Shut down a childrens website featuring cuddly animals...IT'S A TRAINING GROUND FOR CHILDREN GAMBLER

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Neopets Gambling Controversy Posted by Zonk on Friday October 15, @01:05PM
from the neoaddicts-eh? dept.
Neopoet writes "Players of the online virtual pet game Neopets (claims 70 million pet owners worldwide) have gone nuts against an Australian current affairs show called Today Tonight after the show ran segments railing against the Neopets for introducing children to gambling. Click below to read on.

It started when McDonalds Australia included a Neopets plush toy with every kids' Happy Meal in Australia, directing kids to the Neopets website.

To "feed" their pets, Neopets players have to win points in a variety of mini-games, including versions of poker and blackjack. Australia has a high rate of gambling problems with poker machines ("pokies"), so when a mother discovered her nine-year-old playing online poker to feed his virtual pet, she approached Today Tonight claiming McDonalds was setting her son up for a life of gambling addiction.

TT aired the story Parents not McHappy over pokie toy and the Neopets message boards went nuts. Meanwhile McDonalds heavied Neopets into banning Australians from the gambling games. Today Tonight must have received a lot of hate mail because the next night came Neopet players fight McDonalds ban, featuring interviews with adult Neopets addicts. But this only increased the outrage on the Neopets boards - they're now trying to squash rumors of McDonalds withdrawing sponsorship altogether, and Neopets shutting down."

 

 

too far...

tooooooo far...

I remember playing neopets around 6 years ago with all my buds..of course, I pwned them, I could work the stock market
lol

gambling, HA!
now that I think of it..my friends have gambling poker touney's ever week for a 300 dollar first prize..
and they DID learn it from neopets...

hmm...coincidence?



I THINK N....yea probably is, lol

Adreal

"with adult Neopets addicts"

LOL...

Rikimaru_X

Their is a slight problem here. I played neopets for about a year (plan on checking on my account in November for fun). Yeah, they do have blackjack but I don't know about poker. The thing is that almost half of the 70 millon on the site are not children. Their teenagers and adults. Anyway, what kind of kid would try to play somthing like blackjack. I think that kind of game would be borring to a kid under 13 or a kid who dosen't play card games.

Almost half of the site is based on chance so its pretty much like gambling for kids. If you think about the kid game Go Fish, you would notice that it's almost like gambling.

This site dosen't teach children how to gamble becuase they already should know the tricks of the trade. It's up to the parrents to teach them the right thing. Not the site. This goes straight down to parrents (the terrible/stupid) ones who try to sue violent video game companies and Jack*** the show.

Pointless. Sometimes I think they do it just to get some money in their pocket . . .

Adora

My neice's, 11 and 12 both play Neopets all the time. I have never seen them playing poker or blackjack in it though. I couldn't see my sister allowing that at all. Hopefully the game doesn't get too corrupt, I think they would go nutz without their neopets.

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I see it as a game that teaches life

back 6 years ago when I used to play, I learned a valuable lesson from neopets: How to work the stock market!

I went from 30,000 to 1.75 million in less than a couple months, and it was rather easy

while my friends gambled carelessly, losing all their money

I'm sure now they know that gambling isn't just always winning (by now, i mean 6 years ago, lol)

hell..i think i even gave my friend a million np loan back in the day..he never paid me back, "I lost it all in poker" was his answer

lol

it's a valuable life teaching tool! you needa know how to make money! I mean look..there are people that buy assortments of items, and sell them for 5% more, there are people that work stocks, then there are those gamblers...

lol

Rikimaru_X

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Originally posted by MurtBijani
back 6 years ago when I used to play, I learned a valuable lesson from neopets: How to work the stock market!

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Dude, I still haven't learend how to work the neopets stock market . . .

I need someone to show me how to do it right . . .