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Contents
Ø Featured Article Something has happened: The pleasures and perils of Random Events
Ø
Featured Game
Ø
Featured Food
Dirt Pie
Ø
Featured Site
General News
TNE would like to wish all of our friends a Happy Lunar (Chinese) New Year. Due to spending time with the family, the newsletter was delayed. The new year officially starts February 1 this year. If you haven’t sent out cards, why not take a look at the Neogreetings Neopets has created for the occasion. Also, be sure to check out page one and two of the special Art Gallery entries
Neopets seemed to have a lot of “down time” at the beginning of the year. Hopefully this is not an indication of problems to come.
Another warning from neopets about chain letters was posted: Just a quick reminder - please please please stop the chain letters in the message boards and trading post. You will not get rich, super lucky, or in any way benefit from sending anything to 50 people, it just makes our site slower. We will start freezing people who spread chain letters soon, you have been warned. (January 6, 2003)
NEW GAME - and not a product placement! The latest addition to the Virtupets Space Station is Zurroball. (January 6, 2003) Neopets tripled the neopoints awarded for this game on January 10, 2003.
This could be fun: Neopets added a second rollover on the Front Page of the site. Every time you refresh one of two image sets will appear. Hold your mouse over the logo to see them. (January 8, 2003)
Due to the overwhelming spam and scams posted on the chat rooms, Neopets has blocked people from posting links. (January 8, 2003) This block was extended to neomail as well as the chats on January 13, 2003.
It would seem that pet happiness is about to play an increased roll. Neopets has “added lots of things all over the site that change your Neopet's happiness”, so I guess we’ll see what happens. (January 10, 2003)
All the prizes in Tyranu Evavu have been doubled. (January 15, 2003)
Well, all owners of Lost Desert, Fire, or other retired/rare painted pets (not to mention ROBOT) have something new to fear. Below is an example of one of the new Random Events... *shudder*
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Something has happened! |
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Oh no! Boochi fires his ray gun and turns Jenny945 into a Baby!!! |
Doubtless there will be many users who are overjoyed with this new random event, but there will be many more who are not. This would include just about anyone who has been lucky enough to get a robot pet from the Lab Ray. (January 15, 2003)
Neopets has created a new weekly contest - the Gallery Spotlight. Here you will have a chance of getting your prize shop/gallery displayed on New Features as well as taking home a nice shiny trophy and 1000 NP. If you want to enter, send the name of your shop, a brief description of it and your username to gallery@neopets.com. (January 17, 2003)
Jelly World now has it’s own “freebie” area: The Giant Jelly. You can pick up one jelly each day and it’s good for two meals. (January 20, 2003) In addition to the standard lemon, strawberry and lime, four new flavors of jelly are being given out by the Giant Jelly: Cornupepper, Poisonous, Dung and Glowing. (January 25, 2003)
Neopet’s Spoiler List now displays all the newer Collectable Cards, including the two new releases, one featuring Lord Darigan and one featuring Magax:Destroyer. (January 27, 2003)
Well now…this could be interesting: POCKET NEOPET - This is a sneak preview of the Pocket Neopet, the portable Neopets player that is going to be coming to shops very soon developed by Hasbro. It is an electronic toy with games, shopping, and more importantly Rare Item Codes. Be sure to keep an eye on the news page as neopets says they will be releasing more news soon about where and when it will be released. (January )
GRUMPY OLD KING is the newest Meridell game. Surprisingly, they “let slip” a possible plot twist to the war by saying: (and wouldn't you be grumpy if your magical orb had just been stolen). Yes now you can visit King Skarl in Castle Meridell and try and cheer him up by telling him a joke. (January 27, 2003)
CELLBLOCK is the Darigan Citadel’s first game, a battle of wits featuring evil game mastermind Master Vex. (January 28, 2003)
Tyranu Evavu has been fixed and is now limited to 20 plays a day. (January 28, 2003)
Some more words have been added to the Pronounciation Guide including Darigan, Meridell and Skarl. (January 28, 2003)
There are now 70 Million pets in Neopia. (January 29, 2003)
Another NEW GAME - Advert Attack is described as: A really simple race game has just been released by none other than Virtupets Studios. But you know NOTHING with Neopets is ever simple, so something is going on…(January 30, 2003)
A new store just opened…the ultimate product placement: the Refreshment Stand inside the Disney Theatre. (January 30, 2003)
Special Days for this month were:
- Jan 3rd - Aisha Day
- Jan 11th - Festival of Buzz. (Buzz Day)
- Jan 16th - Elephante Day
- Jan 29th - Kacheek Day
Pet Changes
Pets are painted at the Rainbow Pool (on the Main Shops page) with special magic paint brushes. Click here for a list of all pets and their available colors.
