By popular demand, Quick Questions are back! This is a segment in which brief interviews are held with a select few Altador Cup players to give insight into the preparations they put into the sport, team dynamics, their lives outside of the Cup and anything else they feel like sharing with us in the few quick moments we are able to talk with them! Please keep in mind, however, this year, out of convenience to the players, these interviews were held right before the start of the games so that they could stay focused throughout the tournament!
With that said, we will be kicking things off with the heartthrob of the Altador Cup himself, Tandrak Shaye, the right forward of Team Darigan Citadel, which was the team that brought home the Cup last year!

Interviewer: “First off, congratulations on your team’s big win! How did it feel?”

Tandrak: “What can I say? Of course, it was great. My teammates crushed it, so they deserved nothing less! As for me, I will always do whatever it takes to make our fans happy. So how about it? Are you a fan? Did I make you happy?”

Interviewer: “Oh, um, of course. I mean, as an interviewer, I have to remain partial to a certain degree, but we were all very happy for you…Is it getting hot in here?”

Tandrak: “I would imagine most places get warmer when you walk into them.”
[Reaches into his gym bag and pulls out a water bottle]
“Here, please have my ice water.”

Interviewer: “Thank…thank you. That was very sweet. To be honest, I’ve heard you have quite the reputation for being somewhat cold-hearted. I wasn’t expecting this positive energy you seem to be projecting.”

Tandrak: “Don’t get me wrong, I’ll destroy my enemies without hesitation when I’m on the field, but once the game is done, I want everyone to know they are safe with me. I started playing Yooyuball to get stronger, which I have, but along the way, it became so much more to me. I found not only a family in my teammates, but a community in our fans, and I will do anything to protect them all.”

Interviewer: “That was quite a statement! Stern yet caring, and surprisingly smooth. I can see why you are considered among many to be a heartthrob of the games! Thank you for taking the time to talk with us!”

Tandrak: “The pleasure was all mine. *wink*”

For the next interview in this week's edition, here is the conversation - if you can call it that - that we had with Whimsi Dia, the Left Forward for Team Faerieland! <3

Whimsi: As soon as I heard about Yooyuball, I just knew I had to play it! I was the best snowball fighter in my small little hometown in the mountains - oh, it was so so fun - but it could be kind of a lonely game. There weren’t really that many other kids my age in my town, so I often just threw snowballs by myself. So when other Vandagyres started making their way down the mountain more and more, I packed up my bags and went looking for new friends to play with! It was kind of scary until, one day when I bumped into Delma. Oh, she was such a funny little Snowbunny! I just talked talked talked with her, well more like at her, Delma isn’t much one for talking, but that’s okay cause she says I talk enough for the both of us!”

Interviewer: “So you lik-”

Whimsi: "Anyways she was doing her morning run/fly, so I decided I would do that with her, but I still had all my stuff with me, so doing the flying portion, all my stuff poured out of my bag! So I super duper quickly grabbed it all before it could hit anyone on the ground. Then I went back to talk more to Delma, and she said that if I promised to stop talking so much, she would introduce me to the Captain, and at that time, I didn’t know what she was talking about, but apparently, she liked me enough to see if I wanted to be on the team and I was just so happy so of course I said yes! And we’ve all been best friends since!
…I’m sorry, what was the question again?"

Interviewer: "Oh, um, I actually hadn’t asked one yet…"

Whimsi: “Hehe, sorry! Good thing Delma had me promise to talk less, or else I may have just kept going! Would you like to ask your question now?”

Interviewer: “No, no, that’s okay. I think we got all we need!”

Keep an eye out for our next round of Quick Questions, as we will be returning with more intriguing player interviews soon!

