Neopets

Although Neopets is Marapets' major competitor, they aren't in big competition. They each have unique qualities that make each other good. Ripoff is no confrontation or arguments about the two sites. 

Important Information

If you say that Neopets is better than Marapets on the Marapets forums, YOU WILL GET FROZEN (Neopets and Marapets' way of removing your account).

All frozen account profiles display this message and nothing else:

This account has been disabled.

Has this happened to you? If so, ask the site staff for the reason your account got frozen.

What is Neopets?

What is Neopets, you may ask? Neopets is a fun virtual pet site. You can create your own Neopets (you can keep a maximum of 6 Neopets; Marapets: up to 12 Marapets), feed them, groom them, look after them, customize them and watch them grow. You can also communicate on the Neoboards (Forums), play games, create your own Web pages (Marasites), send Neomail (Maramail), and lots more.

Click here to see the Neopets Demo!

http://www.neopets.com/help/tutorial/index.phtml

Currency

The Neopets (Marapets) game is set in a fictional world called Neopia (Marada). For practical purposes, this world has a single currency: the Neopoint, often abbreviated to "NP". However, Marapets has three currencies: Marapoints (MP), Baspinar Points (BP), and Restock Points (RP).

There are many ways to earn Neopoints (Marapoints); we have an article that covers them in more detail. The simplest and most common way, though, is by playing the games that appear on the site. You'll need to install Adobe Flash Player to play most of them--the download shouldn't take too long over a normal connection. There are heaps of different games to try, from tower defence (Battle of Baspinar) to shooting games (Baterminator) and action-packed obstacle courses (Phanty Quest). There are even a few games that might be similar to some games on Marapets. Since Flash is dying, any games Neopets may release in the future will be mobile and HTML friendly.

Spider Solitaire

Mahjong

Sudoku

Once you have some money, you can go shopping. The Shop Wizard (Shop Search) in the Marketplace (Puchalla Village) lets you search through items other players have for sale. There are all kinds of items you can buy:

• Food that makes your pet less hungry. Once your Neopet gets bloated (a.k.a. 0% hungry), or very bloated, they can't have anymore food, but unlike them, you can feed you Marapet an unlimited amount of food.
• Toys and grooming items make your pet happier. When a toy breaks, you'll have to take it to Donny at his toy repair shop. Unfortunately, when you break a toy in Marada, you will have to throw it away into oblivion.
• Weapons let your pet play in a special play-fighting arena called the Neopets Battledome (Marapets Battle Arena). The Battledome has default challengers. Unlike the Battledome, You'll have to get the enemies yourself, and the only default challengers are: Talon, Wild Minipets, and enemies from certain wars, plots, and events.
• Wearables are for dressing up your pet and bringing out his or her individual style. However, the only way for marapets to wear clothing if it comes with the current costume your Marapet is wearing. Your character, however, gets to be the one to wear clothing.
• Petpets/Minipets are smaller inhabitants of Neopia/Marada that you can give your pet to look after. They don't need feeding and can't talk.

There are other types of items too, including some that don't do anything but just make pretty gifts. In Marada, the pretty gifts do make pretty toys for your pet to play with and add to their toy collection.

What is Neopian Half Price Day?

On the third day of January, in the year 2001, all the Neopian Shopkeepers announced that the third of every month would be Half Price Day. All the items that go into shops on this day will all be half price (This excludes the General Store, Hidden Tower, Igloo Garage Sale, Little Nippers, Neohomes Superstore, Neopian Neggery, Shop of Mystery and the Smuggler's Cove)! Wow - don't have a--

Daisy?

Moooo?

We're sorry, but this word and the information we have attempted to reveal has now been CLASSIFIED; It is highly recommended that you leave... quickly.

Marapets has a Shops of the Day feature. This changes automatically at midnight MST every day and it includes all shops that restock items and are priced in MP. It will select one shop at random that will have a 'Half Price Sale' with every item that is restocked in that shop selling at 50% off for the whole day. Another shop will be selected at random that will have 'Double Stock'. This means that all items that restock that day will either have double the chance of actually restocking that day (for rarer items) or will actually restock double the quantity (for more common items). Another shop will also reward double RP with all purchases for that day. 

Hotel

If you're going to be away from the site for a while, or are just too busy to come online regularly, you can send your pets to a a certain hotel instead of feeding the Neopets. This doesn't make them happier, but it will stop them getting hungry. The Marapets hotel and Minipet Island Resort for minipets are also hotels (only without the extras). Unlike the Neolodge, the Maradan Hotel can serve your pets for a year.

