Ask Narrator

n00bs have been asking to have fb6546546515475856, give them all of my np, or give them a pb. I'm not rich. Another n00b has been pecking around my shoulders offering 100k if I give her a pb. What should i do?

^_^,
-Wolfkarius

Dear Wolfkarius... Mind if I call you Wolfy? Or maybe even "Precariously mobbed by beggers and scammers," That has a nice ring to it.

Anyway, back on subject. For the most part, you should ignore the beggars: Give them three warnings, with firm "Sorry, but no" type responces when they say "Plzzzzz".

If they continue to beg, there is a button on top of your neomail section that has a button with a B and the word "block" next to it. Click on this, then enter the Username of the n00b into the Add User to Block List section that lets you write, much like the "Search Neopets" bar on the side of each Neopets page (Save for petpages).

The person offering to give you 100k needs special care. If the paint brush they want is over 100k to buy, just tell them "Nope, Sorry, thats too little money for it." If it is 100k and under, and you HAVE the paint brush, enter it into your trades and then have them offer the money to you right then. If they give you only a little bit of NP and then say they will give it to you later, reject their offer, since they are trying to scam you out of the Paint Brush.

If they insist on not working through trades, you simply block them as you do the beggers.

-Narrator

Dear Narrator

I've been copied once,and I don't want it to happen again.I blocked the copier,but I know there are still mroe out there...help,please!I like my pets!;_;

titans775

Having a Titanic sized n00b Problem, Titans?

Unfortionately, Copy cat n00bs are a common occurance here in Neopets: If anyone comes up with a unique Idea, some n00b will try and take the idea for their own. And, unless they steal your artwork, the Neopets Team will not do anything to stop it.

Young Padawan, the cure to copy cats requires more work then symply blocking the copy cats. You must use the Force...

*ahem* Sorry about that. You should set up a wall of shame, displaying those that have copied your ideas. This will require some work, but since it is written proof that someone is trying to copy you. Also try to keep a time line of when you put the idea out, then when the copier was discovered.

Copy cats are hard to deal with. The best thing to do is to make sure that, out of the croud of copiers, YOUR pet is the most origonal and well rounded of the group -- it is always sad when someone takes your idea, then works harder at it then you did. The best one is often seen as the origonal in others eyes, so work hard and stay ever vigilant.

-Narrator

Dear (WT?! What do I mean 'dear'?!) Random-

Why are you so stupid? or umm..I think I should speak your language; |13k y r u 50 5t0p1|0?

velociraptor_moglia

ur t3h 5t00p1d 1!!! 1m th2 5m4rt2ft pp7 3V3R!!!!1one 1 pwn u g00d!

Translation Via Narrator

I am insulted that you could even ask such a question!

It is not really a lack of having an ample Intelligence Quotient (I.Q.), but rather a case of deliberate and malicious idiocracy, strategically placed as well as caused by simple laziness.

In that line of Thinking, I am actually of adverage intellegence... I just don't like you and/or don't understand how it is wrong.

Narrator Shakes his head, Though, sometimes, it really is just a case of Random not knowing any better... Or honestly is that dumb... You can never tell with a n00b.

-Narrator

Dear Narrator...Again...

Thank you for your advice last time. I will put up a wall of shame soon. Now, for my prob...

The copier is now claiming that they didn't 'mean to copy' and 'made it up as they went along'. HELP! This one wants to be friends with me, but I could never trust a copier... Could you help me,Master Narrator,one more time?

Thank you,
Your Apprentice, Darth Barbara (titans775)

Welcome back, Darth Barbara.

There are occations when idea's overlap accidently. Fuzhe's main account, Mindsend, has an ixi named IssuiFrostbane that is raised by the Snowagers. Even though that is not all he talks about, and is not what he likes to call his claim to fame, it is something he is well known for. He has the Snowager Petpage Award, snowickle adopts, even his design has something to do with the snowager and his ablilties as a Shaman.

But on December 11th, Mindsend was told she might have to completely redo him, since another person had an Ixi that did magic near the snowager. In fact, the exact quote is "But, the idea of a snowager ixi, has been long been taken." The older ixi, A White a purple female who's name we do not have the liberty to give the name of out.

Luckily, Mindsend and the other Ixi's owner talked and the older User said that Issui's story was different enough not to be a copy, even though they were both Ixi's in the presence of the Snowager(s).

The one ixi was Known as "The Snowager Ixi," Issui was known as "Shaman of the Frozen Artic," and he was simply raised by them, rather then "Taming" them.

But, often times people who copy claim not to. Try talking to the person, get to know them, and help them have their character evolve from an idea simular to your own, and instead into their own completely origonal character.

Yours truely,
-Narrator

Dear Narrator,

On my other account, i have a neofriend. Last year, she told me her name was Meg. Then, in March, 2005, her userlookup said her name was valen Terry. Now, her userlookup says her name is Valen Hollow. What does this mean?

Your BIGGEST fan, Neo_addict699 (Call me Neo)

This could mean several things, Neo.

Your friend could be just playing with names they enjoy. Or they may just be protecting their real name from people that they do not know well enough.

Just because they keep changing their name on their lookup doesn't really mean anything, to be honest... Who knows what is going on in their head!

The best way to end your confusion is to ask them "What's going on here? You keep putting down different names.." They might actually have a valid reason for it.

From my Neohome to yours,
-Narrator

Dear Narrator, I have a huge problem.

On my other account, Coolcats2001, I have a Halloween Kougra named Coerrin. This girl mailed me and said I stole her pets name and idea, when hers was younger than my pet. What should I do? I block every account they bother me with, but they keep creating more!

