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A very popular part of the online game, Neopets, Neopets avatars are little squares that appear next to your name on the chat boards (and they are also shown when your username is looked up in the Search bar). They display an image, or an image with text. Most of the time, they are animated. There are many ways to get them: they include equipping your Neopet with a certain weapon, using a Morphing Potion on your Neopet, having a certain item in your inventory, etc. You start out with a group of non-secret avatars, but you can collect "secret" ones around the site using the aforementioned methods. The number of "secret" avatars you have collected will be displayed in your userlookup (or profile), and there is also a high score table where players can earn a trophy and a special "Avatar Collector" avatar for collecting the most "secret" avatars. There is even a special chat board specifically for discussion of avatars and avatar collectors.
While a lot of fun to collect, many players blame the arrival of "secret" avatars for the downfall of the Neopian economy. A formerly-affordable item will rise to hundreds of thousands of Neopoints (the site's currency) just because an avatar was released to go with it. An example is an item known as a "Quadrapus": it was worth 20,000 Neopoints at the start, which is quite cheap. However, now you cannot get one for under 350,000 Neopoints at the time of writing, because it can give you an avatar. This can be very frustrating, as it is difficult for the average user to earn Neopoints on the site, and even more difficult for them to purchase items when sellers get greedy and inflate such items to immense proportions over a square of pixels. Before avatars arrived, many items were more affordable than they are today. One item- 200,000 Neopoints before its avatar was released- has even risen to 30 million Neopoints (at the time of writing)!
Neopets News: "Can you figure out how to unlock this spooky-cute Blorpulous avatar?"
Avatar Collectors: "Look, a new avatar! We must have it!"
Avatar Collector: "Something Has Happened! You are now eligible to use "Blorpulous - Spooky" as an avatar on the Neoboards!"
Avatar Collector: "You need to have a 60-day-old Blorpulous attached to your pet, then view its lookup ^_^"
What will inevitably happen-
Sellers: *buy up all the cheap Blorpulous, then re-list them for 200,000 Neopoints each, effectively preventing your average Neopet user from obtaining one anytime soon due to the demand of avatar collectors who heavily collect Neopets avatars*
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Ripley's Haunted Adventure is a haunted house franchise owned by Ripley Entertainment. There are currently four locations for the franchise at the time of writing: they are Gatlinburg, TN; Myrtle Beach, SC; San Antonio, TX; and Pattaya, Thailand.
The interior (and exterior) of each Haunted Adventure differs, but they all follow the same basic theme: the haunted house was once a casket-making company, owned by two ominous individuals known only as Grimsby and Streaper (hint: see if you can spot anything familiar in their names). While they remained in charge of the company, strange happenings would occur: people and pets would go missing, strange smells would emanate from the building, and strange noises would be heard at night. After several years, the original owners of the company mysteriously disappeared, and the company was abandoned. Another several years passed, and then the old company was discovered by Ripley Entertainment, who purchased it. Pending a decision on how to further develop the property, Ripley Entertainment is now leading "tours" of the company- but they are quick to warn that they will not be responsible for any disappearances or loss of sanity!
The Gatlinburg location was the first to open, in 1999. It was followed by the Myrtle Beach location, then San Antonio. The Pattaya location is the newest to date (October 2004). Most of them are open year-round. Visitors to the attractions can find them easily recognizable by the presence of a monster named "Stumpy", who sits in a box outside. He named for the fact that all this ghoul has is a torso... he is missing everything but some spine and a pelvis below it!
It is noted that the Haunted Adventure attractions are very dark, and can get very intense. Many special effects are involved, including strobe lights and animatronics. There are also a number of live actors involved, who will most certainly do their best to get a scare out of you. The attractions are not recommended for children under 6-8 years old, and any child between the ages of 6 or 8 to 11 years old must be accompanied by an adult (the age limit varies with the location). Depending on the attraction, it can take anywhere from 15 to 20 minutes to tour it. Prices will vary.
The Haunted Adventure locations do have one special event each year: their October "Fright Nights" shows. Generally held every Friday and Saturday (and sometimes Sundays) night in October, the haunted house is stocked with many more actors on those nights, and the attraction itself is revamped to fit the year's "theme". For example, past themes at the Gatlinburg location have included "Carnival" and "Scary Tales" (a spin-off of "Fairy Tales").
Customer: Ripley's Haunted Adventure is so much fun! I love haunted houses and I've been through it five times! It's really scary!
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