Now with 50% more useless text Circulation: 175,667,379 Issue: 358 | 5th day of Gathering, Y10
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Editorial


Hey, TNT. *waves* Thank you for the new Petpet games. I was wondering... if a certain group of people repeatedly claim that some users who win creative contests only do so because they're either using some secret method or "favoured" by staff (both being untrue) and continue to insult the entrants at every given chance, is that reportable? One board of late has been victimising regular creative contest entrants and it's rather looking like bullying. (Please leave my username out, lest Vullards are sent after me!) ~[username removed]
Yes, by all means report them for harassment if it is clear that's what they are doing. Contests are chosen by content, not the username. Often we don't even look at the username until we've already decided on a winner. If someone wins a particular contest frequently, it might be because they enter often with quality work. Instead of grumbling at the winners, these complainers should focus on figuring out what that person is doing right and see if they can learn what areas they could improve upon to better increase their own chances of winning.

Oi, TNT! How come the Snowager roars instead of hissing? ~vegetabol
Hmm... why don't you go poke him while he's awake and ask for us? *evil snicker*

If you already have Key Quest tokens from the plushies, can you get one of the free starter tokens? I've tried clicking the Free Token button in the tutorial, but it always takes me to a 404 page. ~ishtyquartz
The simple answer is: yes. The more complex answer has to do with it still being in beta. Those currently without tokens are assigned one for beta purposes, but if you already have some from merchandise, you can pick one of those. Therefore, once things stabilise and we get out of beta, you should have access to the four free ones.

Hi TNT! Are you allowed use the free 150 NC on a Neopet on a side account that will be transferred back to the main account in the future? I personally think this is a bit tricky, so I was hoping you could help out here. Thanks! ~youi234
Quite tricky! However, since NC items are bound to the account they are purchased with, that can't happen at this time. :)

Are we able to take part in the Petpet Park plot on our side accounts? From what I've gathered we won't win items, trophies, or other prizes usually associated with plots, so I'm just checking to see if the rules are different for this plot than other plots. ;D ~splenetic
No; you will be receiving Petpet Park items from your participation. Please only enjoy plots on your main account.


*sigh* We really need to make a macro for that sentence...

Throughout plots and around the site, I notice that Aishas tend to be used a lot as characters, with Lisha, Isca, Caylis, and Amira being prime examples. Is there any reason for that? ~remybuxaplentyfan
Some Neopets just lend themselves to being created into more anthropomorphic characters than others, with the Aisha being one of them. We're doing our best to shake things up a bit, though, and use a wider range of species.

You guys blah blah blah (you've heard it all already). Anyway, with everyone now being able to put NC items in their galleries, will that change how you pick the spotlight winners? Will you have to have most of the NC items now to win a spotlight? Thanks. ~outofthedarknessjw
Nope, NC items will not have an effect. If two galleries have the same items, but one has NC items as well, we'd prefer to feature the one that has the best looking overall gallery, quality coding, and has put the most effort in, rather than selecting based purely on the items.

If Princess Vyssa was supposed to succeed Coltzan the Third, then how did Amira become ruler? If she was the eldest daughter, then wouldn't she have been the heir from the beginning, or did TNT forget about Vyssa? ~dgirl1312
Vyssa was the ruler of Sakhmet after the tragic death of King Coltzan, and was heir until the return of her elder sister Amira, who was away visiting foreign lands at the time of her father's demise.

From Issue 357's Editorial:

"Do Neopets regain HP when they eat? ~shampooch

If you mean food, then no. They can be given healing potions, though, to regain their hit points."

