May 2012 News Archive

We have a shiny new user lookup for you to use. King Coltzan posed proudly so you can bask in his grandeur.


Don't  forget, if there are any graphics you would like to see, let us know by filling out our Graphics Request Form.

EDIT- The scheduled maintenance has been postponed to a later date.  
_{Thanks to strigois for letting us know about the update.}

TNT put a notice in the News about site maintenance starting tonight.

NOTICE - A stray Yooyu must have gotten into the systems, because our Database Myncies will be doing a maintenance run tonight. The site will be down from Tuesday (29th) 11 PM NST to Wednesday (30th) 7 AM NST. We thank you so much for your patience during this time. (You can practice your Yooyuball cheering skills on our Database Myncies while they work!)

Not sure what to do while Neopets is down?  Check out our Altador Cup coverage to gear up for the start of ACVII in just a few days.

Many premium users have felt sad about loosing the feature to have an allias account. However, there might be still some hope for allias accounts! This reply to the question about keeping the allias feature was posted by TNT member Snarkie on the premium Charter board:

@kissntells: The alias feature is a matter of technology and architecture issues, not a desire to remove it! It's kind of a bit ironic but I can't get into too much detail since it deals with our data structure. They're definitely looking at ways to bring this feature back, though.

Thanks goes to kissntells who told us about this! Want to find out more about Premium? Have a look at our Premium guide. Keep in  mind though that because of the changes, you can't sign up at the moment.

The countdown has ended and fans rush through the gates...

It's Time for Altador Cup Sign-Ups!

Who will you choose? It's an amazing time! Follow our Altador Cup coverage for updates on what's new!


When signing up for the AC, you will get a wearable frame matching with your team and 100 free NC. If you played the AC before, you will get a loyalty bonus. Our Sign-Up Bonus Items page has been updated with these freebies, including the new ietm for playing the AC for 7 years, calles Discarded Yooyuball Gear Foreground.


We can also give you the names of some unreleased upcoming AC items. Some of the will likely be availible at the prize shop after the AC ends!

• Faerie Yooyu
• Yooyuball Goalie Armour
• Yooyuball Goal Bed
• Altador Cup Fan Goblet
• Altador Cup Pillow - Altador
• Altador Cup Pillow - Brightvale
• Altador Cup Pillow - Darigan Citadel
• Altador Cup Pillow - Faerieland
• Altador Cup Pillow - Haunted Woods
• Altador Cup Pillow - Kiko Lake
• Altador Cup Pillow - Krawk Island
• Altador Cup Pillow - Kreludor
• Altador Cup Pillow - Lost Desert
• Altador Cup Pillow - Maraqua
• Altador Cup Pillow - Meridell
• Altador Cup Pillow - Moltara
• Altador Cup Pillow - Mystery Island
• Altador Cup Pillow - Roo Island
• Altador Cup Pillow - Shenkuu
• Altador Cup Pillow - Terror Mountain
• Altador Cup Pillow - Tyrannia
• Altador Cup Pillow - Virtupets

All premium users have received the following e-mail:

››› JUNE 11, 2012 ‹‹‹ This obnoxiously large notice is to inform you of our new target launch date for the updated Premium service! We wanted to share it with you right away but the payment information email isn't quite ready to send yet (probably later next week), so this is all we have for you at the moment... which makes this email kind of empty. Well, then. This is awkward. Let's just leave this copy here to fill space. This, too. And also, this. Okay, that's enough. Oh. Wait. One more thing! In preparation for the new Space Faerie Scratchcards, we want to suggest that everyone use up any backlogged scratchcards before new Premium launches. You can view any unscratched cards by visiting this page and clicking on each unused card to scratch it. If you don't claim these before the launch, they will disappear into OUTER SPACE to make way for the new ones. So get 'em while you can! And while we have you here, don't forget that Webmail is still closing down on May 31st! Be sure to back up anything you'd like to keep before then. Until next time... - The Neopets Team

In other news, TNT seems to have added an NC Wishlist option to userlookups. The link is currently not working, so we'll be curious to see how thats actually going to work. We'll be looking at our premade userlookups coding soon to see if this change affects any of our coding.

