NeoCash Information

[afyapardess]

Neopets is a children's site... And kids are not supposed to have paypal or credit cards, and not be able to make purchases on the internet or over the phone.

I guess they are targeting ... YOU!.

Q: If you purchase something with money, does that make it a commodity you can sell for money later? (ie. ebay)

Those lawyerbots must have spent years on this.

The article in the first post mentioned a retail card scheme. In other words, take your cash to a retail store, buy a card with NeoCash on it, and redeem the NeoCash on the website. That way, children could buy things for themselves. I don't think it'll be possible to resell NeoCash items, as they're non-transferable.

One thing I AM grateful for is that they have kept NC items and NP items separate, so NeoCash doesn't mess with the economy too much. Paying real money can't get you any items that give you an advantage over others on the site. If they'd released uber-powerful NeoCash battledome items, I'd have flipped.

[Byakuya San]

If they'd released uber-powerful NeoCash battledome items, I'd have flipped.

But that's probably going to be the next step...

[Erin]

No it won't.

There have been rumours, and web pages, floating around out there recently that say that Neopets is going to create a system whereby players will be able to pay real-life money for Neopets items. As a concerned Neopian, I feel that it should be brought to your attention that if these rumours are true, it will pull a lot of players off the site. People more successful in real life will have an unfair advantage on Neopets than people not willing to spend their hard-earned money on something virtual. Please, please, PLEASE say it isn't true! ~leorls

Well, we can't give out many details. Not yet. But we'd like to assure everyone that their worst fears are not coming true. Users will not be able to acquire a Super Attack Pea for $5, nor will anyone be able to buy their way to Neopian fame and fortune. That would be… well, pretty stupid, right? We value our users and respect the world you've helped us create. We would never do anything we thought would unbalance the game, and we don't intend to do so just because real currency is involved!

So no worries. Deep breaths. Everyone breathe.

I think everyone just needs to have a little more faith in them and not automatically denounce something we don't even have all the info on.

[Kenjiro]

I love that last line They must've had a lot of incoming mail about it..

[Byakuya San]

No it won't.

There have been rumours, and web pages, floating around out there recently that say that Neopets is going to create a system whereby players will be able to pay real-life money for Neopets items. As a concerned Neopian, I feel that it should be brought to your attention that if these rumours are true, it will pull a lot of players off the site. People more successful in real life will have an unfair advantage on Neopets than people not willing to spend their hard-earned money on something virtual. Please, please, PLEASE say it isn't true! ~leorls

Well, we can't give out many details. Not yet. But we'd like to assure everyone that their worst fears are not coming true. Users will not be able to acquire a Super Attack Pea for $5, nor will anyone be able to buy their way to Neopian fame and fortune. That would be… well, pretty stupid, right? We value our users and respect the world you've helped us create. We would never do anything we thought would unbalance the game, and we don't intend to do so just because real currency is involved!

So no worries. Deep breaths. Everyone breathe.

I think everyone just needs to have a little more faith in them and not automatically denounce something we don't even have all the info on.

*Hides himself in shame* Whoops, I didn't see that...the only part that gets to me is when they say they value their users, and while I hope that's true, it seems like they aren't doing a very good job of it (I'm referring to the countless unfair freezings complained about here on PPT and other places, the occasional bad glitch, and the pet redraw fiasco). Of course, seeing as I don't have the money/resources to use NeoCash, I'm bound to be a little biased on the situation.

I think I'll stop complaining now and do something more worthwhile *runs off to play Yooyuball*.

[Erin]

I think it's a matter of perspective. I was personally not bothered by the redraws - there are a lot of pets that I think are huge improvements over their old looks, and the ones I'm not as fond of are pets I would probably have never owned in the first place.

As for glitches, I don't let myself get worked up about them anymore. Neopets is a huge internet company, and I don't think it's reasonable for us to expect them to always provide uninterrupted service. Glitches will happen, and I know they'll do their best to sort the problem out. *shrug*

I can't speak on unfair freezings. I have personally never ever been frozen (nor warned nor suspended) in my 6 years of playing. I don't personally know anyone who was ever frozen wrongfully. I HAVE seen people appeal to TNT and regain access to their accounts, and I've also seen people frozen who definitely deserved it. I tend to think that, in most cases, it's easier to claim unfair freezing that it is to admit you made a mistake or deliberately broke the rules.

[afyapardess]

NeoCash just went up for beta testing to Premium members. It looks like during the beta test, all items are half price - but they expire after only 3 months instead of the 12 months I had heard.

