10 Things Only Old Timers Will Remember

1. General Chat

Arguably the strangest chat board to ever exist in Neopia, and this is coming from a player who survived the Evil Things and Monster Sightings chat board. Nobody was ever really sure why this board existed or what they would uncover. Think of it as the Wild, Wild, (did I mention Wild?) West.

2. Glow and Shadow Fonts

While you were discussing whatever random topics on the General Chat, or any board for that matter, an obnoxious, bright and hard to read font was definitely necessary. Thank goodness we used to have the ability to create fonts that popped, sparkled, shined, faded and over all made conversation almost impossible. Who needs legible text anyway? Glow, shadow, and shimmer fonts, we do not really miss you but boy were the font contests fun.

3. Video Store

Businesses fail and thrive even in Neopia. Queue a lonely Lenny who once ran a thriving video store. Long before Adver-Video we used to have to buy our videos from a store on the main shop page! This business may have thrived had we ever gotten VHS players but instead the videos gave way to books. Nobody will ever be sure what was on those tapes but we will never forget such classics as “Saving Private Jetsam” or “Adventures of Bloop.”

4. Grundo Gym

Long before “Sloth’s Fitness Fortress”, which I am currently being informed is also a thing of the forgotten past, existed a smaller, much more pleasant gym, Grundo’s Gym! This is possibly one of the most misunderstood and undervalued activities to ever grace the site. You could get paid, yes; I’m talking 600np crazy, for completing sets of exercises. If that is not enough incentive to get off the couch, after a certain amount of activity players would win organic food, stat boosts, and best of all a Lifetime Membership card! The card can still be purchased but prior to this article you probably had no idea why you would ever want one.

5. Space Discount Card

In the long ago users had the ability to gain discount on items in Neopia shops, not by haggling but by obtaining a Space Discount Card. Users could obtain the card for free earning a whopping 1% discount but by signing up with various sponsors players “leveled up” their discounts all the way up to a whopping 25%. Think of all the savings, all for some clicking and filing out forms. Sign me up so I can unsubscribe!

6. Adopting Through the Pound

You think it is a hassle only having a limited number of user-to-user transfers available to you? Imagine having zero. Restocking in shops has nothing on the nail biting anxiety of pound transfers, or as the oldies remember the only way to move pets before the revamp and transfer system. Many tears were shed, many drops of sweat, all the lost finger nails all to catch a pet as it dropped into the abyss of the public pound. Back in our day you would set a time and refresh like a madman hoping you were faster than the casual pound surfers. I know I am not the only user who lost a pet through this brutal system. To my Orange Grundo, wherever you are, I miss you always. Pound transfers, not so much.

7. Manual Clearing Shops

Speaking of restocking remember when we, the users, had to manually clear shops? If you don’t, consider yourself lucky. Before the new restocking system clears were something gracious players did because we all got fed up seeing them same things sitting unsold. These brave souls would go through and slash the trash, buying up things nobody wanted or needed to help make room for new items to restock. The only nice thing about this old system was that shops restocked on somewhat set times. Know your favorite shops number? That would be the first one up and then everything would roll in numerical order. From number one, Food, all the way to whatever is way in the back.

8. 100k Means Not For Sale

Neopia shops were not the only things to receive an overhaul in recent years. User shops used to look quite different too. Back in the day, before galleries existed independently, items could be priced at 100,000. This was code for, “I am not willing to sell this item but look at it sitting in my shop” or “neomail me pestering me to see if I can be haggled into selling”. Not only serving as a display of wealth this system was also great for shop wizard snipers. Miss a zero? Your unbuyable Halloween Paint Brush just got purchased for a very cool, or very painful, 10,000. I speak from experience from both ends; this was one of the best and worst of times for all of us.

9. Theme Parks

Does anybody know what the point of these were? There was a trophy involved, I am sure there was a point too. I could not tell you what it was but since I remembered them while writing this article they get a mention. A quick look at their page shows “ Theme Parks are on hold at the moment, we will be working on them very shorty and we will keep you updated with our progress.” I suspect these will never return to us. If this is for the best or not I have no opinion but I wish I could get the trophy or do I?

10. Referral System

Last but not least the old referral system. Back in the days when we all felt no shame, the days when you wanted all your friends to know you played Neopets or get them to join you in this whirlwind instead of rushing to close your laptop or denying any memory of Meerca Chase or the Hidden Tower c’mon admit it, way back when was the old friend referral system. You shared your link wherever, got all your friends hooked and got some really cool prizes. The best sellers got put on a list so everyone could know how many friends they had. It was a referral link that got me hooked on this site. Wherever that person is I hope they enjoyed their super sweet paintbrush I would like the last 15 years of my life back, or would I?