Wahhh! I Don't Have any money!

If you don't have enough money at the moment, don't panic! If you really have no money at all, you can even ask the Soup Faerie to feed your pets for free. (Oh dear! Only owners with less than 3,000 NP can get handouts at the Soup Kitchen.) Marapets has a Gingerbread House in Candyland which does just that.

Gingerbread House - Only owners with less than 7,500MP can feed their mara pets for free. Remember, this freebie knows how much is in your Bank AND your Shop Till :)

Making Friends

The private messaging system on Neopets (Marapets) is called Neomail (Maramail). It can't handle any complicated code or very long messages, but it's great when you just want to let friends know how you're doing. You can find it in your Account. Begging is against the rules; it includes fines of up to half of your MP, Items & Pets deleted.

You do not have any events queued up for you at this time. Ho hum.

A good place to meet new people is the Neoboards (the Forums), Neopets' (Marapets') forums section. There are forums for many different topics, from Flash games to writing. And remember, giving out people's email addresses, telephone (or cellphone) numbers or messenger handles is against the rules!

Q&A

• Does Neopets cost anything?

Nope. Both Neopets and Marapets are free to play but there are many different Account Upgrades you can purchase to support the latter. Once you donate, you can buy costume packs, Capsule Machine Tokens, limited edition items, treasure chests, and giftboxes. Neopets has a special shop called the NC Mall where they have clothing wearable in specific colors, games, full costumes known as superpacks, and more. It is a mere micro transaction, so if you don't want to pay for anything, the NC Mall can be easily ignored. NC Cash can be earned via buying it online, buying NC Cards from a store nearby, or from the Qasalan Expellibox (if you hit the blinking tube). There are many ways to earn AU credit on Marapets; you can earn it from Goals, win it from the Monthly Checklist or buy it from other players at the Currency Exchange. Anyway, there is also this Premium Membership where--

What are you doing?! You can't just dump them in there! It's a series of tubes!

It's always sunny in a rich man's world...

You know you want me

• How do I find out what foods are gourmet?

Sorry, you will just have to go to this page. Gourmet foods are foods that have a rarity index between 90 and 100 (Marapets: rarities 10 and up)! You will need a Missing Food Giftbox to view this list.

You know you want me

• My pet wont eat certain foods! What's happening!!

All Neopets' personalities are different and sometimes they will not eat certain foods, and they will never eat it. You can always feed it to another of your Neopets! Marapets, however, will eat any food.

• Can I change my Neopet's name?

No, we are afraid once a Neopet is named, that is what it will always be called. Even if you adopt your Neopet from the pound. In Marada, you can rename your pet at the Town Hall (as long as you have a pet certificate), or you could always buy a Name Concoction from a person's user shop to rename your pet (at risk of getting sent to jail).

You know you want me

• Can Neopets die?

No, Neopets do not die. If you do not look after your Neopet and don't feed it, it will have the "dying" status. It won't actually die though and you can nurse it back to full health with enough attention. In Marada, if you do not look after your Marapet you will receive warnings to look after and heal it. If it continues to be neglected it will die and go to the Gate of the Graveyard in Undying Woods.

Why thank you Murfin Poison

• Can Neopets breed?

In your imagination, yes Neopets can breed. On the site your Neopet will not have babies, or anything like that. On Marapets Dr Yekyll can breed two species of Marapets in the Laboratory to become a cool new DNA Minipet!

At least I'm not stuck on the second floor with Bubbles

• Can Neopets marry/date?

Your pet cannot marry or have any other relationships with other pets.

Do not attempt to use Neopets (Marapets) as a dating agency, this includes advertising dating/mating/marriage websites or chat boards for you or your Neopet (Marapet). Neopets (Marapets) is not the place to try to find a boyfriend/girlfriend for yourself, your friend or your Neopet (Marapet).

I knew marriage didn't really exist

• How do I play with my Neopet?

There are well over 60 different games to choose from. Some of these you play with your Neopet (Marapet), others you play as a Neopet's (Marapets) character. To see what games you can play click on the Games on the side bar (or go to the City of Marada). Every year or so, the Neopets staff release a new HTML game. Ian has confirmed that no new Flash games will be released as Adobe Flash Player is old technology by this point; all games releasing are HTML games.

