Neopets

Why must Neopets and Marapets be against each other? If you mention Marapets on Neopets, you would most likely be warned or suspended and vice versa, it gets filtered. At least give both sites a chance!

What is Neopets?

A Neopian random event

Neopets is a fun virtual pet site that opened in 1999 for teen and adult college students to have fun in. It was founded by two students called Adam and Donna. Viacom bought the site later and immediately the site was commercialized with Google advertisements. A little later in 2007, they launched a new layout and "Customization" that enabled users to dress their pets. There are many other different activities on the site such as restocking, battle-doming, coding, chatting and the stock market. When the site launched in 1999, some of the pets were made to resemble real-life people (Macy Gray and Bruce Forsyth) and some were just random. However, the pets' appearances have changed over the years, to the high-quality artwork Neopets uses today. Neopets is one of the most successful and largest virtual pet sites on the internet, around 50 million accounts have been created (this includes users with as many as 5 side accounts) and ad revenue of about $2163.74 per day. Neopets is currently available in at least 10 different languages, which is perhaps the biggest reason for its growth. Since it was bought by JumpStart, however, certain games such as Habitarium and Key Quest went kaput (as well as the site as a game)! On top of that, it makes no sense for Neopets to be around because more and better options for virtual pet care are popping up (Dappervolk and LioDen) and older ones are showing remarkable improvements (Egg Cave and Subeta). However, is Neopets, as a pet site, completely worthless? Read on to find out for yourself!

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 main 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. Adobe Flash Player is required 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 (Quack Mafia) and action-packed obstacle courses (Monty's Great Escape). There are even a few games that might be similar to some games on Marapets. Since Flash is dying, any games Neopets (Marapets) may release from now on will be mobile and HTML friendly.

Spider Solitaire

Mahjong

Sudoku

Crossword

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 any more 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 (Carpenter) at his toy repair shop.
• 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. Excluding the General Store, Hidden Tower, Igloo Garage Sale, Little Nippers, Neohomes Superstore, Shop of Mystery and the Smuggler's Cove, Neopian shops sell everything at half price only on that day. This is a popular and well known Neopian event, and it is good for restockers. Some shops which are good to restock in on that day are Food Shop (Neggs and rare food items), Magic Shop (Morphing potions, Novas), Clothing Shop (Wearables) and the Book Shop. Making profit lately seriously relies on item's rarity; a common item will generate you no more than 50-100 Neopoints in profit. Wow - don't have a--

Daisy?

Moooo?

We're sorry, but the information about eggs that 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 from starving. The Marapets Hotel is exactly like Neopets', only without the superfluous extras and this one 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 100,000MP can feed their mara pets for free. Remember, this place 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.

Fewer people make jokes about my name this way.

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. Neopia Central 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 microtransaction, 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 won't 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. 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 in your Inventory. Choose carefully, these certificates don't come cheap and can only be used once! You could always buy a Name Concoction from a person's user shop to rename your pet (at risk of getting sent to jail).

At least I wasn't part of an April Fool's joke!

• Can Neopets die?

No, these pets do not die. Despite that, neglecting them will give themselves "dying" status. 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 go to the Gate of the Graveyard in Undying Woods before they permanently die in 14 days if action is not taken.

Why thank you Kujo 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, you can offer Dr. Yekyll a flask of DNA in the Laboratory so two of your differing pets can procreate a cool (or cute) DNA Minipet! ...Try not to picture that.

Too late.

• 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). These pet websites are not the place to try to find a boyfriend/girlfriend for yourself, your friend or your Neopet (Marapet).

• How do I play with my Neopet (Marapet)?

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 its 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.

• Where can I watch racing?

In Neopia, you can watch Turdle Racing in Meridell and Poogle Racing in Faerieland. In Marada, you can watch Newth Racing in Biala Mountain. Based on the odds, you're probably inclined to bet on the first couple of racers, but it's not always so easy as that. It's tough to predict which racer will win, so just bet on whichever one you prefer. Naturally, the greater the bet, the more you can win (but, of course, the more you can lose). You can bet a maximum of three times per day in Neopets and you can bet once every 30 minutes in Marapets. In Turdle & Poogle Racing, you can also feed your chosen Turdle (or Poogle) a tasty treat. This is completely optional, but if you're feeling generous, you can give it an incentive to run faster. In Poogle Racing, every 15 minutes there is a new race. When the race starts, cheer your Poogle on by clicking repeatedly on 'Cheer for (number)'.

Unlike in Neopia, in Marada you don't really get to see Newths racing. But don't worry if you pick a losing Newth, you may be lucky and win one of 10 Plushies or 10 Photos!

"Poogles?? Why would someone want to watch Poogles running about?"

• 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! The cost to adopt a pet is the same fee that you would pay for trading the pet. The higher the cost, the higher the pet's stats would be. 

No emo pets 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 5 side-accounts in addition to their main account, bringing the total number of pets to 21-30 (depending on the number 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

• What happens on a side account?

