Look At All the Expensive Items! by sacred_revenge | |
The world of Neopia to a newcomer is one of exotic locales, fun and challenging
games, cool online pets to choose from... and endless items to find, buy, sell,
trade, earn, seek, auction, and generally yearn for. NeoPet to the fresh new
user is a site full of opportunities galore.
But to a seasoned old Lupe like me, the site is a place of shifting trends,
fashions, new waves, old favourites... and continuous speed bumps along the
way to easy living in Neopia. We veterans have seen the rise of nations, from
Tyrannia to Krawk Island. We have fought battles for those lands, and even at
times fought each other. Lands have sunk and split and changed before our eyes,
such as the lost city of Maraqua. But at what cost?
To those who have joined this wonderful site only in the last few months,
here is a little history for you. For the rest of us vets, just nod your heads
gravely as I describe the toll that the march of time has taken on us:
-First of all, some of our favourite haunts have slowed down over time. The
Wheel of Excitement, and the Scratchcard Kiosk, used to be available for business
every fifteen minutes. Those of us who could only spare an hour a night to go
exploring could be able to rely on these noble hot spots for at least three
spins or cards a night. Eventually, it was every thirty minutes... forty-five...
an hour... two. A scratchcard went from 500 NP to 750, but refreshingly has
dipped down to 600. True, these things must be adjusted to accommodate for all
you youngsters... but I'll come back to that in a moment.
Next, our Battledome: Hidden niches or grand arenas scattered from the Haunted
Forest to that great Space Station in the night sky, these places have been
the testing ground for worthy NeoPet and bright-eyed newcomers alike, ready
to try their skills as well as their prized weaponry. For the well-off owner,
a pet could be outfitted with top-quality gear for around 120,000 NP and stand
a good chance of winning. Since that day when all pets stood shoulder to wingtip,
the advent of fantastic and highly-priced Hidden Tower items supplied by faeries
themselves have put the wealthy in a category of their own, making themselves
superior not through skill or strategy any longer, only through sheer brute
force. New pets must beware of these heavy-handed Neo-millionaires who have
transcended equal footing.
Our great hall of gaming - once the epicentre for leisurely playing, fun times,
and piles of NP. True, many of these classics still exist for the careful building
up to larger bank accounts, but contests such as "Better Than You" and "Mystery
Picture" put emphasis on rushing to beat other players and turn the focus from
simply having fun to winning through to the finish line. And where are those
staple games that earned us such wonderful prizes in the past? Bullseye is gone,
and Deckball no longer provides us with Dubloons. It was not so long ago that
Dubloons looked to be the newest form of itemised currency, a revolutionary
step for Neopian commerce. But with our sources of these valuable coins dwindling,
what is to become of our newer members? Wealthy owners will begin to hoard their
coins in safety deposit boxes like so many proverbial treasure chests, carefully
holding them until they are worth the most. No, another renaissance may pass
us by yet again.
Food, that simple staple in the maintaining of our dear beloved pets. It has
never been a problem for the watchful owner, and it never will be. But like
so many other things, the passage of time will make more and more different
exotic foods harder to find or collect. Gourmet foods are beginning to cost
as much as some Battledome items, and for what? Why must we keep so many delicious
delicacies under glass and on dusty store shelves, when at one time we could
treat our pets that we love so much and that love us in return to a feast of
kingly proportions? Foods of all sorts have just become another precious commodity
that allow the rich to flaunt their wealth... and the poor to look hungrily
on.
Lastly, our accounts. There are far too many of us out there that can tell
a tale of accounts past, either closed down as a result of foolish mistakes,
made bankrupt by the greed and guiles of less moral men, or lost forever to
the ravages of hackers. I myself have stories of that sort to tell, stories
that pain me to this... very day...
Excuse me a moment, I need to remember some of the pets that I have been unable
to care for through losing my accounts in the past. Take this time to reflect
on the pets you know and love, and put so much of your heart into.
There, that's better. Anyway, those of us who browse through stores and watch
the Trading Post know that the methods some people are using are becoming downright
deceptive and misleading. And to top it off, prices are driving ever higher
every day as people struggle to bring in the Neopoints needed to reach those
high altitudes of numbers that luxury and freedom from poverty must reside in.
It is a vicious cycle, I know, but Neopia is not as simple as it once was. Not
all things are within our grasp anymore.
But there is hope. In each and every person, there is the potential to do
good, and be fair, and help one another to reach our goals. Those staples that
we put so much emphasis on Faeries, Codestones, Dubloons, paint brushes, maps,
Neggs, and the like. All these are still out there, and appearing in the most
unlikely of places. And before you set yourself down the road to riches and
rewards, ask yourself this one simple question:
What do I want to have fun doing today? |