The Worth of Neopets when Trading

Before the NC mall opened, pets looked different. They were not customisable; you pretty much got what you paid for when purchasing a paint brush. Don't like the hat your Royal Kacheek is wearing? Too bad, you'll have to live with it. Wish your pet had hair? Oh well, just draw a picture of them wearing hair, not a problem. Ever since the NC mall has opened and pets are suddenly redrawn and now customizable, there has been a division with neopets that escapes me in reason.

I don't mean to point fingers, this is merely what I have experienced since my return, but the division has been given to these pets by a general consensus on the Pound Chat or "PC." These Neopians have given "worth" to different coloured pets, both customizable and not that determine whether or not you will be able to trade for a certain pet. What has it come to?

I remember fancying a certain pet before the NC mall opened and thought I might try and trade for one. I feel it is only fair to trade a "UC" for a "UC" so I simply created a board saying I had a certain "UC" pet that I would be willing to trade for this pet; Big mistake. I was swarmed, verbally attacked by these Neopians who were telling me that the pet I was offering was not worth the value of the pet I sought, I should not even try, I would never get one, and so on and so forth. Polite as I could be, I simply dismissed their comments, explaining that some people may be looking for the pet I was offering the way I was looking for this one. The comments kept coming. To the point where I shall never set foot (or mouse... you know what I mean) in the PC again.

A Neopet is not something you should give "worth" to, the worth is given by whoever decides to take care of it! Wherever it started, it needs to stop. Trade a pet for something YOU want, not for something that is deemed of "appropriate value." It's shocking to me; I have never witnessed such a thing on this site as a value scale for trading pets, and the whole system still baffles me beyond reason.

In association with this, I have since traded my "UC" pet for a pet that I absolutely fell in love with, and have since been criticized on my decision to trade for it. I was told that the pet I offered was worth more, that I made a mistake, etc. In my eyes, If I want a pet, and will be happy with a pet, I am going to trade for it; my pet, my decision. I should not have to withstand comments about the worth of a pet when I really don't consider anything of the sort to exist.

Apparently, I belong to a different era of Neopians. I belong to an era in which I roll with changes, accept them, but still maintain the joy I've had ever since joining some 10 years ago. It is the only way I know how to enjoy the site, I don't know why people bother with all this extra fuss. If you traded for something that you actually wanted instead of waiting for the right pet to come along so you can "Trade Up", you might already have the pet you want. (The whole "trading up" thing is something else that I will never truly understand...)

The last thing I want to comment on is another division with pets that I have never really understood, and that is the determining of good and bad names. Back when I started playing, all of my pets had names with numbers in them. Why? Because I wanted my pet to be named Ziggy, or Snoopy, or Mandy, or Pookie! I didn't care if I had a ridiculous number of numbers after the name; the name itself was the only thing I cared about. Flash forward to today and a pet is criticized and made fun of if it even has one small number after its name. It's heartbreaking.

I know what you're thinking (I mean, if you're creepy and have looked at my account by now) "but none of your pets have numbers in them! You can't even talk!" You're right. None of my pets on this account do. I have long since made a habit of grabbing pets from the pound and zapping them instead of thinking up names on my own. I do still have the occasional "Bad named pet" on my side accounts, though; they are pets I have worked for, take pride for and have no intention of getting rid of. I treasure each and every one of my pets. 99% of the pets I adopt "just to zap" I end up keeping because I can't bear to part with them! Guess I'm just an old softie.

In spite of my rambling and personal testimonies, I do have a point; stop making up values for pets, both new and old! You shouldn't have to trade an arm and a leg when all you really want is an arm... or something like that. Neopets are meant to create, adopt, love and even trade for a different pet that you will love. They are NOT meant to use, abuse, upgrade, and use as collateral. I don't know where it started but I will have no part in it (hopefully I'm not the only one).

To the small amount of people who were supportive of my original hunt (bless your hearts you made that board a little brighter), thank you for showing me that there are still old-school Neopians like me! Though I have given up that hunt temporarily, never give up on your dream pet!