This is another tricky question, but then I wouldn't expect anything less from my Loyal Fans...

Mindsend blinks, "Erm... I think they are more here for laughing at Random... Just because you have your own section doesn't make you the center of attention...

Oh, my fragile pride...

I could be wrong though, you never know...

Anyhoo, you can report them to Neopets for Harrassment, but that would be just like Blocking them... The better choice is to hit them with the Cold hard facts -- that there is no way that your pet is a copy of theirs, since yours is much older then theirs... In other words, THEY are true theives.

Keep up the fight!

-Narrator

Narrator-

Being a low-profile neoartist, I've never really had trouble with n00bs before someone began editing my pictures into adoptables that she's given to all of her friends. Also, on other accounts, she's copied my art for her guilds and stole my uni, kelo_eternal's, design and petpage layout. I've reported her, but TNT still hasn't taken any action. What's funny was all it took me was a single neomail for her to take down her work. Recently she neomailed me on another username (We took this down to stay in neopian standards) through a new account of her's asking for my music like she's closely aquainted with me. This person has several other accounts that I'm not aware of, and though she's appoligized, I'm still uneasy about her taking my work again.

What can I do to get TNT's attention and this n00b under control?

Thanks for all your help

~Aspen (aspen_untamed)

Well, Aspen, here is the sad truth -- TNT does not help artists who have just had their designs, layouts, or stories stolen. Only artwork and bandwidth.

So, now you have to take things into your own capable hands... Oh Goodie, eh?

Sometimes, the best action is to explain that the music is your music, point them towards places they can find their own music at, and keep your eyes open. If they steal any art directly, or enter a traced BC entry, you could catch them.

Its a pitty that Ideas are not protected by neopets. But you can still contact friends and help create a ring of Neopian idea protection officers or something...

In fact! Thank you for bringing this up -- I shall make an idea protection ring link for this page.

Brainstorming on noob resistance,
-Narrator

Dear Narrarator,

I've finished reading your guid on how not to be a n00b. I enjoyed it, but couldn't understand more than half of what Random said. Could you start translating for him so my head will stop hurting?

A true blue fan,
demipets

Ah yes, Random the noob. So hard to understand. I shall try and translate the language of.. Its species...

i'm RAndom, the cybunny arnt i teh k3wl3st? i a not a n00b like ervery1 sais i am."

Im Random, the noob. Arent I the Coolest? I am not a n00b like everyone says I am.

3y3 15 @ 1337 p1@y3r. ph33r |V|y 5k|115

I am a 'leet (elite) player. Fear my skills

thn wat d0 3y3 d0 a80ut t3h art, i n3edf sumthin for meh p@ag3s...

Then what do I do about the art, I need something for my pages.

Aaaaand.. I that is all I can find at the moment. Thanks for the question!

-Narrator

Dear Random...

Something Has Happened!!!
You find a peice of the secret laborotory map on the floor!!!

What will you do with it?

velociraptor_moglia
OMGZ!!!!11 1 wud g3t pbs an p0ti0n5 for meh to l00k pr3ttymus!

Translation Via Narrator

Why, I found a Lab Ray piece? That is astonishing! I never would have expected that to happen.

I personally would collect the piece, placing it in my maps section, and would be lab raying myself. You see, n00bs like me are both genderless and speciesless. And though I am always shown as a pink cybunny dressed up as other pets, n00bs also come in different colors.

I am also collecting np to buy my own lab pieces and finish the map so I can be zapped. AboutMindsend, a lupe taken care of by Fuzhe-sama for her "sister" Mindsend, will be zapped whenever I am in the Beauty Contest. (Currently, AboutMindsend does not have a petpage, so don't go looking for Mindsend's FAQ yet.)

^^; Yeah... I owed her one for all the help she has given me.

She didn't tell you to make a pet called aboutmindsend, you just made it so she can have a place for a FAQ and Fanart...

Anyway, as always, thanks for the question!

-Narrator

Dear Narrator,

What do you think of being stuck with Random?

velociraptor_moglia (again)

Well, Moglia, lets look at the hard cold facts.

Hello Narrator, I'm Sakura, and I know just how you feel -_-; You see....Kila got the brilliant idea of creating 'Typo' the oh so evil Bori who goes around sneakily inserting typos on the boards, pages, and anywhere else imaginable. I-don;t-want-to-live-with-Typo-anymore! she driving me insane! I'm...I'm at a loss. I don't know what to do. I can either yell at Kila, or try to live with Typo's....evilness.

I could really use your advice(after all, you have to live with Random....)! Please help me!

~Sakura

Meepits, Sakura! Seems like you've got yourself another one of the annoying forces of Nature personified in Typo...

Mostly, I grin, bear it, and try to keep Random away from others.

You should see this as a chance to shield the world from the destructiveness of Typo... And wait until the right moment to run for it.

-Narrator

Dear Narrator,

-no js-. It's really annoying...what do I do?

-conf3ssion (Sammy)

Sammy, fame and success are double edged swords, let me tell you. Random alone is starting to bring Noobs home to beg of artwork and items from Mindsend, our caretaker. The best thing to do is to use the block option of our neomails and, when they ask you for things, say "I just spent my money on something, so I'm Broke". If you are "poor", they can't get items or money from you, can they? One way to make your mock money loss is to have a collection of random items... Like, say... Rotten right sneakers. Have a Rotten Right Sneaker collection of, say... 1000. And Say your goal is 4000. They are cheap, and yet you can claim you bought them before the prices dropped.