 TNT has posted some more info about the changes to the Altadir Cup playing format have been posted on the news:

Hrmph. So you have a few questions about the new Altador Cup format, do you? Well, the game has been shortened to 24 days of total play. All teams will be able to play on all 24 days, no matter how their team scores during the 4 rounds. As for player rankings, they will be recalculated to reflect the new format.

If you want to know more about the Altador Cup, why not check out our Altador Cup covarage?

Snarkie, a TNT staff member, currently has five pets on her account. Hopefully this means that we're coming closer to a 5th pet spot. The 5th pet spot will only be for those with Neopets Premium, but we're all still very excited! If you want to know more about Premium, check out our Neopets Premium guide. Be aware that you can't sign up for Premium right now, as they're in the process of changing the service.

Looks like Noda has baked up a new type of fortune cookie.  The Faerie Quest Fortune Cookie has appeared in the NC Mall for 100NC.

The cookie promises one guaranteed Faerie Quest a day for 7 days after opening.

Our Noda's Fortune Cookies guide has been updated with more information.

With the Altador Cup fast approaching we all know practice makes perfect.  So we have added the Practice Team to our Altador Cup Shop and Gallery layouts.


Don't forget we have many more Altador Cup graphics, just visit our AC Goodies page.

Hi everyone! I'm Faith, a new member of the graphics team here at SunnyNeo! I am looking forward to making all sorts of layouts and graphics for you all to enjoy. If you'd like to know a little about me (and everyone else on the SN team) check out our About Us page.

There is a new Petpage featuring some calming spring scenery. This layout, and many other spring goodies, can be found on our Spring Graphics page.

A new Underwater Wonderclaw machine is now out. So get your widgets ready and head on over to Wonderclaw to play.  Our Wonderclaw guide has been updated with a full list of the prizes and previews.

At Future Fashions, a new Keyquest token has been released: Blue Koi Key Quest Token. It's for sale for 250 NC and holds a special limited edition Brightly Coloured Blue Wig. The token will be for sale at the NC Mall within a few days. As well as the Gift Box Capsules that are in Future Fashions right now. Our Keyquest Token page has been updated.

We've just opened a new job opening for our staff: Altador Cup Daily Reporter. For this job we are looking for someone who is able to write fictional reports on the matches of the previous day. The person we are looking for must be creative, with a big imagination and good writing skills. You must also be able to write a report daily during the entire Altador Cup (the whole month of June most likely). Sounds like you? Read more on our Apply for Staff page.

 We have made a new Petpage featured by the awesome Bree Faerie so, if you're a Key Quest player, here is a layout you can use.

Earlier today some changes to the Altador Cup structure were hinted at in Altaor's team page. It has now been revealed that there will no longer be a final.

Instead there will be four rounds lasting six days each. Each round will consist of three brackets with six teams in each. Each team will only play teams in their own bracket.


More information is expected soon. We shall do our best to keep you updated as soon as possible. While you are waiting, why not have a scroll through our Altador Cup Guide?

At the moment, the countdown to the Altador Cup has started! While waiting for this, you can catch up with what the teams have been doing so far with the Pre-Tournament Press reports!


If you're in the spirit for more Altador Cup things, you can use the Fan freebies to show this off! We've updated our Altador Cup fan-freebies page with all the images for the upcoming season.

And, thanks to the images of the fan freebies pages, we can also report on some roster changes!

Altador and Shenkuu - Altador and Shenkuu decided to switch players. Timu wil be playing for Shenkuu this year, while Foltaggio wil try his luck playing for Altador.

Brightvale and Roo Island - Brightvale and Roo Island are switching players as well. Brightvale's former team captain, Tressif, will play for Roo Island from now on, while Gordo Gunnels will be in-forcing Brightvale's squad!

Mystery Island - A new unknown Xweetok will be Mystery Island's new player. Bertie Shurtz is the Mystery Island player who will retire.

TNT has launched the countdown to this year's Altador Cup signups.  This means that you don't have much time left to spend any remaining points in last year's Altador Cup Prize Shop.  Also, don't forget to check your Staff Tournament section to see whether you have points left to spend there, too.  As always, you can see all of the Altador Cup prizes and staff tournament prizes in our Altador Cup guide.