Stone, thank you SO much for making Pirakeet colors happen. :3 Whether it was you directly or just you passing along my editorial request a few months back, I am SO excited for the new mischievous looking bird babies. Now - I don't want to come across as NEEDY per se, but...Royal? Faerie? Plushie? *sweetest puppy dog eyes ever* Please? ~mihkla
I’m glad to see more Pirakeet have flown in as well! Although they still won’t stop looking at me like that, so I’m still a little worried they may come after me if even more were to appear! /j
But I’ll make note of it nonetheless! /gen ~~Stone

whats going on with the new neoboard moderation? :( being restricted to only talking about neopets related topics is a really weird choice, especially because half the site is broken so there isnt much to talk about. is there really no place to have general discussions with other neopets users anymore? the description of the new to neopets board says to introduce yourself and make friends, but you can't actually introduce yourself to anybody because thats not related to neopets. i really don't understand this choice and i think me and a lot of other people prefer the more lax rules the boards have had historically. ~pastebunny
Hi, I’m guessing this is in reference to the New to Neopets board. Yes, you can introduce yourself there and meet other people new to Neopets but you cannot discuss random topics on that board. Random discussion should be done on the General Chat board which is open to all Neopets and non-Neopets discussion. ~~kikocat

Would it be possible to make the Mind Control Avatar available all the time? Like the Neovision Plus Avatar that was released as an Aprils Fools but is a clickable and still available? ~cat_well
Thank you for that wonderful suggestion! The Mind Control Avatar should now be clickable and available year-round to anyone who visits the Sceptic Tank page :) ~~Aesop

Hi! Could you possibly get the team to rezone Fluffy cloud wings? They're gorgeous, but it bums me that they don't restrict Wings. When wearing them, my Draik still has her regular dragon wings right behind her cloud ones :( Thank you in advance! ~akezis
Hi! Thanks for bringing this to our attention! This item should be fixed now, so your Draik should be able to wear these gorgeous wings without their regular wings! ~~Goldfish in Bowl

Hi TNT! Can you send the same poem multiple times? if like a year ago I wrote a poem I'm really proud of and I want to share it again is it possible even if it won the trophy before? ~Anonymous
Hello, thanks for your question. If a poem has already won before, then no, it can not be resubmitted to win again. However, if you have sent in a poem and it has yet to win, you are welcome to keep resending it. But we recommend that if it has not made it multiple times, perhaps take a look at it and change it up or add things. Hope this helped! /gen ~~Stone

Hi TNT! *hands you a slushie* I'm so excited to be participating in the Altador Cup this year since I had to miss it the past few years. I joined team Haunted Woods and I'm having a lot of fun! But as I've been playing Yooyuball and Make Some Noise, I've started to wonder something: What is the Haunted Woods Team Logo? All the other teams have easily identifiable iconography, but I cannot figure out what the Haunted Woods logo is supposed to be. ~rinzombie
We sent someone to find out the true meaning behind the logo, and they got lost in the Haunted Woods.....never to return... ~~Clammyhand

Flotsams, Jetsams, Kois and Peophins are severely under-represented in the Caption Contest - even when the picture includes water! Is there a conspiracy afoot? - from a user with a lot of time on their hands (and who doesn't even own any of the aforementioned Neopets) *shifty eyes* ~edmarblecake
At first, I thought someone was listening to a bit too much Sceptic Tank. Now that you mention it though, it has been a very long time since we saw any of those four aquatic Neopets featured in a Caption Contest…. Hmmm, that does seem a bit odd, doesn’t it? I’ll rock the boat a bit and sea what we can uncover. Who knows, maybe my investigation will lead to some of these pets appearing in the upcoming July Caption Contest… ~~Aesop

Hello TNT! Would you please share the name of the three TNT staffers who are endowed with functioning taste buds and therefore dislike pineapple pizza? They totally deserve to be in my AC Staff Tournament team, and in the Star Player selection. Thank you! ~sergente__hartmann
The staffers who are very strange and don’t like pineapple on their pizza are Ehlo Froyo, Clammyhand, and Goldfish in Bowl. I personally don’t know why they are like this, but if you vibe with that, then to each their own I guess…XP /j ~~Stone

Hi Happy belated jubjub day.... Can the Cloud Surrounding JubJub item be moved from hat to feet? ~h183hha
Happy Belated JubJub Day! Thanks for bringing this to our attention! The item should be fixed now, Thank you! ~~Goldfish in Bowl

