The OPD Cloofinder
The official OPD newsletter. This section is now for OPD announcements. :P

Issue #24
by dreww (he's definately got a good writing bone in him. *pokes him to write some NT articles*)

The highly anticipated guild newsletter is finally here! It has been many months in the making but the wait was worth it. It is full of your fellow guild members' stories and articles and even has an editorial section where you can get your guild or neo related questions answered. Along with the newsletter came a new activity that every newsletter needs; a crossword. The newsletter is currently on a monthly schedule. Don't wait! Check the newsletter out here. Don't forget to send a neomail to stamping if you would like to contribute an article.

A new plot called Journey to the Lost Isle has begun. Check out the current plot resources box for all the links. It appears that there may be a new island popping up in Neopeia sometime soon. Don't forget to visit the guild boards for plot updates and to post your latest theories about the plot. Keep your eye on the news for any plot updates.

Neopeia was definitely not prepared for this! A new layout has apparently "taken Neopets out of the 90's and into the 21st century". The new layout has been met with both praise and harsh criticism. Some of the criticism includes that the layout has been stretch, load times are long for dial-up users, all user made layouts are all wonky because the coding system changed and users were not consulted. Although it seems that TNT is listening to the users and changing some things according to their feedback. Along with the layout change came the ability to customize your neopet by being able to dress it. This was something that many users wanted. But what they did not want was the re-draws that many pets received in order to work with the new system.

Well after a long wait (mainly due to me, manda, being a lazy busy bum. sorries) the new rank names are here! Now it is your job to decide what rank name you like best. Go here and follow the instructions to vote. Please make sure you vote for a name under the rank that you are currently in. The non-existant deadline is fast approaching so don't delay!

It appears that the Altador Cup is returning this year. TNT stated in the Neopets magazine that the widely popular AC is to return to Altador again this year. We will all have to wait till June to see if there have been any changes in the teams or the actual game itself. This announcement has been met with anger from some users who didn't particularly enjoy the game, while others are excited that it is back again. Keep your eye on the news for updates.

Getting In
Want to be an OPDer? After reading this page, send a neomail to stampingqueen2 or manda314. Tell us how you heard about OPD, why you want to join, and that you agree to follow our rules. Also make sure you are allowing guild invite neomails. It may take us a day or two to check you out and send a response. We are not a stuck up guild, but we do prefer maturity and a max of one person invited into the guild each week. For this reason, we may ask you to request an invite again at a later date. We are only private to keep out the riff raff and keep us from becoming a huge anonymous guild. :P

Starting Out
The first thing you should do, as a new member, is read up on the OPD guild. We've hopefully provided a little too much info on this page so you won't have any questions, but if you do, please neomail one of the guild leaders, preferably the leader that handled your invitation, with all of your initial questions. The next thing you should do is tell the entire guild about yourself on the guild board as stated in the 'Your First Post' suggestion under 'Board Rules'. You can also enter your birthday in the OPD Calendar. After you've hung out with us for a few days, you may want to participate in some of the OPD activities. The rest is just a matter of settling in and/or getting involved.

Take your time. Try to wait a few hours between posts. Plan out what you want to say and who you want to say it to, and include all this in one post instead of many small ones. The guild board is not a chat board. OPDers like to chat on the plot boards and then leave massive catch up posts in the guild. This is our way and you will be assimilated. :K

If you have any questions about the guild, please ask through neomail to the council member that sent your invite. Your inviter is your OPD mentor. :D If you have any questions to a specific post you have seen, please ask them in neomail.

Guild Ranks
The following guild rank section is out of date. We are in the process of changing ranks and the meaning of ranks and will update this section soon.

There are four available guild ranks. They are Darkling, Darkest Knight, Tainted Minion, and Dark Assassin. Mostly its based on how familiar we are with you, if you're active, and your board behavior.

Darkling
You start out as a Darkling. To go up in the Darkling ranks, all you need to do is post. See the board rules for more info.

Darkest Knight
To get to Darkest Knight, you'll need to post 25 non spammy messages and be a member for at least two weeks.

Tainted Minion
To get to Tainted Minion, post 50 non spammy messages, participate in a few activities, and be a member for at least a month.

