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FAERIELAND - If you've ever encountered a Faerie quest, then you know that they
can be difficult to do. The shop wizard is out of your reach, and the shops you
find from the marketplace either don't carry that particular item or have priced
it appallingly. The trades and auctions can help, but that takes time and you
were probably in the middle of pricing your shop and need to get back the access
to the shop wizard.
And then you remember that among the NeoBoards there is one labelled 'Quests'
and its description promises "kind folks who are willing to lend a hand". With
the rise in the number of quest faeries the quest board has been getting a lot
busier. But it also means that there are a lot of people posting who are unfamiliar
with the highs and lows of the board. The following article discusses different
quests that can be found in Neopia and how to use the quest board to complete
them.
TYPES OF QUESTS
There are many types of quests to choose from on Neopets that can broadly
be divided into two categories: uber-Faerie and timed quests. And now, pay attention
because this is important! Uber-Faerie quests are the only ones that disable
shop wizard! That's right! When doing any of the other quests (that you
have chosen to take) you can ALWAYS use the shop wizard. So there's no need
to go to the quest board asking for help with those. And now let's get to the
individual uber-Faerie quests:
Fire Faerie - wants clothes and raises your pet's strength in return
Light Faerie - wants trading cards and raises your pet's level in return
Earth Faerie - wants magic items and heals and feeds your pet in return
Air Faerie - wants beauty products and raises your pet's speed in return
Dark Faerie - wants toys and raises your pet's hit points in return
Water Faerie - wants books and raises your pet's defence in return
Faerie Queen - can ask for anything and raises your pet's stats by 3 or 4 points
in return
Space Faerie - can ask for anything and raises one stat by 4 points in return
Fountain Faerie - can ask for anything and lets you colour one pet any colour
that is available for the species in return.
The timed quests are a bit different. As mentioned before, they allow you
to use the shop wizard. And another thing they have in common -- they're hardly
ever worth doing! I wouldn't spend more than 2000-3000 NP one each of the following
since the rewards are never very good.
Snow Faerie - she wants chocolate and magic items and rewards you with a weapon,
a magical snowball and some NP. The weapons aren't usually very expensive.
Brain tree - wants information about the inhabitants of Neopia. The ONLY way
of getting it is feeding the Esophagor (and according to some, the witch's tower
can also help but I can't confirm that) twice. It can be pretty expensive, though,
so remember the bad rewards from brain tree. If you decide to feed the Esophagor
in spite my warnings then make sure to write down both of Esophagor's answers
exactly as he gives them to you. Brain Tree doesn't allow for bad spelling!
Esophagor - you can also do the Esophagor's quests separately from the brain
tree. He still wants spooky foods but gives back just about anything. I got
a black lipstick from him - one of the cheapest items.
Witch's tower - Edna requires items for her potions, usually toys or grooming
items. Rewards aren't good, though, so be careful.
Kitchen quests - feeding Mumbo Pango is apparently a full day's job and you
can help by getting some food items for the cook. Remember not to spend too
much, though, because the best reward is usually the increase of one stat in
one of your pets.
Jhudora's Cloud or Illusen's Glade - both are quests that have high score tables
and give out trophies. You have to have a lot of spare NP to get a trophy, so
be warned. Both Jhudora and Illusen want unbuyable items at the higher levels
of the quest but it's mostly a matter of luck. When you're nearing the highest
levels I would suggest doing the quests during the Neopian day -- more people
are online then and you have greater chance of getting the unbuyables from the
trading post. Also, you cannot do both Illusen's and Jhudora's quest on the
same day.
And finally the employment agency - you can go to the employment agency and
get a job every 10 minutes. But be fast because the best jobs are usually gone
quickly. There are two types of jobs: collecting a certain amount of items and
getting a certain amount of points from a game. I prefer collecting the items.
But pay attention to the time limit and make sure you know the price of the
items or you may end up losing money!
THE QUEST BOARD
The function of the quest board is to provide help to those doing the various
quests. Mostly it deals with uber-Faerie quests but you can also get suggestions
on how to do others. You may also find shop ads from the quest board but these
are usually the shops that are really overpriced so you're better off just asking
for help. Also, if you're one of the people posting shop ads then be warned
-- the Questies (people who regularly help on the quest board) can be fanatical
about sticking to the chat rules, especially the one about only posting relevant
content.
