|
|
Layout WILL NOT display correctly at less than 1024 x 768.
This guide is based on my own personal opinions. I am a coherent, smart, polite, good-natured player, as are most, so I am assuming my views expressed here will echo a large portion of the Avatar Collecting community.
The tone of this guide may seem snarky or biting; please take it with a pinch of salt. It is how my humour works and shouldn't be taken as a rant or lecture.
I did not make this guide to point and laugh at people who are less eloquent than I, or people failing to get items lent to them. I made this with these goals in mind:
- To help seekers find lenders for their items under their own steam
- To stop annoying boards and approaches
- To highlight how things come across and how they affect how potential lender's views
Names in examples removed to protect the innocent and the stupid.
THIS GUIDE IS CONSTANTLY UNDER CONSTRUCTION!
Updates:
15/09/09 – Added some information on the aftermath of lending. This coding glitch has been a pain!
10/09/09 – Various updates, more affiliates. Am attempting to find examples of the boards to break up the text a little. Info on rude lenders.
05/09/09 – Feedback, Joint Lending Board information, more on Vouchers.
29/08/09 – Awards, feedback, advice, listings, illustration in the lenders section.
25/08/09 – Added info on current avatar use and fonts.
24/08/09 – Revamped the layout, taking advice from my first review. Split the layout into two columns. Entering several SOTMs.
23/08/09 – Feedback, community advice, page anchor navigation, reviews section.
21/08/09 – Community advice, joint board section.
20/08/09 – Community advice, feedback, affiliates.
19/08/09 – Avatar cost section added, giving some idea and perspective.
17/08/09 – Links fixed, information on 'extras' added.
15/08/09 – Community advice, listings added.
Does this work? Who do you think you are?
Everything I've been lent, was for free. This includes; Icy Snowflake, Nova, Orange, Codestone, Dung, FQD, ITTPD, Hidden Tower, Adam/#6, Chokato, Pink, Snow, Gray, Harris and surely a few others I've neglected to mention. I have always found some manners and common sense work wonders when asking to be lent.
I've also been a lender of basics and FQD.
Note: I've not included some petpets in the price lists – but you should consider the huge amounts of time it takes to 'age' them. Also some pets are not included, as they are labzaps (pea chia, coconut jubjub) – thus not necessarily expensive but rare.
*ITTPD Note: The 'I Taunt the Pant Devil' avatar can be obtained by having 126 sand snowballs in your inventory and refreshing. How? The avatar is calculated on the item's estimated and not actual worth. A sand snowball has an estimated worth of 40,000 NPs, but costs less than 200 NPs.
So you've seen someone around with an avatar pet. Maybe you've seen them lending, maybe not – but you think it's worth a shot neomailing them and asking them to lend to you. DON'T DO IT. The tone hardly ever comes across as a simple enquiry, but has overtones of a charity-guilt trip; "you are better off you ought to help those less fortunate". It is assumptious and "cheeky". It puts the person you've contacted in a horrible social situation; the nicer your neomail the worse it is in fact, because they are going to feel worse for saying no. They might even feel pressured into being nice and lending, and end up losing a pet.
Assuming somebody has items to lend is the same kind of rudeness.
Let's look at why these topics aren't appealing to lenders:
Using your name: while you might think this makes things more personal, makes people identify with you are more likely to lend to you, most people see through this. We all know the "it puts the lotion in the basket" trick, and most people will avoid lending to you because they don't want to feel manipulated into doing so. It's the same with the "it's my birthday" line.
Numbering your attempts: I've seen seeking boards numbered in the 300s. That's pretty ridiculous, and the impression it gives is that you've been seeking for a long time, and never been lent – it must mean you're not trustworthy.
Tone: Ending with an exclamation mark (!), and reads like a demand. Using a question mark (?) reads better as it is posed as a question.
A more simple and effective title works better:
Smilies bordering your title (at each end) work, but peppering your title with them is off-putting. Also off-putting is backwards fonts, misspellings, lolspeak, l33tspeak, wRiTiNg LiKe ThIs and ALL CAPS.
