NeoDex - User contributions [en]

Neopia

2006-11-04T20:39:53Z

65.6.199.170: /* The Other Side of Neopia */

[[Image:Explore 2005 02.gif|frame|Neopia map before the recent change.]]
'''Neopia''' is the planet [[Neopet]]s live on. It's unknown if this planet is within our own solar system/galaxy, or an entirly different one. As of {{CURRENTMONTHNAMEGEN}} {{CURRENTDAY}}, {{CURRENTYEAR}}, there are 13 official lands to explore, and 3 [[Mini-Worlds]].

==Environment==
The environment of Neopia is somewhat unusual, climate-wise. [[Tyrannia]], a tropical jungle with a desert plateau, is directly beside afrigid mountain. (A possible explanation of this is that Tyrannia is heavily volcanic and may have generated an ozone hole, as well as sitting on underground lava beds.) [[Mystery Island]] is in a semi-tropical area, so it is well-placed as it has lava caves beneath. [[Krawk Island]], however, is in a temperate zone, making the palm trees seem unlikely. (Note that the palm trees could be a Neopian variant which thrive in temperate zones.) [[Neopia Central]], [[Roo Island]], [[Meridell]], [[Brightvale]], and the [[Darigan Citadel]] are all temperate and in temperate zones. Although the [[Haunted Woods]] are in a tropical area, the trees block the sunlight and it is explored under the trees. Besides this, in the Brucey B. plot the treetops even are covered in shadow--likely because of the nearby mountains or dark [[faerie]] magic. How the [[Lost Desert]] is a desert next to the south pole and an ocean must be the result of fire [[faerie]] magic. [[Virtupets]] and [[Kreludor]] are perfectly placed, except for Kreludor's fluctuating gravity (time/space distortion?). [[Faerieland]] is well-placed, and even though it should be cold in such a high altitude the [[faeries]] have probably magically adjusted that. [[Lutari Island]] must have currents coming from the tropical zones and possibly lava vents and wrapping around the island. [[Altador]] is well-placed, and has no debatable climate inconsistency. As there is very little industry if any at all in Neopia, pollution is not an issue, except in [[Mystery Island]] (see TCG card "Pollution".)

==The Other Side of Neopia==
''On the other side of neopia you can find the following:
[[Altador]], [[Lutari Island]], [[Shenkuu] and a number of islands (including one believed to possibley be [[Scurvy Island]]).''

==Triva==
*''...to be added...''

==External Links==
*'''Neopedia:''' [http://www.neopets.com/neopedia.phtml?neopedia_id=73 National Neopian Bank], [http://neopets.com/neopedia.phtml?neopedia_id=115 Neopian Protection Zone 6b], [http://neopets.com/neopedia.phtml?neopedia_id=209 The Neopian Pumpkin Patch]
*'''Game Links:''' [http://www.neopets.com/games/defenders_choose.phtml Defenders of Neopia], [http://images.neopets.com/new_games/n58.gif The Neopian Lottery]
*'''NeoDeck:''' [Gorunda the Wise], [Moogi], [Dr. Frank Sloth], [Trrygdorr], [Island Mystic], [Uzarro], [Captain Astounding], [The Incredible Grarrl], [Electro-Boy], [The Wall], [Xenia, Master Prankster], [Boraxis the Healer], [Captain Astounding (H)], [The Incredible Grarrl (H)], [Electro-Boy (H)], [The Wall (H)], [The Shop Wizard], [Gali Yoj], [Choras Tillie], [Eleus Batrin], [Fuhnah The Fire Faerie], [Neopian Tank Patrol 45], [Hubert the Hot Dog Salesman], [Brista Lightfeet], [Shoonee], [Balthazar the Bounty Hunter], [Venuquin], [Jasper Gen], [Duel Bazuka], [Grimilix], [The Monoceraptor], [Imperius Flare], [Orig the Great], [Luperus], [Plains Aisha], [Psellia the Air Faerie], [A Light Faerie], [The Soup Faerie], [The Tooth Faerie], [Kauvara], [Neoquest Hero], [The Space Faerie], [Bazri The Grundo], [Count Von Roo], [Alstaf Poogle], [Sergeant Brexis], [Magax: Destroyer], [The Tax Beast], [Judge Hog], [Neopian Times 200th Anniversary Card], [Tonunishiki]
*'''Neopets TCG:''' [Hubrid Nox], [Lord Darigan], [Moltenore], [Vira], [Green Kacheek], [Blue Paint Brush], [Everything, Volume 1], [Lupe Defender], [http://www.neopets.com/tcg/displayCard.phtml?edid=1&id=149 Travelling Neopia], , [Blue Wocky], [Green Mynci], [Red Scorchio], [Yellow Mynci], [Yellow Scorchio], [http://www.neopets.com/tcg/displayCard.phtml?edid=1&id=177 Beyond Neopia], [Book of Sadness], [Library Visit], [Blue Gelert], [Yellow Blumaroo], [Angelpuss], [Dr. Sloth], [Cylara], [Faerieland], [Hannah the Cursed], [Soup Faerie], [Happy Valley], [Kyrii Explorer], [Blue Flotsam], [Yellow Eyrie], [Petpetpet Swarm], [Brightvale Castle], [Gebmids], [Vanishing City], [The Sleeper], [Faerie Koi], [Blue Koi], [Yellow Buzz]
*'''Help File:''' [http://neopets.com/help_search.phtml?help_id=17 The Neopian Calendar], [http://neopets.com/help_search.phtml?help_id=55 How do I get my story or article in the Neopian Times?], [http://neopets.com/help_search.phtml?help_id=82 Where can I see the old issues of the Neopian Times?], [http://neopets.com/help_search.phtml?help_id=87 How do I get a subscription for the Neopian Times?], [http://neopets.com/help_search.phtml?help_id=103 How long is a year in Neopian Time?], [http://neopets.com/help_search.phtml?help_id=104 How can I find out what the time is in Neopia?], [http://neopets.com/help_search.phtml?help_id=112 What does the bank do?], [http://neopets.com/help_search.phtml?help_id=137 What are the new worlds and how do I get to them?], [http://neopets.com/help_search.phtml?help_id=171 How do I submit a comic strip to the Neopian Times?], [http://neopets.com/help_search.phtml?help_id=172 Tips for getting your submission in the Neopian Times], [http://neopets.com/help_search.phtml?help_id=178 Where are the Ice Caves?], [http://neopets.com/help_search.phtml?help_id=182 How do I get to Mystery Island?], [http://neopets.com/help_search.phtml?help_id=183 Where is Maraqua?], [http://neopets.com/help_search.phtml?help_id=184 Where is Happy Valley?], [http://neopets.com/help_search.phtml?help_id=185 How do I get to the top of Terror Mountain?], [http://neopets.com/help_search.phtml?help_id=187 Where is Tyrannia?], [http://neopets.com/help_search.phtml?help_id=188 Where is Faerie City?], [http://neopets.com/help_search.phtml?help_id=189 Where are the Healing Springs?], [http://neopets.com/help_search.phtml?help_id=190 How do I get to the Tyrannian Plateau?], [http://neopets.com/help_search.phtml?help_id=191 How do you get to the Virtupets Space Station?], [http://neopets.com/help_search.phtml?help_id=192 Where are the Haunted Woods?], [http://neopets.com/help_search.phtml?help_id=194 Where is the Lost Desert?], [http://neopets.com/help_search.phtml?help_id=195 How do you enter Sakhmet?], [http://neopets.com/help_search.phtml?help_id=226 How do I get to Neopia Central?], [http://neopets.com/help_search.phtml?help_id=307 I was looking at someone's record and it said they had a Neopian Times trophy. How do you get those?], [http://neopets.com/help_search.phtml?help_id=324 When you send your comic/article/short story do you have to include the picture and/or the description?]

[[Category: To Do List]]
[[Category: Neopia]]

Defenders of Neopia

2006-07-28T17:53:40Z

65.6.199.170: /* Villains */

Face off against the [[Villain]]s and monsters of Neopia with [[Judge Hog]] directing you all the way!

