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Premium Sale Returns + Advent Details

Posted by Herdy on November 29, 2024, 6:37 am NST

This morning TNT have launched a news article detailing some of the upcoming advent festivities. Top of the bill is the return of the Premium sale, which is now live! This time, there is a 10 USD reduction on the cost of an annual Premium plan. This kind of sale has not run since 2021!

Note that unlike the sale with free NC this past summer, all Premium members, new and existing, can make use of this reduction. If you are an existing Premium player, you can use the discount now to get a reduction on your next renewal.

For existing Premium subscribers: head to the Manage Membership page, and click the "Upgrade Plan" button. Then, select the "$5/month" yearly option. If you already have the yearly plan, the discount will apply to your next billing date. If you are on one of the monthly plans, then you will upgrade to yearly the next time your Premium bills. The "Next Billing Date" listed in the confirmation flow will tell you exactly when the $59.95 will be charged.

IMPORTANT: This sale will only last until December 3rd (this coming Tuesday).

View Our Premium Guide » Sign Up for Premium »

The article also explains that when the Advent Calendar returns this Sunday, Premium users will gain an additional daily item compared to free to play users. The Advent FAQ reveals that free to play users will be able to see the Premium prize, and will be able to claim it if they sign up for Premium on that day and return to the Advent Calendar, but Premium members who sign up late will not be able to claim the bonus items from previous days. It is our understanding these will be new items, though the FAQ specifically excludes Battledome items.

Additionally, the FAQ confirms that there will be a story based event during Advent, and specifically highlights the following days as important to it:

December 5th
December 13th
December 21st
December 28th
December 29th
December 31st

View the Full Advent FAQ »

The FAQ also confirms that the Seasonal Attack Pea will be returning to Reina's bonus random prize pool, as with last year.

View Our Advent Calendar Guide »

Finally, the article reveals that this year's Stocking Stufftacular NC Event will be starting on December 8th and lasting until January 1st. This year, Missed Prizes Tickets will not be returning. The pre-sale of Stufftacular stockings is due to start later today (November 29th).

View Our Stocking Stufftacular Guide » View the Stocking Stufftacular FAQ »

Make a Comment!

There are 44 comments below. Add yours!

Mmmm I do not like when companies weaponize fomo like that, this is not going to go over well

by mercy_graves on November 29, 2024 8:24 AM NST

not techincally fomo, just time premium users had something extra for years of continued support other than a monthly scratchcard and use of the super shop wiz.

by bedomi on November 29, 2024 8:43 AM NST

Hmm.. So the Advent Calendar is going to be quite story-heavy, huh? So much for unwinding during the holidays. I mean, we saw this coming, but I really hope this is not going to be a yearly thing (assuming The Void Within has ended by December 2025...).

by apophis324 on November 29, 2024 8:45 AM NST

Hyped for PeaGate 2: The Pea-ening

by yayme211 on November 29, 2024 9:28 AM NST

i read the FAQ and they don't intend to have premium exclusive battledome items, just "extra customisation, plushes, toys, and more". hopefully they know better than to include stamps in that list.

by darlingsenpai on November 29, 2024 9:55 AM NST

A little on the fence about Premium users getting extra items during the Advent Calendar. I get that its a nice incentive for Premium users but I'm also leery of anything that feels like pay to play.

Also hated how the Advent Calendar had an ongoing story last year. Not pleased that they are returning with the feature this year, too.

by purplewarf on November 29, 2024 10:42 AM NST

Couldn't have said it better than purplewarf

by smaragdeidechse on November 29, 2024 10:45 AM NST

At least they shared the dates of the story line? I'm sure there will be a trophy/prize for that Ogrin's visions again

by androponix on November 29, 2024 10:49 AM NST

i hate when people complain about premium users getting extra things. like, yes- that is what i pay for? premium in itself is barely an upgrade, i do it more just because i want the site to live. we definitely deserve bonuses.

by freezepop on November 29, 2024 10:52 AM NST

Didn't they specifically say during the last premium promotion that there wouldn't be any sales this year?

