Culture: Damn Neopia!

Neopets, neopets, neopets. I had heard so much about these virtual creatures, I finally drew the straw and signed myself up for a study in "immersive advertising." I wanted to know what is capturing the world's young minds and imaginations (its in 10 languages), and not to mention marketing dollars (McDonald's shop, Firefly Zone, etc).

I logged-in a couple weeks ago but up until yesterday hadn't had time to tend to my responsibility, a young zen-like nimmo named BonkerBuster. I signed-in and realized my pet's hunger status was "dying" and he was suffering from boredom. In a state of panic, I played games until I had enough NP to stuff him with the unnutrious food and spoil him with the crappy toys they sell in Neopia. But it wasn't until I realized he was of average intelligence that I went through the roof. God forbid I have a dull, dumb neopet and was up until 2:30a buying him books.

But what was so interesting to me was the complexity of the site - putting a down payment on to reserve your plot of land for a house, putting your money in the bank to gain interest, getting a job (which seems to be based on some kind of caste system), a safety security box, among other things. Aside from the job part, I realized that I'm far more advanced in Neopia than real life...And I can't help but think of Chuck Klosterman's portrayal of SimChuck and his experiences with Sim People in Sex, Drugs, and Coco Puffs. What's with virtual worlds?