On April 12, 2006, Neopets released '''Defenders of Neopia: Series 2''', which gives a whole new string of Villains for players to face off against.

==Plot Summaries==
===Series 1===
====Rescue Ginny's Bike====
Ginny's bike is stolen by the [[Pant Devil]]. You'll have to defeat him.

He can be challenged if he steals one of your items.

====Neohome Nightmare====
The [[Ghost Lupe]] is haunting a poor Chia's Neohome. You need to defeat him.

====Kidnapped!====
''...to be added...''

====Meuka Attacks!====
''...to be added...''

====The Brain Tree's Bad Day====
''...to be added...''

====It's a Trap!====
''...to be added...''

====The Tiki Curse====
''...to be added...''

====The Return of Malkus Vile====
''...to be added...''

====Trick or Treat====
''...to be added...''

====Evil Sloth Clone Attack!====
''...to be added...''

====The Hungry Snow Beast====
''...to be added...''

====The Even-Hungrier Chomby====
''...to be added...''

====Scratch That Itch====
''...to be added...''

====The Kastraliss====
''...to be added...''

====The Monster Slug====
''...to be added...''

====The Drenched====
''...to be added...''

====The Qasalan Mummy====
''...to be added...''

===Series 2===
====In the heart of Neopia Central...====
''...to be added...''

====Somewhere in the Lost Desert...====
''...to be added...''

==Members==
Although Neopets players act as recruits in Defenders of Neopia, there are several official characters that star in the comics.

===Judge Hog===
''Main Article: [[Judge Hog]]''

===Sergeant Brexis===
''Main Article: [[Sergeant Brexis]]''

===The Marvellous Stretchy Chia===
''Main Article: [[The Marvellous Stretchy Chia]]''

===The Masked Intruder===
''Main Article: [[The Masked Intruder]]''

===Lightning Lenny===
''Main Article: [[Lightning Lenny]]''

==Villains==
===Series 1===
''...to be added...''

===Series 2===
====Mr. Chuckles====
''Main Article: [[Mr. Chuckles]]''

* ''Age'' - Unknown
* ''Difficulty'' - 10
* ''Last Seen'' - Haunted Scratch Cards
* ''Status'' - Enemy at Large
* ''Favourite Game'' - Carnival of Terror
* ''Renowned For'' - Pie throwing technique and Bad jokes

''Description'' - Clown - standard white face, red nose, bright curly hair, baggy clothes and big shoes. He may be armed with tricks, don't trust any flowers or pies he may offer you.

====Eyrieki====
''Main Article: [[Eyrieki]]''

* ''Age'' - Thousands of years old
* ''Difficulty'' -25
* ''Last seen'' -Near city of Sakhmet
* ''Status'' -Enemy at Large
* ''Favorite game'' -Sutek's Tomb
* ''Renowned for'' -Bloodcurling "Skrreeeee!" battle cry

''Description'' - Covered in a swath of tattered bandages, this undead Eyrie has risen from his tomb to lay waste to the city of Sakhmet. Beware his mighty screech, for the wrath of his powerful weapons usually isn't far behind.

==Trivia==
*In comic page 2 of '''Meuka Attacks!''', Judge Hog called his partner ''Danger Buzz'', but his real name is ''Sergeant Brexis'', as there is a [[Collectable Card]] and [http://www.neopets.com/search.phtml?selected_type=object&string=Behind%2BBrexis book] named after him.
*When Eryieki was released for Series 2 on May 26, 2006, the link for Mr. Chuckles intro comic was replaced with Eryieki's.

==External Links==
*Game Link: [http://neopets.com/games/defenders.phtml Defenders of Neopia]
*NeoDeck: [http://www.neopets.com/games/neodeck/colcardlookup.phtml?colcard_id=327 Lenny Superhero], [http://www.neopets.com/games/neodeck/colcardlookup.phtml?colcard_id=304 Sergeant Brexis], [http://www.neopets.com/games/neodeck/colcardlookup.phtml?colcard_id=332 The Marvellous Stretchy Chia], [http://www.neopets.com/games/neodeck/colcardlookup.phtml?colcard_id=343 Judge Hog], [http://www.neopets.com/games/neodeck/colcardlookup.phtml?colcard_id=344 The Masked Intruder]

{{stub}}

[[Category: Plots]]
[[Category: Games]]
[[Category: Action Games]]

Neoschool

2006-07-28T16:07:35Z

65.6.199.170: /* The Classes */

Neoschool is a place you can send your [[Neopet]]s. They will choose which classes they take and recieve a report card to tell you how well they are doing.

Currently Neoschool is still being written, it is not on any of the maps. In fact, there has been a debate if it will even be part of [[Neopets]] anymore, as it's been well over a year since any new data about Neoschools has been released to the public.

You will need to give your neopet about 4 or 5 np to buy lunch from the school cafetirea. '''(need confirmation--[[User:Jacob|Jacob]] 00:02, 28 Mar 2006 (CST))'''

==The Classes==

The classes and teachers that were announced when the Neoschool buzz was at its highest. When the final product is released, it is uncertain if the teachers and classes will be the same.

{|
| '''Basic Mathematics''' - During the first part of the term Dr Ballard will cover basic addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. All Neopets will be required to know their times tables by the end of half-term. The lessons will become more challenging during the latter course of the term when Dr Ballard progresses to formula and shape. ''Final Exam - 9th day of Celebrating'' || http://images.neopets.com/neos/dr_ballard.gif Dr Ballard
|-
| http://images.neopets.com/neos/mr_noakes.gif Mr Noakes || '''Starting Science''' - The first part of the term will be spent learning about weights and measurement. There will be a field trip to Meri Acres Farm where your Neopet will learn about petpets and crops, in particular potato and turnip farming. After half-term there will be a school science competition where one lucky student can win their own microscope. ''Final Exam - 11th day of Celebrating''
|-
| '''Grammar and Language''' - Students will be expected to bring their own supplies to Mrs Owens class. Any student without a pencil and paper will be sent home immediately. The entire term will cover sentence structure and the use of nouns, adjectives, adverbs, conjunctions, prepositions and pronouns. ''Final Exam - 8th day of Celebrating'' || http://images.neopets.com/neos/mrs_owen.gif Mrs Owen
|-
| http://images.neopets.com/neos/mr_lupid.gif Mr Lupid || '''Learning Art''' - In this class students will learn about the use of shape and colour. The term will start with finger painting and progress on to charcoal sketches and pencil drawing by the end of half-term. The second half of the term will explore the use of textiles and clay. There will also be a school art competition with Neopoint prizes. ''Final Exam - 12th day of Celebrating''
|-
| '''Simple Spelling''' - This class is designed to teach students common spelling mistakes and how to avoid them. Simple rhymes and ditties will be taught so your Neopet will be able to spell almost anything correctly if they just try hard enough. ''Final Exam - 12th day of Celebrating'' || http://images.neopets.com/neos/miss_matthews.gif Miss Matthews
|-
| http://images.neopets.com/neos/mr_leer.gif Mr Leer || '''Potion Brewing Basics''' - One of our most advanced classes this term, Mr Leer will be taking your Neopet through the basic components of spells and where to find the ingredients. One third of this class will be spent doing practical experiments, the purchase of an apron is recommended. In the second half of the term there will be a guest lesson taught by the legendary Kauvara! ''Final Exams - 10th day of Celebrating''
|-
| '''Physical Education''' - Miss Stryke will teach your Neopet a variety of sports designed to promote ball skills, balance, proper breathing techniques and team spirit. There is a ski trip to terror mountain planned during the latter part of the term. Next term Miss Stryke will be teaching Basic Geography also. ''Final Exam - 9th day of Celebrating'' || http://images.neopets.com/neos/miss_stryke.gif Miss Stryke
|-
| http://images.neopets.com/neos/mrs_green.gif Mrs Green || '''Early Neopian History''' - This class is aimed to give a brief overview of life in early Neopia. Where did Neopets get food before the shops existed? What did the first houses look like? When did Neopoints get introduced? ''Final Exams - 11th day of Celebrating''
|}

(teachers picture is unavailable at this time) This class will teach your Neopet the basic keys on a
piano and your pet will learn a veriety of simple songs. ''Final Exams - 7th day of Celebreting'' '''(need confirmation--[[User:Jacob|Jacob]] 00:02, 28 Mar 2006 (CST))'''

==External Links==

*[http://www.neopets.com/neoschool/class_info.phtml The Classes]

[[category: neopets]]
[[category: secrets]]

Neopets

2006-07-28T16:03:28Z

65.6.199.170: /* Environment */

[[Image:Neopets.gif|right|Screenshot of the Neopets homepage in Mozilla FireFox taken in November 2005]]
==Basics==
After creating an account, players can have up to four different pets. Multiple accounts (up to four, according to the rules) can be created in order to have more pets, but using these accounts to gain an unfair advantage is prohibited.