v Give your Buzz this season's hippest look by painting it Orange! (January 1, 2003)
v Turn your Kau into a super cute Plushie version at the Rainbow Pool. (January 1, 2003)
v You can now have a mutant aisha with the help of some foul looking potions in Kauvara's Magic Shop. (January 3, 2003)
v Aishas can now be painted Island and Orange. (January 3, 2003)
v Your Quiggle can now be painted with the Island Paint Brush. (January 6, 2003)
v Myncis now come in Orange. (January 6, 2003)
v Lennys now have a new Web page. (January 7, 2003)
v Now you can own the Orange Draik you have always wanted... Just grab hold of an Orange Paint Brush and head to the Rainbow Pool. (January 7, 2003)
v Usuls can now be painted Rainbow. (January 7, 2003)
v Kauvara has just finished up a batch of Lenny Morphing Potions. (January 8, 2003)
v Ixis can now be painted with the Lost Desert Paint Brush. (January 8, 2003)
v You can now paint your Buzz Plushie or Striped at the Rainbow Pool. (January 10, 2003)
v Your Kyrii can now be painted Pirate at the Rainbow Pool. (January 13, 2003)
v Gelerts can now be painted Silver color. (January 14, 2003)
v The Mutant Grarrl is now available. (January 15, 2003)
v Elephantes can now be painted with the Striped and Baby paint brushes at the Rainbow Pool. (January 16, 2003)
v Your Scorchio can now be painted with a Pirate Paint Brush. (January 17, 2003)
v Cybunnies are the newest pet to get a Baby makeover. (January 17, 2003)
v Kois can now be painted with the Island Paint Brush. (January 20, 2003)
v Lupes can now be painted Rainbow at the Rainbow Pool. (January 20, 2003)
v If you own a Kougra, you can now paint it ELECTRIC at the Rainbow Pool. (January 21, 2003)
v Techo can now be painted white if you can get hold of a White Paint Brush. (January 21, 2003)
v Now you can paint your Peophin with a Lost Desert Paint Brush. (January 22, 2003)
v JubJubs can now be painted Pink and Rainbow at the Rainbow Pool. (January 22, 2003)
v Poogles can be painted with the Strawberry Fields Forever Paint Brush at the Rainbow Pool. (January 23, 2003)
v You can now paint your Lupe with a Shadow Paint Brush. (January 25, 2003)
v Ixis can now be painted with the Fire, Fire, Pants On Fire Paint Brush. (January 28, 2003)
v Kacheeks can now be painted Baby and Island at the Rainbow Pool. (January 29, 2003)
v If you have an ELECTRIC Paint Brush and you now can paint your Grarrl. (January 30, 2003)
v For the Celestial Gelert, a new STARRY paint job. (January 30, 2003)
PetPet Changes
It was a slow month for petpets.
For those of you looking for the Petpet Puddle, it is part of the Rainbow Pool. When you are on the Main Shops page, click on the Rainbow Pool. At the top of the next page is the link to the Petpet Puddle. Click here for a list of all petpets and their available colors.
q You can now learn how to draw a Miamouse with the Draw Petpets step by step guide. (January 7, 2003)
q If you own a Tigermouse you can now paint it green, blue, cloud or Yellow at the Petpet Puddle. (January 15, 2003)
q If you own a Barbat you can paint it Cloud, Blue, Pink or Green at the Petpet Puddle. (January 17, 2003)
q If you own a Cheerlub you can now paint it Cloud, Blue, Green and White at the Petpet Puddle. (January 30, 2003)
q
You can now
draw Raindorfs with ease using our How To Draw pages.
(January 31, 2003)
TNE News
Upon reformatting the newsletter address list, I discovered some of you were listed more than once. My apologies for the duplications and any trouble it may have caused. Hopefully the duplicates have been removed, but if I missed one, please drop me a line so that you do not receive multiple newsletter copies in the future.
