A Neopets MMO?

Ahh, Neopets.

I'm surprised it is still operating even in this age of multiplayer video games with persistent worlds.

In some ways that site was a proto-MMO. It had the world (Neopia), the people (owners and their pets), the economy (owner shops and NPC shops), and the story (plots).

I don't know how many new people that site pulls in these days, but I feel that the site has somewhat become a relic of the Turn of the Millennium.

The thought of turning it into a full MMO... is somewhat unsettling IMO.

It could possibly be see as Jumping the Shark, if hasn't jumped once before. However, done right and it would once again be one of the talks of the Internet.

edited 11th Sep '12 12:17:31 PM by Worlder

I'm not sure what you're saying. Are there plans to turn it into an MMO or is it speculation?

Just a What If.

If that site is still bringing in a profit, it probably wouldn't need a transition.

I had a Neopets account waaaaaaaaay back in the beginning. When the Bruce was an actual butler and there were murder mystery games. Good times.

I stuck on for years, and the only reason I quit was because I lost my password and didn't have the patience to make a new account. I used to think it was pretty cool as is, and looking back on it I still think it had a great niche, but yeah. Looking at it now it is pretty much a relic that's just... there.

I don't exactly know what you mean by full MMO, though. Do you mean like something along the likes of World Of Warcraft, with a fully controllable avatar?

Yes something like World Of Warcraft/Ever Quest.

edited 11th Sep '12 1:33:22 PM by Worlder

I use to "play" Neopets all the time.

I remember it was pretty much the best thing ever for anyone with a vague undertanding of English in my early schoolyears.

Always hated that every Neopet I wanted was extinct, though.

Gah, always the ones that I thought were the coolest were extinct or rare. Hissis were my favorite and whenever Hissi Day rolled around I'd anxiously refresh the page, hoping to get one. Finally got one, and man, it felt good.

Haven't touched Neopets in quite a few years, though. An MMO would be an interesting variation, to say the least.

Maaaaan, I remember when Neopets was a thing. It was the launching point for most of my experiences on the internet since.

Instead of quest chains one gets to do... mini games. Spiritual successor to all those Flash games.

Needs a lot of mini games though, like Mario Party many.

I joined when the Hissi's were new pets and Created one on that day.

So sweet.

Lucky. I had two, I think. One I managed to create on Hissi Day, the other was adoted. One was Ghost, and I wanted to get a Gray paintbrush but never did.

Neopets is turning into an MMO? Or is it opening an MMO spin-off? It it's the former I'll be pretty sad since that place used to be my main hang-out spot on the internet. I liked all the plots and the NP Cs, and the avatars. And the stock market. And the pets themselves. And the items. And the paintbrushes. ...I liked it all.

If the latter, doesn't it already have an MMO spin-off? Have they gotten rich enough to be able to open two MM Os and operate servers and all that? Jeez, I remember when Neopets began selling out and that's pretty impressive.

The thing is that it has some elements of an MMO, but it is still adhering to this fun and activities website format.

No Neopets doesn't have a MMO, spinoff or otherwise.

But by shedding their traditional virtual pet website in favor a virtual pet MMO, they would bring themselves back into the Internet spotlight; which can be a good or bad thing depending on what comes next.

Hissi? Oh man, you people are babbies. I remember when the Meerka was new. And one of my pets started her life as a Tatsu!

I always loved the designs on NP, but I hated their habit of retiring old species by completely redoing them, or making them arbitrarily hard to get. There was no good way to trade pets, either. I had a whole bunch of accounts to get various pets I liked, but I only kept up with my two "Freezair" accounts, ultimately. I had a gimmick where all my pets were some blue-colored shade. I actually had a Fairy Aisha and all was good times. I had an Electric Eyrie too.

Do you think people would be interested in an MMO where most of the interesting content lies in minigames?

One last semi-necro

Did MM Os help in the decline of Neopets?

I don't think so. The audiences for World Of Warcraft and Everquest seem like a very different animal than the audience for Neopets.