The Price of Being a Millionaire

by tahara69

Who wants to have a million NP? Almost anyone, right? I don't know if I still want to have a million NP.

Now, you might think I'm crazy, but once you make your first million, you don't know what to do afterwards. It took me three months to make my first million and it was an uphill struggle the whole way. My pets would be at the Neolodge for two weeks at a time while I thought of ways to make NP Before the advent of the Battledome, I always sold Aquatic food. Hard to get, but the returns were good.

When Battledome came out, everything changed. My source of income was no longer viable and my shop was bare. I had to rethink everything. At this time came the greatest revelation, why was I doing this? I wasn't taking care of my pets, I was leaving them to be cared for by the staff of the Neolodge. The whole point of being on NeoPets was to care for your pets, not making NP Although NP is a good thing, it isn't the main thing.

Once I reminded myself what was important, everything just came easily. Within weeks of stopping to need to make a million, I did. It has been growing ever since.

Then something hit me. If I had finally saved up that much, how much did I actually have? I did some calculations, looked through my Sales History and nearly fainted at my computer. Over 10 million NP has passed through my account. I SPENT THAT MUCH???? Once I came to my senses, most of the money I had spent was for my pets. Buying various items to make sure they stayed normal. The Lab Ray was something I used a lot, so I needed various plushies and potions to turn my pets back to normal. The Stone Lupe Morphing Potion was a pain to find, the Magical Silver Kougra Plushie has since become an unbuyable, the Gelert Potion is abundant and the latest Shoyru Morphing Potion is still new, so I was most fortunate to buy one from the Magic shop.

So I have all these nice things through hard work and saving. What about those other people who had the unbuyables I had never seen at the stores? I got to know one and she was quite pleasant. She told me where to find some of the new items, like the Puzzle Fruit and she was doing very well. But she had only been around Neopia for a month. Wow. She must really be good. I gauged my success on hers so I had an idea if I was doing well. She always had the newest items. I was amazed. Then, one day when I looked her up, her account has been disabled. OH NO! Was she cheating? Did she try to scam someone? Was someone just so jealous? I didn't know and I was scared.

Okay, so if you're a millionaire, people will try to get your money or say some not very nice things like: "Hey, you look loaded, give a person a break and give me (insert something here)." or "You need to help me, because you're rich" or "Come on, you don't need that. Just accept my offer." So, you have this money and people want to get it from you (not all, but with the number of fake log-in pages in some people's store, you get scared) and you become paranoid. Will people think I did something not nice to get all this? Will someone report me because they don't like me? All these questions running through your mind because you have something a lot of people want: NP I was so scared I kept changing my password everyday. I didn't restock my store, I stayed away from the Trading Post, I just tended my pets and kept to myself. I became scared of Neopia.

True, I was overreacting, but I was honestly scared. You hear that people had their accounts hacked into and their pets put up for adoption. I have had the same set of pets since I started (Poofpoof90 was my original pet and the others had all been adopted from the pound) and it would break my heart if anything ever happened to them. After a while, I knew I was acting silly. If I lost everything, at least I knew it was possible for me to make that kind of money again. If I did it once, I could do it again.

But, just to be nice, I do recommend being honest in Neopia. You don't need to scam people or steal anyone's account. It's really a matter of hard work and remembering what's important. When I can, I give Neopox Pizza to owners of sick pets. It's a way of helping out those who are less fortunate and do not have a very fast connection. Not that mine is that fast, most times I am only able to buy two slices in an hour.

So what is the price of being a millionaire? You will lose sight that caring for your pets is what is important, you become paranoid that people are out there to steal your money, you will be harassed by those who feel that you have an obligation to help them and the worse one, you will forget that this is all in the name of fun.

Lighten up, this is a game. Admittedly, it can bring out the best and worst in people, but it is still just a game. Enjoy playing with your pets and remember that NP is just another part of the whole experience, not the driving factor.