HAPPY GADGADSBOGEN!!!

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Contents

Ø       General News

Ø       Pet News

Ø       PetPet News

Ø       TNE News

Ø       Featured Article Invasion of the BGers

Ø       Featured Game

Ø       Featured Food Hot Crossed Buns

Ø      Featured Site Tine Neo Help

 

General News

Sometimes it's hard to keep up with the news on a day to day basis. Here are the highlight from the Neopets news page for this month...

The month was spent celebrating Gadgadsbogen, the Mystery Island fruit festival. Click here to read the Neopedia article about it. Neopets had all sorts of new things for this month:

Ø       Why not share the excitement of Gadgadsbogen by sending one of these new Gadgadsbogen Greetings? (March 4, 2003)

Ø       There is a new Gadgadsbogen themed rollover on the front page (hold your mouse over the Neopets logo to see it). (March 4, 2003)

Ø       Get your shop or webpage in the Gadgadsbogen mood with these crazy new dancing fruit Fun Images. (March 4, 2003)

Ø       As always, some tropical fruits are being retired: Reports have come in that Starberry, Lemaniac and Merryberry crops are starting to wither all across Mystery Island. (March 4, 2003)

Ø       The first new fruits to be spotted are the Carnapepper, Lemwart, Ellecha and Froozle. You can sample these amazing new fruits for yourself at the Tropical Food Shop. (March 4, 2003)

Ø       Even the Art Gallery has gotten into the swing of things - there is a Gadgadsbogen special on display. (March 4, 2003)

Ø       In honor of Gadgadsbogen, six colored Grass Skirts are now on sale in the Tiki Tack shop. (March 5, 2003)

Ø       Neopets has added a new Neopedia article - Trickster Llugh and the Legend of Gadgadsbogen. (March 5, 2003)

Ø       THE AMAZING GADGADSBOGEN PUZZLE is here!!!! Over the next few days we will be running a logic puzzle (like Usurper) on the site, based on the famous Gadgadsbogen party! It's going to be very hard, and will involve a lot of thinking and searching around on the site, but the prizes are going to be out of this world! Click here now. (March 5, 2003)

Ø       There are some new rather unusual vegetables that have just appeared on Mystery Island including the Red Octopepper and the Slugroot. (March 13, 2003)

 

From now on, the prize for Pics is going to be 10,000 NP as opposed to 1,000. (March 3, 2003) In addition to that, the Pics page is now protected from the evil right mouse button. This is intended to stop people copying other people's art and re-submitting it. (March 5, 2003)

 

Now, in any of the Neopian Shops, you can click the Shopkeeper to refresh the shop (it's faster that way and doesn’t reload all the images). (March 3, 2003) Now in the auctions you can click the Scorchio Auctioneer to refresh the page. (March 6, 2003

 

Nepets has totally redone the multi-player lobby, and will continue to add more changes, and more games soon. Click here to see what they did. Also, now you can play all the flash games if you aren't logged in, however you won't be able to earn NP obviously. (March 4, 2003)

 

Neopets has doubled the amount of NP you earn from each play of Grand Theft Ummagine. (March 5, 2003)

 

Grumpy Old King now has a high-score table. (March 6, 2003)

 

Neopets has problem with some of the game scores not being stored in your user lookup. (March 6, 2003)

 

Two new Neggs have been seen hanging around the Neggery - The Cracked Negg and Ferocious Negg. (March 7, 2003)

 

The Scratchcard Kiosk is now listed in the games room. (March 7, 2003)

 

Neopets has released a new game: Petpet Rescue. You play Samuel the Scorchio, and your aim is to rescue as many petpets as possible from the evil ruby mines of Gargrall the Grarrl. Later that day, they tripled the Neopoints you can earn from this game. (March 7, 2003)

 

The new Scooby Doo game was added to the Games Room. (March 8, 2003)

 

Neopets has changed the Games Room so that the featured game will change every day. Also, whenever you play the featured game you will earn Double Neopoints. (March 9, 2003) There is also another change. They changed the search facility in the Games Room so that it searches the game description in addition to the game name. (March 10, 2003)

 

There is a new Neopedia article - about the Ghoul Catchers. (March 10, 2003)

 

Neopets’ new choose-your-own-adventure generator has just been launched. Check out the NEOPIAN ADVENTURE GENERATOR. (March 10, 2003)

 

Now if your Neopets are ill, and you don't make them better, they will *actually* get unhappy. (March 11, 2003)

 

They have added a new Neopedia Article about Rufus the Kougra. (March 11, 2003)

 

You can now post links on the message boards if they begin with http://www.neopets.com. This should make it a lot easier to help people. (March 11, 2003)

 

The Snow Faerie has finally told us her name - it is Taelia. (March 12, 2003)

 

They have doubled the Neopoints you can earn from Tug-O-War and tripled the Neopoints for Rink Runner. (March 12, 2003)

