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

There is a new Neoboard where you can discuss the Hannah and the Ice Caves plot. (November 2, 2004)

The www.neopets.com/species webpages have been added to the search box. (November 2, 2004)

Apologies from Neopets - One of the databases that store objects crashed earlier today and caused some items to be erased. They are doing what they can to return the items now, if you have any weird problems with your account please let them know. (November 4, 2004)

For her kindness to Neopets the Soup Faerie has been added to the Gallery of Heroes. (November 4, 2004)

The screensavers have been added to the search box. (November 4, 2004)

If you have blocked someone from sending you a Neomail, they will not be able to bid on your Trading Post lots now either. (Note - this doesn't apply if you have selected Neofriends only, its just if you block a specific username). (November 4, 2004)

The Happiness Faerie has been added to the Gallery of Heroes. Strange…it looks a great deal like Sloth… (November 9, 2004)

A Bori named Donny has set up shop on Terror Mountain. This inventive craftsmen claims he can fix anything you bring to him, but it could just be idle boasting… (November 10, 2004)

New Random event! As if you needed any more reasons to take good care of your Neopets, now if you neglect your precious pet they could get so angry they turn RED!!! (November 11, 2004)

If you thought the Tax Beast was bad enough, just wait to see what he does when he is angry! When annoyed the Tax Beast has been known to take up to 25%!!! I wonder what makes him angry… (November 12, 2004)

They have a new Neopedia article featuring Ye Olde Petpets. (November 16, 2004)

Neopets was down for the day. Unfortunately, that left us with very few options. Players visiting Neopian Educator were encouraged to drop by my What to do when Neopets is down page while we waited. (November 16, 2004)

From the Neopets news page: (November 17, 2004)

Sorry, we have been struggling all day with horrible technical problems but the site is finally back! We apologise for all the problems, everything should be a lot more stable from now on though.

Now you can learn how to draw the kind Soup Faerie, with this step by step guide. (November 22, 2004)

They have a new Neopedia article about the Deserted Fairground. (November 22, 2004)

There is a new Neopedia article about the Annual Gormball Championships. (November 23, 2004)

SITE UPDATE - They have a message regarding the new layout of the site, click here to read it. In short, be prepared for larger, more prominent and increased product placement ads. On the plus side, visiting this page will snag you a new avatar: (November 24, 2004)

The Bringer of Night (whom you will learn more about shortly) has been added to the Gallery of Evil. Hannah has also earnt her place in the Gallery of Heroes. (November 29, 2004)

If you are found being naughty, you may get a visit from the CHEAT MONSTER!

Scary, isn’t he? (November 30, 2004)

Special Days for these months were:

• Nov 8th - Pteri Flying Championships (Pteri Day)
• Nov 14th - Celebrate the birth of the first Chia
• Nov 15th - Neopets is Five Years Old!!! Lots of Celebrating and fun things to mark this special occasion
• Nov 27th - Usul Skiing Season begins (Usul Day)

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      The Mutant Kyrii is now available. (November 2, 2004)

v      The new White paint effect is perfect for Rukis wanting to blend in around Terror Mountain. (November 2, 2004)

v      Your Ruki can now be painted Fire. (November 5, 2004)

v      Pteris can be painted Snow and Ghost at the Rainbow Pool. (November 8, 2004)

v      You can now paint your Bori Brown with the aid of the right paint brush. (November 11, 2004)

v      Now Jetsams can be painted a very sad Grey. (November 12, 2004)

v      You can now be the proud owner of a Disco Draik and an Invisible Kiko. (November 16, 2004)

v      The Robot Bori is now available. (November 18, 2004)

v      There is now a Purple Ruki (complete with orange spots). (November 19, 2004)

v      You can now paint your Ruki Speckled. (November 22, 2004)

v      Yurbles are now available in Pink if you so desire. (November 22, 2004)

v      Usuls can now be painted with the Royal Paint Brush. (November 26, 2004)

v      Flotsams can now be painted Disco. (November 29, 2004)

v      Jetsams can be turned into swashbuckling Pirates. (November 29, 2004)

v      Why not turn your Grarrl into a fericious Robot version? (November 30, 2004)

