Let's face it, nearly every owner in Neopia favours one of their pets over
the others, it's human nature. I'll admit that I am quite fond of my first and
oldest pet, Gaalin. I've spent by far the most money on him, role play him the
most, battle with him... everything you could do for your pet I've done for
him. So why do we favour our pets? What are signs that we favour a pet? How
do your other pets feel about it?
Why do we favour pets?
I believe we favour our pets for one of these reasons:
1. They were our first pet.
2. You adopted them from the pound either painted, or with high stats.
3. They are very rare and hard to get (i.e. Krawk, Tonu)
4. You received a very expensive, very rare Paint Brush, and this pet
was the only one compatible with it.
5. They have a very cool name.
Now while all of these may not apply, most likely at least one of them does.
My pet Gaalin was my first pet, I created him on my first account, goldenretriever9288,
and later transferred him to this one. I gave him a very creative name which
I still love today. I saved up and bought him a Spotted Paint Brush (of course
when I bought it, they were only about 16,000 NP). I also decided to train him
out of all my pets.
Now, while it may sound as though I intended to favour him, that is not the
case. He was with me for so long, and I got to know him so well, that we've
become inseparable. We've battled our way through the Dome, and in an upcoming
story of mine, we dish it out with Sloth himself.
So, how do my other pets feel about this?
My pets have all figured out by now that I tend to favour my pet Gaalin. They
all accept this openly though, as I give them what I give Gaalin (outside of
training). They've all been painted quite nicely, apart from my two newest ones,
and all have beautiful names, of which I put thought into. So Gaalin and I interviewed
a few of them, just to see what they thought about it. The following statements
are all in their exact words.
Cereille: Hmm, yes I understand that Koby shows favouritism towards
Gaalin, but that really doesn't bother me. The only area where any of that is
evident is in Gaalin's training, and for those of us besides Elowien, that's
not a big deal. We all are painted well, and Koby loves all of us. Gaalin isn't
boastful about it either, he treats us all with respect, and in turn we show
the same towards him.
Areq: What can I say? It isn't that bad, I can get away with a lot more
this way. And you'd think I was his favourite after he paraded around Mystery
Island (our home) for a month bragging on how he got a Tonu. I got painted White,
which I wanted more than Fire or Striped, because those were already taken.
Gaalin and Koby are both cool, and the favourites thing doesn't bother me much
at all..
WarriorPaw: Okay, so the favouritism thing gets on my nerves sometimes,
but what I always have to remember is that number one, I've got the coolest
name, number two, I've got the better girl, and number three, my coat is more
expensive than his. The only time 'playing favourites bothers me is when we're
trying to get something. Koby spend every last Neopoint that we get either on
Stevie and her pets, or Gaalin's training. I used to want to be trained, but
I figured out that it wouldn't happen after I got older.
Windeft: Uh, favouritism? I haven't noticed it that much... I mean yeah,
he does have better stats than the rest of us, but for the most part none of
us are interested in battling, which he does. His stats come in handy when it
comes to an emergency though, but that's a different story, so let's not get
into it. For the most part, Koby doesn't show enough favouritism for it to matter.
As you can see, I'm not the perfect example of over-favortism, but it's out
there, I see it every day. All of my pets except one were created by me, and
none of them are neglected in any way, form, or manner.
What are the signs?
I've devised a little quiz that will help you to figure it out:
1. After you've made a few Neofriends, one of their pets decides that it
likes one of your own, but not your painted, high-stat pet. You
a). Agree happily, replying that your pet also has a small crush on theirs
b). Instead of deciding that the pet being liked, likes their pet back (blah!
that came out weird), you make your favourite like them in return.
c). Flat out ignore them, deleting them from your Neofriends list and blocking
them from ever Neomailing you again.
2. When role playing some kind of event with your pet, you
a). Play all of your pets equally, giving each their own part
b). Frequently give all of the roles to one pet, making them seem like the best
c). Don't role play any of your pets for fear that you might actually have to
deal with one other than your favourite
3. When feeding your pets, you
a). Share all exotic foods equally between your pets, making sure the younger
ones get the better food
b). Give all of the exotic foods to your favourite pet, giving the others whatever
else you manage to scrounge
c). You don't feed any of your other pets besides your favourite
4. When shopping for toys for your pets, you
a). Give all of your pets what they ask for
b). Give the best toys to your favourite, occasionally buying toys for the others
c). You don't buy any other pets toys besides your favourite
Answers
Mostly As=Why are you taking this quiz? You treat your pets very well, if
any of them don't like you, it's most likely not your fault.
Mostly Bs=Why do you have more than one pet? Maybe you should see a Neo-Psychiatrist
Mostly Cs=Why do you play NeoPets? Maybe you should see a real life Psychiatrist.
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