Viacom buying Neopets?

[Butterflyhornet]

Oh brother. I think I can see mor banner ads, pop-up ads etc in the future.

Probably get MTV and sponsor custom sidebars, ugh.

[Shoyru_Lover]

With the hope of not being attacked i'm going to ask this one thing: Why does everyone hate Doug?

He's a pig, that's why. >>;

He's basically really money-hungry; his influence got us banner ads, sponser thingymajigs, and a decline of the Neopets we remember and want.

Hmm, you never know.. maybe it wasn't him. There is the possibility.

[DM was on fire!]

Does anyone sense that Isca or Caylis will have a wardrobe malfunction soon?

[Nani]

With the hope of not being attacked i'm going to ask this one thing: Why does everyone hate Doug?

He's a pig, that's why. >>;

He's basically really money-hungry; his influence got us banner ads, sponser thingymajigs, and a decline of the Neopets we remember and want.

Hmm, you never know.. maybe it wasn't him. There is the possibility.

I've actually been told by one person that he's okay, so I've been trying to give him a chance lately. However, he seems to be very widely hated in the business world, having been involved in at least one scandal, so I'm really not so sure.

[Atjj]

With the hope of not being attacked i'm going to ask this one thing: Why does everyone hate Doug?

He's a pig, that's why. >>;

He's basically really money-hungry; his influence got us banner ads, sponser thingymajigs, and a decline of the Neopets we remember and want.

ooooooookay......... that really explains a lot.........

[subman44]

companies get bought out all of the time, and it usually means nothing for the consumer...if there are ever any adverse affects it is usually the employees that get hit the hardest...

[Anoohilator]

Does anyone sense that Isca or Caylis will have a wardrobe malfunction soon?

Hehe it's not impossible...

[Butterflyhornet]

companies get bought out all of the time, and it usually means nothing for the consumer...if there are ever any adverse affects it is usually the employees that get hit the hardest...

agreed. I feel sorry for the TNT people. Usually when there's a buyout, massive layoffs are to come.

[Morningstar]

companies get bought out all of the time, and it usually means nothing for the consumer...if there are ever any adverse affects it is usually the employees that get hit the hardest...

agreed. I feel sorry for the TNT people. Usually when there's a buyout, massive layoffs are to come.

Well, it's usually not the worker bees that get laid-off when there's a buyout--however, middle management might be getting a bit nervous about now.

And, hopefully no one will throw an old rotten boot or moldy sandal at me when I say this, but I really don't see Mr. Dohring as such a bad guy. The man either has to be a smurfing genius, or have people close to him who are, to have made Neopets as successful as it is. I mean, really now, think about it. He took Adam and Donna's creative ideas and ran with it--made it successful throughout the entire world. Got big name backers for it--McD's and Disney are nothing to sneeze at. And, kept it free!

And, there was nothing like this game before it was created. And, nothing comes even close to competing with it--and probably never will. So, the guy must have known how to do something right when it came to this game.

Granted, I was quite miffed about the glitches and lack of customer support we were getting a year ago, but it has really changed for the better since then. Anyone remember all the crud we dealt with last year at this time--DFM pages were a daily thing. Whole weekends when it was either down or so glitchy that it was best not to play. Glitches on top of glitches. And, someone high up was listening to us--because things did change for the better.

And, Mr. Dohring is even more of a genius in my eyes because he knew when to sell. He made quite a tidy profit on his sale of Neopets to Viacom. Anyone in the business world knows that the deal between him and Viacom was HUGE!

I am not too worried about Viacom. No one in their right mind is going to pay that much for an online game site and then let it go down the tubes.

When I first read this, a song immediately popped into my head:
Crosby and Nash's "Take the Money and Run."

Is that a cover of the Steve Miller song or an original?

It is an original. No offense to Steve Miller, but their song makes his song sound like a TV commercial jingle. It was on their 1975 "Wind on the Water" album. It was prior to Steve Miller's song, which was released the following year in 1976.

