The Altador Cup and Good Sportsmanship

Once every year, Neopia is turned upside down. Pets from everywhere are suddenly painted and dressed to match a certain world. Many Neopet players even forget all about their normal routine of restocking and playing Meerca Chase II. Instead, everybody is travelling to the mystical world of Altador to play a game involving some kind of petpet-ball. What is going on? Has everybody gone insane? No, people are not mad! But why is everybody acting strange then? The answer is simple: The Altador Cup is here! For the greatest sport event in Neopia, players (and their loyal pets) travel from every corner of the planet (and space) to join in the fun of playing Yooyuball and support their favorite team.

This article is not a guide about playing Yooyuball or any of the supporter games. Nor it is a guide to help you decide which team you should join. This article is about good sportsmanship during the Altador Cup, and how to behave the best on the Altador Cup III boards.

Good Sportsmanship is...

...Being friendly to everyone you talk to on the Altador Cup III boards, even if they are not from your team:

During the Altador Cup, many people come together on the boards to meet, talk about the games, and just take a break from playing. For most people this is a nice experience, but unfortunately some people take the competition too seriously. They can start to talk in a bad language to people from other teams, or badmouth the other teams. Make sure you are not one of these people, as the Altador Cup is not about dividing people because of their team! The purpose of the Cup is for people from all over Neopia to meet and be friends no matter what world/team they come from. Most of those players I mentioned before are only doing it for attention, so the worst thing you can possibly do is respond to them, even if it is to ask them to stop. Simply ignore them, and if they are doing anything against Neopets’ rules, please report them so TNT can make sure they will not continue their behavior.

A side note on board-behavior: Just because one or two members from a team act poorly on the boards, it doesn’t mean everyone else on the team acts the same say. Please do not judge a whole team based upon a few immature players who can not control themselves; every team is made up of several individuals, and they deserve to be judged individually (rather than as a whole).

...Being polite:

There is a huge difference between saying something like: "I am sure my team will win, because we are the best and your team is bad." and saying: "I think my team has a good chance of winning over your team, but I know it is going to be a hard match. I wish you the best of luck, and may the best team win!"

Being polite will bring you a long way, and there is no reason to upset people when you can say the same thing in a polite way, keeping everyone happy. If you are looking to meet new friends during the Cup, then your chances will also increase if you just remember to speak nicely to people.

...Working as hard as you possible can for your team:

Do NOT join a team if you don’t intend to play! Teams are not there if you just want to go along for the ride and the chance of winning a good trophy. This will just make a lot of people who worked hard upset with you, and more importantly: if you are not going to play then you don’t really have a reason to join a team, do you? If you join a team, then try to play as much as you possibly can. You don’t have to play all day or even every day; just remember to play. Not only will you be helping your team win, but if you do win a gold/silver/bronze trophy, the satisfaction of knowing you contributed to it is much greater than just getting it because you chose a certain team.

Also remember: The more you play, the better individual prizes you will be able to win when the Cup ends!

...Accept the fact that not everyone has the time to play five hours a day:

Just because you have the time and enthusiasm to play often, does not necessarily mean that everyone is as privileged as you. Do not start yelling at people just because they do not play as much as you do. Everyone’s life is different and if you have the time to play four, five, or even more hours a day, that’s great, but not everyone can do that. Some people might only have twenty minutes a day to sit in front of the computer, but if they spend all that time playing games for their team, they are still doing their absolute best.

Or maybe not everyone has the same patience as you. If someone really dislikes the games, he or she might not be able to concentrate on playing them all day long. Do not make them feel bad about that; instead, encourage them to play as much as they want and remember to give them credit for playing.

As you might know, a common word on the AC III board is ‘freeloaders’. This basically means a person who joins a team without playing, who therefore hurts the team. TNT has previously answered a question in the editorial saying you CANT NOT hurt your team by not playing, so there is no truth in calling people freeloaders.

Try not to focus on how well or poorly other people are doing, just concentrate on yourself. If you come to the boards only to check that people are playing enough to meet your standard requirements, you should just stay away. The point of the AC III boards is for everybody to talk, especially those people who might need some positive feedback from fellow team members to motivate themselves into playing.

...Helping people:

Often while browsing Neopets you will see questions like: How do I join a team? Can someone give me any advice on scoring with the Darigan Yooyuball? Good sportsmanship is about helping other people, so if you know the answer or if you know a petpage (please remember not to post offsite links on the boards or anywhere else on Neopets) that might have the answer, reply to those questions. The single minute you take out of your schedule to help another person might mean the difference of their success or failure at the Cup!

...Having fun:

The Altador Cup is supposed to be a fun event for people to play games, find new friends, and most important of all, just enjoy themselves! Try to focus less on reaching set goals, and remember to have fun while playing! Even if you haven’t hit your desired score, if looking at the Yooyuball screen makes you sick, just take a break. After all, the point of the Altador Cup is for everybody to have fun. And if you are actually enjoying yourself while playing, you will probably also be much nicer to be around on the boards.

That was all from me, so I hope my guide made you think about how you can behave during the Cup to show good sportsmanship! And finally, I wish you all good luck with the Altador Cup III!