Voice of the Neopian Pound Circulation: 192,333,119 Issue: 642 | 25th day of Eating, Y16
Home | Archives Articles | Editorial | Short Stories | Comics | New Series | Continued Series
 

Old Prizes That Need To Be Rereleased


by pikachu315111

--------

What's the most fun thing about a Plot or an Event? Yes, yes, the puzzles and challenges is one thing, but I'm talking about something everyone looks forward too. Okay, yes, I'm sure there are many who look forward to chatting on the Neoboards, but I'm talking about something which you can show for your efforts. *sigh* Yes, I too like to show off my trophies... PRIZES! I'm talking about prizes! Yes, now we're on the same level! Be it given away during or after a Plot or Event, be it for completing a challenge or given away for little to no effort, the anticipation of prizes is one thing on everyone's mind when participating in Plots and Events. And why wouldn't they? Prizes mean a whole new slew of items of all kinds for users to collect, use, or sell. That last thing the most notable as a prize item normally costs more than a normal item due to it being released only once and who knows how many users got that item.

However, with all the prize items released over the years, there are some which stand out above the rest. Some which it seems like a shame that everyone will only have one chance to redeem it and who knows how many they'll be able to redeem. These prize items have a use which no other normal item fills or at least fills just as good. It's too bad there's no way for these prize items to be rereleased... or is there?

TNT rereleasing an old prize item isn't new. Two examples I can think of are the Dr. Sloth Stamp Auctions and the Shooting Star Muffin. For those who don't know, the Dr. Sloth Stamp Auctions are Auctions where "Dr. Sloth" puts up a rare stamp which was only given away as prizes for contests like the Lenny Conundrums. As for the Shooting Star Muffin, originally it was a gift from the Year 8 Advent Calendar but when the new (beta) Battledome was released it was given away as a reward for winning against certain challengers. If TNT can bring back those prizes, why not others?

NOTE 1: Most of these items are Battledome-related. Now I'm not saying that non-Battledome-related prize items aren't worth being rereleased, it's just that (1.) I'm personally more interested in the Battledome and (2.) some of these items are one-use, meaning once they're used their gone FOREVER. Being they're good items, I fear that they'll be used up and the remaining few that exist will either be very expensive (thus not worth using) or in Galleries.

NOTE 2: In order to keep their rarity, I will not recommend these items stock in normal shops; however, unique shops are fair play.

NOTE 3: I just want to say these are my opinions, I know there are those who think that these items should stay as "once released" prizes, especially collectors and users who are selling these items. However being how good these items are I think they'll stay relatively rare so, even though they're available, their value and price shouldn't diminish much.

With that out of the way, we can begin:

Potions of Strength

List Of Prize Items: Altador Strength Potion, Sorcerers Potion Set, Neovian Strength Potion, & Potion of Strategic Maneuvers

What Makes Them Good:

The prize items in this category are potions which increases your Neopet's Strength stat when used on them. Altador Strength Potion was a prize from the Faeries' Ruin, Sorcerers Potion Set was from the Year 15 Daily Dare (it also increases your Neopet's defense), Neovian Strength Potion is also from the Year 15 Daily Dare, and finally the Potion of Strategic Maneuvers is from the Year 15 Games Master Challenge.

Why Should They Be Rereleased:

Training your Neopet is very tedious and expensive. Whether you're constantly buying Dubloons/Codestones or using the Lab Ray, it's going to take a while and you're spending a lot of NP at some point. While we do have normal items which can increase your Neopet's Strength, these items are also expensive and don't increase Strength nearly as much as some of these potions do. Sorcerers Potion Set is unique as it can increase both Strength and Defence, very handy if you're trying to keep your Neopet's stats relatively balanced. Finally, Potion of Strategic Maneuvers may not be as good and cheap at the moment, being it's a prize item so its price will only steadily increase as time goes on and Neopians try to see if they can get a lucky Strength increase from it. Right now most of these items are expensive to where normal training seems like the cheaper option, but if these items were rereleased they could decrease to a price where it's a viable option to use them once in awhile.

