Festival Fun

1) Dress for the occasion. Last year, a friendly albeit oddly dressed Grarrl by the name of Rosie provided users with a menagerie of fantastic spring themed items. What better way to celebrate the Festival of Neggs than with a Negg-themed costume, especially with items like the Negg Head Bonk, a Neopian take on a classic slapstick comedy staple? Combined with other Negg items like the Pile of Plushie Neggs from Daily Dare’s AAA Meerca Chase II challenge, it’s not difficult to create a colourful outfit to match the coming of Spring that Kari clearly feels is worth celebrating. Which brings us to the next point...

2) Collect Kari goods! In my research for this article, I discovered several items starring the Negg Faerie that are incredibly valuable and very aesthetic. The Negg Faerie Stained Glass Window is arguably the prettiest item in Brightvale. Kari also has her own 15 NP stamp (which actually goes for about 130,000... but what is the Negg Faerie known for if not highly overpriced goods?), and a considerably cheaper Neocard. There’s a Negg Faerie Usuki set, a Negg Faerie Snowglobe, even a Negg Faerie Doll that’s estimated at 35,000,000 NP! If you can afford these pricier goods, you’ll surely be the star of the Festival. Finally, there’s a book called The Negg Faerie Diaries, for the lovably dorkier Neopets (it takes all types, after all). And what better way to show off your type than...

3) Customise your Neofont! Neggs come in a variety of colours, but Kari is big on shades of green (and so is springtime). The perfect way to show your pride for the change of the seasons and reemergence of the sun is to reflect this by changing the colour text you use on the Neoboards and in your signature. If you’re looking for some good colours to use and are unfamiliar with hexadecimal code, the author personally recommends 669900, 66CC33, 339933, 336600, and 339900, however further experimenting will help you find an even better colour scheme and further show your originality. And if you’re more original than that?

4) Enter a contest, but Negg it up! If you’re funny, try relating the caption contest to the Festival. If you’re better at drawing, enter the Beauty Contest with your Negg dressed pet (which can also enter the Customisation spotlight – double whammy)! If you’ve got HTML skills, this author recommends you enter the User Lookup spotlight. And if you have no visual arts skills, perhaps you can work a literary masterpiece and submit an article to the Neopian Times about everyone’s favourite springtime faerie. Finally, those with no ability in writing or visuals, but who are rich in Neopoints, may find the Gallery spotlight to their liking – the Kari items, combined with a variety of Neggs and Negg themed items, would make a wonderful and relevant gallery.

5) Celebrate with friends. In the true spirit of any holiday, give a gift randomly to your friend. Send them happy wishes. It sounds sappy, but if you have a friend who is the sunshine on your dreary winter days, let them know how important they are. Spring is rebirth, and that means a new start to everything. If the plants are getting a fresh start, why can’t you? Join a guild if you haven’t already; if you have, revamp it and get people active and communicating. You’ll be surprised how much your guildmates and you have in common. Find forgiveness in old friendships, and seek new ones. You’ll find that this event is as good a reason as any to appreciate all the people who make life special.

6) Eat Neggs. This is clearly the most obvious of the ways to celebrate the Festival of Neggs. Neggs are delicious egg-like objects, but better than being eaten, they can be traded to Kari for magical Neggs. These Neggs offer all sorts of stat boosts, which are great for training your Neopets. You never know when that training could come in handy (perhaps The Neopets Team is planning a new plot soon?) and it’s always good to be prepared. If training doesn’t interest you, though, both regular and magical Neggs are worth quite a bit of pocket change. You can strike it rich collecting Neggs if you’re a careful seller. And Neopoints may not buy you the love of the friends you can get following idea five, but they certainly can help ease the loneliness. And who says you can’t do both?

With the upcoming Festival of Neggs, The Neopets Team is trying something new yet again. Lately, they’ve been working super hard to try and create new and exciting things for us to enjoy. Perhaps what I’ve said doesn’t strike a chord with some of you, but I hope everyone will give the festival a chance. It’s a fun way to celebrate the new season, and that’s the whole point of Neopets – having fun! It’s not an epic plot or anything super fancy, but it’s a sign that The Neopets Team still loves us, so we should appreciate the care we get. Plus, free stuff. I mean, come on, guys.

As a last author’s note, I want to press point number five – making and keeping friends. Neofriends and guildmates are half the Neopets experience. Without them, you’re just sitting alone with a bunch of pixels. With other players, Neopets becomes an immersive experience that has pulled players in, some for over six years. Everything on the site is friendly competition and interaction. There’s no reason to be sour. I sincerely hope that all you readers take this article to heart; it’s more than just the Festival of Neggs, it’s finding appreciation for everything Neopets has ever done that made you smile even just a little bit. Take a bit of your time, really, to send a Neomail to a staff member who has made a significant contribution in your eyes, and brighten their day, like the springtime sun on a Negg covered plain.