The inside scoop on Jelly W-argh! *choke* Circulation: 134,586,010 Issue: 276 | 26th day of Sleeping, Y9
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Editorial


I've heard that you can get "locked out" of Neopian shops for an hour by refreshing too fast/too many times. By locked out I mean that they won't restock for you. Is this true? If so, is there any way to tell when/if it's happened to you (besides the obvious not restocking for you)? Sometimes it seems to take forever for shops to restock and it would be hard to tell if it's something you did or just the randomness of restocking. Thanks so much! :) ~ladyjellybean
Yep, this is quite true, though the length of the ban varies. One of the ways to tell if you are temporarily "restock banned" is if items (that aren't selling well) in a shop suddenly disappear over a single refresh. Also, you can check less popular shops like the Tiki Tack or Collectable Card shops (which often have lots of unsold stock) and see if all the items are missing. If they are, you can be fairly certain that your restocking for the day is over. Don’t fret, though... the ban will automatically lift soon enough. Also keep in mind that it isn't a punishment, so don't take it personally; it's only there to make restocking more difficult for cheaters and keep things balanced for those who play honestly. :) (And, before anyone asks, no, you can't then go restock on another account that isn't banned.)

Hi and whatever. Is it true that you can get any paint brush on your birthday? ~frank1995444
Sorry, this isn't true. However, each year on your birthday your account will display our special birthday sidebar, which increases Random Events, so your odds are better. It's not guaranteed in the slightest you will get a paint brush, though.

Hey guys you rock! I rock, too, by the way ^^ I read that you can't open tons of windows with a page and reload it because it will get you frozen, but what if I do it to get a BD challenger on just one certain page? ~marivenezuela
Sorry, it's a BIG no-no, even if your intent is to get a BD challenger and not Random Events or other such things.

Here's some things to keep in mind while refreshing for BD challengers:

~Hitting the refresh button repeatedly or F5 to refresh the page is a great way to do it.
~Don't place items on your F5 key to refresh for you.
~Don't use programs or multiple windows to refresh at faster rates anywhere on the site.


We all rock!

On one of the editorials you mentioned that refreshing 100 pages at the same time will get you frozen faster than you can say Gerapitiku. BUT! What if you are a restocker and refresh continuously in different shops? Will I be at risk of being frozen because I restock at a lot of shops at the same time? ~berri_gallery
This is just fine. You can have a bunch of different shops open in several different windows that you can go through and refresh individually. Basically, we don't allow opening up a large number of pages and hitting "refresh all" so that you refresh them all at the same time, because that is something only a computer can do, which means you are using a program to aid you in playing Neopets.

On the Quest Board, users often create posts saying "Quest Help for 250 NP!" Their topic then says that they will look up an item on the Shop Wizard, put the item in their shop, and add an extra 250 NPs to the price so that they can earn a profit. (Of course they're free to set their own shop prices.) We regular QB helpers believe this is a scam, although a blatantly stated one. By using the FREE Shop Wizard, this person will earn NPs because someone else cannot use the SW. They argue that this is not stated in the rules; therefore, they can do it. We counter that chat rule #6, which doesn't let you perform services for NPs, makes this a scam. We would just like clarification as to whether saying "I am charging you for my help." is against the rules or not. Thanks. ~alatyr13
You are quite correct that this type of activity is not allowed! Those who try to charge others for services, be it art, avatar lending, or using the SSW or normal Shop Wizard will get this lovely little warning in their Neomail inbox:

"You may not ask for or offer any services or use Neopets images or materials to earn money, Neopoints, or Neopets' Items. This is a violation of Neopets copyright and trademark rights and the Terms and Conditions, and is strictly forbidden."

There are a remarkable number of ways to make Neopoints that don't resort to breaking the Terms and Conditions of the site. Perhaps those trying to sell services should look into them. ;)

Could you PLEASE make a time zone change option for those of us no longer residing in California? ~the_academy_awards
We'll put aside the fact that there are no "time zones" in Neopia while answering this question. ;)

Imagine if you had to figure out how many hours to count forward or back to see when the Snowager's awake. Or when Deadly Dice is available. By using NST, everyone can use the same standard when they communicate back and forth and there's no confusion. The clock on your computer can help you keep track of the actual time for your area, also. ;) Besides, it would confuse your poor Neopets and throw off their sleep schedule. D:


What's a California?

