Pink Poogle Toy Forum

Exactly what I meant.

Perks are a good incentive to join Premium. The more perks, the better it is. But adding advantages, no matter how small they seem, can be really unfair to non-Premiums.

To all the Premiums, look at it in our shoes, or better yet, the shoes of the Wiz Snipers. You can usually bet on a good few dozen people to be trying to snipe the same item as you, at the same time. You're all in competition for Codestones, or Paint Brushes or whatever.

Now imagine that you throw in just 4 or 5 people using the Super Wiz. If you set the Portal to use as few features as possible, and leave it with possibly just the Super Wiz, the page will load fast. This means that whilst 30 people try to grab a Codestone, those 5 Premiums will be able to nab it right away, because it shows up right away. And there are more than 4 or 5 Premium players.

I mean, I read about how people say it isn't that great, it bans quickly, etc. But at the same time, you hear people saying that they've sniped 30k worth of cheap codestones with the S-Wiz, or a PB with it, and that it's the best thing ever.

There's just no way for it to be fair.

I'm not a premium and I dont think its unfair lol. Like some have said the premiums are paying after all... and were not.

Twisted, I never thought of it that way. It didn't occur to me until you said it that people would manipulate the portal page so it could load faster. But, makes a lot of sense now. And, then checking through the premium chat, I am finding people bragging about their wiz snipes.

As a premium member, I do think that the way that some people are using it is unfair. It would only be fair if the shop wiz ban went into effect after something like 23 tries (300 divided by the 13 shop wiz lines). Or if it was limited to a certain number of tries per day. Or, better yet, if you were allowed to check the super shop wiz for prices, but not allowed to click on the shops that showed up there. Which would force you to do a user lookup, then shop look up, before you could buy the item. This would eat up some time and allow others an opportunity to get that same bargain.

It is really helpful for pricing shop items, but really unfair if premium people are allowed to scoop up bargains that woud take a much longer time for non-premium people to find.

And to those of you premium people who say just buy it, you need to realize that some people cannot afford it. $8 a month might not seem like much to some people, but it is a quite a lot to others. Not everyone is wealthy in real life. Not everyone has unlimited funds. Particularly kids who are on an allowance and who might not be able to convince mom and dad to spend the money on an online game. And, you really need to remember that.

Also, some people might be able to afford $8 a month, but not $8 a piece for every member of the family.

I think that we premium members ought to get extras, but not things that ultimately make the game unfair.

As a premium member, I plan to write Neopets about the unfairness I am seeing in this new feature. I suggest that everyone who is upset about it, premium and non-premium alike, write as well.

I understand that by paying Premium users do deserve some perks and stuff, however I thought TNT put in an editorial or something that they wouldn't get an advantage over non-paying users? To me this seems like an advantage...it's a pity I don't have the money for Premium...otherwise I'd probably get it.

I guess I'm pretty divided on the issue. (I don't have Premium)

I think that if the Premium members are willing to pay, then they should get special things. But as stated before, is it fair for someone that would pay- but can't because of thier financial situation.

I would have much more of a problem if you weren't so easily banned from it. But, the way TNT has worked it out seems to balance it out pretty evenly.

I don't think you are as easily banned on it. I used it, on and off, throughout an hour to price my shop and wasn't banned. However, I wasn't refreshing on it, but rather searching for a new item each time. I am going to do a few tests throughout the weekend to see how fast I can get banned. Some people are saying on the premium board that you are able to use the regular shop wiz once you have been banned on the super shop wiz. I do not know if that is true, but if so, that it totally unfair!

I don't see it as being unfair, and I'd think that way even if I didn't have Premium.

Many sites now either have a "Premium" version, or they're completely pay-to-play now. My brother has to pay to play FF online, and it's way more than we pay for Neopets Premium. When someone's paying extra, then yes, they should get perks. It's only fair. And no matter what those perks are, there will always be people complaining about them.

Like someone else said, what about those with cable internet? They're paying more than dial-up users, and they get plenty of advantages, espeically in RS'ing. Yet no one complains about that, because they're used to it. Because this is still fairly new, lots of people don't like it.

I play on another site where, when you donate to them, you can get stuff. It's no different, yet I've never seen someone complain about it over there, and I wonder why. Maybe because they're much smaller?

Neopets started small, and back then, they didn't need ads and things. Now they have millions of players, and I'm sure they're paying out the wazoo for servers and such. They have to be able to make the money to pay for that. And no one is going to pay unless they get something in return.

1) Despite the money, there's a big difference between the "unfairness" of cable vs. dial-up and that of the wiz-sniping advantage for Premium members. People don't pay Neopets for cable connections; the speed advantage is not one that Neopets caused or can control.