Anyway, if they are asking to trade pets or buy them from you, report them. What they are doing is illegal and freezable. And Hate mail is a harassment -- you can report them for that too.

In other words... You got some 'porting to do, Sammy!

-Narrator

Dear Narrator, HELP!!! I have a 'Neopal' and she was really cool. She was far from a n00b, and we rped together. She lived in different places, being an orphan. For a few months, her account was a shared account. She shared with a girl named Allie. Allie left because she didn't have any friends like my friend did. Then, my friend suddenly stopped neomailing. It always said she was last spotted under a day ago. So I neomailed her, asking her why she didn't reply to my neomails anymore. The reply? She asked who I was. So I worriedly said who I was, and how we were friends. She said "wat ever"! I checked her look up. Everything was erased, and only a random background was left. Her username (used to be) is ~(this was removed for privacy issues)~. Please help, you're the only person/petpet I could turn to now.

From howls_dare

Howls, it sounds like the other girl may have returned... And possibly had a fight with your friend and stole her account.

Or, your friend got scammed out of an account.

The only thing you can do is hope your friend creates a new account and contacts you, for they are the ones that have to report their accounts stolen first. Otherwise, it may be a case of her quitting the game and giving it to her cousin.

Im sorry I couldn't really give you anything you can do... But some day, your friend may contact you and you can start again.

-Narrator

Dear Narrator,

When I was saving to paint Praedius grey, my biggest donator sent quite a large sum of neopoints to my donation shop several times without a second thought. Several neomails were thrown back and forth, and I came to know this person very well.

Or so I thought.

Not too long ago, I came across a 'fansite' that took ideas, names, and even a graphic that was incorporated into the layout from Praedius without giving any credit to me at all. They were so kind before, and to donate as much as they did was no small feat. What do you think happened?

Arttimo the Very Confused Arteest

Well, Artti.... This IS a tricky situation. If the site is not is not on Neopets, there is nothing you can do about it through the Neopets team. If it is, you can report them.

The best thing for you to do is to confront them about it, ask them why they are using Praedius's art without any hint to the fact Praedius is not their character and it is not their art. If you don't want to upset them because you feel you owe them something, figure out a way to do things that you are both happy with.

Communication is an important tool of dealing with people that you want to keep in good relations with while not having yourself abused and bribed off.

For all you know, that page may not actually be theirs, but something owned by someone pretending to be them! You never can be to sure out there in the world wide web.

Oh, by the way... Tell Praedius that I relate to his encounter with the Meepits. They are sort of like Mini Randoms...

-Narrator

I am a person who randomly spends neopoints. I need to know how to save neopoints without getting the urge to spend. Can you help me?

Sincerely,
gl00meh

The best way to save Neopoints, Gl00m, is to set a goal for yourself, and list it someplace where you can keep track of it, such as your shop. Also, if you find codestones and dubloones, instead of selling them right away, put them in your safety deposit box, where you can save them until a war drives their prices up or as you are nearing your goal.

Turn the saving into a game -- "If I save this much, I can morph my kougra into a draik. If I save this much, I can get a lab ray. If I save this much, I can stock my gallery with Brightvale armor.

Also, give yourself an allowance -- say, if you can make 30k a week (Which is possible -- you can make 10k a day, easily!), you allow yourself 5k a week.

Saving money is hard, and we are no masters at it ourselves, but with enough will power and planning, you can soon get whatever it is you were hoping for..

-Narrator

Dear Narrator,

I was On Neoboards In The Newbies Section And I Saw A "Boys only" Topic. I went In There And Told Them "I Don't Think You Should Be Putting These Boys Only Topics. " It Was Night Time During That. Like 10:00 Or so. I went To Sleep And The Next Morning, I Had 100 Neomails That All Said "You Are Stuped!" And It Eventually Said "You Are H33l And I Think You *beep*" (I censored It.) What Can I Do?

preluxus

Oh Noes! You broke one of the cardinal rules of dealing with n00b boards!

You actually POSTED in it!

Noob boards like "Boys Only" or "1ll rate ur picture: Hot or not", when posted inside the Newbie board (No wonder those poor, sad Newbies are so misunderstood), have no way of being stopped. They are in a board having to deal with New People to the game, though n00bs swarm around the message board like a pile of dung (or a baby paint brush).

The best thing to do is to report the ones that sent you hate mail for harassment, block them, and stay away from the newbie boards... Real Newbies hardly use it, to tell you the truth. Instead, go to these boards.

Help Need help getting to know your way around Neopia? Ask for help and explain in your topic opener that you are a newbie, but the n00bs in the Newbie board scared you off (If you want, you can show them our page to explain what you mean) and maybe you can get someone to help you around Neopia, explaining the What to do and the were to goes. Maybe even give you a couple links to Neopets Help pages!

Fan Boards This place can sometimes be infested by noobs as well, but its best place to talk about what you like in Neopets, even if people occasionally make boards like "WHO AGREES GRLS ARE BETTER THAN BOYS???? Narrator shudders at the shouting,My ears... They hurt... Anyway, just make your own board and stick to it! Its a good place to meet people and hang out.

I would suggest the Role Play board for Roleplaying.. But hardly anyone RP's their pets there any more and instead Roleplays "High school prom" type RPs... You might find a gem in the rough in there, but mostly its someplace to avoid. Keep RPing to Neomails.

And if you are doing artwork for your pets, even if it is just a doodle...

BC Board, Where people advertise and vote for art. Sometimes, people will vote for the first one of the species they see, sometimes they will rate your art instead, and sometimes they will choose the best of the bunch. You never know, your Zafara might win and get some money! Or at least get yourself discovered.