 

Neopets has set up a page for actual formatted AIM Buddy Icons that they create. Click here to see what we have so far. Remember, though: No member of staff will EVER contact you through AIM, MSN or any other chat program. (March 13, 2003)

 

Neopets has just launched a new puzzle game based on the Pocket Neopet toy. . (March 14, 2003)

 

Happy St Patricks Day Why not send a friend one of these new St Patricks Day Neogreetings? (March 17, 2003)

 

Looks like the Meridell farmer who runs Pick Your Own cleaned up the mess left by Darigan and got it working again. (March 17, 2003)

 

The Tyrannian Food Shopkeeper now actually talks in Tyrannian. (March 17, 2003)

 

Neopets changed the Evil Things and Monsters board to the Neopian Adventure Generator board. (March 17, 2003)  

 

You can now refresh the Money Tree page by clicking the tree itself. (March 17, 2003)

 

Petpet Rescue has been given its own Neopedia article. (March 18, 2003) 

 

Neopets doubled the Neopoints you earn from each play of Grundo Snowthrow and increased the points from Deckball by 50%. (March 18, 2003)               

 

They have increased the Neopoints you can earn from Extreme Potato Counter. (March 20, 2003)                                     

 

Because of cookie grabbers on other sites (often disguised as "help sites"), Neopets has added a new security feature. If you want to activate the new method, you can do it from your Preferences page by changing your Login Security Level from medium to high. From the news pages: we urge you to be very careful in following links to other sites. Also, remember to never give your password away, never ever ever. This new security measure will not protect you if somebody else knows your password! (March 26, 2003) TNE strongly suggests that all users take advantage of this extra safeguard.

 

DESERTED FAIRGROUND SCRATCHCARDS have just been released!!! Click here to purchase one and try your luck. (March 26, 2003)                                                                       

Special Days for this month were:

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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      Your Uni can now be painted with the Spotted Paint Brush. (March 2, 2003)

v      Unis can now be painted Orange at the Rainbow Pool. (March 2, 2003)

v      Lupes can now be painted with the super shiny Silver Paint Brush. (March 4, 2003)

v      Gelerts can now be painted Orange and Striped at the Rainbow Pool. (March 6, 2003)

v      JubJubs can now be painted with the Ghost Paint Brush. (March 12, 2003)

v      You can now paint your Cybunny ELECTRIC. (March 13, 2003)

v      Scorchios can now be painted Island and Orange at the Rainbow Pool. (March 14, 2003)

v      The Baby Uni has been released. (March 17, 2003)

v      Shoyru owners will be pleased to hear that they can now paint their Neopet with a Plushie Paint Brush. (March 17, 2003)

v      Techos can now be painted with an Island Paint Brush. (March 18, 2003)

v      Shoyrus can now be painted Cloud. (March 19, 2003)

v      Your Krawk can now be transformed into a Pink version. (March 19, 2003)

v      Chombies can now be painted Shadow and Baby at the Rainbow Pool.  (March 21, 2003)

v      Eyries can be painted with the Brown Paint Brush at the Rainbow Pool. (March 24, 2003)

v      You can now paint your Blumaroo STARRY. (March 25, 2003)

v      Korbats are now paintable with the ELECTRIC Paint Brush. (March 25, 2003)

v      Kauvara has just finished mixing up some new Plushie Morphing Potions. Get your hands on the Kau, Aisha, Buzz and Scorchio potions at her Magic Shop. (March 26, 2003)

v      Wockies are now available in Silver and Acaras can be painted ELECTRIC at the Rainbow Pool. (March 27, 2003)

v      You can now paint your Krawk DISCO at the Rainbow Pool. (March 28, 2003)

v      Meercas can now be painted Orange. (March 28, 2003)

v      Eyries are the latest pets to be paintable with the Plushie Paint Brush. (March 31, 2003)

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PetPet Changes

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.

The biggest news for petpets this month is the release of the Rainbow PetPet Paint Brush on March 26.

q       A new petpet has been seen flying around Meridell...please welcome the Dragoyle. (March 3, 2003)

q       Take your Reptillior to the Petpet Puddle and you can now paint it Pink, Cloud, Yellow and Blue. (March 5, 2003)

q       Snowbunnies can now be painted Blue, Pink, Brown and Spotted at the Petpet Puddle. (March 10, 2003)

q       Three new petpets have appeared in Neopia: Fangy, Snowickle and Faellie. (March 12, 2003)

q       Warfs, Anubi, Meepits and Slorgs can now be turned into Faerie versions at the Petpet Puddle. (March 19, 2003)

q       Want your petpets to take care of your shop? There are some new Shopkeepers to choose from including a Snowbunny, Doglefox and Whinny. (March 24, 2003)

q       Draconacks now come in Blue, White, Yellow and Green. (March 25, 2003)

q       The Kadaotie, Doglefox and Anubis are the first petpets that can be painted with the Rainbow Paint Brush. (March 26, 2003)

q       Warfs, Angelpusses, Noils and Snowbunnies can now be painted Rainbow too. (March 27, 2003)

q       If you own a Gulper, you will be pleased to know you can paint it Pink, White, Yellow and Blue. (March 31, 2003)

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TNE News

As with all good help sites, the pages on the Neopian Educator are always under construction. Suggestions and constructive criticism are always welcome. Simply fill out the automatic comment form.