As well as the games, you can buy toys from the Toys Shop. Once you have bought something, go to Your Inventory and click on the toy you wish to play with. You play with your pet by selecting 'use item' and then select the pet you wish to play with the toy.

...and a Tantua, and a Wind-Up Newth, and a Rusty Plushie...

• Can I see my Neopet playing with it's toys?

In some games such as Neopoker you play against your Neopet, so you do see their picture. When your Neopet (Marapet) plays with a toy, you do not actually see them play with it, but you see them when they have finished playing.

Thanks for playing, but all the other pets have more toys than me :(

• I want to have another Neopet, do I have to create a new one?

No, you could always visit the Neopian Pound. Here you will find hundreds of loyal Neopets waiting for a good home. The pets in the pound tend to be a little older, wiser and stronger than if you create a completely new one. Plus they may have petpets or abilities that come free with them :) In Marada, if you have no Marapoints, just go create another pet by going to the Create a Pet selection screen and get the free 1,000MP that comes with it. With Pet Trading and Auctions readily available 24/7 without restrictions, the Maradan Pet Pound is never quite busy at all. You'd be lucky to find one pet here!

No yellow Murfins allowed... or any other new pet :(

• Can I create more than one Neopet?

In Marada, you can have up to 13 (there are ways to extra pets but we cannot tell you :)) In Neopia, regular users can have up to five Neopets, and Premium members can have 6! You can also scroll through Neopets on an account! Also, it might be worth noting that users are allowed to have 4 side-accounts in addition to their main account, bringing the total number of pets to 21-26 (depending on the amount of accounts with premium). However! If you have multiple accounts on Marapets, all but one will get frozen. Don't forget you don't need to create new ones, you could always adopt a more experienced Neopet (Marapet) at the Neopian Pound (Maradan Pound).

Saving Marada, one adoption at a time

• Can I change my Neopet's gender?

Yes, you can change the gender of your Neopet. You can try zapping your Neopet with the lab ray, although the results are not guaranteed, it could just as easily change your pet's species. Alternatively there is a magical potion that will change your Neopet's gender. You can try to get your hands on this 'Strange Potion' in the shops. In Marada, you could always nab a gender concoction from the Illegal Concoctions Shop (at risk of being sent to prison).

Maybe this wasn't the best decision after all...

• How do I feed my Neopet?

If you your pet is hungry, go to the inventory, and then click on a food item; if problem persists, you can contact us using this form. One of our helpful support team will get back to you asap.

If you are running low on Neopoints (Marapoints) (have less than 1000NP or 7,500MP), you can always visit the Soup Kitchen (Gingerbread House) where the friendly Soup Faerie (Gingerbread House kids) will be happy to give your pets free food.

Now you'll never have to go a day without eating. Yum.

• Why can't I feed my Neopet?

Your neopet is bloated.

You know you want me

• Can Neopets fight?

Yes, if you want to test your Neopets' (Marapets') strength in battle, you can visit the Neopian Battledome (Maradan Battle Arena). You can find this by clicking on 'Battle'. Here you can battle a whole host of single player opponents such as the Snowager (Seven Heaven) and the Pant Devil (Cheddar).

If you need more help with the Battledome and what the various battle items do, there is a very good help section here.

Never fear, the Grave Keeper is here *winks*

• I don't want my Neopet, how can I get rid of it?

If you have a pet that you no longer want to look after, you can disown it. Your Neopet (Marapet) will be kept in the Neopian Pound (Maradan Pound) until some kind soul comes and adopts them. Make sure you are 100% certain you do not want your Neopet (Marapet) as other people will be able to adopt it as soon as you abandon it. Bear in mind that any items or petpets (minipets) that are equipped to your Neopet (Marapet) will go with it unless you remove them before disowning.

Note: Do not go to the pound if you want to keep your friends

• What is my active pet, and how can I change it?

Your active pet is the one you are currently playing with. This is the one whose name appears in the black box. To change your active pet, got to Quick Ref (Main Page). (Click on your pet's name). Your inactive pets will not be in a box. If you only have one Neopet (Marapet), it will always be your active pet. If you have more than one and wish to change your active Neopet (Marapet), simply click on the pet you want to become the new active pet. Your active Neopet will be affected by things that are activated by random events or dailies. In Marada, your active pet can take jobs at the Freelance Agency.

Fancy a 10mil snack, anyone?

• How can I change my pet's species/color?