Dark Assassin
To get to the top position, Dark Assassin, you'll need 100 non spammy messages, be a member for at least six weeks, AND have done something for us. See How To Help for more info. As an alternative, you can be a member for at least 3 months, have 150 non spammy messages, and show your involvement in all things guildy... or just have joined and be lubbed by all. *shrug*

Please do not inquire as to why certain people have ranks higher or lower than what is stated in these requirements. These requirements are here to help you improve your OWN rank. The ranks of others are between the leaders and them.

First Council
This is chaoticboom, the owner of the guild.

Second Council
This is stampingqueen2, the co-owner of the guild and main council member. In chaoticboom's absence, stampingqueen2 has full rights to run the guild.

Third Council
This is manda314, a member of the council. In the absense of both chaoticboom and stampingqueen2, manda314 has full rights to run the guild.

Fourth Council
This is a permanent position but is not currently held at this time.

Fifth Council
This is a rotating position that is given to the member of the month. They will have no council duties except those they already control.

The Keepers
This is the subcouncil. These members help to run the guild and contribute to guild policy. In the absence of the first three council members, the sub council will share equally in nominating and voting for a new owner to the guild. In the event of tie between nominations, the nominated will be entered into a guild poll and voted for by the guild. The new owner can then rank the sub council as he sees fit. The sub council members are dwaggie, dododbutt222, dreww355, kimik000, fudgesheba, and kortni0619.

An absence is defined as two weeks without an announcement to the guild, but takeovers are temporary and will always revert to the higher ranking member upon their return.

If the subcouncil has taken over the guild and if any main council member returns within six months, the members of the main council will regain their position as leaders of the guild automatically. However, if they have been missing for more than six months, their position is at the discretion of the subcouncil.

Advertising OPD
OPD is a close knit group of plotters. We love to meet people and after becoming friends, invite them to the guild. This is our main advertising method. But advertising by other means is not discouraged. If you'd like to advertise OPD with a graphical link, here are a few you may use. :)

162x47 Button
<center><a><img src="http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b17/manda314/OPD/pr/2.jpg" style="border: 0;"></a></center>


162x47 Button
<center><a><img src="http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b17/manda314/OPD/pr/sophie.jpg" style="border: 0;"></a></center>


162x47 Button
<center><a><img src="http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b17/manda314/OPD/pr/4.jpg" style="border: 0;"></a></center>


217x106 Mini Banner
<center><a><img src="http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b17/manda314/OPD/pr/opdouthwp.gif" style="border: 0;"></a></center>


350x19 Userbar
<center><a><img src="http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b17/manda314/OPD/pr/sophieuserbar.gif" style="border: 0;"></a></center>

Referring
Let us know how well you know who you are referring for an invite, whether it be someone you just met or if they are your best friend in the whole wide world. We can handle it from there, but you may go ahead and have them read up on this info page.

How To Help
There are lots of opportunities to do things for OPD, such as volunteering to help out a coordinator, contributing to the guild newsletter, donating to the guild shop, suggesting original ideas for the guild, coming up with entertaining suggestions to the activity coordinators, being ultra helpful, or volunteering for coordinator positions when the opportunity presents itself. All suggestions, including spelling mistakes, graphic mistakes, activity ideas or suggestions, and problems should be done through neomail to the proper guild leaders.

You can also lend your services to the guild as a whole by listing yourself in the Free Help section at left. To enter into that section, you will need to neomail manda314 with the services you offer, and for quality, also include samples of work you have done.

Free Help
The people listed in the free help section at the left have kindly agreed to help OPDers with the listed problems! Send them a polite neomail with your request. Understand that they may not have time or may find your request too difficult and can decline. Also, make sure you don't ask for help during the busier times of the plots. :)

Donations
Neopoint donations can be made to stamp's guild shop. The funds will be used for bday presents, other presents, and the excess saved for any future projects that may come up.

Item donations can be gifted to the happy_lil_camper_gir account. Extra omelettes are needed for the guild shop and fine items will eventually find its way into the wish gallery.