by meep on November 29, 2024 10:59 AM NST

Reading these comments is like expecting the most pessimistic vibes every time, never change neo lol.

by briezymunester on November 29, 2024 11:45 AM NST

@freezepop but if premium perks are at the expense of non paying players then it makes the site's economy unbalanced. bonuses are fine, but giving access to exclusive items or redistributing extremely rare items to only paying players allows those players the ability to exploit their status by influencing the neopoint price those items sell for, *especially* stamps and battledome weapons.

by darlingsenpai on November 29, 2024 11:49 AM NST

My two cents on Premium getting more upgrades to entice more people to buy in: probably a good thing. For the first time in almost 2 decades, Neopets is not a division under a larger corporation that can hide the bad finances if Neopets underperforms. If Neopets doesn't work financially now, Neopets.com goes bye bye. So, I don't mind TNT trying to generate a bit more revenue, since I very much want Neopets.com to keep living on.

by dave on November 29, 2024 12:00 PM NST JN Staff

I'm not a premium user (I can't really afford it *shrugs*), and I'm fine with this tbh. I'm hoping they will give more old, difficult to obtain items to premium users, it's still making these items into circulation thus helping bring down inflation! Just hoping the exclusive items won't be collectibles / album items... or items tied to avatars. Certain aspects of the game should be always be free, and I was left bitter and disappointed enough with pay to win tcg avatars that are impossible to get... these kind of avatars SHOULDN'T count towards avatar score. x.x

by sinthr on November 29, 2024 12:16 PM NST

It's a good thing that paid users are being rewarded for using the service they pay real currency for - so long as the prize claim page doesn't show you what you could be missing out on if you had only paid more. If there's no advertising on the page, then yes, there's no fomo. I don't think saying "I don't like being pressured to pay for something I don't want" is pessimistic, either. Like it isn't that serious, this is just a children's pet site.

by mercy_graves on November 29, 2024 12:51 PM NST

And this comment section is Really not as negative as other recent paid item releases, like. This is fine.

by mercy_graves on November 29, 2024 12:54 PM NST

This has never been a kid's pet site. Read the text in the dailies--that's adult-level writing. Neo had to align with international laws when they were developed to protect young people online. This disinformation led to corporate owners mistargeting our site for many years. Some Neopians are past retirement age, with funds available to support our site.

by breezydreams on November 29, 2024 1:03 PM NST

I'm with Dave on this one. For a long time I was one of the most vocal anti-pay-to-win people here, and I still do hate pay-to-win in principle, but the most recent AMA was very sobering. When Dom explained the state of the site's finances, I didn't expect the situation to be as bad as it is. I'm in favor of them doing what it takes to keep the site running. They've still been extremely generous with giving so many new free things for everyone, and they're doing their best.

Look at the celebration wheel. They'd wanted to make it so that everyone got 2 spins, but non-premium users had to watch an ad for their second spin. That sounds fair, but the second spin wasn't working for a lot of people. Rather than say, "tough luck for those people" like a lot of companies would have, they instead made it so that everyone got two spins without having to watch an ad.

I've been a premium member for several months now. For a long time I held out because the bonuses didn't seem worth it to me, but actually since I've been a premium member I've come to realize there are some great advantages. #1 is knowing that I'm helping the site. The SSW is incredibly helpful. The premium NC item is also great, the cosmic dome is fun and I get a lot of nerkmids. The scratchcards never give me anything good but I enjoy them. There's also the goodie bag, which has given me some great prizes. Best of all - and the thing that made me sign up in the first place - 4 extra pet slots.

If people can't afford it, that's totally understandable. Times are tough. But for those who can afford it, I hope you'll consider throwing some money to it now that there's a sale. Not only to premium subscriptions help the site financially, they also give Dom bargaining power with partners and help him generate investor interest.

by neolodgeism on November 29, 2024 2:17 PM NST

I'm glad they're bringing the seasonal pea back. I was one of the lucky ones who got it last time and it's the most powerful BD weapon I have. Very consistent heavy damage. So good.

by neolodgeism on November 29, 2024 2:18 PM NST

I'm excited they're bringing the seasonal pea back. Didn't get one last time, hope to get lucky this round. Although, with the weapons from the plot ploint prize shop, I've already got a better weapon set than I could've ever dreamed to have. But I'd still like to improve it.