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        Babaas, Faellies and Whinnies can be painted Grey at the Petpet Puddle. (November 1, 2004)

q        Slorgs can be painted Pirate, Black, Dung and Rainbow at the Petpet Puddle. (November 3, 2004)

q        Niptors, Ghotis, Airaxs and Harris can now be painted Fire. (November 5, 2004)

q        If you hurry to the Robot Petpet Shop you may be able to get your own Robocrush, Quadrone, Cybit or Shocket. (November 9, 2004)

q        Onas, Mazzews, Cobralls, Pawkeets and Buzzers can be painted Pink at the Petpet Puddle. (November 16, 2004)

q        Introducing the newest combo Petpet - The GX-4 Haseebot! (November 22, 2004)

q        Rocks, Nurannas, Peos and Gallions can be painted Faerie at the Petpet Puddle. (November 23, 2004)

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.

The avatars section of the Chat FAQs has been updated.

There seems to have been some confusion concerning an outdated page. Since there is already a great site showcasing Neopets items, the Neopoian Educator no longer has a list of books. For the latest news in books, drop by the Neopets Item specialists. Fortunately, I think I have found and deleted all those outdated item pages.

Backgrounds are in the works for some of the main pages. Hopefully these will be in place by the end of the year.

Work continues on the upcoming museum. This project is rather large, but at least you can get a quick look at it here. Note that these pages are still very much under construction. If you have anything you’d like to contribute, please send it to: Naomi_Tran@baylor.edu

Avatars have a broad based appeal that touches almost every aspect of life in Neopia. These are the avatars that were added this month. For a complete list, drop by the avatars section of the Chat FAQs. If you know of one that is not listed, simply fill out the automatic comment form.

Games on Neopets are in a constant state of change and these changes are often not listed in the news. Here are the changes for this month:

There was a special game released on November 16, 2004. Here are the excerpts we know so far:

Somewhere in a secret hideout, Galem ordered some of the most influential thieves in Neopia to join him for a rather special Dinner...

 
Please, take a seat...

Can you work out what each person ate, what their secret is, what their 'speciality' is and what their favourite Neoboard avatar is? Clues are coming soon... (November 16, 2004)

Masila has been added to the Gallery of Evil. You will be hearing more from her in the very near future... (November 19, 2004)

The first clue for the Guildmasters' Dinner has just been announced. (November 19, 2004)

Rather predictably, these characters are also involved in the Hannah and the Ice Caves plot which has devolved into another war. Trouble is brewing atop Terror Mountain. Are you going to help Hannah and Armin free the Bori, or would you rather serve as a dastardly thief helping Galem and his band of thieves get all the riches they deserve? Choose wisely, for you will not be able to change your minds.... (November 23, 2004)

Here are the new games that were added this month:

a    If you like SpongeBob SquarePants, you should try this new product placement game featuring him. (November 5, 2004)

a    They have brought back the old product placement game based on the film Elf: The Movie which is coming out on VHS and DVD on November 16th. Click here to give Snowball Fight a whirl. (November 10, 2004)

a    They have a new product placement game featuring Spyro the Dragon. (November 12, 2004)

a    Another product placement game has gone live. This one is based on Kangaroo Jack. (November 18, 2004)

a    By popular demand the Backyard Skater game is back. (November 18, 2004)

a    As if there wasn't enough reason to visit the Deserted Fairground, now you can try your hand at a Coconut Shy! (November 19, 2004)

a    There is a new product placement game based on Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events called Are you Wicked? (November 19, 2004)

a    They have a product placement game featuring Harry Potter based on the Prisoner of Azkaban. (November 23, 2004)

a    An old favourite has returned and it is now bigger and better than ever. Introducing Faerie Caves II - Fyora's Quest. (November 24, 2004)

a    They have a new product placement game based on the new Yu-Gi-Oh! movie. (November 24, 2004)

These games were taken off the site this month:

Ø       SpongeBob SquarePants (after only a couple of weeks…)

Changes to existing games:

They have started adding the solutions to Lenny Conundrum. (November 2, 2004)

They fixed a bug in Attack of Slorgs. It will no longer crash if you shoot a power up behind the pipe where the Slorgs appear. (November 3, 2004)

