However , Neopets is not without its opponents . Since the site ’s origination , critics have been concern about marketing methods that could be harmful to youngster . Others revere the Scientologist background of the company ’s CEO proves the site is an attempt to get children into the Church of Scientology .
In this article , we ’ll peek behind the scenes at the creators and possessor of Neopets , and research the controversies that surround the website .
Neopets Basics
Simply put , Neopets is a Web site that leave members to create and care for virtual creature . make a Neopets account is free . The Web web site is supported by the money they make through advertising and merchandising , which we ’ll discuss in more detail inBehind the Scenes . Each account can have up to four Neopets , and there are currently 53 varieties to choose from . The pets themselves are broadly found on animals or illusion creatures .
At the most basic level , handle for a Neopet simply require feeding it every few daylight . There are other way to interact with the favorite , however . you could make your favourite more intelligent by " reading " books to them , for model . you may acquire toy , solid food and other items in several path . you may purchase them withNeopoints(NPs ) , the currentness of Neopia , the illusion region where all this takes shoes . A simplefooditem like a cheeseburger might be 200 NPs , while rarefied items can be tens or hundreds of thousand of points . Some games within the Neopets site give out point as booty , and occasionally items are awarded as random events .
There are three primary ways to earn Neopoints :
From time to time , the creative team at Neopets constructs a plot line that will help shape Neopia . The plot line can be influenced by Neopets users , usually through playing a sure game or seek to work out a teaser . As a result of the storyline ’s outcome , a new area may appear or a scoundrel may leave Neopia . For example , when Tyrannia was invaded by monsters , Neopets had to fight them off in the Tyrannian Battledome .
Next , we ’ll find out why Neopets is one of the internet ’s " stickiest " sites and see where else the Neopets have appeared .
Stickiness and Licensing
Neopets boasts that it is one of the " stickiest " land site on the Internet , with users spending an norm of six hours and 42 minutes at the site per month [ ref ] . How does Neopets beget such loyalty in its user ? There are many ways for Web internet site to generate stickiness , and Neopets does several of them very well .
Neopets has licence their characters and name to several different manufacturing business to bring products to Neopets fans around the world . Wizards of the Coast , makers of " Dungeons & Dragons " and the " thaumaturgy : The gather " card biz produces the Neopets Collectible Card Game ( CCG ) . Each ingroup contains several cards from the set , some more rare than others . player build their own deck out the carte du jour they have , so each player has a unlike pack of cards . The objective of the game is to defeat your antagonist ’s Neopets in area battles using item and arm . Each pack of cards also contains a codification that can be go in at the Neopets site to receive limited detail .
Thinkway Toy holds the license to produce 6 - in action figures and plush translation of Neopets creatures and characters . In 2004 , Sony Software Entertainment released " Neopets : The Darkest Faerie " forPlayStation 2 . The adventure plot allows players to control two different Neopets on a quest to vote down the evil Darkest Faerie .
Perhaps the fully grown project in the works for Neopets is the Neopets movie . Slated for a 2006 release , the motion-picture show will be a computer - animated lineament directed by John A. Davis ( director of " Jimmy Neutron : Boy Genius " ) . Neopets presently has a multi - picture deal with Warner Bros. Studios , so more Neopets picture on on the way .
Next , we ’ll determine out who possess Neopets , how they make money and how the web site was produce .
Behind the Scenes
Neopets begin out in 1999 as a small task by two British college students , Adam Powell and Donna Williams . Powell did the computer programing while Williams designed and drew the animate being and other graphic elements . Initially , Powell and Williams intended the site for other students , so they include a lot of inside antic and Britishisms . Some of these elements stay on , notably in the site ’s continued manipulation of British spellings for words like " greyish . "
Powell and Williams were before long overwhelmed by the situation ’s popularity , so they sold it to market research expert Doug Dohring [ ref ] . Dohring kept the site ’s creators on - board , go company headquarters to Southern California and started developing what he hoped would become a " sensitive empire . "
In June of 2005 , Dohring sold Neopets to MTV , a sectionalization of media conglomerate Viacom , for $ 160 million [ ref ] . He stayed with the company through the cut-rate sale . As of the sale date , Neopets reported 92 million accounts . Adjusting that telephone number for user with multiple accounts , that represent about 30 million unique users . shaver under age 13 make up 39 percent of those users , with 40 percentage between the age of 13 and 17 , and 21 percent over 18 . In addition , 57 percent of users are female , a very mellow routine in the traditionally male person - dominated online gaming market place [ ref ] .