Re: pay-to-play/win: Most games I play have an element of this now. Conversely, this helps me get over FOMO. I can't play as much as I want, and I can't pay as much as they'd like me to. So I might as well relax and be content with what I do get. I became less completionist and perfectionist about it. Less stress = more good.

I'm not sure how fond I am of the idea of them dangling it in your face every day, that seems overly predatory. But I do understand the need of becoming a viable business.

I do wish they'd comply with international laws to be transparent about the chances of getting certain items in the boxes and capsules and such.

by woodstocki on November 29, 2024 3:14 PM NST

"weaponizing fomo"... get a grip

they've got to make money too! they should explore every avenue they can to keep neopets going for future generations

by i_talkto_squirls on November 29, 2024 3:16 PM NST

Neopets players will be fed slop and they will enjoy it and pay for it.

by iara0 on November 29, 2024 3:16 PM NST

The Neopets.com site is in a state of complete disarray, with features being eternally broken and a huge portion of the site not adapted to new layout for what has been years now. All of the money earned by this, Prmeium, NeoCash and extraneous features is not used to upkeep the site beyond the bare necessities, but simply to funnel the bottom line. And you all just refuse to see it.
The Neopets userbase has a sunk cost fallacy mentality and they feel the need to throw money at TNT, thinking this will make things better when all it does is perpetuating the cycle. "Why should we bother fixing anything if the users will pay for avatars and stamps regardless?" . Why bother paying artists, coders and anything, when users *WILL* eat the slop and will pay you to do so.

by iara0 on November 29, 2024 3:24 PM NST

it’s important to remember that maintaining and updating a site like neopets, especially with its age & size is a huge challenge. users spending money doesn’t automatically mean improvements will happen right away.

by i_talkto_squirls on November 29, 2024 3:27 PM NST

blaming the users for wanting to support the site doesn’t really solve the issue

by i_talkto_squirls on November 29, 2024 3:29 PM NST

I would be fine with it, if it wasn't the Advent Calendar. Make a new perk or make a new event. They even have to show you that prize of that day to try and get you to buy. I don't want to see it.

by zenopeltis on November 29, 2024 3:53 PM NST

I've been a Premium member for a decade. I was just auto-renewed 2 weeks ago. Since there had not been a sale for a while I didn't give it another thought until now. Do I want to sign up for two years now? Hmm. Anyway, can't Neopet without the SSW and those extra pet slots.

If I get an extra prize for my monetary contribution, so be it. I funnel a lot of cash through this site via NC purchases, too. It's for my own entertainment. I don't have any vices or other sites to support. Frankly, I don't have enough free time for anything except Neo.

I did not get a SAP last year. Maybe this time around? Totally ready for the Stocking Stufftacular again. My fave time of year on Neo. I absolutely love the Advent Calendar, and look forward to it every year. Happy to feel 12 again.

by faellie_ridiculous on November 29, 2024 4:20 PM NST

"The FAQ also confirms that the Seasonal Attack Pea will be returning to Reina's bonus random prize pool, as with last year."

I can't. Not again. I'm not... strong enough...

by maggma99 on November 29, 2024 4:49 PM NST

I will always support Neopets any way I can... been premium over a decade- even during my 2yr hiatus.

by mzlish on November 29, 2024 5:13 PM NST

While I'm happy to see this, they completely forgot about their ad that said a monthly free cookie was an upcoming reward for premium users. That was over 5 months ago. Very disappointing.

by thesign2 on November 29, 2024 5:59 PM NST

I was hoping they would change Attack Pea this year Because it is impossible to get it.

by ozmodi on November 29, 2024 6:15 PM NST

On my Manage Membership page there is definitely not an "Upgrade Plan" button. Only "Cancel Membership" and "Change Payment Source". I'd love to save the 10 bucks, but no luck.

