The Pound: Unfair Advantage Or Absolute Delight?

This momentous occasion saw hundreds of thousands of Neopians flooding to the three new doors to see which fantastic pet they might just be lucky enough adopt and care for.

The new layout offers something for everyone. First and foremost, there’s the ‘adopt’ option, where you might just be fortunate enough to find the pet of a lifetime, whether it’s a limited Edition pet, a painted pet, or simply one with the highest Battledome stats.

Or you could choose to ‘transfer’, perhaps to a friend who wants to adopt your pink pet for the avatar, or maybe you just think it's high time for a change and you want to give one lucky person the chance to adopt a lovely, well looked after pet.

Then, of course, there are the ill-fated Neopets who are left to fend for themselves when they are regrettably ‘abandoned.’ However, it’s not all doom and gloom, as some owners are kind enough to check their pets into the Neolodge to keep them properly fed and watered, making their pound stay a little more pleasurable. And you know what they say, ‘one man’s trash is another man’s treasure’ and hopefully sooner rather than later, a new and loving owner will come along and give each Neopet the loving home they truly deserve.

However, although for many of us the pound has brought joy, excitement and an added delight to the Neopets we already know and love, I fear that this is not the case for everyone.

It seems that some Neopians have found dislike in the pound. Some say that it is unfair that whilst one person saves and ‘earns’ a fabulous pet, another can simply wander into the pound and ‘snipe’ the pet of their dreams.

To gain further insight, I decided to carry out a poll in order to get more of an idea of people’s general opinions of the pound. The poll was this:

Q: What is your opinion on the Pound?

a) I love the Pound, I surf and adopt! 49%

b) I like the Pound, I surf but don’t adopt 34%

c) I HATE the Pound, earn your own pets 17%

d) The Pound? What? Who? No one told me! 0%

So the overall opinion seems to be that most people love and thoroughly enjoy the pound, whether it is simply for browsing or adopting. I even found that some people love to adopt a pet, paint or zap it into a fantastic new species or colour and pop it back into the Pound as its more improved, suave self.

But there are a certain few who disagree with the pound and feel that people are misusing the pound to gain pets by ‘sniping’ them and not ‘earning’ them.

But the question I put to you is this... what do we mean when we say ‘earn’?

Let’s begin by taking a look at the basic money earners:

1. Restocking - Possibly one of the more popular ways of making bundles of cash is by following one simple motto: “Buy low, sell high”. This surefire way of earning neopoints can be both fun and very successful, particularly if you are a Premium Member and can take full advantage of one of Neopets' best inventions, the Super Shop Wizard! By being able to find the lowest price of any item, this allows you to then sell it in your shop at the correct price, therefore making yourself a tidy little profit... super!

Or if you like to shop in Neopia Central, why not wait until Half-Price Day when you can take full benefit of the bargain prices?

2. Neopets Dailies - Where in our everyday lives the first thing we would do on a morning is to brush our teeth, now the first stop of a Neopian's morning is carrying out the dailies.

By Spinning the Wheel of Monotony and the Wheel of Excitement, playing the Tombola, visiting the Fruit Machine, etc. we can potentially win a fortune... or at least a little more than we started with. This is both a fun and exciting way of earning neopoints and items alike.

3. Games - Why not play a game or two to earn yourself a little extra quick cash? You may even bag yourself a shiny new trophy if your skills are good enough.

4. Random Events - When you are strolling through Neopia just minding your own business and a friendly zombie hands you a piece of Spooky Treasure Map, does that not make your heart flutter just a little? Or when you play the Fruit Machine and you are awarded a Faerie Paint Brush, doesn‘t that make you want to shout from the rooftops?

I don’t think there’s anyone who doesn’t absolutely LOVE random events! Not only are they ultra exciting, but you can bag some really amazing finds! Whether it be a small as finding 10 neopoints on the floor or coming across a fantastic Morphing Potion, the buzz is still the same.

Now we have researched some of the main ways to earn our vast and all important fortunes, can we now identify a common denominator? Well, each of these four ways in some shape or form is very much decided by LUCK!!

Restocking is a pastime based mainly on the unfortunate pricing by a seller, therefore earning the lucky buyer a very good profit.

Likewise, the Dailies are based almost purely on luck as there is no telling where the wheel will stop, whether all the jelly will be gone, or if the Snowager is sleeping soundly enough for you to sneak by a steal one of his treasures.

Games are much the same as a certain amount of luck is needed when playing Coconut Shy and Dar-Blat, but it does admittedly also involve a certain amount of skill.

Then there’s the magnificent Random Events, which, what more can I say... PURE LUCK!

It seems that much of the way we make our money and therefore ‘earn’ our keep on Neopets is very much based on luck.

So when it comes to a person finding that perfect pet in the pound, how different is this from the person who ‘earned’ that pet in the first place?

In reality the original creator of the pet could have first won a morphing potion and then found a paint brush on the floor, therefore making this a purely luck-based pet and not costing a dime!

So in summary, it seems that most of what we receive or ‘earn’ on Neopets is very much surrounded by pure dumb luck! So, be good, look after your pets and you just never know when a Paint Brush might magically fall from the sky or if the ever elusive Fountain Faerie might decide to pay you a visit!

Happy Neopetting and good fortune to all!!!