There are a number of ways you can change your Neopet's (Marapet's) species or colour. Most commonly you can buy a Magical Paintbrush (Costume) and then go to the Rainbow Pool (inventory). You can paint (dress) different pets in different colours, go to the Rainbow Pool (Pet Colours page) for the full list before you buy a brush (cossie). Otherwise you may waste Neopoints (Marapoints) on a brush (cossie) you cannot use. If you are very lucky you may be given a Paintbrush (Costume) as a random event, although a retired one is very rare.

This plushie is enchanted and has the power to change your pet into the same colour and species of the plushie!

You know you want me

You can also try feeding your pet a Magical Potion. Different potions have different effects. For example if you fed a Red Meerca (Murfin) potion to your Green Gelert (Rusty), it would change into a Red Meerca (Murfin). If you fed it to your Blue Meerca (Murfin), it would change to a Red Meerca (Murfin).

I knew opening a potion shop in the Dukka Caves was a bad idea!

You can also risk taking your Neopet (Marapet) to the Secret Lab (Portal). Once you have all nine pieces (are there), you can fire the ray gun at your Neopet (Marapet). It is completely at your own risk and absolutely anything may happen to your Neopet (Marapet), including changing colour or species.

Saving Marada, one zap at a time

Other magical items may also alter your Neopet (Marapet), such as Magical Meerca Plushies (Enchanted Murfin Plushies). Always be wary when giving your Neopet (Marapet) a new magical (enchanted) toy to play with :)

You know you want me

• How do I get rid of a pet?

You can disown your Neopet (Marapet) by going to the 'Plaza' (Undying Woods) and clicking on the 'Pound' link. This is the large image with the Uni (Fasoro) and Techo on it. Click on 'Disown' and then click on the Neopet (Marapet) you wish to abandon. Only do this if you are 100% sure you do not want to see your Neopet (Marapet) again. As soon as you disown it, someone else can adopt it and give it a good home.

Bear in mind that any items or petpets that are equipped to your Neopet (Marapet) will go with it unless you remove them before disowning.

So much for protection...

• Where can I get jobs for my pet?

The Employment (Freelance) Agency is where you will go if you want to get a job for your pet. Completing a job will give your pet Neopoints (Marapoints) and will increase its Job Rank (accessible through the Pet Lookup). New jobs appear every 10 minutes, while jobs at the Freelance Agency appear at random, each job lasting between 30 minutes and 3 hours. When you get a job athe the Employment Agency, you have a time deadline to respect. You can have 3 minutes or one hour to do a job, so do a quick search, purchase, and presto!

• Can I sell my Neopet?

No, selling Neopets for points or anything else is against Neopets' Terms and Conditions. It is a freezable offence.

Fear the wrath of my Terms and Conditions

The majority of people that claim to sell pets or accounts are trying to trick innocent players out of points, cash or items.

You'd be bitter too if your fists looked like that

Remember if you disown a Neopet it is available for ANYBODY to adopt, so it should not be used to transfer Neopets. In Marada, the pet auctions are the only safe way to sell your pets. Remember, trying to sell your pets any other viable way is a freezable offence.

I knew I should've moved to Terror Mountain...

• How do I increase my Neopets' Health?

You can increase the number of hit points your Neopet by giving them Kauvara's potion. Unfortunately this is extremely rare and very expensive. If you are not rich enough, you can increase your pet's maximum number of HP by doing the following:

• zapping your pet at the Secret Laboratory (Operations Portal at Marapets)
• training your pet at the Swashbuckling Academy, the Mystery Island Training School or the Secret Ninja Training School
• certain Faerie quests
• certain dailies (i.e. Coltzan's Shrine)
• Kitchen Quest
• certain random events

You know you want me

Temporarily you may get your Neopet to have more hit points that it started with (e.g 14/11), but this will wear off after a while.

In Marada, you can permanently increase the number of hit points your Marapet has by training Health in the Gym.

Today's Forecast: Cloudy with a chance of strength and defence; No, that can't be right...

• How do you know how strong, fast or healthy your Neopet is?

You can view your Neopets' (Marapets') stats at anytime by going to the Quick Ref (Main Page) page. You can get to this page by clicking on 'Quick Ref' (Marapets logo) and then the pet you want to view, or by clicking on your Neopet's (Marapet's) name in the yellow side bar.

Saving Marada, one pound at a time

• Can I give my Neopet to someone?