As of July 2005, there are 50 Neopet species available, with most being fictionalized versions of real animals. For example, the [[Nimmo]] is a stylized frog, the [[Blumaroo]] is kangaroo-like, and the [[Pteri]] is a bird-like species. There are also Neopets versions of popular fantasy creatures, such as dragons (''[[Draik]]s'') and unicorns (''[[Uni]]s''). Users can customize their pets by selecting gender, colour (with initial choice of red, blue, yellow, or green for most Neopets, with the exception of the Grundo, which can initially be purple, brown or white, as well), personality, and name (which must be unique, that is, all Neopets must have names that are different from all other Neopets).

Players must care for and feed their pets (although Neopets will never die). They can also read books and battle each other in a [[Battledome]] in a style akin to popular Computer role-playing game such as Pokémon. Neglecting a Neopet will result in their unhappiness, which may have consequences such as turning blue.

Neopians can give their pets a different colour past the basic choices, such as purple and grey, if they purchase or find (in a rare event) a paint brush. Paint brushes can also change pets into different styles such as "Pirate" or "Royal". Some colours cannot be obtained from a paint brush. Robot, for instance, can only be achieved by using the Secret Laboratory. The [[Fountain Faerie]] can also paint a pet almost any colour, but first the player must complete a quest that is given randomly on rare occasions.

[[Neopian]]s gain the [[Neopoint]]s to care for their pets and purchase items primarily by playing games. Items are then purchased in either main shops, which are automatically restocked by the game, or in user-owned shops (which are maintained by many players as another way to earn Neopoints).

If a Neopian is caught breaking the rules as stated in the Neopets [http://www.neopets.com/terms.phtml Terms and Conditions], their account will be "frozen". If an account is frozen, it means that the account is not at all accessible by the user. If wrongfully accused, there is a response form to contact Neopets. Unfortunately, the Neopets team does not always respond promptly, and may sometimes take up to a month or more to reply.

Neopets has announced a premium service, which gives some additional options.

Once Neopians become comfortable with the basics, they can begin spending their Neopoints on items beyond caring for their pets. Popular goals include obtaining [[Paint Brush]]es and other items which can change a pet into another colour (which, in the Neopets world, includes completely different styles). [[Petpet]]s (pets for your pet) are also quite popular. There are even [[Petpetpet]]s, small critters attached to a Petpet. Any of these goals can cost an enormous amount of Neopoints, and dedicated users will devote months to their acquisition.

Part of the reason why Neopets is so widely-used is that it is continually changing: new items, games, and plots (such as [[Hannah and the Ice Caves]] or [[Curse of Maraqua]]) are introduced almost every day. The ability to amass large amounts of Neopoints and rare items is a challenge for competitive players, and someone who keeps up with the latest news has a greater chance of being the first one to obtain a rare item (and sell it before it drops in value) or to earn a top score in a new game.

Neopets has also installed "Neopets Jr.," a basic version of the site catering to those new to Neopets or to the very young.

==Environment==
''See also: [[:Category: Neopia|Neopia]]''

The entire game takes place on (or in orbit around) the fictional planet of Neopia. The main setting is Neopia Central, a city where the main stores are based. There are also different themed settings, called ''worlds'': ''Tyrannia'' (prehistoric), ''Faerieland'' (faeries), ''Altador'' (alternate faeries/Ancient Greece), ''Mystery Island'' (Polynesian), ''Haunted Woods'' (Halloween/spooky), ''Krawk Island'' (pirates), ''Lost Desert'' (Ancient Egypt|Ancient Egyptian), ''Terror Mountain'' (winter/Christmas), ''Virtupets Space Station'' (Space Station), ''Kreludor'' (moon), ''Meridell'' (medieval), and ''Brightvale'' (medieval with an emphasis on knowledge and enlightenment, à la the Renaissance).

There are also mini worlds and sub-worlds, such as ''Roo Island'', ''Kiko Lake'', the non-accesible 'Lutari Island' and the newly added ''Lost City of Geraptiku''. Each of these worlds (which are, in reality, more like regions or settings) has unique shops, games, and activities pertaining to its theme.

These worlds are generally introduced through in-game plots that involve their discovery or destruction. For example, Maraqua (underwater) was originally destroyed by Captain Dread and his pirates in one plotline, but has been rebuilt and reopened as a result of the "Curse of Maraqua" storyline.

The other side of Neopia is now available, although there isn't much to see... Jelly World isn't on it (apparently there's some sort of invisibility shield) and Lutari Island is non-acccesible, as it is only available to members who have Neopets on their Cingular phones. There appear to be cities on some unnamed islands, so there is hope of new civilizations/worlds.

==Gameplay==
There are many activities a Neopets player can perform to advance towards a goal. They can train their pets to become fighters to participate in the occasional wars that occur, usually when new worlds are discovered. They can also become merchants, collecting and selling expensive items. People can also send in their drawings or stories and become known for their creative skills.

Most of the games on the site are divided into three categories: puzzle, action, and luck/chance.

===Flash/Shockwave games===
Most of the games on the site are Macromedia Flash or Macromedia Shockwave games, which require certain software to be installed on the player's computer. Many are similar to older games—for example, [[Meerca Chase II]] is very similar to Snake while [[Korbats Lab]] is like Breakout.

The action games are arcade-like games. They include games like "Hannah and the Ice Caves," a multileveled game where you guide the characters Hannah and her sidekick Armin through increasingly difficult icy caves while collecting treasure and avoiding snow beasts. Puzzle games are games requiring some thought during gameplay. Luck/chance games include various slot machine games such as [[Brucey B Slots]] and other gambling themed games.

Scores from these games may be sent three times a day, for up to 1,000 Neopoints per game, proportional to the score. Highly skilled users may earn a [[Trophy]] or an [[Avatar]].

===Other games===
There are also numerous PHP games (which are more accessible to players with slower computers), such as "NeoQuest" and "Plushie Tycoon," as well as card games like "Pyramids" and "Scarab 21". NeoQuest and NeoQuest II are classic RPGs where players fight monsters and defeat villains. Plushie Tycoon allows the player to simulate running a business which sells Neopets plushies. Also in this category are a daily crossword ("Faerie Crossword"), a dice game ("Dice-a-roo"), and a version of Minesweeper, ("Neggsweeper").

===Plots===
:''Main Article: [[Plot]]''

Plots are presented in a comic book format which results in some kind of climax that players can participate in (such as a war or a series of puzzles). For those plots that have involved wars, players are sometimes given the option to choose a side to support. Fighters are given a series of enemies to fight in the battledome in order to gain points for their side, and "supporters" could collect items or play games instead of fighting. The [[Lost Desert Plot]] which began in September of 2005 did not have a war. players were instead invited to solve a complex series of puzzles to help save the day.

The Neopian arch-villain, [[Dr. Sloth]], is prominently featured in several site-wide stories. His greatest achievements were the enslavement of the [[Grundo]]s, an alien-like race, and his creation of the [[Transmogrification Potion]]s, which change the appearance or species of a Neopet into a [[Mutant]] version.

===Collections===
Many players choose to collect certain items—often those that are rare or expensive—and place them in a [[gallery]]. Other types of collections include virtual trading cards (not to be confused with actual TCG cards), stamps, and coins, all of which can be collected in albums. Neohomes can be bought for a certain number of Neopoints for each room, allowing players to collect items for their homes. Furniture may be placed in the Neohomes, and additional amenities (lights, insurance, etc.) can be purchased. The goal is usually to try to win a spotlight award or to show off items and collections.

