The inside scoop on Jelly W-argh! *choke* Circulation: 144,089,195 Issue: 303 | 3rd day of Hiding, Y9
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Editorial


I am sad. I spent a lot of NPs on Neopets clothes and dressed my Neopets up. Then, each day, I did my dailies and I zapped my fighter Neopet. Well, he changed into a different Neopet and all of a sudden there was no background and no clothes. I went to my closet to get the clothes out and there were no clothes!!! It seems the clothes disappeared when my Neopet changed. I just thought that the clothes didn't fit that Neopet and would be put back into the closet. I lost over 1 million NPs on the clothes for my Kiko! Why can't we keep the clothes? Isn't it like when you pound your Neopet and all of the equipment goes back into your inventory? I really think you need to try to let us keep the clothes or explain what happens to the clothes when the Lab Ray changes Neopets, or they go to The Pound. Sincerely sad, but loving Neo... ~samiamshirleymad
Your clothes should still be there. When your Neopet changes, all the clothes are removed and placed back into your closet, but you can't see them in the Customisation application because your Neopet is now a different species. If you click on the "Species" drop down and select "all," the items will show up but will be grey, meaning you can't use them on that Neopet. So, no worries. If you ever get another Kiko, you'll be able to use the clothes again. Or, you can re-sell them. We're sure some Kiko owners would be interested. ;)


*deep voice* I'll be back.

(By the way, when submitting what you think is a bug, please remember to send as much information as possible. We tried to look up your information, but because we didn't know which Neopet you were referring to, or which items you thought you lost, we couldn't really verify anything since we do see Kiko items in your closet. We're assuming the above answers your question, but if you still think you lost items, please submit a bug report with more information!)

One of my friends had an account that was like 3 weeks old and she already had 1,000,000 Neopoints. She said she got a Random Event that said something like, "If you don't spend any Neopoints for 2 weeks, you will get a million Neopoints." is that really possible?!? ~cookiesrule5
Erm, sorry to say this, but it sounds like your friend is just messing with you. If she's shown you proof she has a million NP, it's possible she got an amazing Random Event that gave her something really expensive (like a paint brush) and that's where she got the Neopoints. There is no reward (Random Event or otherwise) that will give you a million Neopoints simply for not spending any Neopoints for a given length of time.

Hi TNT. I have a question that has been bugging me for a while. I have a Neofriend who is on maybe three times a week, and I sent her a nice neomail a month ago. Then a few weeks ago, I sent her one or two Neomails. She hasn't responded yet, but I KNOW she has been on, because I see her on the Neofriends Beta List. Is she reportable because she is ignoring me? This is confusing me, and I would love to know! Please remove my username if this gets in. Thank you! ~[removed]
Erm... no. If they are avoiding you because, say, they borrowed an item and haven't given it back, that's a different story, but simply choosing to not respond to your Neomails is in no way breaking Neopets rules.

Hey TNT, I was just wondering, why isn't Eliv Thade in the Gallery of Evil? I mean, he's insane, he trapped poor Gilly in his dungeon, and everybody knows he's evil! Thanks. ~good_good_smile
That's a good point. He certainly has earned a spot. We'll badger our artists and writers and see if we can get that done. :)


It's about time!

Do you think that there will be an alternative way to get Neocash, like converting Neopoints, or using your Paypal to buy Neopoints like Neocash? ~mrmania17
We have no intention of ever making it possible to convert Neopoints into Neocash or vice versa. This would mean that those users who had money to spare in real life could then buy their way through the game of Neopets and that's not what we want. PayPal and upcoming cash cards are currently the only way you can obtain Neocash.

Out of interest, at what time (in NST, obviously) do you update the news? Or does it change every day? ~spanna661
Our *intent* is to get it up daily by 2:00 NST. That means everything must be ready by noon so we can have the news translated and checked and so on. Sometimes we get held up a bit so it can end up being late by one hour (or by eight). We DO try to be on time, but heh, office happens.

