It's All About Food! by vlee11 |  |
Yes--Food, glorious food!! Ever since the launch of Gourmet
Club, the phrase "Get Chuffing!!" has been on many a NeoPet's lips.
And why not?? The concept's pretty easy to understand... scour the market for
rare foods with a rarity of 90 to 100, feed it to your NeoPet and watch its
Gourmet Club rating rise!
While some Neopians think the introduction of such a club should be frowned
upon as it seems to encourage overfeeding and splurging on what is considered
rare, and hence eligible foods for Gourmet Club, I welcomed its formation for
a variety of reasons.
On a purely economic point of view, by encouraging Neopians to spend on exotic
foods, we help clear the already saturated food market. If the problem of market
saturation is left unaddressed, the trend of buying rare foods only to store
them would ultimately backfire on rare food collectors. I mean, how often does
a Neopian actually FEED his NeoPet the food he buys?? When rare foods are bought,
NeoPets rarely get to enjoy it. Instead, it is stored in shops and then bought
by people willing to pay high amounts of money only to store it in their own
gallery. I'm not saying that wanting to hold on to nice foods is wrong, but
feeding it to your NeoPet isn't wrong either!! The current situation now is
hence that as the main shops continue releasing rare foods, but Neopians never
actually consume it, the rarity of foods, as reflected in the Inventory rarity
index, is no longer accurate. Without stimulating demand and giving Neopians
incentive to actually consume the rare foods, prices for these foods would plummet
eventually as supply outstrips demand, and might cause a domino effect on the
prices of other types of foods.
On a more social level, it seems that Gourmet Club membership, due to its very
nature, excludes less well-to-do Neopians who cannot afford the higher priced
gourmet food. After all, we are already seeing the prices of foods especially
the Crystal foods skyrocket in a matter of days. For example, the price of Crystal
Cookies and Crystal
Burger have risen to more than 10 times their original values since
the launch of Gourmet Club. What once cost 500 NP now sells at a hefty 5000
NP, and prices are expected to continue rising. This is necessary to achieve
the above-mentioned goal of clearing the saturated food market... prices must
be high enough to entice shopkeepers to put up their goods for sale. What I
would not sell for 500 NP, I might be perfectly willing to sell at 5000 NP This
benefits poorer Neopians who might have been able to get their hands on the
rare foods prior to the surge in prices, or been able to get them later through
the main shops (an uncommon but not impossible). Immediately, shop tills would
have 4500 NP more than was possible before. With a little perseverance, poorer
Neopians should be able to become suppliers to unbelievably rich Neopians who
just WANT to get into Gourmet Club. The most efficient suppliers of the desired
foods can easily make tons of Neopoints by simply knowing what to supply!!
However, if yet-to-be millionaires still covet Gourmet Club membership, it
isn't too late to start. The trick is in knowing what foods to feed your pet.
As long as you have a little money, you should still be able to afford foods
that are still relatively cheap... like the Golden
Juppie and Taco
Dog. As of time of writing, the prices of these foods are still well
below 800 NP. Forget the Crystal foods... leave those to the rich. YOUR goal
is to reach Membership status with minimal spending. The clever folk at NeoPets
have also found a way to limit the advantage possessed by the very very very
rich: a NeoPet can refuse to eat when he is feeling "bloated". That means you
can't get membership in less than 3 days even if your NeoPet has been "dying"
because criteria for Gourmet Membership currently stands at 11 gourmet foods.
Most fundamentally, Gourmet Club allows Neopians to do a little "showing off"
but not at the expense of the Neopian economy. The foods you eat will be forever
etched in Gourmet Club records. I know that tingly feeling when you see your
collection of Neopian items displayed for all to see...*smile* Browsing through
the lists of champion gourmets, you are also educated on the various types of
foods available in Neopia. In addition, there are restrictions in place that
help make the game fairer for Neopians all around.
In conclusion, I see that the Gourmet
Club was not formed out of malicious intent, but simply to help meet
the needs and demands of various categories of Neopians. Maybe if you trudged
down to take a look for yourself, you'll soon see that you like the people there! |