That is all I can really tell you, Prelux. Avoid newbie boards, take it to the source, and report all noobs that harrass you.

-Narrator

I need some help. I see a lot of scam and chain letters on the neoboards. I usually just report them, seeing as they're against the TNT's rules. But one of my friends that I know from real life is spreading those kinds of letters. I tell her to stop them, but she doesn't listen. And I don't want to report her, because I know she'll be upset if she's frozen. What should I do?

From Siera, the n00b freezer (especially stolen art)

Ouch. This is one of the most sensitive area's to touch -- having someone you know be a n00b or have n00bish tendencies.

• Sit her down and try to explain to her what will happen if she continues doing it and she gets caught.

• Send her to this tutorial and show her just how people see her when she does said n00bish Tendencies (Random has become something of an icon of n00bdom apparently)

• If all else fails... Report her and be there for her when she reacts to losing everything she has worked on.

Yeeaah..o_O; Hi there Narrator.

I've been playing Neo for about an year. I consider myself 'lucky' but I've been wondering. I've never gotten a _____ letter, never been even /tried/ to be scammed, never neomailed me with a million harassing neomails, non, nada...What's up? I sometimes post in the boards to stop them from fighting...I thought they needed some 'supervision' but they just keep fighting and ignoring me...x3 I've never been trampled by n00bs before...Wierd. What's up? If this helps any, I usually go lurk the FC

Hello [creaturelovers]

Well, Hello, this is a condition I like to call "N00b-cloak"... Its when someone has an air to them of either "You wont get anything from them anyways cause they got nothing" or "Man, this person is WAY too big for us to bully. Lets get out of here.

What a n00b can't bug or bother, in their mind at least, they ignore the existence of all together... Take Random for example... The Khnum hops off his chair and walks over to Random.

Hiiiiiiiiii!!11

Random.. What do you think of Fuzhe_fall?

The n00b blinks, "Who dat

Narrator waves a hand, raising an eyebrow,You Know.. Mindsend.... Our Caretaker?

i dun no wh0 ur talk abut...

Narrator hops back onto his chair, See what I mean, Hello? The Fuzhe_Fall account seems to have gone under the n00b-dar, n00bs see her as someone that will not even be bothered by them, and is more of a threat when messed with then when left alone. So, they ignore the fact she even exists.

I hope that answers your question, Hello... Cause I really can't explain it any better. It's just one of those odd occurrences of Neopia and n00bdom.

-Narrator

Hi narrator. My name is 0pal. I think myself reasonably lucky on neopets. My other account pquinlan has painted pets and i have over 400k. Recently however, i've started having problems. Things keep vanishing mysteriously, without the trace of a random event. I'm sure no one knows my pw, apart from my cousin. She might be doing it, because she has given my pw away once before. She gave me her account (pquinlan) in return. Could she be angry at me for some reason? And should i report her?

Your sincerely, paintbrush_perfect (0pal)

p.s. You are the cutest Khun ever!!!

Well Opal, you really have a bit of a pickle over there.

The best thing you can do is to is change your PW and move your items to a safe, secret account, and keep your little cousin from learning it. NO ONE should know your way of entry!

You don't have evidence that it is your cousin, so there is nothing to report. It is safer to simply make sure she doesn't know how to get in. If you both live in the same house, log out whenever you get off the computer. Then she wont be able to get into it without knowing the "word".

Also, thank you... I work out. ;3

-Narrator

I just noticed -- Random doesn't have a Nose! How does he smell?

From, your fan,
Mustashio_Of_Doom

Narrator yawns,Horrible... Everyone NOSE that, Musta... Chuckling, the Khnum smiles,Actually, I think Random is able able to smell with those eyes.. At least, I THINK those are eyes.. For all I know they may be nostrals....

They are Eyes, Narrator...

You sure? Drat... Well, Musta, I hope this helps... Somehow...

-Narrator

I really like your 'how to be a n00b' guide, I am just learning how scary it can be with n00bs rampaging all over Neopia... I think I am starting to get a bit more popular... (not very much, but enough forrandom people to ask me to be their neofriends).. and If my art or stories get looked at any more... or if I enter bc/ag anymore, I'm afraid it will be 'The Attack of the N00bs' for me. I am afriad of my pet ideas being stolen, or even my art... And I never know who is out there stealing it! Im so scared... *shivers*

~Ruth

Meepits, Ruth, you shouldn't allow "N00baphobia" from letting you enjoy the pleasures of Neopia. Instead of worrying about the n00bs comming to attack you, you should put your energy into adding to the wonders of Neopia, with art and story (Good music always helps two, since it allows people to experience something they have never heard before.)

You should cross the bridge of N00bs when you get to it -- when n00bs harrass you via neomail, take a screenie, fuzz/block out the names, and put it on a petpage, then block the n00b. Have a n00b stealing your artwork? Report them to Neo and have a few friends help out as well. Yelling at the n00b could get you warned for Harrassment.

A fear of n00bs should not be allowed to run your life. Enjoy the splender of neopia and just laugh it off.

-Narrator

Dear Narrator,

I've recently made friends with a... err, lesser intelligent sort of Neopian. I'm just sick of the spam, and after only two days of communication. She's just one of those people who'd make a fuss if you so much as said you had to go to the bathroom. I definately don't want to cause conflict, and ignoring her. Well. It won't work.

~Ellie

Well, Ellie, We here have experienced n00bs like that -- you don't reply in 2 minutes and they start going on and on, asking "You there?", "Where are you?", and generally flooding your neomail.