How Should They Be Rereleased:

For Altador Strength Potion, I think it would be interesting if they had King Altador himself have a very rare chance of giving them out from the daily that opens up for completing the Altador Mini-Plot. For Sorcerers Potion Set, offer it as a rare consolation prize when the Order of the Red Erisim doesn't win in a Battleground Skirmish they're in. For Neovian Strength Potion, I can see it stocking in the Almost Abandoned Attic as a rare treat (Almost Abandoned Attic being one of those unique shops I mentioned). Finally Potion of Strategic Maneuvers could be rarely won from one of Krawk Island's many attractions like Forgotten Shore, Anchor Management, or Buried Treasure.

Potions of Knowledge

List Of Prize Items: Brilliant Sun and Moon Potion, Not So Brilliant Sun and Moon Potion, & Potion of Telepathy

What Makes Them Good:

While Intelligence is an underused stat, TNT have been making an effort to make it relevant with things such as The Seeker's set off Boons. Because of this, it might not be a bad idea to start investing increasing your Neopet's intelligence. Brilliant Sun and Moon Potion was the winning prize given to Neopians who joined Team Moon during the Year 15 Games Master Challenge, similarly the Not So Brilliant Sun and Moon Potion was the losing prize given to users who joined Team Sun during the Year 15 Games Master Challenge, and Potion of Telepathy was a prize for Altador Cup VIII's Staff Tournament.

Why Should They Be Rereleased:

As I said, though Intelligence is an underused stat, TNT have been trying to make some use of it. The "Strength of Mind" Boon, which you can get by joining The Seekers when they win a Battlegrounds Skirmish, gives you the ability "Mind Blast" during the Boon's duration. "Mind Blast" is a once per battle Ability that uses your Neopet's Intelligence stat instead of Strength, and Intelligence is a much easier stat to get high then Strength. Now if you haven't trained in Intelligence then there are plenty of cheap books you can read to your Neopet. However the problem with books is that you can only read it once to your Neopet, meaning you'll probably run out of cheap books fast. However these potions aren't limited to that restriction so once books start getting expensive these potions start looking like the better way to "train" Intelligence.

How Should They Be Rereleased:

Being Team Moon was the one who got Brilliant Sun and Moon Potion, it should be a place in Shenkuu that gives away the item, like a rare reward from guessing right at the Lunar Temple. Likewise, since Team Sun got Not So Brilliant Sun and Moon Potion, it can be given out somewhere in Altador. As for Potion of Telepathy, I would suggest the same thing as I did with the Sorcerers Potion Set except instead it would be for when The Seekers lose.

Medicine Treats

List Of Prize Items: Peppermint Stomach Medicine & Ice Cream Potion

What Makes Them Good:

Sometimes medical cures for certain diseases can be quite expensive. For example, the disease "Ugga-Ugga" is traditionally cured by using "Sporkle Syrup" which costs a nice chunk of NP. Now if you don't want to spend that much you could visit the Healing Springs every 30 minutes until your Neopet is fully cured... OR you could use Peppermint Stomach Medicine which was given away during the Y10 Advent Calendar that also cures Ugga-Ugga and it cheaper than Sporkle Syrup! Or, if you don't want to hassle having to get a medical cure for a specific disease and plan ahead, you can get Ice Cream Potion from the Y15 Daily Dare which can cure ALL diseases but costs a lot of NP for the convenience.

Why Should They Be Rereleased:

Why would I want to spend that much NP if the Healing Spring is free? Well sometimes the Healing Spring take a long time to fully heal and if it doesn't you'll have to wait 30 minutes until you can try again. While your Neopet is sick they're happiness decreases, they can't battle, they could turn the colour Blue from a Random Event they can only get while unhappy and unhealthy, and they just plain look unhappy. However if Peppermint Stomach Medicine and Ice Cream Potion where more easily accessible it could drop the price to where you could consider buying one of them and instantly healing your sick Neopet.

