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You Creative Neopians!


by indulgences

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It never ceases to surprise me how Neopets users are able to transform this already amazing website into their own contests, challenges and events! My favorite user-created aspect right now is the Battledome tournaments that take place between different guilds. They take weeks to compete in, end up with gorgeous user-made trophies that Battledomers can post on their user lookups or pet lookups, and validate those users who take the time to train their pets to level 1000. (My own pet was able to earn me the top trophy in the latest plot, though it's only at level 5.) Though I don't participate, I salivate whenever these Battledome contests take place, drooling over the amazing stats of these remarkable pets and typing encouraging posts on the Battledome Neoboard.

Wondering what other ingenious user-made events exist on this website, I decided to canvass the Neoboards and ask the users themselves!

The Art Neoboard was brimming with special user-made events, such as art contests, art trades, and art guilds. The art trades were particularly awesome, and I couldn't contain my amazement when these trades were completed in 20 minutes or less. I saw pictures being traded that were worthy of publishing in real art magazines! How I wish I could paint pictures that amazing in only 20 minutes!

The Avatars/Neosignatures Neoboard was full of inventive fun as well. It was home to a plethora of user-made games. My favorite was Avatar Simon, where the thread creator changed his or her default avatar to another, more challenging one, and the people involved in the game had to change theirs to match the thread creator's. Avatar Survivor was cool as well, where the topic creator said a subject and the other users switched their avatars to an avatar that went along with that subject. Everyone then neomailed the creator about who they thought should be voted off. The final user-made game was Act Like Your Avatar, which was a smorgasbord of random posts made by hilarious people who were insanely funny and had too much time on their hands. I've never laughed so hard in my life!

The Battledome Neoboard was, as I stated at the start of this article, my favorite place for user inventiveness. Not only was it interesting for the user-created guild wars, but it's also occasionally a place for people to swap battle pets, such as one person's manually trained pet for another person's lab trained pet.

The Customisation Neoboard surprised me. I was full of trepidation when I visited this Neoboard, assuming that it would be full of shop owners hawking their expensive wearables, but it was the total opposite! The Customisation Neoboard was full of inventive threads, such as Rate The Pet Above You, where players posted their opinions of other peoples' active pets. I thought this was a fun game, and I gave a lot of pets 10/10 today!

The Games Neoboard was my second favorite Neoboard, after the Battledome Neoboard. I had to give a hand to all the inventive threads that are maintained 24 hours a day, 7 days a week! For instance, the Kadoatery Feeding Times thread, which is maintained by die-hard Kadoatery feeders, is updated every 7 minutes, even at 3 am in the morning. The Food Club Competitions thread is similar in that it's a user-maintained thread that is constantly updated. The Krawk's Buried Treasure thread, with the help of alert players, keeps track of the most profitable places on the Buried Treasure map to click on. And finally, the Plushie Tycoon thread, which is always bumped near the top of the Neoboard, offers advice to adventurous Tycooners who want to earn high scores this month.

The Help Neoboard was brimming with user-created events, such as posting the Daily Puzzle answers, the Turmaculus wake times, the Snowager sleep times, and the Tarla alerts. The people who post these threads are truly dedicated, often posting to the Help Neoboard within seconds of the Snowager falling asleep, for example. It's also home to generous users who volunteer the use of their Super Shop Wizard to help people with their Faerie quests. The Help Neoboard is just that, a Neoboard for help, and these constantly maintainted threads make me visit the Help Neoboard roughly every half hour in case there's a thread alerting people to Tarla's visit!

There were a few user-created phenomenons on the Ideas/Suggestions Neoboard that were unique to this Neoboard and no other. For one thing, a popular topic was "prospective Neopet colors." I engaged in a spirited discussion of what some cool new Chia colors would be, concluding that my favorite ideas were cherry, banana and lettuce. Other people came up with great ideas as well, such as watermelon, blueberry and raspberry.

The Key Quest Neoboard was split roughly down the middle between people who were asking others to join their game sessions, and people who were apologizing for having quit games due to computer or internet difficulties. The interesting user-created movement here was that people were so apologetic! I've gotten kicked off of Key Quest before, back when I had a ratty old computer that wouldn't play the game properly, but it never occurred to me to make a thread on the Key Quest Neoboard apologizing to my fellow players. In the future, I'll keep in mind that this is the new protocol!

