"Something Has Happened" Not Happening? by vyddendarkblade
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Not long after you and your perfect pet arrive in Neopia, you’ll eventually cross
paths with the infamous yellow box at the top of a page that announces excitedly
“Something Has Happened.” It could be something really big, like a piece of that
new Petpet Laboratory Map. Perhaps it will be something neat, but not earth-shattering,
like a Lu Codestone. Sometimes the event is hardly worth calling an event at all
in the form of 20 neopoints spilled by a messy person. (Have all Neopians forgotten
their manners?) More than occasionally, it won’t have any value other than maybe
your pet claiming they’re really hungry for a Mint Ice Cream. Oh, yeah, and sometimes
the warning box really should read “Something Bad Has Happened” because you’ll
have lost a valuable item to the nasty Pant Devil. See, having lots of dung actually
can be useful!
While a more in-depth article about the types of events that can happen was
written way back in the 87th Issue of The Neopian Times, today we’re going to
take a different part of this subject and put it under close observation.
I’ve read on the message boards about people complaining that instead of “Something
Has Happened” often times “Nothing Has Happened” and for quite some time. They’ve
not received a visit from Jacko the Phantom Painter and they certainly haven’t
heard from the Bug Brothers in a while.
Fortunately, it seems that my Zafara, Sakisuki, is living up to his legend
of being lucky, as I tend to get events on a fairly regular basis.
Or is it really luck?
Sure, as with many things in our great world, “Something Has Happened” events
are random. They are another way that life remains as balanced as possible in
Neopia. If you really stink at flash games such as PetPet Rescue, or cannot
for the life of you figure out when that Herbert’s Hot Dog Shop restocks, a
really good couple of random events can put some serious coins in your bank
account. You actually are in complete control of your destiny in this case.
Unlike that time in Meerca Chase 2 when that Red Negg ended up appearing right
in front of you, you really aren’t completely at the mercy of the chaotic cosmos.
“Something Has Happened” events happen because you’re traveling the Neopets
website. And every time you clicky click click something, you got a shot at
getting the attention of the Tooth Faerie to notice that tooth you lost back
in The Month of Hunting. Of course, you’re also practically begging the Ghosts
to take some cash and put it on the Money Tree too, but the downside is not
nearly as bad as the positives.
(There is an exception to what I just said, actually. If you’re used to carrying
around large sums of money, I’d get out of that habit quickly. It only took
a few visits from some crying Kadoaties at 5,000 neopoints a piece before I
learned this lesson.)
What if you don’t exactly have hours and hours to spend clicking your way across
Neopia, you might ask? Well, I’m glad you did, because if you hadn’t I may be
hearing things again. Here are some tips on what you can do in order to increase
your chances that something actually will happen:
1. Stop using your bookmarked links for daily items such as the Giant Omelette
and Tombola. Find out where these places are (Tyrannia and Mystery Island respectively)
and go visit them manually by clicking on Explore, going to their part of the
world, and finding them on their individual maps. That’ll be quite a few more
clicks and it really doesn’t take that much of your time. Also if you’re in
Tyrannia checking out the latest band playing at the Concert Hall or Terror
Mountain running away from an angry Snowager, you may get a more specific “Something
Has Happened” event particular to those parts of the world.
2. Play web based games like Pyramids and Dice A Roo. Neither are very difficult
and result in both neopoints and lots of clicks. Dice A Roo will even often
give you food, lottery tickets, and if you’re lucky, the jackpot and an avatar.
Oh! And again, go find where these games are located and travel your way there
rather than always using the Games tab on your sidebar.
3. Chat on the message boards. Make sure you are on the appropriate board for
your topic and definitely follow all the rules. (Spamming to try to get random
events isn’t only not cool but against the rules.) Enjoy yourself. Soon, you’ll
be commenting to your board buddies that you just got handed a really neat Ruki
Transmogrification Potion directly from Dr. Sloth himself. Similarly, you could
join or start a guild and be active in it. Talking on the guild’s message board,
or working on their projects will get you both more chances at random events
and I’m quite sure you’ll make some Neofriends!
4. Refresh that Shop Wizard a few times while pricing items for your shop.
Not only will you have a better idea of what your items are worth, you’ll be
clicking your way to perhaps another great item to stock in your shop.
5. Explore the depth of Neopia. Have you ever heard of Kiko Lake? Did you know
there was a Merry-Go-Round to make your pets happier on Roo Island? And, hey,
look up in the sky, Neopia has a moon called Kreludor. Who knew? You didn’t,
if you never do anything past your routine of your daily items. It’s fun and
you’re getting more and more chances to be randomly lucky.
If you follow these really simple tips, you’ll be
surprised how often “Something Has Happened” will appear right before your very
eyes. Let’s just hope it’s just something more important than a passing stockbroker
asking you to invest in “TNPT”.
VyddenDarkblade plays a quite a bit of Pyramids (which is located in the
Lost Desert) but he’s much less luckier at that than getting “Something Has
Happened” random events. In the last three months, he has played 142 games,
and has cleared the pyramid 3 times. This is his first article published in
The Neopian Times.
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