Is there a maximum number of items you can have in your closet? I'm wondering because every time the Lab Ray changes my Aisha's colour, the collar she/he wore for the old colour is added to the closet. I'm getting a nifty collection in there, but don't want to max out the space for other items. Thanks for taking the time to read this. ~annamammal
Right now, like the SDB, there is no limit to the number of items you can have in your closet. We hope it will never be an issue with our database so we won't ever have to limit it. :)

Most of my friends and I have been wondering if there is an actual Neopoints generator. I mean, you see thousands of scams saying you can access it. Is it really real, and do you guys get the chance to give yourself all the points you've ever wanted? ~margey6652
There is no such thing as a "Neopoints generator." These people that claim so and convince you to visit their offsite web pages have one thing in mind… stealing your account or anything valuable in it. Do not fall for such scams. As for employees, we need to earn our own Neopoints for our personal accounts. A few people can give Neopoints to our work-related accounts, but that is only if something needs to be tested, and it is not for personal use.

People have said to me that if you play Neoquest on insane difficulty and die, then your Neopet dies, too. Is this true? ~tecnuli
Is it odd rumour week? We didn't get the memo. x_X No, your Neopet will not die if your hero dies on the insane difficulty of Neoquest. Nothing will happen to your account. The game will just restart. (And your Neopet can't die, ever.)

Hi TNT you *insert heavy grey object here*! Meepits are inherently creepy and very interesting, yet they have no Neopedia article. Could you make one please? The world needs to know more! ~panda_4_power
We're not really sure if the Meepits would allow us to spread such information about them. We'll try, but if we suddenly stop updating the news, you'll know they got us. :(


SHHH!! They're watching. ._.

I was wondering -- why do you have an icon for your Petpets that tells if they have been zapped by the Petpet Lab Ray, but not one for Neopets that have been zapped? ~abcw1234
There are a few reasons, but the main reason we flagged Petpets is because they can be detached and resold. Scammers could take advantage of that by claiming their zapped Kookith could be removed and used in a trade or something of that sort. We had to set up the zapped flag so that everyone would know the Petpet was zapped and could NOT be detached, despite what the owner claimed. Neopets don't have that issue.

Neopets also have many more ways to be morphed/painted than Petpets do. Not only are there paint brushes and the lab, but there are morphing potions, transmogrification potions, the Rainbow Fountain, and even some random items around the site. In that case, flagging Neopets to let other users know whether they were painted "for real" doesn't matter much. Part of the skill of Neopets is being resourceful, so if you got that expensive paint job for 3 million less than the other guy, good job. ;)

I know that disabling JavaScript isn’t allowed while restocking from the main shops (Editorial Issue 275). HOWEVER, you've never said whether disabling Java at the Kadoatery to feed Kads, or at the Neopian Employment Agency to grab jobs, is allowed or not. Is this also considered cheating? I’m often able to restock really rare 1-in-stock items from the main shops, which means everybody else is using Java like me, but I’ve never been able to feed a single Kad! I think it's because other people have disabled Java when they go to feed! :( ~indulgences
We hope people haven't been doing that! When we say don't disable Javascript or images or whatnot to give yourself an advantage, we mean everywhere. Using the same thing to feed Kadaoties or get Employment Agency jobs would be a huge no-no as well.

While I know that there are so many things taking up your time, wouldn't it - pretty please - be possible to add a link to editing our Neopet(s)'s page(s) to Pet Central? Currently, the only way to edit the pages is to use the direct link to the edit-page, yet there are many who have forgotten it... ~wsprite
Actually, the editing of your pages is all handled through "my account." Just click the button on the top menu, or select "Control Panel" (they both go to the same place). There, you can edit and personalise your account (including Petpages).

Hey, TNT team! *high fives* I've noticed that every world in Neopia seems to have its own paint brush (Halloween pb for the Haunted Woods, royal for Meridell, etc.). Shenkuu is a beautiful world, and I was wondering if there were secret plans to release a Shenkuu-ish pb in the future? *please :)* ~mamadough
*high fives* Altador doesn't have one, either! Won't someone think of Altador?!

Truth is, paint brushes are a bit different now with customisation. We have several new paint brushes we're dying to release, but we have to think carefully before we do so. One of our rules for wearable items is that you should never be able to make your Neopet look like you bought a paint brush when you didn't. (Basically, if you've never purchased a pirate paint brush, you shouldn't be able to dress your Neopet up as a pirate using regular wearables.) So, when thinking up wearables, we have to be sure we don't overlap, and that we don't prevent ourselves from releasing cool paint brushes in the future. But it does work the other way, too. We don't want to restrict the cool wearables we make by saving them solely for an expensive paint brush.