How Should They Be Rereleased:

There's a few placed in Terror Mountain which can be the potential spots to give these items away. If I were to pick I would have the Snow Faerie Quests having a chance of giving Peppermint Stomach Medicine, since she cures ailing Neopets who get lost on Terror Mountain, and have Mr. Chipper's Ice Cream Cart having a chance of giving Ice Cream Potion, because its ice cream.

Key Quest Tokens

List Of Prize Key Quest Tokens: AAA Key Quest Token, Abigail Key Quest Token, Ylana Skyfire Key Quest Token, & Yooyu Key Quest Token

What Makes Them Good:

While nothing special mechanically, they're still neat Key Quest Tokens based on well known Neopet characters. The AAA Key Quest Token was given out for Year 10 Games Master Challenge and the Abigail Key Quest Token was given out for Year 11 Daily Dare, letting you show everyone that you're the Game Master. The Ylana Skyfire Key Quest Token was given out for Year 10 Advent Calendar, letting you play as cool space bounty hunter who Dr. Sloth hired to destroy The Resistance. Finally the Yooyu Key Quest Token was a sign-up prize for Altador Cup IV, letting you play as the real star of Yooyuball and the Altador Cup.

Why Should They Be Rereleased:

Key Quest Tokens aren't like items which can be transferred between accounts. Once their respective Event ended, if you never got them then you'll never be able to. It' even worse in the case of the Ylana Skyfire Key Quest Token as it was only available for a day! As I said, mechanically there's nothing special about them as their just tokens which go around the Key Quest board, however they may give you a Faerie element you may not have. Considering many of the best power-ups come from Faerie spaces, having a variety of tokens with different elements isn't a bad idea and may even help you plan your route around the board. Also, all 4 are the only ones in the Special Series 1 set, so for those trying to fill their Collector's Case late in the game they'll have one case which is impossible to even get one Token in. And as an added bonus, remember that each token has its own unique animations as it goes around the board celebrating when good things happen or getting upset when bad things happen. It's been a while since TNT had done anything with Key Quest, last thing I remember is them announcing Key Quest tokens being sold in the NC Mall, so maybe rereleasing these tokens could be a start of TNT shedding some limelight on Key Quest, at least for a little while.

How Should They Be Rereleased:

It would be too easy to say to just put them in the NC Mall like the rest of the Key Quest Tokens that TNT have released recently. Starting with AAA and Abigail, being they're Game Masters, they could be made as a reward for submitting in a World Challenge map. For Ylana Skyfire, having the Lever of Doom on the Virtupets Space Station give it would be appropriate and have another reason for people to keep pulling that lever which is no doubt collecting NP for Dr. Sloth's next invasion attempt. As for the Yooyu, being we have the Altador Cup every year I actually think they should keep the Yooyu as either an additional sign-up bonus or a 1 point item in the prize shop (with that said, you could also make AAA be an additional end prize for every Games Master Challenge and Abigail an additional end prize for every Daily Dare).

Additional Comments:

Just because I only talked about the Key Quest Tokens that were released as prizes doesn't mean I think TNT should stop there! There are many other Key Quest Tokens which I think TNT should at least put in the NC Mall now that they're no longer selling Plushies or other products which could give out Key Quest Tokens. Many of them were store exclusives Plushies while ones that featured Jeran, Princess Amira, and the Darkest Faerie were gotten from random trading cards (and not from the Neopet Trading Card game). There's even a series of unreleased Tokens featuring Striped Neopets and some kind of "Jelly Jubjub". Key Quest seems like a project TNT have put behind them and it's doubtful they'll ever make more Tokens for it, but at the very least they could make all the existing Tokens be available in some way on site.