Our newsletter, TNE Report Card, celebrated its first birthday this month. If you are reading this section, please reply with the subject: “Winning number is ___” and pick a number between 1 and 10 to determine which type of prize you will receive. I have selected 10 different types of small gifts to give to our readers, since obviously I cannot afford large gifts for everyone. The first person to respond will get something special.

With the completion of the Lost Desert portion and the Krawk Island portion of the Tour, the end is finally in site. Since much of Meridell is unavailable right now, I will be holding off on that portion of the tour, but a page has been set aside for it. The entire Tour has been uploaded to the www.neopianeducator.com domain. If you haven't taken it recently, you might be interested in seeing what's been added and updated. By uploading it to this domain, it is now one of our searchable areas.

While we are discussing the tour, the new "Gadgadsbogen Puzzle" mentions the old puzzle, USURPER. If you don't know what that is, you may want to drop by the explanation in the Lost Desert portion of the Tour. It's explained here.

The Books  and Game Reviews pages have been updated.

We have made some changes to the front page, including a direct link to the Game Reviews page and our newest page about Neopets Merchandise.

After suffering through server problems, TNE is now back up and running. If you find something that was missed or needs to be fixed, please let me know as soon as possible.

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Featured Article

Featured Article:

Invasion of the BGers

You are going through your neomail of perhaps just relaxing in your favorite chat when it happens…invasion. What is this new foe that threatens the peace and prosperity of Neopia?

A.       The next plot twist of a current story
B.        Prelude to a new world
C.       The opening of a new sponsor’s program
D.       The introduction of a new type of merchandise

Sadly, it is none of these. Neopia has been invaded by *shudder* BGers.

Professor Chiapot believes these foul creatures may have once started out as bright, happy, friendly Neopians with few worries beyond caring for their pets and perhaps even a sense of wonder for the world around them. Then the evil began to infect them. Perhaps this is Dr. Sloth’s next plan to take over Neopia, or perhaps they are infected by doing too many of Jhudora’s quests. Whatever the cause, it soon became apparent that this disease was contagious…and spreading at an epidemic rate. These poor souls have been labeled “BGers” and sadly the hospital/pharmacy teams have yet to find a cure.

First, let me point out that BGers are not newbies. While it is natural for newbies to ask questions and sometimes ask for small items like food, these mainly need to be gently led to the Giant Omelette, and told about all the great free stuff they can find. Newbies just need a tour guide to help get them started, and most are happy to earn things on their own once someone shows them how to do so. Remember the old saying: Give a pet a hotfish and you feed him for the day. Teach the pet to fish and you feed him for a lifetime (Of course if that pet catches a Jetsam, that lifetime might not be that long…)

If BGers are not newbies, then what are they? You can generally put them in one of two groups: Spammers and Treasure Seekers. Spammers are possibly the most annoying because so little can be done. These BGers will fill your chats and inbox with pleas to join their guilds or stories (usually sad or angry) about why you must vote for their pets in the Beauty Contest. Rather than use the proper chats set up for them, or neomail only friends and fellow guild members, they will haunt other areas seeking the unwary. Sabre-X suggests ignoring, or if they become too troublesome, blocking and reporting. They are largely harmless…just tiring.

Then they are the Treasure Seekers. These BGers would make any pirate from Krawk Island look like the Soup Faerie herself. These show up for one thing: items. The bigger the item, the better their story for why they should have it. Unlike true newbies who ask for food or how to heal their pets, these will demand Hidden Tower items from perfect strangers just because: You’ve been here so long you MUST have some, and I only started playing a little while ago. Give them to me or I’ll report you! You laugh, but I really did get a neomail like that…on more than one occasion. Dealing with this group proves a bit more troubling.  These will spend time in the chat rooms as well, asking for items from anyone and everyone on the boards. Some proudly barge in with a “Wish of the day” of an expensive item. Do not confuse these with people who have wishlists for their friends to look up. I’m referring to those who’s greeting to the chat is: My wish for the day is *insert super expensive item here*. If someone does give them that item, they immediately respond with: (hopefully a thank you, but not always) My new wish for the day is *insert really super expensive item here*. This is the group that should be carefully watched. This borders scamming in my opinion since they often try to use guilt or false  friendliness to lure you into giving them what they want. Sadly, I’ve fallen for it, too.

