Making a Million Despite a slow computer
Early this month,
I received a comment that I found rather depressing. Part of it read:
“It is impossible to become rich unless you can type moderately
fast, have a fast internet connection and get semi-lucky.”
I’d
like to take a moment to disagree. I sat down and ran some numbers and
discovered that it is actually relatively easy to do if you think it
through. In fact, all you need is a plan and the determination to stick
with it. So if you have a slow computer, this article is for you.
First
of all, let’s assume you have an older computer or slow connection.
Almost any computer can run FLASH, which is important for building up
your bank account. Of course, since the word “rich” has different meanings
for different players, let’s start with your first million neopoints
as a fairly safe definition.
Second,
accept the fact that you will not become rich overnight with this plan.
I cannot stress this enough. There are several scams designed specifically
to trick players looking for the easy way out. Some of these include:
Pyramid Scams Occasionally you will find a shop,
user profile, or neomail with the promise
of a "secret way to earn lots of neopoints".
They almost always include a phrase about being scammed before, so they
know how it feels and would never scam anyone else. Don't believe them.
Never send/buy items in exchange for information. It's never worth
the price you pay.
Neositting/shop stocking For this
scam, they will offer to take care of your shop and do your daily freebies
while you are gone. Remember rule number one: Never give out
your password to anyone. Never let anyone else into your account
either. Account sharing can cost you your account and everything you’ve
worked for. Missing a few days may put you behind schedule, but at least
it will still be there when you get back.
NP/Item Generators These scammers will actually try
to make you believe they have this magical program to put np
in your bank account or items in your safety deposit box. There are
NO np/item generators or "special
codes".
Now that we have covered what DOESN’T work, let’s discuss what DOES.
Step
one: Use those freebies!
You can have up to four pets. Each omelette is good for three
meals. It is also fairly common to get free food from the Tombola,
Fruit Machine, Coltzan’s Shrine, or Fishing.
If Jelly World
did exist (and of course, we all know it doesn’t…) then the free jelly
would also feed a pet for two meals. That means you can feed even a
full house for free with some left over…and that doesn’t even take into
account the various sponsor freebies that pop up from time to time like
7-Eleven
and Neopets®
Islandberry Crunch.
Step
two: Use those SPONSORS!
Speaking of sponsors,
don’t overlook the many sponsor games. Many of them are specifically
designed with slow connections/computers in mind. Remember, if you can’t
play their game, they can’t reap the advertisement reward. They want
their games to be played by everyone. With that in mind, they will often
create games that will be turn based, which are perfect for our purposes.
Step
three: Open a bank account
This may seem like a ‘no-brainer’, but any neopoints you
are not going to use right away should be immediately placed in the
bank. The interest you can earn really does add up. Not only will you
collect interest, it will also give you a place to store your items
in the Safety Deposit
Box to keep them safe from random thefts from the Pants Devil or
being reduced to a pile of sludge by Dr. Sloth.
Step
four: Open a shop.
Random events will
often drop items in your lap that you can sell. Food items, map pieces,
codestones, etc. will help you reach your goal. You don’t have
to have the largest shop on the block to make a profit, just be sure
to use the Shop Wizard to set competitive prices. Since this article
is mainly for players with older, slower computers, we won’t get
into discussing restocking here.
Step
five: Play the games.
Admittedly this
is a definite no-brainer since that’s the whole point of the article,
but I wanted to outline some of the games that do not require fast connections.
The point is to have a plan and stick to it. When developing your own
personal strategy, think of games that you enjoy and then narrow them
down to games that have no time limit, are turn based, and/or use HTML.
Any game using SHOCKWAVE should probably be avoided on older computers
since it may cause it to crash. After seeing what is currently available,
I suggest the following:
Note that guides
not done by NeopianEducator.com are used with permission from Garmfay
Using this plan, you can earn your first million in just a few months.
Obviously, the sponsor games will change from time to time, but this
should not be a serious problem. They can be replaced in your plan as
that happens. The main point is to pick games that are turn-based, not
timed or html based with fairly fast page loads.
Impossible? Not by a long shot…just a little
more challenging. But isn’t that more or less the point of any
game? Would you really want everything to be easy?