[I also suspect that most folks who have cable or other high-speed connections do so for other reasons, not specifically for Neo. I'm on dial-up myself.]

2) Neopets is hugely profitable. I don't have the figures at hand, but they've been posted on these forums before. It's simply not true that more folks need to be enticed to pay for Premium in order for Neopets to remain solvent or maintain/improve servers.

I don't know how many times I need to state this, but giving an advantage over non-Premium members is probably the worst thing a game can do.

Even Runescape seems to be able to semi-solve the problem by offering members servers. But in Neo, everyone is playing in an open field.

I don't mind it if Premium members get special items that only they can buy (as long as they can be sold to non-Premiums) or even a special daily where they can earn some nice prizes or whatever. Dailies are not a source of income that is being intruded upon. And new items can be circulated easily, and non-Premiums can still re-sell them. I'd even go as far as offering them a special Premium world, so long as it's not chok-filled with shops and dailies.

But this feature is really, really unfair. It is effectively taking away a source of income for plenty of non-Premiums. Even those who had perfected the skills of Wiz Sniping can now be beaten by little kids with rich parents. I don't mind special Premium benefits or perks, but this is a downright advantage! And just for the principles of it, there is no way I will EVER get Premium whilst this feature is active.

Oh and, Morningstar. I'll email TNT tonight about this, because it really is unfair. Thanks for the tip

At first, I didn't really think that this was unfair because they're simply paying for it. I'm not a Premium member because I really can't afford it at the moment.. my parents probably wouldn't let me sign up either. "It's just a game," they would say.. somehow, I agree. As nice as all the perks sound, I would never pay to play a simple online game meant for kids.

Anyway, as I read both sides to this, I realized that this is an advantage, not a perk. I do believe they should receive special things, like avatars and such, but think about the bargains Premium members can snatch up before non-Premiums even load the page! I never had a problem with Premium before this, and it's just really, really not fair.

The only thing I don't understand is that this is an advantage and didn't TNT say Premium members wouldn't have any advantages over non-Premium..?

-sigh- I too miss the days when Neopets wasn't a merchandising fiend and advertisements were no where to be seen.

Definately Advantage != Perk. I had to stop being a premium member myself because college bills and things come first. 8 bucks may not seem like a lot to some, but to me, it's a full 3 days of meals that I could have bought at the grocery store or something. Maybe that'll change when school starts, but I doubt it.

Giving premium members things, even a special avatar, not a huge deal. Messing with the way non premium members make money? That's a huge deal. Period. It actually upsets me a bit... I mean, there are ways around a long loading time, making the new shop wiz even faster for some... and harder for non premium members who make their NP from the shop wiz and sniping. So yes, it is unfair. I'm sorry, you can pay for perks... but paying for advantages that people who can't pay crosses the line.

So, all of you who are upset, please write to Neopets about it. That is the only one it will ever get changed.

I am a premium member and make my nps by shop wiz hunting, but I refuse to use the super shop wiz for that purpose. I have decided that I am only using it to look for plushies for my gallery and for pricing my shop.

I see some Premium members shaking their heads. Let me explain. I am the only one in the family to have premium. We decided that I would get it because I play the most. My husband, who also plays, also hunts on the shop wiz. Sometimes, *smiles*, we are looking for the same thing at the same time. I just would feel too uneasy knowing that I would have an unfair advantage over him. And, over all of the other people out there who make their "living" via the shop wiz.

I was going to post some more stuff, but when I finally figured out how to word everything, I noticed meowth1982's post pretty much summed up everything I wanted to say Couldn't agree more, when premium "perks" actually interfere with regular users, they are advantages. And the speed thing doesn't matter, the Super Wiz is new, so everyone's trying it at once. Kinda like the first day of a war. Everyone's battling. Wait a week, it'll be faster.
And what email address do we contact to complain about this? =o

Whee fun! Love that Super Wiz.. ok sarcasm aside
I got 23 searches before I was banned.
I haven't looked at the shop wizard in over 12 hours nor used the super wiz before I noticed it on this board.

This something I will most likely not use. Yeah it will be great for those 20 searches.. but 20 searches is nothing..

I'll be using the regular shop wizard and take my chances there.

EDIT: It still allows me to use the regular shop wizard after I am banned on the Super Shop Wizard.. but as I said before I might as well just stick witht the normal wizard if I am going to be banned after 23 tries.

This is certainly a debatable subject. I think that Premium users should only be allowed to make, say five searches per hour max.

I mean, I get a codestone for under 1000NP every 3 minutes with the Super Wiz. It has become too easy.



That just happened 45 seconds ago. And, yes, it is easy, but you do get banned faster than the normal wiz. And, yes after you get banned on the super wiz, you can still use the nromal one.