Everything You Need to Know About the Purge
Okay, so for those who don’t know, there’s a purge going on in Neopets. Of course, we do not know the exact inner workings of the purge (only the TNT member who created the script knows, and they’ve been quiet about anything purge related). However, since it’s been going on for a while, we’ve been able to get some information. Most of this guide is legit, but some parts aren’t (like when I discuss the methods of creating purged pets, though I’ll include the legit ways as well.)
Table of Contents
I. The Basics
II. How To Find Purged Pets/Usernames
III. Keeping Track of the Purge
IV. How To Create a Purged Name
V. Trading the Pet
VI. Direct Transferring (aka “Gwenning”)
I. The Basics
What is the purge?
In order to clear space on the servers, TNT has decided to completely delete a bunch of inactive accounts.
What accounts will they purge?
Not all accounts will be purged. Only those that have been inactive for 18+ months (1 year and a half) are eligible to be deleted.
Will frozen accounts purge?
The same rules apply for frozen accounts. If they were frozen 18+ months ago, they’ll purge. However, you can’t tell when they were frozen, so they’re a bit more difficult.
Do they purge in a specific order?
Yes, the accounts purge in alphabetical order. It goes by account, not pet name. So pet Zekehh on the account Anabananana will purge before pet Aviahsa on account Zeeesms.
Another important thing is to realize how TNT does their alphabetical order. It goes: #, letter, ___.
So Cutie5 will purge before cutiegirl2, which will both purge before cutie_pie_6.
How long will the purge be?
Given the sheer number of accounts that no one imagines will be created (like alexa21902398210), the purge goes pretty fast. But because we don’t know of these accounts, it seems to by very slow. It takes anywhere from a couple of weeks to a month to get through a letter. The purge won’t be finished until about a year from now, most likely.
Has a purge like this happened before?
Yes, it has. About two years ago a smaller-scale purge happened. But it was never followed as closely as this one because you couldn’t trade pets back then. So only those who were interested in real word (rw)/ real name (rn) pets created them.
Why has it changed now? I don’t like RW / RN pets, why should I care?
Simply put, TO TRADE. RW/RN pets are highly desired on the PC, whether its for sentimental/creative reasons. If you create a common real name, or a common real world (in its singular and most simplistic form), you can expect some really nice UC offers (and they’re legit!). Or, if BD is your thing, expect some pretty nice stats. More on the trading later, however.
II. How to Find Purged Pets/Usernames
How do I find good names?
Well, what you consider a “good name” is relative. But what you want to do is use the following two links to search:
USERNAME: http://www.neopets.com/userlookup.phtml … ERNAMEHERE
PETNAME: http://www.neopets.com/~PETNAMEHERE
Just know that if you search a pet name, you’ll need to do the username search as well for the account to make sure that it’s eligible to purge.
But wait! The age just says “Last Spotted: A long, long time ago”! How do I know it’s been inactive for 18+ months?!
Well, you don’t. But there are hints, such as number of avatars, games played, if the pets have customization, etc. If you want to be legit, you just have to guess.
The account’s frozen! How do I tell its age?
http://www.neopets.com/show_user.phtml? … ERNAMEHERE
You can see from that link.
Hey! I went on to the pet name link you sent me, but the pet’s owner isn’t listed on the page?
Well, you can always search the pet in the main search bar and find the account there. If the account name is frozen, here’s what you do. First, go to the petpage. Then, look at the very top of the page and you’ll see a beige bar with a black box for a neopets referral link. Hover over the link, and it should say this: http://www.neopets.com/refer.phtml?username=USERNAMEHERE. There you go, the username!
I want to find out the pet names on a frozen account, what should I do?
Go here: http://www.neopets.com/pound/transfer.phtml. Click a random pet of yours, and a box should pop up. Type in the name of the account you want to check, and press OK. You should see a page with your pet on it. Right below your pet’s picture, it should say:
If you would like to exchange PETNAME for one of ACCOUNTNAME’s Neopets, please Click here.
Click that, and it’ll show up.
Okay, I found the names. What should I do?
Here’s my method. I create a large spreadsheet, once column with the pet names and the other column with usernames. Then, because of the alphabetical order, I sort the list by username.
III. Keeping Track of the Purge
A short section on how we keep track of the purge.
I’ve found the pet, now how do I find where we are in the purge?
There’s two handy boards on the PC that can help you with this. Go to the Neopian Pound Chat here: http://www.neopets.com/neoboards/boardl … l?board=34. You’ll see a board like this, it’s usually on the top page due to how active it is:
{*some symbol*} UNTAKEN UN + PN {Chat/Discuss/Drama} Board ####
Go there. It’s a chatting board that displays what the last purged account was. If you can’t stand the chatter, then there is a NO-CHAT Board (NCB) that posts only markers/purged accounts. Because of this, its not bumped as often. The chatting board will usually give a link to the NCB either in the introductory post or somewhere on the first page, so go there if you want some quiet.
