Navigating the world of Neopets, especially the Neocash (NC) Mall, can feel like learning a new language due to the vast array of acronyms used by the community. NC items are premium items that players can purchase with Neocash, a currency bought with real money, and these items often add exclusive customization options, special abilities, or aesthetic enhancements to Neopets.

As you explore the NC Mall and engage with other players in forums or trades, you’ll encounter numerous abbreviations and acronyms unique to this part of Neopets. Understanding these terms can make it easier to discuss items, trade effectively, and find the specific items you’re looking for. Below, we’ll dive into common Neopets NC acronyms, providing you with a comprehensive guide to get started in the NC world confidently.

Petpets are miniature companions bring an extra layer of charm and personality to Neopia, offering Neopets (and their owners) a unique opportunity to care for a creature of their own. This comprehensive guide delves deep into every aspect of Petpet ownership, from their history and diverse species to their care, activities, and even their surprising involvement in Neopian events.

What Exactly is a Petpet?

Neopia is a melting pot of diverse creatures. While Neopets, the intelligent and often larger inhabitants, are well-known, the world is teeming with a plethora of smaller beings known as Petpets. These creatures, first introduced in Year 2 (2000), come in a staggering variety of shapes, sizes, and temperaments. From the fluffy and playful Beekadoodle to the enigmatic and slightly eerie Grackle Bug, there’s a Petpet out there to capture the heart of every Neopet.

While generally less intelligent than Neopets, Petpets are far from mindless. They can be trained to perform complex tasks, as evidenced in games like Crisis Courier and Warf Rescue Team. Though most Petpets cannot speak, some Desert and Robot Petpets can utter a few phrases, hinting at a deeper level of understanding than they often let on.

The origins of most Petpet species remain shrouded in mystery. Some speculate that many hail from the planet Petaria, but this is far from confirmed. Others, like the Baby Blu, bear a striking resemblance to certain Neopets, suggesting they may have evolved in similar environments. Regardless of their origins, one thing is certain: Petpets have become an integral part of Neopian society, bringing joy and companionship to Neopets across the land.

A World of Petpets: Exploring the Diverse Species

With hundreds of unique species, the world of Petpets is incredibly diverse. To help you navigate this vast landscape, Petpets are broadly categorized based on their appearance, habitat, or other shared characteristics. Some of the most popular categories include:

• Altadorian Petpets: Hailing from the ancient land of Altador, these Petpets often exude an air of elegance and sophistication.
• Aquatic Petpets: Perfectly adapted to life in the water, these Petpets come in a variety of forms, from the graceful Flotsam to the spiky-finned Pfish.
• Desert Petpets: These hardy creatures thrive in the harsh conditions of the Lost Desert, often sporting features like scales, spines, or tough hides.
• Faerie Petpets: Known for their delicate beauty and magical qualities, Faerie Petpets are a popular choice for Neopets who appreciate a touch of enchantment.
• Spooky Petpets: With their eerie appearances and sometimes unsettling habits, Spooky Petpets are perfect for Neopets who enjoy a bit of a fright.
• Tyrannian Petpets: These prehistoric-looking Petpets are often large and imposing, reflecting the rugged terrain and ancient history of Tyrannia.

This is just a glimpse into the vast world of Petpets. To explore the full spectrum of species, be sure to visit the official Neopets website and browse their comprehensive Petpet directory.

Finding the Perfect Petpet: Where to Look and What to Consider

Ready to find a Petpet for your Neopet? There are several places to begin your search:

• Petpet Shops: Scattered throughout Neopia, these shops offer a wide variety of Petpets to choose from. Some specialize in specific categories, like the Faerie Petpet Shop in Faerieland or the Tyrannian Petpet Shop in Tyrannia.
• Event Prizes: Keep an eye out for events that offer Petpets as prizes. These events can be a great way to obtain rare or exclusive species.
• Dailies: Certain daily activities, such as the Meteor Crash Site and the Fruit Machine, have a chance of awarding Petpets.

When choosing a Petpet, consider your Neopet’s personality, preferences, and overall aesthetic. Do they prefer playful companions or more reserved ones? Are they drawn to certain colors or features? Ultimately, the best Petpet is one that both you and your Neopet will love and cherish.

Welcoming Your Petpet: Attaching, Interacting, and Caring

Once you’ve found the perfect Petpet, it’s time to introduce it to your Neopet. Here’s how:

1. Attaching: With the Petpet in your inventory, click on it and select “Give to [Pet’s Name]” from the dropdown menu. Note that your Neopet won’t accept a Petpet with the same number of letters in its name as your Neopet’s name. You can often bypass this by changing the site language or using a painted version of the same Petpet.
2. Naming: Visit your Neopet’s Quick Ref page and scroll down to their Petpet. Click on it to access its profile page, where you can choose a name. Unlike Neopet names, Petpet names don’t have to be unique, so feel free to get creative!
3. Interacting: While you can’t directly play with your Petpet, you can have your Neopet talk to it. This is a fun way to bond with your Petpet and discover its unique personality.

One of the best things about Petpets is that they require minimal care. Once attached to a Neopet, your Neopet will take care of all its needs, including feeding and grooming. You can simply sit back and enjoy the companionship they bring!

Neopets Petpets Colors & Neopets Petpet Paint Brush

Petpets in Neopets are more than just loyal companions to your Neopet—they’re a vibrant aspect of the game, with an extensive variety of colors that can enhance their uniqueness and charm. Petpet colors allow players to express creativity, showcase wealth or rarity, and match their Petpet to their Neopet’s own color scheme. With options ranging from classic hues like Red, Blue, and Green to exotic shades such as Darigan, Maraquan, and Faerie, there’s a color to suit every taste.

To change a Petpet’s color, players often rely on Petpet Paint Brushes, which can be found through various means, including purchasing them from other players, acquiring them through events, or discovering them as random drops. These brushes correspond to specific colors and themes, such as the Snow Petpet Paint Brush or the Halloween Petpet Paint Brush, which transform Petpets into festive, seasonal versions of themselves.

Certain colors are only obtainable through special methods, adding an air of exclusivity to some Petpets. For instance, the Magma Petpet color is achieved by taking your Petpet to the Magma Pool at the right time. Similarly, Petpets painted Royal, Robot, or Plushie often require more effort and resources, as these colors are rarer and highly sought after by collectors. Meanwhile, event-exclusive or retired colors, like Chocolate or Jelly, add an extra layer of excitement for dedicated players hunting down these elusive designs.

Beyond aesthetics, Petpet colors can also reflect a player’s achievements or dedication to customization. Some collectors even create elaborate themed galleries or use the Neopian Wardrobe feature to showcase how their Petpets match their Neopets and surroundings. The constant addition of new colors keeps this aspect of the game fresh, ensuring that there’s always something to look forward to when customizing your Petpet.

Whether you’re aiming for a spooky Halloween look or a regal Royal pairing, exploring the world of Petpet colors is a delightful way to add personality to your Neopets experience. With so many options and combinations available, this feature remains a cornerstone of creative expression within Neopia.

Beyond Companionship: Activities and Adventures for Your Petpet

While Petpets may seem like passive companions, there are actually several activities and adventures they can participate in:

• Petpet Puddle: Located in the Rainbow Pool, the Petpet Puddle allows you to change the color of your Petpet using Petpet Paint Brushes. This is a fun way to customize your Petpet’s appearance and make it truly unique.
• Symol Hole: This mysterious hole in Meridell can only be explored with the help of a Petpet. While most visits yield nothing out of the ordinary, there’s a chance your Petpet might unearth a valuable item.
• Waking Turmaculus: The gigantic Turmaculus sleeps for most of the day, but when it stirs, your Petpet can try to wake it for a chance to win prizes. However, be warned: this activity carries the risk of losing your Petpet!
• Petpet Lab Ray: Operated by a Kookith scientist, the Petpet Lab Ray can alter your Petpet’s level, name, color, and even species. However, like its Neopet counterpart, it can also have unpredictable and potentially disastrous results.
• Grave Danger: Send your Petpet on an adventure through the Neovian catacombs in this daily activity. While the name might sound ominous, your Petpet is safe from harm and will return with an item after several hours.
• Petpet Battles: Though not as popular as the Neopet Battledome, the Petpet Arena allows your Petpet to engage in battles and level up. While the stat currently has no practical use, it’s a fun way to test your Petpet’s strength.
• Petpet Protection League: This organization promotes responsible Petpet ownership and rewards Neopets who have cared for their Petpets for extended periods. Prizes include Neopoints and trophies.
• Petpet Spotlight: Showcase your creativity and your Petpet’s unique personality by entering the Petpet Spotlight contest. Submit a drawing and a short story about your Petpet for a chance to be featured on the Neopets website.

