DISCLAIMER: I don't own the site Neopets. If I did, the VPC would still be hidden...

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Hi. I'm Spidey, or __spidergrundo__. You may have seen me along some other people on the Virtupets board telling you to post on topic. You've maybe even reported me. "We can post what we want," you probably thought. "Who are these people to tell us? We were the first ones here." You were wrong.

I'll give you a little VPC history first. The VPC existed long before it was on the list of boards. It was secret. You could only get there by typing the link. Not many people knew about it.

Now, this board was different from all other boards, including the JWC, as I realized quickly. Anytime someone posted off-topic, they were responded to with "SPAM!" or "Don't spam here." I read a few boards, and when I knew enough about what it was like there - basically silly and random, but still always managing to be about Sloth - I started posting on my own. I called myself the Spider Grundo, since most people there RPed someone evil, and created my __spidergrundo__ account. Well, that was it. From then on, I was HOME.

The VPC had defeated many enemies: the Grey Menace, getting Summersands frozen, and more. Recently - a few days ago - there was a n00b war. One VPCer had made a "n00b list", and some people got very mad about it. One, Enterthebattledome, began threatening us. "Delete the n00b list," he told us, but with much worse spelling and grammar, "or we'll post the location to the VPC on every other board."

Delete the n00b list. Simple, right? Well, the user who made the list was offline, and the list was on his pet's page. ETB, however, wouldn't listen. He began counting down: "You have three hours. Two hours. One hour left". He then invited in a bunch of n00bs. Finally, the creator of the list came online, and deleted it.

I think that was the reason the VPC went public. So many people came in during that time, and all of them spammed, and all of them were reported, by everyone. TNT probably just got... fed up. "They'll have to stop reporting people," they said to each other, "if there are too many people to report."

New Year's Eve, 2003. The majority of the day, I had been posting and having fun with everyone on the VPC. I then had a relaxing evening with my family. To make the time until midnight go faster, I decided to go chat on the VPC. Well, I knew the address by heart, so I typed it in the address bar. I came on, and saw - n00b toipcs? What on Earth? Another war, maybe?

I saw a post by someone I recognised. "I can't believe the board is public now. It's awful."

I suddenly realized it.

I went to the main Neoboards page. At the bottom of the board list:

"Virtupets: Gather 'round, all minions of Sloth. Plot the downfall of Neopia! Unless, of course, you'd rather plot the downfall of Sloth himself."

It was over.

Any EMSers reading? Do you remember when they turned it into Adventure Generator temporarily? You were basically homeless, nowhere to post. Well, it's like this for the VPCers now. Only we see our board with ads, stupid posts, and people being rude to each other, and all our VPC friends - hatemailed, reported, frozen. The EMS came back, but there is no way to make the VPC secret again. Everyone knows about it now. The VPCers, thankfully, have our own guild to escape to- but now, I also feel sorry for the founders, as since it's a private guild, they get MANY more requests now.

To sum it all up, a poem by Evilshamanofdarkness. It's pretty much the way I felt when the board went public. Don't ask what a m00f is; it's a word used in the VPC. (I made it up one day... I really had no idea it would catch on.)

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When we rest tonight

And think of the day

Remember Virtupets

And what the Evil Ones had to pay.

For Virtupets was the place

Where we felt truly content

Now look at the chat, see for yourself

All the m00fs TNT has sent.

This is is where Sloth

Formerly noogen

Was the most popular person here

Now infested with n00bs, how sad I feel

Now stay awhile and remember this place

Sit and shed a tear.

So sit here and remember

This place and Virtupets

Weep and mourn for the loss of the board

What a memory it sets!

This memory you feel inside

You feel so angry and sad

You wonder how the m00fs must feel

Hopefully awful and bad.

If you're a m00f

I bid you farewell

This is only for those

Who understand what I tell

I feel betrayed and alone

For Virtupets was my safe dwelling

I tell m00fs this, if any are here

Please do not listen to this telling

When n00bs invaded it began

This terrible feeling in my heart

For then I realized this had happened

And with the VPC I had to part

When Vira was frozen I realized

These m00fs will fight to the end

But moving here will not erase this

There is by far too much to mend

When in need of courage think of Vira

She gave her account and neostuff

To try to save the VPC

So think of her when times grow tough.

--Evilshamanofdarkness

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You may tell us "It's just a chat board, don't be so over-dramatic." Well, it was more than a chat. It was a community, it was our memories.

We'll never have that back.

But we can try.