Happy Old Year!

Year 13 of the Neopian Calendar has been a very busy, super exciting and most of all memorable year indeed. This year, so many events, new paint brush colours, random fun things and updates to the site were made, so I decided to document them and present them to you in the form of this article. So whether you've been here all year like I have and just want to reminisce, or if you've just come back from a hiatus, read on and immerse yourself in flashback mode!

Without further ado, I give to you a brief yet hopefully comprehensive recap of, drum roll please… Year 13! (in a somewhat chronological order):

• Staragus was released, and a number of paintable Staraguses were too. Faerie, Starry, Orange and Ghost!


• Habitarium came out of Beta Testing and a lot of Neopians self-admittedly became addicted to the game (most of which, like myself, still are!).


• The 5th Annual Daily Dare took place.


• The Aroota petpet was released, and in blue, starry and ghost too! A shy, inquisitive little fellow, with the cutest ears you will ever find.


• The 8-bit Paint Brush Colour was released! The Neopian Pound board had mixed feelings towards this new colour. I found a lot of people either loved or hated it. Me? I'm still on the fence about the matter.


• Scourgies spread like wildfire through Neopia, with some parts of the globe in quarantine (remember those skulls?) However it was later discovered that TNT was just playing a cruel (yet completely and utterly hilarious) April Fool's joke on all of us hypochondriacs!


• Blumaroll, an all new NC game, rolled into town! You could buy a 1, 5 or 10 pack of Blumaroll Dice from the Neocash Mall and try your luck at the table to win some pretty neat wearable prizes!


• The Festival of Neggs was a little different this year, what with the faeries busily rebuilding Faerieland and all. As a result, Kari the Negg Faerie required our help to complete a few quests along with some nifty optional NC quests.


• Neggstravaganza took place once again. A bunch of awesome NC items were added to my closet as a result.


• Lawyerbot Appreciation Day was necessarily thrown into the month of April. The Art Gallery displayed some much obliged fanart for dear Lawyerbot and a few new items were released to celebrate the occasion, a few new robot themed jellies and a Lawyerbot Usuki Set to name a few.


• The Secret Laboratory got a new look! The entire map was redrawn, piece by piece. Neopians were given the chance to enter the Secret Lab Ray Giveaway at this time, in order to have a shot at gaining access to the very popular hidden ray.


• Neoboard fanatics were ecstatic to find that teeny-tiny paintbrush smilies were added to the repertoire of neoboard smilies at their disposal.


• The dreaded Wheel of Extravagance was released. The result of its arrival in Neopia? An increased number of poor if not bankrupt Neopians.


• Altador Cup VI saw Virtupets take home gold, Krawk Island come in at second place and Kreludor take third place on the podium.


• A Royal Petpet Paint Brush was released. The first petpets to be painted with this regal brush were the Zebie, Seece, Seti and Slorg.


• Bigsby Shadington brought his Wonderclaw contraption to Neopia and sold Widgets to the people of Neopia, which were used to win neocash wearables from this weird, wacky, yet wonderful machine.


• The new paint brush colour Swamp Gas was released! Again, many of the Neopians I spoke to about this colour either loved or hated it. I myself thought it was pretty stinky, yet a great match for the already existing Skunk Paint Brush colour.


• The Caprior Petpet was released; this little fellow is a blue Ixi-like-creature with fierce horns and a mean expression on par.


• A Collectable Card High Score Table was added to the site, along with trophies for those whose collections made it onto the table.


• Krawk Island disappeared! Neopia was in a panic searching the seas for any trace of the island. However, the island was eventually found, piece by piece, with help from Neopians all around the globe and a new governor was appointed as a result. Governor Gavril McGill now resides in a mansion on the island and allows everyone to take part in the Anchor Management Daily.


• As a result of this daily, Krawks became easier to obtain, as the daily occasionally gives out Magical Pirate Krawk Plushies, which you can use to turn your pet into a Pirate Krawk!


• The Forgotten Shore was discovered! A new map was released and Neopians everywhere collected the pieces of this map so that they could gain access to said forgotten shores. The Forgotten Shore Daily also helped decrease the value of Krawk and Draik Morphing Potions/Plushies/Eggs as it is possible to find Krawk Morphing Potions and Draik Eggs on the forgotten shores.


• The Schnelly petpet was released! A Schnelly is a skunk coloured fluffy friend with bright green eyes and a small upside down smile on his face. A very fitting petpet for your skunk or swamp gas painted pet!


• A new P3 was released, the Springabee! Quite a large in size P3 the Springabee seems to be, with yellow and black stripes, antennae to match and the biggest little wings you've ever seen!