A Look Back: The Evolving World of Petpets

The world of Petpets has undergone several changes and intriguing events throughout Neopian history. Here are some notable moments:

• Petpet Evolution: Like Neopets, Petpets have undergone redesigns over the years. While some changes are minor, others have resulted in entirely new species, with the old versions becoming permanently unobtainable. If you have one of these rare, outdated Petpets, cherish it!
• Petpets in the Battledome: There was a time when Petpets could join Neopets in the Battledome, offering support and boosting their attack power. Sadly, this feature is no longer active.
• The Case of the Disappearing Petpets: In Year 5, Petpets across Neopia mysteriously vanished from their Neopets’ lookups, only to be found later in a hidden location, happily feasting on a strange green substance. The reason for this mass disappearance remains a mystery.
• Petpet Park: This dedicated Petpet community, featuring miniature towns and intelligent, independent Petpets, was a beloved feature for many years. Sadly, Petpet Park closed its doors in Year Sixteen.

Expanding the Family: Petpetpets and Beyond

Believe it or not, the world of miniature companions doesn’t end with Petpets. Petpets themselves can have tiny pets of their own, known as Petpetpets or P3s. These microscopic creatures add yet another layer of complexity to the Neopian ecosystem, with their own unique characteristics, personalities, and even their own dedicated avatars and games.

One notable example is the Habitarium, a mini-game where players help their Petpetpets build and manage their own thriving colony. This engaging game requires strategic planning and resource management, offering a unique challenge for Neopians who enjoy simulation games.

The existence of Petpetpets raises intriguing questions about the nature of life in Neopia. Are there even smaller creatures beyond Petpetpets? What are the limits of this miniature world? These questions remain unanswered, adding to the mystery and wonder of Petpet ownership.

Petpet Supplies: Creating a Cozy Home for Your Tiny Companion

While your Neopet takes care of your Petpet’s basic needs, you can further enhance their well-being by providing them with Petpet Supplies. These items, found in the Petpet Supplies shop at the Neopian Bazaar, can be placed in your Classic Neohome to create a comfortable and stimulating environment for your Petpet.

From cozy beds and scratching posts to interactive toys and puzzles, Petpet Supplies cater to a variety of needs and preferences. Some popular items include:

• Petpet Bed: Provide your Petpet with a comfortable place to rest and recharge.
• Petpet Food Bowl: Ensure your Petpet always has access to fresh food and water.
• Petpet Toy: Keep your Petpet entertained and engaged with a variety of stimulating toys.

By providing your Petpet with a well-equipped Neohome, you can further strengthen your bond and ensure they live a happy and fulfilling life.

Conclusion: Embracing the Charm of Petpets

Petpets may be small, but their impact on the world of Neopia is undeniable. They bring joy, companionship, and a touch of whimsy to the lives of Neopets and their owners. Whether you’re drawn to their diverse appearances, their quirky personalities, or the exciting activities they offer, there’s no denying the charm of these miniature companions.

So, if you’re looking to add an extra layer of fun and excitement to your Neopets journey, consider adopting a Petpet today. You might be surprised by the depth of connection you form with these tiny creatures and the enriching experiences they bring to your Neopian adventures.

Neopets Petpet List & Matcher

This guide has covered everything from the basics of Petpet ownership to their fascinating history and the intriguing world of Petpetpets. But the world of Petpets is vast and ever-evolving. As you embark on your own Petpet journey, be sure to explore, experiment, and most importantly, have fun!

There are thousands of petpets roaming in neopia all around, but there are pets that stand out and I feel they need to be recognized… or…

People just hate them, and are the most infamous petpets… All we want to do is run away from them, but they must’ve worked hard to get to their place of… er, infamousity, so they should be recognized too. XD

The Pound Chat (Neopets PC Chat) may seem intimidating, especially to newcomers – there are a lot of terms to memorize and rules to remember so I’ve tried to compile everything onto one semi-neat page.

Acronyms

If you need to find a specific acronym, search using Ctrl + F!

PC = pound chat
UFT = up for trade
UFQT = up for quick trade – generally the owner will decide right away if they want to trade or will take a day or two to decide at most
UFA = up for adoption
UFQA = up for quick adoption – usually the new owner will be chosen right there on the board or within a day
UFT/A = up for trade or adoption – the pet may be traded or adopted out
UFQT/A = up for quick trade or adoption – you can probably figure this one out
UC = unconverted (pet)
BD = battledome (pet)
SBD = starter battledome (pet), typically with 300 HSD or less
HSD = health + strength + defense combined
VWN = very well named – first letter capitalized, no underscores or numbers, pronounceable and not too long
WN = well named – the name may be slightly longer, some people find that uncapped names can also be WN, still no underscores or numbers
DN = decently named – this covers a variety of name formats and it’s highly subjective! some people are okay with one or two underscores or numbers, others find that being uncapped is automatically DN or if the name is very long
W/DN or WN/DN = well named to decently named – this covers both categories if you’re not quite sure what to call your pet
BN = badly named – usually with numbers and/or underscores, may be uncapped
VBN = very badly named – keyboard smash or has multiple numbers and/or underscores
V/BN or VBN/BN = same as above, if you’re not really sure what to call it
#L = the number of letters in a pet name
#C = the number of characters in a pet name – includes numbers and underscores
Y# = the Neopets year that the pet was created, Y1-3 are generally the most sought after
RW = real word
RN = real name
RW/N or RW/RN = is both a real word and a name
MS = misspell
PRDK = plushie, royal, draik, krawk – generally they are the highest valued UCs, some people only want to trade within the top tiers
RB & RG = royal boy & royal girl
EB & EG = elderly boy & elderly girl
FFQ = fountain faerie quest
NTY = no thank you
GL = good luck
GLT = good luck trading
ARB = accept, reject or beat (board) – boards people make when they aren’t sure of a trade and need extra help
PSA = public service announcement (board) – usually to warn other players of hackings and other unsavory events
BFA = bump for awareness – often used on PSA boards
HTT = hard to trade (pet)

** Please understand that not everyone has the same idea of what constitutes VWN, DN, etc., this is only meant to be a guide of sorts – you may think a name is decent while someone else might call it WN! It’s not nice to go on someone’s board and tell them that they’re wrong about their OPINION so if you don’t want to offer on their pet, just move it along.

Transfers

• The number of transfers that an account gets per month increases (slowly) over time. You get an extra every two years.

• Here’s the breakdown:

• 1-23 months = 1 transfer

• 24-47 months = 2 transfers

• 48-71 months = 3 transfers

• 72-95 months = 4 transfers

• 96-119 months = 5 transfers

• 120-143 months = 6 transfers

• 144+ months = 7 transfers

• 1 transfer = 1 incoming and 1 outgoing

• Transfers can be used at any time during the month. For example, you could adopt a pet from someone on the first of the month and it will count as one incoming transfer. Then say you wanted to send one of your pets to a side account on the last day of the month, this is one outgoing. In total, this is still only one full transfer.

• The transfer system has a habit of acting up on us. Here are some of the more common problems we see:

•  Make sure you have enough NPs on hand!

•  Try customizing with other items, save, and go back to the Customize page. The clothes will probably be in your closet. If not, send in a ticket because there’s really a glitch.

•  Check that you did not capitalize the username. I’ve also heard of this happening if you copy and paste because it will often automatically add a space at the end, check that there is no space or try manually typing it out.

• When you try to transfer a pet for the second time in the same day, you will get an error message saying that the Neopet does not want to be transferred again. An easy solution is to exchange the pet for another (a pet from the pound, for example), initiating it from the account you want the pet to go to. Note that it must be a trade because you cannot request to adopt a pet through transfers. This is a very handy trick for 3-way trades. I’ve also done this several times when giving PB clothes away, it allows me to give the pet back to the owner immediately. Don’t worry, this is NOT against the rules.

Wanna back out of a trade?

• Even though I want to keep this page objective and not about my own opinion, I have to touch on this before we continue. If you want to back out of a trade – 

•  It will probably be disappointing for the other player but it’s pretty likely that they’ll get over it. People change their minds, it happens a lot. The worst thing you can do when you want to back out is not tell them. PLEASE don’t just ignore their Neomails and definitely don’t block them without any explanation. It’s frustrating and upsetting – I know from first-hand experience. Any time I was silently backed out on, I just thought, “Why didn’t they just tell me? I could have spent all that time advertising instead of waiting around!” It can be scary to tell someone that you’ve changed your mind but I promise that it’s for the best! Heck, you can even copy and paste this message if you don’t know what to say!

• Hi (name), I wanted to tell you that I’ve change my mind about trading (pet name) for (pet name). I’m sorry if you’re disappointed, I hope there aren’t any hard feelings.

• That’s IT. That is honestly all you have to say. You don’t even have to go into detail about why you don’t want to trade. All they need to know is that the trade is off. See how easy that was?

Customs

Custom for trade
When someone says they are offering a custom, it means that they will either create a new pet, use a pet from the pound, or use one of their own pets to morph and/or paint using up to a certain amount of NPs, to trade for your pet.

Items may not be added to the pet neither as part of a custom nor to increase its value. That means no petpets, petpetpets, NP wearables, NC wearables, added faerie abilities, or anything else you can think of. We are trading one pet for one pet and nothing more.