The NC Mall Neoboard was, hands down, brimming with Neocash traders. I'd expected various user-created events like pageants, contests and art contests, but 100% of this Neoboard was just people trading their Neocash items for other peoples' Neocash items. I have to give my fellow players credit for having turned NC trading into such a huge phenomenon!

The Neohomes Neoboard is my third favorite Neoboard, and it's not for the reason you might think. Although I love Neohomes version 2, and although it's the only version that can win the Neohome Spotlight, my heart truly belongs to Neohomes version 1. I love scouring the Neohomes Neoboard for the chance to glimpse everyone's Neohomes version 1, because I think the original Neohomes had more room for imagination and creativity. I remember falling in love with one user's Neohome version 1 because she had organized the items to look like an internet cafe, complete with computers (cobbled together with several different items) and a lounge complete with coffee paraphernalia. The cool user-created phenomenon on this Neoboard is that people continue to add to, and show off, their Neohomes version 1, and I love that!

The Neopian Pound Neoboard is unique because it hosts a phenomenon that even the Neopets Team didn't predict -- our rabid desire to trade pets! TNT even stated in several Neopian Times Editorials that our desire to trade our pets makes them sad, even regretful, that they created those covetable creatures known as "unconverted pets." The user-created trend of trading pets for other, "more valuable" pets is something that not even TNT expected would be so popular. I'm sorry, TNT!

The Other Worlds Neoboard was truly extraordinary, and was spilling over with creative individuals who were bumping threads in honor of their favorite teams. For instance, one thread was posted by the Lost Desert team, a team that's part of the Altador Cup. Another thread was posted by the Sway, a team that's part of the Battleground of the Obelisk. (I'd mention the Jelly World thread too, but Jelly World doesn't exist...) I couldn't get over how witty and funny the topic titles were. These user-created threads are definitely something unique, created with love by Neopets aficionados who have an endless abundance of humor, intelligence and quirkiness!

The Role Playing Neoboard, which I assumed would be the most creative and innovative Neoboard, did not disappoint! People were advertising role playing guilds, individual role playing in small groups of people, art trades, free art, writing trades, free writing (I even gave one person a poem for their pet lookup), free user lookup and pet lookup codes, role playing as their favorite television characters, and more. I was bowled over by just how amazing and inventive these users were. Trust Neopians to come up with so many ways to celebrate and enjoy this wonderful website!

The Trading/Auctions Neoboard was full of user-created acronyms. For instance, when I visited the Neoboard to research this article, one of the topics was peppered with "PB qs or ufa," which translates to "Paint Brush Quick Sale Or Up For Auction." Another topic said, "RSS, PCC, MMoM, RCG, Zombie DE," which I didn't understand at all. I have to give TNT credit, since these acronyms are one-of-a-kind, and "PB" generally means "Paint Brush" and nothing else. I have to admire those users who've played on this site for so long that they can identify an item just by the six letters that constitute its acronym!

The Virtupets Neoboard was an explosion of threads similar to the Other Worlds Neoboard, only more populous! I have no idea why the plot threads, Altador Cup threads, and Battleground of the Obelisk threads have found their home on the Virtupets Neoboard (it seems kind of random), but I'm glad they have. A person could spend hours laughing on this Neoboard! In fact, this Neoboard is my new hobby. I love to read the infinitely witty topic titles, click on some of the funniest, and generally have a grand old time choking on my coffee, laughing like a maniac!

In conclusion, you Neopians rock! It's amazing how much I was able to write about your user-created events, all in under 2 hours. It was a pleasure to visit all of the Neoboards and find out what makes each of them unique. What I learned in the end, however, is that we're all amazing individuals who've come together to make brand new aspects of the Neopets site, aspects that are just as legitimate and fun as any TNT-sanctioned events!

Thanks to researching this article, I'm contemplating an art trade and considering joining a guild! I've also found a new home on the Neopian Writers Neoboard, which I thought was abandoned, but is actually a thriving community of spirited, like-minded writers and poets. Thank you, fellow users, for welcoming me in your midst!

Stay tuned for more articles from yours truly, and please, continue to reply to my threads! I love to chat on the Neoboards, as well as over Neomail, and I love to know how my fellow Neopians enjoy this remarkable site!

 
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