The short answer to that is: you can do anything on a side account that doesn't involve earning Neopoints or items. In Marapets, you cannot multitask on both of your accounts; if Ian finds out that you are doing so you will be frozen. It doesn't matter if you ask to reactivate your King Baspinar Loyalty Prizes on your side and not your main, doing so will get you into trouble. So don't do it.

What you want is irrelevant. What you have chosen is at hand.

• What is the pet equivalent of the Stock Exchange?

The Stock Market is where you buy and sell stocks. I would recommend that you have about 100,000 (Neo or Mara)points or so at your disposal to begin with as it can take a while to generate any profit and in the meantime, you may need some funds to restock with as well.

The marque at the top with the letters and the numbers in different colours, the Find Stocks, News/Research and Profile links mean nothing to you right now so just ignore them. Instead, go to this one. This is a list of the cheapest stocks in Neopia at the moment. In Marada, it would only show 14 shops at a time. Instead of live updates like the real stock market, the Neopian Stock Market traditionally updates every:08 and:38 minutes past the hour.

The first thing to mention is that you are only allowed to buy shares that are currently trading for 15NP (100-1000MP) or more each. When choosing a stock to purchase, the rule of thumb is "buy low, sell high," so it is best to only pick stocks trading for the cheapest you can possibly purchase. In Neopia, you can purchase 1,000 stocks. In Marada, you can purchase 100 stocks every 3 hours.

Each batch of stocks you bought will be grouped separately, while stocks in Marada are clumped together so you can sell one at a time. Shares also cannot be sold within 2 hours of purchasing new or additional shares in this company. Like in real life, a company can go bankrupt. If this happens you will lose any MP invested in this company and shares can no longer be bought in this company while it is in administration.

• 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 your pet is hungry, go to the inventory, and then click on a food item.

If you are running low on Neopoints (Marapoints) (have less than 3000NP 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 can either wait for your pet to grow more hungry, or feed them a Rainbow Melt Pizza. This gourmet food, the only known true hunger decreaser on Neopets, will change your pet's hunger level to "very full" and allow your pet to continue eating. Even when their hunger level is at 0%, marapets can continue eating if you have any food in your inventory.

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, Talon 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.

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.

You can Disown a Pet for 5,000MP once every 18 hours. Disowned pets are made avaliable for other players to adopt at random - up to 72 hours after they have been disowned.

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 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 bring 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 :)

• 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 at 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! In Marada, you can also work towards the job you want your pet to have by taking them to school.

• Can I sell my Neopet?

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

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, Pet Auctions are the only safe way to sell your pets. Remember, trying to sell your pets any other viable way is a felony.

We knew we should've moved to Biala Mountain...

• How do I increase my Neopets' Health?

You can increase the number of HP 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

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 HP 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 any time 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 sidebar.

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 feature 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.

• What can you do with Petpets (Minipets)?

You can change the color of your Petpet at the Petpet Puddle with a Petpet Paint Brush. The Ball of Yarn is the mini variant of the costume. Be sure to check your Petpet (Minipet) is capable of being painted (wrapped) your chosen colour -- it's important to note that some apparently "special" Minipet types, such as the Organic Minipets, and you can't wrap your own to match them. Sorry! Every Petpet (Minipet) actually has a colour -- it just isn't labeled. To undo a Petpet (Minipet), you'll need to redo it into its standard colour. For instance, Snorkles (Candies) are naturally pink, so you'd need a Pink Petpet Paint Brush (Pink Ball of Yarn) to turn a Green Snorkle (Candy) back into a regular Snorkle (Candy). You can check a Petpet's original colour, as well as the options available for it, at the All Petpet Colours (Minipet Colors) section of the Puddle. You can take Petpets to the Symol Hole, Turmaculus, Petpet Lab Ray, Grave Danger, and the Petpet Arena. You can take Minipets to the Ferris Wheel and Resort, where you can gain plates. They cannot do as many things as the Petpets (like having their own virtual world) since Minipets no longer have a pointless status depending on their needs around the house. For example:

• Hungry minipets should be fed at the kitchen

and

• Minipets with full bladders should relieve themselves at bathrooms.

I met a traveler from an antique land...

• 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 date. But you can check out the Neopets Hive if you want a taste of what Neopets was like in the ancient times.

Though, by this point most Maradans were already too busy drooling at the prospect of earning one million MP to bother analyzing the small print!

​​​​​​As for Marapets, yes you can.

• 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, Fake Pirate Ship, Kwazikujo, Millionaire's Lodge, Pirate Ship, 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 first April Fools' joke in 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

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 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 fast.

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

What I saw... was beautiful.

• Collecting one of each item on the site that fits a specific theme. For instance, you might choose to collect all the poop 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

Conclusion

Although Neopets is Marapets' major competitor, they aren't in a big competition. They each have unique qualities that make each other good. Calling something a ripoff doesn't always mean confrontation about the two sites. To learn more about how Neopets is related to Marapets, please visit Maraqua!

References

Neopets' Wikipedia article

Neopets Fandom