See Also: [[Avatars]]

== Extra things to do ==
===Writing and art contests===
Neopets also offers different writing and art contests. One such example is the [[Neopian Times]], a weekly newspaper that includes short stories, a question-and-answer editorial, comics (animated and traditional), story series, and articles. There is also a [[Poetry Competition]] which runs approximately twice a week and a [[Storytelling]] contest where users submit the next part of a short story. Players can also contribute pictures of their pets for voting or display in a gallery or create their own levels of certain games.

===Shops===
In addition to the regular shops, every player can sell items at his or her own shop, sometimes at a profit. As in real life, the goal of dedicated sellers is to buy items for a low price (either at other player shops or at the game-run shops) and sell them for a high price. (There is also a [[Trading Post]] that can be used to trade expensive items and an [[Auction House]].) Buying items at the main Neopian shops in order to resell them is called ''restocking'' (since it involves waiting until the shop restocks) and can be very profitable for a player with luck and a fast internet connection.

===Neoschool===
[[Neoschool]] is a place you can send your Neopets. They will choose which classes they take and recieve a report card to tell you how well they are doing.

Currently Neoschool is still being written, it is not on any of the maps.

==Community==
Neopets, throughout its past, has always had a community in which users can chat and contact each other, either by Neomail (on-site email) to send private messages or "Neoboards", the Internet forums, which are often treated more like chat rooms than internet forums.

As with all internet communities, there is possible danger in giving personal information to strangers. Therefore, players who register as under 13 must submit a document by fax or letter with a parent's signature to the website's address in order to access any of the site's communication features, in compliance with COPPA.

===Guilds===
Users with similar interests can create or join ''[[Guild]]s'', which are basically clubs. These usually have a theme, such as the "[[Faerie]] Guild" or the "[[Nimmo]] Lovers Guild." Guilds dedicated to certain causes, goals, or mutual interests such as helping the poorer Neopians and/or new players, collecting [[Avatar]]s, getting more [[Neopoints]]s, or real life interests. There are forums inside of the guilds, only accessible to members of that group. Guilds may also offer certain advantages to members such a guild [[Shop]]s and lotteries to provide free food/items, "[[Newbie]] packs", and helpful tips. Different guilds also have different requirements for advancing in rank, usually accompanied by the appropriate increase in benefits and status.

===Neoboards===
:''Main Article: [[NeoBoard]]

Another aspect of Neopets is the community that develops on the 24 NeoBoards. Some of the more popular ones include:

*'''Avatars/Neosignatures:''' Discussions include the method of obtaining new avatars, help on obtaining avatars, designing a font compatible with certain avatars, scattered Font discussion, and games.
*'''Battledome:''' Many announcements regarding recent accomplishments in the battledome, due to the fact that it is the home of some of the wealthiest users and strongest pets. Usually, if there are any problems with hackers or with duplicated items, the members of this chat are the first ones affected.
*'''Evil Things and Monster Sightings:''' This board consists mostly of users identifying themselves as 'emo' or 'goth', and is typically used for general chat
*'''Fan Clubs:'''This board replaced General Chat in popularity upon its deletion and covers a range of topics.
*'''Help Chat/Newbie Chat:''' This is the place to go to get help using an account. Help Chat is more likely to be on topic.
*'''Trading Post/Auction:''': the board consists mainly of people who spend their time trading for profits.
*'''Jelly World Chat:''' This board is "hidden", and how to access it is a well-known "secret".
*'''Roleplaying:''' The main purpose of this board is a venue for the players to roleplay.
*'''Shop Ads:''' This board contains people selling and buying things in their shops, and working out prices with other people.

Several regular players named "Moderators" moderate the board. Users can self-moderate as well, by reporting a message they deem unsuitable for Neopets. There is also a filter which prevents a user from using profanity or lewd conduct on the site. However, many users often use symbols or spaces or a combo of them to use profanity, and it isn't filtered.

==Controversy and criticism==
While some educators and parents affirm the value of Neopets as a place for children to learn the basics of things like supply and demand, economics, stocks, and even HTML, others criticize it for its liberal placement and promotion of their sponsors' products, a technique they have dubbed "Immersion Advertisement".

Much of the company's revenue is gained through promotion of sponsors and their products and they have long accomplished this without a single banner or pop-up advertisement. However, in October 2004, a considerable number of banners that link to external websites such as eBay (instead of linking to various areas on the Neopets website itself as they had previously) were introduced. These banners are displayed on many site pages in three places, one at the top of the page, one at the bottom, and the other on a sidebar, making avoidance of advertisements increasingly difficult. However, the creators of Neopets have promised never to allow pop-up ads on the site.

The primary method of advertising is still through creating items based on sponsor products (such as "Baby Bottle Pops", a real candy found in many American stores) or offering rare items, Neopoints, or, in one case, a special pet (the "Ice Bori") in return for signing up for sponsors' services. Neopets also features many games for sponsors, such as "The Incredibles Split-Shot".

While immersive advertising is doubtlessly effective, some believe this constitutes subliminal advertising and is therefore immoral, particularly considering the target demographic is children. Others disagree, pointing to the fact that not only are many of the sponsors' offers now grouped on one page and are somewhat avoidable, but that no user is ever required to sign up for these offers. Neopets claims these offers and sponsor ads are only to keep the site free.

The introduction of a premium service in which advertisements are removed and special gifts given for sign-up has also sparked controversy, with users stating that Neopets has started "selling Neopoints", something prohibited under the site's terms and conditions.

In October of 2004, while McDonald's Corporation was promoting Neopets plushies in their Happy Meals, a story on the Australian news show ''Today Tonight'' featured a nine-year-old boy claiming that the site requires one to gamble in order to receive enough Neopoints to feed one's Neopet, or else it is sent to an orphanage. While much of this is factually incorrect (gambling is not required, nor are pets ever sent to an orphanage if they are not fed), it is true that the website has a number of games of chance that are directly based on real-life games like blackjack, poker, and even lottery scratchcards. Neopets had prohibited users under the age of 13 to use most games that involve gambling.

This article sparked a nation-wide controversy as concerned parents voiced their complaints about the website, prompting McDonalds to pressure Neopets into temporarily blocking Australian accounts from accessing games of chance for the duration of the promotion, which ended on November 5th. When this happened, countless complaints appeared on Neopets itself when even Australians able to legally gamble could not access any game of chance on the website. Complaints quickly died down after users realized that by merely changing the country setting on their user preferences the temporary ban could be bypassed.

Still others believe that the users of Neopets are poorly treated and considered nothing more than mere statistics, that the site has lost its friendliness over the years, and that the level of customer service has degraded considerably. Many users believe that the Neopets staff freeze accounts too often and without good reason; data from Yamipoli.com, which rates virtual pet sites, shows the frozen user amount is 45%. Users are allowed to report one another; some of these "reports" are not thoroughly checked and thus, unnecessary freezing occurs. Bugs and glitches on games can also account for some of these freezings.

Accounts are also often frozen because of the actions of someone else—other than the original account number—using the account. Because many Neopets players are young or relatively new to the Internet, they can be particularly vulnerable to "scams" that attempt to trick them into giving out their passwords.

Some dispute Neopets' registered users count, which has reached over 99 million, a figure Neopets often cites in promotional campaigns. A large percentage of these users are multiple secondary accounts owned by one person, frozen accounts or accounts no longer in use. Such accounts are never deleted, and even accounts that have not been accessed since the creation of the site linger. The actual number of active accounts is around 11 million [http://media.hasbro.com/pl/page.release/dn/default.cfm?release=259] and the number of individual users is almost certainly less than this.

And because Neopets is based in America, playing certain games like visiting the [[Snowager]] becomes difficult because they are based on Neopets time (which is the same as , the current time in California where Neopets Headquarters is based). Because of this some users feel cheated out of the full Neopets experience, while other users around the world take advantage of the time zone differences, playing [[Count Von Roo]]s [[Deadly Dice]] in the morning, while it take place at midnight Neopets Time.