To avoid antagonising the people whose help is important I suggest you follow
some basic rules, like:
- When posting a request for help it helps to name the item you need in the
title of your topic. That's especially handy when the boards are slow. That
way the Questies can click on your post to open it and already start searching
for the item in the other window. It also helps to make the title more interesting
because that draws a lot more attention from helpers. But don't post too many
smilies, especially the new animated ones, since they tend to get annoying
pretty fast.
- Avoid headings like 'Pllleeeeaaaassseee' or 'Heeeeeelllllpppp' since these
make you look like a beggar and you might not get answered.
- Remember basic spelling and grammar. I'm not a native English speaker,
so if I can formulate a legible sentence then you can, too. Also, I must warn
you that many of my friends from the quest board can't stand chat speak --
especially when it has turned out to be virtually illegible.
- Don't offer a reward in your post when you have no intention of giving
it. Most of the Questies are not in it for Neopoints or items but it's still
rude to dangle the bait.
- I wouldn't suggest asking people to Neomail you the answers because they
hardly ever do. It's a lot easier and faster to just post the search results
and time can be the deciding factor when a lot of people need help. It's not
that difficult to return to the quest board for answers. If you're leaving
your computer at the moment then just don't post your request for help. You
can do that whenever you're back -- there are always some Questies online
and ready to help.
- The ‘I will help you’ boards are becoming more common. There is nothing
wrong with offering your help like this, but I hardly ever use them when I
need my quest items looked up. The reason is simple: the ethics of the quest
board. Other people don't usually post their search results one someone's
‘I'll help you’ board. And that means you only get one person's search results.
It's highly unlikely that one person can deliver the cheapest result every
time. If they can then they're probably using some kind of program and are
soon frozen for it. So I would suggest always creating your own board.
- Gifts and 'Thank you' notes for help are most welcome. As mentioned before
-- most quest helpers are not in it for the profit but that doesn't mean they
don't want to be appreciated. Just don't send them a pile of dung or some
snail subs (unless you know they're dung/junk collectors) because that might
seem like an insult. A well-worded Thank You can be a lot better than hordes
of gifts.
- Begging for items is discouraged on the quest board. It might work on Newbie
or Help boards but the Questies are usually pretty brutal when you try to
get items without paying for them. Most quest items are fairly cheap so that
even if you have no NP just a few games of Meerca Chase or Extreme Potato
Counter should help you get the item. And many Questies might give you the
item for free anyway, unless of course you're already known as a beggar.
- Spamming the quest board with shop ads or quest requests or offers of help
is discouraged and definitely against the chat rules. Don't do it or you might
get a stern warning from both the Questies and the Neopets Team.
And now some words about the most typical answers you get. Most Questies list
the cheapest results from the shop wizard and the answers look something like
this:
lnewman2002 Red Lipstick 1 50 NP
twyla61745 Red Lipstick 1 50 NP
tulnukad Red Lipstick 1 50 NP
If you're new to Neopets and/or the quest board, it might be a bit confusing
so let me explain what this means.
In the example the shops that sell the 'red lipstick' belong to lnewman2002,
twyla61745 and tulnukad respectively. All of them sell it at 50 NP and everyone
has one lipstick in stock. Are you with me so far? Great!
If you've been wondering how to get to the items listed as answers then wonder
no more because I'm about to explain that. First you copy the shop owner's name
(in the example you have the choice between newman2002, twyla61745 and tulnukad)
to the search box (the box in the lower left corner of your screen) and press
'Go!' You will end up at the person's user lookup. From there, click on the
numbers denoting shop size and you are in their shop. And then there's nothing
to do but buy the item you need.
It might happen that the item is so cheap that it has already been bought
by the time you get to the shop. No worries! Most Questies list two or three
shops that sell the item so all you need to do is go back to your post and repeat
the process with the next name.
All you have to do after that is give the item to the Faerie but that can
be a bit tricky since uber-Faerie quests are random and pop up in the weirdest
places. Kindly enough the faeries have set up their quest headquarters where
you can go to return the items. It can be accessed via different routes: my
favourite has always been clicking on 'world' on the sidebar and then on 'quests'
on top of the page. You can also use this route if you've forgotten what the
Faerie wanted from you.
After reading this you should be able to cope with any quest Neopets throws
your way. Of course, there might still be quest issues not covered in this article.
If you have a question about quests then you can always Neomail me or post the
question on the quest board.
Author’s note: I would like to thank everyone who encouraged me to write
this and especially jupitersaturn with _CleopatrasCat_ who provided information
that was missing from my initial article. And a big THANK YOU goes out to everyone
helping on the quest board.
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