Sometime last week I was clicking mindless through the repository (this is being written at the time of the Lost Desert Plot) at around 2 in the morning when I realized I had a lab report due the next day that I hadnt started on. It came to me that I was spending hours on end playing on a website that had no direct effect on my life or future. I did, however, enjoy the time I spent on the site and so wanted to continue playing there. But I needed to learn how to manage my time correctly.
That site, of course, is Neopets. And all who own pets know that it is possible to spend all 24 hours of a day doing things on the site and never finish doing them all. There are so many games you can play, so many shops when you can wait for restocks at, and so many things things you can do for your pet. How do you know how much is too much?
First of all, we want to minimize the time we spend on Neopets, so my first tip is to use quick links. Almost all Neopet-related websites have them, but I have my own list in my favorite folder. One folder is named dailies, and in it is all the things I do once a day. Another folder is called timed and include things that are restricted by time (other than the things in the dailies folder) such as the healing springs, the wheels, scratch cards, etc. Also, the games that I play are in this folder so I dont need to surf the site needlessly. Of course, I limit the number of games I play so that I can make the most neopoints possible without spending a lot of time.
This is what I do everyday to make sure that Im taking care of my pet as well as making a decent amount of neopoints (and keeping up with all the events) in the process:
Check my pet. Feed and play with it as needed.
Do my dailies and timed items
Check my stocks/Buy new stocks (Neodaq spreadsheet is excellent for this!)
Play games
1) Playing games: weekdays
So which games should you play? Its always up to you, of course, but make sure youre not spending all day playing games. Heres my list:
Hannah and the Ice Caves (only the last level): 3000NP
Crossword: 600NP
Dice-A-Roo
Ultimate Bullseye – ~1500NP
Fast high return Sponsor games (ones that are 500+ each time examples are the matching games like Hilary Duffs and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory as well the PBS Cyberquest Puzzle): 1500 x 2 = 3000NP
Along with this, I usually have an HTML game I play for random events and trophies. For a while, it was Cellblock until I got the gold trophy (so another 5000NP) and then Go! Go! Go! (~2000NP for 4 games)
So, if you assume that your daily/timed events (and Dice-A-Roo) come out even in terms of cost and reward (which usually they dont youll win more than you spend), youre still making around 11,000+NP a day probably in less than 30-40 minutes.
2) Playing game: Weekends
I have more time on the weekends. Some people dont, but if you do, you still need to manage your time well. Typically, I do everything I do on a weekday, but also:
Other sponsor games, such as trivia (900NP for 3 plays) and personality quizzes (600NP)
Quick NP games (Whack-A-Kass, Volcano Run, Meerca Chase, Dubloon Disaster, etc.) for the purpose of this article, you shouldnt keep trying over if you dont get an awesome score. Just play it, send your score, and be done with it.
Other HTML games (for random events)
Also, on the weekends, I price items in my shop (you might need to get a bigger shop if you only price on weekends) as well as catch up with the current plot.
So this article was written so that Neopets doesnt cause anyone to lose their job, sleep, or future. Have fun! Remember, everyone’s schedule is different on different days. If you have more time (but ONLY if you really do have more time), spend more time on it! If theres a special event that day, spend some time on it. But remember this is only a game and your pet will still love you even if youre too busy to spend all day with it! – bumpty85