The Gem JubJub Power Bounce Suitcase has appeared in the Future Fashions section of the NC Mall!  If you don't have access to Future Fashions, the suitcase should be available for everyone to purchase within 72 hours.  In the meantime, check out our Future Fashions Guide for more information and previews.

The Altador Cup shop has just opened in the NC Mall. Masks are the rage this seasosn, since two new items have been released so far: Mystery Island Team Mask and Shenkuu Team Mask.


In Future Fashions you are also able to see the Altador Team Mask and Kreludor Team Mask as new items.


This will very likely mean more pre-season Altador Cup coverage will appear on the Neopets site very soon. We'll keep you updated on this, just visit our Altdor Cup section for this!

We've just opened a new job opening for our staff: Altador Cup Daily Reporter. For this job we are looking for someone who is able to write fictional reports on the matches of the previous day. The person we are looking for must be creative, with a big imagination and good writing skills. You must also be able to write a report daily during the entire Altador Cup (the whole month of June most likely). Sounds like you? Read more on our Apply for Staff page.

At Main Hall, TNT staffmember Snarkie has started a neoboard with some previews of the new premium:

A few of us thought you might like to see it and the Premium team was all "go for it" because they're rad. It's not really a notification bar, honestly. It's, like, notifications mixed with a toolbar, mixed with Portal? Something like that. Might be hard to envision it without being able to use it, but hopefully it's still interesting to see. Oh, and if we're wrong and you don't want to see it, you can totally ignore this post. If we're right, we gladly accept candy and small marsupials as bribes for future sneak peeks. Full Bar http://images.neopets.com/premium/sneakpeeks/notificationbar.png So, it sits at the bottom of every page with access to your Premium stuff. (You can turn it off.) On the right: Space Faerie Scratchcard, Premium Collectible Cards, Premium Boards, and the Help Centre. SSW http://images.neopets.com/premium/sneakpeeks/notificationbar_ssw1.png http://images.neopets.com/premium/sneakpeeks/notificationbar_ssw2.png He can be used without leaving the page, which I find pretty handy. Dailies http://images.neopets.com/premium/sneakpeeks/notificationbar_dailies.png I know a lot of folks were worried about this going away with Portal. It's just moving here instead. Let us know what you think!

Later she also replied to some questions:

Heh. Yeah, the people working on Premium aren't switching to working on site content during the delay, you crazy kids. They're still working on Premium stuff. XP The site content folks are the ones working on site content. *nod* Anyway, let's see... 5th Neopet information coming soon, I think. (It will probably be me posting again. ) I have a 5th Neopet on this account right now! *cackle* The bar is not Flash and it's not part of the browser. It's just regular code on the page that floats the bar at the bottom. So yeah, most mobile browsers should see it just fine. Safari will. @sweetaislingirl: Email the [email protected] with your ticket number. It sounds to me like you've checked all the regular things that were causing folks not to receive the emails, in which case I have no idea what the issue could be. But I've been told by the Premium team that they have access to that address and are expecting your email so they can look into it for you. Sniperspace mode: I'm honestly not sure. I never used it that way so I didn't notice! I emailed the Premium team to check. @ickle_pengu: Don't you mean NQIV? *winkyface* Okay, about Sniperspace... just because I'm curious. How do you like to use it? Why would you use that over the new bar version? In the bar version, I have the search results up and then CTRL-click all the shops I want to buy from so that they open in new windows. Then I go to each window to buy. Is that what you do with Sniperspace, only... from a pop-up? (I'm just genuinely curious from a design perspective, is all!) @shy_gurl1983: Yes! I also like the thought that we just program a feature as soon as we think of it. That would be awesome! But alas, the Creative department spend weeks, sometimes months, writing documents and paper-testing things before a programmer touches code or an artist starts to draw. So just because the programmers are busy on certain things doesn't mean other things aren't being worked on. Sniperspace: Okay, I gotcha. Basically the bar version is the same then. (All searches happen in that little module without reloading the whole page.) Storytelling Judge: Sometimes comes in later and leaves later. It's a preference. Better account security: It's not one system that can just be upgraded. It's a super elaborate set of multiple applications that are constantly being tweaked and updated as needed. It's *always* being looked into! My magical 5th Neopet is VanCleef. I'm heading home! Let me try to answer everyone before I go: - The Scorchio icon is a 5th Neopet reminder thingy. If you have a 5th, it goes away. (I think it also goes away if you don't create a 5th after a while, for people who don't want it so they don't have to stare at it all the time? I forget how it works. More will be explained when it launches, I'm sure!) - My 5th Neopet is not on my user lookup because new Premium isn't launched yet. In our development environment, he's totally there with the rest of my Neopets hanging out. All your Neopets will show up. You don't choose four out of the five. - You reload SSW results by clicking 'resubmit'. If you hit the reload button in the browser, it reloads the entire page (and resets SSW). - SSW results don't carry over from page to page. If you have one window open and are SSWing in that bar, it won't show up in your other window. - I believe they're looking at everything /Neopian/ from Portal that doesn't have a new home yet. I don't know if anything specific is planned right now, but I do know they're researching it all. I think that's it? I hope I got everything! I apologise if I missed you. I blame Sleepy Eye Syndrome. Good night! Tarla is Toolbar. Doesn't have anything to do with the notification bar, I'm afraid. (Though we may move her somewhere else in the future. We've talked about it some.) *really disappears this time*

