Giving Your Pet a Life of His/Her/It's Own
Written by Kabusiek
So at the time of writing, there are 171 263 709 pets in Neopia. Admittedly, not all of these pets are in active accounts and not all of those active pets have owners that roleplay. Still, I�d say about, what, 15%? 20%? of those 171 263 709 pets are roleplayed on a regular basis. While this is, admittedly, pretty darn cool and means that there are usually tons of roleplayers online, it also means that roleplayers are at a bit of a disadvantage. Point being: with that many unique and interesting characters being roleplayed out there, how can somebody make sure that their pet is a unique and interesting character?
This guide will hopefully answer that question. And, if it doesn�t, it will at least be a reasonably enlightening waste of time. Hopefully. The first three steps apply only to creating the pet, while all other steps after that are focused on creating the character. Also important to note is the distinction I�ll be making between �pet�, �personality� and �character�: your pet is the actual Neopet who you have created. The personality is the traits that you have given your pet. The character is what your pet becomes once you�ve added a personality. And now onto the guide!
Step 1: Choose the species carefully.
Obviously, choose a species that you think looks cool because admit it, we�re all shallow like that. But you should also take into account the species� �default� personality traits. (i.e. Grarrls are generally angry, ferocious eating machines so if you want some sort of sweet, pacifistic, vegetarian character? Um, you probably shouldn�t choose a Grarrl. Unless you�re into irony.) Going against the species� �default� personality is unique, but it isn�t always interesting because it tends to feel fake and might make people want to scream, �BUT A USUL WOULD NEVER DO THAT!!!11!�
If you�re an artistic type, first, I envy you, second, make sure that your new pet is something you can draw, and something that you like drawing. If your idea of torture is drawing a little circle with fins, then Kikos probably aren�t for you. Unless you like torture.
Step 2: Choose your pet�s name carefully.
Names are cool. Make sure you actually genuinely like your pet�s name, because when you�re roleplaying, you�re probably gonna be typing it out a lot, it�s what people are going to refer to your pet by, and it sticks forever. A definite plus is having a name that�s fun to say, or your pet�s name means something, either in English, or in some sort of foreign/ancient language, or even in a language that you made up yourself. A definite minus is having a name that�s full of numbers and meaningless words, because it totally wrecks the credibility of your character when your pet is called Neo_luvr8892222_22_2.
Step 3: Choose your pet�s gender carefully.
Well, this goes without saying. Unless you plan to make your new pet a total Lab Rat, gender is very, very permanent. So, you know, be sure it�s what you want, because gender really does affect personality.
Step 4: Plan your pet�s character.
I suggest making a list of all the do�s and don�ts, likes and dislikes and so on of your character. That way, you can be sure that you�re roleplaying consistently.
Step 5: Don�t go too far in designing the character.
Yes, I know we�d all like to have a superpowerful invincible pet with infinity strength and
hit points. But since this is a difficult thing to achieve in raw stats, sometimes owners prefer to make the pet�s personality superpowerful and invincible. This is bad. It makes for bad roleplaying, because nobody can stand to hang around with somebody that is so obviously over the top. So moderate your pet�s strengths and weaknesses. Make her pretty but vain, immature or petulant. Make him afraid of water, but a strong flyer.
Also don�t make your character too extreme. When your pet is a total jerk with no redeeming qualities whatsoever, or when your pet is so sweet, innocent and adorable that it makes your eyes water, take it as a sign that you�ve gone just a little bit too far. We can summarize this step with the equation MODERATION = GOOD.
Step 6: Give your pet a hook.
No, not a pirate hook. Although I do love pirates and pirate pets are super cool� No, no, a hook is that special trait unique to your pet that draws other characters in and makes them want to roleplay with you and be your friend. A hook can be a certain way your pet looks, or something special that they eat, collect or do, or something special to do with their origins: where they came from, how they came here, and so on. It�s fun to play off the little details like this when you�re roleplaying, and hooks also tend to be huge parts of your pet�s personality.
Step 7: Give your pet a backstory.
Backstories are awesome. Backstories are origin stories that explain who your pet is (i.e. a fairy princess, or an alien), where they�ve come from (i.e. a distant ancient land full of magic, or a distant ancient planet full of� plants), how they got here (i.e. got blown here on the wind, crash-landed in a spaceship) and so on. They can also explain hooks (see above), as in, if your character is just a wee bit forgetful, maybe your character got hit on the head by an evil twin early on in life. Or something.
Again, totally fun to play around with, and they can take lives of their own. A backstory can also be an excellent primer or introduction to your character.
Additional tips:
-- proofread what you�ve written! It�s really jarring to be reading along happily and then BAM, huge typo oh no!
-- keep your character in mind at all times when writing/drawing/creating anything to do with your character! Ask yourself things like, would so-and-so really do this?
-- don�t expect character to always approach you, even if you do have a totally awesome character. Go out and find somebody to talk to!
With any luck, you now have a vague idea of how to go about with your Neopet. If so, I�m Kabusiek and I love positive feedback. If not, I�m Adam.
Neopets Departments