Daily Dare 2011: A True Daily Dare?

In the past, there have typically been two types of AAA Challenges. Those that fall somewhere in November are usually referred to as the Games Master Challenge, five have happened over the course of Neopian history. The Games Master Challenge started small back in Y8 and has grown ever since. Games Master Challenges consist of beating set and secret scores throughout multiple games, but also doing odds-and-ends around the Games Room. Examples include rating or sending feedback on games, sending game challenges to friends, or adding games to your favourites list.

The second type of AAA Challenges is most commonly known as Daily Dare, which usually last the entire month of March (once in February in Y12) with a couple of extra days added or removed here and there. From Y8-Y12, a new game challenge was released daily; and by beating the challenge on that challenge’s release day, you would qualify for a better trophy than if you skipped or missed a challenge day. To receive the top trophy from the Daily Dare in the past, you would have to beat AAA each and every day of the challenge, on the day of the challenge’s release to prove you vast gaming skills.

After the first Games Masters Challenge, AAA’s sister, Abigail was featured in the first ever Daily Dare in Y9. For those who are not up to the challenge of challenging AAA, Abigail is a featured alternative; her scores are usually much lower than AAA’s scores. Most memorably, at the Y10 Daily Dare, AAA and his sister Abigail were kidnapped by the infamous and crazed gamer who posed as a challenger to AAA. His name was King Roothless and he was responsible for holding the siblings against their will until Neopians could beat set scores. The following year, the sibling duo’s cousin joined in on the action, Lulu. Her scores are usually slightly higher than Abigail’s, not by much, and you receive an extra prize for beating her through the purchasing of NC. Also that year, the double dare was added and if you accepted the double dare, you could receive both AAA and Abigail’s prize for beating AAA’s score.

This year, like those of the past, featured some changes. For starters, the Team Challenge was added. By taking on the challenge with a Neofriend, you could win an additional prize. Also new this year is that there are simpler trophies, which have sparked debate in the gaming community. Below is exerted from the rules page from this year’s Daily Dare, outlining the new trophy system:

Gold - Beat AAA each challenge day.

Silver - Complete all challenges before the end of Daily Dare, beating AAA at least once.

Bronze - Beat Abigail each challenge day.

Participation Medal - Complete one or more challenges.

What exactly does this mean for the future of Daily Dare? No one is sure if TNT will continue to do this in the next year; but many people have mixed emotions about this decision.

REASONS AFFIRMING SIMPLIER TROPHIES: Voices of the Less Experienced Gamers

For starters, TNT is offering an additional prize for those who do complete a challenge on the release day. So, if you complete each challenge on its release day; you’re looking at over thirty additional prizes you wouldn’t have gotten if this change was not implemented. There’s no arguing it; everybody loves more prizes!

Also, less experienced gamers who usually cannot defeat AAA normally can practice more throughout the month and focus on the games they wouldn’t be able to defeat in just a mere day.

Lastly, and quite frankly the reason why TNT decided to do this, was so that players could be more flexible when trying to take down AAA or Abigail. Neopians are very busy people (as most of you already know!), and coming on the site every day for a month is hard for some, let alone the fact that you have to complete a difficult challenge daily. A classic example of this could be say a user comes on Neopets daily for the first thirty or so days, beats AAA daily, but misses one day for whatever reason. Now, you cannot be penalized if this happens this year; you will simply not get the bonus prize available for the days that you miss. You can leave Neopets for a week in March without the extra stress of trying to beat the daily challenges while you are away. You will also most likely find yourself getting a lot more sleep this year when trying to balance other things besides beating the Daily Dare. ;)

REASONS NEGATING SIMPLIER TROPHIES: Voices of the Polished Gamers

First, the prize(s) received from achieving the gold trophy will be not as elusive and will be worth far less because the prize(s) are easier to achieve and will be achieved by far more this year than the last. For example, Remote Control Gloves (wearable), the top prize from last year’s Daily Dare, is currently worth more than 200,000NP. I find it hard to believe that the top prize(s) from this year’s gold trophy will be even close to reaching the value of last year’s top prize. So in the long run, those who usually have no trouble achieving the top trophy in past years will find this year’s Daily Dare to be less profitable.

Second, the Daily Dare isn’t much of a “Dare” because it is much easier for the less experienced gamer to achieve the top trophy. In past years, receiving the top trophy is hard because you had to be a good enough gamer to beat AAA in twenty-four hours as apposed to an entire month. The less experienced gamer usually wouldn’t get the top trophy in the past because they would run out of time to practice enough to beat AAA on the challenge day. These gamers now have the advantage of being able to practice the selected games all throughout the length of the month. Experienced gamers are deserving of top trophies because their skills don’t require as much practice or effort as that of the less experienced gamer because they are simply better gamers. Getting the top trophy this year will be far easier this year than in the past; and as a result, more people will have a gold trophy, making it less elusive. Those who do not favor this decision believe that the gold trophy this year is not a true sign of a superior gamer.

Finally, the Daily Dare can’t be technically be classified as “Daily” anymore. Though a new challenge is released each day, you could in theory complete all the challenges on the final day of Daily Dare if you so desired.

Many argue that if you practice enough in the games likely to be chosen as a challenge you too can beat AAA each challenge day at its release, but only if you practice. Because so many users have been able to do this in the past, many argue that TNT should be making the Daily Dare harder rather than easier. But others disagree and think that completing a challenge daily is simply too difficult, and one missed day or even one difficult game could revert weeks or months of practicing, since nobody can be perfect at every game! Where do you stand on this issue?

Regardless to the debate and regardless of titles and trophies, enjoy the Daily Dare. Challenge yourself to do even better than last year, if you participated. Best of luck to all Neopians this year!