All hail the mighty TNT! Anyway... I'm a bit confused about Neocash. At first I thought one would buy Neocash with Neopoints, but then I saw the whole "18 or older" text at the bottom of the page, and there was a huge terms and conditions thing to go through if I clicked "buy." I also noticed the "coming soon" credit card. Those things led me to think that Neocash can only be purchased through real money transactions. So... is Neocash purchased with money or with Neopoints? ~ beastybas
Yes, Neocash is purchased with real money, not Neopoints. This is why you must be over 18 to make a purchase. If you would like to buy, please read and understand all the information we give you regarding the transaction beforehand! We tried to make things as clear as possible so there'd be no confusion. The same goes for your parents if they are purchasing Neocash for you. ONLY buy if you're comfortable!

The "credit card" image you saw is actually an upcoming cash card, similar to what is offered by many online games. These will allow players without a Paypal account to purchase Neocash to use in the NC Mall (which means those under 18 can receive those as gifts and not have to rely on Paypal).

TNT, you lied to us! In issue 12 you said Neopets would stay free forever until it died. You lied by making NC Mall. Why did you lie? Why? *Cries* ~matratchoclate
This requires a two part answer, really.

First, Neopets is still free! We can't stress that enough. You do NOT have to buy from the Mall, and the items that you can buy in no way affect game play. (We've worked very, very hard on that fact.) It's merely an extra option for those folks who would like to pay.

Secondly, as we have said before in the Editorial, we offer the best information we can give at the time. That Editorial was answered almost 6 years ago! Have you ever insisted that you'd honestly NEVER try sushi, or move to a new place, or anything else, only for it to unforeseeably occur down that long road of life? Neopets has grown so large over the years that we honestly have had to do things we never thought we'd do in order to keep the site free to play for everyone. Being a business, we can't just "break even" and call it a happy day. If Neopets doesn't turn a profit (in business terms, it's called "a reasonable rate of investment...") well, we'd disappear pretty quickly. :( No one is going to continue to keep pouring millions into supporting a business that doesn't make a lot of money in return. And, if they stop investing money, we don't get paid. If we don't get paid, we can't buy food and will likely starve to death. If we're all dead, then you'll never EVER get your plot prizes! D: So we really can't let that happen!

Mmm... sushi.

The renting part is a total scam. Paying for something online that you don't get to keep? That's just ludicrous. Otherwise, I agree that Neopets should be able to charge money for certain items, and I wholeheartedly agree with this practice for them to bring in even more money than they already are. I wouldn't do this, but it's something they can do. Right now, though, I believe they are swindling cash from people. ~from the boards
If we didn't alert you clearly and repeatedly that the items expire in 90 days and lead you to believe they would last forever, then yes, it would totally be a scam. However, we're quite clear about the expiration dates up front, and we encourage you to read EVERYTHING before you decide to buy so that you're comfortable with doing so.

Anyway, because the items are virtual and don't actually change hands, there are many, many legal issues that crop up. Lawyerbot could easily fill this whole Editorial with all his legal mumbo jumbo about why the items expire, so we'll save all that for another Editorial.

But remember, we're still very early in this whole thing, so we may find out that expiration can be longer with no repercussions. We also have plans for certain items to have longer expiration dates outright. It just depends. There's a whole group of people behind the NC Mall that have done countless hours' worth of research and planning - people who are trying to balance your happiness with business needs and with fraud and legal issues. It's not quite as simple as putting up a shop and hoping people buy. :)

In the NC Mall Beta phase, are under 18 year olds allowed to participate? Not in the real thing, but just in the Beta phase, you understand. Please clear this up. ~avibero
The age restriction is simply on the process of purchasing Neocash, since you must be 18 to have a Paypal account. So, regardless of what phase the Mall is in (beta or otherwise), you must be 18 or older to purchase Neocash. If you are under 18 and would like to purchase anything, please speak with your parents (and abide by their decision!).

However, just browsing around the mall is open to anyone (regardless of age). We've found the "try on" feature to be quite addicting, and that requires no Neocash whatsoever! Don't feel the need to buy if you just want to surf around.

Hi TNT! I remember once you promised that you would never, ever let players who had more real-life money have an advantage over those who don't or let people buy Neopet items with real money. Premium I understand, since it's like paying to not have the ads and a little more, but the NC Mall is definitely going against what you said. :( ~rainbow_lilac_rose
How? We really can't fathom how someone's Lupe having a sparkly tiara is in any way an advantage over someone who doesn't. The items can't be sold for Neopoints, so they have absolutely NO value in the Neopian economy. (We certainly don't want someone to be able to, in effect, purchase Neopoints with real cash.) Also, when we are eventually able to add in other features that tell you specifically what items a Neopet is wearing, NC Mall items will be clearly marked. It will be very clear to everyone which items were purchased with real money and which ones were earned with Neopoints, so there should be no mistake should someone claim to be "better" at the game of Neopets due to some fancy clothes their Neopet is wearing. We also have NO intention of offering items in the NC Mall that will give players huge game play advantages that so many people are talking about, like Battledome weapons and the like.

