Serebii
06-06-2022, 03:59 AM
Everyone knows the basics of keeping their account from being frozen when dealing in illicit means of getting Neopoints, items, pets, or whatever else on Neopets. But what a lot of people don't seem to realize is that keeping yourself safe from TNT's icy hand goes well beyond using programs, proxies, and well-managed shell accounts.
This guide is mostly a small list of tips and tricks I've picked up over the last two decades. Trial and error as well as multiple lost accounts from making or witnessing silly mistakes have caused me to change how I think about cheating on Neopets as a whole, and I hope my experiences at least give you an idea of what you can do to keep yourselves from being frozen in the future and beyond. While some of these guidelines may seem obvious to most of you, I'm hoping to help those who haven't quite shored up their defenses just yet.
You see, the problem with getting frozen more often than not isn't just failure to dodge TNT. It's failure to dodge the nosy, report-happy sorts of people that dwell in every part of the site itself. Those with more time on their hands than they know what to do with, and those who couldn't mind their own business if it meant life or death. Other users are your biggest obstacle, and they likely always will be.
★★★★★★★★★★
46439
★Neopets Safety Basics★
Diving into the more obvious part of the guide first and foremost, some basic safety tips to employ while playing are as follows:
Don't use the same email in multiple places!
This is the most basic of safety tips, but it holds up even here. If you have an email attached to your Neopets account (*especially* if said account was created before the 2013 data breech.) it isn't smart to use that same email for anything connected to cheating. That includes signing up for the clraik forums or anywhere else you may decide to engage in illicit activity. All it takes is one person who suspects you of cheating to check whether you reside here on the forums, and it is extremely easy for them to do so. If they for some reason have your email (remember that data breech I mentioned?) all they need to do is attempt to sign up to the forums using said email.
46436
The lovely error above will appear in the event someone attempts to register with an email that has already been used on clraik. And it all but confirms your presence here on the forums, and thus, in the cheating community at large.
★★★★★★★★★★
Don't use the same username!
This one is just suicide, especially if you happen to have an extremely unique username or alias online. Do not, I repeat, DO NOT use the same username here on clraik that you use on Neopets. For that matter, go a step further -- do not use your pets' names either! It is extremely easy to check the member listing and piece together other clues mentioned later in this guide to confirm who exactly you are!
It is *so* simple, but I have personally witnessed people be nailed in the past over something as silly as using their Neopets username on cheating websites. Don't be that idiot.
In the same vein, please for the love of god don't join the Neopets Discord on the same account that you've joined the clraik Discord. There's an account swapping feature nowadays, please use it.
★★★★★★★★★★
Other identifying information is a no-no!
If you're the chatty type both on Neopets (especially the Neoboards or in a guild) and here on clraik, you might be leaving other clues to key in just who you are. Such examples include:
How many IRL pets you have, as well as their names.
Other games you play or are interested in.
Your age or general location.
...Even your favorite Pokémon, if it's something uncommon.
Some of this may seem silly, but if you're the type to stand out from the crowd, it can be very easy to pin you down just based on the above alone. Be very, very careful about what information you tell others about yourself, especially if you're repeating said information on both sites.
★★★★★★★★★★
4643746438
★An Alternate Persona★
I'll be the first to tell you to avoid the Neoboards and even guilds at all cost, as your social presence in such an environment makes you an easy target for anyone to start poking around a little closer than is comfortable. But if you're the type who just can't avoid such situations, the following guidelines may help further mask your identity.
Identify and mask or eliminate any unique typing quirks.
Take some time to study how you speak online. I mean really study how you speak. Do you use certain words or phrases a lot? Maybe specific emojis? Do you have a quirk like forgetting to use proper grammar with 100% consistency? These are things you will need to identify and likely mask or eliminate to further hide yourself from suspecting eyes. This one is more on you to figure out and handle on your own, but you may have some luck asking closer friends if they notice anything unique about your typing style.
★★★★★★★★★★
Your aesthetic makes it easy to pin you down.
Are you someone who just absolutely loves everything to do with astrology? What about dinosaurs? Are you the type of person who is insanely glittery pink with sparkly sprinkles everywhere? Consider not showing the same side of yourself at both places. A person's aesthetic says a lot about them, and while it feels amazing to show off what you love and what makes you, well, you, it's also making you extremely easy to pick out. Something as simple as changing up your main color or theming between both sites will go a long way to making you look like someone else entirely.
