What made you get addicted to Neopets?

[Mama Bear]

For me it's about working towards goals. It may sound silly, but I like to have goals to work on, even if they're meaningless in the real world. Neo is part of that for me.

[Birds]

The flash games for sure. I played them all the time as a little kid before I actually had an account, and eventually made an account to see what the rest of the site was about. From then on it was all about getting the painted pets I wanted (which never happened back then since kid me no idea what I was doing lol).

[Aggy]

I was addicted to tamagotchis and my irl friends from that time were jealous because boochi zap my bori and they don't have any paint pet so I feel cool(?)

[Clair]

I remember playing all the games to earn enough to buy a baby paint brush back in the day lol Saving and saving and saving

The thing that really got me hooked though was lurking the pound chat to find pets UFA. It was like a whole new world opened up to me, I could get nice pets for free. And I started applying for pets all the time. This was right before the conversion I think I was in 7th or 8th grade.

Behavioral addictions are based on reward intervals in the dopamine circuit, which controls motivation and wanting to do something, which is why those who are addicted often want to do the behavior but don't actually like it. The most successful reward schedule for creating an addiction is variable ratio, meaning you will get a reward randomly for every so many times you do the action. This makes you want to do the action constantly to increase the chance of getting the reward, since you have no idea when it will come but know it is related to the frequency of your own actions. This is exactly what lurking the boards for trades is like, which is what got me addicted in the first place (though then it was UFA boards) and still has me addicted now lol Never know when some amazing trade is gonna pop up so you gotta check the boards all the time, but when you get it it is such an adrenaline rush, such a thrill xD

I know from neuroscience exactly WHY I am addicted to neopets, and yet I still can't help myself lol

[Urbex]

I think originally I was addicted to the trading of items to make NPs, reselling basically. Then I got into scoresending, then auto buying. Then I got into account/bro-goods sales and that's what has been keeping me in the scene for the last few years.

[motherfucker]

The thing that got me, and will always have me, is the graphic/html side of things. I love the "open" customization you can do for all of your own pages.
I used to read and play with code to see what different things could do.

Now, I can essentially code full layouts from memory. I've actually taken what I've learned HTML/CSS-wise from Neopets and applied it to real life! I've made the website from scratch on Notepad for the company I work for now

[Nath]

I've got a pretty addictive personality and when I start something whether it's a game, hobby, project etc. I can't stop and it's all I can think about 24/7. I've always been the same so with Neo I just got hooked pretty quickly. Usually I get bored after 6 months and move on to a new "thing" but with Neo I just kept going back.

It was the people/friend that kept me around long enough to get totally addicted.
...and the fact that 12 year old me figured out I could use neopets to start talking to pretty American girls on msn.

[nery]

Usuki Frenzy

when i start to play, i play usuki frenzy EVERYDAY for 2 years (2007-2009)

*funfact = i got the gold troph in 2017, 10 years later*

[Aska]

It was an escape from real life for me. I was a very lonely kid growing up, and I didn't really have any friends outside of school, so I would waste hours on the site trolling the Newbie/General Chat boards. Neopets was, and still is, that escape for me.

[Freeloaders_Soceity]

My Grandkids and the Kids on my School Bus got me started. I'm still very active with all of them.. We have our own Guild with over 200 members, all MY kids and now some of theirs! They are a wonderful experience and keeps me stress free. I retired 7 Years ago. Soon I will see my 73rd birthday and look forward to it all over again! Several of my Bus Kids have kids of their own who are now having babies of their own. My Granddaughter made me a Great-grand mother 9 years ago. He is a Neopian too, lol.