Getting Into Trouble
OPD may seem strict, but all of our rules are here for the well being of our community. We love Neopets, we love plots, and we love OPD. Warnings, suspensions, and removals from the guild are at the discresion of the council. If you love OPD and are given a warning, please heed that warning. Working with the council to resolve problems, instead of making excuses after excuses or fighting with the council, is the best way to get through these problems quickly. Understand that we are not saying you can't defend yourself if you have been unjustly warned. Just know that we are not being bullies, rather we are trying our best to keep OPD a pleasant place to live and recuperate from the disease of plot obsession.

We are a friendly active guild. Our message board may go slowly, but most of us can be found on the plot boards chatting our heads off n-blocked-. Everyone is welcome to post on the guild board and we especially want to see an introduction of yourself. But we do have a few rules. All of these rules are to keep annoyances at a low, to prevent the guild from being deleted, and to prevent the members and leaders from being frozen.

Legend
Rule: This must be followed, and if not followed will result in disciplinary action.
Suggestion: This is a guideline and isn't heavily monitored. Try to follow these when you can. Only extreme cases will result in disciplinary action.
FYI: This is related info to the rules and suggestions but isn't a rule or suggestion itself.

FYI: The character limit for a guild post is 2000. If you say a lot (and so many of us do) you may want to write it out in ms word first so you can check your character length.

Suggestion: Your First Post
If you have just joined us, we WANT you to say hello. Introduce yourself. Tell us how you found our guild and why you thought it was a good idea to join. What plots have you participated in? What are your favorite things about Neopets? Do you know any of the members here already? Excited about any activities we have planned? Give us a great big first post and put your bday on the calendar! Already posted? That's okay. Don't let the consecutive post spam rule scare you off from posting again.

FYI: Those who join the guild, post a message no matter how well written or helpful, and then LEAVE the guild will have their message(s) deleted.

Suggestion: NO SPAM!!!!
SPAM: Short, Pointless, Annoying Message.

Posts consisting of just "hi" or "hey" or any derivative thereof is SPAM. Posts 'bumping' the board or asking 'Is anyone here?' is SPAM. We're probably all chatting in OLDPD anyways. Writing consecutive messages without having people respond to you is SPAM, since you are basically just talking to yourself. Posting messages complaining about other people's spam is SPAM. Bring it to the attention of a guild leader. A post of only smilies is SPAM. Clapping a congrats and the like is fine, :), but say a little more if you can.

Try to include thoughtful, longer messages. As a basic rule, only post messages with a purpose that are at least two decent sized sentences long. We are friendly guild and we have no problem overlooking spam if it doesn't happen too often.

Suggestion: Double Post Bug
Please take steps to prevent multi posting. How do you prevent multi posting? If, when sending a message, you run into an error, press the back button, right click on the 'Messages' link, and choose to open it in a new window or tab. If your post has not shown up, then you may press the submit button again.

If you happen to make a double post, or spot someone double posting due to that bug, please ignore it. No poking. No apologizing. When a moderator sees it, they will delete it.

Rule: Off Site Links
We have a zero tolerance policy on offsite links. Absolutely, under no condition, can you post a link anywhere outside of Neopets (neopets.com) even in spelled out form. Images can be 'shown' on petpages rather than posting a link to the image. Popular sites can be mentioned by name only. Do not encourage or advertise a site even with the link omitted.

Suggestion: On Site Links
On site links can be posted on the guild board but when doing so, be aware of the length. If it is wide, please use a line return. (Anything after .phtml is probably too long.)

FYI: Some confusion has occurred to those who try to post an onsite link, and are blocked. The trigger for the block comes from including the 'http://'. Skipping this part of the address is usually all that is needed to get the link to work.

Suggestion: Begging and Advertising
Begging and advertising is not encouraged on the guild board. Beauty Contest entries can be advertised once at the beginning of the contest and once before it ends. You may advertise a guild discount for any trade no more than once a week if the for-guild's discount is significantly less than the going rate. Please keep all other advertising to the boards.

Rule: Banned Topics
Religion, politics, romance, suggestive remarks, and all other banned topics are more so banned with us. Please keep it off the board.

