Are you new to NeoPets? Are you not sure of how to properly care for your pet(s)?
If so, you may want to take the following guidelines into consideration. Even
if you're not new to NeoPets, you might find some of the following tips to be
useful.
1) A NeoPet is a friend and companion. You cannot neglect it. We recommend
that you visit your pet at least once a day for it to remain happy and healthy.
After all, what is a pet/owner relationship without love?
2) NeoPets need food, just like you do. If you are new to the game
and strapped for cash, there is the very popular soup kitchen, where the Soup
Faerie feeds poor NeoPets whose owners have less than 2,000 NP. Another place
to get free food is the Tyrannian Plateau, where a free omelette awaits the
Neopian owner once a day. One omelette is good for three servings of food, so
stock up! Another great resource for food is the Shop Wizard, which is the guide
to price comparisons. If you're lucky, you might be able to find some very good
cheap food from other people's shops.
3) Every Neopian should own their own shop. The best way to make money
is to open up a shop. Though it costs a small sum to open a shop, you'll soon
find that the shop pays for itself. I wrote an article in The Neopian Times
a few months back called "The
Art of Shop Stocking". If you're interested in stocking your shop
without getting ripped off, you may want to read that article.
4) Playing games. This is another great way to make money. If you're
new to NeoPets, I suggest that you try out all the games and choose a few that
you're good at. By constantly playing the same games, you'll quickly get better
at them. Choose wisely for when to send your Neopoints to your account, though
- you can only win Neopoints three times a day per game for most of them. I
recommend choosing at least two games from each section. For example, choose
two puzzle games, such as Destruct-O-Match and Chute, two action games, such
as Grundo's Gym and Meerca Chase, and two luck/chance games such as Cheat and
Pyramids. You'll be able to get a steady income this way without risking very
much.
5) Joining Guilds. If you want to belong to a group of people with
similar interests as you have, why not join a guild? It's a quick and easy way
to make Neofriends, as well as a good place to discuss your interests. Guilds
often have contests and trivia where you can win prizes, as well as role-playing
games. Guilds aren't for everyone, though. Make sure you trust a guild's criteria
before joining, also.
6) The Money Tree. Always a great place to get free stuff, the money
tree is a good resource for those who like to get lucky. You have to be very
fast to get an item, though, and you may not always get what you like. Another
aspect of the money tree is that there are ghosts that wander Neopia taking
money from pet owners to donate to the tree. Don't get upset if this happens
to you. Think of it as donating money to an unfortunate Neopian who needs the
money. Consider yourself luck if you can get anything from the Money Tree, though,
because it's very tough.
7) Scammers. Not all Neopians are friendly. It's important to be aware
of this fact because some people using the system should not be. If anyone asks
you for your password, you should report it to the NeoPets staff immediately.
Another scam I'm aware of is that some shop owners offer codestones and paint
brushes if you purchase items in their shops. Usually, their items are ridiculously
priced and you will probably never hear from them again after you click that
'OK' button. This sort of thing is what you really need to watch out for around
Neopia.
8) Faerie Quests. Every once in a while, a faerie will pop up to tell
you that she has a quest for you. In these quests, you will not be allowed to
use the shop wizard. Don't panic, however, because these quests are always worth
doing. The first thing you should do is to see if the item is in stock in any
of the shops. The short cut for this is to enter the item's name in the search
box on the side bar, and click on the item's name when the search results come
up. If the item's in stock, go ahead and haggle for it. If not, then you'll
have to go around people's shops to see if you can buy it. I recommend going
to the Marketplace and clicking on the shops at the bottom of the screen - they
usually have the best prices. Either way, good luck with those quests. They
are worth doing.
9) Other quests. There are many quests throughout Neopia that you can
do voluntarily. There was a very good article on this subject called "14
Ways to Survive in Neopia" that describes all these "extra" quests.
I don't do them very often myself, so I suggest you read this guide to find
out which quests are worth doing.
10) Contests. A good way to make NP (and have fun doing it!) is to
participate in the ongoing contests. These include Pet Spotlight (where your
pet can be a star), Site Spotlight (submit a pet's site for a shiny award),
Caption Contest (write a funny caption for a picture and win a trophy), Storytelling
Contest (an ongoing story that you can continue), Beauty Contest (draw a picture
of your NeoPet), and many more. Most of these can be found at Pet Central. I'm
sure you're all more creative then you give yourself credit for.
Well, that's it. I wish you luck on your Neopian journey, and hope that you
have found my information tidbits useful. If you do find any of the above to
your advantage, be sure to Neomail me and let me know. | 