Since a new Neopet cannot be pounded or transferred until it is one week old, or 168 hours, it is highly recommended that the person doing the custom does not morph or paint until right before the trade. This way, should the other trader back out, any items that were purchased can be resold and nothing (hopefully!) will be lost. Make sure to double check with the other person one last time before morphing/painting.

Now what about using your own pet? Why not just send it to the other person and have them paint it then you can trade for it back? This is not allowed by TNT, unfortunately.

From Editorial 363
When trading a Neopet, there are currently three ways people do it. One, I trade my island Kacheek for your zombie Aisha. Two, I create (or paint/morph an existing Neopet) an island Kacheek and trade it for your zombie Aisha. And three, I send you my Kacheek, you paint it island, THEN you send me my Neopet back and I send you the zombie Aisha. The third method is my question — is this acceptable? ~impishmars
The first two are fine, but the last would be a no-no, since you are basically selling the zombie Aisha for a Mystery Island Paint Brush, and that is not acceptable.
You may not pound your pet and have the other user just happen to catch it! It is considered a loophole and still against the rules.

From Editorial 363
So, let’s say I trade a Neopet for a 3 million NP custom. Would it be allowed for me to send the Neopet that I want customed over and, rather than having them paint it, ask that a Mootix (which costs 3 million) be attached instead, serving in place of the “paint job” custom? Technically you can’t profit from it, as Petpetpets disappear when traded, but Mootix are still items. I asked people on the Pound boards about this and got VERY strong mixed answers as a reply. Also, are you allowed to trade Neopets using aged avatar Neopets / Mootix as an extra? I desperately want answers to both of these questions. Please remove my username. Thanks! ~[username removed]
One Neopet for another Neopet is what you are allowed to trade. Petpets, extraneous items, Neopoints, or even extra Neopets are NOT allowed to be considered part of the trade.

Remember that FFQs are absolutely fine to trade! You can advertise them just like you would any other custom, the above rules still apply. However, you must complete the quest on your own. The other trader is not allowed to buy the item for you or “donate” to help you buy it.

Custom for adoption?
In short, you can’t do that (FFQs included). But it’s a very nice thing to want to do! Instead, a common thing that I’ve seen is to take a poll asking people what pet they would like to see go UFA. The most popular pet tends to win and is created (or picked from the pound, the person can even morph/paint a pet they already own) THEN put UFA.

From Editorial 369
While wandering the Pound chat as of late, I’ve noticed several people putting a “10 million NP custom up for adoption.” This apparently consists of someone making an application, stating what they would ask the custom maker to create. I’m wondering if this is bending the spirit of the rules a little, in that it’s 1.) essentially applying for a Neopet that doesn’t exist yet and 2.) pretty much applying for money, even if it is to be a Neopet. Not being an adopter or custom maker, but rather as an impartial observer, I’m curious: is this allowed? ~anjie
This is bending the spirit of the rules. No one should advertise a Neopet that doesn’t even exist yet, nor should they advertise an application that even resembles a competition and/or sale.

From Editorial 703
Hi, I hope you’ll don’t mind me asking but is adopting a pet from a friend, painting it with our fountain faerie quest and adopting it back to our friend be illegal? or legal? Thank you for taking the time to look at this and hopefully I can get a response back soon! ^^ ~acerawr
Hi! So unfortunately, you cannot use your fountain faerie quests for another user. It’s a nice thought, but we ask each user to work towards their own goals and enjoy the benefits, instead of using someone else’s.

What about BD customs?
Surprisingly, these are allowed!

From Editorial 583
Hello, TNT! So, this has been worrying me a little. When you transfer a Neopet, does he lose his new faerie abilities, or will they go with him like the old ones? Also, when you trade for a Neopet, is it permissible to ask (as part of a custom) that they train a certain faerie ability to the Neopet? I know that asking for a painting is allowed, as is asking for training, and since this is (in my opinion) kind of the same thing, I was wondering if it was allowed or not. Best wishes and thanks! ~denu_23
Abilities do transfer with the Neopet. We barely tolerate the whole “training” part of customs, but also asking for abilities just pushes things too far. Basically, we don’t want you to be “paying” someone to play a part of the game for you. That’s why we have a low tolerance for such things.

Backing out of a custom
This is not against the rules to do, even if the pet has been morphed/painted already. But it is extremely frowned upon in our little community and truthfully, can be heartbreaking for the other trader.

From Editorial 434
Hey TNT, thanks for the site. In last week’s Editorial, in response to a question about trading customs, you said: “They are not obligated to give you their Neopet just because you spent Neopoints on painting or morphing your Neopet into something they wanted, even if they had agreed to trade with you if you did so.” However, this is at odds with an earlier Editorial question (from issue 380) that stated: “By this stage it would be too late to cancel the deal. The other person has already invested Neopoints or altered their Neopet to fit the trade agreement.” Which is true? Are there different scenarios where backing out after someone has completed a custom is okay? (This seems unfair to me.) Thanks, please remove my username. (: ~ username removed
We believe the confusion caused from past Editorials is that they have referred to custom Neopet trading with regard to Neopoints invested. For instance, Player A says they will trade their Royal Neopet for another Royal, so then Player B purchases a Royal Paint Brush to paint their Neopet Royal for the trade. Player A then changes their mind, leaving Player B upset and with an unused Royal Paint Brush that they had invested their Neopoints into for the purpose of trading Neopets. At this point Player B could sell the paint brush and regain all or nearly all of their Neopoints back. If Player B had painted their Neopet Royal before Player A had backed out, then they would have had enough cause to report Player A to our monitors for further investigation, but that does not mean Player A was in the wrong or a trickster.

When you agree to a custom trade, you are trading a Neopet for a Neopet. The cost of the paint brush or morphing potion cannot be considered in the trade, as that would be against our Terms of Service and trading a Neopet for Neopoints. No matter how much a paint brush or morphing potion costs, you are willingly painting your Neopet to match the trader’s request, and should do so at your own risk. While we do not encourage players to back out after a Neopet has been painted or morphed, players can back out or change their minds at any time. If you think someone is deliberately abusing this to trick people, then you should report it to our monitors for them to investigate. We will warn or freeze players that we find repeatedly doing this to others.

This is why it’s especially important to wait until the last minute to morph/paint!

What about special pets?

• • • Battle pets of course!
    • Pets of a specific age
    • Pets with trophies
    • Glitched pets (for example, negative stats or unknown Grundos)
      
      From Editorial 722
      I’ve been scouring past Editorials, but can’t find the answer to this question. Am I allowed to mention that my pet has 2 Beauty Contest trophies when I’m trying to trade her away to another player, or is this against the rules? Would it be suspicious if I trade my Orange Koi (with gold and silver trophies) to someone else for, say, a Royalboy Cybunny? There are a couple of artists who want my Koi, because they want to continue earning her trophies. The Help Neoboard, Art Neoboard, and Pound Neoboard all have no idea. Thanks for publishing my question! ~ indulgences
      Hi there! Everyone has different things they look for or ways to value pets, whether it be colour, stats, name, or trophies won. If someone values one over the other and agrees to a trade, who are we to say no?
      
      
  From 

• Hmm… we don’t really have a rule for this. Glitches have a habit of being fixed, so it’s kind of silly to trade for a glitched Neopet. That being said, you guys always surprise us with what gets you excited, lol. As long as you aren’t doing something to purposely glitch your Neopet, and the person understands that it won’t be permanent, we guess you can go ahead until some problem presents itself and we then need to put a stop to it.

• From 

• As they are glitched Neopets, they could be fixed at any point from five minutes from now to 10 years. We recommend not valuing Neopets for such bugged stats, especially among players who choose to trade Neopets.

• • Has a specific petpet or petpetpet – this includes zapped, UC, and glitched petpets!
    
    From Editorial 470
    I’ll get to the point real fast: if I’m on the Pound Chat, am I allowed to make a topic that pretty much says “Basic Neopet with aged zapped Snowbunny UFT! (Get Snowbunny avatar!)”? From what I see, there are two conflicting points. 1. No Neopoint profit can be made, but 2. It “sort of” breaks the spirit of trading a Neopet for an item instead of a Neopet for a Neopet. Ambiguous, sort of, so I figured I’d ask. xD ~tealnova_dragon
    Not ambiguous to us. You would be attempting to trade a Neopet for an avatar / Petpet. Neopets can ONLY be traded for another Neopet. Rest assured that, if we see a plain blue Lupe being traded for a royal Acara, we’re going to know something is up and investigate.
    
    From Editorial 587
    Hi, TNT. *hands you a sandwich* On the Pound Chat, a lot of people have lately been posting things such as “Looking for Neopet with an avvie Petpet” or “Looking for a Neopet with a Mootix attached.” I know that trading a ‘pet specifically for the Petpet is against the rules, but what about for a Petpetpet? They can not get it off and sell it, so it would just be for the avatar. Is that allowed? ~sillyblondegirl17
    No. The Petpet still has a Neopoint value, even if it can’t be removed. You may trade one Neopet for one Neopet. That’s all.
    
