordon Davidescu, a 27-year-old who works at a Starbucks in Seattle, has about two million Neopoints accumulated over three years of visiting the site. (Most Neopets users are under 18, but there is a sizable adult audience.) Mr. Davidescu also belongs to one of the many independent Neopets "guilds," online groups of like-minded Neopets users who share strategy and playing tips.
The site was launched on a lark in November 1999 by two British college students living in the U.S. Its rapid growth caught the attention of Mr. Dohring, at the time an entrepreneur who had previously founded a market-research company. Mr. Dohring and a group of other investors acquired the Neopets Web site with a plan to use it as a launch pad into other areas. "I saw what was beyond an Internet company, what was the makings of an entertainment and media company -- a mini-Disney," says Mr. Dohring. The games and animations are the product of about 60 animators, writers and other creative staff working at Neopets headquarters, in an office in Glendale, Calif.
Some users have complained about policies restricting discussions of certain topics on the Neopets site, including bans on religious and political postings. Discussions of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks are banned, too. The religious prohibition has sparked online petitions from Christian, Jewish and wiccan Neopet users. Without such policies, Mr. Dohring says debates on the site could disrupt the fun of Neopets. "We don't want to allow things that could be controversial among the community," he says.
Mr. Dohring himself is a longtime member of the Church of Scientology. He says his own religious affiliation doesn't influence the content of the site, though he says he follows some of the administrative principles of L. Ron Hubbard, Scientology's founder, in running the business side of Neopets, which include guidelines for keeping track of statistics and decision-making within an organization.
<------article ends here------>
Here's an old news release from Neopets about their "immersive advertising" targeting children.
Business Wire December 5, 2000, Tuesday
NeoPets.com Launches Dramatic New Form of Internet Advertising, Results Far Exceed Expectations of National Accounts
NeoPets.com Inc. reports that results for major corporate sponsors over the past six months using a new, interactive form of advertising are broadly exceeding expectations.
Coining the term "immersive advertising" to describe this new advertising technique, the company has integrated sponsor products or messages into the popular activities and adventures of their site, NeoPets.com. Users at NeoPets.com interact directly with the sponsor's products, characters and messages for extended periods -- ensuring lasting impressions that can be easily measured.
By customizing campaigns to meet each advertiser's needs, NeoPets.com has demonstrated strong numbers of impressions and time statistics for their sponsors, exceeding expectations by as much as fourfold. This method of advertising is unique to the NeoPets site, and it dramatically expands the potentials for what advertising can achieve on the Internet.
Companies currently engaged in immersive advertising on NeoPets include Universal Studios' "The Grinch," Turner Broadcasting's Cartoon Network and Cartoon Orbit, Warner Bros.' "Pokemon: The Movie 2000," Watermark Press, Britannica and others.
The strength of these results is based on the success of the NeoPets site. With more than 4 million registered members, who according to PC Data Online spend an average of nearly 6 hours a month interacting with the site, NeoPets.com is by far the stickiest Gen Y community on the Web.
COO Lee Borth said, "We have developed immersive advertising to leverage our remarkable stickiness. Immersive advertising creates a lasting impression with our users, particularly so when compared to traditional magazine or TV ads (which may never be seen), or distractive banner ads that are frequently not even within the focus of the user.
"Because of the size of the site and the number of unique users aged 9-19, the opportunities with immersive advertising are unlimited."
NeoPets.com is not a novelty or game site, but rather a diversified, interactive Web community where new members create their NeoPet, and then select its name, color and traits such as personality, intelligence and special abilities.
With their NeoPets, Gen Y members enter Neopia, the virtual world of NeoPets.com, which contains forests, mountains, rivers, and villages -- each offering unique multi-layered activities. Members are constantly involved with the site, creating their own virtual activities, including commerce, entertainment, and interaction with other members.
Members can earn Neopoints, the free currency of the site, which enables them to buy virtual items in various shops, feed and care for their pet, participate in virtual auctions, and perhaps even play the stock market. The NeoPets' immersive advertising model guarantees what traditional ad programs cannot -- delivery of a client's message to its target audience.
NeoPets.com Inc., a privately-held company, is based in Glendale, Calif.
NeoPets.com Web site link http://www.neopets.com NeoPets.com press kit link http://demo.neopets.com/presskit/
CONTACT: M. Baybak & Co. Inc.