• Another new paint brush colour, Water, was released! A wonderfully refreshing colour indeed!


• Haunted Hijinks arrived at the NC Mall, giving users the opportunity to bop ghosts and ghouls on the head and receive awesome NC prizes in return! Win-win!


• Wraith, yet another new paint brush colour, was introduced to Neopia! Scary little wraith Korbats have been seen flying around, from shadow to shadow, ever since…


• Neopets turned 12! It brought a tear to my eye; after all, it seems like only yesterday that they took their first few steps. Such a joyous occasion nonetheless!


• The Brains vs Brawn Games Master Challenge had everyone in a frenzy playing games and earning prizes (as with any other popular site event of course!). NC-fanatics could purchase key packs which let them gain access to either Abigail or AAA's room and win prizes each day. I bought the Abigail pack myself. Definitely good value!


• The Snowager kindly stayed asleep all of December so that Neopians could sneak in and take a piece of treasure from his stash! How nice is he!?


• Stocking Stufftacular arrived just in time for the holiday season, I splurged and bought a whole 25 pack of stockings again this year. Nothing better than waking up to a stocking full of new wearables each day! The Gift of NC also returned this year, so if you spent up big this month you should receive a nice sum of bonus NC!


• As well as the above list, the following Neopet Species/Colour combinations were released, so if you've been away there may be a few new colours you might like to paint your pet!
  
  You might want to grab a snack because it's a long list. Here they are: Island Gnorbu, Snow Gnorbu, Maractite Aisha, Woodland Aisha, Mutant Acara, Grey Buzz, Gold Buzz, Transparent Elephante, Checkered Elephante, Woodland Kacheek, Strawberry Kacheek, Maractite Draik, Maractite Lutari, Maractite Zafara, Biscuit Zafara, Grey Lenny, Electric Lenny, Woodland Tonu, Strawberry Tonu, Camouflage Chia, Sponge Chia, Transparent Mynci, Relic Mynci, Zombie Gelert, Snot Gelert, Maractite Uni, Chocolate Uni, Robot Scorchio, Snow Scorchio, Woodland JubJub, 8-Bit Chomby, Glowing Chomby, Maraquan Shoyru, Glowing Shoyru, Maractite Krawk, Camouflage Krawk, Grey Draik, Grey Xweetok, 8-bit Kougra, Speckled Kougra, Zombie Lutari, White Lutari, Woodland Cybunny, Biscuit Cybunny, Maractite Hissi, Camouflage Hissi, Zombie Lupe, Sketch Lupe, 8-bit Moehog, Silver Moehog, Tyrannian Wocky, 8-bit Grundo, Tyrannian Yurble, Camouflage Yurble, Maractite Koi, Speckled Koi, Chocolate JubJub, Checkered JubJub, Woodland Nimmo, Silver Nimmo, Darigan Quiggle, Shadow Quiggle, Swamp Gas Kau, Skunk Kau, Transparent Flotsam, Silver Flotsam, Desert Acara, Gold Acara, Desert Gnorbu, Swamp Gas Tuskaninny, Skunk Tuskaninny, Woodland Ixi, Glowing Ixi, Chocolate Kiko, Gold Kiko, Royal Girl and Boy Tonu, Grey Ruki, Spotted Ruki, Maractite Peophin, Split Peophin, Swamp Gas Ogrin, Transparent Blumaroo, Custard Blumaroo, Relic Meerca, Skunk Meerca, Mutant Chomby, Woodland Grundo, Sketch Grundo, Water Kyrii, Silver Kyrii, Water Draik, Jelly Draik, Chocolate Lutari, Swamp Gas Techo, Silver Techo, Transparent Poogle, Striped Poogle, Woodland Skeith, Electric Skeith, Ghost Lutari, Transparent Grarrl, Biscuit Grarrl, Zombie Bori, Split Bori, Maractite Eyrie, Gold Eyrie, Water Jetsam, Split Jetsam, Wraith Korbat, Sketch Korbat, Halloween Grundo, Water Yurble, Water Uni, Wraith Pteri, Skunk Pteri, Royal Girl and Boy Bori, Water Usul, Split Usul, Woodland Xweetok, Electric Xweetok, Wraith Bruce, Silver Bruce, Water Wocky, Speckled Wocky, Christmas Xweetok, Wraith Ogrin, Striped Ogrin!

So whether you are old or new, back from hiatus or continuing your Neopian journey, I truly hope that Year 13 was not only wonderful, but magical for you and your family and in turn I hope that Year 14 brings you as much, or significantly more joy than the last! (If possible!)

Happy Old Year and an even Happier New One!

Congratulations, TNT, for another year well done!