★★★★★★★★★★
The more obsessed will notice things you wouldn't even think of...
If you frequent the Pound Chat, you'll probably be familiar with the personality of the average person there. Loud, opinionated, very obsessive... especially if they suspect someone of cheating or buying their pets. I would say they were basically Karens in training if the age of the average Neopets user wasn't already people in their mid 20s or 30s. This obsession is dangerous for you especially because this type of person will look for any piece of the puzzle they can to connect your account to cheating activity.
I won't go into the tried and true methods of securing pets or accounts, as multiple guides already cover those more than fine, however there are a few other things to consider if you're looking to put up some smoke and mirrors that throw others off your trail.
Avoid being active on both the Neoboards and clraik at the same "time." Trust me, someone obsessed with you *will* notice a pattern.
Did you just make a quip at someone on the boards? Try to avoid making a similar dunk in public here as well, if possible.
The same can be said for any positive interaction as well. Do your best to avoid mirroring any sentiments on both sites.
★★★★★★★★★★
46440
★Fight Obsession with Obsession★
Okay, this last bit may seem a bit on the anal side, but it is always better to be safe than sorry. I have personally seen one person get slammed on another forum years ago for one of the following, and they felt like an idiot once I pointed out the connection.
Your custom graphics may be betraying you...
This may not be relevant to too many people, but double check any URLs output by any image hosting service you use. Some of them (Photobucket was a big one for this) include your username in the URL, and if you're using the same account to host images for both Neopets and a forum signature here... you may have just given someone the connection they need to confirm their suspicions about you.
The counters and tools output by Neomallers are another clue as to your identity. These also include a username in their image URL, and if you just so happened to have signed up for Neomallers with an alias similar to your clraik username... well, you can see where I'm going here.
★★★★★★★★★★
Direct links are *probably* bad.
I will admit, this one too may not matter nowadays, but years ago clicking on a link leading to Neopets from cheating forums and websites allowed TNT to see where exactly you came from via analytics tracking. If at all possible, maybe consider copying any link you intend to visit and pasting it into your URL bar directly instead of clicking it on the forum itself.
★★★★★★★★★★
I employ the above strategies myself and I can say with relative confidence that when combined with smart cheating outlined in other guides, they definitely help cover your butt in the event someone decides to take a closer look at you or your account.
This guide is mostly a small list of tips and tricks I've picked up over the last two decades. Trial and error as well as multiple lost accounts from making or witnessing silly mistakes have caused me to change how I think about cheating on Neopets as a whole, and I hope my experiences at least give you an idea of what you can do to keep yourselves from being frozen in the future and beyond. While some of these guidelines may seem obvious to most of you, I'm hoping to help those who haven't quite shored up their defenses just yet.
You see, the problem with getting frozen more often than not isn't just failure to dodge TNT. It's failure to dodge the nosy, report-happy sorts of people that dwell in every part of the site itself. Those with more time on their hands than they know what to do with, and those who couldn't mind their own business if it meant life or death. Other users are your biggest obstacle, and they likely always will be.
★★★★★★★★★★
46439
★Neopets Safety Basics★
Diving into the more obvious part of the guide first and foremost, some basic safety tips to employ while playing are as follows:
Don't use the same email in multiple places!
This is the most basic of safety tips, but it holds up even here. If you have an email attached to your Neopets account (*especially* if said account was created before the 2013 data breech.) it isn't smart to use that same email for anything connected to cheating. That includes signing up for the clraik forums or anywhere else you may decide to engage in illicit activity. All it takes is one person who suspects you of cheating to check whether you reside here on the forums, and it is extremely easy for them to do so. If they for some reason have your email (remember that data breech I mentioned?) all they need to do is attempt to sign up to the forums using said email.
46436
The lovely error above will appear in the event someone attempts to register with an email that has already been used on clraik. And it all but confirms your presence here on the forums, and thus, in the cheating community at large.
★★★★★★★★★★
Don't use the same username!
This one is just suicide, especially if you happen to have an extremely unique username or alias online. Do not, I repeat, DO NOT use the same username here on clraik that you use on Neopets. For that matter, go a step further -- do not use your pets' names either! It is extremely easy to check the member listing and piece together other clues mentioned later in this guide to confirm who exactly you are!