After much too long an absence, my_hero has returned to Neopia. While not directly associated with the Neopian Educator site, he was one of the first “scam busters” and Newbie Guardians, and his triumphant return despite the many attempts by scammers to keep him away is truly an inspiration to all of us. With his much celebrated return, the Newbie Guardians page has been updated.
The Books page has been updated, and we have added an additional "printer friendly" version with fewer graphics.
More recipes have been added to the Magic Cooking Pot page.
The Game Reviews page has been updated to not only reflect changes in the new product placement games, but to also show which Meridell games are currently unavailable. Don't forget, if you have a game guide you would like to submit, send it to Naomi_Tran@baylor.edu
After much too long a delay (sorry about that), the Faerieland portion of the Tour has been finished. Next stop: Tyrannia
Thanks to some help from my_hero, we now have a better clock for the site. The search engine should be up and running soon as well thanks to his help.
The newsletter has added a new section: Featured Food.
Why should your neopet have all the fun food? Bring a little bit of Neopia
into your kitchen at home with this month’s fun recipe, Dirt Pie.
Featured Article
Something has happened! The pleasures and perils of Random Events
In an effort to keep things interesting, Neopets uses “random events” that pop up without warning all over the site, including shops, chat rooms, and map areas. The only sections that do not have random events are other user’s shops. Before continuing, TNE would like to remind everyone that any “random event” they find in a user’s shop is not random. These fake random events must be programmed by the user in the shop description. Do not believe any event that claims something good will happen if you buy something from that user’s shop, bid outrageously on that person’s trade, or give away an expensive item. Having said that, let’s discuss real random events.
Random events are generally classified into three groups: “Just for Fun” “Good” and “Bad”.
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Something has happened! |
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A Ghostkerchief goes up to Jenny945 and gives them a big hug. Looks like you have found a new friend! |
Just for fun
These random events neither give anything nor take away anything. They are generally amusing and often pointless. They range from a Blumaroo reminding you to never share your password, to a Poogle popping by and saying “hi”, to a flaming robot dashing past yelling that Dr. Sloth is after him. Even the weirdest ones such as the giant mutant Grundo declaring he must fetch pets for his master are in this category since nothing actually happens to any of your pets.
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Something has happened! |
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The Ghost Lupe appears and suddenly all your neopets are healed back to max hit points! |
Good
These are probably everyone’s favorite type of random event. When one of these pop up, you either gain an item, gain neopoints, or have something good happen to your active pet. Uber Faerie quests are one form of this random event. Finding neopoints on the floor, or having your pet’s health restored are also good random events.
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Something has happened! |
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A ghost steals 100 np from you and places it on the Money Tree |
Bad
There is an old saying: Into every life, a little rain must fall. This simply means that bad things happen to everyone. Neopet random events are no exception. These take the form of someone pelting you and your pet with a snowball (better head by the Healing Springs), to a fungus ball exploding (costing you neopoints), or the Pant Devil stealing an item from your inventory (get revenge in the Battledome). To reduce damage from theft (or Sloth’s lab ray turning your Hidden Tower item to a pile of sludge) keep all items in your Safety Deposit Box and all extra neopoints in your bank account.
POV
This month, Neopets has introduced what we will classify as a new form of Random Event: Point of View (POV) This type of Random Event may be good or bad depending on how you look at it. Let’s examine the one released in the news earlier this month:
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Something has happened! |
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Oh no! Boochi fires his ray gun and turns Jenny945 into a Baby!!! |
If you are a new user or your active pet is not painted, this would be a dream come true since Baby Paint Brushes cost 200,000 neopoints in the Hidden Tower. Pets owned by Neopians with little extra neopoints can be given an expensive look with the simple loading of a page at no cost. On the surface, some may wonder why this is not classified as not only a “Good” random event, but an excellent one. The answer is simple: For thousands of Neopians, this is a terrible random event. Many of them have not been this upset since the release of the Battledome weapon, Chia Flour, which turns whatever pet it is used on into a yellow chia.
The thought of a random event like this is an absolute nightmare to any owner of a pet with a “limited edition paint job.” Some colors, like Fire, are from retired paint brushes that are extremely hard to get. Then there are ROBOT pets. There is no ROBOT paint brush for pets (unlike the petpet paint brush). The only way to get a ROBOT pet is to use the lab ray on it and keep your fingers crossed.
