| NOTE: If you in any way have opinionated views about how Neopia looks and functions
for your pets and want them intact. Or you have a vision of Neopia and want to
keep it, turn back now!
NEOPIA - Have you ever wondered what Neopia looks like from the inside? What
your pets see hear and do when you give the little commands? What you supposedly
as the owner look like to your pet? Well this article will go over everything
that is anything in Neopia and tell you how it is likely that your pets see
them. Enjoy!
Intro:
How do your pets see Neopia? It's a question that many of us have asked and
even tried to show with our pet pages, stories and lookups. I have come to the
conclusion that there are three ideas that may explain how our pets see us and
the world of Neopia:
1) Live
This idea is the one I like best. It suggests that we are already living in
Neopia, possibly that we have always done so and our Neopets experience only
starts when we are eligible to get a pet.
This leads us to believe that everything we see on the site would look to
us like it is some kind of building or gathering and we go places to do every
day NeoPets activities like shop and travel. Also according to this idea, Neopia
is a planet in a solar system like our own, it has seas, islands and mountains
and we need to take boats and planes to visit them. It's as if our planet, earth,
doesn't exist and we live in Neopia. This brings in the time part. To travel,
would take time, where as in the other two ideas things are instant.
2) Interactive
According to this idea, Neopia is like a virtual reality Internet. It's just
the same as the Internet, except you move around and go inside pages, as if
they were structures or places, seeing and feeling everything inside as an object
instead of a picture. However, to get to different places you still have to
use links. This would possibly cut out the time idea about taking time to get
places; it would be like a chain reaction or teleportation. You and you pets
would go to the desired link, the object for it being maybe a booth of a pad,
and you are transported.
Logically, you would also have to log in, as if you started on earth, in your
room or where ever your computer is, and as soon as you log on, you are sucked
into Neopia.
3) Viewer
This is the least interesting idea. It suggests that we sit at our computers
and play the site, just as you are playing it now. But, however. IT suggests
that our pets can see us , that we are shown on a wide screen TV like thing
in the sky, any commands come out as if we are saying them and our pets walk
around and do things when we only see a still image telling us what they've
done.
But imagining Neopia as a real live place is very far fetched. I carried out
two interviews to see if it was just for addicts. I interviewed themob12 (three
weeks) and ember188 (possible neo-ancient, but I don't want to point fingers)
Compare the interviews and see if there are any differences.
Rishiy: How long have you been on NeoPets?
Themob12 I have been playing NeoPets for
about 3 weeks.
Rishiy: How do you like the site so far?
Themob12 I think the NeoPets site is very
fun and addicting. It makes you want to keep playing.
Rishiy: What made you come to Neopets?
Themob12: My friend told me NeoPets was
a cool online game that was very fun so I had to try it.
Rishiy: Before you signed up and learned what Neopets was all about,
what did you think it would be like?
Themob12: I thought it would be very good
because I saw the news page and it was constantly updated and I saw all the
pets.
Rishiy: Was the content a shock to you?
Themob12: No, my friend spoke very highly
of NeoPets so I knew it would be very fun.
Rishiy: How do you imagine the world of Neopia to look?
Themob12: I imagine the world of Neopia
to look huge and detailed. I imagine that in every place there are elaborate
colors and Neopians walking around going into other Neopians shops to buy food
and toys for their Neopets. I imagine seeing huge gyms with people training
their Neopets for the wars going on. I imagine all kinds of people playing games
and trying to make some NP to buy their supplies.
Rishiy: How do imagine user/pet interaction?
Themob12: I imagine that users would play
with their pets allot. I also imagine that the pets get the same kind of treatment
as the users. The users will care for and love their pets.
Rishiy: Do you think imagining Neopets as an actual place is extreme?
Themob12: It is a bit extreme but I think
no.
Rishiy: Do you like pet pages that give pets unique qualities and personalities?
Themob12 Yes, they are cool.
Rishiy: Do you think you will ever do the same?
Themob12 No.
Now for embers interview, how different will it be?
Rishiy: How long have you been on NeoPets?
ember188: I have been on Neopets for?
Twenty months, I believe.
Rishiy: Do you think you are more imaginative about Neopets related
things now you have been on longer.
ember188: Most definitely. When I first
came here, I never thought it would end up as an obsession. I pretty much saw
my pets as being as flat as tamagotchis.
Rishiy: Do you think other things you do on Neopets have influenced
this?
ember188: The Times has really inspired
me. Reading it helped me to learn about Neopia and see it as more than just
something on a computer screen. Writing for made me think more carefully and
developed my ideas.
Rishiy: Do you like it when users create a unique personality for their
pets?
ember188: Of course! I don't think "As
Told By Child_dragon" would be the same at all if Eair were just another Eyrie.
Giving your pets personalities makes you closer to them and helps your creativity
flow.
Rishiy: Have you done one yourself?
ember188: Naturally. Sunyears is a lot
like my real-life self. She is very smart and very outspoken. She often converses
in an adult manner, yet something about her always reminds you that she is really
just a little kid. Jermy is a lot like my Internet self. He has an incredibly
wild imagination, and sometimes confuses it for how things really are. He is
spontaneous, outgoing, and just plain fun to be around.
Rishiy: How do you imagine Neopia to look?
ember188: I picture it as being a bit
cartooney. I'm not so creative that I can picture it in a very realistic way.
To be quite honest, it looks a bit like the landscape of a particularly nice
anime.
Rishiy: How do you imagine user/pet interactions?
ember188: Obviously, it would be different
from human to human and pet to pet. Not all people interact with their dogs
in the same way, after all.
Rishiy: Have you visions changed since you were a newbie?
ember188: Absolutely! When I was a newbie
I pictured pets as being. . . well. . . very, very, animal like. Sort of helpless,
if you know what I mean. I still don't like to think of them as anthros, but
in my mind they act more like humans now. I suppose I have writers like Shidi
and Al_the_chia who write about pets being that way to thank for that particular
change in perspective.
Rishiy: Do you think imagining Neopia as a place is extreme?
ember188: Not at all! You can't very well
write about Neopia as a computer image. Once you begin to write about something,
it becomes true for you. I think any reasonably addicted (oxymoron, there) Neopian
must think of Neopia as a place. After all, you can't very well be a "Neopian"
if there is no "Neopia".
Rishiy: Do you think your visions of Neopia are the same as your Neofriends
because you have something in common, or do you think they are influenced by
things that you like personally and possibly wish your real life could be more
like?
ember188: That's a very deep question.
Unfortunately, I don't have a suitably deep answer. I know that many of my Neofriends
don't really see Neopia as anything more than a collection of pixels. Others
are like me. I know some people who picture pets as anthros, and that's not
at all the way I see them. I think it's because I like animals so much, I'd
prefer to have these little creatures be more like animals. It could also have
something to do with the fact that having a pet that looks too much like a human
is a bit disturbing. Remember the first Bruces? Something that might influence
the way people see Neopia is what part of Neopia their interested in. Battlers
probably have a different vision of it than chatters or writers do.
So what were the differences? It seemed that the Neopian who had been on longer
had a more; let's say realistic view of Neopia. The newbie seemed to see Neopia
as a happy, trouble free place, possibly because they hadn't witnessed any wars
or their pets hadn't had diseases. But ember saw Neopia as a serious place,
with problems very much like our own.
Well, you think about it, you can Neomail me with any comments or suggestions
ant my account, rishiy. Thanks.
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