Thank Heaven For Year Seven!

Well, it's that time of year again: time to start planning for April Fools Day! No? *flips through calendar* Whoops, we were looking at the wrong month! (That would explain the snow!) Instead, it's time to look back upon the last twelve months of the year. In case you weren't paying attention, Dan and I, Puppy, have compiled a nice list of the past year's major events.

Many things happened in the past year, so we thought we'd be nice and tell you about it again, just in case you forgot! Many new places, plots, and pets arrived in Neopia in Year 7. Let's start with the big topics: the plots.

This year, we had two epic plots that took place on Neopets. In the first months of the year, players were introduced to many creative and new Maraquan pets found swimming around the ruins. This, along with the Curse of Maraqua expansion, tipped people off to the coming plot revolving around Maraqua. Then, in mid-March, the plot arrived, introducing those overly fangirled characters, Garin and Jacques.

We soon met the evil Captain Scarblade, who planned an attack on Maraqua. Garin came to the aid of Maraqua to fight off the pirates, and a war broke out between the two sides. Eventually, Maraqua was victorious. During the plot, Maraqua was slowly rebuilt. Resulting were two parts of Maraqua: the Maraquan Ruins and New Maraqua.

The second plot of the year was in the Lost Desert. Involved was the most complex puzzle Neopets had ever seen. Players would first search for missing tiles to their tablet in the Temple of 1000 Tombs. Once their tablet was complete, they translated it and told a prophecy to a hidden statue in their temple. Once the Scroll Repository was unburied, emptied of extra blocks, and had furniture placed in it, players would obtain a crystal and place it in a light. After translating this and reading scrolls, they'd receive their own scroll and a weapon to use to defeat Razul, the standard fiery villain who wants to destroy the world. (Does it seem like there’s always someone out to destroy the world? What has this world come to?) Of course, he was defeated, and the Lost Desert got a makeover. Also, a new mini-world was added to the Lost Desert, named Qasala.

Also in the Lost Desert plot was the coolest character we'd ever seen. The Nightsteed, a combination of Uni, mummy, and fire (which would generally seem like a dangerous combination), started out as a terrifying creature who tortured the main characters, Tomos and Nabile, but ended up just being a lovable supporting character. Also, the Halloween Uni was redrawn to look like the Nightsteed and with the flick of a paintbrush, there became many Nightsteed clones rampaging throughout Neopia.

Another new mini-world added to the face of Neopia this year was the Lost City of Geraptiku. Located in a previously cursed area of Mystery Island, this new land included a Deserted Tomb that players could enter in search of treasure. Many players had been interested in this undiscovered city since the redraw of Mystery Island a while back, and the city's release was well received.

For loving pet owners, two new pets were released this year. First was the Hissi, a limited edition pet resembling a flying snake. Second was the Xweetok, a pet that had Neopians struggling over its name for days. In addition to new pets were several new pet colors including camouflage, custard, and clay.

Oh, and just when you thought dragging your poor pet out of the house every day to go to the lab ray was bad, TNT went and released a petpet laboratory! Neopets players who didn't already have the original lab map were out of luck; the petpet lab was only available after the completion of both the original and the petpet lab maps. With the petpet lab, you could get several useful changes, such as a change in species in color or a level upgrade. The more useless changes included name changes (amusing as they may be) and level losses. Soon, strawberry, gold, chocolate and jelly petpets could be seen around Neopia as a result of this laboratory.

In other news, The Neopian Times reached a milestone: Issue 200! The special issue had one of the biggest issues ever, and they even had a special avatar just for that Issue. Many people took part, and it got a golden layout to celebrate the occasion. Hopefully, the Neopian Times will reach Issue 300 and beyond!

Another big topic this year was the April Fools pets. On April 1st, the Neopets Team released fifty new "pets," and everyone was ecstatic. Many players wanted one of the pets, and due to popular demand, the staff created a poll for us to choose one of them to actually become a real pet! The voting was highly varied, and everyone wanted a different one. While some became petpets, the winner has yet to be determined, but when it does come, it will surely be well received.

Also added to the site during the year was the Secret Ninja School, a school made only for the strongest pets to train. We would tell you more about it, but we don't want the ninjas to attack us. *runs*

Quick, readers! Lock up your homes and hide under your beds! The Meepits and Feepits are attacking! Meepit vs. Feepit, one of the most anticipated games this year, came out mid-summer. Since then, players have fought off the menacing Meepits one by one. Although some players have wanted to play as a Meepit, the game has become one of the most popular games on Neopets.

More sidebars came out this year as well. The Winter, Valentines, and Maraquan Sidebars all were released. Although the Winter Sidebar hasn't been unlocked by anyone yet, many people received the Valentines and Maraquan sidebars. Hopefully, Neopets will create many more in the future!

Finally, one of the biggest things to happen to Neopets happened this year: Neopets released a video game! The Darkest Faerie, a game about one of the scariest villains to hit Neopia, came out in stores a few weeks ago. This game will introduce a new world and many new characters, and hopefully will come out next year.

So, in case you've lived under a rock for the past year (no offense meant to Tyrannians), there is your recap of the major events for the last twelve months. As Neopia goes into Year 8, hope for another year just as great and eventful as this one. Have a Happy New Year, and remember: always make sure you're looking at the right page in your calendar before announcing that April Fool's Day is nearing...