Virtual Pets Blog

As 2007 is coming to an end, it’s time for us to review the year. So far, so good for the major pet sites - as Neopets, Marapets and Subeta going to grow, however; before December comes to a close - we’ll have to discuss Powerpets - and its latest version, which is the new powerpets.

Marapets & Subeta both have had its fair share of publicity in 2007 - with the advertisements being the main talk of Mara, and the longcat + staff firings for Subeta - 2008 is looking pretty good for both of these games (will Mara finally get better art in 08?). But look at the bright side, without the bad & good publicity for both Marapets & Subeta, users probably wouldn’t join - because publicity helps people decide whether or not to join the site - because if its boring, they won’t join.

So, was 2007 a good or bad year for Marapets & Subeta? Why was it good? Why was it bad? You tell us.

As of December 26, 2007, Marapetshas 2,669,198 players.. Marapets currently peaks at around 2,500 - 3,000 users.
As of December 26, 2007, Subeta currently has 188,576 registered users and currently peaks at around 800 - 1,000 users.

Is Subeta showing Mara that a pet site can grow without a huge advertising campaign - which Marapets has done multiple times this year? Marapets has spent at least $5,000 on advertising campaigns this year - and will probably launch more in the new year. Why does Subeta continue to grow without much advertising from its staff members? Are the users promoting or? Let us know.

Let’s not forget about the small pet sites. Rescreatu has been growing pretty fast ever since it launched last year - and celebrate its first milestone this year, 20,000 users. Its now growing at a steady 100 - 200 new users a day and is peaking at 100 - 200 users online. As growth has been steady for Rescreatu, a lot of users have been going around saying that they don’t have a lot of features, however; the main attraction of Rescreatu is their find a egg - and create a pet feature - which continues to bring the users back.

Misticpets finally opened to the public, and as 3,600 members as of today - and currently peaks at 20 - 50 users online. Not bad for being opened for a month or two, eh?

Ichumon recently opened up a week or two ago as well - and currently has 300+ members and peaks at 20 - 30 users online. They’re going pretty good if I do say so myself.

Another bad year for Zetapets though, they continue to peak at 100 - 150 users online - without any major updates, however; Tigress continues to say that v3 will be out by next year. Do you believe it? Zetapets currently has 528,812 registered users.

On a side note, we still believe 2007 was a bad year for pet sites and we hope 2008 is a lot better.

Webkinz mom has recently posted about the new in-game advertisements on Webkinz - and it has hit various news outlets which includes the New york times and the following was sent to the new york times by a dedicated webkinz player:

“One of the reasons why parents buy Webkinz for their children is the expectation that the site will be free from advertising,” said Susan Linn, the campaign’s director. “It’s disappointing that the site is choosing to maximize revenue at the expense of children.”

Well - isn’t the plan for Webkinz to generate income from the game - as well as their merchandise? What if people stop buying their merchandise - will Webkinz have to find other sources of income to keep their game alive? I don’t see why so many players blogged about this and it hit the media - because in order for Webkinz to stay alive, it needs to produce income to pay for its servers, its company - and keep the company profitable, or we will see the end of Webkinz.

Sure, the merchandise helps fund the project - but you guys have to remember it costs money to make money - and the merchandise costs money to produce - and why complain about one simple ad? You can just ad block and block the advertisements from being displayed.

Another quote from a Webkinz player:

“I bought into the Webkinz phenomenon because there wasn’t mass marketing on the site,” said Ms. Rupp, adding that she has spent more than $300 on Webkinz toys in the last two years. “If you’re putting out $15 for the Webkinz doll, you are paying for the ability to have something ad-free.”

I agree with the whole $15 fee for the Webkinz doll, but again, they have costs and businesses to fund - the merchandise that you buy isn’t free for them to produce, ship, and manufacture to all the major stores.

I, as a dedicated webmaster, believe that Webkinz has every right to place advertisements on their website - and if you don’t like it, then leave.

Looks like Rescreatu’s development team has been hard at working developing new features, and they’re pleased to announce the launch of their newest feature, Pet trading.
Here’s an update from Patrick.

Since a lot of people try to give eachother pets through their shops and risk having the pet bought by the wrong person, we have decided to release a Pet Trading system. Consider this our first Christmas present to our wonderful members. Laughing I hope you like it. It was a lot of work.

What do you guys think about the new pet trading feature? Hate it? Love it?