If you don't want to block them, which is the usual option.. After a couple times getting blocked, most n00bs will give up. But, if she doesn't, just delete her mails as they come. After a while of you not responding to her, she will likely get bored and find someone else to bother.

N00bs tend to have short attention spans, so if they even harrass the same person over and over, they tend to do it in short spurts. Keep that in mind while you ignore her - It may be over soon

-Narrator

Hello Narrator....it Sakura again -.- and Kila's here too.

Kila:It seems now I actually have n00b problems. The person I've been rping with-name shall be with held-. She's fun to rp with, but lately she's become a n00b. she wants Sakura to fall in love with her lupe and Martika to fall in love with her other lupe(poor Martika). I have no clue how to deal with this @.@

Sakura-Please, PLEASE help me! Erm....us. I don't want a herd of n00bs following me!!!

Oh, and congrats on Random getting the lab map.

~Kila and Sakura

Random wakes up suddenly and grins, waving, "g1m33 ur wurd!

Narrator forces the n00bs eyelids shut over its large, blank eyes, making its head loll over slightly as it falls asleep, My appologies, Kila and Sakura, Random hasn't been sleeping well lately, and so doesn't even pay attention to what people are saying to Them now.

When in a Roleplay where people are wanting your lupe to fall in love with theirs, try to stress to them, either in character or out of character that you do not think your pet is ready for a relationship and/or isn't that type, and that their insistance is making you uneasy. Just because Neo has a plot that doesn't even have a war to look forward (we think) where the Prince and the Homeless girl decended from royalty just fall in love at first sight does NOT mean that it is the norm...

-Narrator

Dear Narrator,

Hi! I just read How Not to Be a N00b... it was wonderful! I give it two thumbs up!... Well, anyways, I have a bit of a n00b problem.

You see, I've appeared in the Neopian Times twice. I've also written stories for my pet's pages, made up unique names, and given them custom looks. And you know how n00bs are... they neomail you and want to be your friend right away, just because you've starred in the Neopian Times or because they like your pets' petpages. I usually reject most of the n00bs who want to be my friend when I don't even know them. But some of these n00bs are GOOD... they neomail me and we hit it off pretty good. Soon enough, we're really great friends.

Then, before I know it, they've stolen my pet's name, story, layout, pictures, etc. I neomail them and ask them to take it down. Then they say, "I'm you're friend, so it's okay for me to do that." I just ignore it when they say that, and report them. They usually end up getting frozen. BUT... n00bs are getting more and more clever, and more of them are tricking me.

It actually really hurts, too... knowing that when you thought you had a loyal friend, but then it turns out that they're just a regular thief. How can I tell if these people who are trying to be my good friends are really n00bs? Can you help me?

Hello Narrorator,
Lately I've been having a bit of a problem. -_-;

I have a friend who is, well... of a 'lesser' status, let's say. Anyway, lately she's been bugging me, neomailing me and making it so my other friends can't contact me. She's really a great person, and I don't want to block her.

What should I do?

Sincerely,
Casper [casp3r_iz_moi]

P.S. I *heart* your site!

Ah, this one is a little challenging...

The first thing you need to do is talk to them about how you feel about the many neomails... Ask for them to wait for you to respond to a mail before sending another one, so you can get a word in, and so your other friends can also enjoy your company...

If they do not stop, remind them and tell them how your only one person that can only handle so many mails at once, and it would be easier for you if all of their mail for the day was condensed into one Neomail...

If they continue, only respond to one of the mails and delete all others, and if they continue to flood you, ignore them for a week or so, then neomail them, saying you were too busy to read all of the mail.

The last one a little rude, but it usually cuts them down to only one or two a day of "Are you there?" and by the end of the week, they tend to stop mailing.

-Narrator

Dear Narrator,

Recently, my lab pet, Mishi, turned into a pink uni (which is an avatar pet). Everyday when I get on, I get more neomail asking if I'm going to abandon Mishi. Then I found out this person (not saying name due to harrassment) is telling everyone that my account is their side account, and that they're lending out Mishi for their avatar pets. Please help, I don't know where else to turn to!!

Sincerely, Aviloeli

(P.S r4nd0m, j00 r teh 1337st cybunny!!=D ))

Well, first thig you can do is confont the person, asking them to take it down and threaten reporting them to TNT.

Secondly, block all neomails from people other then neofriends and put, "__person claiming to be you_ is an imposter. Please go report them to TheNeopetsTeam (be sure to give them the link) and do not bother mailing me about Mishi -- they are NOT up for adoption!" On your lookup, and their lookup and page.

Report them to TNT.

OR, if you would rather give them a taste of their own medication...

In lue of the "Report them" message, write down, "Mail ______ about Adopting Mishi, since she's the one saying that my pets up for adoption, not the actual OWNER of the pet!" and see how long they will keep the "Mishi is up for adoption" statement up on their lookup after being flooded with mails about it.

Sure, its cruel, so very cruel, but it would likely teach them not to do it again.

Random waves wildly, "1 r t3h 1337, g1v meh st00f!

Narrator groans, Random... Give it a rest...

-Narrator

Ai, oui! I was wondering. How DID you become a n00b? Was it some tragic experience? Were you bitten by a n00b vampire? Did you take a stpidity potion? WHAT?!?

