Subeta, The Website
From Wikibeta
Contents |
The Basics
Subeta is a virtual pet site that has been around in its current form since 2004. It is owned by Keith Kurson and run by a volunteer Staff that receives little actual pay. (Until late 2006, the staff actually received no actual pay whatsoever.)
The term "virtual pet site" is actually something of a misnomer when used to categorize the Subeta website. While the primary focus of the site is, indeed, the care of virtual pets, many feel that it surpasses the usual limitations of tradition pet sites and is actually something of a "mixed-breed" site; it is frequently described as a combination of virtual petsite, DeviantArt, LiveJournal, GaiaOnline, and MySpace.
In order to play on the site, one must be a Member; signup is free, however, and without any hassles except the minimum age limit of 13 years. It is important to note that Subeta imposes a very strict one-account limit on all of its members.
Things To Do
After signing up, a world of possibilities is presented to the member. He or she starts out with 5,000 Subeta Points, the primary currency of the site.
Free Members are able to either create or adopt up to 5 pets, and those with Gold Accounts can have up to 10 (or 20 [following a recent update] with the purchase of additional pet slots.) Each pet may be given a Minion, fed, played with, colored, zapped, and can have its favorite items placed in its Treasure Chest.
There is plenty to do outside of pet care. Users can play games and fulfill various quests for fun and profit, hold contests, restock items to sell in their user shops, and collect items for their galleries. Most, however, feel that one of the biggest perks to membership is being part of the Subeta community.
The Community
Subeta members are part of a tight-knit community that is, on the whole, quite trusting and friendly. Converts from other petsites generally comment that the atmosphere is much more pleasant on Subeta than others that they've been a part of, and it's one of the things that really draws people in. This is enabled at least in part by the many forms of interaction that exist on the site.
Merchandise
Subeta is forayed into the realm of merchandising several times with mixed results. The first existed in the forum of a now-defunct CafePress shop featuring T-Shirts and other items featuring a few of the popular and/or "trademark" pets; Unfortunately, this was done when membership was still quite small and there wasn't much of a market to be had. The second and most recent attempt consisted of some beautiful Kumos plushies that could be purchased for a relatively small sum; to encourage spending, it was said that anyone who bought a plushie would be entered into a drawing for free anime. This seems to have been brought to an end rather abruptly with the unexpected quitting of Administrator Mogel, who organized and handled the entire thing himself.
Criticism
As with anything popular, Subeta is not without its perceived pitfalls. Some members feel that the youthfulness of the staff -- many of whom are still legally minors -- interferes with judgement. Others claim that Keith shows favoritism towards some members, and this actually appears to be true in a couple of cases; ask any long-time member and he or she will probably be able to name one or two people who have repeatedly been frozen and later forgiven for varying offenses. (It is important to note that Subeta acknowleged these accusations and has been working towards reform.)
Another issue is that Subeta -- being marketed towards a slightly more mature crowd than the average petsite -- contains edgy material. It has come under repeated criticism for the ubiquitous references to homosexuality, depression, and the occult. Some ISPs have even gone so far as to block the site completely, usually due to what they consider to be "simulated violence and gore" that may offend more sensitive visitors. Indeed, the bloodred & graveyard items and pets can sometimes prove to be a little disturbing.
Did You Know?
There are over 150,000 Members, each with an approximate average of over 690,000 sP. The 150,000 members have a total of more than 300,000 pets. The site itself has over 11,000 unique items and 31 Official Shops.
The layout of the site was completely redesigned and released on June 27th, 2006; despite an outcry by the members and claims that the new layout was inferior, new signups increased significantly.
The site's domain name moved in July of 2008; this change is rumored to be temporary, however.