How do they know where the purge is?
Purge chatters keep track of the purge using “markers”, or accounts that they believe will purge as a way to monitor the speed of the purge. For instance, if someone created a pet off of the account “Alyssa”, they would have windows open of the userlookups of Alyssa1, Alyssa2, Alyssaa, Alyssaab, Alyssabb, Alyssb, etc. It shows you more indepth detail on the purge.
If you’re at the boards, feel free to jump in and help out. They’ll really appreciate it!
IV. How To Create a Purged Name
I’ll go over three methods when creating a purged pet (or any pet for that matter, but speed is key here.) Very nice names have been created in all three methods. However, I’ve only created a common RN using the first method here. [EDIT: I’ve created multiple common RN’s with both methods now, they both work nicely depending upon the situation!] Some methods are better for certain times.
A. The Standard Create-a-Pet
Most users do this, and the answer is to go here: http://www.neopets.com/reg/page4.phtml . Fill out the all of the boxes, and just spam the “Create” button as fast as you possibly can. However, this gets tiring. So the clicking rate isn’t constant at all, and you need to take pauses because you get tired pretty quickly. But it’s probably the quickest legit way if you click at the right time.
B. Grundo-A-Pet
This MUST BE USED IF YOU ARE CREATING A PET WITH 1-2 LETTERS! Basically, you go here: http://www.neopets.com/space/spaceadoption.phtml and click Adopt a Grundo. Fill out the boxes, and then adopt! You’ll get an error that your name isn’t available. This is the page that you need to refresh as quick as possible. However, refreshing takes more time than clicking a “create” button like above. But with a fast connection, it works just as well.
C. Create-A-Pet Mini
The same thing basically as the Grundo-A-Pet, but you can’t create 1-2 letters, and it gives you more customization (but not all basics can be created, just more.) Click here:http://www.neopets.com/mini/petcreation/ and follow the steps. At the end, you should have a page similar to the Grundo one. Refresh. Same pros and cons as above: ” refreshing takes more time than clicking a “create” button like above. But with a fast connection, it works just as well.”
V. Trading the Pet
I felt this needed its own section because people need to understand what trading values go for. As far as ranking, here’s the ladder of value.
A. COMMON Real Name – Cara, Alyssa, etc. Commonly Spelled, Popular Names.
B. COMMON, SHORT, SIMPLE Real Word – Sky, Love, Funny, etc. Words you use often in conversation or spark a nice character.
C. 1-2-3 Letter PRONOUNCEABLE – U, Ki, Mey. Pretty sounding, short words. Kxy DOES NOT COUNT.
D. UNCOMMON Real Name / UNCOMMON Real Word – Reputation, Locker, Kaylah, etc. Things that are still nice but not super common.
E. UNPRONOUNCEABLE 2-3 Word – Kx, Wvp, etc. You’ll be lucky if you get a decent offer at all if its basic.
F. SUFFIX-PREFIX + Real Word – Disinterestingly, Misunderstandingly, etc. NO ONE CARES. Just pound X-x
Next, don’t think everything goes for High-End UCs (or any DUCK). To get one of those, you’ll need A,B, or C, hard work, lots of advertising, and likely an unlimited custom if you’re going super high end. But it can be done. I felt this needed to be said, because some people only look at DUCKs (Draiks, Unconverteds, and Krawks) when their pet is worth no more than a plushie (and that’s generous).
VI. Direct Transferring (aka “Gwenning”)
Why are there so many nicely named pets on the account direct_transfer? Or why does a pet name say its owner is “In the Pound” but when I go to the pound its not there? Or why did a pet disappear off of an inactive account I’m stalking, it was there yesterday !?”
Yes, there are many questions. The Direct Transfer is a method a lot of “mean” people do on neopets. Basically, if you request a transfer to a pet on an inactive account, it goes to the account direct_transfer. All direct transfers last 3 days, so if the account the pet was on doesn’t purge within those 3 days, don’t worry! It’ll be back in time for the purge.
However, say the account purges while your beloved pet is in direct_transfer. Now, instead of being returned to the original owner (because they’re gone O.o) the pet will be sent to the pound. But you can’t search for them in the search bar, you have to physically SEE them in the pound and adopt them.
This has happened to many pets, but the only one ever to be adopted is Gwen. She was also the first pet that this happened to, so the process has aptly been named “Gwenning”.
VII. Closing
This was my first guide, so I hope you enjoyed it! Any further questions I’ll be happy to answer, and I’ll update the guide as well. Criticism/comments are much appreciated! And if you have any other ideas for guides that you’d like, feel free to ask and if I know enough about it I’ll write one!