As to the content of your board, don't continue the sob story/begging spiel. State again what collateral you have or if you are seeking a free lender, and give reasons as to your trustworthiness. Any proof (excluding vouchers, they are covered below) is helpful.
Posting a board and leaving: and telling people to neomail you is rude. If you can't be bothered to stay, you're unlikely to get lent.
Manipulative stories: Like the above, whether they are true or not stink of trying to trick or play people into lending to you. They are not big and they are not clever.
Hi-jacking: Don't go onto someone else's request board and ask to be lent, hi-jacking their thread. It's extremely rude!
Thank you neomail: Good idea, and most often appreciated.
Annoying and in my opinion stupid behaviour is when one person starts a seeking board for someone else; "lend my friend ___ FQD" then inside "___ will be here in a minute." If they want to be lent to, they should make the board themselves!
Account age: The older an account, the more likely you are to get lent. There are many lenders who won't lend free/partial to any account under 4 months.
Avatar count: There are over 89 clickable avatars. Any lender with even a dash of common sense will never lend to anyone who hasn't bothered to get those. As well as clickables, there are "easy" avatars. You're not likely to get lent if you have under 150-180 avatars.
Trophies: Trophies don't impact too highly if the rest of your account is 'good', because games are not something every other person is good But trophies showing your involvement in plots and events are proof of your commitment to neopets, as are 'easy' trophies like cellblock.
Pets: Pets with high stats and that are painted are more appealing to lenders. Pets that have up kept pages and artwork dedicated to them are extremely appealing, because they are evidence of someone who is sincere in wanting to borrow and not scam lenders out of their hard earned items or pets.
Layouts: Fancy layouts aren't everything – someone can easily copy and paste a premade layout. But making sure it is evident you care about your account does help the impression formed of you. Misspellings and bad grammar are pet peeves for a lot of people, especially those who proudly call themselves 'literate', so run things through a spellchecker before you add them to your shop, lookup or petspage.
Current Avatar/font: Fact of the matter is most lenders want to see a nice matching font/avatar. It shows care and effort. The avatar doesn't have to be a 'good' one; lenders would rather see the use of a low-level avatar because you like it than an expensive one you're obviously just showing off with. The font doesn't have to be spectacular, but to be honest the default font is not nice to look at.
Extras: Most lenders will also look at extras on your account, such as stamp collections, neohomes, galleries, and petspages. None of these have to be extraordinary, but what you've done with them shows dedication to your account.
Being a voucher is a social contract, that if the person you vouch for scams the item being lent to them, you repay the lender. This is not official or dictated by any rules – vouchers do not, under any TNT terms have to compensate your loss if you are scammed.
The views I have gathered from advice sent to this guide or from the AC are split. There seems very little middle ground – some lenders like them – they are easy to find, easy to read, concise, and helpful. Some hate them – they are 'try hard', manipulative and off-putting. So it is your choice whether you link to an application when seeking.
My own view: I think they are basically a combination of a lot of things covered in this guide, and while seemingly useful have the potential to lead to a less vigilant approach to lending. People will look at the page and not bother to investigate the person's account further.
Referring to your old account: Do so, stating how many avatars you had previously, and if applicable what you were lent. But don't assume just because you used to have good account it is going to be simple to get lent, and don't expect lenders to even take the old account into consideration – you have to appreciate that it is risky to do so. An attitude of expecting or feeling like you deserve to have things lent to you is unbelievably rude and off putting. Also, don't turn the reference to your old account into a sob story about how you were CG'ed or brr'd unfairly – it's whiney and lenders don't like it.
Please send me your opinions on this section.
Read the first post: The lender will be annoyed if you don't, as will others who took the time to do so.
Note the collateral: If the lender is asking for collateral, don't ask for free! It will just annoy them, even if your account is glacier-cool.
Chat: If the lender asks you to stay and chat, do so. If they don't, it might be a good idea to anyway. Chat to anyone, to everyone, not just to the lender. Don't play up to the lender, complimenting their pets and lookup and gallery and font, it's not clever and it's not cute. Share any commenting around everyone on the board; show an interest in what other's have and have to say. Courtesy, civility and politeness are genuinely shining characteristics.