Oh, and Narrator...In order to hide from Random, I suggest locking yourself in the bathroom. ^_^

Sincerely, Darth Barbara

Random blinks, then gets Angry, "i r kn0t a n00b ur t3h n00b, m3an3h 1 r r3p0rt1n u!!!11oneshift

Narrator clears his throat,It Said, "I was not bitten by a N00bian Vamire, nor did I tak a Stupidity Potion... I am just lazy and prefer stealing and cheating then doing actual work...." ... the Khnum rubs his temples,And we don't have a Neohome, so there is No bathroom for me to hide in.... Thank for the idea... I shall be hiding in yours soon.

-Narrator

Dear Narrarator,

Hello. 'Tis Casper again.
Well anyway, I have a guild. A pretty nice one, actually. But we have a... well, a 'spammer' in the guild. She's very nice, and literate too, but she spams. As in, 'one-word pointless posts' spamming. My guild doesn't have a lot of members, and I don't want to delete her.

What do I do?

Sincerely,
Casper [Again]

Narrator Streatches, Well, there are several things you could do.

• You could make a guild website, and have one of the Board rules be "Must post at least three sentances in the board. Anything less then that will be deleted from the board." Then you can tell the people on the boards about the guild page and remind them to read the rules.

• Ask everyone on the board to post three sentances or more to keep from spamming the boards.

• Ask the spammers if they could write more politely via neomail, pointing out people are more likely going to pay attention to them if they put several things to say into one post rather then lots of itty bitty posts

• Don't do any of this, but simply delete all the one-word pointless posts your members make and when they ask say, "trying to clean all the spam out. Anything under 3 words gets deleted." or something like that.

Hi Narrator! I have a problem with neofriends. I make art and designed my pets layouts, and now I am getting lots of random neofriend requests. I usually say no, because I have really many neofriends, but then they start sending me neomail and items. I dont answer them, but they still do it. What should I do?

~Esli110

Bribers... They can be both a blessing and a curse.. Its good to get items, but its bad to have people giving them to you for the soul purpous of having you neofriend them. YOU are not doing anything wrong, but it seriously deals blows to your morals, doesn't it?

One of the best things to do is to temporarily block non neofriends from sending you items and neomail. Once they note they cannot contact you, they will usually back down. THEN you can simply turn them both back on and continue on until you start getting bogged again.

OR you could simply ignore them completely and list them as "Donators" in your shop or on a petpage.

That way their donations are just that, donations. Not bribes.

This has to be one of the hardest questions I've had to answer so far since its hard to keep people from trying to bribe you. Just take it in stride and deal with it the best you can... And enjoy the benefits!

-Narrator

Dear Narrator and Random (shudders)

I just have to say that your guide is excellent! Excuse me for asking Narrator, but how did you learn how to speak? 0h, R4nd0m, wh0's b3tt3r 1n ur 0p1n10n, u 0r N4rr4t0r?

I draw bad pics on the computer. Should I enter my them in contests or try to draw better?

Thanks for the answers, Spotted (justintime13030)

Narrator laughs happily,Well, I've actually learned how to speak the same way other people do -- I was origonally bought at Peopatra's Pet Pets in the Lost Desert... You can actually see my sister by Peopatra's tail bracelet. Well, to make a long story short, the person who bought me felt cheated when they found out that Khnums were common and you could buy them out of the shop for much cheaper, not realizing that the ones in the shop were raised to be more intellegent then the adverage wild Khnum caught for sale in the desert.

The petpet runs a hand over his "chin-horn",Well, being just a cub, and the Runt of the litter, my first user only kept me for a couple months, trying to feed me to Turmac. I still have nightmares of that slob rolling on top of me and having to fight to get out from under him. But, during this time, I listened to him and his pets talk, and often would take books and read them, expanding my brain and vocabulary. But, since Turmac thankfully seemed to think I was boring, and the user wanted a more desirable petpet for their pet, eventually I was abandoned at the Money Tree, where I was quickly scooped up and stuffed in a shop. After a few weeks of listening to people coming and going from the shop, I was bought by a petpet collector and put in their Safety Deposit box...

Narrator bites his lip,With only a Bad Seed and a dimwitted Angelpuss for company as a back up khnum incase the one in the gallery got taken, I slowly began to read all the books in the SDB, sometimes repeatedly since they don't vanish for petpets. And I would listen to the conversations, and practice endlessly until I could speak their language and communicate. First thing I asked was to be put to use, since I felt wasted rotting away in the Safety Deposit Box... And my owner at the time was talking to Mindsend, who was trying to find someone to help her keep Random in line, and was trying to hand her the Anglepi I like to call Scarecrow (Ah, if it only had a brain...) and Mindsend scooped me up and asked if she could take me.

She's been helping me speak clearly and corrects me when I use words wrong. As you may have noticed, I still have a STRONG petpetian accent. Hence why its always so... Sidewa--

The Petpet is pushed aside, states, "i r m0ch btt3r th4n n4Rat0r i r t3h pwnz3rz." then gets pushed away by Narrator.

Anyway, to get to your final question, the best way to get better is to post, get critiques, and keep working. I suggest getting an art gallery on sites like Deviantart.com and studying lots of tutorials... Hope you are happy and well informed by our answers.

-Narrator

Dear Narrator,

My friend and I are having a problem with these n00bs. You see, my friend has recently been reported for chain letters by n00bs, the only problem is, she is to young to go on neoboards and things like that. She is very frightened because if she's reported one more time, her account is frozen. She's also done VERY well on that account. She's turned to me for advice and I don't know what to do either. How can I help prevent my best bud from getting frozen?

Signed, Kaida aka sonictheonlyhedgehog

Actually, I am not sure if people who are not young enough to go onto the boards will get in trouble for reporting things... Usually, it just means they can't post anything.