I was wondering, is it okay to complete the Defenders of Neopia series on your side accounts, if you make sure you earn the Neopoints for your weapons on your main? I only see that you'd earn a non-tradable item, the trophy, from it. Does this go against the T&C? Thanks! ^^ I just want to make sure before I complete them :33 Y'all are the greatest! ~xaliaz
Since Defenders of Neopia only awards a trophy and not Neopoints or items, it's fine to complete it on all your accounts. You can move your weapons between your accounts as you wish, just make sure the funding for it all comes from your main account, of course. :)

And, just as a disclaimer, should DoN ever begin awarding Neopoints or item prizes, completing it on multiple accounts would immediately be against the rules. We don't foresee this happening, but if it did, someone would inevitably reference this editorial answer claiming we said it was fine. -_-

How do you know when you've won the Lenny Conundrum? ~catz5_dogz5
If you win the Lenny Conundrum (or Mystery Pic) you will be alerted through Neomail, and your winnings automatically placed in your account. *nod*

I always get a good laugh checking out the names on the PPL, as they're always pretty creative. Anyway, I was flipping through and I came across week 174, the Blorbis, and only 4 showed up. No matter what I pressed, top 50, 100, 200 -- there were only 4. Now, there can't only be 4 Blorbises in all of Neopia, can there? What's up? Were there only 4 that qualified or something? ~lebklk
The Blorbis is a fairly rare Petpet, and indeed, while there may be more in Neopia in galleries or trades, only four were attached to Neopets. Also, before everyone asks next week where the Blorbis Petpet comes from, we'll tell you right off the bat that they were the highest prize available to pirate supporters during the Curse of Maraqua plot. On the Maraquan side, the best prize was the Marafin Petpet.


You don't want to know how much we cost these days.

On 24/1/2007 I noticed four items in my inventory that I didn't remember acquiring. These were: Jellied Eggs, Tuna Sub, Raspberry Scorchio Cookie, and Cheeseburger. I have left these items in my inventory. Please could you tell me what to do? ~cocoadyson1
Hrm, perhaps you simply visited the Monthly Freebies page and forgot about it? (We won't put a link here in case anyone tries to click it from a side account.) ;) It gives four food items like the ones you received and 2,000 NP once a month. That would be our guess as to what happened!

One of my big fears is that, while randomly moving through Neopia, that evil little baby Boochi will appear and turn one of my already-painted Neopets into a baby. Would it be possible to ensure that Boochi will always "miss" when targeting a Neopet that is already painted? ~dragonlover8560
If you're really that nervous about Boochi, we suggest that you set your active Neopet to one that isn't available to be painted baby. But it's such a rare Random Event that you shouldn't fret over it, honestly. :)

Is there ever going to be a jelly paint brush? It would be pretty cool! ~mimi_w_2
Sorry, there will be no jelly paint brushes. The only way to get a jelly Neopet is via the Secret Lab Ray.


Neopets would probably just try to eat them anyway.

Dear TNT, I've been wrestling with this issue for some time, and I don't know what to do. I have good reason to believe an acquaintance is violating the terms and conditions in a way that you would consider a serious offense (I suspect they're committing more than one violation, but I only have proof of one of them). They have had previous accounts frozen for reasons known only to you and them, and they were not forthcoming about it when we asked. I wouldn't call them a friend, but they're part of my circle of friends and acquaintances, so even anonymous reporting could be tricky. Personally, I am not competitive enough to care that they are cheating and appear to be a more successful Neopian than me... I play the game for ME, not to compare myself to others. But, at the same time, it really isn't fair to other players who may be more competitive than I am. Do we have an obligation (beyond a moral duty) to report known offenders? *PLEASE* don't include my username! ~anonymous
We understand that sometimes people feel that they don't want to "betray" another player by reporting them, but honestly, if someone is cheating, it hurts everyone, including your other friends. We've seen plenty of boards with players stating, "Well, I know my friend uses an autobuyer, but it doesn't effect me since I don't restock, so I don't really care." Players who cheat ruin it for *everyone* else, directly and indirectly. Often these cheaters amass a lot of items, then are frozen, which removes these items from the economy, causing the prices of already rare and expensive items to inflate even further, often out of your own reach. The opposite happens with multiple account abusers, who cause daily items and rewards to sell for less because there are more in the economy. So just because you're not directly competing with this person doesn't mean you're not being affected in the long run.

Some arguments for cheaters often are, "It's just a game. Who cares if I cheat? I use cheat codes on my PS2 all the time. What's the difference?" Neopets is a community with its own economy. Unlike single player games where the console or computer doesn't care if you're not playing fair, interactive, online, multi-player games are different. Your actions do effect another people. For example, you're playing Halo by yourself, and you use some kind of new cheat that instantly kills everyone within a certain radius… well done. You defeated the point of the game, but it didn't bother anyone. Now, if you used this cheat while playing Halo online, you'd make quite a few people upset and have an unfair advantage. Besides, in the end it really achieves nothing. If you have to cheat to win, is it really winning?

The short non-preachy version: no, you don't have to report them, but it benefits you and everyone else to not tolerate cheaters, no matter what their excuses. *nod*


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