George Duggan, 818/542-6880
gduggan@nat-media.com
Posted by Gary Ruskin at February 22, 2005 07:14 AM
Comments
Here is an even better idea: Stop purchasing corporate entertainment. 9 out of 10 movies suck yet people go all the time. Most sports events are outrageously overpriced. I used to do these things but now I primarily use that same money and go support local music, theatre and arts. Sure I hit a dud now and then but 9 out of 10 events are interesting, real and stimulating. Best of all the money helps support struggling artists, rather than multi-millionaire entertainers.
Posted by: Brian at February 24, 2005 10:33 AM
I have been known as "sanjisangel" and "ellysketchit" on Neopets for several years, a "semi-famous" Neopian who was proud to waste my time on this site, drawing fanart and contributing to this madness.
I am also 28.
The site was originally not intended for kids - it was targeted at college students. However, as the years flew by, the creators appear to have gotten greedy - sensing that kids would be their best bet for quick cash. That's what ruined the site. Now it's all about ripping us off; hooking us to click on advertisement-based games and buttons and buying their toys and items to gain more "Neopoints".
I have recently left the community after my several years of loyal fandom because of a simple fact: it's not fun anymore. They're tightening security and features up so that the site is "dumbed down" and made "just for kids" - and what's worse, the admins "pick and choose" favorite "neopians" to crash and burn, rejecting artwork the people send in and freezing innocent folks' accounts (usually older people who have done nothing wrong).
I left because the Staff actually began to harass me - because I wasn't 12 years old. I'm a competent 28 year old artist - they believe only little children should play their site now (or perhaps that's all they want.) They simply kept rejecting my artwork, saying it was "drawn too well" and accusing me of stealing other folks' works. No one accuses me of something I did not do - I was submitting fanart to support them - and they backstabbed me.
It's not worth it. Just like Pokemon, this new site will crash and burn very soon. The "real" fans are all tired of their puffed-up superior Nazi-like attitude.
Posted by: Michelle Mango at February 27, 2005 02:53 PM
I've been playing since early 2002, and all I can say is Neopets has gone down the tubes. Because they seem to be trying to draw little kids to their site, it is creating havoc for a lot of older players now.
I mean all they do is report people for stupid things, and TNT sadly seems to encourage this. They are really ugly towards players that were scammed or hacked. They don't show any remorse for their behavior either. Whats really surprising is some people with older accounts act just as bigheaded and snobby, and treat newer players like crap.
All this just because they have Neopoints, and unbuyables running out of thier ears. Some of these (sadly), have said they are parents themselves. I feel sorry for those kids stuck with THOSE kind of parents. TNT also seems to encourage greed and selfishness as well.
The jerk players have literally taken nearly every type of Paint Brush, and made it nearly impossible to get one. They just keep going up in price every 6 months to a year. They do the same with so called avatar items.
I've asked for TNT to put a cap on the prices, but I don't know if they'll do it. I've also asked them to put a stop to bullying and harrassment on the boards, because I'm am so sick of seeing them do this to other players. They lied about never putting ads on the site, which makes me find thier behavior questionable.
They seem more than happy to put up a new stupid rule every month, like banning the fun contests, or the locked boards thing. People who post so called positive reviews on Top Web Games, either suffer from Illusions Of Granduer or are being paid by TNT to do so. Did I mention that some of those ads put spyware cookies in your computer, and slow it down? Or can cause viruses to invade your computer's hard drive? Thats why mine as well as others have had thiers crashed. They lie to players saying they can't be hacked.
Of course TNT and any others involved will eventually get exposed for what they are doing. Remember, what goes around is going to come back around.
Posted by: Rene at March 3, 2005 10:25 AM
Neopets is overmarketed and uses subliminal advertising techniques. Do you want to find out more? www.antineopian.com to protest these activities!
Posted by: Neopests=Bad at March 14, 2005 04:02 PM
I'm sorry and also a little embarrassed to say that I am a neopets addict! I have been playing neopets for more than 3 years.. And I’ve found the sight drop lower and lower. I am 14 years old… Yes 14.. young you might say… WELL DON’T SKIP OVER THIS CAUSE I HAVE A VOICE TOO!