In short, there is NO advantage to purchasing Neocash items. We have done (and are continuing to do) everything we can to make sure this is the case.

TNT, there's something that's been bugging me. I've been hearing rumors that you're going to start charging five dollars every month to keep a regular, non-premium account. Is this true? If so, what happened to the "and best of all, it's completely FREE!" on the front page? ~xx_phantom_phan_xx
Whoa. No, no, no. We're not sure where this started, but that's certainly not something we intend to do. It's likely a rumour started by alarmists, so please ignore the doomsayers. You can, if you choose, pay for extras like a premium account or a special bit of clothing, but it's completely up to you. Your Neopets account will not be affected if you choose not to pay for the extras, and you can continue to play the site for free.

Doooom.... DOOOOOOOOM! Oh wait, nevermind. Everything's okay.

I'm not one to make knee-jerk reactions to the stuff you guys do to the site. In fact, after giving them a chance, I tend to decide that I like most of the alterations. However, as a regular NeoBoard user, I must lodge a complaint about the recent addition of an image of your active Neopet to every post. I know this is a "pet geared" site... but, honestly, I don't care about my Neopets, what they look like, or anything. I have other reasons for being here. Have you considered making the pic of your Neopet OPTIONAL, so only users who actually like it have to show it? It tends to make boards really long (and my scroll button doesn't like it, either). ~schoolgirl31782
It's not a "pet-geared" site... it's a pet site. :) We totally understand that you may do other things on the site, and that's completely fine, but the site is called Neopets and it has always been about the Neopets themselves. That's something we're trying to get back to. If you're just here to chat, the extra pic doesn't stretch things too much (unless the player has written less than a line and has no Neosignature). If that's the case, and people are mostly posting one word messages back and forth, you're really not actually chatting much to each other in the first place. ;)

Hi! I'm really not trying to complain, because I know you have put a lot of hard work into making the site better. =) And I think we all appreciate it. However, I (as well as many other people) have noticed that you have been adding a lot of new features lately, when there are already so many problems that need fixing. The Pound has been down for months, the Petpet avatars don't work, the new Neopet pictures at the Rainbow Pool haven't been updated, and I know a lot of people have been getting "page missing" errors a lot. I know that many of us would really appreciate it if you could try and fix those problems (as soon as you can get around to it, that is). ~teme_la_pinguina
Trust us, we're just as frustrated about it all as you all are. We can honestly tell you guys that we are working like nuts trying to get everything done, but alas, we're only human (well, except for Lawyerbot). There are people working 12-14 hours a day (in case you aren't aware, a standard work day is 8 hours). These are real people who are doing their job the best they can. They can't work 24 hours a day.

And before it gets asked, no, we can't stop making new content (we have deadlines and goals to meet) and we can't just hire new people. (First of all, it costs more money, and secondly, we can't exactly hire a new programmer and say, "This is Neopets. This is how you make a Neopet. Now, recode the pound by Tuesday, please!") We seriously have not forgotten about all we need to get done... in fact, we have nightmares about it. We're working as fast as we can.

I was wondering, is there ever going to be a way that you can play games to earn NC instead of buying it? No offense, but it is a rip off to spend real money for fake cash. x_X Seriously, has anyone? O.O ~bannanamouth
Yup, people have spent real money for "fake" currency before, and we're not the first website to implement such a system. But to answer your first question: no, we have no intention of offering ways for people to acquire Neocash other than real-life money. (The last thing we want to do is allow people to buy their way through the game of Neopets.)

Also, though many of you may hiss at people that "pay for pixels," they are helping to keep the site free for you, so please don't harass them for you not agreeing on how they spend their money. To them, obviously, it's not wasteful and they enjoy it. They are entitled to that opinion. On the other side of the coin, anyone "rubbing it in" that they are supporting the site (via Premium or the NC Mall) and therefore think they are a superior Neopian because of it is just as bad. There's no need to make a fuss either way. Everyone has their own opinions, and one is no better than the other.

The concept of value is an interesting thing...

Dear TNT, my parents refuse to pay for virtual money to use at the NC Mall. However, I was wondering if it was possible to get wearable clothing elsewhere, or if I have to pay if I want clothes? Thank you! ~ heidigirl123
Not at all! There are an ever-growing number of items that are wearable and released just like any other site item. Keep checking the news to see what has been released for which species. :) We will continue to release new clothing the old fashioned way, so you will never feel forced to spend money at the NC Mall. That's not what we want!