As with the Spammers, Treasure Seekers can be ignored if you wish. Once they step over the line and start harassing you, however, they mutate from an annoying BGer into a monstrous Scammer. Scammers are the most despicable vermin in Neopia and should be reported immediately so the staff can send Taelia over to cool things off.

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Featured Game: Codebreaker
by hoby2199

Have a guide you'd like to see here? Send it to: Naomi_Tran@baylor.edu

 

Codebreakers is a very simple logic problem. There are four runes hidden behind a screen. You have to figure what is the color of all four stones and their proper places. There are 6 different colors. You have 10 guesses to figure it out. How do you do this?

 

First off, you make random guesses.

 

After each guess, the alien will tell you if you guessed any colors and position right. A black dash means that you have a right color in the right spot. A white dash means you have a right color but not in the right spot.

 

I apologize for not having more complete screenshots. The game resets every time you break a code losing the result. What you want to do is start with guessing all four runes the same color. This will obviously not tell you the right position, but will tell you exactly how many runes are that color. What would happen if you start off with 2 whites and 2 reds? The alien tells you have 2 runes the right color in the right spot. You will not be able to tell if there are 2 reds, 2 whites, 1 red and 1 white, or 3 or 4 of each color. What if your first guess shows that no runes are that color, guess the next color 4 times. If you are lucky, the correct code is 4 reds, the first choice you have. This has happen for me on several occasions. After the alien confirms the number of runes with the first color identified, keep that number of colors and start going through the other colors. Like I said sometime there will 4 runes all the same colors. Those codes are the easiest. Three runes the same color is next easiest. In this case it will only take you a maximum of 4 other guesses to place the odd color in the right spot. If you have 2 or 3 runes the same color, determine the position of the like colors first, and the others will be easy. The most complicated code to break and the one that may cost you the round is 4 different colors.

 

 

 

I don’t usually pick 4 random colors on the first guess. Miracles of miracles I picked the 4 colors that were correct. I still have no idea where each goes though. As you can see from my # 4 guess I took a step backwards. I know that there is only one beige rune and no whites. That and the #6 guess tells me exactly where the white is supposed to be. Using the other guess you can place all the runes which for this code is

 

Beige/Gray/White/Brown.

 

The #3 guess shows that there are 2 right guesses, color and place. Since the gray is in the spot the white one needs to be, the 2 outer runes must be in the right place. The rest is elementary.

 

As you find different colors, change positions of the color that you know are correct. Use these clues to help you break the codes. Do not waste any guesses. Think each place out one at a time. Eliminate the wrong choices first and the rest will usually fall into place.

 

I hope this helps.

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Name: Hot Crossed Buns
Weight: 1 lbs.
Rarity: 70

Available: From the Merifoods Food Shop

Neopet’s Description: Two doughy filling treats, these ones are made without currants in them.
TNE’s Description: What Good Friday celebration is complete without these yummy rolls?

Special Note: On the first day of Lent and during the six weeks that follow, many bakeries and homes bake hot cross buns. They are generally only served during the Lenten season, preserving their Christian significance. Yet they are probably the outgrowth of the ancient pagan sacramental cakes eaten by Anglo-Saxons in honor of their goddess "Eastore.": Supposedly the early clergy tried to stop the use of the sacramental cakes but as they could not, they gave them Christian meaning by blessing them and decorating them with the cross.

Ingredients:
Directions:

Preheat the oven to 390°F (200°C).  Add the warm water to a medium sized bowl and stir in the brown sugar until dissolved. Sprinkle the yeast granules over the top and put aside. Melt the butter and set aside. In a large bowl or electric mixer sift the flour, milk powder and spices and then add the dried fruits. When the yeast mix is frothy add to the flour and fruit and pour in the melted butter. Mix to combine and knead by hand until smooth or for about 8 minutes using a mixer with dough hook. Cover and set aside to double in size or microwave for 10 to 15 seconds on high (this is a shortcut method to activate the dough). Cut and shape 15 buns and place in a warm greased baking tin. Lightly beat the egg and thinly coat the tops of the buns with the egg wash using a pastry brush. Place the buns in a warm place to continue rising for around 40 minutes. Mix 5 tablespoons of flour with around one tablespoon of water to make a firm dough. Roll into thin strips and place across the buns to form the crosses. Brush the strips with a little more egg wash. Bake for 20 minutes.

(Makes 15)

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Featured Site

 

TNE Teacher’s Pet Award

Tine Neo Help

This fun little site is a great quick reference guide. In addition to the normal hints and tips, this also has a pet directory so you can see all the different species/color combos. They have a nice page with the user lookup shields, too. As always, I'm happy that this great site has no annoying popups to slow it down. One thing you don't often see on the help page is a link to the neocam...very nice little addition for those enquiring Neopian minds.

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