    From Editorial 587
    Hi, TNT! *throws asparagus cookie* I’m looking for some clarification. I was lurking the Pound Chat boards the other day and someone had a badly named, cheaply painted Neopet up for trade. The Neopet had a very old Petpet (a Boris) attached. Numerous other players came on the board telling the original poster that it was against the rules to advertise the Petpet as adding value to the Neopet, as it would be like trading items for Neopets. The OP responded by saying that that rule doesn’t apply because the Petpet has no Neopoint value, and that it only adds trading value to the Neopet it’s attached to. Is this correct? Are unconverted Petpets allowed to be advertised as part of a Neopet trade? ~_crescendo
    Hey guys, Hanso here. The Editorialist just screamed, threw a keyboard across the room, and then tossed the computer monitor out the wind0w.
    We’re taking that as a “no.”
    
    BUT this is not to say that is against the rules to trade for a pet with a petpet or petpetpet that is still attached. It just means that they cannot add to the value of the pet itself.

    UC pets

    UC means unconverted, these are pets that were made before the site revamp that took place on April 26, 2007. For years, players asked TNT to allow their pets to wear clothes but the only way to do this was to make standardized poses. Now all pets of a given species have the same pose with the exceptions of Baby, Maraquan, Mutant, and the edible Chias. The NC Mall was also introduced as well as a total overhaul of the layout of Neopets.
    
    UCs are essentially retired pets and cannot be created anymore. Because of this, unconverted pets are highly coveted and sought after. Not all pets were allowed to stay unconverted though, only some of the more detailed colors had the option and even then, it seems that random pets of certain colors were excluded from keeping their old form. Here is one example of an unconverted pet in comparison to its converted counterpart:
     UC pets are flat images so their ability to be customized is limited. They can wear things like backgrounds, foregrounds, trinkets and sound effects. They cannot wear anything that goes directly onto the body. Their facial features never change regardless of being sick, sad, angry, or injured.
    
    Altering a UC’s appearance in any way will convert it!
    
    From Editorial 526
    Hey, so you know how, when you change a few things on Neopets and you’re happy with it, but then sometimes feel like you’re going to miss the old thing that you fixed? Well, I was thinking about the unconverted Neopets or whatever you call them… well, my best friend had a UC Neopet, but then when she painted it royal it was normal. She was not in the mood to do anything later. So I was thinking that, when you go to the Rainbow Pool to paint a Neopet pirate / Halloween / faerie / royal, etc., perhaps you could have a choice of keeping it normal or unconverted. That would make my friend really happy. 🙂 ~tulituli9025
    Whoops. :X There is no possible way for unconverted Neopets to be created by any means. It’s just artwork that hasn’t been updated, not a type of colour. Therefore, when you paint an unconverted Neopet, it’s going to become whatever the current artwork for that colour is. There is no way to paint a Neopet and have the unconverted aspect preserved, and that is not a functionality we have any plans to change.
    
    Will they ever be creatable?
    Some people think that UCs should be brought back in the form of a Neocash buyable. Could TNT do this? Yes of course, I’ve seen them unconvert UC pets that were stolen and converted. It’s possible but HIGHLY unlikely that we’ll ever see new UCs.
    
    From Editorial 683
    I really like UCs, and I know other Neopians do, too. There should be an option to choose either a UC pet when creating a pet, or create a normal pet. Can you please bring UCs back? ~popcorn_snuffler
    We’re glad you like them! However, currently we have no plans to bring back unconverted Neopets as a creatable option.
    
    From Editorial 647
    Hey, TNT! I’ve been hearing lately that Jumpstart is considering bringing back unconverted Neopets. I, personally, hope this is true, but can you shed some light on this before I get my hopes up too much? Thanks! ~poogle_girl287
    Uh, no. Unless we state in big, bold letters on New Features that we’ve suddenly changed our opinion and are bringing back UCs, then please consider anything you hear to be an unsubstantiated rumour started by overly-hopeful, misinformed, or mischievous players.
    
    From Editorial 511
    Now that you’ve successfully tackled Draik / Krawk inflation, what are your plans for the future regarding unconverted Neopets? Would you ever invent something like an unconverted Lab Ray zap, a Random Event that turns Neopets unconverted, or give Neopets an option to be UC or converted to suit owners’ taste? Please remove my username. ~username removed
    There are no plans for unconverted Neopets. They are relics left over from the past, and not something we are giving any consideration to in the future. While many players seem to think of them as something like a rare paint brush colour, we consider them to be more like an out of date operating system: great back in the day, but no longer supported.
    
    UC pets and gender changes
    If you zap an unconverted pet, you run the risk of it getting a species or color change which will, of course, convert it. If you only want to change its gender, it is absolutely not worth attempting to zap. Fighting the Lab Ray Scientist in the Battledome is the only safe way to do it and it will NOT convert your pet.
    
    From Editorial 334
    Hey TNT! I have a problem that has been bugging me. If you battle the mad scientist in the Battledome there is a chance that your Neopet can change genders, right? What would happen if an unconverted royal boy Draik battled the scientist and got a gender change? Would the Neopet change to a converted female Draik, or an unconverted version because it was unconverted to begin with? Is battling the scientist risky using an unconverted royal Draik? Thanks so much! ~coffeeluvr1992
    If you go into the Battledome with a royal boy Draik and the Lab Ray Scientist changes the gender of your Neopet, you will then have a female royal boy Draik. The gender will change, but the clothes and the colour will not change.
    
    Is my pet UC?
    If you’re not sure, there is a very easy way to check! Just go to your Quick Ref, to the right of your pet’s image you will see something like this:
    
    
    If you don’t have this notice, your pet is converted.

    Keep your account safe

    *First I want to thank dmitri_stanislaus for letting me borrow from his amazing guide! Anyone who wants more information on cookie-grabbers and how they work should definitely visit it!
    
    • To put it simply, here is what you do if you think you may have been cookie-grabbed or hacked in some way:
    1. Log out. 2. Log in. 3. Change word. 4. Done.
    
    • It’s very important to make sure that your email is one that you currently have access to. Some email hosts will allow email addresses to expire and be remade. All a hacker would need to do is recreate an old email address that’s attached to an account and have the PW sent to it – instant access. It’s also a good idea to use a host that has a 2-step login.
    
    • Put PINs on everything! Anything that’s relevant to you, put a PIN on it. I also recommend using a different PIN for each of your accounts.
    
    • Block pet transfers! It’s easy enough to unblock them if you want to trade pets with someone. The 10 seconds it will take you to to this could be the difference between a hacker sending your pet off to another account or kicking them out of your account because they would need to change it before transferring any pets.
    
    • Have a favorite pet? Keep its petpet in Grave Danger at all times. A pet cannot be moved from an account if its petpet is in there, the timer must be up and the petpet has to be manually taken out before the pet can go anywhere. Keep in mind that you can only do this on your main account.
    
    • Do not set your account to stealth mode. Show hackers that you’re an active player and that you’ll definitely notice if something is wrong.
    
    *Thanks to Em (emilybugdh11) for suggesting this section!

    Did you know?

    

    Color-changing events are gone!
    Yes this change was implemented quite a while ago but not everyone knows about it! Show off those beautiful pets!
    
    From Editorial 699
    So I heard recently that the color-changing random events (such as Boochi) aren’t happening. Is this temporary, or is it going to stay this way? I want to know if I’m safe to have my Faerie Cybunny as my active pet, or if I should keep my ‘Boochi-shield’ foster pet as my active, in case the events return without warning. Thanks! ~ dreamer_lily
    Rest easy, your faerie Cybunny is perfectly safe! Color-changing random events are officially retired, and they will not be coming back without warning (they probably won’t be coming back ever, but if they ever did, you’d definitely be warned!). You are now free to show off your favourite pet colour with pride!
    Woo hoo!
    
    FFQs can’t paint every color
    Not even the Fountain Faerie can paint these colors: 8-Bit, Clay, Garlic, Ice, Magma, MSP, Quiguki, Robot, Royal, Sponge, and Usuki.
    
    The lab ray can’t either
    Baby, Magma, Pirate, Plushie, Quiguki, Royal, and Usuki are all restricted from the lab.
    
    But there are lab only colors
    The only way to get one of these colors is through a lucky zap: Clay, Garlic, Ice, MSP, Robot, and Sponge.

Neopets has undoubtedly left an indelible mark on the hearts of many, especially for those who have been around since its early days. For many players, it was more than just a game—it was a vibrant virtual world that sparked creativity, connection, and endless hours of fun. Looking back at the old screenshots from Neopets’ early days provides not only a nostalgic trip but also a glimpse into a time when the internet was still a wild frontier, and online games like Neopets were just beginning to establish their place in the virtual world.

The screenshots featured in this article offer a visual journey to the past—showcasing vintage Neopets moments that fans of all ages will recognize, from early pet designs to the classic layout of Neopia’s world. These screenies highlight just how far the game has come, but also how much of its original charm remains. For players who were there from the start, these images will undoubtedly bring back memories of simpler times, when Neopets was a cozy and close-knit community, and the thrill of discovering new areas, games, and features was always just around the corner.

