10 Things to Do When the Neoboards Go Down

1. Work on game avatars

Personally, game avatars are the bane of my existence here on Neopets. I’m terrible at games, and each and every game avatar I possess probably took me at the very least, several hours to earn (and really, I only have the very easiest ones!). If you, like me, have a tendency to avoid the games room in favor of chatting endlessly on the boards, then perhaps the boards going down is the perfect time to go get serious about game avatar collecting! Plus, the fact that you’re playing games also means that you’re probably earning a few neopoints along the way, which definitely never hurts!

2. Surf the pound

I’m sure that most of us have at some point in our Neopets careers, spent a lot of time surfing the pound. True, it is more fun to do when you can chat whilst you do it on the Pound Chat, but really, the removal of the boards just allows you to focus more fully on searching for those pets with super cool paint jobs, amazing names, or unique personalities in the pound. Go surfing for the next member of your family, you never know who you’ll come across!

3. Play NeoQuest and/or NeoQuest II

If you have yet to beat either of these games, or perhaps you have an interest in upgrading your trophy in either of these games, then I suggest trying them out whilst you wait for the Neoboards to come back up. Fortunately, they are VERY time consuming, and I’m sure the boards will be back up long before you could finish either one. Take this opportunity to try the games out, and perhaps by the time the boards are back you will be sufficiently far along in the game that you will want to finish it. Plus, in addition to the hours of entertainment, these games award trophies and avatars for playing them, so it’d be a lovely way to add to your account!

4. Play other non-flash games

There are tons of non-flash games on Neopets, and the main attraction to them is that many award avatars, and most award trophies on a non-competitive basis. That means, what trophy you get depends entirely on how far you make it in the game, and not on how amazing you are at playing it. These games tend to also be fairly time consuming, and really do have the potential to take up however many hours it takes for TNT to fix the boards. Some examples of non-flash games you could try out include Cellblock, Cheat!, Kidd the Mortog, Snow Wars, Pyramids, Sewage Surfer, and Shapeshifter.

5. Try your hand at restocking

If you’re not familiar with this particular method of neopoint-making, basically restocking is when you go into the shops (like the ones in Neopia Central or Faerieland) and buy items from them that sell for higher amounts of neopoints on the Shop Wizard or Trading Post than they do in the shop. Restocking can be very tricky, and often requires a lot of time and practice to really get good at it. Therefore, you can take the opportunity provided by the boards being closed down and get some practice in!

6. Try drawing your pets

Whether or not you have fantastic artistic abilities, it doesn’t hurt to try out drawing your pets every now and then. Go ahead, it’s alright if they’re all stick figures with tails! Just give it a shot! Often, when I get bored, I like to try to draw my pets unique designs, such as patterns in their fur, scars, tattoos, or other markings that could differentiate them from other pets of the same species and color. If you’re really happy with one of your drawings, you could even enter it in the Beauty Contest and maybe win them a shiny trophy!

7. Neomail your neofriends

Perhaps, in all of the time you usually spend on the boards, you’ve managed to make a few neofriends. If that is the case, then perhaps take this opportunity to strengthen your bond with a few of the neofriends you might not be as close with, or perhaps whom you haven’t spoken to in a while, by shooting a few of them neomails. You even have an easy conversation topic to discuss! Complain about TNT taking the boards down for a while, and I’m sure that you’ll find tons else to talk about.

8. Write for the Neopian Times!

This particular article was written because, you guessed it, the boards are down right now and I needed something to do. Fortunately, in my brain storming process for activities to pacify my boredom, I came up with the idea to try writing an article for the Times. It really does pass the time well! Get your creative juices flowing and bust out a short story about your pets, an article about something you feel other Neopians should hear about, or draw a hilarious comic to entertain your fellow Neopians!

9. Do that thing you’ve been procrastinating

We both know that you’ve been procrastinating something. I’m not sure what it is, but I am sure that the boards being down is a prime opportunity to get that thing done. Do your homework! Fold the laundry! Clean your room! Clear the meepits out of your basement!

10. Go outside

Yes, I know that TNT already provided this terribly unappealing idea in their little message that the boards are temporarily closed down, but truthfully it really would be a good use of your time. You don’t even have to go ALL the way outside… just leave your room and talk to your family or friends!