by eunoia on November 29, 2024 6:45 PM NST

Personally I'm keeping my judgments until we actually *see* the items. Because I can see both sides of it right now. Neopets needs money if for anything than to keep operating. But new ways to make money can be a slippery slope and using bonus items can be too. New premium perks like bonus advent items can be a good compromise. Especially when the users still need to log in day of to claim the prize. And sure seeing the possible items can in a way play up some kind of FOMO to get people to sign up but also it's better to be open with users, potentially paying customers, what items their money could be buying. The items could be not be anything big enough to affect free players but still possibly enticing enough for people to think about getting premium. Or they could be things that can potentially unbalance the game even more and give away NP to those who are lucky enough to pay for the items. From what I read it will be things like plushies and toys. Not things that usually go in higj demand even when rare. The danger comes with the customization items and the "more" mentioned. New exclusive stamps would be terrible for prices. So yeah. Just have to wait and see what items they release.

by moosenalley on November 29, 2024 10:05 PM NST

AdCal Premium Bonus Item:

* Already mentioned no BD items, and as long as there's no new Album item exclusively released this way I see no problem, immediately at least. I also wouldn't be against having a day where they give out an already existing rare album item for the Premium bonus (though do it on a day they have another rare album item given to all users). But for the most part I reserve judgement as in wanting to make/give worthwhile items it can be easy to accidentally have it be an item that's OP. While I wouldn't necessarily blame TNT if that were to happen (depending on the item, there's a lot which are inconspicuous n that way), I will still comment on it.

* Wish they told us about this a week or two before the Advent Calendar, not the day before. This is the only element I'd say feels a bit like "FOMO". Also, if the point of this was to get a surge of Premoum descriptions, if they do get a surge I hope they can handle it. Do it a week before and you have enough time for the support staff to resolve any issues. But now if there's any delay a player risks missing out on at least the first few days of Premium bonus items (infact I would make the Premium bonus item just things like Toys, Food, and Grooming items just for this reason; no one is going to be too annoyed missing out on those).

* I'm going to go out on a limb and say this is a good thing. While NC is Neopets likely #1 money maker, Premium is the other. And while NC is only really for those into customization, Premium can be made into a more generalized bonus content offering. As long as they don't overdo things (or if they do it's a notable exception that happens once in a blue moon), Premium could be treated as a sort of "Neopets+" feature even moreso than it is now. For both Premium users and Neopets money making prospects, I hope this is successful and can lay out a blueprint for how they can do similar ideas for future events.

by pikachu315111 on November 29, 2024 10:56 PM NST

Story Event:

Gee, I wonder what the story event could be, it's not like this year's other annual events had a story which was connecting to a major plot that was going on.

Yeah, it's obviously the next (and maybe last?) Orion Quest. We got the Lava (aka Fire), Air, and Earth Musical Cylinders, all that's missing is the water-based one if we're sticking to the classical elements. And being this is the Advent Calendar I'm betting it's going ot be "Ice or "Snow" rather than water directly.

But what will the story be? Well, the Lyre is now broken, and when you have a broken in Neopia there's one character I can think who seems to have a magical way of fixing things: Donny. And Donny lives on Terror Mountain, what a coincidence... Anyway, would be nice to see Donny be involved in something again, he oddly had a role in the Lost Desert Plot fixing broken fragment peices so this isn't his first time being involved in a story determining Neopia's future.

Hm, this reminds me, a few days ago I posted a theory that the spirit inside the Lyre is (or at least a part of) the Faerie Artificer (here's the board: https://www.neopets.com/neoboards/topic.phtml?topic=163633570). Now, obviously Donny would have been frozen along with the rest of the Bori for however longer they were frozen (guessing at least a couple hundred of years?). I wonder, would the Faerie Artificer have been around before the Bori froze themselves fighting The Bringer? I just thought would be interesting if they had Donny knew the Faerie Artificer and thus we have the first opportunity to shed some more light on this character and what's going on with the Lyre.

by pikachu315111 on November 29, 2024 11:21 PM NST

How the heck do people who are against this think Neopets should be making their money anyway? It's not like we can go back to the days when ads and sponsors could keep the entire site afloat, not when everyone uses adblockers and sponsors are non-existent. And I'm sure not enough people are buying the merch to justify not doing something like this, not with how many complaints I've seen about how expensive it is.