Here are the lyrics:
Take the money and run
Like a thief across a neighbor's yard
Take the money and run
Like a ghost out in the night.
Take the money and run
'cause you found out that it wasn't hard
to take the money and run
because you were out of sight.
You cannot tell me any more lies
You cannot pull the wool over my eyes
Take the money and run

Take the money and run
'cause the summer sun is sinking down
Take the money and run
'cause the four winds may not blow
Take the money and run
'cause the verdict has been handed down
Take the money and run
because there's no place left to go.
You cannot give me any more time.
You've already taken too much of mine
Take the money and run

Take the money and run
like a thief across a neighbor's yard
Take the money and run
like a dog out in the night
Take the money and run
because you found out that it wasn't hard
to take the money and run
because you were out of sight.
You cannot give me any more time.
You've already taken too much of mine
Take the money and run

The lyrics fit so well to the situation. And if you have ever heard David Crosby and Graham Nash harmonize on this song, it is quite hard to get out of your head. comingt2atvnearu, you should definitely check it out sometime.

[Atjj]

companies get bought out all of the time, and it usually means nothing for the consumer...if there are ever any adverse affects it is usually the employees that get hit the hardest...

agreed. I feel sorry for the TNT people. Usually when there's a buyout, massive layoffs are to come.

Well, it's usually not the worker bees that get laid-off when there's a buyout--however, middle management might be getting a bit nervous about now.

And, hopefully no one will throw an old rotten boot or moldy sandal at me when I say this, but I really don't see Mr. Dohring as such a bad guy. The man either has to be a smurfing genius, or have people close to him who are, to have made Neopets as successful as it is. I mean, really now, think about it. He took Adam and Donna's creative ideas and ran with it--made it successful throughout the entire world. Got big name backers for it--McD's and Disney are nothing to sneeze at. And, kept it free!

And, there was nothing like this game before it was created. And, nothing comes even close to competing with it--and probably never will. So, the guy must have known how to do something right when it came to this game.

Granted, I was quite miffed about the glitches and lack of customer support we were getting a year ago, but it has really changed for the better since then. Anyone remember all the crud we dealt with last year at this time--DFM pages were a daily thing. Whole weekends when it was either down or so glitchy that it was best not to play. Glitches on top of glitches. And, someone high up was listening to us--because things did change for the better.

And, Mr. Dohring is even more of a genius in my eyes because he knew when to sell. He made quite a tidy profit on his sale of Neopets to Viacom. Anyone in the business world knows that the deal between him and Viacom was HUGE!

I am not too worried about Viacom. No one in their right mind is going to pay that much for an online game site and then let it go down the tubes.

When I first read this, a song immediately popped into my head:
Crosby and Nash's "Take the Money and Run."

Is that a cover of the Steve Miller song or an original?

It is an original. No offense to Steve Miller, but their song makes his song sound like a TV commercial jingle. It was on their 1975 "Wind on the Water" album. It was prior to Steve Miller's song, which was released the following year in 1976.

Here are the lyrics:
Take the money and run
Like a thief across a neighbor's yard
Take the money and run
Like a ghost out in the night.
Take the money and run
'cause you found out that it wasn't hard
to take the money and run
because you were out of sight.
You cannot tell me any more lies
You cannot pull the wool over my eyes
Take the money and run

Take the money and run
'cause the summer sun is sinking down
Take the money and run
'cause the four winds may not blow
Take the money and run
'cause the verdict has been handed down
Take the money and run
because there's no place left to go.
You cannot give me any more time.
You've already taken too much of mine
Take the money and run

Take the money and run
like a thief across a neighbor's yard
Take the money and run
like a dog out in the night
Take the money and run
because you found out that it wasn't hard
to take the money and run
because you were out of sight.
You cannot give me any more time.
You've already taken too much of mine
Take the money and run

The lyrics fit so well to the situation. And if you have ever heard David Crosby and Graham Nash harmonize on this song, it is quite hard to get out of your head. comingt2atvnearu, you should definitely check it out sometime.