Pity posts: Honestly, most people are not interested in how you were scammed or how you "never get lent :(" They may say "oh poor you" but they really want to tell you to stop trying to hog attention and get lent like that.
Neomail: Don't neomail the lender when the board is running unless they tell you to. Also, don't pop into a board, find you have to leave and ask the lender to "neomail me if you choose me!" because they won't. If you can't stay and chat, whether its in your control or not, they are just going to be annoyed that you assume you are so much more special than everyone else wanting to be lent.
Pointing out n00bs: You don't need to point out n00bs to the lender. If you see someone who hasn't read the first post or is being rude/immature, you don't need to draw attention to this by saying things such as "I hope you don't lend to ____". The lender can see the n00bs for themselves, and being smarmy is just not appealing.
The Lending: When it goes down, the lender may choose to keep it private. Don't hassle them to reveal who beat you to get lent. If they do reveal, do not hassle the lender or lendee; it will get you reported. If you do not get lent, take the miss gracefully; don't stomp or whine or pout about not getting lent. People will remember and be reluctant to lend to you in the future. Wish people a safe time and exit with your dignity intact.
The aftermath: DO NOT GIVE THE NAME OF YOUR LENDER TO NEOFRIENDS or strangers. There is truly nothing ruder than giving the person who was kind enough to lend you the stress or random people asking to be lent.
Part-collateral: With a combination of a good account and some collateral many lenders may be willing to except lower collaterals. If the lender says they will except part or free, it's may not worth offering a mere 30k for a 5million np item. Some lenders would prefer you not to bother, while others would like to see the offer of any collateral.
It seems fair enough to ask people to stay and chat, and to prove their worth. But to ask stupid tasks of people – like playing games to get lent is just annoying.
Bordering on cruel is when you play people. You are of course within your rights to choose not to lend to anybody, but it shouldn't take you 30 pages to figure that out.
I'm not talking about being sharp with those rude seekers who spam/whine/sulk on your boards – but when people come post their piece, and are polite in doing so, and you cut them down with sharp or belittling remarks or out-and-out rudeness, it makes you look like a nasty, stuck-up person. You don't have to be rude to be a successful and safe lender. You never know; being nice might help you make some friends in the process.
Boards like the above really are annoying. Unless the alert is to a still active scammer, we don't really need you to cry on the boards. It comes across like you're looking for charity, for people to make donations to you – and this has been used as a scam in itself (pretending to of been scammed of something to get donations). These are not detected because the poster will not ask for donations – people will offer them out of the kindness of their own heart, not realising they're being played.
Since 15/08/09
27/09/09 – It's been almost 2 weeks – finally a simple solution to the glitch was found, I honestly wasn't looking forward to recoding this and all my other pages. Also had some offline junk to sort out, but I should be back to updating now.
Didn't you use to run the 'Lendmeplz!' guide? And other questions.
Yes I did. It was on a side account which I froze when I left for hiatus. I'm restarting the idea. I think it's something people could benefit from.
Avatar costs – let's get some perspective before we continue.
Avatar items and pets are expensive to obtain – this is why the avatars are hard to get! It is vital you understand the prices of these items, and therefore why it is often difficult to get them lent to you. (All values are up to date estimations – I would appreciate notice if there is sudden change.)
