To UC or not UC?

What is a UC Pet? For those of you who are unaware of the term, a UC pet stands for “Unconverted Pet”. Which basically means that when Neopets (TNT) decided to overhaul all the current artwork on April 27th, 2007 for the opening of the NC Mall so our pets could become Customizable! Neopians have waited eons it seems for this great opportunity to finally dress our pets with the clothes we had bought from the Clothing store!

The only downfall of owning an unconverted would be a pet you cannot put clothes on him or her.

Most Neopians Converted their Pets without even knowing that down the line, those unconverted pets would become one of the most sought after things to own on Neopets! I was one of those sad souls who quickly clicked the button to change my beloved pets. If I had the opportunity now I probably would have only converted two of my pets, but alas, I changed them all. One of the many lessons I have learned in this atmosphere.

A couple things to know about unconverted Pets is that if you Paint them or Re-Paint them they instantly are converted to the new artwork so be wary of who you are painting! You cannot “create” an unconverted pet either. All newly created pets are with the new artwork. The only way to acquire an unconverted pet is either having one before the transition or trading for one though the Pound Chat boards. To see if you own an unconverted Pet already go to your Quick Ref of your Pets and on the left hand side it will state “PETSNAME must be converted in order to be fully customizable. Click here to learn more.” If you see that then congrats! You are one of the few who own an unconverted pet!

If your unconverted pet had a decent name which means it has no underscores or numbers then that unconverted pet just became rarer than the most expensive Paint Brush in the game. A Very Well Name Pet is even better! A real word unconverted pet?! Hardly heard of! So what defines them into these categories? A “Very Well Named” name would be a pronounceable, no numbers no underscores, four to seven letters long and if your one of the few a real word/name . A “Decent Name” would be four to seven letters long as well but maybe not pronounceable or it has a random “X” in the name. A badly named pet is exactly how it sounds. The name is not pronounceable. It has numbers or underscores throughout and is just a horror to look upon.

I wanted to take the time and see what some Neopians opinions are on unconverted pets. Most Neopians would say do not convert your pet and an extremely small amount of people say to convert them. In my own opinion the ones who tell others to convert their pets would be to minimize the number of how many are actually out in the Neopia world as unconverted pets and to eventually take them all out entirely. No more unconverted pets!

Another group of Neopians I talked with are seriously torn between the two options. Some love that they can dress up their pets in fancy clothes but also miss the old classic artwork and the equal look the pets had.

One quoted in a positive manner for unconverted pets; “I’m not sure to be honest. I like how they look for grey ones and I like how they aren't mass produced. But I kind of miss not being able to dress them. So all of them look the same. So it’s a blade that cuts two ways for me. I love my UC but I start to love customizations too.”

Another also stated; “I love the nostalgia and art (:

Not fond of trading up, but hey the hard work is totally worth it. “

For those who are not so fond about the whole Unconverted Trend happening and how it affects the views on the pets themselves. Here is a thought from one Neopian; “Unconverted pets are nice, but I dislike the fact that people tend to view pets as items (even though they both are just digital numbers) when doing pet trades.”

One Neopian gave me a great statement; “If I were to be selfish I'd tell you to convert your unconverted pet so that there would be one less in circulation, thus driving up the value of my own.

But I like to look at unconverted pets because I'm then able to remember old Neopets art and it's nostalgic for me so I'd say keep it. Either way I'm only giving you opinions based on my own interests. And I feel like most people here will end up doing the same. So you choose”

Another Neopia said; “I started playing with the old artwork and grew up with it. Now that I'm an adult 10 years later, I miss it and want it back. Nostalgia.

They had unique poses too. It wasn't all uniform. A Plushie Kougra looks like all other Kougra color poses. A UC Plushie Kougra has more character for his color and is uniquely different from say, a UC Grey Kougra. I love it.”

Most Neopians miss the old feel of the pets and even their original poses! While others could not go a day without looking at new customizations for their beloved pets.

I actually can agree with the last quote on so many levels even with its simplicity. So the war on Unconverted Pets and Converted Pets will be a “battle” of interest in Neopia for quite some time I believe. I myself own an unconverted pet and could not even imagine trading him or converting him in the near or far away future. So for those who are with a converted or the lucky few who own the prized unconverted, I hope you enjoyed my collection of thoughts. Continue to love your Neopets because they love you whether you’re converted or not.