h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

seriously!
it's so adictive and yet so un-creative...
yes, there are the competitions etc, but are you really likely to make the effort entering those when you could just play the tedious games to get more and more neopoints to buy your (virtual) neopet (virtual) food to keep it (virtually) alive and happy...
it's a product of a consumer world, and a waste of anyone's (child or adult) time
just my but if it prevents anyone from wasting anything from a couple of weeks to years of their life on this site, then it's worth it
^. .^
= ' =
Guru
CommunityArtist

What's so evil about wasting time?

well, nothing, it's not really that that annoys me, it's wasting time in such a commercial, unproductive environment, when there are far more enjoyable, more productive and les frustrating ways to waste time...ok, maybe not productive cos i suppose the definitionof wasting time is not being productive...but isn't h2g2 a much better way of wasting time? (for example)
^. .^
= ' =
Guru
CommunityArtist

I don't find neopets frustrating, I'm actually decent at some of the games. Also since my kid can't have realpets in out tiny place she has to settle for virtual ones.

What is a 'good' or 'bad' waste of time is entirely a matter of personal perspective.

ok, i will admit that it depends on the age of the person playing, and of course you're decent at the games, they're designed for quite young children (no offence intended)
you're probly "decent" at a lot more difficult or challenging games etc that can be found on the internet (a lot of which are also a waste of time, actually, neopets isn't the only, erm, evil)
anyway, basically, i'm just trying to warn people like myself not to get addicted, i spent a lot of my gcse study leave on neopets, and while it did take away some of the boredom, there were far better things i could have been doing...
obviously its a matter of personal preference, and i'm just putting forward my opinion. and also, you may think of the word "evil" as stronger than i do, i tend to use it to describe a lot of things i have a disliking for...and some which i don't dislike, eg myself
^. .^
= ' =
Guru
CommunityArtist

good point, I probably attach a much stronger requirement to call something Evil than you do. Probably stronger than most people, truth be told.

Neopets can be very addictive, no arguement there.

I've found with Neopets, that I'll play it constantly for months, then suddenly stop and forget about it for months, then re-discover it again

Sounds like my visits to H2G2. I get into it, then out of it, then into it...

in out, in out, shake it all about...

I couldn't disagree with what you said more! Yes some of the games are very easy and aimed at younger people but there are some harder games too, infact I think there are games on this site for all ages. Also what you said about it being a complete waste of time is wrong, neopets has helped both my children with their IT skills, my youngest was 6 when he started playing and neopets improved his mouse controll and increased his confidence on the computor. If you spent too much time playing games when you should of been studying, thats nobodys fault but your own and you should have more self controll.

I find that neopets also teaches kids different skills, my niece has learned some code so she could decorate her "shop". My nephew is trying to design a Hannah and the pirates maze. My son is trying to figure out a golf course. There are also the poetry contests, the math game, and neomail. The kids get a big kick out of sending thier aunt a "virtual snowball". I play checkers with the kids over the internet though neopets as well.
We just have to monitor our kids, like anything else.