NEOPIA CENTRAL - It used to happen to me all the time. I would go to grab some
free omelette and wind up face to face with a sign that read, "The Omelette
is gone!" And it usually seemed to happen at those times when I had forgotten
to feed my pets the previous day and they were extremely "not hungry". It took
me awhile to figure out three very important things. (1) There are certain
regular times of the day that you can't get some things, (2) some things
are randomly closed for a short period of time and (3) Chewing Dung may
be the nastiest food in the universe but your pets will eat it anyway.
The brutal truth of life in Neopia is that just because you want it, doesn't
mean you can have it. At least not whenever you want it. Of course, it's possible
that some sort of Gremble sees me coming and shuts down everything just to annoy
me personally, but I have a sneaking suspicion that whenever something is closed
for me, it's closed for everybody. But there is a bright shining Orb of the
Light Faerie at the end of this tunnel. If you at least know how long
everything is closed, you can plan ahead for it.
There are four different "Forget It, You Can't Have It" types of things.
You Can Count On It Being Closed
The Scratchcard Kiosk is located in the Ice Caves section of Terror Mountain.
Not everyone buys scratchcards, but those of us who are addicted to hopefulness
buy them. If you're lucky you could win Neopoints or an item. If you're not
lucky, you'll probably want to buy another one because you're sure the
NEXT one will make you a gazillionaire. But there is a catch to this. Not only
are you limited to buying one only once every two hours, but the Scratchcard
Kiosk closes twice a day for an hour each time. I guess the Wocky there has
some sort of tapeworm because it constantly closes the shop in order to eat.
It is "Out for Breakfast" between 9:00 am and 10:00 am NST (Neopian Standard
Time) and it is "Out for Lunch" between 1:00 pm and 2:00 PM NST. Since you can
only buy a scratchcard every two hours, you should try to adjust your scratchcard
buying times so you can avoid not being able to buy scratchcards during those
hours. For example, if you start buying scratchcards at 6:30 am, you can buy
one at 8:30 am, 10:30 am, 12:30 PM and 2:30 PM and not miss a beat.
The next one I'm not 100% sure about because it only happened to me once.
The Neggery, also located in the Ice Caves section of Terror Mountain, sells
Neggs. This seems to be an exhausting activity because the Negg Faerie takes
a nap from 5:00 PM until 6:00 PM NST. At least she had a sign up once when I
went to buy a Negg from her. I left the place wondering why in Neopia anyone
would take a nap at dinnertime.
You can go to the Tiki-Tack Tombola on Mystery Island once a day for a shot
at free items or Neopoints. The times the Tiki-Tack Tombola opens each day and
how long it stays open seems to be pretty random. However, the Tiki-Tack Tombola
shuts down completely for three hours between the hours of 9:00 PM and
midnight NST. So if you haven't been to the Tombola by then-- YOU'RE OUT OF
LUCK until the next day!
Surprise! It's Closed
The Snowager, which by odd coincidence, is located in the Ice Caves section
of Terror Mountain, is a large worm with insomnia. The fun thing about the Snowager
is, if you can sneak in while it is asleep, you can get a pretty nifty item.
The bad news is that it is awake most of the day. But the good news is that
when it does sleep, it is asleep for an hour at a time. Don't ask me
what those times are. There are things in Neopia you just have to figure out
for yourself. Like, what do all those weapons not listed in the Battlepedia
do? Or when DOES Coltzan's Shrine give out a million Neopoints? Or, what is
it with the Ice Caves section that makes everything there shut down when you
get there?
The Turmaculus is a large Petpet located in Meridell that also has a sleeping
disorder. But the problem with the Turmaculus is that it sleeps most of the
day. And like the Snowager, when it is available, it's for an hour. The
times are completely random and change from day to day, and you can only try
to get something once a day if he is awake and you have a Petpet attached
to your active pet. So count on being disappointed A LOT. But if you do
catch him awake, you can receive a strength boost for your pet, a level for
your Petpet, an item, Neopoints or other types of goodies. So it is definitely
worth trying. Unless of course he eats your Cloud Kadoatie. Eww. Bad visual
there.
