The Season of Charity

At the beginning of the event, when Adopt a Neopian required an unbuyable item for each day, Neopians were divided as to whether or not they wanted to see the event return. Towards the final days, however, most Neopians agreed that they would like to see the Charity Corner return with both its Toy Drive and Adopt a Neopian components.

Ashebaby12 would like to see the Charity Corner return. "I will be hoarding my items from here on out and will be so ready for it," she stated.

User Catspook would like to see the toy drive in particular return.

Carnifice thinks that another toy drive would be beneficial to deflating expensive items, provided that those items do not become deflate to the point of being "dirt cheap."

Carnifice's comment brings up the topic of inflation and deflation during the event. Nearly every day that an unbuyable item was requested, topics piled the Charity Corner board with participants asking to buy or trade for the expensive item. So, did the participants prefer the inexpensive days or the days where they had to spend time at the Trading Post in search of an unbuyable item?

On the days when unbuyable items were requested, Akashama preferred helping out her friends. "I liked the UB item days, because the joy I could spread was greater, but I favoured the semi-cheap days, because it was pretty well balanced - challenging enough that gifts were properly appreciated, yet cheap enough – at least around midnight NST – for me to get items for my friends... For me, however, the joy I could spread was more precious than the NP I could make. I feel a much richer Neopian thanks to this event, and not in the sense of my bank account, but on the basis of friendships," she stated.

Berdor decided, "I've personally had a lot more fun during the days they asked for UB items. I'm a hoarder, so it was a opportunity to make a bit of NP of it. It's nice that hoarders get rewarded for once. I've also stayed up till (or got out of bed for) midnight, which wasn't always easy. It felt like a bit of a waste of time (and sleep) on the days all items were cheap."

Nj_kitty_1 weighs in her opinion. "I don't think the riddles should've been easy and the items as cheap as 1k, but UBs were pretty unfair," she stated, explaining that she would have liked the majority of the items to be relatively expensive yet still accessible via the Shop Wizard.

Icedragon2750 seemed to give the best summation of the Adopt a Neopian aspect of the event when he gave his take on the "unbuyable vs. buyable items" question. "TNT had the right mix. Some days were favorable for item speculators and some were for the event participants. This itself had layer of excitement I enjoyed. Item speculation will always be a part of the game. It's a lucrative way to get NP and so long as cornering the market is okay, people will do it. What was fun to see was the guesswork. Just as prices skyrocketed, many came plummeting back down. People don't talk about it, but on those days item speculators got burned on their gamble and in their rush to make millions they became bagholders," Icedragon2750 stated.

The Adopt a Neopian event turned out to be similar to the Stock Market – buy low, sell high.

The general consensus appeared to be that the Charity Corner was an overall success this time around and that future corners would be welcomed. However, how frequently future Charity Corners would be wanted was a bit fuzzy.

User Pinoygila would like to see the Charity Corner return as a complement to the Advent Calendar. She believes the event would help remove extra toys and provide an incentive to use the Battledome year-round. "The Toy Drive would be an event to look forward to each holiday season," Pinoygila stated.

"I think it would be fun to have the toy drive all the time," Catspook declared. She then added, "Open it up to all item rarities and change the type of items every month - so one month is a food drive, one is a furniture drive, etc."

Catspook's additional comment begs the question: what would be the best changes to Charity Corner if it does return?

Kiahi_makai said she would want the Adopt a Neopian wish list to be randomized to keep inflation at bay. She would also like for new Adopt a Neopian requested to be released at different times so that certain time zones would not be at a disadvantage. As a final suggestion, Kiahi_makai wishes "the items were in a chain – complete one to get the next."

Nj_kitty_1 suggested that extending the toy drive donations to items of all types would help dispose of all kinds of extra items. Changing the title from "Toy Drive" to "Item Drive" would help broaden the types of items that could be donated.

Psycho_Skittles stated, "The only thing I would change would be creating multiple Adopt a Neopian cards available each day that were assigned at random in order to reduce inflation."

According to the responses received, the Charity Corner showed its success at winning the hearts of Neopians. If the event does return, as most Neopians wish it will, participants would like the Toy Drive to be extended to different types of items – not just toys. For Adopt a Neopian, Neopians would like to see the requests at least slightly randomized to reduce the inflation of the needed items.

The Neopians appreciated the blend of buyable and unbuyable items necessary to complete the adopted Neopians' requests, so if the event does return, that mix will hopefully stay consistent.

The winter holidays are known for bringing out the giving spirit in people, and with the addition of the Charity Corner, Neopians were more generous than ever.