The latest Reddit “Am I The A—hole” drama we stumbled upon is not something we expected to see in 2023. One aunt came to Reddit to settle a birthday present-related dispute that she was having with her sister, brother-in-law, and niece. The present in question? A Neopets account. Yup, that Neopets. Talk about a blast from the past! OP is quite proud of her well-established presence on the virtual pet game website, and rightly so.
“My account is 18 years old and it has the stats to reflect that (pets/avatars/stamps/gallery/trophies etc.),” OP wrote. “If you don’t play, it may not mean a lot, and not to brag but I have a rather impressive account due to the fact I have been playing so long.”
Did you catch that? Eighteen whole years. This woman “raised” an “adult” account. At this point, these pets can basically register to vote and join the army and get tattoos and buy cigarettes and yada, yada, yada.
Ya know, if this wasn’t a game. And if they weren’t virtual pets.
Anyway! That’s kind of a big freakin’ deal, so when her family approached her with a big freakin’ request, OP had a big freakin’ reaction.
Can You Believe It?
Before we get into it, can you believe you’re reading about (and probably forgot about) Neopets?! When we read this, we did one of those super fast cartoon-like head shakes and leaned in closer. Yup! We read that right! Neopets! That got us majorly nostalgic and wondering if our accounts still work. Unfortunately, I lost my password and my Hotmail email a long time ago, but I just might have to make a new one. Again, for any Gen Z’ers reading this, Neopets is a game where you can own virtual pets … and use virtual currency to buy them virtual stuff.
“It was really popular around the late 90s/early 2000s,” OP explained. “It kind of died a bit for a while but has recently started to get popular again. I have been playing for years.”
Neopets Millionaire
OP’s 11-year-old niece recently found out about Neopets and has gotten really into it. When she realized her aunt plays too, the two of them started bonding over their love of the game.
“I looked up [my niece’s] account and gifted her a bunch of expensive stuff that would be hard for a newer account to get. (In-game stuff using In-game money which can be kind of hard to earn in large amounts),” OP wrote.
Her niece asked how OP could afford the (apparently-expensive) stuff she sent and how she could have so much stuff in her account. Of course, it all comes back to those 18 years.
“Well, apparently she got upset at the huge difference between our two accounts and asked for more stuff,” OP continued. “When I told her no she started crying to my sister and BIL about it.”
A Major Ask
OP’s BIL came over and asked if she could gift her account to her niece for her upcoming birthday.
“[He] said it would mean to world to her,” OP wrote. “I said no. I’ve had this account since before she was born. Before we even met my BIL. I don’t want to get rid of it. I still play on it literally every day.”
The BIL did not take this well, trying to guilt trip her into gifting her account. OP told him she’s happy to teach her niece “the tricks of the trade” but she’s not giving away her account.
“He tried to buy it off me but I still said no,” she said. “Now he is super pissed and got my sister and parents on his side. [I’m being] called an a-hole because it’s all my niece will talk about … I offered to send a bunch of stuff to her account again but she wants my stats so she’s not treated like such a newbie by other players.
A Sad Situation
If you thought there might be something more going on here to cause this BIL to have such a visceral reaction, you were right. His daughter has been “very sickly” and in and out of hospitals her whole life.
She was recently admitted again and will be spending her birthday in the hospital. So yeah, OP’s sister and BIL have every reason to want to give their daughter an extra-special birthday.
“[They keep saying] I’m an adult and she’s a child and [having my account] would make her happy in a rough time in her life,” OP said.
So Is OP The A—hole?
Reddit says no: OP has every right to keep her account.
“Please don’t give her your account,” one Redditor wrote. “She should learn to work for something instead of having it handed over because she wants it … You’ve been playing for 18 YEARS. It obviously means a lot to you. I’m sorry for your Sis and your BIL that their child is sickly, but what a bunch of entitled AH to insist you just give these 18 years of your life up for your niece!!”
Users say OP should feel good about her current generosity (in terms of gifting items in the game and teaching her niece) while also keeping boundaries and reminding her niece that it is fun and satisfying to earn her own stats.
Regardless of why she doesn’t want to give out her password, OP should not have to keep explaining herself. As one person said, “NO IS A COMPLETE SENTENCE!”
What Now?
Redditors say it’s time for this niece to recognize the power of video games, and it’s time for OP to find an alternative.
“It’s a shame this is a missed learning opportunity for the little girl,” one person wrote. “Video games can be a shared hobby with strong in-person connections. Some of my friends in life started with video games and even now people I’m friends with today can continue keeping in touch through video games and their shared experiences. Don’t hold your family’s (wrong) opinions and objections against her. A lot of children grow out of these phases.”
“Perhaps you can both start a different game together and progress at the same pace,” another suggested. “Pokemon Go maybe?”
Another game with ’90s roots! We approve!
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