Suggestion: Etiquette
You are always welcome to point out typos, spelling mistakes, time change suggestions, suggestions on how to do things better, or any other criticism. But please do so respectfully through neomail. Remember that the leaders here work hard to serve you and have fun. They need twice as many compliments as criticisms. Words can hurt. Open debates about the work of others are not very nice... so please don't.

Rule: Out of Guild Behavior
It is important to OPD that your behavior outside of the guild reflects kindly on us. You MUST follow TNT's terms and conditions. If we see anyone breaking a rule set by TNT, we will warn you about the rule you are breaking. If the warning is unheeded, you will be deleted from the guild. OPD cares about Neopets as a whole and will not be associated with anyone that does not respect TNT's terms and conditions.

Your behavior on any Neopets forum must also reflect well on us. If we find you being rude, offensive, or innapropriate in any way, we may delete you warning or not.

Your behavior on the plot board is especially important to us. Most of us met there and most of us spend our time chatting there. We choose to be friends with all groups that meet there, not just OPD associated groups.

Your behavior to OPDers is the most important to us. On the guild or off, in neomail or publicly, we will not tolerate any rudeness or harrasment to your fellow guild members. Disagreements can and do happen, but this is no reason to verbally attack each other. Any member or members found participating in such behaviour can be warned, suspended, or removed from the guild.

Rule: Problems With Fellow OPDers
If you have an issue with any fellow OPDer and feel it warrants guild attention, contact a member of the council. Should your issue be with a council member, contact manda314 or stampingqueen2. All issues will be discussed and all parties involved will be contacted discreetly and as quickly as possible. If you find a guild member breaking the TNT's Terms and Conditions, report it to TNT and then report it to us.

Handle all issues discreetly, person to person. Keep in mind that comments you may find rude might not have been intended to be so. Give the other person the benefit of the doubt and allow ample time to explain themselves. However, if you feel this is not working and you absolutely can not deal with it any longer, let the council know.

Suggestiony Rule: The Plot Board
Most of our members come from the plot board. All OPD members must respect all groups meeting in the plot board. If you choose to participate in any groups chat, you must follow the set rules for that chat. OPD is a fan of plots and a fan of the TNT who create and run them. None of our members shall be found spamming the plot boards with complaints about a plot. If you are not obsessed about plots, you should not belong to Obsessive Plot Disorder.

We have tons of activities. Keep an eye on the guild calendar and boards to see what's going on. Participation in these activities is encouraged, but not a requirement to be part of the OPD guild.

If you would like to volunteer for an activity we already have, neomail the coordinator and offer your services. They are the boss where their activity is concerned. Do not volunteer on the guild board or mimic their activity there. If you would like to volunteer for your own activity, or just suggest a new activity, neomail a guild leader. Again, do not suggest the activity on the guild board. We periodically add new activities, but we like to keep the hints and planning secret until the surprise unveiling. :)

A reminder: One of the reasons activities were started was to have something to do during the plot lulls. Please put the plot first whether you coordinate the activities or just participate in them. Beside each activity we have stated whether it will continue during plots. H Status (Hiatus Status) Will be On, Off, or OFFDP. On means it is not on hiatus. Off means it is on hiatus and a brief reason is given. OFFDP means that it is off during plots. Also, sometimes activities will periodically go on hiatus. This is at each coordinators discretion and often has to do with real life conflicts (holidays, exams, disappearing off the face of Neopia). :D

Participation in these activities are not mandatory to be a member of this guild.

OPD Goodies
The Goodies are our weekly games. When things run smoothly, the new Goodies go up on Sunday. Members have until the following Friday, at 11:59pmNST to send in their answers. Winners of the Goodies will win appropriate trophies for their guild trophy case! There are currently four Goodies games. They are the Guild Trivia, Scavenger Hunt, Mystery Pic, and the Caption Contest.

Guild Trivia - dreww355 - H Status: On
Similar to the Lenny Conundrum, Guild Trivia is a game of logic or math problems. It is run by dreww355 and the first three to answer correctly win gold, silver, and bronze medals.

Scavenger Hunt - stampingqueen2 - H Status: On
Collect the items pictured above the large bubbling cauldron and place them in one lot in the trading post. We do not buy or offer on the lots, we just look at them. It is put together by dreww355 and the lot number is sent to stampingqueen2 who draws the winner out of a hat. The winner receives a large golden cup.

