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The Myths of the Kadoatery


by allielle

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I decided to write this article after being inundated with Neomails regarding my Kaddiction. The majority of Neomails consisted of messages along the lines of me being greedy by “hogging Kads that other Neopians could use” and others being outright rude and sardonic. But honestly, feeding Kads isn’t that difficult at all. It all boils down to patience and practice.

I have to be honest; it took me years to seriously try going for the Kad avatar. (We’ll refer to the Kad avatar as going pink henceforth.) This is because when the Kadoatery was first introduced, I found the exorbitant speeds at which Neopians fed the Kads intimidating and frustrating. This resulted in me ignoring the Kadoatery as long as possible.

Unfortunately, I found that darling pink avatar consistently dangling in my face whenever I strolled along the Neoboards. So finally, in mid 2009, I decided enough was enough. It’s time to take the plunge and assuage my fears; thanks to all the help from well-written guides and friendly conversations, I finally managed to go pink. As I dug deeper into the world of feeding Kads, I realized that I was addicted. As someone who hated the Kadoatery in the first place due to “overfeeders”, I can admit that it’s ironic that I have become one myself. But you know what? Feeding kads is a hobby that is gratifying and ridiculously fun. Once you feed your first Kad, you’ll find the thrill addicting and may even become an overfeeder yourself. :)

The Kadoatery has a propensity for being the bane of every avatar collector's Neopian life, but please try to listen to me as I debunk the most prevalent rumors surrounding it.

I. Feeding Kads is expensive

Thankfully, the infamous Blue Draik Eggs are no longer being asked for by those perpetually hungry Kadoaties. However, there are still unbuyables (UBs) still being asked for on a pretty much daily basis. So what is the purpose of this? Well, snarkie once said that these UBs are asked for purposely to balance out the Kadoatery. Maybe someone has an UB on chance and are on their 75th feed and just want that pink avatar RIGHT NOW. (Remember, patience is a virtue and the lack of it can be very expensive ;).) But don’t worry, many avid Kad feeders ignore the UBs and feed very cheap foods instead. Contrary to popular beliefs, Kad feeding is actually very cheap. Considering the amount of NP the average Neopian earns daily due to playing games and dailies such as Tombola and the Fruit Machine, Kad feeding is the least worry anyone should have regarding a negative NP balance.

Just ignore the UBs and go for the cheap foods. The majority of Kads will ask for food that averages from 10 NP to 1000 NP.

II. Overfeeders are rude and pompous and should give everyone else a chance!

Wrong. I can’t even imagine how silly someone would sound Neomailing an avid trophy collector or Neopian Times writer to complain about them consistently stealing their “spot”. How is overfeeding any different? Feeding Kads is an activity that is done on leisure time and should not be confused with intentional mischief to make anyone's life miserable. In fact, I have met a lot of friendly overfeeders that love sharing their feeding tips and making small talk. The only time I have ever seen an overfeeder give a snarky retort is when someone whines about their Kaddiction.

Additionally, the concept of “giving someone else a chance” is all around atrocious. There are thousands of Neopians online at once, so even if one overfeeder wanted to give someone a chance, what are the chances that ANOTHER Neopian will take their spot? Would this former person complain to them too? This same logic can apply to trophy collecting and/or Neopian Times entries. Everything on Neopets is basically a competition, so you either win or lose. I respect those who lack the inclination to complain and instead focus on practicing to hone their skills to achieve what they want.

III. The system of the Kadoatery is difficult to comprehend.

Again, this is wrong! The new system is arguably annoying and frustrating, but it is not impossible to grasp. Currently, the system is *not* random but instead uses a refreshing cycle. This is how it works:

Kad refreshes always happen 20 seconds after the minute when main is pending. This 20 seconds works on NST, not your computer or browser. I mention this because occasionally computers and/or connections will lag and times won’t always be synced. So what exactly is a “main pend”? Well, after a main refresh when the Kadoaties ask for new food, the next *POSSIBLE* main begins 28 minutes later.

Let me elaborate on “possible”. Kads rarely ever refresh on the first possible pending main. When this does not happen, the next “pending main” begins in seven minute increments. So if a pending main is at 6:24 pm NST, but the Kadoatery does not refresh, the next pending main would be at 6:31 NST at 20 seconds past the minute. There is no set amount on how many pending mains will pass before the Kads refresh. Be patience and retain your sanity. ;)

Helpful Tip: The Games Forum is extremely useful when feeding Kads because there is always a topic on Kad feeding times. A time keeper will always specify the next time for a main or mini refresh.

IV. My internet and/or computer is slow so I will never be able to feed a Kad ;_;

I used to have this mentality when I lived on dialup and a computer that took fifteen minutes to reboot. Even then, I was persistent in going pink despite the fact that my sanity was on the line. Although feeding a Kad with either of those aforementioned attributes is extremely difficult, it is not impossible. I highly recommend taking advantage of the Neopian Standard Time. Many Neopian players live in a timezone very close to NST; this means that you can either a) stay up way past your bedtime or b) take advantage of the fact that you live in a country that is eight (give or take) hours away from NST. Instead of trying to feed Kadoaties during peak hours, try doing so when the majority of overfeeders are asleep or AFK. This is a useful, but not guaranteed, method of feeding Kads.

Remember, patience and practice is the best route to going pink. Not only will you begin finding Kad feeding highly addicting and enjoyable, but I bet you will even seriously consider becoming an overfeeder yourself!

Before I close this article, I just want to mention that it is *not* possible to receive the Kadoatie petpet from the Kadoatery. This message was relayed by TNT in the 159th issue of the Neopian Times; sadly, no one has ever received a Kadoatie from the Kadoatery so please don’t park there solely for this purpose.

 
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