It has also been rumoured that Neopets is closely affiliated with the controversial Church of Scientology through CEO [http://www.pinkpt.com/neodex/index.php/Doug_Dohring Doug Dohring] [http://www.scientology-kills.org/dohring.htm]. The impact of his beliefs on the site itself is not apparent, though Dohring has been quoted as saying "Having used his technology in every business activity... Mr. Hubbard's organizational concepts are always with me" (according to the [http://www.hubbardcollege.com/mgmtsystem/use_dougdohring.html Hubbard College of Administration]).

Groups of people believing that Neopets treats users poorly and who are also against the immersive advertising have formed anti-Neopets websites expressing their views. These groups have bought domain names for their movement, talked about their movement on the Neopets forums, and have even reported Neopets for what they believe to be potential copyright violations.

On March 31, 2006, Neopets released their [[April Fool's]] joke called [[NeoCharge]], a new system which would keep inflation down. For every page view users were charged up to 12 NP, which accumulated to a point of 10,000 NP. At this point, users would have to pay, or would lose their property and eventually their account. It made certain areas of the site almost implayable, such as the [[NeoQuest]] games and [[NeoMail]], because of the constant refreshing needed to use them. Those who saw NeoCharge for what it was began to make it into a game to see what happpend at 10,000 NP, and how high they could get it. Others users felt it was a cruel joke on Neopets part as users trust and believe what they say, and were betrayed at the expense of a good laugh.

==Neopets Premium==
:''Main Article: [[Neopets Premium]]''

[[Neopets Premium]] is an extended version of the site, for which members pay $7.99 a month, or $69.95 a year. There are also different packs that include Premium such as dial-up service. With this Premium membership, external ads are completely erased, and certain "perks" are added, such as bonus Neopoints, rare items, premium users only boards, webmail, more [[Random Event]]s, and testing unreleased games. Some groups voice the opinion that the Neopets staff members are transferring some free features to Premium.

To go Premium, a player must first be invited by another Premium member. There is then a 15 day trial. There are even prizes (an [[Avatar]], [[Sidebar]], and [[Trophy]]) for referring people to Premium who have remained after their trial has expired.

==Merchandise==
Neopets now produces a range of merchandise, including plushies, stickers, and hand-held video games. The merchandise retails at many mainstream outlets such as Wal-Mart, Target, and Limited Too. There are also exclusively online retailers involved, such as 99dogs.com, which was the first outlet for Neopets merchandise.

In September 2003, Wizards of the Coast released the ''Neopets Trading Card Game'', a collectible card game, based on the online characters and setting. It is distributed by card shops, as well as Wal-Mart and Target. To date, there have been six individual "sets" of cards (a base set and five expansions), with the sixth set recently released. Most of the card releases are associated with "plots," or stories, on the site. This is another controversial marketing move, which has at once managed to endear and estrange players from the site.

In 2004 Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc. announced the upcoming release of ''Neopets: The Darkest Faerie'', available for the PSone game consoles. However, in March 2005 they confirmed that they had already began remaking the game for the PS2.

In March 2005 it was confirmed that the Neopets team had also begun work on a Neopets film (which the creators of the site had kept secret from their own staff until it was confirmed). When informing the users of this, they also implied that there may be more than one Neopets film in the future (although, of course, this will depend entirely on the success of their first film).

==Pop culture references==
Aside from the fact that Neopets has its own vibrant user culture, there are many references in the site to movies, video games, and more. The [[List of references in Neopets]] article contains an extensive list of such references.

==Trivia==
*The New Features Page wasn't added until January 12, 2000.

==See also==
*[[:Category:Pet types|Pet types]]
*[[:Category: Neopia|Neopia]]
*[[:Category: Neopets Terminology|List of terms in Neopets]]
*[[:Category:Faeries|Faeries]]

==External Links==
*[http://www.neopets.com/pronounce.phtml Learn to speak Neopian], [http://info.neopets.com/presskit/index.html Official Neopets Press Kit]
*Fan Sites: [http://www.neoitems.net/index.php - Neoitems.net], [http://www.avatar.starried.net AvatarLog], [http://www.Neocolours.me.uk/ Neocolours], [http://www.pinkpt.com/ PinkPT], [http://www.neopetshive.com/ Neopets Hive], [http://www.neodaq.com NeoDaq]
*Selected Pet Pages: [http://home.neopets.com/templates/homepage.phtml?pet_name=My_First_Little_Pony List of Neopage Guides], [http://home.neopets.com/templates/homepage.phtml?pet_name=Leto Premium Neopets FAQ]

[[Category:Neopets]]

Neopets

2006-07-28T16:00:51Z

65.6.199.170: /* Environment */

[[Image:Neopets.gif|right|Screenshot of the Neopets homepage in Mozilla FireFox taken in November 2005]]
==Basics==
After creating an account, players can have up to four different pets. Multiple accounts (up to four, according to the rules) can be created in order to have more pets, but using these accounts to gain an unfair advantage is prohibited.

As of July 2005, there are 50 Neopet species available, with most being fictionalized versions of real animals. For example, the [[Nimmo]] is a stylized frog, the [[Blumaroo]] is kangaroo-like, and the [[Pteri]] is a bird-like species. There are also Neopets versions of popular fantasy creatures, such as dragons (''[[Draik]]s'') and unicorns (''[[Uni]]s''). Users can customize their pets by selecting gender, colour (with initial choice of red, blue, yellow, or green for most Neopets, with the exception of the Grundo, which can initially be purple, brown or white, as well), personality, and name (which must be unique, that is, all Neopets must have names that are different from all other Neopets).

Players must care for and feed their pets (although Neopets will never die). They can also read books and battle each other in a [[Battledome]] in a style akin to popular Computer role-playing game such as Pokémon. Neglecting a Neopet will result in their unhappiness, which may have consequences such as turning blue.

Neopians can give their pets a different colour past the basic choices, such as purple and grey, if they purchase or find (in a rare event) a paint brush. Paint brushes can also change pets into different styles such as "Pirate" or "Royal". Some colours cannot be obtained from a paint brush. Robot, for instance, can only be achieved by using the Secret Laboratory. The [[Fountain Faerie]] can also paint a pet almost any colour, but first the player must complete a quest that is given randomly on rare occasions.

[[Neopian]]s gain the [[Neopoint]]s to care for their pets and purchase items primarily by playing games. Items are then purchased in either main shops, which are automatically restocked by the game, or in user-owned shops (which are maintained by many players as another way to earn Neopoints).

If a Neopian is caught breaking the rules as stated in the Neopets [http://www.neopets.com/terms.phtml Terms and Conditions], their account will be "frozen". If an account is frozen, it means that the account is not at all accessible by the user. If wrongfully accused, there is a response form to contact Neopets. Unfortunately, the Neopets team does not always respond promptly, and may sometimes take up to a month or more to reply.

Neopets has announced a premium service, which gives some additional options.

Once Neopians become comfortable with the basics, they can begin spending their Neopoints on items beyond caring for their pets. Popular goals include obtaining [[Paint Brush]]es and other items which can change a pet into another colour (which, in the Neopets world, includes completely different styles). [[Petpet]]s (pets for your pet) are also quite popular. There are even [[Petpetpet]]s, small critters attached to a Petpet. Any of these goals can cost an enormous amount of Neopoints, and dedicated users will devote months to their acquisition.

Part of the reason why Neopets is so widely-used is that it is continually changing: new items, games, and plots (such as [[Hannah and the Ice Caves]] or [[Curse of Maraqua]]) are introduced almost every day. The ability to amass large amounts of Neopoints and rare items is a challenge for competitive players, and someone who keeps up with the latest news has a greater chance of being the first one to obtain a rare item (and sell it before it drops in value) or to earn a top score in a new game.

Neopets has also installed "Neopets Jr.," a basic version of the site catering to those new to Neopets or to the very young.