Freezing Weapons

Prize Items: Randomly Firing Freeze Ray & Thrown Slushie Cup

What Makes Them Good:

If you want to be the least bit of a competitive battler or be good enough to participate in battling events, a freezing weapon is pretty much required. Freezing your opponent means they can't use any weapons next turn, a very nice advantage to have. Of course such an advantage usually means a freezing weapon either has a low chance of freezing, is very expensive, and/or are once per battle items (there are exceptions but they have their own drawbacks). Randomly Firing Freeze Ray was a Year 13 Daily Dare Staff Tournament Prize which has a 50/50 chance of freezing your opponent each time you use it, breaking after being successful. While it does mean each turn it's a coin flip whether it'll freeze or not, compared to other weapons that can freeze it has a pretty good chance of freezing, doesn't cost millions, and won't permanently break or vanish after the battle. Speaking of the latter, Thrown Slushie Cup was a Altador Cup VIII prize that is a one-use 100% freezing weapon. While not the first of its kind, there's one more thing to Thrown Slushie Cup that ascends it: it can be equipped with another freezing item. This means you can have multiple turns of 100% freezing in a row and your opponent can't do anything about it!

Why Should They Be Rereleased:

The Randomly Firing Freeze Ray makes for a great "starting choice" for a freezing weapon. Nothing will ever replace a 100% freezer so if someone wants to be competitive battler they'll need to upgrade to one eventually, but for the starting battler or Neopian who just wants to be good enough to participate in battling events this is pretty much the number one choice. As for the Thrown Slushie Cup, we have an affordable choice for a full heal one-use item in the Jade Elixir and for a 100% blocking one-use item in the Thick Smoke Bomb, so why not for a freezing weapon? Randomly Firing Freeze Ray will always be a bit expensive so if someone just wants to have a freezing weapon for a few battles I think the Thrown Slushie Cup could fill that niche. It would also bring a new level of strategy to competitive battling as one could choose to either have a few more turns of guaranteed freezing but costing them a slot for another weapon. Also, being it's a one-use item, over the years there will be ones which would get used meaning the price for them would keep rising and rising until it's too expensive to be an option.

How Should They Be Rereleased:

Being they're freezing weapons, I think Terror Mountain will be a good place to give them out. With the Randomly Firing Freeze Ray's random nature of firing blasts of freezing ice, I think having it as a rare treasure that can be grabbed from the Snowager's hoard is suitable. Sadly it's against the rules I set up to just sell the Thrown Slushie Cup in the Slushie Shop, BUT I'm sure the Igloo Garage sale will have a place for it once in a while. *wink*

Rejuvenating Jar of Brains

What Makes It Good:

Rejuvenating Jar of Brains was The Awakened's weapon prize at the end of the Obelisk War. What stands out about it from the other Factions' weapon prizes is that it's a once per battle healing weapon, healing 60 HP. The other Faction's weapons either did damage or was a shield which were normally out performed by a normally available item, but Rejuvenating Jar of Brains is the only one which outperformed what many would consider a staple healing weapon: Greater Healing Scroll which healed 50 HP. Before Rejuvenating Jar of Brains the closest "upgrade" to Greater Healing Scroll was the Short Sleeved Yellow Tunic which price is in the millions despite only healing 75 HP (and even then it requires the user to have over 500 Intelligence to get the healing)! In comparison, Rejuvenating Jar of Brains is around 300,000 NP and Greater Healing Scroll is around 200,000 NP.

Why Should It Be Rereleased:

Healing is just as much of a requirement as freezing is if you want to battle. Rejuvenating Jar of Brains has become the go to healing item for low level battlers who's HP is low enough to either be nearly to fully healed by it. Healing items cost a lot and Rejuvenating Jar of Brains is the last step that costs under a million NP, but being it's a prize item that may not last forever as less become available. Having a healing item that's as cheap and good as the Rejuvenating Jar of Brains is a nice placeholder until users who want to be competitive battlers train their pets to the point they need to buy a healing weapon in the millions (or spend an equal amount buying Jade Elixirs). But for low level pets Rejuvenating Jar of Brains is an excellent choice for a healing weapon and if a user with a high level pet gets one they could sell it so they save for the next healer.

