Meow Circulation: 185,943,697 Issue: 502 | 8th day of Swimming, Y13

Operation: Keep 'em Bloated

by cryinggoldentears


Hello, my name’s Margret and during my years of being a Neopian, the one thing that’s irked me more than n00bs and trolls on the NeoBoards is seeing the sad faces of starving Neopets. I’m here to raise the awareness about starving pets. Every day, hundreds of Neopets wander around Neopia with growling stomachs and not-so-content expressions on their faces. Most of those starving pets are victims of overzealous owners who are too busy trying to achieve their goals to feed them; others, like my pets, get left behind from time to time when their owner decides to take a hiatus every couple of months. There is a way to have happy and bloated pets without spending a ton of the hard-earned NP you need to achieve your various goals.

Located in Neopia Central kiddy corner from the Rainbow Pool, there's a tall, brown building, in front of which is a cute, little fountain. This place is known as the Neolodge. What is the Neolodge, you ask? Before I answer your question, will you answer a question or two of mine?

1. When is your Neopet the happiest?

2. How much NP is in your bank account?

I asked myself these two questions at the beginning of the year and I, now, can answer definitively. My Neopets are happiest when they are bloated, as are most Neopets and, currently, in the bank, I have way too much NP to feed any of my pets at the Soup Kitchen but not enough to buy the expensive food I would love to spoil my pets with.

I asked several other owners what they have done to keep their Neopets happy; most feed their pets an omelette, or two, and leave it at that because a majority of us owners are trying to save NP for something amazing, like a Draik Egg or a Royal Paint Brush, and can’t afford to waste NP on the more interesting food items. Usually, these owners have been around Neopia long enough to have a good amount of omelettes stashed in their Safety Deposit Box. But if you're a new owner with four starving pets (or more) and you don't have a stash of eggy goodness saved, what do you do then?

You check your pets into the Neolodge, of course! The Neolodge is a place where your pets will be fed while you're working hard to earn NP or when you leave for vacation and won't be able to care for your Neopets.

Checking your pet into the Neolodge isn't free, like visiting the Soup Faerie, but it isn't really expensive either.

If you check your pets into the Neolodge and you choose the cheapest hotel, which is the Cockroach Towers at 5 NP per night, for 28 days, you'll spend less than 3,000 NP a month to keep 20 Neopets happy and bloated.

To calculate how much you would spend on the Neolodge, here's a simple formula you can use:

# of days times the cost of the hotel times # of Neopets you want to check in

Here's an example:

I have 20 Neopets; I would like to check them each into the Cockroach Towers Hotel at 5 NP per night for 28 days.

28 times 5 times 20 = 2800

My total comes to 2,800 NP for every month I check all my Neopets into the Neolodge.

If you wait until the beginning of every month to check your Neopets into the Neolodge, you can collect your monthly freebie (2,000 NP plus 4 food items) and play an easy game, like Fashion Fever, to earn the NP you need to check your pets in; this is a very easy way to pay for the Neolodge without wasting your time playing game after game.

Tip: Don't forget to collect your omelette and your helping of jelly from Jell--wauughh *gets dragged away by pink meepits*

*manages to escape somehow* Sorry about that... what was I saying? Oh, yeah! Don’t forget to collect your omelette every day even though your Neopets are checked into the Neolodge. There are 30-31 days every month (except for February, of course), so there's going to be a couple of days between your check out day and when you can check back in at the beginning of the next month off the NP you collected from the monthly freebie. With the omelettes you have collected, you can feed your pets on the days you don’t have them in the Neolodge, or you can sell them in your shop to help you achieve your goals.

FYI: You can check to see how many days, hours, and minutes your pet has left in the Neolodge by visiting your Quick Reference page.

Additional Information about the Neolodge:

1. When you check into the Neolodge, you have the option to add extras to your Neopets’ stay; these extras cost 5 NP each and you can add them in if you would like, but you don’t have to.

2. You can still play with your Pets and read to them, even though they are checked in. You cannot feed them, however, which means if they are a Neopet that eats items, like Skeiths, Grarrls, and Jetsams, you won’t accidentally feed the items to that Pet.

3. Random Events can still happen to your Neopets.

4. Even if you place your pet in the pound, the pet will still be checked into the Neolodge until the set date s/he is supposed to check out.

5. There is an option to check out early; if you do so, the NP for the unused days won’t be returned to you.

Why should you keep your Neopet happy and bloated?

If one of your goals is to trade your Neopet for your "Dream" pet, in my experience, most owners would rather trade (or adopt out) their pet to an owner whose current Neopets appear well-fed, happy, and healthy.

If you have any questions, comments, or concerns about this article, feel free to Neomail me; I will try my hardest to respond promptly.

Remember, a happy pet is a bloated pet!

I hope you have a most excellent day and don’t forget to spread the word about the Neolodge!!

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