This brings up an interesting
point. When someone uses the lab ray on their pet, the picture and caption
of the pet are designed to make the user feel at least slightly guilty. There
is a disclaimer warning that there is no way to control what will happen when
you use the ray. Chia Flour is a weapon used in an attack against another
pet. Both are events that are not controlled by the owner of the pet and may
have what is viewed as a negative effect on that pet. Based on this, any random
event that alters a pet in what may be a negative manner should be classified
as a “bad” event. If neopets sets up the lab ray to make your pet
plead not to use it, then the same view should be taken with this style of
random event. Pet owners should be able to protect their pets whom they have
spent thousands (or hundreds of thousands) of neopoints painting as they chose
from a random event that destroys all that work.
Featured Game: Pyramids by Darkholder
Have a guide you'd like to see here? Send it to: Naomi_Tran@baylor.edu
The game, Pyramids, is a fairly straightforward solitaire card game. You begin with the screen shown below:
Each game costs 50 neopoints and winning a game may earn you a trophy. In addition to the High Score Trophy, you can also win trophies for clearing the pyramid regardless of your score. Note from StaggPub: To win the bronze trophy, you must clear the pyramid 3 times. To win the silver trophy, you must clear the pyramid 5 times. To win the gold trophy, you MUST clear the pyramid two games in a row.
The object of the game is to clear all the cards in the pyramid to the foundation pile (the jack beside the draw pile) by placing a card with a higher or lower value from the face up cards in pyramid. Use the cards in the draw pile when you do not have an available move on the pyramid.
Higher/Lower Card Values:
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Next Lower |
Your Card |
Next Higher |
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Ace |
Two |
Three |
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Two |
Three |
Four |
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Three |
Four |
Five |
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Four |
Five |
Six |
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Five |
Six |
Seven |
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Six |
Seven |
Eight |
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Seven |
Eight |
Nine |
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Eight |
Nine |
Ten |
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Nine |
Ten |
Jack |
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Ten |
Jack |
Queen |
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Jack |
Queen |
King |
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Queen |
King |
Ace |
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King |
Ace |
Two |
When playing, there are certain key points to remember:
q It is better to clear in the middle first, to free more cards.
q It is better to play more cards in a row than to pick “higher” cards.
q When two cards can be played, pick the one that will free more cards.
q Keep track of what you have already seen. There are only 4 of each card.
q Face value of the card does not matter. Kings and 3’s are worth the same points.
By selecting the Queen-Jack-10-9 combo, I can clear more cards in a row (and gain more points) than by clearing the Queen-Jack-Queen. Doing so gives me the board shown below:
Since there are no more available moves, click the Draw Pile to uncover a new card.
Because the Ace on the far left will uncover another card in the pyramid, choose that one for your next move rather than the one on the second row (next to the 3). In this game, doing so revealed the following:
By happy coincidence, this gives us an extended play: 2-Ace-King-Queen
Continue on using this basic strategy and you will soon reach this point:
Remember that the goal here is to clear the pyramid. By choosing the 10 over the Queen, you will reveal the two cards underneath it instead of the one under the Queen.
With practice and patience, you can average at least 150 neopoints each game. With a limit of 5000 neopoints each day, that’s a nice little way to pad your bank account.
Name: Dirt Pie
Weight: 1 lbs.
Rarity: 45
Available: From the Main Food Shop
Neopet’s Description: A squidgy slab of dirt
complete with roots and all!
TNE’s Description: Our version is a tasty dessert imitation
sure to impress your friends.
Special Note: This food has a Neopedia Entry
Ingredients:
· 1 cup cold milk · 1 pkg (4 oz. serving) Chocolate flavor Instant Pudding · 1 (8 oz) container Cool Whip · 20 chocolate sandwich cookies, crushed · 1-1/2 cups "rocks” (Granola chunks, chocolate chips, peanut butter chips, chopped peanuts, or any combination thereof) · 1 graham cracker pie crust
Directions:
Pour milk into a medium-sized mixing bowl. Add pudding mix. Beat with a wire whisk until well blended. Let stand for 5 minutes. Fold in whipped topping. Stir 1 cup of the cookies and "rocks" into pudding mix. Spoon the mixture into piecrust. Sprinkle with remaining cookies. Freeze until firm, about 4 hours.
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