I know the items in the NC mall will expire, but when it's out of testing, will we get back the items we bought now? Also, will we ever be able to pay via money order? ~_xx_jenn_xx_
If you were part of the first beta test and did NOT pay real money for your clothing, the items will be deleted shortly. If you have actually purchased clothing during this open Beta with Neocash that you purchased with real money, the items will last their normal 90 days and will not vanish when we finish Beta. We hope that answered your question. Also, we're sorry, but we are not planning on accepting money orders or mailed in cash for Neocash. Please do NOT mail us your money! D:

Can you only send one of your Neopets to the Neolodge? Because what if I'm gone for a while? Only one could be fed! :[ ~ aprilmf
No, all of your Neopets can stay in the Neolodge at once to make sure they are all well fed and cared for. If you have side accounts, you may keep those Neopets in the Neolodge as well. :)

I have no objections to the NC Mall, but methinks that paying for Neocash will become paying for Neopoints, then for your NeoHOME, then your NeoPETS, then for everything Neo. ~from the boards
No, Neopoints will never be able to be purchased. The only items we intend to sell will be things that are pretty or have very benign functions (such as a food item that makes your Neopet happy). We know it may sound like the end of the world to some of you, but please give us some credit. We love the site, we know how it works, and we're not going to do dumb things like put full battle healers in the NC Mall for $5, so please, stop acting like it's the end of Neopia!

Only 5000 NC! No. NOT going to happen.

So how much is the Pound gonna cost when it comes out again? ~ beaglewasfrozen
$5.99 for the first adoption and... okay, we're just messing with you. Yes, we're evil, but it's our only method of revenge! :P Seriously, no, we'd storm the meeting rooms with picket signs if the suggestion came up to charge real money for the Pound. You guys tend to forget we're on your side a great deal of the time. (Okay, not with the whole whining-about-changes-thing, though. Change is good! The sleeper must awaken!)

I've got a Dell 2000 Computer I play Neopets on and I use the Mozilla Firefox browser. None of the pictures show up on the site for me and this was about a month before that really big update. What's happened?!? ~ neochantel
If you're having trouble seeing images, make sure you have the latest Adobe Flash Player installed, and check your browser settings to see if you've accidentally blocked anything.

TNT, you said this site was FREE. Why do we have to purchase Neocash to buy wearable stuff for our Neopets? Couldn't we earn it with special games or something? I think you're over-complicating the site for everyone. And you yourself said items you buy with NC disappear after a while. What good is stuff you have to keep on paying for on a supposedly FREE website???
The website IS free. Think about Neopets like a Friday night (unless you spend it staying home like most of us did in high school). You can go to the park for fun, read a book, or go hang out with your friends - all free, right? Or, you can pay to do something... like go to the movies. The NC Mall is like that. It's not necessary, it doesn't last forever, but it can be fun nonetheless. It's really up to each individual to decide if buying a ticket is worth it.

Recently I donated a Scarab Negg, because it was just cluttering up my items. Then, a few minutes later, someone Neomailed me asking for Neggs, just because I had donated one. Is this considered rude, or am I just over-sensitive? This is really important, so please answer it. ~_dusksky
It is quite rude! It's not really reportable, though, unless they keep asking and won't leave you alone after you've asked them to, but it's still rude just the same. Try not to let the rude people get you down, though. You'll meet them in any society, so alas it's one of those things in life you need to deal with in the best way you can.

What's more important? Our (Neopians') happiness and satisfaction or making real-life profit from Neopet users? ~cutie802
While we would like to claim 100% your happiness, it isn't possible. We're sure everyone would love to see all the ads ripped down, no more paying for anything, and not even have sponsor games on the site. Unfortunately, though, Neopets would then go bankrupt and cease to exist, so we HAVE to care about money. We know money puts a lot of stress on relationships (both ours with you all, and those closer to you). How often have you argued or overheard your parents argue about money? We're betting most likely at least once in your life. :( We don't necessarily like certain ads either, but we also need to accept the fact that without money and the company making a profit, Neopets can't exist. So we have to try and balance the two. If we only cared about money and not about our players, we could do a lot worse things than offer optional clothing for a few bucks. So please, before sticking your fingers out and calling us "greedy," think of what it takes to run a business of this magnitude, and understand we have to do what we can to create a balance between profit and player happiness.

Let me ask you something. In TNT's office, is work always annoyed, or I should say interrupted, by random staff members doing random stuff? Examples that come to mind are the sock eater, a robot, the Lawyerbot, the Meepits, Dr. Sloth, Altador Cup frenzy, or some faerie playing with magic in the office... (no offences here :)... say, TNT, want a Rockberry?) ~nnpower888
Well, Lawyerbot and his other minions DO like to gather around Snarkie's desk and talk very loudly from time to time while she's frantically trying to keep the site from imploding. Of course, that hasn't happened much recently since the laser gun incident back in May. In completely unrelated news, we are hiring several new people. *shifty eyes*

She's STILL trying to convince authorities it was an accident.

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