This would be more of a question for TheNeopetsTeam to answer by talking to them here. If they do not give you a real answer, then my guess its not that important. But take a screenie of the letter you sent, and of the email they gave you incase you get frozen. Then you could use it as evidence that you asked about it and they didn't tell you otherwise..

Here's hoping I was at least a little informative..

-Narrator

Dear Narrator...

Hi... My name is... Darazat? Well, let's skip to the point. Let me tell you my story...

I'm a long time fan of Arttimo and have allways readed her work almost from the start of the Praedius comics. But i never had the guts to tell how much i respect her work...

After a couple of months after i first saw her art i recived from my mother a complete colection of books that teached how to draw manga art. I studied them hard and practiced using various artists art's tecnics... Including... Yes you guessed it... Arttimo's art... Inspired me to drawing.

But this goes deeper... I didn't used the content of the art... I tried to add to my own style small things like: Arttimo's way to draw eyes, Crow213 sketching tecnic, Kittylin's colour finish tecnic and other things...

I still need training cause i still don't draw as good as the masters... But my art is very well developed.... Oh well...

Does this make's me a rotten art thief? Do i deserve to be frozen because i want to learn a drawing style using others as an example?

Good question Darazat! Actually, it doesn't make you an art thief. It means you are learning styles, "Copying the masters" is something that they teach in art classes, having you copy artists like Da Vinci and works like that roof in some church in your world. They really don't school us in User world place names here in Neopia.

Anyway, you need to contact your idols and tell them what you are doing and ask them for advice. Its only bad if they tell you to stop and you keep working at being like them. If they tell you to stop, take what you learned and invent your own style. Draw and color.. A lot.

Till next time!

-Narrator

dear narrator,

how do u know about n00bs and where did u get the info.and how did u learn to talk?no petpet i know talks,not even my brother fluffs petpet knows how to talk and hes the wierd one why did u want to be randoms petpet anyways.and one more thing,how did random become so wierd?

from starfire p.s amy wrote this but i got the idea

As I mentioned a few mails ago, I learned how to talk by reading books and listening to pets and users. But I forgot to mention that my first owner, who bought me at the store, was a n00b. With almost a half a year with him, I learned a lot.. And he got rid of me just before being frozen. I was lucky to excape. With that knowledge, and what I've learned from my time with Random, I have become well schooled in N00bs.

And I think Random was born this way... Some sort of trigger is in his mind telling him "Be mean, act dumb, annoy, Spam spam spam spam spamspamspamspam l0lz!!!1oneshiftgimmesomethin

-Narrator

Dear Narrator,

I'm I rather rich user, but my sister is a neomilloner! She somtimes sends me cool stuff. (like petpets and petpet paint brushs) But one day she gave me a baby paintbrush! In a flash I painted my wockey. So now I live in fear of my inbox being flooded of people asking for my wockey, so I don't do anything that might make a n00b notice me. Help me avoid this porblem without blocking anybody!

Cheers,
Cat, aka cat_master101

Narrator chuckles,Well Cat, you really don't have to worry too much. If someone asks for your pet, just block that one person after giving them a polite, "My pets are not up for adoption" letter.

In reality, there are very few people who ask for pets, and usually when they do, they are either rare avatar pets, such as grey pets, Halloween Lupes, Snow, pink, draiks and krawks, or they are really REALLY hard to get pets like MSPP, ice hissi, Coconut. And even then you usually have nothing to worry about and just need to ignore those who beg for them and report those who try to buy them from you.

-Narrator

Dear Narrator,

I have a question. There is this really annoying girl who was once my friend, but she keeps asking for my lupes to be her lupes mates and she has already stolen art from me AND some of my friends, falsely accused people of stealing her ideas, and now she thinks I'm her best friend but she drives me up the wall! I want to block her, but I know for afact she has more than five accounts and if I keep blocking her she'll find a way out of it and keep bugging me and joining any guilds I'm in.I don't want to be rude, but I need to find a way to get her out of my hair!

A fan of yours,
Karst180

Dear Karst. It is often an annoying and sometimes scary thing to have a n00blet stalking you. There is very little to do except to do the following.

• When they steal art, report them for it. It will freeze that account.
• When They ask for your lupes to be her lupes mates, tell her NO, tell her why not.
• Send her to Our tutorial. Be sure to refer them to "Annoying n00bish Behavior Number two", since this is their crime.

I have a tad bit of a problem for Narrator:

Well I was at a help board, and the maker started randomly insulting me for no reason whatsoever.then they sent me a neofriend request, And I wasnt paying attention to the username, so I accepted. We chated for a few days, and I nearly forgot what happend. But just recently, they started flooding me with random hatemail. Can I have some help?

This is an easy one! Simply remove the offender from your friends list, then block them. Also, report them for harrassment. They should get their anger problem cooled by a nice dip into Borovans Ice Box.

TTFN!

-Narrator

Hi, my name's Xºº and I have a huge problem.

I made a friend here on Neopets, and as I really trusted her, I showed her one of my drawings. She loved it, and wanted me to make one for her. I made her a doll, and another doll, and another...But when I noticed, I've already made her 26 dolls. But one day, I was in her lookup, and saw: "My Art". She never told me her had one of those pages! Then, I clicked and saw every doll I made for her. What should I do? Report her?

*Xºº*

Best choice is to first ask her to give you credit for the dolls and explain it was art made for her.

If she refuses, she is no friend and you should report her for art theft.

... You know, for some reason this question seems familiar. o_O Serious Deja'vu. There must have been a change made in The Matrix...