While Neopets uses the marketing selective information they pull in to design unexampled game and selling partnership , they also use it to make money . The ship’s company owns a huge set of research data point on tike 12 and under , a difficult demographic to get because marketer must comply with the Children ’s Online Privacy Protection Act ( COPPA ) and obtain maternal permit . Neopets claim more than 50,000 kids in their marketing database . Neopets sells market enquiry ( not personal data ) to other companies , trading on Neopets ' " unparalleled access to youthful people , " as the ship’s company imperativeness kit phrases it . As of January 2006 , Neopets was operating on 300 Linux - base server pumping out 1.7 Gb of bandwidth each day [ ref , ref ] .
In the next section , we ’ll talk over some of the job Neopets has faced .
Trouble in Neopia
Like any on-line biotic community , Neopets has had to handle with malcontent , swindlers and cheat . The company ’s response drive demand two tactics : breeding and account freeze . Neopets maintains aWall of Shame , a page that delineate some of the more common fraud and schema . There are also members who act as ego - appointed " Newbie Guardians , " assist fresh players avoid pitfalls and problems .
Account freezing is the Neopian last sentence . Neopets responds to almost any suspicious behavior by freezing the story permanently . The exploiter can always create a new one , but all Neopoints , item and other benefits associate with the old accounting are lose perpetually . Longtime players with a lot of time endow in their pets are clearly panic-stricken of this penalty , especially since freezes now and again seem to encounter arbitrarily , or because the user assault web site rule inadvertently . For example , sometimes in - biz events allow players to visit a certain pageboy once per day to pile up a rare item . On several occasions , a bug allowed players to get the item multiple prison term per day . role player who got the item more than once , even if they did n’t live it was a hemipteron , or just forgot that they already got one that mean solar day , had their accounts block .
Neopets cozenage are similar to most Internetphishingscams that stress to steal information . Instead of bank account numbers game , these cozenage focalise on getting account passwords or thee - mailaddress associated with an account . While the cozenage take many forms , they can all be avoided by conform to one simple convention – never give out your account password to anyone for any reason .
Neopets also bowed to pressure after a flap over gaming games . parent were upset that untried children were learning to adventure by playing plot standardised to those find in casinos . Since then , account held by users under age 13 do not have access to any play - theme games . However , there is no verification process to prevent a child under old age 13 to make an invoice and say they are really 18 .
accord to Neopets , keeping kids safe is a high priority . They have proctor who keep an optic on confabulation room and message card 24 hours a day , take offensive terminology and making trusted kids are n’t posting personal information or falling prey to on-line predators . Neopets also take after Children ’s Advertising Review Unit ( CARU ) road map .
In the next division , we ’ll explore Neopets ' connection to the Church of Scientology .
Neopets and Scientology
Neopets CEO Doug Dohring has strong tie-in to the Church of Scientology . He is listed on Scientology ’s Hubbard College of AdministrationWeb siteas someone who uses the " Administrative Technology " create by L. Ron Hubbard , founding father of Scientology . He has also received awards for donate more than $ 250,000 to Scientology - colligate group and causes [ ref ] . On one Scientology situation , Dohring declares , " Having used his [ Hubbard ’s ] technology in every business activity for nearly two decades now , Mr. Hubbard ’s organisational conception are always with me to the point where virtually every aspect of range my ship’s company affect the use of his administrative technology " [ ref ] . Dohring also confirmed the use of Scientology principles in aninterviewwith Wired magazine , sound out of Hubbard , " He created a management technology that ’s very knock-down . "
What just are these administrative principles ? Hubbard ’s Administrative Technology is based on theOrg Board , short for organizing board . This arrangement creates seven divisions within a company : executive , personnel , sales , finance , training , marketing and qualifications , with three subdivisions within each division [ ref , ref ] . The Church of ScientologyWeb sitestates that Hubbard developed this system in 1965 . However , Hubbard described the Org Board in a 1965 lecture as a system that had been in use by a galactic civilization for 80 trillion age in the past tense – his system is an improvement upon this existing system [ ref ] .
While no one has exact that any aspect of Scientology exist on the Neopets Web site itself , there areunsubstantiated rumorsthat employee are promote to convert to Scientology .
Despite the criticism and controversies , the Neopets empire show no sign of slow up down . As of February 2006 , Neopets claims over 100 million users and over 150 million single pets [ ref ] . The company will soon make the jumping to another lucrative market – cell phone annulus quality and wallpaper [ ref ] .
For more information about Neopets.com , check out the link on the next page .
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