Neopets is a business, not a charity.

I don't see the extra Premium item as being any different from the Lulu challenges from the Daily Dare personally, and they already confirmed no Battledome items, so I don't see what the big deal is.

by fluffymcgerbilpants on November 30, 2024 5:39 AM NST

@i_talkto_squirrels - your opinion + explanation is perfectly reasonable, absolutely no reason to come out swinging. Literally no one is blaming premium members for wanting to support the site lmao

-

"This has never been a kids site" ok, so what I actually said was "my opinion that I don't like this isn't that serious and shouldn't be taken that seriously because it's not real" lets not get hung up on defining what is definitely a family friendly game. Yeah, "for kids" and "family friendly" mean two different things but that was so far beside my point I didn't think it mattered.

I really don't think "I think premium users should have benefits but I hope this doesn't feel too intrusive to me, a grown adult with literally zero disposable income" is a take worth attacking someone over.

by mercy_graves on November 30, 2024 5:53 AM NST

Ugh, more story crap.

I just want my plain ol Advent Calendar back. I'm sick of 'story' being in all of the seasonal events.

by gumdrops on November 30, 2024 5:05 PM NST

I'm very happy with this. My premium renewal isn't due until April, but I gladly upgrade now, especially since they did not automatically take the money out last April like it says they will. I'm glad I can help the site; I've been here since 2000, and do not want to see it go away.

I'm looking forward to the Advent Calendar and the new stories, too.

by josie on November 30, 2024 5:15 PM NST

@gumdrops: I mean, if you don't want to pay attention to the story you can just skip past it and collect your prize for the day. Any additional activity you can also ignore, I doubt for the main Advent Calendar part they'll require anything more than clicking a button.

Next year's Advent Calendar will likely be a normal one (or at least not have a major story connected to it).

by pikachu315111 on November 30, 2024 9:31 PM NST

urgh, did change plan to change from monthly to yearly for the discount a few days ago and woke up this morning to 'expired' premium. Had to resubscribe today to fix it *face palm*

by daughters_ofthe_moon on December 1, 2024 1:44 AM NST

Anyone feeling FOMO over these prizes needs to realize, there are a lot of premium users, and these extra prizes are not going to be hard to get ahold of.

by neolodgeism on December 1, 2024 1:24 PM NST

The real issue I have with the premium items, is that many people just cannot *afford* a Premium membership and for them it's taking what is (and last year in particular, was) a lighthearted fun freebie gift event with pleasant surprises to get through the season, and now for these users it's basically "you COULD have gotten this if you could afford Premium" and it kinda ruins the spirit of the event for me. I'd *rather* they add more premium only stuff to TVW than this, the Advent Calendar has always been a very wholesome and fun event for me and now it's just, "too bad to the non-elites" so to speak.

Maybe there will be really impressive fun prizes for the non-Premium members as well in the upcoming days... so far, it seems like having the juxtaposition of the Premium item that people "could" have gotten is just adding insult to injury. I really wish they could have chosen literally any other event for this.

by catriki on December 2, 2024 2:58 AM NST

@catriki, I agree with you 100%. I think it’s great that premium members get extra gifts or whatever. That’s absolutely perfect! I just don’t wanna see it on the Advent calendar as a daily reminder of what players who can’t afford to pay for premium are missing out on. I’m pretty sure that premium members have some sort of premium portal where they get messages, etc., that are private that no one else can see except for them because it’s their premium account. So that’s what they should do with the extra advent calendar premium account prizes that they are getting…it should be for their eyes only.

And as for supporting TNT by getting a premium membership, I would’ve loved to do that…but for me it’s a matter of trust. I don’t trust TNT anymore after what happened with Petpet Park. After investing loads of money into that account. They just eliminated it. So not only was it money that I lost. It was also my Petpets that are gone for good, and that’s my reason for not getting a premium membership. Plus this is also why I won’t download any of the mobile games. I don’t want to invest more time, and most likely more money into another game that could just go POOF

by lokaula on December 3, 2024 9:31 PM NST

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