The Tiki-Tack Tombola gives out random items and sometimes Neopoints when
it is open. But when it "ugg, runs out of cash" it closes until there are enough
donations to re-open. There is a trick to this though. Since more people are
donating Neopoints during the day, there is a shorter waiting period during
the busy user times of the day. That also means there is a longer waiting period
in the middle of the night (in Neopian Time) when fewer people are around to
donate Neopoints. Sometimes it will post a sign that says "Closed. Back in a
hour or so." That means you have to come back in an hour or so. Duh.
Once a day the Giant Omelette in Tyrannia says "The Omelette is Gone!" When
this happens, you cannot get free omelette for 2 to 3 hours. My advice is to
go very early in the morning or later in the evening when it seems less likely
to be closed. Or you could go in the middle of the day. Or in the middle of
the night. Okay, fine. I haven't a clue when it is the best time to go. Just
go and pray the snarling Tyrannian Lupe isn't there waiting for you when you
show up.
"Guess the Weight of the Marrow" is a Meridell game that allows you to guess
the weight of a large vegetable once a day for a chance at winning a good prize.
However, once 10 people have correctly guessed the weight, it closes until the
next day. The time the marrow re-opens the next day so you can guess is random,
so keep checking back and try to get your guess in as early as possible. Of
course that's no guarantee that you'll win anything. I mean, you have to guess
correctly too.
Nyah Nyah It's Only Closed For You
There are some things that YOU and you alone are not allowed to do. No amount
of begging or refreshing the page will help you. Believe me, I've tried. For
example, if you have already tried to steal something from the Snowager, you
will not be able to try again until the NEXT time he is asleep. The same is
true of the Turmaculus. If you have asked him for a "gift" while he is awake,
even if he doesn't give you anything, you still won't be able to ask again until
the NEXT time he is awake. So make sure you have a tissue or a hankie handy
when you visit him to sob into, just in case.
There are some things that seem to be closed, but really aren't. Some things
limit how often you can do them. If you try to do them more often than you're
allowed, you will get a message saying "Try again later". Some examples of time-limit
activities are:
Wheel of Excitement: You can only play once every 2 hours.
Wheel of Mediocrity: You can only play once every 2 hours.
Wheel of Misfortune: You can only play once every 2 hours.
Scratchcard Kiosk: You can only buy one once every 2 hours.
Buried Treasure: You can only play once every 3 hours.
Healing Springs: You can only take your pet to be healed once every
hour.
Coltzan's Shrine: You can only take your pet to be blessed every 12
to 13 hours.
Some games simply limit how many times you can play them during a day. Most
flash games will allow you to play as much as you want, but you only get Neopoints
the first three times you "send" your score. But there are other games that
won't even let you play. The first one that leaps to mind is Poogle Solitaire.
If you win the game, which means you only have one Poogle left, you may have
to wait up to 72 hours to play again. Whenever I manage to do that, the next
day or so my Lupe tells me he'd rather play Meerca Chase instead. Another game
that will make your pet outright rebellious is Kacheek Seek. If you play more
than 20+ times in a day you will have to wait until the next day to play again
because your pet will demand to do something else instead.
You're Too Late So It's Closed
Some things are over before you even knew about them. This is especially true
of "Guess the Weight of the Marrow". Other examples are "Better Than You", "Lenny
Conundrum" and "Mystery Pic". Personally I think it would be more fun if they
let you go ahead and try and THEN you get a message that says, "MUAHAHAHA! The
prize has already been won! Sucker!" The only advice I can give you is to keep
checking the news or the games themselves and try to do them as soon as they
come out.
Neopian Contests and competitions are run on schedules so you may have simply
missed the boat on something you wanted to do. Beauty Contests start at 4:00
pm NST every Monday, so it is actually best to submit on Monday, Tuesday or
Wednesday for the NEXT week. If you wait until the Beauty Contest officially
starts--it's too late and you won't get in. The Multi-player Competitions--Kacheekers,
Armada and Geos--begin on the first day of every month. If you wait until the
end of the month to sign up you may not get in. I sign up on the first day of
the month for the NEXT month. That way I'm certain that I will get in.
So the bad news is that things in Neopia are like things in real life. You
just can't do whatever you want to do whenever you want to it. I mean, if I
had my choice, I'd rather go to school during the middle of the night when the
mall is closed. But the good news is that Neopia isn't closed. It just seems
that way sometimes. |