==Environment==
''See also: [[:Category: Neopia|Neopia]]''

The entire game takes place on (or in orbit around) the fictional planet of Neopia. The main setting is Neopia Central, a city where the main stores are based. There are also different themed settings, called ''worlds'': ''Tyrannia'' (prehistoric), ''Faerieland'' (faeries), ''Altador'' (alternate faeries/Ancient Greece), ''Mystery Island'' (Polynesian), ''Haunted Woods'' (Halloween/spooky), ''Krawk Island'' (pirates), ''Lost Desert'' (Ancient Egypt|Ancient Egyptian), ''Terror Mountain'' (winter/Christmas), ''Virtupets Space Station'' (Space Station), ''Kreludor'' (moon), ''Meridell'' (medieval), and ''Brightvale'' (medieval with an emphasis on knowledge and enlightenment, à la the Renaissance).

There are also mini worlds and sub-worlds, such as ''Roo Island'', ''Kiko Lake'', and the newly added ''Lost City of Geraptiku''. Each of these worlds (which are, in reality, more like regions or settings) has unique shops, games, and activities pertaining to its theme.

These worlds are generally introduced through in-game plots that involve their discovery or destruction. For example, Maraqua (underwater) was originally destroyed by Captain Dread and his pirates in one plotline, but has been rebuilt and reopened as a result of the "Curse of Maraqua" storyline.

There have also been hints of the other side of Neopia, since only one side of the planet is shown. It is believed this is where Jelly World and Altador are located. It is possible that it will be revealed in Winter 2006, as that is when the Jelly World movie will be released, which may lead to the 'official' release of Jelly World, and so on.

==Gameplay==
There are many activities a Neopets player can perform to advance towards a goal. They can train their pets to become fighters to participate in the occasional wars that occur, usually when new worlds are discovered. They can also become merchants, collecting and selling expensive items. People can also send in their drawings or stories and become known for their creative skills.

Most of the games on the site are divided into three categories: puzzle, action, and luck/chance.

===Flash/Shockwave games===
Most of the games on the site are Macromedia Flash or Macromedia Shockwave games, which require certain software to be installed on the player's computer. Many are similar to older games—for example, [[Meerca Chase II]] is very similar to Snake while [[Korbats Lab]] is like Breakout.

The action games are arcade-like games. They include games like "Hannah and the Ice Caves," a multileveled game where you guide the characters Hannah and her sidekick Armin through increasingly difficult icy caves while collecting treasure and avoiding snow beasts. Puzzle games are games requiring some thought during gameplay. Luck/chance games include various slot machine games such as [[Brucey B Slots]] and other gambling themed games.

Scores from these games may be sent three times a day, for up to 1,000 Neopoints per game, proportional to the score. Highly skilled users may earn a [[Trophy]] or an [[Avatar]].

===Other games===
There are also numerous PHP games (which are more accessible to players with slower computers), such as "NeoQuest" and "Plushie Tycoon," as well as card games like "Pyramids" and "Scarab 21". NeoQuest and NeoQuest II are classic RPGs where players fight monsters and defeat villains. Plushie Tycoon allows the player to simulate running a business which sells Neopets plushies. Also in this category are a daily crossword ("Faerie Crossword"), a dice game ("Dice-a-roo"), and a version of Minesweeper, ("Neggsweeper").

===Plots===
:''Main Article: [[Plot]]''

Plots are presented in a comic book format which results in some kind of climax that players can participate in (such as a war or a series of puzzles). For those plots that have involved wars, players are sometimes given the option to choose a side to support. Fighters are given a series of enemies to fight in the battledome in order to gain points for their side, and "supporters" could collect items or play games instead of fighting. The [[Lost Desert Plot]] which began in September of 2005 did not have a war. players were instead invited to solve a complex series of puzzles to help save the day.

The Neopian arch-villain, [[Dr. Sloth]], is prominently featured in several site-wide stories. His greatest achievements were the enslavement of the [[Grundo]]s, an alien-like race, and his creation of the [[Transmogrification Potion]]s, which change the appearance or species of a Neopet into a [[Mutant]] version.

===Collections===
Many players choose to collect certain items—often those that are rare or expensive—and place them in a [[gallery]]. Other types of collections include virtual trading cards (not to be confused with actual TCG cards), stamps, and coins, all of which can be collected in albums. Neohomes can be bought for a certain number of Neopoints for each room, allowing players to collect items for their homes. Furniture may be placed in the Neohomes, and additional amenities (lights, insurance, etc.) can be purchased. The goal is usually to try to win a spotlight award or to show off items and collections.

See Also: [[Avatars]]

== Extra things to do ==
===Writing and art contests===
Neopets also offers different writing and art contests. One such example is the [[Neopian Times]], a weekly newspaper that includes short stories, a question-and-answer editorial, comics (animated and traditional), story series, and articles. There is also a [[Poetry Competition]] which runs approximately twice a week and a [[Storytelling]] contest where users submit the next part of a short story. Players can also contribute pictures of their pets for voting or display in a gallery or create their own levels of certain games.

===Shops===
In addition to the regular shops, every player can sell items at his or her own shop, sometimes at a profit. As in real life, the goal of dedicated sellers is to buy items for a low price (either at other player shops or at the game-run shops) and sell them for a high price. (There is also a [[Trading Post]] that can be used to trade expensive items and an [[Auction House]].) Buying items at the main Neopian shops in order to resell them is called ''restocking'' (since it involves waiting until the shop restocks) and can be very profitable for a player with luck and a fast internet connection.

===Neoschool===
[[Neoschool]] is a place you can send your Neopets. They will choose which classes they take and recieve a report card to tell you how well they are doing.

Currently Neoschool is still being written, it is not on any of the maps.

==Community==
Neopets, throughout its past, has always had a community in which users can chat and contact each other, either by Neomail (on-site email) to send private messages or "Neoboards", the Internet forums, which are often treated more like chat rooms than internet forums.

As with all internet communities, there is possible danger in giving personal information to strangers. Therefore, players who register as under 13 must submit a document by fax or letter with a parent's signature to the website's address in order to access any of the site's communication features, in compliance with COPPA.

===Guilds===
Users with similar interests can create or join ''[[Guild]]s'', which are basically clubs. These usually have a theme, such as the "[[Faerie]] Guild" or the "[[Nimmo]] Lovers Guild." Guilds dedicated to certain causes, goals, or mutual interests such as helping the poorer Neopians and/or new players, collecting [[Avatar]]s, getting more [[Neopoints]]s, or real life interests. There are forums inside of the guilds, only accessible to members of that group. Guilds may also offer certain advantages to members such a guild [[Shop]]s and lotteries to provide free food/items, "[[Newbie]] packs", and helpful tips. Different guilds also have different requirements for advancing in rank, usually accompanied by the appropriate increase in benefits and status.

===Neoboards===
:''Main Article: [[NeoBoard]]

Another aspect of Neopets is the community that develops on the 24 NeoBoards. Some of the more popular ones include:

*'''Avatars/Neosignatures:''' Discussions include the method of obtaining new avatars, help on obtaining avatars, designing a font compatible with certain avatars, scattered Font discussion, and games.
*'''Battledome:''' Many announcements regarding recent accomplishments in the battledome, due to the fact that it is the home of some of the wealthiest users and strongest pets. Usually, if there are any problems with hackers or with duplicated items, the members of this chat are the first ones affected.
*'''Evil Things and Monster Sightings:''' This board consists mostly of users identifying themselves as 'emo' or 'goth', and is typically used for general chat
*'''Fan Clubs:'''This board replaced General Chat in popularity upon its deletion and covers a range of topics.
*'''Help Chat/Newbie Chat:''' This is the place to go to get help using an account. Help Chat is more likely to be on topic.
*'''Trading Post/Auction:''': the board consists mainly of people who spend their time trading for profits.
*'''Jelly World Chat:''' This board is "hidden", and how to access it is a well-known "secret".
*'''Roleplaying:''' The main purpose of this board is a venue for the players to roleplay.
*'''Shop Ads:''' This board contains people selling and buying things in their shops, and working out prices with other people.

Several regular players named "Moderators" moderate the board. Users can self-moderate as well, by reporting a message they deem unsuitable for Neopets. There is also a filter which prevents a user from using profanity or lewd conduct on the site. However, many users often use symbols or spaces or a combo of them to use profanity, and it isn't filtered.

