Hello and welcome to this week's edition of The Neopian News Brief, your one-stop summary of everything that's been going on in the world of Neopia,
from the perky panoramas of Roo Island to the bustling businesses of Neopia Central. There's been quite a bit happening lately, so let's not delay any further!
Our lead story today is the arrival of an exciting new game, Mynci Beach
Volleyball! This game pits a pair Myncis in an exciting, one-on-one volleyball match on the shores of Mystery Island. "Oh, big deal," you might be thinking, "it's just volleyball, right?" Wrong! Mynci Beach Volleyball is so much more than just plain old volleyball, thanks to an awesome array of power-ups. Each time the ball makes contact with one of the Pawkeets circling above, a number of strange effects could suddenly come into play: a player could grow to giant size, run super fast, or possess
amazing leaping abilities; the net might become much taller or shorter; or a malicious little Turdle could be unleashed, momentarily immobilising the Mynci who runs into it. As far as strategic hints, here's what I've found so
far: it appears that the best way of serving the ball is to stand so that your Mynci's tail almost touches the palm tree, then hitting jump to toss the ball in the air and, as the ball is on its way down, hitting the jump button again (this takes some practice at first, but its particularly
helpful when the net is higher than normal).
Also, as a general rule, it's better to respond to your opponent's volley by staying on your feet, rather than trying to jump and hit the ball, because repeated jumping tends to leave you out of position way too often. Probably the best way of responding to your opponent's volley is by hitting the ball
until you've popped it straight into the air, then positioning your Mynci so that the ball bounces off the front of their forehead (and hopefully goes back over the net). Unlike regular volleyball, you're allowed an unlimited number of hits, so you can just kind of keep the ball in the air until you've got a nice straight volley that suits you, then line up your response.
Another issue is whether to stay back and charge the net, or stay up front and backpedal. To each their own, I suppose, but I personally prefer staying up and backpedaling. I find this way makes it easier to respond by bouncing the ball off the front of my Mynci's forehead. As always, practice makes perfect, so get out there and see which methods work
best for you!
Our next order of business is the disproportionately large number of spooky items that have been arriving on the site lately (disproportionate, that is, unless you consider that Halloween is merely weeks away). It all began on Monday, as four seasonal lanterns became available at the Spooky
Furniture shop.
That was followed on Tuesday by a quintet of spooky Neggs (whose ranks include the downright disturbing staring Negg) and the uber-cute Edna plushie. Thursday brought about a pair of macabre Usuki releases, as only the most intrepid completists were able to work up enough nerve to add the Usuki Zombie and Reaper to their collections.
Once their stomachs stopped turning somersaults, Usuki enthusiasts could swing over to grab a bite from the Spooky Food shop. Be careful, though... a few of those new releases look like they just might bite back!
When we last checked in with the Neopets TCG tournament, Dom Dread and Viola had secured places in the semifinals. Finding out who would join them largely depended on the outcome between Pop Tart and Flash Gorton. Flash's 3-1 victory landed him in the final four, but Pop Tart was also able to advance, after beating out Fuzzy X and Mr. Insane for the last slot.
As the contestants were reshuffled, the pairings would be Flash Gorton vs. Dom Dread and Viola vs. Pop Tart. In a tightly contested slugfest that went all five games, Flash was able to stay on his feet and stagger into the finals. In the other bracket, Viola managed to get the better of fan favourite Pop Tart and move on. So now, with the big showdown set, it's time to find out who will emerge and rightfully claim their title as the office's best
player...
Another recent trend has been all the Back To School items that we've been
seeing in recent weeks. Gee, could the claim that appeared in the news at the beginning of the month (where we were told that NeoSchools would be out by the end of October) really be true?
It's certainly starting to look that way. A quick rundown of the latest releases shows two more stellar sets seeing the light of day. Tuesday brought us the arrival of ultra-formidable battle duck school supplies, while Thursday introduced a quartet of Faerie notepads and the incredibly rare Light Faerie backpack. Be sure to snap one up if you happen to see it on the shelves!
Rounding out the week on Friday was Eyrie Day, a celebration of those funloving fliers. In addition to the standard books, baked goods and Battledome accessories (which included free training from that most venerable of Eyries, Cap'n Threelegs), Eyries also received two new paint brush styles (shadow and, erm... invisible), three Buddy Icons and an avatar/blog combo, and a new assortment of five Eyrie shopkeepers to choose from. Eyries were also featured in the latest installments of the Caption and Poetry Contests, as well as the Pet Spotlight and Art Gallery. Congratulations, Eyries!
It's now time to take a closer look at this week's financial headlines. After last week's huge gain left the Neodaq poised to climb past 1500 points, naysayers again began to pronounce that the economy's impending collapse just had to be around the corner. However, the Big Board blew right past 1500, tacking on a massive gain of nearly 300 points and closing at 1630. Leading the way, once again, was Meri Acre Sausages, whose stock value has now reached a whopping 392 NPs a share, the highest share value that anyone remembers seeing in more than two years.
However, the week's most incredible gain didn't belong to Meri Acres; rather, that distinction would fall to Nakron, who saw their stock value increase nearly twelvefold, skyrocketing from eight NPs a share to 103, tying them with EEEEEURGH!!! as the third most valuable company in Neopia, behind the aforementioned Meri Acre Sausages and Fish Pops!, who heaped on another fifty-two points to finish the week at 185. Rounding out the Top Five were The Presidential Palace and Smuggler's Cove, who came in at fifty-eight NPs each.
So then, with with Meri Acres climbing at a record pace, and three other companies above 100 NPs a share, the economy certainly seems unstoppable. Could a Neodaq index above 2,000 be too far away? Or will the wheels finally fall off the wagon? We'll just have to wait and see....