I am shocked, shocked that whoever writes the Editorial doesn't play the site. *tsks* Of course they regain some HP after they eat. I'm currently feeding my low HP Neopet (it got attacked in the Geraptiku tomb) some food and it just re-gained 43 HP. Also, Pteris regain it all after eating any food item with the word "worm" in it. ~elementarylibraian
Actually, those of us that are responsible for the Editorial play the site quite a bit! We've just always kept our Neopets in the Neolodge since our very early days, and therefore never realised feeding them restored HP! Thanks for catching that and writing about it to save us from having to make a note at the bottom of this Editorial about the correction. We actually found out the truth a couple of days after the Editorial went live. Imagine our embarrassment! :X

If somebody makes a picture for somebody else and they put it on their lookup, but then a few days later the person that made the picture changes it to something inappropriate, who will get frozen? ~sparkshooted
This is why we encourage everyone to always, always, always host their own images, because this can happen. If it does happen, it's likely your account will be frozen due to reports and monitors finding inappropriate material on your page. HOWEVER, if you can write in and offer proof that it was a set up, the player responsible for uploading the inappropriate image will then be the one that gets frozen, and hopefully you'll be able to have your account restored once your innocence is proven. :)


It's not like it's hard to find free image hosting on the internet! ;D

Is it okay to ask/give your time zone to another Neopian to coordinate a meeting, schedule, trade or anything, or is it bad to do that? Can you be frozen for doing it? ~saphhie
No, that's just fine, as that is way too general information to endanger your privacy and online safety. :)

Is it possible to win the User Lookup Spotlight (or any other kind of spotlight, for that matter) more than once? ~lovebytes07
Yes, but for spotlights (not other competitions) we prefer that those who have never won before be selected. That being said, we certainly won't deny you another fifteen minutes of fame if you blow our socks off.

Dear TNT, how does one go about finding and buying the old Neopets plushies from Series 1 and 2 of Key Quest? I have gone to every store except Target (since it is very far away). All I find are the new Series 3 plushies, which I already have. Thus, to re-state my question, where can I find Series 1 and 2 to buy them? If I can't, then does that mean they are retired? ~jhonny123roxs
The Series 1 and Series 2 plushies were sold exclusively at Target. However, if you can't find them there, you might want to try some online auction sites.

While playing a few games of Key Quest, I came across a room with two very obviously linked accounts playing together at the same time (seemingly a main and a side)... of course this is against rules, and will likely get that user and side warned or frozen. Can you guys set the record straight for posterity about this being a big no-no. Thanks! ~sweetcaliangl04
This is definitely a big no-no. If you see any accounts trying to get away with such shenanigans, please report them immediately.

How do you remove all the points from Neopia that are generated each day by games? What happens to the points used to buy from official site shops and games that require a fee to play? Does making an item (by automatic restock) increase or decrease the amount of points in the system? Have any students researched and written papers on Neopia's virtual economy? BTW, thanks for keeping the site so exciting and friendly for all ages. ~loraleigh740
The Neopian shops, Hidden Tower, and other games that cost Neopoints to play are all "money sinks," though we certainly need more. We should put our heads together and figure out ways to make you guys spend more Neopoints on the site. Buahhaahha. We don't know if any students have written papers on the virtual economy of Neopets, but several employees have, lol!

A question has come up recently about very old accounts that have "inappropriate" usernames. In a recent Editorial, you said that extremely old accounts would be "grandfathered" in and not be frozen because of their username. Now, some accounts have been sent mails saying that they had one week to vacate their accounts before icing them. Did you change your rule? Is there any way possible to transfer some irreplaceable things (trophies, avatars, NC items) to the new account and/or give users 4 save transfers? This is really unfair to loyal and old users who are losing their accounts because a rule changed that they can do nothing about. Is there any possible way to let the user change their username? Please leave out my username if you pick this question. ~[username removed]
We are sticking by our previous statement where we said that older accounts would be grandfathered in. But, as in life, there will be some grey areas. There have been (and may well be) some accounts that just fall over that acceptable line. So, on a few occasions we have notified a user and given them a week to clear an account. As for transferring avatars, trophies, etc… we have to review each situation on a case by case basis. There's no easy way for us to do that sadly, otherwise we would. We feel terrible, but it has to be done. :(

There's something I've always wondered, so I'd really appreciate it if you could answer my little question. Sometimes I see people admitting to breaking a rule in their Editorial question. For example, they'll start with, "In the account I share with my friend..." or something along those lines. Anyway, does it happen often, or is that a rare occurance? How do you react when it does happen? ~tj_wagner
It happens quite often. Usually, we *headdesk*. Then, we *headdesk* some more.


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