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Hey again Whyvillians! FireBeam here to give you another thing to
really think about. :/
Now, how many of you have heard of Neopets? Probably most of you. Their
site is (in many ways) like Whyville. Basically, at Neopets you create
a "Neopet" and care for it over the Internet. They also have several
games that give you "Neopoints" (the Neopets currency, like our clams)
that you can use to buy things on the site, like you can buy face parts
and bricks here at Whyville.
Now, many people have heard of Whyville, but they have heard even more
about Neopets. Why, you ask? I used to think that it was because
Neopets must be older, but then I learned that both Whyville and
Neopets were made in 1999! So why does Neopets have over 10 times more
registered users than Whyville?
Simple answer: Sponsors.
I searched for Whyville sponsors, and I came up with this old-ish page
(that also shows ways to sponsor):
http://www.Whyville.net/vcenter/frameSponsorWays.html.
Now, I tried to find a page listing Neopet sponsors, but I couldn't
find one, so I went around "Neopia" (the world of Neopets) and searched
for any copyrighted sponsors. After writing down as many names as I
could, I came up with this list:
Lucky Charms cereal
Reese Puffs cereal
Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal (lots of cereals!)
Disney
McDonalds
Editor's
Note: Neopets has also worked with the Encyclopedia Britannica,
Pokemon, and the Limited Too, among others.
Now, compare that to the list of companies that sponsor Whyville, and
see how well you recognize the names compared to the list from Neopets.
How can simple companies like the Los Angeles Times compete with
enormous, worldwide companies like McDonalds? Despite the fact that
Whyville has achieved what man has been trying for years (making learning fun) and
Neopets has just put together pure fun, Neopets has many more people
and a lot more money.
As for why Whyville has not tried to get more "popular" sponsors, well,
I don't really know. I feel it would be best if one of the CWs
posted in the BBS, or if the Times Editor said a little something here.
Editor's
Note: Well, here you go. Why might you think we haven't tried to get more "popular" sponsors? Fact is, Whyville is a very complex world -- floating heads? kids learning
and having fun? pick your nose??? -- and a lot of adults just don't get
it, especially ones in the business world. City Workers have had
some success explaining our town to them, but Neopets is just a much
easier sell, and once you get popular, it's easier to stay popular with
advertisers. And so, once Whyville breaks the 100,000 users
mark, we're going to have a much easier time selling to sponsors!
Anyway, that's how we see it over here at the Times -- City Hall might
have other thoughts to add.
So, take a stick of gum, chew on it, and think, "What can I do to help
Whyville? Can I get cool sponsors for them? Could I really make a
difference?" That, my friends, is all up to you. ;)
This is FireBeam, off to get world domination, err, world peace.
*click*
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