Our lead story today is the arrival of an exciting new game, Mynci Beach
Volleyball! This game pits a pair Myncis in an exciting, one-on-one volleyball match on the shores of Mystery Island. "Oh, big deal," you might be thinking, "it's just volleyball, right?" Wrong! Mynci Beach Volleyball is so much more than just plain old volleyball, thanks to an awesome array of power-ups. Each time the ball makes contact with one of the Pawkeets circling above, a number of strange effects could suddenly come into play: a player could grow to giant size, run super fast, or possess
amazing leaping abilities; the net might become much taller or shorter; or a malicious little Turdle could be unleashed, momentarily immobilising the Mynci who runs into it. As far as strategic hints, here's what I've found so
far: it appears that the best way of serving the ball is to stand so that your Mynci's tail almost touches the palm tree, then hitting jump to toss the ball in the air and, as the ball is on its way down, hitting the jump button again (this takes some practice at first, but its particularly
helpful when the net is higher than normal).
Also, as a general rule, it's better to respond to your opponent's volley by staying on your feet, rather than trying to jump and hit the ball, because repeated jumping tends to leave you out of position way too often. Probably the best way of responding to your opponent's volley is by hitting the ball
until you've popped it straight into the air, then positioning your Mynci so that the ball bounces off the front of their forehead (and hopefully goes back over the net). Unlike regular volleyball, you're allowed an unlimited number of hits, so you can just kind of keep the ball in the air until you've got a nice straight volley that suits you, then line up your response.
Another issue is whether to stay back and charge the net, or stay up front and backpedal. To each their own, I suppose, but I personally prefer staying up and backpedaling. I find this way makes it easier to respond by bouncing the ball off the front of my Mynci's forehead. As always, practice makes perfect, so get out there and see which methods work
best for you!
Our next order of business is the disproportionately large number of spooky items that have been arriving on the site lately (disproportionate, that is, unless you consider that Halloween is merely weeks away). It all began on Monday, as four seasonal lanterns became available at the Spooky
Furniture shop.
That was followed on Tuesday by a quintet of spooky Neggs (whose ranks include the downright disturbing staring Negg) and the uber-cute Edna plushie. Thursday brought about a pair of macabre Usuki releases, as only the most intrepid completists were able to work up enough nerve to add the Usuki Zombie and Reaper to their collections.
Once their stomachs stopped turning somersaults, Usuki enthusiasts could swing over to grab a bite from the Spooky Food shop. Be careful, though... a few of those new releases look like they just might bite back! 
When we last checked in with the Neopets TCG tournament, Dom Dread and Viola had secured places in the semifinals. Finding out who would join them largely depended on the outcome between Pop Tart and Flash Gorton. Flash's 3-1 victory landed him in the final four, but Pop Tart was also able to advance, after beating out Fuzzy X and Mr. Insane for the last slot.
As the contestants were reshuffled, the pairings would be Flash Gorton vs. Dom Dread and Viola vs. Pop Tart. In a tightly contested slugfest that went all five games, Flash was able to stay on his feet and stagger into the finals. In the other bracket, Viola managed to get the better of fan favourite Pop Tart and move on. So now, with the big showdown set, it's time to find out who will emerge and rightfully claim their title as the office's best
player... 
Another recent trend has been all the Back To School items that we've been
seeing in recent weeks. Gee, could the claim that appeared in the news at the beginning of the month (where we were told that NeoSchools would be out by the end of October) really be true?
It's certainly starting to look that way. A quick rundown of the latest releases shows two more stellar sets seeing the light of day. Tuesday brought us the arrival of ultra-formidable battle duck school supplies, while Thursday introduced a quartet of Faerie notepads and the incredibly rare Light Faerie backpack. Be sure to snap one up if you happen to see it on the shelves! 
Rounding out the week on Friday was Eyrie Day, a celebration of those funloving fliers. In addition to the standard books, baked goods and Battledome accessories (which included free training from that most venerable of Eyries, Cap'n Threelegs), Eyries also received two new paint brush styles (shadow and, erm... invisible), three Buddy Icons and an avatar/blog combo, and a new assortment of five Eyrie shopkeepers to choose from. Eyries were also featured in the latest installments of the Caption and Poetry Contests, as well as the Pet Spotlight and Art Gallery. Congratulations, Eyries!
It's now time to take a closer look at this week's financial headlines. After last week's huge gain left the Neodaq poised to climb past 1500 points, naysayers again began to pronounce that the economy's impending collapse just had to be around the corner. However, the Big Board blew right past 1500, tacking on a massive gain of nearly 300 points and closing at 1630. Leading the way, once again, was Meri Acre Sausages, whose stock value has now reached a whopping 392 NPs a share, the highest share value that anyone remembers seeing in more than two years.
However, the week's most incredible gain didn't belong to Meri Acres; rather, that distinction would fall to Nakron, who saw their stock value increase nearly twelvefold, skyrocketing from eight NPs a share to 103, tying them with EEEEEURGH!!! as the third most valuable company in Neopia, behind the aforementioned Meri Acre Sausages and Fish Pops!, who heaped on another fifty-two points to finish the week at 185. Rounding out the Top Five were The Presidential Palace and Smuggler's Cove, who came in at fifty-eight NPs each.
So then, with with Meri Acres climbing at a record pace, and three other companies above 100 NPs a share, the economy certainly seems unstoppable. Could a Neodaq index above 2,000 be too far away? Or will the wheels finally fall off the wagon? We'll just have to wait and see.... 