For me personally, my journey with Neopets began on December 24th, 1999, when the site was still a budding online community with less than 2,000 players. Back then, Neopets was a quiet corner of the internet, far removed from the massive, bustling hub it is today. Prior to discovering Neopets, I had been a beta tester for Petz 3, and my friends and I worked on a website called The Playground. One of my close friends, who helped maintain The Playground, introduced me to Neopets. It didn’t take long for me to fall in love with the game, and soon after, I lost interest in Petz and the site. My friends and I transitioned from The Playground to Neopets, and surprisingly, three of them still play Neopets to this day. That early connection, the community we built around the game, and the simple joys of exploring Neopia are some of my most cherished memories.

The nostalgia these old screenshots evoke is powerful—whether it’s the early designs of Neopets pets, the old-fashioned user interfaces, or the simplicity of the site before it became the vast empire we know now. These images represent not just a game, but a time capsule of the early internet era, where online friendships were formed in virtual spaces that were both exciting and full of potential.

As you dive into these screenshots, I hope they take you back to your own Neopets journey, whether it was in 1999, 2005, or even just a few years ago. This article isn’t just about old images; it’s a celebration of the Neopets community and the memories we’ve all shared. Get ready for a nostalgic adventure through time, as we relive the good old days of Neopets with these vintage screenshots.

Due to space constarints, I have had to move my analysis of the 4-4-04 dilemma, “glitch day” to a new page. (Special thanks to everyone that provided me with some of these screenies) (Screenshots at the bottom) The latest neopets scandal- the so called “Secret Word Hack” Below is an article copied as it was from soupfaerie.com (4/4/04) NOTE – THIS PROBLEM IS NOT FIXED   It happened to me again. The PW request page is supposedly supposed to be down so no one can take accounts anymore. However, I have still gotten PW emails containing my PW. I have also lost more items. I have self froze my account to protect it from any further damage. FIRST First, before you read any further, CHANGE YOUR NEOPET PASSWORD NOW! You can CLICK HERE to change your password. Why this important announcement? On April 3rd, there was a MAJOR glitch that allowed anyone to view your password and email address. How could they view it you might ask? Well, if someone went to the password request page and inputted your neopet user name, it would display both your password and email address. If someone took your password, they would then get into your account and steal anything and everything inside it. They could also change your password so you could no longer get into your account. Why is it important to change my password now? Well, if someone took your password and saved it, they can get still get into your account whenever they want. The only way you can protect your account now is to change your password. Who does this affect? This affects everyone. Even all of the “Big Name” neopet players. I lost my account temporarily and lost all of my NPs and a number of valueable items. Many people out there hare already lost all of their NPs and items. Also, change your email account’s password. If you used the same password for your email account as your neo account, then anyone that might have taken and saved your password can now get into your email account. If you use an online email provider, then they can go through your saved emails and get anything from paypal and bank account information that might have been saved. I’ve heard people say that this can affect me outside of Neopets. Is this true? Yes! This is very true. If you used the same password for your email account and other things online, then in theory, the person that took your password could also get into things such as bank accounts and other things that deal with very important real life things. To be safe, change the passwords of all your online accounts and email addresses. Also, to be even more safe, always use a different password for your accounts. This will make it difficult for anyone to do anything to your other accounts online. Why isn’t neopets announcing this in the news? Well, to be honest, I don’t know why. The only thing I can personally figure out is that they like to keep problems that they create a secret. If no one knows they made a mistake, then no one will get upset with them. I personally think neopets needs to own up to the fact that this was one HUGE mistake that they made yesterday. Written by a Fellow Neopets Player Writen by ebilkitty A Few Words Regarding the “Forgot Word” Bug …and the way it’s been handled If you have a problem with the fact that Adam himself decided that it’s not necessary to notify all users that there was a bug with the Forgot Word page causing email addresses and words to be displayed, you should register your concern with The Neopets Team immediately. Featheralley was originally sent to tell people to change their words. Featheralley made several posts to the BD chat, stating that everyone should change their words. After some concern and questions by users, she posted again stating that TNT told her to post about it and that there was a problem with the Forgot Word page, which had caused users’ words and email addresses to be displayed. The problem with this is that Featheralley is NOT staff and a chat board is not the place to inform users that their personal information has been compromised. Shortly after this, people started complaining [for obvious reasons] that others were “bashing” Featheralley and that she was just trying to help. The fact that someone is well known doesn’t mean that they can take the place of the staff when it comes to addressing serious issues involving the integrity of users’ personal information. Borovan posted shortly afterwards stating the same thing [Please click here to view someone’s Petpage containing screen shots of borovan’s boards]. He posted again stating that he had read our posts and decided that it was not worth it to address the problem on the News page. Adam himself has decided that it’s not worth the “panic” and “support requests” that would come from notifying all users that their email addresses and words could have been given out to just about anyone today. Apparently he doesn’t see what’s currently going on at the boards as “panic.” Some people use the same word for other sites and accounts not related to Neopets. What about those who used their word for their email account? The problems relating to this extend much further than just the Neopets site. This is a very serious issue. If such a thing had happened at another site, such as E-bay or Paypal, where users’ email addresses and words had been given out, it’d probably be all over the news as a severe security problem. However, the fact that Neopets doesn’t involve credit card numbers or other extremely sensitive information doesn’t make this any less severe. This brings up another concern: How often has this kind of thing happened? They seem to be very intent on keeping situations like this one a big secret, so how often has your personal information been compromised? The fact that this kind of thing has happened is bad enough, but the fact that they’re keeping it a secret is even worse. Adam has decided that you don’t have a right to know that your information may have been made public simply because you aren’t a “rich” or “well-known” BD-chatter. Let him know you disagree. Millions of users are going to be completely oblivious to the fact that their personal information could have been made public and their accounts compromised. They have every RIGHT to “panic” and worry about the integrity of their other information on Neopets’ servers. This is a very serious issue and it affects more than just accounts on the site. It affects the personal information of all of the users. This isn’t the only problem about which they’ve been reluctant to disclose information. How about the unequip bug that’s cost users millions? Had they actually announced that bug, more people would be vigilant when unequipping their BD items. Not everyone will hear about that bug through word-of-mouth and will have to learn about it the hard way. Neopets neglects to inform users of important problems relating to the site.   Here is another version of the story I found   ” 4-4-04: Okay, for any of you who missed the Hcking story. Here you go: It first started out anonymously, people getting iced left and right. Some self-iced in fear, the whole thing. Adam posted several topics, saying that it was all a glitch and it will be fixed tommorow, but was this Adam? No one knows for sure. As far as I can see his account is still in tact and his pets are fine. After numerous anonymous rich people getting hcked and self-iced, finally the Hcker comes out of his shell. So he posts, telling everyone to post usernames and he will give them whoever’s pss (Similar to that of Zelsync). Most didnt believe him, in reply saying ‘Yeah smart guy? Whats mine?’ … And yes, sure enough, he told them it. His next board was showing how he did it… posting a link to the Neopets login page and saying how (I wont give this out, but yes I did see it along with many others) So there the real chaos began. Noobs running around, stealing peoples accounts. If a rich person wasnt iced, 5 minutes later he/she was. Thankfully the glitch was fixed before an hour from the time of announcement, but many were frozen. List of hcked accounts: hubrids_mansion, verygoodcharlotte, alzheimers, hrobi, sport_ll, zidane, ryken, starfox6441, aerospacegod, lunar_boi, lsteven14, frozenbutta, tmachoops, warhyyu, Clotho, intherno, thunder3_stud, whitehawk1000, aafftteerr2CAREFREE424, KEV_6969, _am_i_hopeless_, pacific_angel232, shaneyz, assassin13, azn_angel634, solidus_snake, charizardfan, sport2k, random_acts, mc123108, hooi_k, carinafox5, brandon_mckaig, drgoot, fed7, orare, aglandiir, aczitrom, yoshikoopa, hrobi. Plus many more I missed. (Credit to Pov for most of the list) “   Below are screenshots of Adams Posts Below are shots of when Adam is thought to have been hacked. Here are some other screenshots from 4-4-04. (I literally have about 50, so it could be a while before they are all up.) . . . . . . . . .