==Controversy and criticism==
While some educators and parents affirm the value of Neopets as a place for children to learn the basics of things like supply and demand, economics, stocks, and even HTML, others criticize it for its liberal placement and promotion of their sponsors' products, a technique they have dubbed "Immersion Advertisement".

Much of the company's revenue is gained through promotion of sponsors and their products and they have long accomplished this without a single banner or pop-up advertisement. However, in October 2004, a considerable number of banners that link to external websites such as eBay (instead of linking to various areas on the Neopets website itself as they had previously) were introduced. These banners are displayed on many site pages in three places, one at the top of the page, one at the bottom, and the other on a sidebar, making avoidance of advertisements increasingly difficult. However, the creators of Neopets have promised never to allow pop-up ads on the site.

The primary method of advertising is still through creating items based on sponsor products (such as "Baby Bottle Pops", a real candy found in many American stores) or offering rare items, Neopoints, or, in one case, a special pet (the "Ice Bori") in return for signing up for sponsors' services. Neopets also features many games for sponsors, such as "The Incredibles Split-Shot".

While immersive advertising is doubtlessly effective, some believe this constitutes subliminal advertising and is therefore immoral, particularly considering the target demographic is children. Others disagree, pointing to the fact that not only are many of the sponsors' offers now grouped on one page and are somewhat avoidable, but that no user is ever required to sign up for these offers. Neopets claims these offers and sponsor ads are only to keep the site free.

The introduction of a premium service in which advertisements are removed and special gifts given for sign-up has also sparked controversy, with users stating that Neopets has started "selling Neopoints", something prohibited under the site's terms and conditions.

In October of 2004, while McDonald's Corporation was promoting Neopets plushies in their Happy Meals, a story on the Australian news show ''Today Tonight'' featured a nine-year-old boy claiming that the site requires one to gamble in order to receive enough Neopoints to feed one's Neopet, or else it is sent to an orphanage. While much of this is factually incorrect (gambling is not required, nor are pets ever sent to an orphanage if they are not fed), it is true that the website has a number of games of chance that are directly based on real-life games like blackjack, poker, and even lottery scratchcards. Neopets had prohibited users under the age of 13 to use most games that involve gambling.

This article sparked a nation-wide controversy as concerned parents voiced their complaints about the website, prompting McDonalds to pressure Neopets into temporarily blocking Australian accounts from accessing games of chance for the duration of the promotion, which ended on November 5th. When this happened, countless complaints appeared on Neopets itself when even Australians able to legally gamble could not access any game of chance on the website. Complaints quickly died down after users realized that by merely changing the country setting on their user preferences the temporary ban could be bypassed.

Still others believe that the users of Neopets are poorly treated and considered nothing more than mere statistics, that the site has lost its friendliness over the years, and that the level of customer service has degraded considerably. Many users believe that the Neopets staff freeze accounts too often and without good reason; data from Yamipoli.com, which rates virtual pet sites, shows the frozen user amount is 45%. Users are allowed to report one another; some of these "reports" are not thoroughly checked and thus, unnecessary freezing occurs. Bugs and glitches on games can also account for some of these freezings.

Accounts are also often frozen because of the actions of someone else—other than the original account number—using the account. Because many Neopets players are young or relatively new to the Internet, they can be particularly vulnerable to "scams" that attempt to trick them into giving out their passwords.

Some dispute Neopets' registered users count, which has reached over 99 million, a figure Neopets often cites in promotional campaigns. A large percentage of these users are multiple secondary accounts owned by one person, frozen accounts or accounts no longer in use. Such accounts are never deleted, and even accounts that have not been accessed since the creation of the site linger. The actual number of active accounts is around 11 million [http://media.hasbro.com/pl/page.release/dn/default.cfm?release=259] and the number of individual users is almost certainly less than this.

And because Neopets is based in America, playing certain games like visiting the [[Snowager]] becomes difficult because they are based on Neopets time (which is the same as , the current time in California where Neopets Headquarters is based). Because of this some users feel cheated out of the full Neopets experience, while other users around the world take advantage of the time zone differences, playing [[Count Von Roo]]s [[Deadly Dice]] in the morning, while it take place at midnight Neopets Time.

It has also been rumoured that Neopets is closely affiliated with the controversial Church of Scientology through CEO [http://www.pinkpt.com/neodex/index.php/Doug_Dohring Doug Dohring] [http://www.scientology-kills.org/dohring.htm]. The impact of his beliefs on the site itself is not apparent, though Dohring has been quoted as saying "Having used his technology in every business activity... Mr. Hubbard's organizational concepts are always with me" (according to the [http://www.hubbardcollege.com/mgmtsystem/use_dougdohring.html Hubbard College of Administration]).

Groups of people believing that Neopets treats users poorly and who are also against the immersive advertising have formed anti-Neopets websites expressing their views. These groups have bought domain names for their movement, talked about their movement on the Neopets forums, and have even reported Neopets for what they believe to be potential copyright violations.

On March 31, 2006, Neopets released their [[April Fool's]] joke called [[NeoCharge]], a new system which would keep inflation down. For every page view users were charged up to 12 NP, which accumulated to a point of 10,000 NP. At this point, users would have to pay, or would lose their property and eventually their account. It made certain areas of the site almost implayable, such as the [[NeoQuest]] games and [[NeoMail]], because of the constant refreshing needed to use them. Those who saw NeoCharge for what it was began to make it into a game to see what happpend at 10,000 NP, and how high they could get it. Others users felt it was a cruel joke on Neopets part as users trust and believe what they say, and were betrayed at the expense of a good laugh.

==Neopets Premium==
:''Main Article: [[Neopets Premium]]''

[[Neopets Premium]] is an extended version of the site, for which members pay $7.99 a month, or $69.95 a year. There are also different packs that include Premium such as dial-up service. With this Premium membership, external ads are completely erased, and certain "perks" are added, such as bonus Neopoints, rare items, premium users only boards, webmail, more [[Random Event]]s, and testing unreleased games. Some groups voice the opinion that the Neopets staff members are transferring some free features to Premium.

To go Premium, a player must first be invited by another Premium member. There is then a 15 day trial. There are even prizes (an [[Avatar]], [[Sidebar]], and [[Trophy]]) for referring people to Premium who have remained after their trial has expired.

==Merchandise==
Neopets now produces a range of merchandise, including plushies, stickers, and hand-held video games. The merchandise retails at many mainstream outlets such as Wal-Mart, Target, and Limited Too. There are also exclusively online retailers involved, such as 99dogs.com, which was the first outlet for Neopets merchandise.

In September 2003, Wizards of the Coast released the ''Neopets Trading Card Game'', a collectible card game, based on the online characters and setting. It is distributed by card shops, as well as Wal-Mart and Target. To date, there have been six individual "sets" of cards (a base set and five expansions), with the sixth set recently released. Most of the card releases are associated with "plots," or stories, on the site. This is another controversial marketing move, which has at once managed to endear and estrange players from the site.

In 2004 Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc. announced the upcoming release of ''Neopets: The Darkest Faerie'', available for the PSone game consoles. However, in March 2005 they confirmed that they had already began remaking the game for the PS2.

In March 2005 it was confirmed that the Neopets team had also begun work on a Neopets film (which the creators of the site had kept secret from their own staff until it was confirmed). When informing the users of this, they also implied that there may be more than one Neopets film in the future (although, of course, this will depend entirely on the success of their first film).

==Pop culture references==
Aside from the fact that Neopets has its own vibrant user culture, there are many references in the site to movies, video games, and more. The [[List of references in Neopets]] article contains an extensive list of such references.

==Trivia==
*The New Features Page wasn't added until January 12, 2000.