It is *so* simple, but I have personally witnessed people be nailed in the past over something as silly as using their Neopets username on cheating websites. Don't be that idiot.
In the same vein, please for the love of god don't join the Neopets Discord on the same account that you've joined the clraik Discord. There's an account swapping feature nowadays, please use it.
★★★★★★★★★★
Other identifying information is a no-no!
If you're the chatty type both on Neopets (especially the Neoboards or in a guild) and here on clraik, you might be leaving other clues to key in just who you are. Such examples include:
How many IRL pets you have, as well as their names.
Other games you play or are interested in.
Your age or general location.
...Even your favorite Pokémon, if it's something uncommon.
Some of this may seem silly, but if you're the type to stand out from the crowd, it can be very easy to pin you down just based on the above alone. Be very, very careful about what information you tell others about yourself, especially if you're repeating said information on both sites.
★★★★★★★★★★
4643746438
★An Alternate Persona★
I'll be the first to tell you to avoid the Neoboards and even guilds at all cost, as your social presence in such an environment makes you an easy target for anyone to start poking around a little closer than is comfortable. But if you're the type who just can't avoid such situations, the following guidelines may help further mask your identity.
Identify and mask or eliminate any unique typing quirks.
Take some time to study how you speak online. I mean really study how you speak. Do you use certain words or phrases a lot? Maybe specific emojis? Do you have a quirk like forgetting to use proper grammar with 100% consistency? These are things you will need to identify and likely mask or eliminate to further hide yourself from suspecting eyes. This one is more on you to figure out and handle on your own, but you may have some luck asking closer friends if they notice anything unique about your typing style.
★★★★★★★★★★
Your aesthetic makes it easy to pin you down.
Are you someone who just absolutely loves everything to do with astrology? What about dinosaurs? Are you the type of person who is insanely glittery pink with sparkly sprinkles everywhere? Consider not showing the same side of yourself at both places. A person's aesthetic says a lot about them, and while it feels amazing to show off what you love and what makes you, well, you, it's also making you extremely easy to pick out. Something as simple as changing up your main color or theming between both sites will go a long way to making you look like someone else entirely.
★★★★★★★★★★
The more obsessed will notice things you wouldn't even think of...
If you frequent the Pound Chat, you'll probably be familiar with the personality of the average person there. Loud, opinionated, very obsessive... especially if they suspect someone of cheating or buying their pets. I would say they were basically Karens in training if the age of the average Neopets user wasn't already people in their mid 20s or 30s. This obsession is dangerous for you especially because this type of person will look for any piece of the puzzle they can to connect your account to cheating activity.
I won't go into the tried and true methods of securing pets or accounts, as multiple guides already cover those more than fine, however there are a few other things to consider if you're looking to put up some smoke and mirrors that throw others off your trail.
Avoid being active on both the Neoboards and clraik at the same "time." Trust me, someone obsessed with you *will* notice a pattern.
Did you just make a quip at someone on the boards? Try to avoid making a similar dunk in public here as well, if possible.
The same can be said for any positive interaction as well. Do your best to avoid mirroring any sentiments on both sites.
★★★★★★★★★★
46440
★Fight Obsession with Obsession★
Okay, this last bit may seem a bit on the anal side, but it is always better to be safe than sorry. I have personally seen one person get slammed on another forum years ago for one of the following, and they felt like an idiot once I pointed out the connection.
Your custom graphics may be betraying you...
This may not be relevant to too many people, but double check any URLs output by any image hosting service you use. Some of them (Photobucket was a big one for this) include your username in the URL, and if you're using the same account to host images for both Neopets and a forum signature here... you may have just given someone the connection they need to confirm their suspicions about you.
The counters and tools output by Neomallers are another clue as to your identity. These also include a username in their image URL, and if you just so happened to have signed up for Neomallers with an alias similar to your clraik username... well, you can see where I'm going here.
★★★★★★★★★★
Direct links are *probably* bad.
I will admit, this one too may not matter nowadays, but years ago clicking on a link leading to Neopets from cheating forums and websites allowed TNT to see where exactly you came from via analytics tracking. If at all possible, maybe consider copying any link you intend to visit and pasting it into your URL bar directly instead of clicking it on the forum itself.
★★★★★★★★★★
I employ the above strategies myself and I can say with relative confidence that when combined with smart cheating outlined in other guides, they definitely help cover your butt in the event someone decides to take a closer look at you or your account.