It looks like all the existing Altador Cup supporter items have made it to the NC mall, except the team jerseys. Can we please have the team jerseys added, for those of us who like to represent our team colours? ~sactokingsrule
Hello! We found the box with all the Altador Cup team jerseys underneath a pile of foam fingers, oops…However, these shirts are now on the shelves of the NC Mall’s Altador Cup shop! Thanks for writing in and happy customising! ~~Miss Rainbow

Hi! i have some friends wondering about storytelling acceptance criteria so i wanted to ask a few questions here! 1. is there any criteria for "how long until recent winners are picked again? 2. What makes an entry of an "acceptable quality?" in terms of writing? 3. To what extent do all entries get read? is it more of a competition of quality, or just 'picking an entry that seems good'? Thanks for your response ~zackattackplayspkmn
Hello! Happy to answer! Answer for #1 - How long until recent winners are picked again?

Usually, someone cannot be picked for the STC twice in one story. However, sometimes we do not get enough entries, so if people who have already won that week have entered again and there are no new ones that are an “acceptable quality,” they may have a chance at winning twice or more for that story.

Answer for #2 - What makes an entry of an "acceptable quality?" in terms of writing?

This could mean many things, so apologies if this answer isn’t quite what you were looking for. But the main criteria for an entry to be considered via the writing is:

It is at least a paragraph or two long (although if it is very short and there are longer entries, then the chances of that one getting picked can be low)

It is not too long (we love to see long entries but if you send in a novella we can’t realistically take the time to read the whole thing)

It is, for the most part, well written (meaning it does not have a whole lot of spelling and grammar mistakes, a few are fine, though writing can be hard!)

It, for the most part, stays on topic. (This doesn’t mean you can’t make wild plot twists like aliens coming, but if you divert from the main storyline and character personalities too drastically, this will most likely hinder your chances of being picked)

Answer for #3 - To what extent do all entries get read? Is it more of a competition of quality, or just 'picking an entry that seems good'?

At the moment, all entries get read if possible! Sometimes we get a lot of entries, but we do our best to sort through them! This is indeed a competition, so if we see an entry that, for example, pulls together all the other entries really well, like they have caught details that were said in an earlier entry and bring it back in an interesting way or tie up a loose end that may have been dragging they will stand a much higher chance of being chosen because that is great storytelling!

I hope this helped! Please feel free to send in more editorial questions about this if need be! We look forward to seeing everyone’s entries! /gen ~~Stone

Whoever designed the new Marble Jubjub, I hope life is treating them well. ~call_me_miss_b

Hi TNT!! Thank you so much for making Maraquan Quiggle happen! I loved how it turned out and am excited to see whats in the box for next pet days :) ~lonesome_666

Happy thoughts ~~ Ever since I watched the episode where Aesop was interviewed about his passions and how they apply to his role in Neopets; I am always thrilled to see his name pop up as the person who is answering the questions on the NT. I wanted to thank him for taking the time to introduce himself on the channel. I was wondering how he keeps his timelines correct? I am picturing sketch journals with details that keep him orientated to Neopets lure just as he answered the tree question this edition. Thank you for all that you do ~divinely_us
Thank you so much for writing in, reading your happy thoughts made me very happy <3 Honestly, I was nervous to go on Nosy Neopians, but ended up having a lot of fun speaking with Ivy and Willow who were both very supportive!

Keeping timelines together is no easy task, especially in game development when they are often subject to change. I am a bit old-fashioned, and as you miraculously guessed, I do keep a lot of my dates and deadlines organized through pen and paper! I have a hefty agenda where I like to list out upcoming tasks by day and a journal where I keep all of the fun stuff like lore, storylines, and characters together. When planning out stories, I have also been known to blot out entire whiteboards with my notes!

We did already have some internal lore documentation on Neopets at TNT, however, it was already rather outdated when I joined the team over three years ago so we’ve recently been working on updating it! I always enjoy talking about creativity and lore, so thanks for caring enough to ask (: ~~Aesop

Need more help?
If you have a question that you think should be answered, click here and you can use our submission form. The most common/bizarre questions will appear here next week.