==See also==
*[[:Category:Pet types|Pet types]]
*[[:Category: Neopia|Neopia]]
*[[:Category: Neopets Terminology|List of terms in Neopets]]
*[[:Category:Faeries|Faeries]]

==External Links==
*[http://www.neopets.com/pronounce.phtml Learn to speak Neopian], [http://info.neopets.com/presskit/index.html Official Neopets Press Kit]
*Fan Sites: [http://www.neoitems.net/index.php - Neoitems.net], [http://www.avatar.starried.net AvatarLog], [http://www.Neocolours.me.uk/ Neocolours], [http://www.pinkpt.com/ PinkPT], [http://www.neopetshive.com/ Neopets Hive], [http://www.neodaq.com NeoDaq]
*Selected Pet Pages: [http://home.neopets.com/templates/homepage.phtml?pet_name=My_First_Little_Pony List of Neopage Guides], [http://home.neopets.com/templates/homepage.phtml?pet_name=Leto Premium Neopets FAQ]

[[Category:Neopets]]

Neopia

2006-07-27T23:22:04Z

65.6.199.170: /* Environment */

[[Image:Explore 2005 02.gif|frame|Neopia map before the recent change.]]
'''Neopia''' is the planet [[Neopet]]s live on. It's unknown if this planet is within our own solar system/galaxy, or an entirly different one. As of {{CURRENTMONTHNAMEGEN}} {{CURRENTDAY}}, {{CURRENTYEAR}}, there are 13 official lands to explore, and 3 [[Mini-Worlds]].

==Environment==
The environment of Neopia is somewhat unusual, climate-wise. Tyrannia, a tropical jungle with a desert plateau, is directly beside afrigid mountain. (A possible explanation of this is that Tyrannia is heavily volcanic and may have generated an ozone hole, as well as sitting on underground lava beds.) Mystery Island is in a semi-tropical area, so it is well-placed as it has lava caves beneath. Krawk Island, however, is in a temperate zone, making the palm trees seem unlikely. (Note that the palm trees could be a Neopian variant which thrive in temperate zones.) Neopia Central, Roo Island, Meridell, Brightvale, and the Darigan Citadel are all temperate and in temperate zones. Although the Haunted Woods are in a tropical area, the trees block the sunlight and it is explored under the trees. Besides this, in the Brucey B. plot the treetops even are covered in shadow--likely because of the nearby mountains. How the Lost Desert is a desert next to the south pole must be a the result of fire magic. Virtupets and Kreludor are perfectly placed, except for Kreludor's fluctuating gravity (time/space distortion?). Faerieland is well-placed, and even though it should be cold in such a high altitude the faeries have probably magically adjusted that. Lutari Island must have currents coming from the tropical zones and possibly lava vents and wrapping around the island. Altador is well-placed, and has no debatable climate inconsistency. As there is very little industry if any at all in Neopia, pollution is not an issue, except in Mystery Island (see TCG card "Pollution".)

==The Other Side of Neopia==
''...to be added...''

==Triva==
*''...to be added...''

==External Links==
*'''Neopedia:''' [http://www.neopets.com/neopedia.phtml?neopedia_id=73 National Neopian Bank], [http://neopets.com/neopedia.phtml?neopedia_id=115 Neopian Protection Zone 6b], [http://neopets.com/neopedia.phtml?neopedia_id=209 The Neopian Pumpkin Patch]
*'''Game Links:''' [http://www.neopets.com/games/defenders_choose.phtml Defenders of Neopia], [http://images.neopets.com/new_games/n58.gif The Neopian Lottery]
*'''NeoDeck:''' [Gorunda the Wise], [Moogi], [Dr. Frank Sloth], [Trrygdorr], [Island Mystic], [Uzarro], [Captain Astounding], [The Incredible Grarrl], [Electro-Boy], [The Wall], [Xenia, Master Prankster], [Boraxis the Healer], [Captain Astounding (H)], [The Incredible Grarrl (H)], [Electro-Boy (H)], [The Wall (H)], [The Shop Wizard], [Gali Yoj], [Choras Tillie], [Eleus Batrin], [Fuhnah The Fire Faerie], [Neopian Tank Patrol 45], [Hubert the Hot Dog Salesman], [Brista Lightfeet], [Shoonee], [Balthazar the Bounty Hunter], [Venuquin], [Jasper Gen], [Duel Bazuka], [Grimilix], [The Monoceraptor], [Imperius Flare], [Orig the Great], [Luperus], [Plains Aisha], [Psellia the Air Faerie], [A Light Faerie], [The Soup Faerie], [The Tooth Faerie], [Kauvara], [Neoquest Hero], [The Space Faerie], [Bazri The Grundo], [Count Von Roo], [Alstaf Poogle], [Sergeant Brexis], [Magax: Destroyer], [The Tax Beast], [Judge Hog], [Neopian Times 200th Anniversary Card], [Tonunishiki]
*'''Neopets TCG:''' [Hubrid Nox], [Lord Darigan], [Moltenore], [Vira], [Green Kacheek], [Blue Paint Brush], [Everything, Volume 1], [Lupe Defender], [http://www.neopets.com/tcg/displayCard.phtml?edid=1&id=149 Travelling Neopia], , [Blue Wocky], [Green Mynci], [Red Scorchio], [Yellow Mynci], [Yellow Scorchio], [http://www.neopets.com/tcg/displayCard.phtml?edid=1&id=177 Beyond Neopia], [Book of Sadness], [Library Visit], [Blue Gelert], [Yellow Blumaroo], [Angelpuss], [Dr. Sloth], [Cylara], [Faerieland], [Hannah the Cursed], [Soup Faerie], [Happy Valley], [Kyrii Explorer], [Blue Flotsam], [Yellow Eyrie], [Petpetpet Swarm], [Brightvale Castle], [Gebmids], [Vanishing City], [The Sleeper], [Faerie Koi], [Blue Koi], [Yellow Buzz]
*'''Help File:''' [http://neopets.com/help_search.phtml?help_id=17 The Neopian Calendar], [http://neopets.com/help_search.phtml?help_id=55 How do I get my story or article in the Neopian Times?], [http://neopets.com/help_search.phtml?help_id=82 Where can I see the old issues of the Neopian Times?], [http://neopets.com/help_search.phtml?help_id=87 How do I get a subscription for the Neopian Times?], [http://neopets.com/help_search.phtml?help_id=103 How long is a year in Neopian Time?], [http://neopets.com/help_search.phtml?help_id=104 How can I find out what the time is in Neopia?], [http://neopets.com/help_search.phtml?help_id=112 What does the bank do?], [http://neopets.com/help_search.phtml?help_id=137 What are the new worlds and how do I get to them?], [http://neopets.com/help_search.phtml?help_id=171 How do I submit a comic strip to the Neopian Times?], [http://neopets.com/help_search.phtml?help_id=172 Tips for getting your submission in the Neopian Times], [http://neopets.com/help_search.phtml?help_id=178 Where are the Ice Caves?], [http://neopets.com/help_search.phtml?help_id=182 How do I get to Mystery Island?], [http://neopets.com/help_search.phtml?help_id=183 Where is Maraqua?], [http://neopets.com/help_search.phtml?help_id=184 Where is Happy Valley?], [http://neopets.com/help_search.phtml?help_id=185 How do I get to the top of Terror Mountain?], [http://neopets.com/help_search.phtml?help_id=187 Where is Tyrannia?], [http://neopets.com/help_search.phtml?help_id=188 Where is Faerie City?], [http://neopets.com/help_search.phtml?help_id=189 Where are the Healing Springs?], [http://neopets.com/help_search.phtml?help_id=190 How do I get to the Tyrannian Plateau?], [http://neopets.com/help_search.phtml?help_id=191 How do you get to the Virtupets Space Station?], [http://neopets.com/help_search.phtml?help_id=192 Where are the Haunted Woods?], [http://neopets.com/help_search.phtml?help_id=194 Where is the Lost Desert?], [http://neopets.com/help_search.phtml?help_id=195 How do you enter Sakhmet?], [http://neopets.com/help_search.phtml?help_id=226 How do I get to Neopia Central?], [http://neopets.com/help_search.phtml?help_id=307 I was looking at someone's record and it said they had a Neopian Times trophy. How do you get those?], [http://neopets.com/help_search.phtml?help_id=324 When you send your comic/article/short story do you have to include the picture and/or the description?]

[[Category: To Do List]]
[[Category: Neopia]]