Subeta.net

The site isn't intended for kids, you have to be 13+ to even play it (unlike some other sites where some features are disabled if you are too young). The art is nice and they have revamps of old art every now and then, and it's not so cash-based since you can buy the real money currency with virtual points. There's a nice commerce of art, so it keeps a lot of good artists in the community, and they even accept submissions of user-made items (it costs cash, of course, or everyone would be spamming items into the system). The pet part... Yeah, it's not that strong as the biggest petsite over there because you can't customize pets, only a human avatar that may represent you or a character. But it's not like any petsite is pet focused. You can take care of your pet, of course, and battle, read books... But you can also collect plushies, stickets, beanbags and many other items, what's great for collectors. The games are simple, HTML5 based, but some of them are nice to play (and they give you achievements to complete, what's a plus). There are quests as well, which are the best way to get virtual points and some nice items. Overall, it's a fun site, with an active staff, great events and plots with stories we see the effort that has been put into it, and with few restrictions, which is possible thanks to the nice userbase it has.

I've been on Subeta for years, almost six I believe. I enjoyed it most of the time, as it was a good mix of Gaia Online and Neopets, but better. The community was smaller, the staff active, and you didn't have to fight to be heard. Over the years it has gone a bit downhill, but I've stayed when others I showed the site left. In the past week they had their annual Gelatin War. I had expressed interest in seeing a character (Kain) because he was one I could relate to. He's blind, runs the Defense Shop, and for someone like me with chronic macular degeneration, I felt he could be one of the few positive characters I could look up to. A staff member, Amber, mentioned in the news comments, replying to me, that we may see more of him in the future. They've made many characters have traits or personalities that appeal to others, and they've all been portrayed as positive. Well, when it comes to the Gelatin War, he is a simpering coward, depicted as screaming and running through the battle in fear and hiding under the blankets in the shop. If I had not expressed interest, and been replied to by a staff member, I could silently fume about it, but I feel like it was a personal attack. It bothered me so much that I filed a ticket, and got two different staff members to reply to it. First was Angelina, who gave me the only "I'm sorry" I heard, and even then it was "I'm sorry you're not a fan of the character's portrayal." She then came back with some notes from the NPC staff, saying that Kain was not based on a real person, and that he was focusing on defense, as it was his job. Hiding in fear in his shop is not defense. She then turned me over to Rasputina, who closed the ticket before I could even reply to what she had said, which was simply another way of saying too bad you're not a fan of the character's personality. So I messaged Amber herself, the staff member who had replied to me in the first place. When I told her about the ticket and attitude I received, I was told that they could not discuss what happens in tickets, which is fine. But she continued with the no apology train, just saying that Kain was not meant to be a full leader, that he couldn't always be strong, that even Maleria and Shinwa, two goddesses, are not always strong. So I do feel personally attacked and picked on by the staff, even moreso with no one getting that I am hurt and feel singled out because of it. I also feel like if certain other people (not certain users, but certain personality types) were upset, they would be bending over backwards, a whole heartfelt apology in the news posts, and a complete retooling of the character would have happened immediately.