Due to space constarints, I have had to move my analysis of the 4-4-04 dilemma, “glitch day” to a new page. (Special thanks to everyone that provided me with some of these screenies) (Screenshots at the bottom) The latest neopets scandal- the so called “Secret Word Hack” Below is an article copied as it was from soupfaerie.com (4/4/04) NOTE – THIS PROBLEM IS NOT FIXED   It happened to me again. The PW request page is supposedly supposed to be down so no one can take accounts anymore. However, I have still gotten PW emails containing my PW. I have also lost more items. I have self froze my account to protect it from any further damage. FIRST First, before you read any further, CHANGE YOUR NEOPET PASSWORD NOW! You can CLICK HERE to change your password. Why this important announcement? On April 3rd, there was a MAJOR glitch that allowed anyone to view your password and email address. How could they view it you might ask? Well, if someone went to the password request page and inputted your neopet user name, it would display both your password and email address. If someone took your password, they would then get into your account and steal anything and everything inside it. They could also change your password so you could no longer get into your account. Why is it important to change my password now? Well, if someone took your password and saved it, they can get still get into your account whenever they want. The only way you can protect your account now is to change your password. Who does this affect? This affects everyone. Even all of the “Big Name” neopet players. I lost my account temporarily and lost all of my NPs and a number of valueable items. Many people out there hare already lost all of their NPs and items. Also, change your email account’s password. If you used the same password for your email account as your neo account, then anyone that might have taken and saved your password can now get into your email account. If you use an online email provider, then they can go through your saved emails and get anything from paypal and bank account information that might have been saved. I’ve heard people say that this can affect me outside of Neopets. Is this true? Yes! This is very true. If you used the same password for your email account and other things online, then in theory, the person that took your password could also get into things such as bank accounts and other things that deal with very important real life things. To be safe, change the passwords of all your online accounts and email addresses. Also, to be even more safe, always use a different password for your accounts. This will make it difficult for anyone to do anything to your other accounts online. Why isn’t neopets announcing this in the news? Well, to be honest, I don’t know why. The only thing I can personally figure out is that they like to keep problems that they create a secret. If no one knows they made a mistake, then no one will get upset with them. I personally think neopets needs to own up to the fact that this was one HUGE mistake that they made yesterday. Written by a Fellow Neopets Player Writen by ebilkitty A Few Words Regarding the “Forgot Word” Bug …and the way it’s been handled If you have a problem with the fact that Adam himself decided that it’s not necessary to notify all users that there was a bug with the Forgot Word page causing email addresses and words to be displayed, you should register your concern with The Neopets Team immediately. Featheralley was originally sent to tell people to change their words. Featheralley made several posts to the BD chat, stating that everyone should change their words. After some concern and questions by users, she posted again stating that TNT told her to post about it and that there was a problem with the Forgot Word page, which had caused users’ words and email addresses to be displayed. The problem with this is that Featheralley is NOT staff and a chat board is not the place to inform users that their personal information has been compromised. Shortly after this, people started complaining [for obvious reasons] that others were “bashing” Featheralley and that she was just trying to help. The fact that someone is well known doesn’t mean that they can take the place of the staff when it comes to addressing serious issues involving the integrity of users’ personal information. Borovan posted shortly afterwards stating the same thing [Please click here to view someone’s Petpage containing screen shots of borovan’s boards]. He posted again stating that he had read our posts and decided that it was not worth it to address the problem on the News page. Adam himself has decided that it’s not worth the “panic” and “support requests” that would come from notifying all users that their email addresses and words could have been given out to just about anyone today. Apparently he doesn’t see what’s currently going on at the boards as “panic.” Some people use the same word for other sites and accounts not related to Neopets. What about those who used their word for their email account? The problems relating to this extend much further than just the Neopets site. This is a very serious issue. If such a thing had happened at another site, such as E-bay or Paypal, where users’ email addresses and words had been given out, it’d probably be all over the news as a severe security problem. However, the fact that Neopets doesn’t involve credit card numbers or other extremely sensitive information doesn’t make this any less severe. This brings up another concern: How often has this kind of thing happened? They seem to be very intent on keeping situations like this one a big secret, so how often has your personal information been compromised? The fact that this kind of thing has happened is bad enough, but the fact that they’re keeping it a secret is even worse. Adam has decided that you don’t have a right to know that your information may have been made public simply because you aren’t a “rich” or “well-known” BD-chatter. Let him know you disagree. Millions of users are going to be completely oblivious to the fact that their personal information could have been made public and their accounts compromised. They have every RIGHT to “panic” and worry about the integrity of their other information on Neopets’ servers. This is a very serious issue and it affects more than just accounts on the site. It affects the personal information of all of the users. This isn’t the only problem about which they’ve been reluctant to disclose information. How about the unequip bug that’s cost users millions? Had they actually announced that bug, more people would be vigilant when unequipping their BD items. Not everyone will hear about that bug through word-of-mouth and will have to learn about it the hard way. Neopets neglects to inform users of important problems relating to the site.   Here is another version of the story I found   ” 4-4-04: Okay, for any of you who missed the Hcking story. Here you go: It first started out anonymously, people getting iced left and right. Some self-iced in fear, the whole thing. Adam posted several topics, saying that it was all a glitch and it will be fixed tommorow, but was this Adam? No one knows for sure. As far as I can see his account is still in tact and his pets are fine. After numerous anonymous rich people getting hcked and self-iced, finally the Hcker comes out of his shell. So he posts, telling everyone to post usernames and he will give them whoever’s pss (Similar to that of Zelsync). Most didnt believe him, in reply saying ‘Yeah smart guy? Whats mine?’ … And yes, sure enough, he told them it. His next board was showing how he did it… posting a link to the Neopets login page and saying how (I wont give this out, but yes I did see it along with many others) So there the real chaos began. Noobs running around, stealing peoples accounts. If a rich person wasnt iced, 5 minutes later he/she was. Thankfully the glitch was fixed before an hour from the time of announcement, but many were frozen. List of hcked accounts: hubrids_mansion, verygoodcharlotte, alzheimers, hrobi, sport_ll, zidane, ryken, starfox6441, aerospacegod, lunar_boi, lsteven14, frozenbutta, tmachoops, warhyyu, Clotho, intherno, thunder3_stud, whitehawk1000, aafftteerr2CAREFREE424, KEV_6969, _am_i_hopeless_, pacific_angel232, shaneyz, assassin13, azn_angel634, solidus_snake, charizardfan, sport2k, random_acts, mc123108, hooi_k, carinafox5, brandon_mckaig, drgoot, fed7, orare, aglandiir, aczitrom, yoshikoopa, hrobi. Plus many more I missed. (Credit to Pov for most of the list) “   Below are screenshots of Adams Posts

This is the first pet I created
I named her HollyNoel because it was Christmas eve and this is
how she looked in the beginning as a red Aisha.

Remember the Trophy Pages?

This is how she looks now.

 

Remember these other old pets?

Tigren which later became the Acara

Grarrl

Badeek which later became the Kacheek

Bruce

Flye which later became the Buzz

Cerpull which became the Tatsu and then Eyrie

Flotsam

Jetsam

Elephante

Frogstomp which later became the Quiggle

Fuzio which later became the Kyrii

Polypup which later became the Gelert

Grundo

Jib Jib which later became the Jub Jub

Macy Gray which later became the Kau

Kiko

Koi

Korbat

Lenny

Lupe

Mellish which later became the Mynci

Nimmo

Peophin

Scorchio

Shoyru

Skeith

Techo

Tuskaninny

Uni

Usul

Wocky

Zafara

 

---

 

Remember?
Livechat rooms in all the main neoshops and hanging out in them waiting for main shops to restock
Faerie Quests were unlimited
There was no quickstock, everything was stocked one item at a time into your shop or deposit box
User Theme Parks where your pets paid to go on rides and found random items like balloons

You could buy wine from the food shop for about 120 neopoints
Discount Cards where you got a percentage off when buying items from main shops

Anyone having over 100,000 neopoints was considered rich
The Battledome didn’t open to everyone until January 2001
You couldn’t build a Neohome until March 2001
It cost 3 totems to go to Mystery Island when it first opened and you went by boat

Players could create a new item and submit to Neopets and some where used as real neoitems (jabbathehutt created several neggs, chris22099 made the original snowglobe and I had 2 items, the HRobibear and the HollyNoel ring)
HRobibear became the Cool Purple TeddyBear (atleast it’s my favorite colour)

The Story of the HollyNoel Ring and the Fish Negg

Once upon a time in the land of Neopia. A sweet fuzio by the name of Nut_case gave this ring to a pretty lil aisha named HollyNoel in May of 2000. But it wasn’t fair for it to be the only one in the land so, in July of 2000 it was changed into the Fish Negg. The image was changed again in the Spring of 2001. We will always treasure the sentiment.

 

---

Battle and Magic

Hypno Helmet, new Hypno Helmet then changed to H4000 Helmet

Thyoras Tear

Grand Lightning Beam

Rainbow Frost Cannon

Grarrl Gauntlet

Downsize!