New Battledome Challenger - The Inflatable Balthazar!
Have you referred 100 people to Neopets? Now you can have some sort of revenge on this inflatable Balthazar for stealing all those poor faeries. See how hard you can hit him. The heaviest blows are stored in a high score table and there is a rather nice trophy if you are a winner! (November 4, 2004)

As you are playing some games around Terror Mountain you may notice a new preloader featuring Hannah and Armin. (November 12, 2004)

Escape to Kreludor has been translated in all languages supported by Neopets. (November 16, 2004)

Stocks that have gone bankrupt are no longer displayed in the Stock Ticker. (November 16, 2004)

A baby creaks. A gate starts to cry. Somewhere in the distance a wolf tolls. Another game has been dragged screaming into the Game Graveyard. This time, the victim is Chomby and the Fungus Balls. (November 18, 2004)

Five new options have been added to the Adventure Generator. Now you can choose to base your story in Maraqua, Brightvale, Roo Island, Kiko Lake or Kreludor, each with its own color scheme. (November 23, 2004)

Moon Rock Rampage is the latest game to be translated into all languages. (November 29, 2004)

You can win four more Evil Coconuts at the Coconut Shy. (November 30, 2004)

Are you wicked like Count Olaf? A creative inventor like Violet Baudelaire? A bookworm like Klaus? Or, scared of everything like Aunt Josephine?

Answer 10 multiple choice questions, and at the end we'll tell you which character from the Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events movie that you're most like.

Are you Wicked is a quick and easy way to earn 900 np. Because it is a “poll”, there are no right/wrong answers. Just click any answer for each of the 10 questions and submit your score. Each game is worth 300 points, which isn’t great…but it is quick and easy…

You don’t even have to take the time to read the choices unless you are genuinely curious. That means just pick a spot for your mouse and click as the question loads.

Those of you who are curious will note that there are character pictures at the top of the screen. As you choose, whichever character pictures most matches that choice will brighten a little bit.

So, click away and enjoy…

The Advent Calendar Neopets special seasonal freebie

Tucked away in the little village at the foot of Terror Mountain is a very special area. Maybe this is the real reason why Happy Valley is so happy. For the whole month of December the Advent Calendar gives items and Neopoints away to all who visit. As you might have guessed, December is the busiest month for Happy Valley.

The Advent Calendar is a special area only available in the Month of Celebrating (also known as December). Each day a free prize is awarded for dropping by. Everyone gets the same thing, so anything that is given away will drop in value because of the overabundance. As with all the other “freebies” on the site, do not use more than one account per person to claim the prizes. This is against the rules, and people who cheat will have their accounts frozen.

You may be wondering what you will find when you visit…and the answer quite literally could be anything. Here are a few examples from last year:

Also, there is the standard Pant Devil joke. Last year, it was December 13, 2004:

As you can see, there is a mix of both items and neopoints (and as of last year, avatars). There is also a special animation for you to view.  You will want to make a special point of making a special trip to get your special goodies each day. It is almost guaranteed to have something for everyone. Don’t miss it!

As always, play safe and have fun!

~StaggPub~

Name: Left-over Turkey Sandwich
Available: From the Bakery
Neopet’s Description: Oh dear, not left-over turkey again!
TNE’s Description: Just when you thought it was safe to go back into the kitchen…

Ingredients:

·         2 slices fresh bread

·         1 turkey slice

·         1 lettuce leaf

·         mayonnaise (to taste) 

Directions:

Spread the mayonnaise on one side of each bread slice. Place turkey slice on top of one bread slice next to the mayonnaise. Place lettuce leaf on top of turkey slice. Top with second bread slice, mayonnaise side down.

This is also great heated in a toaster oven.

Editor’s note: Yes, I know it’s ridiculous to describe how to make a sandwich. I just saw the item and 
thought it would bring a smile to everyone’s face (and maybe a groan to their lips…)

NeoHolic.com

While I was searching through my notes and past editions, I was surprised to discover a site I seemed to have accidentally overlooked. NeoHolic.com is a fabulous site full of well written articles and helpful information. It’s easy to navigate and clean/quick loading. Of course, the “no popups” are just another handy feature for this great site.