I’ve met his one individual who said that she spends all day on neopets! She’s a 45-year-old woman! She also told me that she got on her account while she was working for her boss! Which is technically cheating her boss out of money! I’ve watched as the boards have turned to scum! Power hungry people run around boasting about their neopoints and discussing who has most. Heaven forbid your poor! Last week I was on a board where this new girl was tickled pink that she had 1,000 neopoints and had only been playing for a week! Well the whole world jumped on her saying that they had made at least 100,000 neopoints in one week! All this makes others feel like they aren’t doing well enough so they spend their whole life on neopets! I average about 2 hours a day on it… I’m not one who minds adds… Of course they do need to make neopoints some time and somehow! I once owned a fairy queen doll… which if you know anything about neopets you’d know that they are very hard to get. I trusted my one neofriend Sara and when she asked to borrow it I said yes. Well she got so power hungry that she went and sold it for 250,000,000… I am a very much a Christian and It’s in their rules not to talk about religion! *Christ, god, Christmas ect. * Anyone who says his name on the neobaords is immediately thrown out of neopets! But once I saw a board about wiccens and it didn’t even get reported. Neopets adds didn’t use to be bad until they started adding ones to their main sight such as “who will get pregnant first?” or “Whose the better kisser?” But heavens forbid if you say you’re pregnant on a board! At one time I got reported for wishing someone merry Christmas AND I GOT MY ACCOUNT FROOZEN FOR 3 DAYS! Although on Christmas day they had a banner on their main sight saying “merry Christmas” I was very upset! Neopets is very additive and I highly advice you don’t play it without a very good filter! I’ve heard of many cases of computers crashing after playing neopets! Although there are some good points about neopets. It’s very clean. There is no swearing, no dating, no online parties or anything of that kind. The boards are highly guarded. It also give one who can’t get a job yet feel important in a community! I’m part of a guild and we all are each others support! We all save together to get avatars and we help each other get back on our feet when we’ve been hacked! I agree with the person who said that neopets lies…. THEY DO! ABOUT EVERYTHING! Their sight is basically turning into one big add. Although they do not have pop up adds on their sight! Well that’s all I wanted to say.. Sorry it was poorly written….. I don’t have much time. I just wanted to put in my impute thingy! thanx
Posted by: Morgan at March 16, 2005 04:03 PM
AMEN!!!!! And bless Jesus for this site! I feel like going on neopets. Mentioning JESUS then telling them I'm closing my account. What are they gonna do, freeze a closed account? Someone in the company is into scientology!!!! And wicca is all over the site! They say no swearing, and the f-word is all over the boards. I am going to report neopets and have it checked out. Mind if I include this site? Thank you very much for opening my eyes.
Posted by: Eagle star at March 18, 2005 07:04 PM
You said it Brian! Kids are bigger targets for advertising. I am a CHRISTIAN too, and am sick of they're efferts to control people!1 anything isa talorated on the web. Anything. But not on neopets. Not allowing the free exercise of religion goes against the constitution. They reach pretty far don't they? Step on our constitutional rights. And only the richest people can get things like paint brushes because they are hogged and cost a fortune. I have seen items in the trading posty cost millions of neopoints! The name of the game is greed, with those players and the TNT. It HAS become about one big moneymaking site. Enough is enough. Trying to show this to my guild.
Posted by: eagle star` at March 18, 2005 07:21 PM
You said it Brian! Kids are bigger targets for advertising. I am a CHRISTIAN too, and am sick of they're efferts to control people!1 anything isa talorated on the web. Anything. But not on neopets. Not allowing the free exercise of religion goes against the constitution. They reach pretty far don't they? Step on our constitutional rights. And only the richest people can get things like paint brushes because they are hogged and cost a fortune. I have seen items in the trading posty cost millions of neopoints! The name of the game is greed, with those players and the TNT. It HAS become about one big moneymaking site. Enough is enough. Trying to show this to my guild.
Posted by: eagle star` at March 18, 2005 07:22 PM
I wanted to say that I work for a technology. In fact, in the past we have had a workshop teaching kids how to play NeoPets! At the time I knew there were ads, but I did not think that many. Now, I realize that NeoPets is commercial exploiting children.
Sure, the pets are cute, but the business is there to make money more than to display cute critters to people!
Posted by: Stephen at March 19, 2005 12:04 AM
Man you people need to step off! It is a web page!!!! I am so sick of hearing people whine about how much stuff cost! Well wake up! it's just like the real world! Certain items in this world cost more then other items! The point is you have to pick and choose how important it is to you to have that item! You have to work Hard to get items that cost alot! Play games.. shop around and find good deals and resale your items to make a profit! I love the stock Market! I never new much about it but due to good friends and nice people on the boards I have learned so much! And yes I am an adult! I'll keep my years to myslef! As far as the Ads yes I know they are there! that is why I have my spy wear running non stop.. as well as my ad blockers! I know they are there and I do the things I need to to make sure my puter is safe! Don't blame the site! You have to take the responabilty yourself! People Grow up!