Mystery Pic - stampingqueen2 - H Status: On
Same as Neo's Mystery Pic, you must find where the piccy comes from. It is coordinated by stampingqueen2 and all answers should be sent to her.. The first three to answer correctly will win gold, silver, and bronze coins.

Caption Contest - dodobutt222 - H Status: OFFDP
Just llike Neo's caption contest, you will be given a picture and must come up with a witty caption. Captions will be voted on by guild members through the poll. Sometimes the reverse happens and you are given a caption and must come up with the picture. This activity is tacked on the Goodies about once a month.

Daily Calendar Activities
These activities were introduced in March 06. It included the already running Avatar Adventures, Faerie Crossword Answers, and the Newsletter and introduced five brand new activities. So far, they have all been a success. Please remember that the coordinators are the 'official' owners of their respective activities. Please do not assist them in these activities (or mimic the activities) without being official assistants. Thank you.

Spotlights - Sunday - stampingqueen2 - H Status: Off due to coordinator leaving. Will come back soon.
Each Sunday the coordinator will tell us about something or someone or someplace that is very nifty. Keep an eye out for her posts. There is not much interaction for this activity besides to read her posts and to let her know your opinions on what is being spotlighted. You are welcome to nominate a spotlight and occasionally she'll even listen. ;)

Money Tree Mania - Monday - accepting applications - H Status: Off due to jeleda being missing. Please send manda314 applications.
Each Monday, all the OPDers will be flooding the money tree with a certain item at a certain time. The coordinator will let everyone know what to save up for a few days before the event. One to three times will be posted for the Money Tree flood, and these times will change from week to week, giving everyone a chance to participate. The proper way to flood the tree is to use quickstock, choosing to donate (being careful not to discard or deposit). At the exact hour, minute, and second posted, click submit. If you have -js- turned on, and receive a warning message before the donation goes through, then you may click submit beforehand, and when the proper time comes, click the confirmation option.

To donate under 50 items, you may have all items in your inventory (and any item you do not want to donate safely tucked away in your sdb), choose quickstock, check donate, and submit.

To donate 51 to 70 items, have your inventory empty, have all donation items in your sdb, open your sdb and locate the items you will be donating, choose the amount of items to donate in the drop down list, and enter your PIN number. A few minutes before the proper time arrives, press the submit button, scroll up and choose quick stock, scroll down and choose to check all items for donation, then wait for the proper time to submit.

To donate more than 70 items, have your inventory empty, have all donation items in your sdb, open multiple windows of your sdb, choose the amount to donate in the drop down list of each window, and enter the PIN in all. A few minutes before the proper time arrives, press the submit button in one window, scroll up and choose quick stock, scroll down and choose to check all items for donation, then wait for the proper time to submit. After submitting, quickly close the window, click submit in the next window, scroll up for the quick stock, scroll down to check donate, and quickly click submit. Repeat as necessary.

Avatar Adventures - Tuesday - kortni0619 - H Status: On
Every Tuesday, The Avatar Adventures coordinator will provide information about two avatars. Occasionally, an avatar item will be up for a guild pass along. Lending requirements will be included with the post. Others with the same item are welcome to post their lending requirements as well. Also, you may contact the coordinator if you would like to borrow an item from the avatar items gallery even if it is not the featured avatar for that week.

Newsletter (Guild Announcements) - Wednesday - manda314 - H Status: Off until manda gets off her lazy bum.
Every Wednesday a new newsletter will come out. It includes the latest news (recaps of conversations and debates that week), introduces new members, and when things aren't hectic, includes an informative or fun filled feature.

Comedy Newscast - Wednesday - obiwanpi
Every Wednesday obi will regail us with the news in Neopia. Put your serious mask on and just try not to laugh.

White Elephante Day - Thursday - Fudgesheba - H Status: On
Every Thursday, one lucky OPDer will sign on to Neopets and find their inventory completely flooded with gifts. How nice of us.

