Real Life and Neopian Life - What Would You Do?

by renton71

Everyone has seen much heated discussion and many an article about the rich/poor debate, and it is time for things to be clarified. For the "financially-challenged" people out there, it is no one's fault that you are in your limited financial situation. It is not even your fault, because you didn't cause it to happen. You simply joined NeoPets and consequently you have to start with a limited amount of Neopoints. But you have seen many items you wish to buy, but can't because of your financial status. This may frustrate you because you desperately want to paint your pet with a Faerie paintbrush, buy expensive Battledome items, train your pet with Codestones, gain abilities with Faeries - but you can't because you simply don't have enough Neopoints to purchase them. As frustrated as you may be, this is no reason at all to blame others such as the richer Neopians, the staff, other poor people, or whoever you think is to blame.

In many ways, NeoPets is like real life - buying basic items needed to survive, buying medicine and health products, managing finances, earning an income. Therefore, let us compare the Neopoints problem to real life. If you have a minimum income in real life, you don't blame rich people because you don't have enough money to buy a sports car or a penthouse. So why blame richer Neopians because the Battledome items in their shops are too expensive? And you don't go around begging in real life for money so you can buy expensive luxury items that you don't need, but want anyway. You don't blame the government because they aren't giving you enough money to buy a yacht. In many ways, the situations in real life are mirrored in NeoPets... Which ever one you are in, you have to cope and make do the best you can.

The fact of the matter is that NeoPets is not designed so you can immediately buy expensive items, spending tens of thousands of Neopoints at a time. NeoPets is designed to be a challenge, and you should be willing to accept that challenge because you signed up for NeoPets.

Don't complain because you don't have enough Neopoints to buy what you want. The concept is that you have to work to earn the Neopoints first. Just like in real life you have to work to earn money to buy things. I can't possibly see how not enough Neopoints is the fault of the rich Neopians. Yes, some do charge high prices in their shops, but who says you have to buy from their shops? Why buy chocolate ice cream or green apples for hundreds or thousands of NP from people's shops to feed your pets when you can buy grapes or sausages or many other items that fill up your pet the exact same amount as the other items, but cost 10 NP or less at the Burger Shop? In real life, certain things are expensive and if you want to buy them, you have to work for them or do without. People who own shops in real life aren't going to lower their prices just because you can't afford some of the items that you want. If they did, it would have resounding detrimental economic effects. It just isn't realistic or feasible.

It seems that people simply want to live a rich, luxurious lifestyle in Neopia, but are not willing to do the work. Other people claim they don't even have enough Neopoints to feed their pets. There is no base to that claim - what is the Soup Kitchen for? And playing one game of Kiko Match will get you around 150 NP or more - enough to buy plenty of food. Just remember that everyone in Neopia was poor once, even the millionaires, with only a few hundred Neopoints in their account. But people who are rich now didn't waste their time complaining about being poor, looking for a scapegoat to blame for their situation instead of doing something. This is not to say that all "financially-challenged" Neopians are unhappy with their situation or find the need to complain. There are many people who enjoy having a limited amount of Neopoints. In many ways, their lifestyle is easier and simpler. And there are many hardworking people out there who are poor at the moment, but will benefit from the efforts soon enough. But for those who do want the Neopoints to buy expensive items, there is only one way to get them - EARN THEM. There are many ways to earn Neopoints, some of which are unbelievably simple:

* play games such as Kiko Match, Poke Match and Kacheek Seek to make NP - you can make upwards of 700 NP per day even if you're not good at games
* do Treasure Hunts and either sell the map pieces or collect them for the reward
* open a shop that sells everyday, basic, needed items like food and medicines - they are reasonably cheap to buy and are in demand
* create a bank account and every time you make a good amount of NP, put some of it in your bank account so you don't spend it and when you get 15,000 NP or more in the account, you start earning interest - earning NP by doing hardly any work
* invest in the stock market - buy cheap shares because they are more likely to go up than down and make you a sizable profit
* sign up for sponsors - there's 3000 NP in doing this
* do elective quests like the Snow Faerie Quests or the Kitchen Quests (but be cautious - just forget about the quests if you cannot afford them because the reward for completing them isn't always worth more than what you spent on the required items)

You've probably heard of these methods before, but the fact is that they work. They are just a few simple ways for people with only a limited amount of Neopoints to make more. Your fortune will slowly grow and even though it's difficult, it does get easier once you familiarise yourself with all the different methods of making NP and employ them.

NeoPets has been designed to give you many opportunities to earn Neopoints. Complaining is not one of them. There is no game that gives you Neopoints for each complaint you make. There is no Complaint Tree. There is no way of selling your complaints. Indeed, complaining is futile, and basically just annoys other Neopians who are actually working to earn their Neopoints, not complaining, but doing something about their situation. So do something for yourself and your pets to improve your situation, because if anything is to happen, it is up to you, and you alone. And above all, enjoy NeoPets - that's what it's for.