I'm not sure why I found this place

[LemonBuzzard]

I feel invasive as I make this post to be quite honest but this is truly a mundane post. A digital message in a bottle, I think.

For a little bit of background, hello, I'm from the UK and I made a neopets account when I was around 6-7. I am 23 now. I never REALLY got into neopets, but I checked in on my old account. I've lost access to it now and I don't think I even have the associated email anymore. I was on a nostalgia trip and saw a YouTube video about neopets and something in it tickled me and I went looking for a forum. Forums to me feel almost like a relic (I don't mean this in a rude way I used to spend a lot of time on forums as a young(er?) kid) (In truth I spent far too much time on the internet in general). Imagine my surprise to find an active one right here!

I am going to make an anonymous admission to you all:
I am in love with all of you and all of this. Something about this tickles me (not in a mocking fashion). I have been struggling and finding this was genuinely beautiful. Something about the concept of this whole thing feels really beautiful to me, and it moved me to legitimate tears (my face still has that feeling of dried tears on it).

I don't think that I was moved to tears by the specific content of this forum so much as just the concept. I know sometimes the internet is miserable but something about small communities like these that still exist on the internet feels genuinely beautiful to me.

I hope that this message finds you well, I truly love things like this. it truly feels like some kind of art.

 

Also for the sake of more discussion I was 6-7 when I played neopets which was around 2001? I did play for a few years. Nonetheless the question I mean to ask is, how old were you when I was playing neopets? how long had you all been playing? Did you maybe get into it after me?

I hope this does not come across as mocking or insincere I am genuinely just emotional about the concept of forums and small communities like this. 

 

I don't really expect much but I would genuinely love to talk to you all

If you read this incoherent ramble, thank you :^)

[babayaga67]

I did not read this as insincere. Reading your post made me smile, and I needed that. Thank you for joining us :)

[badkitty615]

I agree with you, finding a community such as this is very rare nowadays as many things on the internet end up getting negative energies drawn into them. 

I started playing neopets around 2003 I was about 9 years old at that time - i do not have access to that original account but creating a new account in about 2011 is the account I have gotten back into and it is kind of fun to be able to escape real life for a few minutes a day to just enjoy the amazing world that is Neopia ^-^

~ Sending positive vibes!

[charelan]

I too started playing around 2002-2003. I was about the age you are now. I had just moved to S Korea at the time - knew no one and was bored and lonely. I played neo CONSTANTLY. Unfortunately I don't have access to my original account either... I got hacked about 2 years in and ended up quitting bc I was too frustrated to start over at the time. I sure wish I had kept it though - I can just imagine the Food Club wins lol.

My current account is almost 7 years old, and I can't imagine letting it lapse. Doing dailies with a cup of tea is my favourite way to start the day! I hope you stick around!

[Trea]

I agree with you about Neopets and this forum.  It is a sweet little place to visit and get away from the nonsense in the "real" world.  And it is a safe place to comment on life in general, if you want.  Welcome back.  I hope you will continue on with Neopets.  I've been playing since 2001, thanks to my children.  They don't play anymore, but I am still here.  It is a nice escape for me.

[jezzybelle1789]

I also started playing around 2002-2003. I was about 13 or 14 at the time. I come back to neopets every once in a while, but this is the first time that I've gotten involved at all in some type of community activities and the first time I've gotten so far into my account to actually make neopoints off of my shop lol

[jellysundae]

Hello o/ What a lovely post I totally understand where you're coming from; the bigger somewhere gets the greater the proportion of douchiness, it's pretty unavoidable I suppose, and it tends to be self-perpetuating, doesn't it. But when a community's smaller there's not really room for jerks, or they just get ignored because why reply to someone who's just being horrible.  Don't feed the trolls and all that, and if they're not hunting in packs they don't get a response, get bored and try elsewhere, there's so much more fertile ground elsewhere now, so forums can become more of a safe haven. I guess also because the rules are pretty strict here because TDN's an official fan site, jerks wouldn't last very long anyway.