Posted by: Bubba at March 19, 2005 10:11 AM
I have comments. I am an adult who plays on Neopets. I do it because I have made friends and have fun and it takes away from the stresses of everyday life. I have never seen the F word. I do not see religion or politics discussed. The site has to make money to maintain it as a free site; they have staff and costs in the constant maintenance of the site. Certainly there are advertisers. Accounts are generally frozen for good reason such as breaking the rules which are clearly set out on the site. And no, I'm not Neopets staff. I personally think that most of the Neopian world is very adult or geared at very intelligent children. I could care less about the religion of any of the owners and I think the wicca references are more Harry Potterish than anything else. As far as buying things on the sites there are many ways to get neopoints and you get them to buy things. Valuable things cost more. That is life.
Moreover, how many sites gear their advertising to their target groups? Or you could say the same for television, radio and all sorts of media. Well that's my two cents.
Ciao!
Posted by: Nash at March 19, 2005 12:12 PM
www.antineopian.com
Posted by: No Neo Now!!!!!! at March 20, 2005 04:21 PM
yes, i play neopets, and im 12 years old a.k.a considered as a child, but my oppinion counts too, and i think basicly everyone i know who plays on neopets thinks adam and the TNT do it for the money, but hey! thats their job! the adds on neopets did make me frustrated, but the TNT has worked hard on makeing neopets and doesn't everyone deserve a fair share of money?. and im on both sides which means that i do sometimes think that the TNT can be cruel, but i dont personally know them so i shoulden't really be talking. but ive tried to report people, that have scammed me and my friends but i dont think the neopets team never gets around to their mail box, and ive seen many people complain about neopets and eventually quit because neopets is "a scam" "fake" and "stupid". but you have to give them credit, because they got us all hypnotised into this game.
Posted by: allie at March 26, 2005 04:04 PM
I think many of you are complaining too much about Neopets. Well they may be lying, manipulative, corporate pigs, they also try to please the community occasionally. I've been playing on there site for 4 years, and have had to put up with a frozen account for no reason, but then again, in reality you occassional have to take the blame for things that aren't you fault. Some people on the site are richer than others, some people are bigheaded, but again, how different is this to real life. It's true that Neopets has gradually been building up the levels of advertising, and that I certainly don't agree with on an 'Ad-free' website, but they have to get money someway. If only it wasn't for their immersive advertising I think they call it. There is fun to be had on Neopets, and if you can see past the negative aspects of it, which truth be told, aren't that different from everyday life, then playing the games, entering competition even if you know you can't win, trying to make your pets as great as possible or meeting friends and forming guilds is something nice to be able to do, and really there is no other website I know of that is allows you to socialise and make new friends on the same scale and in the same degree of comfort and security as Neopets.
Posted by: Tom at March 29, 2005 06:41 AM
Oh, and perhaps I should mention that I am just 15, and started playing at just 10, but I for one can say that I have not been swayed by Neopet's advertising machine, and I see no need for other kids to either.
Posted by: Tom at March 29, 2005 06:42 AM
You guys are sooo fully exaggerating! If you don't like to have your kids play neopets because it has ads, then don't let them watch TV - cartoons - the previews at the movies, don't let them read the newspaper or magazines - they all have ads....Oh no there goes a bus with a big ad!!! Close your eyes!!! Geez...can't you complain about something else? Like child predators that don't let the community know they are now living in your so called safe neighboorhood. And guess what, I'm a CHRISTIAN too, and I play Neopets, and I play Subeta, and I love virtual pets. I think this all teaches children responsiblity and provides a huge virtual community. It may not be Salon or the Well, but hey, they have ads too. That's just how the world works. And, thankfully, Neopets takes advertising dollars, and doesn't charge a monthly fee for membership. It's a totally free to you site so you can play, have fun, meet new people, and spend some time pretending. It's good for you to exercise your brain power! And, if you really want to talk religion and politics, then dud, get on AIM, or some messenger and chat with people. Respect the rules that keep the Neopian world running smoothly. Hey, mistakes will be made with 90 Million neopets running around, it's not perfect, just like the real world.