Mindsend groans, "Not funny, Narrator...

-Narrator

Hello Narrator (you cute little thing you)! About a month ago I became friends with a girl - whose name will not be revealed - and we became close fast. We talked on the boards all the time and used to Neomail each other. She even donated a large sum of money to my Krawk Fund, I was ecstatic. But then three days later, I saw her on the boards and only posted, "Hey! I haven't seen you in such a long time!" She never replied. At first I didn't think anything of it, maybe she missed my post? But then I was looking around her account and stumbled upon her petspage. I was shocked. She had totally copied my adoptables! (Mine are on Jior's page) But did she? I mean the art was different, drawn by her but with a scary resemblence to my own. But the concept was the same, they were mood adoptables. I'm wondering if I should mention it to her, because it could break up our 'friendship'. What should I do?

- Brianna

You should mention it to your friend about them, but don't ask her if she took the idea from you. Have her tell you how she got the idea and try to judge whether or not its a likely answer. Maybe you can both list each others adopts or think of some middle ground deal, like finding a new style for one of the sets.

-Narrator

P.S.

About me being cute...

Your making me blush!

Dear Narrator,

I keep a small user lookup site (On my shoyru's pet-page). It only has a few lookups but I still love it. The other day I recieved neomail with a request. On the site I have made it clear that requests are CLOSED!!! I then saw this person afew days later, on one of the boards. I greeted them and went to see which one of my lookups they had chosen (I assumed they had one since they neomailed me saying how great my site was). They had indeed used one of my lookups but they had removed the link saying where they got it! It had a small note saying: I made this lookup MYSELF so don't steal it. Thats n00bish.

I neomailed them asking them to "please put the link back on" and they replied: Link? What link? I made this lookup MYSELF. It says so on the lookup.

I'm pretty sure that they didn't make it themself. How do I know? My lookups have no sidebar, no banner saying "Userlookup", and the links are done in a certain way. I know I can't be positive that they didn't make it but it looked EXACTLY like the one I made. The only diffrence was the link was gone.

Thanks for the answers, Terrier (German_terrier555)

If the code is exactly the same, and the background is as well, then you can tell. People can get codes to make lookups from almost anywhere: almost every help site has them.

You can put your name on the images in the lookups as a backup, or you can actually HIDE your signature in the coding! MWAHAHAHA! YES! It is possible!

Put the following code into your lookups:
<div style="position: absolute; top: 50; left: 50; width: 0; height: 0; overflow: auto;"> <style type="text/css"> table{background:transparent} </style> ------------ Lookup by _insert name here_ ------------ </div> Be sure to put your user name in the "insert name here" part. You can hide it almost ANYWHERE in the coding, so chances of n00bs finding it are slim.

I hope it helps you with your n00b problem!

Also, credit for the above code goes to Gryffinrose for providing it for us.

Credit should ALWAYS go where its due.

-Narrator

Now I've read most of the tutorials out there, and most of them point out that art is one of the less n00bish ways to make a petpage. My problem is that I can't draw. Anything I try to draw comes out flat, and I have no art programs or scanners. I had decided to go on a forum and ask politely if anyone drew anthro neopets for a fee. I need to find a way to request art without seeming like a n00b. Also, I have a problem with a few of my HTML skills. I try to make pet lookups and pet pages for my roleplaying pets, but they usually are seen as 'boring and default'. Is there a place that could show me how to make a good layout for a petpage?

Sincerely,
Hopes and Fears

DO NOT ASK PEOPLE TO DRAW FOR YOU FOR A FEE! This is called "Commissioning" and people can get in serious trouble for it: Both the askee and the artist can get FROZEN!

Dun dun dun!

Personally, I think this is a sad little rule, but TNT feels this is cheating.

However, there is hope!

Firstly, find a coding site. A good one is run by Mindsend, and you can find it HERE. Another good place to LEARN coding rather then just get a basic, premade layout, is Fatal_mantis's HTML tutorial, found Here.

Secondly, Flat is not a problem. You can use any program, from Open Canvas (which is a free art program), MS paint (A PC default program), or Claris Works if you have a Mac.

Here's an MS paint tutorial

OR

You can edit makeables. Makeables are adoptables made for people to customize their pets with, usually using MS paint. Here is a listing of most of the makeables out there. Be sure to give the artists credit!

But, most of all, Practice drawing, and try using your own art. No one cares if it isn't the best out there, I mean, look at Random! Its popular AND badly drawn!

-Narrator

What happens if you want to be friends with a famous person and you're nice when sending them a neomail, they never reply. You send them a second message asking politely why they didn't reply and they still don't answer. I understand that they are busy and usually coverded with mail, but, they should try to say something. I haven't gotten a reply from someone in atleast half a year now. I'm also aware that mail is deleted but, they say they are going to reply and they do to everyone elses besides mine. When they say they need everyone to resend a mail, I do and they don't answer...what do you do if all this happens? I beileve it's a good question for you're FAQ on Randompinkcybunny's page. -nod nod-

Actually, this is a really good question for Ask Narrator!

Well, a lot of neopian artists, not including Mindsend, who tries to respond to everyone at least once, get a lot of mail and a lot of repeat questions... And also tend to be leery of people they dont know from the boards or guilds cause often times it causes their mail to be spammed by "Are you there? Helloooooooooo" mails every three seconds.

Or just dont feel like dealing with strangers, since they have had way to many negative experiences with new people. This is an unfortunate effect of being popular -- people expect a lot from you even if they never met you before, and you get Jaded because of it.

-Narrator