The White Elephante Day coordinator is always open for suggestions on a 'victim' and an 'item' to send on Thursday, White Elephante Day. The item MUST be under 1000 neopoints, and PREFERABLY under 100. Suggestions on the victim and item must have an underlying reason or joke for being chosen. There MUST be a reason. We're not going to throw a bunch of rotten sandals at someone (unless they deserve it).

Midweek, the coordinator will ask for those that want to participate, to send a neomail. They will be given the name and the item chosen so that participants will have time to stock up. Occasionally, the coordinator will skip this step, and release the item and victim on the guild board.

If you, for some strange reason, do not want to be chosen as a victim, neomail the coordinator, and you will be put on the block list. Also note that nominating yourself for items will fall on deaf ears.

World Challenge - Friday - dodobutt222 - OFFDP
Every Friday evening, for one hour (the hour will vary), all of the OPDers will be invited to enter a World Challenge to play a specific game and embarrass ourselves with our lousy scores. Assistants will occasionally host more World Challenges at other times that day. Please don't let your lack of game playing skills stop you from having fun with us. Even if it is just to watch the scores, we'd love to have you around. During the game, participants will be chatting on OLDPD. The World Challenger coordinator will have a fun filled report to share on OPD after the game is over.

Battledome Spotlight - Saturday - katzie7 - H Status: On
In this informative report you will learn about the ins and outs of fighting in the battledome.Everything from weapons, hp, training and more will be covered in these fun spotlights posted each week. The spotlights will be posted in summary form on the guild board each week and in their entirety on the petpage of Amaria07

If you have any suggestions for battledome spotlights or you have something you want to know more about, do not hesitate to neomail the Battledome Spotlight Coordinator.

More Activities and Guild Services
We currently have a few other activities for you to enjoy. More activities are always being added so keep your on the Guild Announcements section for the latest updates.

Newsletter: OPD Cloofinder - Monthly - stampingqueen2 - H Status: On
Every month a new guild newsletter will come out, called the "OPD Cloofinder". It features articles, comics, and editorial and other features all written by your fellow guild members. Want to know what is happening this month in the guild? Then this is the place to look. If you want to write and article, short story, or any other piece then just drop stampingqueen2 a neomail.

Crossword - Monthly - dreww355 - H Status: On
In correlation with the monthly newsletter is the monthly crossword. This crossword will test your knowledge of some area of the site, like a plot, a pet or even a land of Neopia. This activity awards you a spiffy trophy for your case if you are on of the first three correct entries.

Wish Gallery - stampingqueen2 (happy_lil_camper_gir) - H Status: On
See an item you want in the Wish Gallery? See something you think another OPDer would love? Send a creative neomail to the gallery keeper anytime Monday through Friday. She will let us all know who won through a guild board post, and the lucky winner through neomail. Remember, just asking for an item will get you nothing. You must be CREATIVE, as in stories, poems, or jokes. :)

Guild Poll - Weekly - dreww355/kimik000
A new poll comes out every week on Saturday. You are more than welcome to send any suggestions for a new poll to dreww355. It can be about anything neo related! Posting complaints that a new poll hasn't come out in a while... is uhmmm... not so welcome.

Calendar Updates - Sunday with daily reminders - shy157 - H Status: On
You can always count on shy to tell us the next major event in the guild. Whether it is birthdays, vacations or neo-verseries we are always kept up to date with what is on the calendar. An overview of the week's events is usually posted on Sunday followed up by a reminder on the day of the event.

Faerie Crossword and Daily Puzzle Answers - Daily - kimik000 - H Status: On
Every day our friendly kimi posts the answers to both the faerie crossword and the daily puzzle, found on the front page. She always suggests that you try the puzzles on your own and use the answers if you get stuck. Mimicking this activity is not appreciated.

Blogs of Doom - dwaggie - H Status: On
This guild service utilizes dwaggie's great graphic skills. You can request dwaggie to make a personalized blog for your gallery, user lookup, shop, or any other page. Go here for some samples of some of the blogs that dwaggie has already made.

Guild Events
Just like plots and other site events, we have major guild events. In the past we have had the OPD Snowball Fight, Search for the Lost Negg, Halloween Candy Hunt, April Showers, May Flowers, and many more special events. Keep your eyes on this page for new special activities. Most will net you a trophy. Visit the archives page for some old activity info.