How to Help the Neopets Community this Year

     As a recently returning player, I’ve loved seeing the way the Neopets community interacts, even after all these years. Neopets has always been a social site, and it wouldn’t be the same without the other kind users we interact with every day. They make the site more fun. And interacting with them allows you to have experiences that you wouldn’t have otherwise.

     In celebration of the great people I’ve found since returning, here are some ideas of goals you could set for yourself this year. These would also help others enjoy Neopets just a little bit more too.

     Faerie Quest searches: If you go to the Quests section of the Neoboards, you’ll find a lot of people looking for Shop Wizard searches. As they’re currently on a Faerie Quest, they can’t make use of our favourite JubJub’s services and the item they’re looking for may not be available at the Neopian stores! To help them out, you can simply copy and paste the item name into your own SW and then post the link to the shop that comes up in the search. Make sure to select the “identical to” option when searching to ensure that they’ll find the exact item they need. If you have access to the Super Shop Wizard, even better! It’ll help ensure that people are getting the cheapest option, but it’s not necessary.

     Kadoatery Timekeeping: Those cute little monsters are hungry, and there are a lot of Neopians that would love to rise up to the task. The only issue? Kadoatie feeding is hard! The mechanics can be a little complicated to understand for a beginner, and even then, if you’re not aware of the last feeding time, you’re basically guessing when they will refresh again. But if you have at least some experience with Kad feeding, you can help timekeep on the Neoboards. This can be scary at first. After all, you have a lot of people relying on you! But timekeeping is something anyone can do. On the boards you will usually find some guides related to the mechanics and how to post the new times. You can also see how others do it, before attempting it yourself. You can always ask other people feeding to check your work if you’re unsure. The Kadoatie feeding boards are usually really friendly, so they’ll be glad to help you get started on your goal of becoming an expert timekeeper.

     Giving out advice and help on the Neoboards: Are you an expert on Battledome training and equipment? Have you run through Neoquest 20 times and know exactly which tips and tricks are most useful for a beginner? Share that knowledge! You can go to the related Neoboard and answer questions that may arise. That way, you’ll be helping a lot of people out by simply sharing what you know. If you find yourself answering the same question over and over, consider writing a guide on that topic and sharing it via a Petpage or submitting it to the Neopian Times. This way, it’ll be easier for you to provide that information and make sure you’re not missing anything each time you share. If you’re maintaining a Petpage, it’ll also allow you to update the guide as needed.

     Adoption agencies: If you have accomplished all your Pet related goals, you could help others achieve the same thing! With access to the Lab Ray, you can zap Pets until they are a nice color and then adopt them out to other users. Most users adopt Pets from the pound or Pets that are Up for Adoption (UFA) in the Neoboards. This not only allows users to get the Pets they’d like to have without spending thousands of Neopoints, but it also helps reduce pound numbers! If you’d prefer not using the Lab Ray, you can buy Paintbrushes outright, read them books, or even train your fosters up to turn them into a Battledome Pet. To advertise your available Pets, you can either use a Petpage, or use the Neoboards. If you want to go a step further, you can allow users to send in their Pet wishlist. That way, you can check if you’ve achieved a species and color combination that someone else is looking for, and contact them as needed. There’s nothing like the feeling you get when you adopt out a Pet you’ve been fostering to their forever home.

     Avatar lending: Avatar collecting, the favourite activity of a lot of Neopians, including me! There are a lot of avatars that make use of an item or a specific Neopet. If someone tried to buy all the items and paint all the Pets by themselves, it would be extremely time consuming and expensive. Luckily, there are some kind Neopians that can help others by lending items and Pets. Some avatar lending agencies have all the items and Pets you need to get the different avatars. They've been doing this for years, you see. But you don’t need to have everything to start to help others. If you’re able to buy one item, or paint one Pet (you may even have one already!), you can do some lending! There are a lot of guides and avatar listings available, so check them out and choose which one seems more attainable to you. Take into account that some Pets and Petpets need “aging”, which means waiting a certain amount of days before they actually give out the avatar. Once you have the items or Pets ready, it’s time to start lending. Most people create a Petpage with their rules, then set up a board in the Avatars/Neosignatures section to advertise what they have available. To get some ideas on how to lend safely, I’d recommend checking out some other established lenders to learn about their process. Avatar lending is especially rewarding as you can help others achieve a lot of goals!

     Get involved in a guild: Guilds are the backbone of Neopian society. The perfect place to find like-minded people and chat about topics that you like. No matter how niche you think your interest is, I can assure you, there’s a guild for that. Even if you don’t want a niche guild, you can find a group of other Neopians that you enjoy talking to. If you have found that place, congratulations! But running a guild is hard work, and council members always appreciate an extra hand. You can volunteer to run all kinds of activities for your guild. To list some ideas: avatar lending, giveaways, adoption agencies, game score challenges, exclusive auctions, Battledome events, and many more! If you have an idea, pitch it to your guild council and see what they think!