Dark Faerie became Bottled Dark Faerie

Light Faerie became Bottled Light Faerie

Earth Faerie became Bottled Earth Faerie

Fire Faerie became Bottled Fire Faerie

Air Faerie became Bottled Air Faerie

Water Faerie became Bottled Water Faerie

I’m so glad the Faeries have faces now

Amulet of the Dark Faerie

Wand of the Light Faerie

Staff of the Earth Faerie

Orb of the Fire Faerie

Circlet of the Air Faerie

Necklace of the Water Faerie

Bronze Dragon Stone became the Bronze Scorchstone

Golden Dragon Stone became the Golden Scorchstone

Silver Dragon Stone became the Silver Scorchstone

Earthen Dragon Stone became the Earth Scorchstone

Faerie Portrait

Magic Key

Frost Mote

Water Mote

Orange Invisihat

Flaming Torch

Ultra Rainbow Flash

 

---

Food and Drink

I remember this as Bottle of Beer though some say it was Neorona
but it was changed to Neocola

Exotic Plant

Ferrero Rocher became the Neotruffle

Wriggling Grub

Grubwich

Chocolate Ice Cream

Rainbow N and N’s became Rainbow Neodrops

Rose Wine became Sparkling Grape Juice

White Wine became Sparkling Apple Juice

Red Wine became Sparkling Raspberry Juice

 

---

Toys

Angel Chia Doll became Angel Chia Plushie

Evil Chia Doll became Limited Edition Evil Chia Plushie

Baby Doll

Clock

Etchsketch became Sketch a Pic

Gold Bike

Laptop Computer

 

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Video Shop

The Shopkeeper

The Petrix was changed to The Chetrix and then to the Golden Shoyru Book

Chia Don’t Cry was changed to the Book of Bizarre Tales

Nimmo Yoga was changed to the Bitten Book

Saving Private Jetsam was changed to the Book of Bones

Karate Jub was changed to the Ancient Book

Scorch Little was changed to the Warped Book

The Thingi from Majingi was changed to the Book of Splinters

Kiko Goes Boom! was changed to the Scaled Magic Book

Usuls Day Off was changed to the Nimmo Joe Book

My Little Uni was changed to the Popular Neopian Stories

My Little Uni II was changed to the Book of Symbols

U-504 was changed to the Solid Steel Book

Eyrie Indiana was changed to the Book of Sea Spells

The Good, The Kacheek, and The Ugly was changed to the Book of Pain

Adventures of Bloop was changed to the Locked Book

Revenge of the Birds was changed to the Book of Ice Magic

Skreech was changed to the Book of Vision

Moovie was changed to the Bound Magic Book

 

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Getting around Neopia

First Shop Map

First Game Cupboard

 

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Rumour or Not?
Yes, I was once a volunter monitor/admin for Neopets. It was an honour to help monitor the boards and I did that from April 2000 to January 2001. They stopped having volunteers monitor the site but I still find myself watching the boards and reporting those that need deleted. I’m a lurker, yep yep. 😛

No, I was not given the Baby Negg. I traded a Fish Negg for it. I did great on the negg trade but look at what I spent for a silly Rainbow Scooter. I traded the Baby Negg after about a year and that buyer duped it so TNT turned it into sparkling Apple Juice. Too bad, it was such a cute item.

The Art Gallery (henceforth called the “AG”). What a surprise to come home and log on only to discover you are 10K and a rare item richer. And on top of that, your art is being displayed on the site for all to see forever more. (Note that if you are accepted you don’t recieve any other notification than the item and 10K.)

How do you achieve that, you ask? A lot of hard work and a bit of talent won’t hurt. ^^

As of now, I’ve only been featured three times, but I still get a lot of Neomails asking how I got in. ^^ So y’all can read this and I won’t have to worry about being Neomail banned. ^^

Let me divide the types of art into two sections: digital (on the computer) and traditional (not on the computer). And we might as well start with digital, since it requires less equipment (as you don’t need a method to digitize your work, such as a scanner or camera- it’s already digital :P).



Digital Art

First off, you need an art program. Almost every computer I’ve ever seen comes with Paint automatically installed at the computer factory. Now Paint is a pretty basic program, but sometimes simple is best. I have seen a lot of people do great things with just this program. If you go to the Beauty Contest board and ask around, you can see the fabulous work that’s possible with this simple program. I won the Draik category of the Beauty Contest and placed sixth overall once using Paint. (Very proud of that, lol! You can see the entry on Maldijo’s petpage, if you’re interested. And let me state: that was my first attempt to use Paint the way I did. It all came down to the tutorial. And the ten or so hours I slaved over it. XD) Don’t worry if you can’t make really spiffy pictures in Paint, because neither can most of the world. 😛 (Because most of the world doesn’t go out looking for great tutorials- they give up too easily. :P) However, if you are itching to learn how to impress your friends or because that’s all you’ve got, you can find a GREAT Paint tutorial on Grape_Candy’s petpage. It makes a great introduction and also shows some spiffy techniques and examples of BC-winning Paint art. Ondrusova’s page is another wonderful tutorial! Finally, another awesome Paint tutorial (along with other great art tutorials) can be found on Muraille’s petpage. ^^ This page is more advanced, but DEFINITELY worth a look. ^^ (Remember how I said that pic of Dijo all came down to the tutorial? Well, that was the tutorial, folks. Endorsements don’t come better than that!) I bet you can win the AG using techniques found in these petpages. 😉

Just a note: Paint automatically saves to .bmp, which is not accepted into the AG or the BC, but DON’T try to save your art as .gif or .jpg on Paint, as this typically ruins the picture. Instead, use another program if you have one. If you don’t, find someone willing to help you out. There will be plenty. Try the BC board, or just Neomail me and hope I’m on. 😛

Another great place to draw is an oekaki board. These are similar to Paint but have a few more features. They are also entirely online so you don’t have to do anything but register. Many oekakis don’t have a restriction on artist skill, but there are some that do. If you are just starting out, you might want to look around for one that has no skill restrictions. Again, a great place to ask is in the Beauty Contest board. Most BCers are friendly and won’t bite (although they may ask for a vote)! ^^ When you start out on an oekaki, your art may be unrefined, but within a few posts I can guarentee that your art will get visibly better. ^^ Plus, many people tend to have tutorials. My oekaki was the Draik Clan, which is a great place to join if you have a Draik. ^^ One more advantage of an oekaki over just using Paint is that you can get critiques on your art as it is being drawn.

There are also art programs you can download for free. I use Open Canvas 4 for this, although when I downloaded it I had to translate it from Japanese. ^^ This program can teach you a lot about layers and is a bit more complicated than the other programs, but you will get the hang of it fairly quickly. I did after just one picture. However Open Canvas is not really suited to drawing with a mouse (see more on tablets at the end of this section).

There are some good programs to use that are fairly costly. I know that the average Neopian probably can’t afford these tools right off, since they are somewhat expensive. My recommendation is Jasc Paint Shop Pro 8, which costs about $100 US. (Although they don’t make it anymore, I’m sure you can track it down somewhere, such as The Bay of Fifth English Language Letter. It will likely be cheaper that way. Or get another version of it. There are plenty of Neopian artists who have tutorials for their programs, so you can’t go wrong. Just ask around in the BC board.) Mine came bundled with Animation Shop 3, which is a neat little program that has allowed me to make .gif animations. (You can also use a search engine to find some good freebie gif animators, such as Microsoft Gif Animator. :P) Other people use Photoshop, but I don’t have it so I can’t tell you how effective this is. I don’t recommend buying a professional art program unless you are really serious about becoming an artist and are planning to use it for things besides Neopets. I also own Corel Painter 8, which came bundled with my tablet, but I haven’t installed it.

What’s a tablet, you ask? Well, if you didn’t, you should have! They are probably the best art aid around. I used to use a Wacom Graphire 3 with a pressure sensitive pen. (Make SURE that the tablet you buy has a pressure sensitive pen!) The idea of a tablet is that you draw on it and the drawing appears in whatever art program you have running. Mine could also act as a mouse. The only downside? The price. Good tablets run around $300 US from a retailer. However, they can last quite a long time, making them a good investment. My Graphire finally gave up the ghost after four years of wonderful service. (My new tablet is a Wacom Intuos 2. It is amazing. Wacom makes the best tablets!)



Traditional Art

Tradional art is usually done with pencil and paper, so first off you need a scanner. If you don’t have one, sometimes a digital camera works, although it should be a last resort for drawings.

Usually people sketch an outline and then go over it with either colored pencils, markers, or pens. If you use colored pencils, like I do, try to buy a colorless blender at your office supply store or art supply store and go over your picture with it when you finish coloring it in. Otherwise you may get embarrassing comments about your art looking good for being done in crayon. ^^ (I speak from experience. ^^) Probably the best colored pencils are Prismacolor, but they are quite expensive, coming in at just under $1 US per pencil. If you can’t afford to spend that much, Crayolas work nicely, too. I have even seen some people use paints, which I think is quite spiffy! ^^ When I draw, I usually sketch my picture and go over it with my pen. I erase my pencil lines with whichever eraser is handy to me, although an art gum eraser is best. (It doesn’t leave those little crumbs and is fun to play with! XD) Then I either color it with colored pencils or scan it in, go over my lines once more on the computer, and then color it.

If you absolutely cannot draw, and you (or a nice person you know) own a digital camera, you can always try making something with your hands (i.e. a pillow, sculpture, stuffed animal, or snow thing). The AG regularly showcases these real-life objects and it is really almost a sure fire way to get in. Many people say that they are not good at things like this, but I do not think that I am either and my sculptures have been featured twice! I always use white Crayola Model Magic, paint, and clear nail polish (For protection- only certain brands work! Try Maybelline.) to make my sculptures. I have seen people get in with cakes! (This is a great idea- after you win, you can eat it! Lol!) There are any number of things you can make to get in. Be creative!

