What Now? What To Do When Your Goals Are Done!

Adoption Agencies-

We've all heard about them. Groups of kind Neopians who spend their time helping poor, unwanted pound pets or pets that owners are kicking out of their homes. They come in all shapes and sizes, from a group of friends listing their foster pets on a petpage to huge groups of foster owners and adopters. This is a wonderful way to keep busy and help tons of unfortunate pets. For most agencies, a foster parent finds unwanted pets from the pound or the neoboards, then adopts them. Then, they take care of their new pet, maybe zapping or painting it into a new color or training it to a high level. Then the owner finds a loving home for the pet and starts over again. This is great for people who have nice colors on their lab pets and want to keep zapping. It's also very rewarding for anyone, lab equipped or not.

Graphics Making-

For many people, making graphics is one of the best parts about Neopian life. Some people make just a few simple ones, while others make multiple petpages full of pixels, guild layouts, shop layouts, user lookups, buttons, and glitter images. Graphics take skill to make, but with practice and Photoshop, anything is possible. If you like guilds, there are many full of graphics kings and queens. There are also tons of guides to help you get started.

Guides-

Whether it's about games, HTML, daily clicks, Neopoint earning, Neopet names, or totally random on how to eat hats, everyone loves a good guide. There are many different kinds to be made,of course, requiring different levels of HTML skill. Of course, HTML and graphics guides will require a lot of it. In order to walk someone through the steps of making glitter images and layouts, you have to be skilled yourself. However, If you want to make a guide on games, NP earning, or hat eating, you need relatively little. This hobby is rewarding for several reasons. One is that you get to teach tons of people how to do whatever it is you do. Another is that warm, fuzzy feeling you get when you've typed your fingers off and your guide is finally done. (You may need to stitch those fingers back on.) Believe it or not, there are plenty of guides to teach you how to make a guide!

Directories-

If you don't have the skills or patience to make a guide, a directory is just as good. These are basically lists of links to guides about anything you want. There are directories of game guides, avatar help pages, dailies pages, adoption agencies, NP earning guides, and anything else you can think of. There are even directories of certain pets or colors, like a directory of island pets, or pets with meepits, or even of people who make graphics. Get creative! Directories can be of ANYTHING!

Help Board Surfing-

Some people, such as my friend Tnoell, like to go on the help board and pick random people to assist. Tnoell fostered a pet that someone wanted until they found a home for one of their other pets and could adopt. If you're good with HTML, you could help people who need lookups. Or, if you know where to find a good graphics page, direct people to it. This can be a satisfying and low-pressure hobby. Another board you can find needy people on is the quest board. There are always people needing someone to use the shop wizard to help them with their faerie quests. So that's a good board for when you're bored.

Screenies-

Screenies can be tons of fun! They're like pictures of things that happen on the web. If someone posts something funny or your lab pet gets a cool zap, take a screenie and keep the memory forever! Many people make petpages for their screenies. This is one more thing you could make a directory of. I don't know how to make them, but guess what! There are guides for that, too!

Writing-

Writing can be lots of fun! (Of course I'm not an English teacher!) Whether you write articles, short stories, series, poetry, or comics, it can be really fun to write for the Neopian Times or just for fun. If you have a skill or idea to share with Neopia, why not write an article? It's a great way to pass time and inform your fellow Neopians. If you're feeling creative, you could write a short story, or, for the long winded, a series! These can be about anything. Even crazy, meepit-loving, Xweetoks who eat hats for every meal! Now that's quality entertainment! Or, if you're the artsy, tech-savvy type, why not comics? Those provide hours of laughs for everyone. I read them every week. There are TONS of writer's guilds out there that would love to critique your work and help you improve. So if writing sounds interesting, exercise that brain muscle and try it out!

Newbie Helping-

We all know them. New Neopians who haven't a clue what to do. Usually, they haven't read the T&C closely enough to know begging is bad. That's where you can help! You can help those new folks find their way around Neopets. Show them the ropes. Tell them which games are worth playing, How to use the neoboards, etc. You could also tell them where to get cheap items and free food. This is kind of like having a mentor. I know I would have liked to have some help in the beginning. Plus, you have someone to talk to and it could be fun. Everyone wins. You could even make a guild of newbies and mentors who help them. Have fun with it.

Remember, there's no need to leave once your Neopian goals are finished! There's still plenty to do. If you didn't like my suggestions, get creative and invent your own hobby. These were only a few of the exciting things you can do. Think outside the box, that's more fun! Or you can ask other people for suggestions. So while it sometimes is the journey and not the destination that's the most fun, the destination can be pretty awesome, too! Enjoy it! :D