You're right about forums being a bit old-fashioned now, social media usurped them big style didn't it but there's still a place for them, I think. Your reaction to this one shows that! Forums let you breath a bit slower. I suppose Facebook etc. is like the big city; frenetic and crazy with contact limited to brief updates and comments before you're onto the next person. On forums it's more like a village, you get to sit down and have an actual conversation with people you've got to know.

It would be nice if forums had a resurgence the way books and photographs and records have once the shiny wore off the digital replacement, maybe they'll become the hipster place to hang out online.

 

[Rayd1978]

Not sure when i started, I think was high school, so late 90s.   I don't think I kept up in college, certainly not later college years, and sort of forgot about it all.   About a year ago happened across a mention that sparked a sort of 'Oh hey, I remember that... is it even still around?'  So checked in, found my old accounts likely long gone, so made a new one, and have been enjoying myself since.

 

[good_riot_girl]

I loved reading this! The nostalgia and wholesomeness about the whole Neopets site AND forum are the reasons I still play. Sometimes I forget for a few days, or weeks or even months but I always come back. I love how simple the website is and the games are, and how much fun it is to play a totally innocent little game online together with a bunch of people who also love the feel of it - no violence, no foul language and nothing fancy. Also absolutely not meant to be degrading - I actually like how Neopets stayed more or less the same through years of (internet) gaming evolution. Also, I kind of grew fond of my digital pets, lol :p My profile says I started playing in 2003, so I was 13 years old back then. I remember not being able to get the site to work in my language, so it actually helped me a lot with learning some English! 

I do have to say I feel the day coming where Flash is no longer supported by Windows, and a lot of the site won't work anymore. I hope Neopets will do something about it, but seeing as it went with KeyQuest.... I am kinda scared of the day Neopets will go offline forever :(

[emily_speck_15]

I love this place for the same reasons.  I can go on here for twenty minutes and forget that my friends mad at me, or that I don't know what I'm doing after graduation, or whatever I am stressing about and just have a break with strangers who will always be excited/sad with you.  It is really a great community and I hope you find a place in it.  What is your neopets username? 

 

[LemonBuzzard]

1 hour ago, emily_speck_15 said:

I love this place for the same reasons.  I can go on here for twenty minutes and forget that my friends mad at me, or that I don't know what I'm doing after graduation, or whatever I am stressing about and just have a break with strangers who will always be excited/sad with you.  It is really a great community and I hope you find a place in it.  What is your neopets username? 

 

My user name was mehdoo but I can't access my account again and in truth I don't think I could bring myself to start over. Also I've graduated and I still have no idea what I'm doing so :^)

 

2 hours ago, good_riot_girl said:

I loved reading this! The nostalgia and wholesomeness about the whole Neopets site AND forum are the reasons I still play. Sometimes I forget for a few days, or weeks or even months but I always come back. I love how simple the website is and the games are, and how much fun it is to play a totally innocent little game online together with a bunch of people who also love the feel of it - no violence, no foul language and nothing fancy. Also absolutely not meant to be degrading - I actually like how Neopets stayed more or less the same through years of (internet) gaming evolution. Also, I kind of grew fond of my digital pets, lol :p My profile says I started playing in 2003, so I was 13 years old back then. I remember not being able to get the site to work in my language, so it actually helped me a lot with learning some English! 

I do have to say I feel the day coming where Flash is no longer supported by Windows, and a lot of the site won't work anymore. I hope Neopets will do something about it, but seeing as it went with KeyQuest.... I am kinda scared of the day Neopets will go offline forever :(

Flash is losing support but I recall hearing something about an archive project that is trying to save as many Flash games as possible for posterity, but I'm not sure of the name off the top of my head.

 

6 hours ago, Rayd1978 said:

Not sure when i started, I think was high school, so late 90s.   I don't think I kept up in college, certainly not later college years, and sort of forgot about it all.   About a year ago happened across a mention that sparked a sort of 'Oh hey, I remember that... is it even still around?'  So checked in, found my old accounts likely long gone, so made a new one, and have been enjoying myself since.

