Avatars, Sidebars, and Contests

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                   Avatars
On Neopets, avatars are small icons used on Neopian message boards to represent a player. Unlike many forums, the players on Neopets cannot upload their own avatars and must use those provided by the website. In addition to the default avatars, there are currently 338 secret avatars that can be unlocked, usually by performing a task such as getting a high score at a game, visiting a particular page, happening upon some random event, owning a pet of a certain color/species/age, or equipping their pets with a special weapon. Some avatars may require the completion of multiple tasks, while others are retired and no longer attainable. Some are seasonal, only obtainable on certain days of the year, like April Fool's Day. In a few cases there are avatars which cannot be obtained if a collector has its "twin" or "sister" avatar.

New secret avatars are continually being made, usually one or two being released a month (in past years, a new avatar was created on average every two weeks). There is a high score list which ranks users according to the number of avatars they have collected, and help sites exist for collectors to keep track of avatars and tasks still needed. Additionally, there is an avatar only available to the administrators user account of the site, known as theneopetsteam, or TNT.

                       Sidebars
A sidebar is the navigational tool to the left and top sides of the screen that is used while browsing the Neopets website. The default sidebar is star-decorated and yellow, which is seen when a user creates a new account or when using the site not logged in. However, there are also secret sidebars to unlock and collect, similar to avatars. But unlike avatars, there are far fewer in comparison, although as of late, many more have been released. Since it is a rather short list, the sidebars will be listed here along with the method of obtaining them:

Altadorian Constellations - Complete the Altador mini-plot, then collect the prizes from King Altador in the Council chamber. The plot is staying open until further notice to allow others to finish it.
Altador Cup (retired) - Send in at least one score, whether a win, tie, or loss, during the Altador Cup. It did not matter whether or not the user's selected team lost, or if they did not select a new team when their team lost.
Birthday - This sidebar is special in the sense that it cannot be kept. It is the automatic default sidebar on November 15th (Neopets' birthday) every year, and also on the day that the user sets as their birthdate while creating their account. Once these days pass, the sidebar is gone.
Curse of Maraqua (retired) - Spend one prize point on the sidebar from the selection of prizes available once the Curse of Maraqua plot ends. Although it is retired, this sidebar is still available for collecting by users who have earned at least one point in the plot but did not collect prizes.
Cyodrake's Gaze (retired) - For a very limited time, users were given the chance to answer some questions regarding the disappearance of a character named Hoban during the Cyodrake's Gaze mini-plot. A short time later, only people who guessed at least one question correctly, aside from a freebie question, received this sidebar and an avatar.
Haunted Woods - Go to or refresh at any page on the Neopets website during the minute of 11:59:00 PM Neopian Standard Time on October 31. It was previously awarded as a prize for winning Random Contest #1.
Premium - Once a Premium member, refer five people to the Premium service. These five people must stay past the 15-day trial in order for you to qualify for the sidebar. If you cancel your Premium service, the sidebar remains, but once you change it at Site Preferences, the Premium sidebar is removed from your collection.
Qasalan (retired) - Although retired, this sidebar is still available for collection if a user has completed at least one plot step during the Lost Desert plot but did not collect their prizes.
Valentine's Day - On February 14th, one must send the item named 'A Mysterious Valentines Card' to any user. Both the sender and recipient of the item get the sidebar. However, the Card disappears once it is sent, but only on this day.
Winter - Previously awarded as a random event while visiting Terror Mountain. It is currently given out to people meeting unknown requirements on December 31st, on the Advent Calendar.

     Writing and Art contests
Neopets also offers several different writing and art contests.

The Neopian Times is a weekly electronic newspaper that includes short stories, a question-and-answer editorial, comics (traditional and animated), story series, and articles. If a user's contribution is published, they receive a trophy, as well as special rewards for certain Neopian Times issues (such as milestone, Halloween, and Christmas issues).

There is a poetry contest that runs approximately twice a week, and a story-telling contest in which users write and submit the next part of a short story. A "Random Contest" requires a different task, chosen by Neopets staff, to be completed each contest, such as drawing, making up "Dr. Sloth's answering machine message", and creating recipes, and so on. The Caption Contest requires users try to write humorous captions for a picture. Players can submit drawings of their pets for the Beauty Contest (which is a popularity contest rather than an art contest), a picture and short story of their pets or petpets for the Spotlights, galleries of items, custom-built levels of certain games, or their Neopets-based web pages (theoretically for their pets) or petpages. When users win one of these contests, they usually receive a trophy a Neopoint reward and sometimes an avatar too.