Avatar Cost 
Fire Paw: 3,500 NPs 
Green Robo-Quiggle: 50,000 NPs 
Scroll of Dark Nova: 20,000 NPs 
Niten Hiroru: 20,000 NPs 
10 Different Codestones:Around 40,000 NPs 
Snow Paint Brush: 100,000 NPs 
Icy Snowflake: 110,000 NPs 
Quadrapus: 150,000 NPs 
600,000 NPs to buy a Baby Paint Brush from the Hidden Tower 
Orange Paint Brush: 700,000 NPs 
Fire, Fire, Your Pants On Fire Paint Brush: 1,100,000 NPs 
Halloween Paint Brush: 1,350,000 NPs 
Halloween Paint Brush: 1,350,000 NPs
Mummy Baby: 4,500 NPs
Faerie Queen Doll: 1,500,000 NPs 
Pink Paint Brush: 2,750,000 NPs 
Mootix: 3,000,000 NPs 
Grey Paint Brush: 4,000,000 NPs 
Chokato (TCG):4,500,000 NPs 
Island Paint Brush: 5,000,000 NPs 
*5,000,000 NPs or under 30,000 NPs (see note below) 
Anywhere up to 9,000,000+ NPs (view the 'About Us' page for the current price of asparagus) 
Meowclops: 9,000,000 NPs 
Blue Draik Egg: 10,000,000 NPs 
Krawk: 18,000,000 NPs 
Bony Grarrl Club: 35,000,000 NPs 
Zafara Double Agent Plushie: 6,000,000 NPs 
Malevolent Sentient Poogle Plushie (TCG): 300,000,000 NPs 
Super Attack Pea: 700,000,000 NPs SEEKERS
Those of you seeking to have items and pets lent to you.
Neomailing people with avatar pets or items – why it's rude and you shouldn't do it.
Lend request boards – stop making them so annoying.
Lend Bob FQD free! #34
Joint lend seeking boards – are two heads better than one?
The general consensus on this topic seems to be that pooling your resources in order to get lent can yield results – but lenders do not favour this style of seeking. Especially when one seeker has a much "better" account than the other, they feel if they lend to one they are pressured to lend to both and risk their item. It does not seem fair to put the lender in this position.
Trustworthiness – how your account affects lending.
If you've run into hard times – been scammed or iced and lost a good account and starting again, then you are going to find being lent for free/partial collateral very difficult. The simple fact of the matter is first impressions are lasting and important.
Vouchers – why they are mostly meaningless.
Quite simply, vouchers are often a scam. People can go on other accounts and vouch for the primary account, or separate people can work a scam together. Vouchers have no real weight unless they are made by people 'known' on the AC, or there is screencapped proof of successful free lendings.
Application Pages - are they reassuring or off-putting?
Some seekers/potential lendees will link to an application page when they make a board, offering reasons to be lent, details on their worth and vouchers.
Rebuilding – the exception to the rule of an aged account.
So your awesome account got sent to the big chill – for whatever reason – and you're having to rebuild. This is where avatar count, mannerism and patience come above account age.
Lend offer boards – dos, don't, and other things to consider.
Someone makes a board saying they are lending Adam/#6, let's say. Before you start foaming at the mouth from excitement, take a breath and read through these points.
Collateral – why it helps and when not to bother.
Full collateral: speaks for itself. Any account can get lent with full collateral, because it's insurance to the amount of the loss should it happen. Although the lender may not want HTS (hard to sell) items.
LENDERS
Those people willing and able to lend their items and pets out to others.
Lending boards – don't make us jump through hoops.
Rude lenders - Etiquette goes both ways, thank you very much.
Being scammed – nobody but your best neofriends care.
I lost my FQD :(:(:(
Your Input
Are you a lender? A seeker? Do you have advice, feedback or tips for this guide? Neomail me (x__jasper). I would love to include things from the community, and to hear what you think of the guide.
Please vote for me at these 'Site of the Month' pages!
Vote now:
September:
Navigation – let's not get lost, folks!
GENERAL:
[Neomailing avatar pet owners]
[Lend request boards]
[Joint lend seeking boards]
[Trustworthiness]
[Vouchers]
[Application Pages]
[Rebuilding]
[Lend offer boards]
[Collateral]
[Lending boards]
[Rude lenders]
[Being scammed]
OTHER:
[Your Input]
[Feedback]
[Reviews]
[Links, Affiliates and Listings]
Or you can use a text link back to:
neopets.com/~lendmeplz_v2
NEOPETS, characters, logos, names and all related indicia
are trademarks of Neopets, Inc., © 1999-2009.
® denotes Reg. US Pat. & TM Office.
All rights reserved.
PRIVACY POLICY | Safety Tips | Contact Us | About Us | Press Kit
Use of this site signifies your acceptance of the Terms and Conditions