There is, however, some reassuring info in the FAQ:

Will Neocash items give my pets an advantage?
Definitely not. Neocash items are for those who wish to add a little something to their Neopets experience. Neocash items are used to affect how your Neopets appear on the website. They do not in any way effect the game play on the site.

At least they've THOUGHT about the economy and game balance. The only things you can buy at the moment are customisation items (mostly animated ones) and those weird expensive cakes that make your pet happy. No BD weapons, no books, no codestones. Although I still lament the man-hours spent drawing every one of these items for 52 species, hours I feel could be spent improving other aspects of Neopets hugely, I'm not as freaked out about NeoCash now as I was.

I'll never understand why TNT don't tell us openly about these things while they're still in the planning stage. Rumours rarely do TNT any favours.

[Byakuya San]

I think it's a matter of perspective. I was personally not bothered by the redraws - there are a lot of pets that I think are huge improvements over their old looks, and the ones I'm not as fond of are pets I would probably have never owned in the first place.

As for glitches, I don't let myself get worked up about them anymore. Neopets is a huge internet company, and I don't think it's reasonable for us to expect them to always provide uninterrupted service. Glitches will happen, and I know they'll do their best to sort the problem out. *shrug*

I can't speak on unfair freezings. I have personally never ever been frozen (nor warned nor suspended) in my 6 years of playing. I don't personally know anyone who was ever frozen wrongfully. I HAVE seen people appeal to TNT and regain access to their accounts, and I've also seen people frozen who definitely deserved it. I tend to think that, in most cases, it's easier to claim unfair freezing that it is to admit you made a mistake or deliberately broke the rules.

Bah, forget I even said anything, although I do stand by my beliefs on the pet redraws since it has made everything too generic-looking for my tastes.

[Fiddelysquat]

And so it begins.

I love how they deftly avoided actually answering the question in the Editorial. I'll be amazed if they only do this with clothing. Mark my words, it'll expand to other types of items. I'm not against a site selling items for real cash, but if they're starting down this path they could at least cut out all the self righteous crap about how Neo will always be perfectly fair for everyone and they'll never, ever charge.

[varii]

So I guess Neocash is liveish now? At least you can see most everything.

Eh, I'm not too impressed. I mean, I know they'll be adding lots of stuff to tempt us all to shelling out real money, but whatever. Also it doesn't help that aishas look terrible in almost everything.

Although I do like how crazy these goggles make Ukyo look.


And I like the Maraquan Exploration Helmet because it actually creates ear covering for the aishas...but the body suit leaves out their tail. :/ I dunno. I don't like the three month policy that seems to exist right now.

Oh, and I can't seem to access it from my side account. My side is listed as being in the US (as that is where I am) and it is 65 months old. So I don't know what's up with that.

[MahMu]

We're supposed to pay real money for neato things for our pets... that expire???

Are they kidding?

If it were a permanent purchase, I might consider it. I've bought the TCG packs before, for the chance at an item. A permanent item that doesn't magically disappear in 12 months. There's no way I'll pay for a temporary 'look'.

[Daze]

I liked the idea - right up to the point when I read the items expire.

What a rip-off!!

To me that is where TNT have crossed the line. Fine, if you want to spend money to buy virtual items - I have Premium so I would have been interested in the Mall, but to buy something that we don't get to keep is just an appalling money grab.

What where any of them thinking in the office???

[Ange]

I will admit, I would've considered buying something, if the items didn't expire.

[TDG]

I find the animated slorg so funny as it shows just how flat and 2d all the pets are

[varii]

Another thing that bothers me about the way this thing seems to be set up is the whole expiration thing. I'm surprised that items seem to expire after three months. They could change this later, but that is doubtful. Right now at the discount price you can purchase one background for 1 USD and have it last 3 months. You figure after the beta time it'll go up to 1.50 or 2 USD. Who would pay 6-8 USD a year for a single background for your neopet? I wouldn't, and I'm willing to pay for premium still. If it was the same price and lasted a year, I could maybe see myself paying for something extra for one of my pets, but not for three months.

But, whatever, I could have dealt with items expiring. What really smurfs me is that neocash itself expires. If I pay 5 dollars I expect to be able to be able to use that whenever I please, whether it be 2 months from now or 14. Eventually when they release the gift card things, if I get one for my birthday or I give one to my sister, I would like to be able to use it at my leisure. I just think it is extra dumb that the credit you buy expires. I mean, I know it is like that with a lot of real world things, but for some reason the double expirations are just too much for me.