Posted by: Nadia at April 2, 2005 11:12 AM
Ok, here is my input, I play Neopets and I play it once everyday been playing for 9 months. I am 22 years old with a son. We both play together, we play with our pets he learns how to take care of animals the right way and have fun and play games together. Yes there are ads and banners but we ignore them, not once has my son ever seen anything on there and said oh I want mcdonalds, oh i want that ceral. I think it's crap that most of you are cutting down neopets and you have never even played. Even if you did have an account in the past and only took a look around you don't know until you atleast give it a week to look about, and for those who posted saying they played for so and so years, they are the ones who got frozen for doing soemthing wrong! I don't see anything wrong with TNT saying you can't have guild parties and this and that on the boards it's spamming htem up with things that do not need to be on there, for all of you who are so scared that your kids will be sucked up into a fat market, make your kids go outside and stop trying to blame the internet it's your fault not theirs.
Posted by: Nacine at April 4, 2005 01:50 PM
NEOPETS ROCKS! It is the kids fault for eating at McDonalds! I am underweight and I eat McDonalds fries!
Posted by: Aquari at April 29, 2005 04:10 PM
NEOPETS ROCKS! It is the kids fault for eating at McDonalds! I am underweight and I eat McDonalds fries!
That was me who said that, I do not know why it said a different name!
Posted by: Aquari at April 29, 2005 04:11 PM
I dont think anyone on neopets actually reads the ads and if they do I dont think it makes them want the thing it's advertising.
Posted by: Karen at April 29, 2005 04:13 PM
neopets is the greatest site you could ever be on!
Posted by: Jazmine at May 4, 2005 09:34 AM
WAKE UP. Neopets DOES NOT ROCK. Those who have posted about all the so called "postitives" are truly blind. This site has become a progressively anti-youth site. They say no religion, yet they promote dark magic, spell books, potions created by socereress', sell Zen furiture (Zen is a belief connected with a certain religion, just as yoga is part of Hindi). Put up a cross and your site gets frozen, removed and/or you have items/nps taken from you. This company site is pure advertising, don't believe me, call them and see how the receptionist answers. To make matters worst, this site promotes the thoughts and ideals of Scientology (A RELIGION). It should also be noted that Scientology is anti-Jewish and anti-Christian (read their belief statements). You say that isn't so, who do you think was behind the movie Michael, what religion does the main star practice and guess who helped put up some of the money to make the movie - which promotes Scientology's anit-view of Christians and Jews. Scientologists are supporters of themselves, like the freedoms the USA gives them, but on the other hand are not willing to support the nation and the people that have allowed them those freedoms. Scientology and socialism run very similar paths. Before you start comdemning my comments, search the out the facts. I've studied many religions and political views and state only what I have found to be fact, not a religion or individual's viewpoint.
Posted by: debbie at May 9, 2005 01:06 PM
Neopets... is obsessed with pleasing the preteen-I-am-adicted-to-shopping-and-JessieMcartney girl crowd. I am twelve, I am a girl, but I hate "Limited Too", and that's where all their good merchindeice is! My favorite pets, the "kougra" and "Lupe", were revamped into namby-paby baby animals and ETV cartoons!(My ETV has Barney, Aurthur, ect.) Same with grarrl, as well as several Darigan-colored and mutant-colored pets(lupe, kougra, mynci.)The site was FUN in "year 1". I bet Doug brainwashed all the old staff so they would forget the idea of pleasing college students and sane people.
Posted by: Silverwolf at May 18, 2005 01:48 PM
My children and i have been playing for 5 months.We love never have we had to by any thing we did not want to.My son is 14 and there is a lote worse things he could be playing or doing.we have fun and as my husband just passed away we would not be able to afford to pay a site.my little girl 8 just started and looks forward to her hour aday she gets.As for McDonalds i guess alote of people forget the good things they do.We should all sya thankyou to the staff for watching out for our children and giving them a sit they can go two.Its two bad that the sex ads and junk food ,places can not keep out of the cartoon channels that started for children and now have been taken ove by adult swim and other cartoons that seem closer to porn.So tell me where are the kids suppose to have.underage adult already took away santa with BAD SANTA.
Posted by: lynnettegr at May 23, 2005 04:44 PM
This has to be a comment to Jasmine first... WAKE UP! This is a comments section for NEOPETS not beliefs. I started playing neopets just after the site opened. I love it. (I'm 30) My father, sister and three nieces all play neopets after having played on my account and realising how much fun it is. The so-called wicca reference that the one comment was about was actually someone whining because Harry Potter was mentioned on a Guild Page and they're not allowed to mention religion. Get a life people, without those advertisers that everyone hates sooo much, the site wouldn't be able to run. Sites can't be run for free, Salaries don't pay themselves.
Posted by: Kez at May 28, 2005 04:50 PM