 

Yes a good nostalgia trip leads me to all kinds of places, I recently found my old DS copy of The World Ends With You which I played in like 2007 and it holds up! (mostly)

7 hours ago, jellysundae said:

Hello o/ What a lovely post I totally understand where you're coming from; the bigger somewhere gets the greater the proportion of douchiness, it's pretty unavoidable I suppose, and it tends to be self-perpetuating, doesn't it. But when a community's smaller there's not really room for jerks, or they just get ignored because why reply to someone who's just being horrible.  Don't feed the trolls and all that, and if they're not hunting in packs they don't get a response, get bored and try elsewhere, there's so much more fertile ground elsewhere now, so forums can become more of a safe haven. I guess also because the rules are pretty strict here because TDN's an official fan site, jerks wouldn't last very long anyway.

You're right about forums being a bit old-fashioned now, social media usurped them big style didn't it but there's still a place for them, I think. Your reaction to this one shows that! Forums let you breath a bit slower. I suppose Facebook etc. is like the big city; frenetic and crazy with contact limited to brief updates and comments before you're onto the next person. On forums it's more like a village, you get to sit down and have an actual conversation with people you've got to know.

It would be nice if forums had a resurgence the way books and photographs and records have once the shiny wore off the digital replacement, maybe they'll become the hipster place to hang out online.

 

Yeah as a result of this I went and had a quick look around some old communities I used to be involved in, some old forums. Some people are still posting from back when I was there in around 2003? Pretty wild. I think the surge of interest in Discord has done quite a bit for building communities again, too, but I am B) very shy 

 

7 hours ago, jezzybelle1789 said:

I also started playing around 2002-2003. I was about 13 or 14 at the time. I come back to neopets every once in a while, but this is the first time that I've gotten involved at all in some type of community activities and the first time I've gotten so far into my account to actually make neopoints off of my shop lol

Congratulations! I never really got into community activities which is why I found this so enthralling

 

10 hours ago, Trea said:

I agree with you about Neopets and this forum.  It is a sweet little place to visit and get away from the nonsense in the "real" world.  And it is a safe place to comment on life in general, if you want.  Welcome back.  I hope you will continue on with Neopets.  I've been playing since 2001, thanks to my children.  They don't play anymore, but I am still here.  It is a nice escape for me.

This is very sweet. I was barely even sentient in 2001.

 

11 hours ago, charelan said:

I too started playing around 2002-2003. I was about the age you are now. I had just moved to S Korea at the time - knew no one and was bored and lonely. I played neo CONSTANTLY. Unfortunately I don't have access to my original account either... I got hacked about 2 years in and ended up quitting bc I was too frustrated to start over at the time. I sure wish I had kept it though - I can just imagine the Food Club wins lol.

My current account is almost 7 years old, and I can't imagine letting it lapse. Doing dailies with a cup of tea is my favourite way to start the day! I hope you stick around!

Wow South Korea! I studied in America for a year myself. I'm not sure about sticking around - I don't actually play any more I just legitimately wanted to note how cool and interesting I think the depth of human interest can be, I love lots of niche little things and it is nice to know that, you know, everyone still has their own little things. 

 

16 hours ago, badkitty615 said:

I agree with you, finding a community such as this is very rare nowadays as many things on the internet end up getting negative energies drawn into them. 

I started playing neopets around 2003 I was about 9 years old at that time - i do not have access to that original account but creating a new account in about 2011 is the account I have gotten back into and it is kind of fun to be able to escape real life for a few minutes a day to just enjoy the amazing world that is Neopia ^-^

~ Sending positive vibes!

Thank you for your vibes. 

 

17 hours ago, babayaga67 said:

I did not read this as insincere. Reading your post made me smile, and I needed that. Thank you for joining us :)

You are more than welcome! I'm glad to have bought you a smile.

 

ok i replied to everyone I apologise that it is in reverse order. 

 

Lovely to get this much attention on a post :)

[Kute]

Awesome Welcome back, I hope you enjoy being back on the site and rebuilding an account. Thank you for the kind and thoughtful post, we all appreciate that

[jellysundae]

Hopefully you do make a new account, I lost access to my original account years ago but I made a new one in 2014, actually it's  my account's birthday today Free cupcake for my little guy!

I'm SO glad I did make a new one, I still mourn my original account, but I've invested too much in my new one now to really want my old one back apart from for the username.