You can (safely) transfer your pet to a different account. This feature was added in 2008 and is located in the Pound in between the adopt and abandon features. The fee for transferring a pet is 1000 NP - the fee for receiving a pet depends on its stats. This features includes 'giving' a pet away as well as actually trading it. The amount of transfers one can make per month is limited, and depends on the age of the account.

Note: The Neopian Pound is not to be abused for financial (Neopoint) gain. Selling Neopets or profiting from abandoned Neopets is a freezable offence.

For more information about transferring, click here! In Marada, you can go to the Pet Exchange to give your Marapet to someone. Pet Lending is a safe way to temporarily give your pet to someone.

Oh... joy... an Ushunda.

• Can Neopets have more than one Petpet (Minipet)?

No, PetPets can be very demanding and a Neopet can only take care of one at a time. In Marada, you can keep more than one Minipet at a time.

• Can I use the Wayback Machine to look back on past servers of Neopets?

No, you can't. Neopets has a sensitive clock so it won't let you get in unless you set it to the right time and date. But you can check out the Neopets Hive if you want a taste of what Neopets was like in the ancient times.

Saving Neopia, one archive at a time

​​​​​​

• What are the shops you can compare to the Hidden Tower?

The only shops in Marada that compare to the Hidden Tower are the Antiques, Millionaire's Lodge, and Rapunzel's Tower. Unlike those shops, the Hidden Tower isn't shown on the map, you can only buy stuff if your account is four months old, and once every 24 hours so Fyora won't run out of stock. Also, you get a discount via a random event.

The Hidden Tower? You can't miss it.

• What happens when my pet reads a book?

After reading books, Neopets gain intelligence points. Sometimes, however, they would refuse to read a book. You can trick the system by changing the language, but as of early 2015, this may not work for every book. When a Marapet reads a book, it is added to their book collection.

This book is too interesting to put down! You can have it back when I'm done...

• Where can I donate items?

In Neopia, you can donate items at the Money Tree. In Marada, you can donate items to the Pot of Gold. In the Money Tree, you can sometimes see bags of NP donated by generous Neopians or ghosts. You can only take Neopoints if you have less than 20,000 NP. You can make an NP donation under 5,000.

You'd be bitter too if your cap looked like that

• Where and when can I get Limited Edition and Restricted Pets?

In Neopia, you can create an LE pet on its specific day and a restricted pet through special means (like bringing something to its specific location). In Marada, you cannot create an LE pet but you can earn them through the game (Account Upgrades from 2004-2009, Missions, and Temple of Transmogrification). Restricted pets can be received through Account Upgrades (2011 onward), Pyramids, and special Shops.

One day...oh glorious day!

• When do both sites celebrate April Fools' Day?

Neopets celebrates April Fools' Day every year on April 1st since 2001. Marapets celebrated their fist April Fools' joke on 2006. This occurs every odd year unless there is a major event going on.

But what does it all mean?!

• How often do both sites release new pets?

Most of the Neopets and Marapets were considered prehistoric before the staff kept track of events on their official sites. The Ushunda and Leido were introduced on Maraqua, one of the biggest Neopian guilds. The last Neopet introduced on the site was the Vandagyre in 2014. For Marapets, it depends; it can range from six months to two years.

The old Leido

and the revamped version respectively

Why thank you Marapets

Familiar Stuff

Here are some examples of things that Neopets players (known as "Neopians") often choose do that might be familiar to Maradans:

• Buying a Magical Paint Brush, a special (and mostly expensive) item that permanently changes your pet's fur, feathers or skin to a different colour or pattern. The Costumes do that also, except that there is a certain shop that sells them, but the shop commonly sells out of items quick.

Maybe this wasn't the best decision after all...

Harrumph. Quit looking at my stick of dynamite.

• Collecting one of each item on the site that fits a specific theme. For instance, you might choose to collect all the rainbow-coloured items, or all the items that have "snow" in their name. The site lets you set up a gallery for these items so other people can view your collection. The Greedy Fairy rewards you for items in your Gallery.

You'd be extremely cold too if you were wearing a Snow Costume

• Taking part in the big whole-site events known as "plots" that pop up every so often with puzzles, challenges and maybe even prizes.

Marada. What a lovely virtual world. I think I'll take it.

You haven't seen the last of me!

• Collecting avatars--these little animated icons are the equivalent of the video game "achievements". They can be unlocked by owning certain pets, completing certain tasks, visiting areas of the site, or getting high scores

You know you want me