Morningstar, thank you for your reply. Even though it wasn't directly related to my question it answered something for me.

I have been playing neopets for quite near 5 years now and I have noticed a huge difference and also haven't noticed any differences at all. Sure there are things that people don't like, for instance the sponser/banner ads, but guess what, it's keeping the site free! So I for one do not complain about the ads.

I just wish that someone would be able to tell me what it is that Mr. Dohring has done so wrong to get this much wrath.

[jabond102]

Why is everyone so mad? Its not that bad. I'll be able to get more secret sidebars now! Spongebob and MTV SIDEBARS! YEA! And Rugrats to maybe! Nickelodeon and everything! This is so not cool!

[Morningstar]

I just wish that someone would be able to tell me what it is that Mr. Dohring has done so wrong to get this much wrath.

Well, I feel more old boots and shoes coming at me, but, what the heck.

First, I think some people have a hard time dealing with people in power. Let's face it, Doug Dohring has "power" over anyone who plays Neopets. Why? Because he owns the site, decides what is going to be on it, and what the rules are going to be. And, anyone who has been frozen--unfairly or not--or has lost something major playing the game might want to target Mr. Dohring for it. Because he is the head honcho. So, he is an easy target.

Second, I think some people might not like him because he makes a lot of money. A LOT of money. And, perhaps, people feel that it is that their expense. After all, the players are the ones who really keep the site going. Without us, the site would be another Teddy Ruxpin toy gathering dust on the shelf (he, he, that is my quote from about 2 years ago!). So, people might get upset if they see the pockets of the corporate execs getting lined with cash instead of using that cash toward more support, more monitors, etc.

Third, I think some people might not like him because he is a Scientologist. I am totally neutral on the whole scientology issue--though I have to say that I do not think it is brainwashing, etc. Personally, as long as he is not doing anything to hurt himself or others, I don't care what he does in his private life. I am old--probably older than most everyone here. So, I remember when Jews and Blacks weren't allowed in country clubs, certain restaurants, bars, etc. I get the same "vibes" when people are talking bad about Scientology.

However, we should remember that Neopets is free. I cannot think of another pasttime that I have that is free. Except maybe books I get from the library. But, even then, I am put on a waiting list for the good ones. And, I suppose TV. *sticks finger down throat to gag* Perhaps, I should say I cannot think of another pasttime that is as entertaining as Neopets that is free. Don't look a gift horse in the mouth. Doug Dohring, the man ultimately in power of Neopets until its sale, made sure of that. Just for that alone, he should get some respect.

So, I will get off my soapbox before another shoe is thrown. I don't have a problem with him. If others do, that is their perogative.

[jabond102]

I don't think Dohring is that bad either. I mean come on? Would you do what he was doing if you were the owner? I think Adam or Donna would make a better owners but still Dohring is doing the best he can. We all want money? He wants money but I just wish it wasn't ad world (hugs adblocker). When it's done, it's done. And I am sure it's done, so let's all sit back get a smoothie and a bowl of ice cream and enjoy life all together (wow I sound like Dohring, who I am I kidding? We don't care about money, he's got to get better and shape up )

[Erin]

I think people tend to place more emphasis on the bad developments Neopets has been through since Dohring took over rather than the good ones. Sure, 3 years ago all advertising was still immersive, bannerzilla had yet to be introduced. But everything also ran on a much smaller scale as far as site content went. Nowadays we have more games, more features, more pets, more items; the economy has risen, the quality of graphics has improved; it's an all-around better site. Personally, I wouldn't trade the advancements we've received for a site with no banners. Plus, I have Premium so I'm getting the best of both worlds. *shrug*

As for Dohring, I have enough trust in Donna and Adam to feel that they wouldn't sell their baby to the Antichrist. He must have SOMETHING good going for him.

Heh, I had a Teddy Ruxpin when I was little. xD The little caterpillar guy too!

[Fishblade_Bluestream]

Okay, now I feel like crap because of what I posted. ._.