How Should It Be Rereleased:

Being it's a brain item that's origins is of the undead, I can see it being a rare reward given out by the Brain Tree.

Exploding Clockwork Yooyu Replica

What Makes It Good:

Another Altador Cup VIII prize, this time a one-use damaging weapon, though it's not exactly known how many icons the Exploding Clockwork Yooyu Replica does it can be guessed it does a nice amount of Physical, Light, and Air icons. The combination of Physical, Light, and Air is hard to block, at least fully, so this is a rather powerful one-use item that's very likely to cause a lot of damage when used.

Why Should It Be Rereleased:

Though no matter how good it is, it's still a one-use prize item so the more that are used the higher their price will go up until it's not worth using. You can sort of relate this item to the Shooting Star Muffin, both are one-use items that do a high amount of hard to block icons but were given away as prizes initially so their price keeps on rising the more they're used. However the Shooting Star Muffin was saved from "gallery retirement" by becoming a Battledome prize and I think the same can be done with the Exploding Clockwork Yooyu Replica.

How Should It Be Rereleased:

Being I compared it to the Shooting Star Muffin, I think the Exploding Clockwork Yooyu Replica should be a Battledome prize.

One-Use Robotification Zappermajig

What Makes It Good:

The top prize from the Return of Sloth Plot, it's a one-use item that can paint one of your Neopets the Colour "Robot" (if that species is available in Robot). The only other way to get your Neopet painted Robot is with a lucky zap with the Lab Ray, but remember that since the Lab Ray has a chance of changing your Neopet's species, unless you keep morphing it back into the Species you want to be Robot, it's very likely if you do get a zap that paints your Neopet Robot it might not be the Robot Species you want. So yeah, this item was a big deal when it was released.

Why Should It Be Rereleased:

Some Neopians just use the Lab Ray to get a certain Colour only it provides. After they get the Colour and Species combination they're satisfied with that and they normally don't touch the Lab Ray again unless they have a Neopet they'd like to Lab Ray train or decide to help abandoned pets by zapping them into a rare Species/Colour before putting them back into the Pound. However if they're not interested in battling, already have four Neopets and don't want to move any to a side account, and are only interested in painting one of their Neopets Robot, I say give them the option to try and seek this item out. Also, since One-Use Robotification Zappermajig is a No Trade item, it can't be sold so the only person this item is any worth to is for the ones who want to use it. And a user who gets it but doesn't want to use it could transfer a friend's Neopet over and zap it, but it would be out of generosity and not profit (like if someone decides to use a Fountain Quest they got to paint a friend's Neopet the same way).

How Should It Be Rereleased:

Oh, but that doesn't mean I don't think it should be easy to get. Far from it! If you want this item you'll have to be very lucky and so the place I would have give out the One-Use Robotification Zappermajig would be Tarla's Shop of Mystery! That's right, you won't even know if the item you're buying is a One-Use Robotification Zappermajig, and I don't think I need to mention it'll rarely restock. Combine this with the fact the One-Use Robotification Zappermajig is a No Trade item thus it can't leave the user's account, and I think this is as challenging as using the Lab Ray itself.

And I think that's enough for now. So many prizes have been made throughout Neopet's history that I'm sure everyone has one or two items they would like to be rereleased. Whether it's because they didn't participate in that Plot or Event, they would like to have more of that item, or because they just think it'd be neat and a good idea. As Neopets moves forward more Plot and Events will happen which means more prizes will be made, and I'm sure that some of them would make it onto this list.

 
Search the Neopian Times




Great stories!


---------

Danse Macabre
For a few brief days in Meridell, she was beautiful. For one shining moment in her life, she was the Court Dancer.

by cosmicfire918

---------

Scorto's Adventures: Blumarescue, Part 1
The Gelert Doctor gets a change from his usual day of dealing with Neopian diseases...

by john3637881

---------

The Dark Star: Part IV
Introducing Kinzel, the pilot!

by the_shii

---------

_____8142
I was a pet like any other.

by britttu



Submit your stories, articles, and comics using the new submission form.