Proof that they love creativity (though not stuff that doesn’t exist on-site, though this was before Customization):




Do’s and Don’ts

Another interesting tidbit for “Do’s and Don’ts” to help y’all’s chances of getting into the AG appeared in week 244’s Editorial.

This may provide insights on why your art hasn’t been picked yet, and it gives you a fair warning. In my opinion, this just causes the BC to be filled with cruddy artwork (since the AG has better rewards), but what do I know? I haven’t been entering the BC since the “no side accounts” rule came in. (Yes, PLEASE don’t enter side account pets into the BC. I don’t want you iced, even if I don’t know you. ^^ Not going to go more into this issue, though, as there are many good petpages on the subject.) So, my suggestion- enter art into the AG FIRST, THEN after it gets picked or becomes apparent that it won’t be, enter into the BC. Amanda’s nice. She (probably) won’t care. XD

Of course, it DOES say, “It won’t disqualify you necessarily, but it will severely lessen your chances of winning. You’ve already won something with that image, so we want to give other people a chance.” I guess we can assume that just entering a picture into both the BC and AG is OK, as long as you don’t WIN the BC. XD (Lol, I don’t have to worry, anyway!)

UPDATE:


Thank you to user mimed for allowing me to use this screenie. ^^ It proved my theory of entering the AG first and BC second. It’s now confirmed OK to do so, but some people don’t seem to like it. 😛 So if that bothers you for some reason, don’t. But personally I say full steam ahead! Fun fact: This was concerning a picture done in MSPaint, thus proving another theory I had once and for all. It IS possible to win the AG using nothing but Paint!

I was talking with one of my artist friends about the AG hating me and all, lol, and she offered me these tips, since she’s been featured 25 times. She’s also the owner of Muraille. Here is what my friend Becky has to say on getting into the AG:

Remember, this is straight from a person who has been featured more than eight times more than me. 😛 Listen to her, but also keep in mind that Becky was rejected far more than accepted, even while doing most or all of these things.




BC Etiquette

Well, even though this guide is mostly about the Art Gallery, a lot of you will be entering your art into the Beauty Contest as well. ^^ So y’all might need a bit of introduction into BC Etiquette. (Basic rules of Netiquette apply to the BC, of course. If you don’t want to go read Emily Post, I suggest Cultured’s petpage.) BCers can be quick to jump on people who violate unwritten BC rules, for instance. Or people who just don’t read the written ones. Don’t be that person, please. ^^ This section is also a quick-and-dirty BC guide. Enjoy. ^^

Before you enter, I’d just like to point up the page a bit and remind you that winning the BC could be bad for any art you wish to submit to the AG. So, enter it AFTER it’s won, or enter art that’s not intended for the AG. (This is not an excuse to BC shoddy artwork, though. BCers dislike seeing “scribbled” artwork. Put effort into your art. ^^ Most BCers will not mind new artists learning as they play, but if they go to your lookup and see TONS of fantastic artwork, and your BC picture is clearly not up to par, they can get testy.)

All right, a few other things. After you submit your art, it won’t appear until NEXT contest. This is one of the more annoying FAQs on the BC board, so let’s get it out of the way. Contests start Friday, at 4:15 pm NST. During this time, you may get a Neomail from contest_judge telling you your entry is not accepted. You should fix the problem, and try again, of course. If you don’t know what the problem is, ask on the BC board. If you and all the BCers can’t figure out, one of them (or me, even) can give you the e-mail of Amanda, who runs the BC. She’s a terrific person, but sometimes she mistakenly rejects a picture she meant to accept. (She’s done it to me. ^^) BCers love Amanda. You should too. ^^ She’s a sweetheart.

All right, so your entry hasn’t been rejected, and it’s 4:16 NST Friday. What you want to do from here on out is NOT lab any pets you have entered. If they get a species change, you can no longer collect votes. Anyway, it’s time to advertise. That means posting on boards with “Free votes” in the topic or on a topic you made yourself. Don’t steal another’s topic. It’s just rude. (Obviously, there are other ways to advertise, but this section isn’t called “Ways to Advertise.”) A few other things to not do are spamming all the topics with your entry, and what is called “vote trading.” Trading votes is when you ask someone to vote for your pet in exchange for you voting for theirs. Just because you’ll see a lot of people trading votes does not make it right. It’s a freezable offense. (Another freezable offense is voting on spares.) One final thing: do not lie about how you are voting. If you say you’re voting for UserX’s Chia, vote for UserX’s and not UserY’s. Also, (this should go without saying) don’t bribe people to vote for your pet! You’ll be iced faster than you can say, “Vote!”

A fairly recent trend in the BC (It started after I quit BCing when side accounts were not allowed to enter.) is the non-silent vote, or NSV. BCers started to vote “silently” (meaning they would not say which Aisha they voted for, for example), but a few still vote “non-silently” (meaning they will say EXACTLY which Aisha got their vote). People judge how they are doing in the contest by tallying their number of NSVs, or non-silent votes. Many BCers will have a goal number of NSVs they want to reach in a given week.

This is just a quick guide to the BC and how you should act while participating. For a much better, more detailed guide, please see froststar’s petpage. ^^ Mawsi’s petpage is also very good (it even has a glossary)! Together those two guides cover pretty much everything that you need to know about the BC! Please also check out Xailania’s petpage for any BC FAQs you may have.




Saving: .gif or .jpg?

Saving your file after it’s been drawn is tricky. First off, I want to restate here: don’t use Paint to save anything, because it does some serious distortion. Also, all things being equal (meaning your picture looks great either way) I would save to the smaller image file. No matter what, if you aren’t sure what to save it as, save the image FIRST as the default file, then go to File and Save Image as, and name it something like mypicture_test to save in both gif and jpg.

Jpg is mostly used for images that have a lot of colors, usually due to the background or shading. If you have an image that looks to you like it contains lots of colors, don’t bother trying saving it to gif. Just go straight to jpg. Here’s an example:



Gifs should be used when there are less colors in your drawing. Maybe it’s a pixel (jpg pixels can turn out blurred) or you did it in an oekaki. In my experience, oekaki pictures (saved as png by delault) should be saved as gif, otherwise their file size is too big. Compare your picture to the picture used in the example below. If it is more like this, it should be saved as gif. Gif images have 256 different colors or less. Any more and it starts to convert extra colors to the nearest available color.



Hopefully this mini-tutorial has been some help to you. ^^ Blurry or pixelly pictures are no fun and most likely won’t get into the AG.



Entering the AG

Once you’re feeling confident in your art skills, you are going to want to enter the AG. (You might want to enter the BC, too!) After all, that’s what this guide is about, isn’t it? ^^

A good time to enter the AG is when a Special Day is coming up, like Zafara Day. Neopets always picks art on these days. If your picture is also really cute, you have a double shot at getting in. (Hint: Gory art almost never gets in.)

Precisely when one should enter the AG, or any other site contest, in hopes of getting in on a Special Day can be found in the following Editorial screenie:

As you can see, they admit they get desperate sometimes. However, don’t depend on that. 😛 (Usually AG desperation occurs when one of the pieces selected turns out to have been stolen. So they need backups ready.) Even if you specialize in Moehogs or Tuskaninnies or other, less popular pets, it’s best to submit early.

If there is no Special Day coming up, you can always enter your art anyway, but it can be weeks before it’s picked. My first entry, a sculpture of Jeera, my Shoyru, took several weeks to show up. I had completely forgotten about it. But usually if your art doesn’t show up after 7-10 days, you should enter it again. Keep in mind you can only enter three files a day. Also, if you put a copyright sign on your picture, it will NEVER get picked. (It is the same with all of the contests on Neopets. Lawyerbot doesn’t like copyright symbols. This is because you and I do not actually own Neopets, the company.) You can put your username on to prevent thefts, though.

Remember, very few people are naturally talented at art. We all were beginners once, but keep practicing and you’ll soon be up with the best artists in Neopia.


Happy drawing-
lobstermagnetcty




Just Too Good

I’m adding this as a postscript because it’s come to my attention that some people have entered fantastic pictures and not been accepted. This has happened to me and many other people MANY times, and while it’s not at all fair, it is something that has to be lived with. There seems to be some range of skill that the AG judges will accept, and if you fall outside of it, tough potatoes to you. This is fair enough when the picture is some sort of scribble (no offense to anyone is intended here XD) but it really does hurt if you fall above this range. The best advice I can give on this matter to all of you super-artists (and you know who you are ) is just to train yourself to draw Neopets pictures within this range of skill. That’s what most people with a great number of AG trophies have done.

What exactly is a picture that is “too good?” I’m providing this piece as an example if you don’t really know what I mean. Special thanks goes to ladyash782 for allowing me to use her pic as an example. If you really can’t tell (O_o), that’s an amazing Halloween Uni (or Nightsteed) you’re seeing down there. ^^