The following e-mail (and neomail) has been send out to premium members regarding the upcoming changes:

Greetings! We're writing again with a few more updates about the Premium switch, including launch date information and maybe a haiku just because. Please keep reading! Launch Date So! We were going to announce the official launch date of May 22nd, but instead it will be a bit later. We know, but hear us out! All the new features are set and ready to go. However, since there are multiple different payment method/subscription combinations that all have slightly different processes, we want to give the tech team more time to work on the data transition. So, instead of mid-May as we originally planned, it will now be early June. As soon as we know the new date for sure, we'll share it with all of you. We just didn't want mid-May to roll by without letting you know what's up! Payment Updates As we noted in previous emails, some of you will need to update and/or confirm your payment information in the new system. We're putting together instructions for each of the different payment methods/subscriptions and will be sending that out a week or so before launch so you'll be prepared when the time comes! Webmail This is yet another reminder that Webmail will be closing soon! However, we were able to have the cutoff extended out to May 31st, so you have a few more days to back up your emails and contacts if you're a procrastinator. A Premium Haiku New Premium comes On a much awaited day Monoceraptor Farewell That's it for this update! In case you've forgotten or haven't seen what's in store yet, check out our Premium FAQs. They're updated regularly so you can always view the latest there. See you in Neopia! - The Neopets Team

Are you excited for Tyrannian Day?  Feeling prehistoric?  Well you're in luck, two new smilies have been released for use on the Neoboards. 

	*omelette*
	*niptor*

Our Smilies Guide has been updated.   

The Shenkuu JubJub Power Bounce Suitcase has appeared in the Future Fashions section of the NC Mall!  If you don't have access to Future Fashions, the suitcase should be available for everyone to purchase within 72 hours.  In the meantime, check out our Future Fashions Guide for more information and previews.

A new colour has been released - Elderly! It seems there are female and male versions of the colour.

As all premium users know, webmail will no longer be available on (or shortly after) May 15th, 2012.  This means you have to back up all your e-mails by May 14th. TNT suggests to forward all e-mails. Unfortunately, for most people this is not an option, because sending webmails doesn't work anymore. Even if it does, forwarding years worth of e-mails is a long and tedious job. Luckily there is an easier way to import all your mails.

What you can do, is have your personal e-mail import them using POP3. For instance through Outlook or Gmail. What you have to do first, is log into your webmail, and go to options, then POP Settings. Here you see the following:

General POP Delivery Settings
POP all date ranges
POP only for mail that arrives from now on

Set the setting to all date ranges, otherwise your older e-mails will not get imported. Then go to your personal e-mail, and add your @neomail account as a POP3 account. For this you can just use the standard settings (pop3.neomail.com, port 110). It should then start importing all your emails automatically. You wont need to do a thing!
Thank you _jaspeh_ for this great advice!

