Ghost Paint Brush: Excellent or Evil? by po0ntz |  |
RAINBOW POOL - I must admit I was completely surprised by the arrival of the
Ghost Paint Brush to Neopia. I hadn't heard anything about a new paint brush
being released, and my first reaction was "Wow, a new paint brush! Cool!" Upon
further reflection, I'm not sure that this new colour is such a good thing for
our Neopets.
First, let's examine just what this paint brush is going to do to your pet.
I can remember the debate that raged when the Baby Paint Brush was released,
as to whether or not it was cruel to turn your beloved pet back into an infant.
That seems like nothing when you consider that you are now capable of ending
your pet's life. Yes, that's right: turning your pet into a ghost means that
it won't be alive any more. Seems obvious, right? Yet I'm sure there are some
owners out there, caught up in the excitement of a new paint brush, who haven't
even stopped to think about this. What you could never do before by ignoring
your pet or letting it starve, you can now do with a simple stroke of a paint
brush. Would you be satisfied with an insubstantial wraith pet that you can't
hug or play with? I know I wouldn't. With every other paint brush I have seen,
the only thing that changes is the outer appearance of your pet, while they
stay the same underneath (I'm not including Robot pets in this, because that
isn't done with a paint brush). However, if you paint your pet into a ghost,
you will be changing their whole bodies into something completely different.
Who knows what effect that change would have on your pet?
I don't feel so good...
Now, if you think that having a ghostly pet would upset you, how do you think
your pet is going to feel about it? I can't imagine a pet that would actually
be happy with the change. It may seem like a good idea to do this to your pet
for fashion reasons, or so that you'll have one of the latest painted pets,
but you should stop and think about it. The whole reason for playing Neopets
is to look after and take care of your pets. If you hoard NP and ignore your
pets, you're missing the whole point. The same applies to doing something to
your pets that they may not want or like. They are the ones that are going to
be living with the change, so make sure you ask them!
Yet even if my pets agreed to be painted Ghost, I don't think that I could
do it to them. Every ghost pet that I have seen so far looks decidedly angry,
maybe even evil. I hate to think of legions of pets with those glowing red eyes
glaring up at their owners. Most of the creatures in Neopia that are ghostly
or spooky belong in the Gallery of Evil, such as the Ghost Lupe, the Shadow
Usul, the Swamp/Lava Ghouls. Are we going to add our own pets to the list of
spooky things that haunt the Neopian world? There are enough of them residing
in Neopia already without us turning our beloved pets into spectres. For those
that like the idea of creepy pets, you can always turn your pet into a mutant.
It's every bit as scary, and it has the added bonus of not having to kill your
pets to work. Before writing this article I asked around a little on the message
boards, and the general opinion seems to be that most people would prefer a
mutant pet to a ghost one. The reasons? People liked the way the mutants look
better, and thought that the ghost pets looked too strange. Sure, the point
of a paint brush is to change the way your pet looks, but not so much that you're
afraid of it.
I can't imagine my pets as anything other than what they are now. After a
while, your pet's colour becomes almost a part of their personality. So before
you rush out to turn your favourite pet into a ghost, make sure you think carefully
about the changes you will be making, and whether you are prepared to live with
them for a long time.
If you have any questions, comments or feedback about this article, feel free
to Neomail
me. |
