MERIDELL - It was probably about two weeks ago. Someone posted a question on
the message board of this rinky-dink and pointless guild I happen to be in because...
well... I started this rinky-dink and pointless guild so I'm forced to be in
it. Anyway, this was the question: "What is a total waste of Neopoints? I don't
want to toss away the few Neopoints I have."
I couldn't resist answering because I was bored and felt sort of like I almost
definitely might have a strong opinion... maybe... on the subject, which are
the two most common reasons people answer stuff on the message boards. My answer
was, "Don't buy Petpets for your pets. They are useless.
They can't do anything except when you click on them and type a message in
the 'Say something to your Petpet' box and it answers with stuff like 'Brrrflp'
(which is a direct quote from my Doglefox). And since Petpets are a waste of
Neopoints, Petpet paint brushes are REALLY a waste of Neopoints."
I then got a whole enormous bunch of messages (a whole whopping two messages!)saying
if I thought Petpets were a waste, why did I have a Doglefox?! And if I thought
Petpet paint brushes were a waste, why did I have a TYRANNIAN Doglefox???!!!"
So I kind of stayed away from the subject after that.
Now I can laugh MUAHAHAHA at the people who sneered at me for wasting my Neopoints
on an expensive Petpet. Well, actually it was kind of a cheap Petpet and I didn't
waste any Neopoints painting it because some weird guy named Jacko just handed
the paint brush to me one day when I was popping in and out of the Main Shops
hoping to catch some books in the bookstore but kept getting messages telling
me to try getting some free omelette instead. Anyway, it looks like those Petpets
are going to come in handy after all. There is a new thing in Meridell called
"Turmaculus"
which is a big sluggy, snoozy stego-type Petpet that sleeps all day. If you
can wake him up you could get something good. And there's a whole bunch of ways
you can try to wake him up--hit him with a stick, bang pots and pans, tap
dance for him--stuff like that. But here's the catch. ONLY A Petpet can
even TRY to wake him up! And it has to be attached to the Pet that's with you.
If you have a Petpet but it belongs to one of your pets back at your Quick Reference
in a hazy circle--forget it! I haven't woke up that Turmaculus yet, but I'm
going to keep trying. I figure if a Tyrannian Doglefox can't do it, you can
forget about a fluffy little Meekins doing it.
I don't know about the rest of you, but buying stuff cheap and selling it
at a profit is something I usually try to aim for. I mean, I have bought stuff
cheap and wound up selling it even cheaper than I paid for it because it sat
in my shop so long it was in danger of becoming a retired item, but that's not
usually the way I hope it will go. And right now it looks like Petpets are going
to be a hot item. All those smarties who thought Petpets were a waste of Neopoints
are going to swarm out of their NeoHomes and start buying up Spyders and Greebles
just to see what the Turmaculus does. So I really expect to see the price of
Petpets go through the roof. Ummm... but if it doesn't... uh... well... ooops...
just don't blame ME, OK? I'm the guy with 257 bottles of Green Sand in his safety
deposit box because someone once told me that when NeoGardens come they will
be worth something because it says on them, "From the lush western shores of
the island, this sand is reputed to make anything planted in it grow twice as
big." But it sounds like HAVING a Petpet is a good idea anyway just because
you NEED one to check out the Turmaculus.
If that isn't reason enough to get a Petpet--I mean, FREE STUFF maybe? Hey,
sounds worth it to me--now your Petpet has LEVELS. They all start out at Level
1, but that means there must be a Level 2, right? And levels are things that
are important if you fight in the Battledome. Let's think about this for a minute.
I don't know about you, but when I fight in the Battledome and it says "your
Doglefox has joined the fight and you can now select him" I don't. I tried that
the first couple of times I was in the Battledome and nothing happened and I
got creamed. That just added to the list of "Things That Make Having a Petpet
Pointless." But now that your Petpet has levels, it sounds like it's going to
be a whole lot more helpful in the Battledome. And the higher your Petpet level
is the stronger it is. Just like when your pet is at a higher level it is stronger
in the Battledome. Sounds like having a Petpet is not just for keeping your
pet "delighted".
Of course, then there's the question, "How do I increase the level of my Petpet?"
I'm not really sure about this, but I have a feeling that the Turmaculus dude
might have something to do with it. This was in the September 4th news:
"The Turmaculus is Meridell's answer to the Snowager. He only talks to Petpets,
and if you manage to wake him up, and he is in a good mood, you never know -
he may do something nice. If he is in a bad mood, well... we won't go into that...
he didn't get so big by eating tofu that's for sure :)"
I guess the thing that caught my eye was the phrase "he may DO something nice".
I really hope that nice thing he does is raise Petpet levels. If he doesn't,
I'll be really surprised. Why ELSE would the Turmaculus and Petpet levels both
arrive as new events in Neopia at the same time?
Maybe I'm wrong. I could be wrong. Wrong is my middle name. But even if I
never go to the Turmaculus again or ever even consider using my Doglefox in
the Battledome if he pops up, at least I can say, "HEY! I do not have a USELESS
Petpet! Petpets are VERY important!" After all, without a Petpet, who will be
there to answer 'Brrrflp' when my Lupe asks, "How's it going, bud?" | 