For those of you who like doing quizzes, and like Faeries, we've got something nice for you. We've come up with a new Faerie beauty quiz! Have you always wondered what kind of Faerie you would look like? Take our new Faerie quiz and find out what your hidden Faerie beauty is.

Don't like Faeries, but you do like quizzes? In that case, you should try out one of our other quizzes instead.

Neopets is currently lagging dreadfully, and all NC items appear to be gone (!). We assume that this is a glitch and that both Neopets and NC items will be back to their normal state soon.



Edit: It looks like the site is acting normal again. The lag has gone and Neocash and NC items are showing up again. It seems there is still some trouble with the NC Mall not loading properly or having technical difficulties, though.

TNT is currently redoing how Premium works.  Beause of this webmail does not work as it should anymore.

If you miss claiming your Premium SHH or scratching your weekly Space Faerie Scratchcard, fret no longer :)

These links will do the job just fine:

* Premium SHH

* Space Faerie Scratchcard

If you would like to learn more about Neopets Premium check out our Guide.

EDIT: The Future Fashions shop is accessable to EVERYONE so long as they follow the direct link. Thank you boghytza for this info!

As we've posted previously, a new shop has opened at the NC Mall. This shop is called Future Fashions, and allows NC Mall addicts (ones that have spent more than 10,000 NC at the NC Mall in the previous month) to buy upcoming items 72 hours in advance. Of course, everyone else would also like to see what these items are...

Well rather than making a newspost about the new items every single day for the rest of our lives, we've just made a guide. You can check our Future Fashions guide daily for a scoop on the upcoming items!

Some new smilies have been released for use on the Neoboards. Tuskaninny and Quiggle fans will be pleased!

	*tuskaninny*
	*quiggle*

Our Smilies Guide has now been updated! If you want to see a complete list of every smilie ever made you should check it out!

I hope you enjoy the new lookup!

Scores Galore

For the next couple of weeks enjoy some extra NP in your pocket with Scores Galore. Every Saturday and Sunday from tonight at 12am NST until the 27th of May you can send five scores a day at the Games Room instead of the usual three! Make sure that you have a look at our Top Ratios List in order to get the very best out of this event!


Future Fashions Shop

The Future Fashions Shop we posted about a few days ago is now open in the NC Mall and visible to those neopian high spenders. This shop allows you to see some new items 72 hours in advance and is only visible to those neopians that have spent more the 10,000 NC the month before!

The Terror Mountain Winter JubJub Power Bounce Suitcase has appeared in the NC Mall!  It is the fourth Jubjub Power Bounce Suitcase released so far. 


 The rereleases are listed on our Terror Mountain Winter JubJub Power Bounce Suitcase page. Got a re-release that is not listed there? Please let us know!

Well today seems to be quite the day for NC news.

There will be a new NC Mall Shop coming soon: Future Fashions Shop.  If you spent at least a certain amount (unknown at this time) on NC the previous month, you will gain access to this shop.

What is the Future Fashions Shop? Congratulations! If you can see the Future Fashions Shop this means you are a loyal Neopets NC shopper! You have gained access to this shop by spending a certain amount of NC (on Neopets) the previous month. What’s so special about this shop you ask? Well, by being able to access the shop, you get the scoop on future daily items, 72 hours in advance! How did I gain access to the Future Fashions Shop? Congratulations! You have gained access to this shop for spending a certain amount of NC (on Neopets) the previous month. Why aren’t all NC items available in the Future Fashions shop? The Future Fashions shopkeeper is only able to get her hands on select items early, not all item released in the NC Mall. Check back daily to see what she’s found!

 
Check out the official FAQ for more details.  

The Lupe KQ tokens not your style?  Wish some of the other plushie KQ tokens would be released in the NC Mall?  Well it seems there will be more KQ tokens coming to the mall soon.

The Game Fortune Cookie was also briefly released and has since been removed.  The Game Fortune Cookie will give you 2x the neopoints for the games you play for 24 hours after opening.  
If you bought one while they were out, you will be missing the cookie from your inventory and still out the NC used to buy it.  Be sure to submit a ticket to TNT if this happened to you.

Three Keyquest tokens have just been released at the NC Mall. Our Keyquest tokens guide has been updated.


They come with special KQ NC bonus items:

Also the NC Collectible for May was just released.