Erm... that was basically a long way of saying, "It's on our list, but we have to think about some things first." We will say, though, that if we work everything out, our first new paint brush is scheduled for October. Ohhh, SPOILER! It's not Shenkuu, so what could it be?!

You guys RULE!!! I was on another site when someone told me that, if I send my username and password to a very odd email account (like, say, itemredeption@[removed.com]) and included the name of the item that I wanted and said that I'd lost it, then you guys would send me the item. Half of the people on the boards said that they were stupider than a Skeith but the other half said they did it and it worked. At this point I don't know what to do. Is this real? Please be honest and don't say something like, "Can't tell you," or "Ask the Meepits," or something like that because I know you are nice people and I LOVE Neopets and if you say something like that I would think it would work and would do it and end up losing my account (sorry if I sound like I'm kissing up.) Once again, YOU RULE!!! ~dragonblimp
Never EVER give away your password or log on with your Neopets information anywhere other than Neopets.com! These are ALWAYS scams. A common tactic of such scammers is to log on to different accounts to post in support of the original poster by saying it works. The sad truth is, those accounts the scammer is posting with are more than likely the stolen accounts of people who fell for the scam. :( If you ever see accounts supporting or encouraging an obvious scam, please report those accounts along with the scamming account. Hopefully they can be frozen and later returned to their rightful owner.

TNT, I approved of the NC Mall since it was released, but the recent addition of the winged talisman (which improves game-play during Shenkuu River Rush) seems to go against anything you have ever said regarding Neopets and money. For $4 USD players can buy an item which makes it easier for them to play a game that gives Neopoints and trophies?? What about the players that can't purchase from the mall? Are they doomed to never be able to have a trophy from River Rush just because they don't live in the US or Canada and people with less talent can just buy items to make the game easier? ~karlsomewhat14


To be honest, it ended up in the Mall due to a communication breakdown amongst the staff. The item was nominated to be placed in the Mall, but it was sort of in limbo. Everyone had differing opinions on it and we were discussing those opinions, but it ended up being approved to go up anyway. Basically, we fudged a bit.

As for the differing opinions... well, each side had valid points. You have to be good at the game in the first place or the item does no good for you. Essentially, it doesn't make a very poor player into a superstar, trophy-winner overnight. Also, users who are great at the game will already be earning their 1,000 NP maximum each go anyway and can't earn any more, so it doesn't make anyone "rich" from using it. Those users who can't earn 1,000 NP in the game without the talisman could be spending the same time playing a different game they're better at, so all the talisman did was let them earn the NP on a game they like more. Obviously, though, the other folks at the table worried about the affect on trophy spots. Trophies earn Neopoints, and they earn prestige, which is part of the game as well. (Unlike with Mall wearables, you can't tell who earned the trophy on their own or who earned it with the help of the Winged Talisman, though, interestingly, the same can be said for the other Shenkuu River Rush game-play items you can purchase for Neopoints.)

Anyway, this is why we were in debates and the item shouldn't have gone up just yet. But it did go up, so we gauged your reactions, watched high score lists, monitored the Neopoints won, etc. (things we always do when we launch something new). We know "functional" items would sell very well, and one of the reasons the Mall exists is to earn revenue, but we don't want anyone to be able to buy their way through the game of Neopets. So, we're trying our best to come up with items that are useful but don't give anyone a huge advantage - the perfect balance. We can think about these things until our brains implode and not know what exactly will happen with certain items, so this was a very informative accident. We'll keep trying more items, and some of them won't work, but the only way for us to know is to test them. So, in the future, you'll see more and different types of items in the Mall. Feel free to send us your feedback, or even your own item ideas.

(By the way, thanks to the folks who sent in feedback and participated in boards that discussed the item rationally and logically - those who understood both sides but still expressed their concerns with the item. It's our decision, but we *do* actually listen, despite what some think. Complaints without valid reasoning or logic do nothing to help us see your points!)

In the end, we decided to take the talisman down come Tuesday when we had the next Mall update. It should be noted that no one who has earned a trophy since it sold has purchased the talisman. We'll continue to watch it since those who purchased the item paid for it and are able to keep it until it expires, but so far, it has not been detrimental to the high score list.


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