How Helping Others Helps You: Acts of Charity

But things don’t have to end after you’ve achieved your goals! On the contrary, they can be a stepping off point for a much greater contribution to Neopians in general, whatever they may be. Let’s look at a few examples as to how to pay it forward on Neopets.

Foster Pets/Adoption Agencies

You’ve gotten the lab ray, yet all your pets are rare colors or species you want, so zapping them is out of the question. Aside from the rare Fountain Faerie quest, there’s too much risk in zapping your pets, and you’re happy with how they are.

The solution is actually pretty simple. Move your dream pets to a side account, and pick up pets from the pound that aren’t as loved. Even something as plain as a Red Lenny will be spruced up after a few zaps from your lab ray, giving it new colors, stat boosts, and maybe even a change to a different species. Combine these and you can get a pet that is more appealing to pound adopters, such as a Plushie Shoyru, or even a Jelly Krawk.

Now it’s possible to fall in love with the new pet you’ve made, and keep it on your account. No problem here. Back in April of 2014, many owners fell in love with the pets they were given in the foster program prank, and some wound up adopting those pets for real.

But if something just isn’t cutting it for you, there’s people who would love certain pets, and pets from the pound that may fit their criteria, after a few adjustments. You can even use morphing potions and paintbrushes that you find during your activities around Neopia.

Additionally, there are user-made adoption agencies that will trade a pet that isn’t wanted for a pet someone does want. You can use these to get the pets you want, but they don’t have to stop being something you participate in after you have all you want.

Joining them and hosting pets that others don’t want any more is a good way to make sure they’re well taken care of. Meanwhile, sending out alerts that you have these pets will let others know where to look for new pets, and they may potentially find their dream pet as a result.

Guides to Neopia

So you’ve managed to get that beauty contest trophy you sought for your pets? Got a high score on a game? Entered the Neopian times? Well, there’s one last way to secure your legacy, and that’s by sharing your secrets.

Writing a guide to how you managed to pull off your feat will inspire others to continue in your wake, by providing them with the tools of the trade. So long as the instructions are clear, and you provide examples as you go, there’s little risk of your craft dying out.

Some of the Neopian Times writers have jumped on the bandwagon, and provided guides to comics, short stories, and even articles. (Maybe some enterprising soul will make an Editorial guide someday?)

There’s also the Storytelling competitions, Beauty contests, Customization contests, and more. The list goes on. Find something that you’ve excelled at, and explain how other Neopians can do it. The more inspiration there is, the better.

Don’t forget, how you do something is different from how another person might choose to do it. But don’t think that’s a sign that your advice is no good. Someone out there will want to follow your method, or even use it and other guides to make their own unique style of content.

Gallery Donations

Inventory too full? Got more toys than you know what to do with? Well, you’re in luck! Other Neopians collect things and put them into display. These galleries may benefit from getting a few items that you have on hand.

Donating to these people will get you thanks, and much more. You see, with enough things in their collection, some Neopians will put their displays on trial in the Gallery spotlight, and may even earn recognition and a trophy. You may not think that that’s rewarding from your end, but remember, you had a hand in helping these people, and they might not have been able to do it without you. That can be a really helpful thing to have.

    Mentoring

This one is my personal favorite. Maybe you’ve seen some talented new writer or artist that appeals to you, but they’ve only just joined Neopets. Or your sister or father is struggling to get the particulars of the site down. There’s only so much a guide can do, especially if they don’t know where to look.

Why not serve as a friend and mentor to these Neopians, nurturing their ideas with charity and a few nudges in the right direction. If you don’t come on too strong, and let them do their thing while helping them to flourish, they’ll be grateful to you, and that sense of joy is something I haven’t yet been able to top.

Those with money to burn may provide gifts to these people, but while this is great, it isn’t all you should be doing. Point them towards things that might be interesting to them. If they are starting out in a contest, show them to guides that can lessen their inexperience on other parts, such as the need to request votes in the beauty contest.

Charity doesn’t have to end with Charity Corner, and if you help others, with no thought of reward other than a sincere thank you, you’ll see that helping others can bring satisfaction to your experience on Neopets.

Any of these things can be the breath of life into your time on this site. And you’ll be able to help others further their experiences, which will continue to grow.

So don’t think that your time on Neopets has to be limited to just you. There’s a whole world of people to help, and a lot of ways to do so.

Credit to artistic_trash for letting me help, which in turn inspired this whole article. Remember, there’s always something you can give. Share your stories with me via Neomail, and I might write a follow up to this article. Till then, xale22, signing out.